Prince Ghareeb EL Nino (2)

A hologram of an older man appeared opposite Prince Ghareeb at the other end of the table. It was his father. The father and son shared a strong resemblance to themselves. The two men both had handlebar moustaches, a long-pointed nose, and their hair was styled into a buzz cut.

"Good day, my lovely son," Emperor El Nino greeted first.

Ghareeb was mildly annoyed by his father's action. He said, "Father, please, I have told you to always allow me to do the greeting first."

Emperor El Nino, Prince Ghareeb's father, was the emperor of the intergalactic empire named Vistas.

Emperor El Nino said, "You are my son. It doesn't matter whether I greet you first. I always know in my heart that you respect me very well. As a father, I must reciprocate—

Prince Ghareeb said, "Father, please spare me this lecture. I have heard it countless times. Back when I was at the palace, my siblings and I were taught to respect our parents. And I would like to follow the teachings because they are right."

Emperor El Nino sighed.

"How are doing, father?" Prince Ghareeb asked.

"I'm feeling very well, my son."

"That's good to know," Prince replied with a genuine smile that other people would probably never see.

"What about you?" Emperor El Nino asked.

"I'm also doing great," Ghareeb replied with a chuckle.

Emperor El Nino said, "You are doing a good job. You have been consistent in your efforts to keep the economy of Astro buoyant."

Prince Ghareeb said, "It is nothing much. I'm just showing my worth as the prince of the almighty ruler of Vistas."

"Admiral Loftus would be burying his face in shame wherever he is whenever people talk about your feat on Astro," Emperor El Nino said with a hearty laugh.

Admiral Loftus was the former governor of Astro before Prince Ghareeb arrived. Astro wasn't doing well under the former governor's rule.

"But there are worrying reports I'm hearing about Astro," the emperor continued.

Ghareeb raised his brows in curiosity.

"The report is about a particular territory around where you stay. Reports say that this territory witnesses frequent Uncharted-beasts raids. Why haven't you handled that. Don't you have enough resources?"

Ghareeb answered, "Father, as you know, Uncharted-beasts raids are a big problem for Astro. I'm actively working and supplying adequate resources to solve the problem. As I speak to you, more than half of the population of Astro moves freely without worrying about a beast raid."

Prince Ghareeb's answer satisfied the emperor, and he didn't press further on the issue.

Emperor El Nino said, "Ghareeb, when we began this call, I didn't fail to notice the gloomy aura around you. Why were you sad?"

The prince kept quiet; he didn't reply.

"You were thinking about home again, weren't you?" Emperor El Nino asked.

"I'm always thinking about home," Prince Ghareeb said.

Emperor El Nino sighed and said, "Ghareeb, my dear son, if you really want me to be happy, what you should do for me is to stop thinking about home. It will even do you harm."

Ghareeb rubbed his face with his right hand.

Emperor El Nino frowned; a thought had flashed through his mind.

He said, "Ghareeb, I hope you aren't planning on doing anything crazy?"

Ghareeb's heartbeats skipped in fright, but he kept his composure and casually answered with feigned exasperation, "Father, I'm not stupid.

"By the way, I have buff decals that keep me on par with demigods."

The emperor relaxed having not discovered any abnormalities with his son's emotions.

Prince Ghareeb said, "Father, you need not worry about me."

He stroked three rings, which were on the fingers of his left hand. The rings were worn on his index finger to his ring finger.

"If things become too dangerous, I can survive long enough to ask for your help," the prince added.

Prince Ghareeb adjusted himself on his seat as he took a quick deep breath.

The two men stared at each other for a while in silence. Suddenly, the emperor had a warm smile. He produced a pendant and silently showed it off to his son. He even wore it around his neck and posed with it for a second. The pendant was a colour changing gemstone that hung from a chain. The chain didn't look it was made of solid metal. It had the lustre of precious because that was what was used to craft it.

"That's a beautiful pendant," Ghareeb honestly said. "Who amongst my sisters gifted it to you?"

Ghareeb didn't like any of his sisters and never wished to associate himself with them, let alone talk about or ask about them. But this was a conversion with his father, he had to compromise to keep his father happy. The emperor was aware of Ghareeb's dislike of his siblings.

Emperor El Nino said, "It was not your sisters. Neither was it any of your siblings or any other person."

Ghareeb feigned a smile to hide his exasperation. He feigned excited curiosity as he spoke, saying, "Father, you know I'm not good at guessing. Please, tell me who it is."

The emperor said, "It was your mother who gifted it to me."

The prince didn't wait for his father to complete his sentence and he screamed, "Kah!". He spat to his left and said at the top of his voice,

"May the rot of the underworld plague that witch!"

"Ghareeb! She is your mother!" The emperor scolded.

"I rather die than to be reminded of that witch's existence," Prince Ghareeb said with utter hate. "Father, you have ruined my day the most."

"Ghareeb, you must learn to forgive. We are faulted beings. Everyone makes mistakes," Emperor El Nino said.

Prince Ghareeb said, "Not this type of mistake. Can what she did be regarded as a mistake? It can't even be regarded as a mistake. She disregarded me, father, she forgot me, she didn't take care of me. Do you know how heartbroken I felt when I learnt she didn't do the breastfeeding ritual for me? Father, at a point, I thought I was adopted and no one in the palace was bold enough to tell me the truth.

"Father, what my so-called mother did wasn't a mistake. It was a well thought choice she took. She abandoned me because I am merely talentless. Meanwhile, there are mothers out here who love their child to death even when the know that their child is a serial killer.

"Father, you know the truth. If it wasn't for you, I would have been long dead before I could come to Astro. So, father, do me a favour and don't ever talk about my mother or whatever she does."

Prince Ghareeb glared at his father with a look of hate and anger that wasn't directed at him. The emperor stared at his son, expressionless. The call was terminated, the emperor terminated the call.

Prince Ghareeb had a sad history. Unlike his siblings and the other family members of the house of El Nino, he was the only royalty that couldn't step foot Grandberg, the planet of vista empire's emperor. If he were to attempt to do so, he would be put to death if discovered. This situation happened because he banished from the emperor's court because he was born talentless.

Being born talentless in the emperor's court was when a prince or princess does not have supernatural abilities that is he or she is not awakened. And this was never meant to happen. This is because the emperor was a high-level demigod who could be regarded as a deity and deities were known to only give birth to awakened' no matter the state of the female being they mated with.