10 The forgotten prince
Whoosh!
He felt the world turn, and he found himself back on the throne, but he wasn't naked anymore. However, he still couldn't forget what he had seen.
He thought she belonged to the demon race, but he never imagined a mix of two super races. This maid before him would be insanely talented, but there was another nagging factor.
"Kid?" he muttered with shock evident on his face.
Lia had let him access her status window as she didn't feel any need to hide anything from her Lord, whom she wanted to be more than a maid to someday.
It was a distant dream, but she had that dream from the very first day she saw him.
As he walked through the forest, they were both shocked to see each other. She was a child playing where her parents told her not to, and he was an extremely powerful man who gathered hate despite trying to gain the people's favor.
But his brother did nothing, yet he had the love and adoration of people throughout the realm. Her Lord had lost many things to that man.
He had not remembered his imprisoned mother or that his aggressive reaction resulted in his banishment. His mother also bore the punishments for his reckless actions.
As she gazed at the man she admired and loved more than anything in this world, she found his innocent and naïve personality really cute, but she knew memories or not, the moment he heard about his mother, Cristian would change.
Despite his memories missing, he would still feel that connection to his mother. It had gotten him killed before and would probably do the same now.
And THE MOTHER had already set barriers for her, restricting her aid, or else she would have gathered all the beasts in the vicinity for him to level up.
"Lia, no offense, but how old are you?" she heard him ask with trembling shoulders. He acted like something really bad had just happened, which made her confused.
"Nothing you do will be offensive to me, my Lord. And if you want to know, I'm 120" she said. When she saw his reaction, it dawned on her why he acted like that, but Lia did not see anything wrong there since she was just a little smaller when she was twelve.
At the age of fifteen, demons were already fully grown, and many of them got married at that age; they weren't like the slow-growing humans or the elves that grew painfully slow.
"You were gone for a hundred years, my Lord. Lia had to stay all by herself." Her eyes watered, and her shoulders trembled, but all she sought was her Lord's touch.
And the naïve Cristian fell for her tricks and embraced her. A cunning smile formed on her lips as she felt his toned skin against hers.
She knew this warmth wouldn't last, for as his powers grew, his aura would get colder.
"I'm here now," he said softly and stroked her back. His fingers trailed from her shoulders down to her waist and back again.
Her delicate brows furrowed, and she began devising plans on how to corrupt this innocent Lord of hers. She needed more of his intimate touch, but the man made sure he never crossed that boundary, and that irked her.
It felt like rubbing a delicious bread baked by the best in the city and rubbing on her lips, the sweet crust leaving her wanting, but the bread would never enter her mouth.
That feeling was too painful.
"How would you like a tour around the castle? It might rekindle some parts of your memories," Lia suggested for she never forgot her position as his most loyal maid.
"That would be nice," Cristian answered, and Lia pouted.
She felt uncomfortable when he used such a polite tone, and when he saw it, a wry smile crept on his face.
If it disturbed her, then he had no other choice than to speak like some ancient Lord.
As they walked, Lia filled him with knowledge about the world and how almost every race had two different parts. The angels and the dark angels, the blessed orcs and the cursed.
It sounded surreal to Cristian when he heard about orcs that weren't green and were actually as resourceful as humans.
This world got more mystical and intriguing.
The dragon race was rarely seen, but their strength had spread to the corners of the world and Lia's father happened to be a dragon who was one of his trusted generals.
However, like the rest, he died. Cristian was stumped when he heard it, and he asked more, but Lia couldn't answer as she was restricted.
"I'm sorry, my Lord, but you'll have to find out about your past without my help." Lia's voice dripped with reluctance, but it was also firm.
To Lia, THE MOTHER, like the rest, hated Cristian and had her eyes on him to make sure he didn't cause any harm this time around.
He didn't push any further because of her past behavior. Cristian knew she would have told him if she could.
His room had marveled him, and at first, he thought they had robbed it clean when he died, but Lia told him that no one had entered his room since his death, not even her.
She only went in today to clean up as she felt his presence. His room lacked everything except a super king-sized bed.
The entire place, including the ceiling, curtains, and tiles, was black. A lingering chill blew against him, and goosebumps appeared on his exposed skin. The feeling he got from the room made him shiver.
And it turned out Lia downplayed things for he couldn't wear anything in his wardrobe, for they were meant for high-tier beings and they were custom made as each of them fitted his frame perfectly and the style made him sigh.
He handed it to his past self, for the style emanated a presence that gave room for his arrival, but to even put on the underwear he would have to reach Tier 3!
'I got all the eggs but can't use any. Amazing, really great,' he scowled internally.
After a while, they stopped before a circular lobby. A large mural hung on the wall, its length reached the ceiling and the width ran from both edges of the wall.
A 190cm tall man with the same frame as him stood before a cliff. His black curly hair fell down to his back and his battered body spoke of the battle he had been through.
His emerald eyes pierced into the distance, and a pair of raven wings spread from his back.
The raging sea painted a background filled with turmoil, the mural brought a wrecking emotion of desolateness but a firm heart, a heart forged through myriad experiences and bent on one path.
A sword, 1.5 meters long and five fingers wide dripped with golden black blood that ran down his injured arm.
The chains that attached the hilt of the sword to his hand spoke of promises that had stood for an unknown time.
Cristian felt drawn to the mural, and he subconsciously made his way towards it and stared at it with flickering eyes.
As he read the title, his eyes moistened, and he touched the exquisitely carved words [THE FORGOTTEN PRINCE.]
"Nice picture," he mused and turned. The emotions he got made him feel strange, and keeping his distance from that mural would be the right thing to do.
"My Lord, do you—" Lia stopped when she saw him raise his hand. She pressed her plump lips together and bowed.
Even before her Lord died, he always got emotional when he saw that picture, he would then caress the title and walk away. No one made the mistake of talking to him, for the moment he lost control of his powers, then even his chosen ones might be wiped out.
They had taken hours touring the castle, and both suns had set. Seeing that mural had dampened his mood, and he told Lia to take him to his room.
"Lord, I was told to make sure you get this the very day you arrive," Lia said. Her melodious voice slithered into Cristian's ears like soothing music, and he turned to her.
"What is it?"
"It's the artifact you asked the runesmith paragon and the blacksmith god to create as you planned your marriage with your three fiancées."
Cristian's eyes lit up, 'an artifact created by a paragon and a god. Shit! It's gonna be good.' While internally he had gone insane with joy, he kept a cool front before Lia.
From the moment he saw her race, her position in his heart had increased. Heck, dragons were powerful, and he could see how she loved and adored him.
