Chapter 16 - Hidden and Forgotten

Prince Kairus left the dinner table as soon as he gave up on forcing his mana in because of the woman sitting right in front of him.

A sorcerer's mana reflects on what they are feeling. It reflects on the state of their mind that sometimes causes an outburst which was the one that happened in the main palace. In most cases, magicians would suppress their mana into their bodies, But the Prince got too driven by his emotion that he didn't care about his surroundings.

But this type of mana is not normal in most cases. His mana happened to be a lot more sinister than the others, which caused the Lady's strength to be sucked out because she didn't know how to protect herself from the power of other people's mana.

"Your Highness, you must stop right at this moment! There are people in this palace who do not use magic." Anton said as soon as he went into his room and felt the heavy feeling of the Prince's menacing mana around every corner.

"They are doing it, Anton." his voice couldn't hide the feeling of frustration and hysteria as the room went even heavier.

"I know but we mustn't talk about it this way. The Lady's room is just a few doors away from here. Calm down, Your Highness."

"How am I supposed to calm down?!" his voice thundered as he spoke. Anton's attempt to calm him down failed as he finally gave in to his outburst of emotion. "You know what is going to happen if that man steps on the throne, Anton. You know that well,"

"But we cannot do anything about it, Your Highness," Anton said stepping forward to the Prince who seemed to have lost himself to the dread.

When he looked at his red eyes glistening with madness and frustration, it reminded him of the gentle eyes he knew many years ago. The Kid who used to be someone he knew turned into a monster really quickly.

His eyes were shining red and his body could not be touched.

But he knew where all this was coming from. The old Prince Kairus wouldn't have acted this way. But he couldn't be blamed if he had changed how he expressed his emotions because of what had happened to him in the past.

"We are close to jeopardy, this Kingdom is going to fall!" his voice thundered once more.

His eyes glowed even darker as the clouds covered the moon in the skies. The room went even darker than before. The mana grew even thicker.

"But the choice has already been made!" Anton told him. As much as he wants to console his feelings, he couldn't do anything better than tell him the truth that the choice has already been made.

"We cannot let that happen--"

"Then do something about it!"

The Prince who now has his back turned to Anton stopped himself from moving.

"All these years, your Highness! All these years I have been telling you to take action. But instead, here you are! Hidden! Forgotten!" he couldn't help but tell him the thoughts he had been keeping for himself these past years.

The room grew silent as the two of them realized the reality they were in.

All these years, as much as they wanted the throne back to the first Prince, they couldn't do anything about it. Letting the palace push them out of the main palace made everything even worse.

They weren't able to do a thing as they kept themselves hidden. They couldn't meddle with the palace amendments. They couldn't do anything with the issues that had happened. He couldn't even help his people as a member of the royal family.

All these years, he has been thinking only of himself. He followed what he thought would keep him feeling better. And that is to stay away from his father that do nothing but fail him. And now as the menace comes closer, he's become worried and frustrated about what is going to happen. Knowing too well he did nothing to avoid it.

"All these years, we could have done something, Your Highness." Tears threatened to fall from the old man's eyes as he spoke. "You could have gotten the throne--"

"Get out," the command sounded coarse. The room fell even darker as he sees something coming.

The words that he hears every single time but he refuses to acknowledge.

"You are capable but you did nothing, instead you gave into your weakness!"

"Get out," another command went out of the Prince's mouth but this time, it almost sounded like a threat. A warning.

His breathing worsened as he becomes more blinded by rage.

"You need to wake up, Your Highness--"

Things crashed onto the floor before he could even finish his sentence. In a blink of an eye, a table has turned upside down leaving everything on top of it broken on the floor.

"GET OUT!" His voice came with the thunder.

-------

The next day, I found myself touching the wet leaves on the terrace caused by the sudden downpour last night. The weather seemed mad as I pry myself to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of water dropping on the ground and the sound of birds flying and chirping on the terrace. I couldn't help but get out and take a look as the flowers introduced their real colors to me.

It was a beautiful terrace garden. Flowers bloomed beneath the morning sun making a beautiful sight. I can smell the wet ground with the sweet smell of the blooms. 

but then I heard a knock on my door. A person brought me another dress to wear. It was then that I decided to take another bath and change into new clothes. It was a beautiful dress printed with pink flowers draped over a white ruffled fabric on the bottom part and an elegant off-shoulder top with more ruffles and white ribbons.

It looked simple yet it fit perfectly for today's occasion. Nothing but a tour of the palace and finally being able to come home.

Upon having my matching shoes on, I then went out of the room. I realized I had nowhere to go.

"My Lady," suddenly, a woman appeared in sight. She was not the one who called me in last night. She was a little bit older and dressed in a familiar maid uniform. "What a pretty lady," I smiled and said thank you. "Let me bring you to breakfast, please follow me," she said politely.

As I walked down the hallways, I took the chance to see the details of the palace's interior. If I am not mistaken, this building sits next to the bigger building you can see in front when you come here. It is more like a home and not an exceeding palace.

But it is as elegant as ever. Red carpets, detailed beige walls, wide open windows, and statues in every corner. "This way, my Lady," she said and gestured me into a room where stood an elegant long table where sat the Prince but no Anton.

The old man, what must have happened to him?

When I stepped in, he immediately noticed my presence and looked up.

'Good Morning,' I tried to play nice. But he didn't speak a word and looked down at what he was reading instead. By the looks of it, it seemed like an issue of a newspaper.

Speaking of news, it reminds me that tonight is the banquet. Tonight will be the release of the King's official statement of the other Prince's coronation. I wonder if the other Prince will be there tonight.

I don't know if it was just because of the lighting of the place or if the Prince really seemed to have calmed down. That strange feeling and the hint of his negative emotions lingered in him until he left last night. But today, nothing seems to be worried about.

Their dining room was indeed what I had imagined. A dark oak long table is placed with a red mat rolled until the end, and food and other decorations sit in the middle. When you look up, a distinguished chandelier is hanging just above the center of the room.

I sat on where the empty plate was set up. It was placed right next to the Prince who sits at the end of the table, on the left. As much as I wanted to ask him why he didn't return my greeting, I couldn't ruin my today mood for something small.

He has always been like that anyway.

We started eating breakfast a few moments later. But as I was on half of my morning coffee, he suddenly spoke.

"Anton is sick," he said without any hint of remorse telling me that he could also be lying. "I will have to tour you today,"

As much as I want to decline and cancel the tour, all I wanted to ask at that time was what he did to Anton.