18 Chapter Eighteen

'What is he doing here?' I thought, surprised.

I looked at Mary and noticed that she was surprised as well. As I thought, only Prince Noah was supposed to be here.

Prince Dylan looked at me confused. "Who is this boy?"

"He is… He is my friend Alex, Dylan. I invited him." Prince Noah said embarrassed.

"Is that so? Hm..." Prince Dylan said, surprised.

Prince Noah then stared at me with a frowning face. "What are you still doing standing there? Sit here." He said as usual, but this time he pointed to the chair by his right, because Dylan was in the one in front of him.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness." I said, nervous. Awkwardly I walked to my sit. But before sitting I said bowing respectfully. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness, Prince Dylan and Prince Noah. Thank you for inviting me."

Prince Dylan just stared at me the whole time, which made me get even more nervous.

I tried to avoid his stare, looking at Prince Noah instead, trying to find some kind of support, but the brat was avoiding my look as well, he was looking at the other way.

'This little brat…' I thought mad.

I got used to Prince Noah already but staying so close to Prince Dylan is something way different. Not just because he is a prince and my brother, though he doesn't know. It is also because looking at him seems like you are looking at some kind of demigod.

His white hair and golden bright eyes give him an angel-like appearance, just like the woman that I saw after my death. It is like he has a bright aura around him, which makes it too hard to keep looking at him for too long.

The maids quickly served me after I sat, the food seemed delicious as always, but my mood made me feel nauseous.

"Hm… Can I really stay here Your Highness? I don't want to disturb you and your brother." I asked whispering to Noah.

'Actually, I just don't wanna be here.' I thought.

"If I said you can so you can." Prince Noah said, and then he looked at his brother.

"Don't worry, Alex. Of course, you can stay here, I am happy to meet one of my brother's friends." Prince Dylan said with a gentle smile.

I got a bit surprised by his attitude, I didn't expect Prince Dylan to be so kind. "T-Thank you, Your Highness. I am happy to meet you as well." I said, embarrassed.

But then Prince Dylan had a weird expression on his face. "Have I seen you before, Alex?" He asked, confused.

Just then I remembered that Prince Dylan is the only person that knows my real appearance, besides the people from the northwest area, because he probably saw me when I ran into him two years ago after leaving the northwest side for the first time.

"...Not that I know, Your Highness." I said, anxious.

"Huh. You probably saw him working somewhere in the palace, he is a servant after all." Prince Noah said with his usual arrogant tone.

"Hm… I think so." But then Prince Dylan looked at Prince Noah and said, obviously teasing him. "I never thought I would ever see my arrogant little brother having a commoner as a friend."

"Hey! I am not arrogant!" Prince Noah said mad, his cheeks were red from embarrassment.

Prince Dylan chuckled after he saw his brother's reaction. But then he looked at me and asked with a gentle smile on his face. "How long have you been working here in the palace, Alex?"

'As I thought Prince Dylan doesn't have the same temperament as his brother. He seems to be a calm and kind person.' I thought, relieved.

I didn't know what to answer so I just decided to say. "It has been… It has been two years Your Highness."

"Two years? So, it is not that long." Prince Dylan said, then he looked at Noah and asked. "Since when are you both friends? I didn't know about him until now."

Prince Noah was silent for a moment before answering. "...He helped me that day in the forest when I injured my leg. Since then we are friends."

I looked at him surprised, for a moment even I thought he was telling the truth. He sounded so honest.

"Did he help you that day?" Prince Dylan asked, surprised. Then he looked at me said, grateful. "Thank you for helping my little brother, Alex."

"There is no need to thank me, Your Highness." I said, embarrassed.

Prince Noah clicked his tongue, "Tsk. If you thank him like that he will think he did something big."

"But he helped my little brother, the least I can do is thank him." Prince Dylan explained.

"Tsk." Prince Noah clicked his tongue again but didn't say anything else.

"Do your parents also work here in the palace, Alex?" Prince Dylan suddenly asked me.

It seems that he is genuinely interested in knowing more about me, his brother's friend.

'Well, one of my parents kinda work here, he is the King after all. But it is not like I gonna say this.' I thought.

"No… I am an orphan, Your Highness." I lied.

"Are you?!" Prince Noah asked, surprised.

"He is your friend and you didn't know that?" Prince Dylan asked Noah.

"W-We just become friends! Of course, I didn't know that." Prince Noah explained, embarrassed.

