Banter Before the Party

"My brother always mentions his adventures outside the castle. Well, not really, I remember him talking to himself before about a certain well he found. He said he wanted to visit it one last time before he suddenly vanished. All I know is that it's in the forest, an abandoned well that has scriptures that he wishes to decipher. I wish to see it too and understand him a little and the reason he left but my frail body and my father would forbid it"

Frederick read as he and some of his knights inspected the vicinity of the fallen house that his son visited a day before.

"Are you certain that this is where Nicolas and that boy came from," he could only sigh, closing the book after seeing that it was the last entry that was ever written.

"Yes, your majesty. There is nothing else besides trees and wild boars pass this point, and of course, that grave over there," Orwell, Anton's former second-in-command and the new night commander, showed him the map.

"Is there a well here perhaps"

"There's one but I'm afraid it's already buried under the rubles of house. We can clean them but it would take us a day to do so"

"I don't care, I need to be certain of something"

Frederick can still remember his disappointed face as he descended to see things for himself. The bottom of the was deprived of any life, not a single alga, and certainly not a single scripture that he hoped to see. There's no signs of tampering either and that frustrated him even more as he sat on his study table. He can't help but itch to ask Nicolas what happened but he doubt that even if he already knows something, and interrogation will not bear fruit.

"Frederick, dear. Are you busy?" Natalia took him out of his fixation, "You've been staying up late for these past nights, are you okay?"

"Not really, I'm just making sure that the merchants won't be able to bare their fangs towards us again. How about Nicolas, how is he doing? Did he say anything about his little endeavor"

"Well, he seems to be doing well. He busies himself with the arrangement of the guest rooms for the Algernons and never mentioned anything"

"He's not acting like he's not himself is he"

"What is this about," Natalia took some of the papers from him and hid it under the cabinets.

"He vanishes for an entire day only to return with an injury, moreover, with the boy that he hates from the bottom of his soul. Don't you think he's the one who caused that—"

"Really? That's where you're at? Didn't it even occur to you that they might have been attacked? As you said, he hates the boy. Do you think he'd even bother to carry him back here if he's the one who did it," Natalia shushed him up, "You trust him when you're at the meeting table so why can't you trust him as a person? Think this over on the sofa tonight, I will not hear any of this when the guests arrives"

The day came as fast as if flipping the pages of a book, at least that was what Princess Meriane thought as she watched the scenery from the carriage, excited yet anxious on what the following days may bring.

"Welcome," Nicolas greeted the Algernons but as usual, their two princes are absent. He rarely saw them since and this is no exception.

"Are you looking for my brothers? Don't mind them, they are now busy with their fiancés after all. Always blabbing on how beautiful they are etcetera etcetera," Meriane gently lifted the sides of her red dress as she a curtsied.

"That's fine. This is my mother's day, Queen Herina is the most important guest here, and, because there is no other guess," Nicolas laughed. "Let me call Marie, she'll show you to your room."

"Won't you be showing us personally?"

"Uhm… Well, the feast will not be happening until tonight and I still have my lessons I need to cover. You know, from most of the visiting days, right Anton?" he waved at the man as he approached.

"Lessons?"

"Yes, we're about to go right?" Nicolas smiled at Meriane as he stabbed Anton's side with his elbow.

"Ow— Oh, right the lessons, yes"

They were about to leave when out of nowhere, Frederick and Ferrol caught wind of their conversation, "There will be no lessons for today"

"But father"

"What's happening dear?" Queen Natalia and Queen Herina also joined the conversation.

"Well, I'm just letting our son the day off he desired from his lessons, in fact he's not going to have lessons today or for the rest of the week."

Nicolas tried pleading his case but with the Queen agreeing with the King, there's nothing else he could do, "Isn't this great Nicolas. This certainly does not come regularly, maybe it is time for all of us to relax"

Nicolas expected help from his butler but he's now out of sight, minding with his own business on a corner with Selene. "VERY reliable," he thought before facing the princes and offering his arm, "Well then, shall we go, princess"

"And Son, after you showed them to their rooms, take the princess on a stroll around the castle. I'm sure she already forgot her last visit. Anton you're needed here," King Frederick mandated, separating the man and Selene.

Nicolas tried hard to keep a hold of his temperament even though it seems like the world is preventing him from having one peaceful day. "Yes father," he replied before once again inviting the princess.

"Is Uncle giving you a hard time again. I can talk to him if you want," Meriane whispered to him, noticing the graze on his cheeks, "A— are you injured?"

"A little, you might not want to pull too much on my shoulder though, I got in a little bit of a mess a few days back"

"You should have said sooner," she retracted her hand but Nicolas assured her that it's fine.

"No, it's fine, but to answer your first question, Not really, if that's the way he'll treat you every day for 9 years, you'll get used to it, eventually," Nicolas sarcastically replied trying to make a laugh out from what he said.