Prologue I

9 years ago (May 11th 20XX)

Basil couldn't recall much of his childhood like most children but he could vividly remember some experiences from when he was still just about 5 years old and he could remember memories from 6 years old and above as if it was just a few months back. One memory however was one that no matter how hard he tried, he just could not forget.

He was in kindergarten at the time and his mother had just come to pick him up.

Except that the moment they were about to leave, his kindergarten teacher who was nothing more than a blurred face in his head came towards his mother and requested to speak to her in private. His mother had handed him his school bag and moved closer to the elderly woman.

"Why, if I may ask?" his mother had replied, a small frown visible on her face. His mother was quite an easily irritable person, to say the least.

"It's about your son, Basil. If you have a minute, I'd like to share some of my concerns regarding him..."

He was then left to play with some toys as the two women stepped into a previously empty classroom.

"I think you should take Basil to the doctor for a check-up"

"Mrs, what are you trying to imply? Are you saying my son is sick?"

"Your majesty...I know this is hard for any parent to hear-"

"You know that everyone's just trying to nitpick to prove that my family is a mess and yet you are coming to tell me that my son has a problem?! Who exactly do you think you are to make such accusations?"

Basil, unaware of why his mom was so angry, sat outside the door talking to the stuffed toys he had laid out in front of him."Why is mom so angry?" he whispered to the banana toy. " I dunno" he shrugged, faking a deep voice for the toy.

"Mrs. Xalvador... Basil has trouble empathizing with his peers and often gets into meaningless fights with them. Compared to the other children, it's difficult for us to help him solve his conflicts so we think it'd be better if you send him to a specialized institution for people like him" his kindergarten teacher continued warily.

"Ok...Mrs. please keep this a secret. I'll see what I can do" his mom responded before she left the classroom, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"Sweetie, come on, we're going home".

Basil quickly stood to his feet before dusting his knees and following his mom out of the brightly coloured building. She held his hands painfully tight till they were both seated in the car but he said nothing. The first few minutes of the drive back home were eerily silent till his mom suddenly faced him and asked,

"Basil honey, you're healthy, right? You don't need to see the doctor....right?"

Basil gave her a goofy smile, revealing his missing tooth."Uh-huh"

Asa; his mother then let out a relieved sigh before hugging him tightly. Horrible thoughts swarmed her mind as she mindlessly caressed her son's silver hair and the soft tips of his pointed ears.

Basil himself had admitted that he was fine and he was awfully smart for his age so he had to be correct. There was no way she was going to get her son checked up for a mental disorder. There was the high possibility that his nosy teacher was hinged and just saying nonsense but a part of her knew that the possibility of her son being mentally ill was still there and she couldn't afford yet another scandal tarnishing their royal image.

If he actually got diagnosed with something, he'd be labelled as her mental son and they'd be the laughingstock of the royal family and the town. No, she couldn't let that happen. It was better to just let the sleeping dog lie.

Of course, it was undoubtedly very foolish to ask a mere child questions like that about his/her mental health but at that moment, Asa just couldn't bring herself to care.

Basil never stepped foot in that kindergarten again.

Asa never took Basil to the doctor.