Prince Dylan then looked at me and said. "I'm sorry for hearing this, Alex. It must be hard being an orphan."

Prince Dylan appeared to be really sorry, he had a sad expression on his face. Just then I realized that Prince Dylan and his siblings lost their mother, so he must be thinking about that.

"T-There is no need for you to be sorry, Your Highness. But thank you." I said.

Prince Dylan smiled at me. "I see." Then he asked. "Where in the palace do you work, Alex?"

"In the west side… most of the time." I lied.

He looked surprised. "It must be hard for you to come all the way here to the main area to see my brother."

"Not at all. I am used to it, Your Highness." I said.

"Hmm… But why don't you work to my brother as his personal servant? That way you could see each other more. Isn't that a good idea?" Prince Dylan suggested with a kind smile on his face.

"I-I don-" I tried to say but I was interrupted.

"Yes, it is indeed a good idea, brother." Prince Noah said. Then he looked at me and said. "From now on you are my personal servant."

'What?!' I thought surprised.

"T-There is no need, Your Highness to do something like that for me." I quickly said, trying to change Noah's mind.

"What are you talking about? If you become my personal servant it will be easier for me. Then I won't have to keep waiting for so long whenever I call you to eat with me. Hmph." Prince Noah said with his usual arrogant attitude.

"I see… Thank you, Your Highness." I said, defeated, knowing that I couldn't change his mind.

"Since when have you been eating together?" Prince Dylan suddenly asked. For a moment a weird expression appeared on his face, but soon it was gone, his expression was back to his normal gentle face.

"That is none of your business." Prince Noah said. I thought he was kidding before I looked at his face, he was serious. "You almost never use this room so why would you care if I invite someone to eat with me or not?"

Prince Dylan was shocked, he opened his mouth and closed it soon after.

"That is true… Actually, I am happy to see that you are not alone, that you have company now." He said with a sad tone, though he had a gentle smile on his face.

"Tsk." Prince Noah just averted his gaze, looking at the other way, mad.

I couldn't understand why Noah was suddenly so mad until I remembered what Mary told me before.

'She said that there are people comparing Noah and Dylan all the time... Maybe Noah started to have some sense of rivalry against his brother because of that? Or is he just taking his frustrations on Dylan, though he is not actually mad at him?' I asked myself, worried.

"I'm leaving." Prince Noah suddenly said as he got up from his chair.

Prince Dylan quickly got up as well. "Noah, wait!"

But Prince Noah didn't hear him, he just left the room leaving behind me and Prince Dylan staring at a closed door.

Prince Dylan sighed. He looked at me and said. "I'm sorry that you had to see this."

"There is no need for you to say sorry, Your Highness." I said.

Prince Dylan didn't say anything, he just kept staring at the table. The gentle and warm aura around him was gone. Just like Prince Noah in the garden earlier, Prince Dylan had the same kind of expression that was hard to read. I couldn't say if he was mad or sad.

"Hm… Your Highness, can I tell you something?" I asked.

Prince Dylan was quiet for a moment before answering me. "...Yes."

Though I didn't know if it was right for me to say this, I still wanted to say it.

"Your Highness, I don't think that Prince Noah was actually mad at you. So many things have happened to him today, Prince Noah probably just ended up venting his frustrations on you, Your Highness."

"What happened to him?" Prince Dylan asked looking at me with fierce eyes.

"I-I didn't see that myself but I heard that there were some noblemen saying cruel things to Prince Noah… And comparing you both."

Prince Dylan looked at me surprised, then he got mad. I could see that he was clenching his fists tightly. But he composed himself and looked at me.

"Thank you, Alex, for telling me that. I will see what I can do about it. Feel free to stay here and keep eating if you want to, I'm leaving now."

I gave him a respectful bow. "Thank you, Your Highness."

'But of course, I won't stay here any longer after he leaves. After all this fight, I have no appetite to keep eating.' I thought.

Prince Dylan was about to leave, but then he suddenly stopped and looked at me. "You know, Alex, you seem to be a nice kid. I think you can be a good friend to my brother. But I have to warn you… If Noah ends up getting hurt physically or even emotionally because of you, I will make you wish to have never been born."

I was astonished, Prince Dylan had a serious and cold expression, he didn't even seem like the boy that smiled at me a few minutes ago. His look gave me chills.

I wanted to say something, but I was too shocked to say anything.

Prince Dylan just stared at me for a bit longer and said. "Goodbye. It was nice to meet you, Alex."

Then he left.