He faced Lady Tyra who stood up from the chair to greet him. “Your Highness!”

Drayce was about to greet her back when his eyes noticed that giant nest next to Lady Tyra.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Come here, I will show you something.” Esther carried him in her arms and showed him the young eagle whose intelligent eyes were staring straight at him. “We have a little guest here.”

“A big bird!” Drayce said.

“Do you know what bird this is?”

“I think…an eagle?”

“Smart boy,” she praised him. “This little guest is hurt so Mother brought him here to heal.”

“Doesn’t he have his mother to take care of him?” Drayce asked as he knew everyone has a family, even birds. Esther shook her head.

“His father?”

“Due to some reason, he has lost them,” Esther answered.

“Lost them?” Drayce asked and felt sad for that eagle. “Then what will he do now?”

“Well, we can keep him with us and take care of him, can’t we?” she asked.

“Of course, Mother!” he said and then looked at her. “Can I take him to my chamber? I will take care of him. Can we be playmates? He must be lonely here because Tyra is always busy with her work.”

“Hmm, we can do that. I am sure my Dray can take care of him,” she said and the little guy laughed in happiness.

The next day, that huge nest was transferred to Drayce’s chamber. Esther had removed the protective spell from that nest as there was no need to stop that eagle from flying but she still kept that spell on him which stopped him from shapeshifting. With all the humans around, it was not a good thing if someone were to know the truth about this eagle.

——

Drayce was happy to have his own pet. The eagle grew fond of him and it would follow him around everywhere he went.

After that earthquake brought by Drayce, the children of the nobles who angered him continued to spread gossip among their peers about the Second Prince being the cause of the incident. Although the adults thought it was silly, the children mostly believed their friends. Due to this, many refused to become Drayce’s designated playmate, and even those kids following the First Prince avoided the Second Prince  within the palace.

Though they stayed away from him and didn’t dare tease him face to face, they could not stop talking among themselves. Whenever Drayce would play near the lake or in the other public areas in the palace grounds, he could hear them talking behind his back but he always ignored them. He had promised his mother that he would be a good boy.

“Didn’t I tell you he is a monster?”

“That day I saw his red eyes changing color when he caused that earthquake.”

“It was really him.”

“Stay away from him.”

“I heard that he has a pet now.”

“Oh that bird! It is always with him.”

“I saw him by the lakeshore. Shall we see his pet?”

Drayce was listening to it all but didn’t bother to pay attention. Seeing his reaction, his servants also did not prevent the nobles from approaching.

A group of kids came running towards him but stayed at a distance. They were familiar faces, and he remembered them to be the kids on his team when he played kickball with Keiren last time.

“Don’t harm us. We just want to see your pet,” said one kid in a friendly manner.

Drayce didn’t say no and gestured for his pet to come close. The eagle was flying over the lake, but seeing him beckon him, the eagle flew around him and then settled on a tree branch close to them.

“Whoa! You trained an eagle!”

“Amazing!”

“It’s so cool! I wonder if I can ask my father to buy—”

“What is his name?” one guy asked.

‘Name? I didn’t give him any yet,’ Drayce thought and looked at the sky. It happened to be the time when the sun was about to set. Something came to his mind and he said, “Dusk! His name is Dusk.”

“Dusk! It is a nice name!” The kids praised and then turned to leave in a hurry as soon as their curiosity was satisfied.

When they thought they were out of the Second Prince’s earshot, they whispered among themselves.

“Just like him, his pet is scary as well.”

“Did you see the way that eagle looked at us? I felt like he was going to attack us.”

“That little monster got a monster pet.”

“I told you, his mother is a witch, a scary woman, that is why he and his pet are scary too.”

“Ssh! Didn’t our parents say we shouldn’t badmouth royalty? Especially not the Queen—”

“But it’s my aunt who called the Queen a witch first. I’m just repeating—”

“Idiot! You probably heard her say that inside your mansion, right? Only say things like that where no one can overhear you!”

Drayce, who was always calm no matter what they said about him, suddenly felt his anger rising. But before he could say a word, his pet let out an angry screech before speeding towards those kids, causing the group of noble boys to cry out in fear and let out high-pitched screams. Though he didn’t attack them, the eagle scared the hell out of those kids and they ran away crying for their lives.

Drayce saw the funny scene of one even tripping over nothing and his anger calmed down. Dusk returned to him and landed on the rock next to Drayce, causing the bird to be on the same height as the little guy’s waist.

Drayce patted his head. “Did you hear what they were saying?”

Dusk rubbed his head against that tiny palm as if saying yes.

“Did you scare them away because of that?” Drayce asked.

Dusk pecked twice on his hand gently as if to say yes again.

“That means you too know my mother is a good person.”

Dusk once again pecked on his hand.

“Even a bird can understand this fact, but those kids…” Little Drayce sighed helplessly.

Only then did Lady Saira and the servants come running to his side, worried that the eagle was provoked by the naughty kids and would also harm the Second Prince. However, their worries were unfounded since the eagle was calm and intelligent.

Starting that day, Dusk had become an important part of Little Drayce’s life.

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