Forbidden Thoughts

After finishing his tutoring session, Carlos happily made his way to the dining room, hoping for a delicious meal to reward his hard work.

He hadn't spotted any servants for a while now, he looked left and right before grinning and skipping happily into the dining room but he paused abruptly right before he entered the room.

Sweat starting dripping down Carlos's face, his face turned pale, it felt as if a lump was stuck in his throat, he struggled to speak out a word when he had spotted his parents sitting at the head of the dining table that was usually empty.

Calming himself down and not let panic drown him, he looked up straight ahead as he put on a blank face and walked quietly into the dining room, locacting his seat and standing near it.

"Mum, dad." he greeted with a clear and loud voice, he sat down when he had gotten the approval to do so.

The dining table that was usually filled with laughter and havoc was so quiet that they could hear a pin drop. Everybody looked down on their plates as they swallowed down their meals that seemed appetizing but was now bland and tasteless due to the fear they felt.

"Claude, how is your practice going?" father asked, his voice piercing through the silent air.

Claude did not waver as he looked up confidently and gave a solid reply. "Need improvements but I'll manage."

The king furrowed his eyebrows like he was deciphering the hardest puzzle of his life. He turned to the well-behaved Carlos and smiled sinisterly. "Carlos, how are you managing?" he asked.

Unlike his brother, Carlos trembled a little but it was not too obvious that people could pinpoint. He slowly looked up while wrecking his brain to prepare a satisfactory answer. "I believe I'll do well this term like every other term." he said, brimmimg with confidence.

The king nodded as his eyebrows relaxed, he was obviously pleased with Carlos's answer that sounded confident and much more promising than Claude's.

The king didn't even bat an eye to Aiden who was sitting silent as ever at the table as he swallowed down the hard meat.

The rest of the dinner was quiet until it had ended when the king and queen left. When their footsteps faded away, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at each other to celebrate their 'victory'.

Everyone was focused on one thought, 'We survived' however Carlos was completely thinking about a different matter. 'This won't do, I can't stay here, not like this.' his hands could be seen shaking visibly.

Aiden reached out his hands and held his little brother cold hands that were trembling. "Are you alright?" he asked with his voice that was pleasing to the ears, it sounded like a string of harmonious melody every time he spoke.

Doing the thing Carlos had never ever expected to do, he lied for the first time to his siblings. "I'm fine." he said with his usual bright smile and removing his hands from Aiden.

"I think I might have indigestion!" he joked before leaving the dining room, placing his hands over his stomach to indicate his stomachache.

"Thank the heavens, I thought he was so scared that his hands starting shaking." Aiden leaned back on his chair as a sign of relief.

"I did too. However, turns out that he just had indigestion." Claude said, trying to hold in his laughter.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Carlos chanted quietly to himself while rushing up the stairs as quick as he could.

When he had reached his room, he opened the door swiftly and shut the door tight, locking it. He than breathed heavily, the world seem to be spinning to him. He leaned on the door as he slide down slowly. His hands over his head, his whole body was shaking tremendously.

After a while, Carlos put his head back on the door. Closing his eyes, thoughts exploded in his mind. He could feel his father's chilling eyes piercing through him as if he was being inspected, criticized and riduculed.

Even though the king's expression changed to a softer one, but it felt even more ominous and wicked than when he had consulted Claude. It made Carlos whole body go cold, he bit his lips to create pain to distract himself from the memories from earlier.

"I can't stay here like this." he mumured out, staring at his wardrobe, he gulped and stood up and began searching for his bag.

Just than, a knock was heard on his door and a familiar voice called out to him. "Carlos? It's me, Helbert." a concern voice said when he had realized the door was locked.

Carlos stopped his searching and tidied up his wardrobe the best he could for now and shut the door. He walked to his bedroom door and unlocked it, a smile forming on his face as he prepared to greet his butler.

"Helbert! I thought you would be angry at me for throwing a tantrum earlier!" he chirped, "I'm sorry for my childishness earlier.." he aplogized shyly.

"All is fine, Carlos. I understand what you feel." the butler said, "Would you mind if I have some time to clean your room?" he asked politely.

"Ah!" Carlos turned around and looked at the wardrobe with a worried look. "Sure, come in" he said, hiding his panic.

The butler walked into his young master's room and closed the door behind him before going over to the cabinet and changing out the water in the kettle. He paused and smiled, "Carlos, you're so mature, knowing how to apologize when you know you're in the wrong is impressive."

The smile on Carlos face wavered nervously, "Ah, thank you." he replied. He stared at his hands blankly before snapping out of it.

"Can I really..not go out? Not even..for a trip?" Carlos asked.

This time, the butler made a displeased look on his face. "No. The king orders are absolute, you are not allowed access to leave the castle from now on, even the garden" he informed Carlos of the disappointing news.

Carlos eyes widened in shock as he rushed over to Helbert. "What do you mean?!" so shocked that his voice was rising in volume without him knowing.

"I had informed him of your shameful conduct for asking such.. questions about leaving. He acknowledged it as a sign of your rebellion and ordered knights and servants to deny your exit from tomorrow onwards." the butler said before leaving as he knew that Carlos would be upset with his tattletale to the king.

"Helbert?!" he yelled out as he reached for the door knob and opened it to chase after his butler but he was nowhere to be seen.

Carlos couldn't afford to lose his freedom even more now when he desperately needed it more than ever. Thinking of his last resort, he made his way to his father's office. He wasn't looking for his father but his assistant instead.

"Mr Ferid..?" Carlos quietly said, knocking on the door of the assistant's room.

"Who is it? Come in." the person replied.

The assistant was astonished to see the highly spoken prince of Vuiton to be standing infront of him, looking for him.

"Ah! I apologiz-" he was cut off by a bright smile on Carlos's face.

"It's alright, I auctually need.. To ask for a favor." Carlos said.

"I'll do anything in my power to help you Prince Carlos!"