“Actually I am here to lead you to the awarding hall.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness.”

“No need. And Edwin, Maria it had been a long time since we last met at the academy, right? Let’s have a reunion on a later date.”

“We would be happy to do so.”

Edwin and Maria just replied casually, not wanting to stir up unnecessary trouble. They knew that Prince Albert could change his mood so fast and became aggressive quickly. If they were on their own they would not have cared.

‘Lucas is here so let’s be gentle and graceful.’

They didn’t want to show such a bad side to a young child.

It seemed that because of their unusual gentle action, Prince Albert came to have more courage to talk without caring.

“Of course, of course. By the way, aren’t you Lucas? I have heard a lot about you. To know that such a child would have such amazing ability…. I can’t wait to see your future achievements.”

The grin of the price didn’t disappear as he talked non-stop. Even if he was trying to show his good will, it was a feature of bad luck for Lucas whatever he did. 

Evandall was a neutral faction.

 It was not too long ago that they tried to put pressure on Evandall just because Cassius didn’t join them. But now that prince was trying to be friendly with them.

‘I wonder if this power-hungry selfish idiotic prince would have the ability of thinking.’

Lucas realized that it was more or less Queen Magaret’s plan for Prince Albert to try to be close with them. But he had no plan to do so and he didn’t worry because he knew that his family also had no plan to do that.

‘I don’t like how he is so talkative.’ 

Alexios yawned as he talked to Lucas as usual. And Lucas also agreed. Even if he didn’t know the novel plotline, he could tell that the Prince’s words were just a type of flattery, not sincere ones.

Both Lucas and Alexios got bored from listening to his flattery, talking continuously and not even giving a chance for Lucas to reply but he just let it be. It was not like he wanted to talk to him either.

‘I don’t like him, kid’

‘Me too.’

‘Do you want to kill him?’

‘Of course. Any idea to do so secretly?’

‘You are training, right? Get better at your swordsmanship and assassinate him.’

‘Not a bad idea.’

The prince’s words didn't reach Lucas's ears properly as he was chatting with Alexios, controlling his laughter deliberately. And he was glad when the Prince’s flattery came to a stop, noticing that it had already taken a lot of time and Duke Cassius interfered.

“Your Highness, I think we should go now if we don’t want His Majesty to wait.”

“Oh, of course of course. We should not take too long, right? Let’s head to the awarding area.”

Albert stated as he headed off together with Cassius but his mouth was still shooting words one after one with a smile.

Lucas could see that Prince Albert, at first, wasn’t that fond of what his father had said but he believed that Queen Magaret might have warned him to behave which made Lucas to be really delighted. At least, he didn’t have to face the prince’s tantrum which happened a lot in the novel.

But then Lucas looked at Edwin just in case. But he was very glad that his brother showed no interest in the prince even though he was casually replying when he was asked.

‘I guess Big Sis Maria being alive made a lot of difference.’

Lucas thought that his brother would not act anything recklessly as long as his family didn’t get hurt so he rested easy.

‘I am bored. Why do humans’ palaces have such long corridors? It’s getting tiring too!’

Lucas wanted to remind that cat that he was riding on Lucas’s shoulders but he didn’t get to do so as they finally reached the entrance of the hall where the ceremony would be held.

“Don't be nervous, Lucas. You just have to walk towards the king when your name is called, and receive whatever the award or words that the king would give you. Don’t worry about making a mistake. If you do one, it’s ok.”

Lucas heard his brother bend down a bit towards him as he whispered.

“What if I do a lot?”

“That’s ok, too!”

Lucas cracked a smile when Edwin was glared at by Maria. Edwin would not be afraid of anything but he was afraid of Maria even though they were almost always in disagreement.

The doorman announced their names before the entrance one by one, starting with Prince Albert and ending with Lucas. It seemed that Alexios also noticed it was no longer good for him to ride on Lucas’s shoulders so he decided to get off and walk on his own.

Lucas was worried if the doorman would say pets were not allowed but he was delighted when he was told nothing. 

