With drops of sweat running down their back, three grownups were restlessly sitting in the room. The Emperor who sent his own son to the battlefield was just a step away from fainting due to excessive stress.

The Empress and Duke Landon, who are known for their ability to control expressions couldn’t help but showcase their nervous expressions.

Watching these three, William Zemira, Crown prince of Zemira Empire thought to himself,

Their worries are all for naught. If it is Arthur, I can confidently say no one could beat him. He also has Lux. And of course, Sebastian too. 

“Let me get this straight, a noble, namely Marquis Astley has been throwing mud at our face and leisurely carried on with slave trading?”, with a voice, that defies his soothing face, William demanded answers looking at the Emperor.

“Yes, I am afraid so.”, clearly hearing the Emperor’s voice, William finally lost his patience.

“I am afraid so!!!! What is wrong with you?!? People!! YOUR people have been kidnapped and enslaved in another Empire. This is the reaction you give me?!”

“““...”””

At the un-usually enraged prince, all they could do was layout silence as an answer.

“You have complete control over The Cubicle. They can sniff out anything you want!! Don’t tell me you have given them an extended vacation!!”

The Cubicle, an intelligence team that moves only for the throne. They have the ability to get any information the Emperor wants.

“William, calm down. Augustus had no control over what happened. The Empire is too big and vast, sometimes mistakes can happen. Unfortunately, this is one of that time.”, though the Empress spoke this line to calm William, all it did was add oil to the fire.

“Fucking excuses.”

*Silence*

The three most powerful individuals in the Empire watched the out of character Prince with their eyes open.

What is wrong with this Prince? Th..He is like a completely different person.

Duke Landon, a person who is completely disappointed with William, couldn’t believe the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Smuggling money, illegal drugs, excessive violence. Cases like these are fine to be looked over. But, Slave Trading. This is on a whole another level!!”

At the end of the day, Arthur is cleaning up their mess. By the time I get on the throne, the Empire will half rotten. Not good!! I have to do something!

Breaking of William’s thought process, a sound rose from the other side of the room.

*Knock**Knock*

“Who is it?”

In response to the Emperor’s voice, a knight entered the room with a piece of paper.

“Your Majesty, a letter from Duke Arthur, has arrived.”

A unanimous relieved breath came out of everyone’s mouth. The knight quickly placed the letter and made his way out of their room.

With hands trembling out of relief and excitement, the Emperor slowly read the letter.

[Yo, I am alive. Just like I promised. Can’t really say anything over the paper. I’ll be there in a few hours. Stay awake!!]

“Haha~ Looks like it is Arthur.”, Duke Landon finally spoke out, despite keeping silence the whole time.

**SIGH**

Both the Emperor and the Empress sighed deeply and leaned back onto the chair. The Empress especially wiped away her beads of sweat with a relieved expression.

“This outcome was something I already knew. Anyway, I am gonna clear my outside for a while. Call me when Arthur arrives.”

With a grim expression, William made his way to the door.

**********

SLEEPPYYYY!!!!!

I have no idea how long it has been since I took a nap. After sending the letter via magic, I quickly started flying towards the palace as fast as I can. The information is too important to postpone.

Looking back at the week, I barely spent any time in my territory. But that’s for later, I want to quickly explain everything to them and head to sleep.

Even the knights have gotten used to my behavior, they did not announce my arrival and patiently waited for me to burst open the door. And of course, I have no intention to break their trust in me.

*BOOM*

“I am back…”

The large room was comprised of four people. Idiot, Empress, Duke Landon, and William.

William? What is he doing here? Oh well...I suppose he has the right to know as the crown prince.

“““Arthur!!”””

All the grownups, unlike the young William, were completely excited. 

Though it sickens to have the Emperor care for me, it does feel pleasant to have someone wait for you.

“Arthur, are you alright? You look extremely pale.”, The Empress inquired in a worried tone.

“Ah...I am fine. Too sleepy.”

“Are you really alright?!? Are you hurt anywhere?! Wait!! The blood on you, is it yours??!?”

*Thunk*

Lazily slouching over the couch, which already had William, I answered the bombardment of questions laid out by Duke Landon.

“Duke Landon, I am absolutely fine. But, there are more pressing matters to attend to right now.”

“But…”

“Emperor, I am completely tired. The information I am carrying is of utmost importance right now. Before I doze off, I wish to transfer all the info.”

“I see...then please.”

“Great, so this happened...and that happened…”

With each sentence, you could see their excitement level coming down. Especially William, who had a dark cloud over his face when I mentioned about the Lysandra Kingdom.

““““Hale Devon is alive?!?””””

Even William couldn’t hold back his surprise.

“Yes, he is.”

“But why?!? You know he is going to come at you for revenge!! And yet, you let him live.”

“I did, Empress.”

“This was a wrong move, Arthur!! We should quickly finish him off before he could do any harm to you.”

“Silence, Empress.”

“...!”

“You want me to kill an innocent boy? I am someone who moves for my mother’s wishes. I am not a murderer! He did nothing wrong. If Hale being the child of Astley was a crime, then I should be facing my punishment in the depth of Hell. Let me make this clear, he is under my protection, and if anyone thinks of making a move on him. YOU GOT TO GO THROUGH ME.”

