3. Everything is Evil

From a distance, Amber saw Claude being bullied, but she tried to ignore it. "That kid just embarrasses me; it's better if I pretend not to see him."

"Are you a mute? Do you want cake?" teased the red-haired boy, Aaron.

"Cake, cake," he taunted again.

"Try saying 'cake'; can you?" Aaron teased, forcefully pulling out the hearing aids Claude was wearing. The pull was so rough, causing Claude's ears to bleed.

"Damn, I can't hear," Natan tried to take back the hearing aids.

"Nope, you can't." Aaron then hid the hearing aids next to the tall white cake intended for the Crown Prince.

"Try taking it, begging like a puppy," Aaron teased.

Natan didn't dare to take it, fearing he would be scolded.

"Take it, come on, take it," Aaron teased.

Aaron signaled his two friends to push Claude's chair towards the Crown Prince's cake. People ignored them, thinking the kids were fooling around, but in reality, the three kids pushed Claude's body until the cake on the table fell.

Crash.

Bang.

Even the carefully arranged glasses tumbled down and shattered into pieces.

"Shit! everything's shattered; run!" Aaron fled, laughing. One of the kids there took Claude's hearing aids.

"That kid." People started blaming Claude because the one seen destroying the cake was covered in cake cream, making it all seem like Claude's fault.

Amber had to be called by the people there. "Why does your hobby trouble me? Can't you be an obedient child?" Amber rebuked. She pulled Claude's body and dragged him.

"Look! The Crown Prince is crying because of you, you ungrateful child," Amber said. Natan couldn't hear Amber's words, no matter how many times she shouted at him; Natan still couldn't hear. He needed those hearing aids.

Natan chose to free himself from his mother and limped to chase the person who took his hearing aids.

The 6-year-old Crown Prince cried at the sight of his ruined cake. Amber was forced to apologize and let go of Claude.

[Unlock character Xavier, Crown Prince]

[Air element Mage]

The kids who teased Claude ran, holding his hearing aids. As they ran, one of them accidentally bumped into a guard. The child fell along with Claude's hearing aids. Since he collided with the personal guard of a Prince, the child was scared and ran away, leaving the hearing aids behind.

"Those kids! How can they run like that during a party?" said the Prince whose guard was hit.

The Prince saw the fallen hearing aids and picked them up. "What's this?" mused Prince Kane.

Kane didn't know its function; all he felt was disgust because of the blood on it. He threw it into the trash.

"I better throw it away," Kane said disgustedly.

When Kane disposed of the hearing aids, Natan arrived, shaking his head, but unfortunately, the hearing aid had already ended up in the trash.

"Argh!" Natan was angry, but upon seeing the person, he fell silent.

"I knew I would meet the third Prince," Natan thought fearfully. Natan was afraid of that Prince, who would become his murderer in the future.

Natan chose to rummage through the trash, searching for his hearing aids. Fortunately, the trash wasn't too full, so he quickly found them.

Natan smiled happily upon retrieving his hearing aids. He immediately attached them to his ears, unaware that Kane was looking at him with disgust.

Kane saw dried blood on Natan's ears.

"Throw this away! Disgusting, what kind of behavior is this for a Duke's child? Where are your manners!" Kane pulled the hearing aids and discarded them on the floor, stepping on them until they were destroyed, preventing Natan from using them again.

Natan couldn't hear anything now; everything fell silent.

Irritated, Kane shouted at Claude's face, "Can't you hear me? Don't just stand there!"

Natan, who could no longer hear anything, walked past Kane with his limp body.

Kane clenched his fists, almost kicking Natan if it weren't for the guard restraining him.

"Prince, he's deaf; he can't hear if his hearing aids are thrown like that, let alone broken," explained the guard.

"What? Deaf?" Kane was blank.

[Unlock character Kane]

[Water element] [Non-mage]

"Ugh." Natan hid under the table, covered with a white cloth that was a typical party decoration. He couldn't go anywhere; everything was silent, and his ears heard nothing. He depended on those hearing aids; if Kane hadn't ruined them, he might still hear.

"I have to stay here until Claude's mother finishes dealing with this," Natan thought anxiously.

Natan looked at his battered body and touched his bleeding ears.

"The world I created is dangerous for a character destined to die like me," Natan murmured regretfully, realizing that Claude's healing skill couldn't be used on himself.

"I don't care! The person who destroyed my cake must take responsibility; I don't need apologies," Xavier said. He was still angry, his eyes red. For six years, he waited for this moment, only to have it ruined by someone two years younger.

Amber felt even more guilty. As Claude's mother, she found this situation very embarrassing, especially making the Crown Prince cry so miserably.

"Where is that cursed child?" Amber mumbled anxiously.

Claude was still hiding under the table, not hearing anything. His ears only caught the silence.

Although hours had passed, Claude hadn't left his spot. He didn't know if the party had ended because the Crown Prince refused to continue the event.

"When will this party end?" Claude wondered. He peeked from behind the tablecloth.

"Ugh, is it over?" Claude saw nothing except the Royal family and his family in the hall.

Claude didn't understand what they were talking about; he rubbed his ears several times, but he couldn't hear anything. Claude only saw the Crown Prince with a very red face.

"My cake, huhuhu, I can't blow out the candles; I can't blow out the candles!" Xavier cried, still upset. He then hugged his confused father, unsure how to calm his son.

"Let's open the gifts, dear," the Queen said, trying to calm him down. Instead of calming down, Xavier cried even louder.

"Uhuk, uhuk huhuhu!"

Kane was also there, the third Prince keeping his distance from his father and stepmother. He was several tables away from Xavier, sighing at his spoiled brother.

Claude realized it. The distance between the two siblings was so far away.