He started to wonder if his family had told something in advance, given the fact that the Prince also didn’t ask that many of the questions about Alexios riding on Lucas’s shoulders.

As soon as he entered the room, he could feel that all the gaze fell upon him and his family. 

All the nobles, except the King and the Queen, were already in the hall, gazing at them as if they were stunned.

And it was only for a moment that all the people were stunned. After a few seconds, as if they gained back the sense, they flopped towards the Evandall family since the king had not arrived yet, congratulating them and asking what they thought of what kinds of awards they would get.

Even though Lucas' family was informed that they would be awarded, they didn’t know what kind of awards they would get which made Lucas curious, at the same time, worried that some weird award would emerge.

‘Let’s slip through.’

Lucas looked down and saw that Alexios had already slipped away from the crowd, given that he really did not like it when it became too loud which made Lucas consider why he even followed in the first place. and without hesitation Lucas also did so. 

To his luck, since Lucas already small compared to the other adults that were here in the hall, he was able to slipped through  quickly, on the other hand, when he thought that he had already escaped, the back of a large noble pushed him, unknowingly which also tripped Lucas down. 

‘Oh shit-’

Lucas thought that he would greet the marble floor with his face but surprisingly, he saw that his balance was up again with his hand being grabbed gently by someone.

Lucas turned to thank the one who had helped him but when he looked his eyes got widden. It was no other than the one that he had been wondering since that time he had met Prince Albert.

“I greet Your Highness.”

Lucas made a bow as a formality, getting a soft informal greeting back from Prince Eldric. As usual, the prince had a gentle look and soft gestures.

“You have become a lot taller since I last met.”

Prince Eldric started the conversation again and thus, Lucas had to continue it even though he wanted to slip away. He wondered what exactly was taking the King and Queen too long to get here.

“I am glad I do, Your Highness.”

“But you are still not tall enough for others to see you, haha.”

Lucas realized that the prince was just trying to have a small joke with a kid but it somehow hurt his pride. 

“Be careful next time.”

“I will surely do so, Your Highness.”

Lucas had thought that Prince Eldric might talk more with him. But it made him confused as if Prince Eldric tried to get away from the talking. But it didn’t take long for Lucas to realize the reason.

“Oh Lucas, I was wondering where you had disappeared to.”

There came the middle-class villain of the story. Whatever he was, he was still the first prince with Queen’s support currently so Lucas and Prince Eldric had to make a polite greeting.

“Drop the formalities. It is not like we won’t meet a lot in the future. Lucas, do you already feel bored? Should I order some drinks for you?”

‘Nope! I won’t meet you a lot! If possible, I won’t even meet you once. And do you think the awarding hall is a restaurant?’

Lucas wondered that it might be because Prince Albert was someone who messed up for almost over the half of the story, he considered negatively to every word that Albert made.

“It’s ok, Your Highness. I don’t feel bored at all.”

“You really are such a mature kid like everyone else said.”

‘He really ignored Prince Eldric. He really did.’

Lucas didn’t know why this prince didn’t even make a fake greeting to his half brother, acting as if he didn’t even see him. It seemed that Eldric also noticed this as he decided to leave slowly. 

“Oh, my brother is also here. I really didn’t notice you, sorry about that.”

‘If you are going to ignore, ignore till the end. What are you doing?’

No answers came to his mind as Lucas tried to figure out the actions of Prince Albert. And then he decided to leave it be as it would make him crazy if he tried to think about the crazy person’s actions.

“I was just about to leave.”

“I thought you two were having a good conversation.”

“Not really, brother. I was just helping him a bit.”

The atmosphere was tense between the two brothers, one being aggressive and one wanting to slip away as soon as he could. And Lucas, thinking how to get out of this situation in an instant.

Suddenly Lucas could hear a trumpet, stating the King and Queen were already here, being announced by the door man. There wouldn’t be a second time where Lucas would be that glad to see the king’s arrival.

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A/N: Merry Christmas! Here is another chapter as promised!