“Bu..But what if he harms you again?”, the Empress, taken back, asked in a low-apologizing tone.

“He won’t, and even if he does. It’s up to me to decide on how to take care of him.”

“...”

Even if he decides to take revenge, all I have to do is pay a visit to his house for little threatening. I have Jane, after all.

“Arthur, do you think the royal family of Lysandra Empire is involved?”

To the crown prince, who asked this question in a completely concerned tone

“No, I don’t think so. I have to confirm with Alexander, but the main culprit is Duke of Arma. As far as I know, anything that goes around the royal family of Lysandra, has to go through Alexander’s ear. And the Alexander we know is…”

“Yeah...you are right. There is no way he would do that.”

“Yeah.”

*SIGH*

William’s face finally got its color back, even his grip on the couch loosened.

What is he so relieved about? It doesn’t matter who it was, at the end of the day... Lysandra Empire indeed betrayed our trust.

*YAWWNNN*

Too sleepy to think...the others are busy talking. This couch is surprisingly soft. Closing my eyes for a bit won’t be any harm, right? 

*******

“I hear that Brother William is here again!!”

Like Arthur, Diana too busted through the door.

“SHHHH!! He is sleeping.”

Having heard her mother’s warning, Diana tip-toed to Arthur. Only to see the sight of him sleeping happily, with a relieved expression plastered all over his face.

“No food, huh~”

*Knock*

“OUCH!!”

“All you ever think about is food.”

“But Brother William, the only reason you’re able to talk like this is that you have never tasted Brother Arthur’s food.”

“Whatever, it’s not like he can beat the Royal chef. Anyways, the Emperor and Duke already left to discuss privately.”

“So?”

“Help me drop Arthur in his room.”

“Eh~ We can use magic!”

“Arthur is extremely sensitive to mana...he will be up in no time if I use my magic on him.”

“Tch...troublesome brothers.”

“Haha~ it’s your fate, Diana.”

“Whatever, start moving. Bye, Mom”

“See you tomorrow morning, Diana.”

Having bid their good nights, the two siblings made their way to Arthur’s building. Of Course, with Arthur in tow.

The way to the building in which Arthur lives is completely dark in the night. Ordinary eyes are only helpful to get you lost.

“Honestly, would it hurt to have some light here?”, Diana complained.

“Yeah, true. But I think Arthur denied it because he doesn't want many people to know the way to his building.”

“Yeah, another one of his crazy antics.”

“Haha~ alright, since no one is here.”

*SNAP*

With a snap made by William, warm light lapped over the surrounding with him as the center.

“Woah~ I am never going to manage to get used to this. Why don’t you use Pita more often?”

“It’s best to keep this a secret for now. Spirits allow you to cast magic without chants or imagining sigils. Not many know this. The number of spirits in the world dwindles to double numbers. And Pita, a light spirit, is rarer.”

“Ahh whatever, anyways when can I see Pita?”

“Hmm~ she’s a bit shy. So, you have to wait for a little more time.”

“I did !!! Years of it!”

“She wants you to wait for a bit more time~”

“Ughhh...but what about Brother Arthur? Does he have a spirit too?”

With a confused face, William answered.

“No...Pita already did a check on him. He doesn’t have any spirits.”

“But, then how can he use magic without any chants!!!”

“Sigils. That’s the only option left. His brain is crazy enough to form sigils on the go. This sleeping dude we are carrying is a monster.”

“Hm~ I thought you hate him.”

“No! Of course not. I am just not fond of him.”

“What’s the difference~?”

In contrast to the cheerful mood they had, Diana in a completely serious tone asked a question.

“Brother, why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Stop feigning ignorance. Why are you ignoring Lady Fiona and courting another girl?”

“Oh that~”

Hmm...what shall I say to her?

“Brother, drop the act.”

“Eh?”

“I know you’ve been lying to everyone.”

“Oh, and how do you know that?”

“You neither harmed nor verbally abused Lady Fiona.”

“It could be because she is the daughter of Duke Landon.”

“Hmph. Fine. Then what about Lily Dormer?”

“What about her?”

“Yes, you court her. But only when you both are in public. If you are not in public, you never get close to her, at the same time, you also maintain distance from the other three boys. The only time you interact with the boys is in presence of Lady Lily.”

“...you spied on me?!?”

“Your actions made me do it. I just can’t seem to understand your thought process. I get it that you didn’t like Lady Fiona. But what about the princess of Lysandra Kingdom? If you liked someone, I always thought it would be her. Back then, you two would always play together...”

*FLICK*

“OUCH!!!”

“You think too much, Diana. Come on, his building’s here.”

“Tch...One day. One day, I’ll dig up all the secrets you have.”

“Haha~ we will see.”

At that moment, Diana failed to notice the warm smile on William’s face. A smile that completely betrays the conversation he had with the Emperor and others in the room earlier.

“ *murmur* Hey Arthur, you owe me. After all, I made sure Fiona isn’t engaged to any other man. Better start making your moves. *murmur* ”

“Did you say something?”

“Nope~”

---

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Yo, had a bit of time today.

Tell me down in the comments if you enjoyed the chapter!!