This 5th chapter is dedicated to you all for showering the novel with so many gifts. Thank you so much. XOXO

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Stunned at what he heard, Drayce found his mouth gaping at this innocent-looking prince. He didn’t expect him to say such cruel things.

Was that really something a four- or five-year-old kid should say?

Arlan gazed into those red eyes with a smile that was not a smile. For some odd reason,  the usually silly prince gave off a rather mysterious vibe. “I like to reward and punish the way they truly deserve.”

Drayce realized this new friend of his was not a simple brat as he initially thought. Thinking about it, he was not wrong to say the punishment should be given to those who committed a wrongdoing.

“You said you want to meet my pet, right?” Drayce asked and gestured at the eagle preening itself on his other side of the hideout. “Come here, Dusk.”

The eagle came hopping towards them.

“Whoa! This…this big bird is called an eagle, right? It’s larger than I thought. I have never seen one up close…”

“He is a special eagle, a very very smart eagle,” Drayce boasted. “Mother said he is a rare breed but he’s still young so he will still grow bigger.”

“Really? Does it follow your order? How did you train him—”

After spending some time chatting, the two felt hunger and realized they needed to go back. With two princes missing, they could already imagine the commotion in the palace.

“What will you tell them?” Arlan asked.

“The truth,” Drayce replied as they walked towards the wall.

When they reached the broken part of the wall, Drayce entered it first but did not go through it, careful to check the surroundings just in case there was a person on the other side of the wall. This was his secret passage and that rock formation was his secret hideout, and he didn’t want anyone learning about them. If he was alone, he would have teleported back inside Vermillion Palace, but because of Arlan, he had to go back this way.

No one was around so the two simply crossed that hole. As they walked further, Drayce heard his anxious nanny exclaim in delight.

“They’re here! I found the princes!”

“We found Prince Drayce and Prince Arlan!”

Soon, the two dirty royals were escorted by the knights towards the residence of the First Concubine.

“Your Highness, where were you?” Lady Saira was close to tears. “I was extremely worried…”

“I was just in the bushes, Saira,” he replied. They were now inside one of the drawing rooms lent by Lady Clarisa. From the window, Drayce could see that the yard was being cleaned up as the servants quickly managed to put off the fire.

Prince Arlan’s nanny came running inside the room while catching her breath and felt relieved that she found her prince, albeit he looked untidy. Lady Clarisa also went to check on them, and after she left, Keiren also came to apologize for the incident. Though he did nothing wrong and didn’t fully understand what happened, the First Prince felt bad because the three boys had upset Drayce. He promised him that next time, those bullies would no longer be invited as his playmates.

Drayce and Arlan were taken by their nannies back to their respective residences. The news of the incident had already reached Esther who was waiting to meet her son in his bed-chamber.

King Theron also received this news from Sir Galien.

“Where is he now?” King Theron asked.

“His nanny took His Highness back to the Queen’s palace.”

“What exactly happened?”

“The young masters from the House of Rulf, the House of Walter and the House of Faniel claimed that the Second Princes got angry at them for showing off their lanterns and caused the fire to hurt them. They also said the Second Prince bullied them often.”

“They dare lie within the royal palace?” King Theron scoffed. “Do they think I don’t know what the Second Prince is like? Something must have happened to anger him or he would not do this without any reason. Warn their families. The Ivanovs are not so soft that we’ll tolerate them shaming a prince. Calm this matter and do not let any kind of negative rumours about the Second Prince spread.”

“I have received your orders, Your Majesty,” Sir Galien said. “Are you going to visit the Second Prince?”

“Esther can handle him. My presence will only make him feel more guilty,” the King replied.

Sir Galien paused for a moment before asking, “Your Majesty, can I ask something?”

King Theron nodded while resuming his work.

“May I know why His Majesty always trusts the Second Prince? We are yet to even ask the account of Prince Arlan and the Second Prince about this incident…”

King Theron paused his work and looked at Sir Galien. “It’s because he is Esther’s son. She raised him well. Her son will never harm anyone innocent.”

It was his trust in Esther’s principles that made him assured her son would be taught the right things.

—-

Esther was patiently waiting for Drayce inside his chamber. Drayce lowered his head the moment he saw his mother seated in the lounge area of his chamber.

She stared at her son who looked guilty, not even having the courage to leave the doorway. His clothes were untidy, unbecoming of a prince, though his face was already wiped clean by his nanny. On an ordinary day, Esther would have ordered him to take a bath first before they talk, but this time, a huge incident had happened and thus they needed to have a serious conversation first before sending him to clean up.

“Sit down so we can talk,” Esther said without a change in her expression.

Her son did so without a word and sat in the chair opposite his mother. Lady Saira bowed and left the room to give the mother and son privacy.

Drayce didn’t look at his mother while she simply observed him. The atmosphere was extremely tense, and the little prince could not help but fidget.

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