The Choice

"Do I sound like I'm joking Prince Athis?" Eden asked, frowning while slowly moving towards him.

"N- no, of course not. But I'm just saying that..." Athis replied in a trembling voice before the latter was interrupted by his brother.

"Eden waits a minute. Why are you going with this ... I mean Athis when I'm here? Aether asked in disbelief.

"Do I have a reason to go with you rather than him?" Eden replied while looking him straight in the eye.

As he met Eden's gaze, Aether felt uncomfortable. He didn't know if it was one of his skills but every time they met, there was this feeling inside him that told him not to break the relationship that he had built so hard with Eden. A relationship that had asked him to review his past that he had tried so hard to forget.

"O- Of course, after all, we are friends so it's normal to stay together"

"Is it because we're friends that I can't be friends with other people anymore?"

"N- No of course not but that's not the same" Aether continued to insist.

'Is it normal that the humans in this world only insist when there is something that doesn't go their way? What's wrong with them? Heck, learn to stop when it is necessary' Eden thought with a vein that was likely to burst on his forehead.

"If you insist so much, give me reasons not to go with him then," He asked as he crossed his arms, as Aether began to smile.

"In this case let me tell you why is it useless to go with someone that is worst than useless" Aether replied enthusiastically as Athis looked on the ground to avoid everyone's gaze while biting his lower lip.

"First of all, know that Athis does not influence the Empire. So if you go with him, some things may happen to you that you probably wouldn't like. Then he is so poor that you would laugh when you will see the state of his palace. He is so poor that he will be able to offer absolutely nothing and you will only go down by going with him. Ah, and most importantly, he still hasn't been to the academy so his powers are not developed. Not that it could anyway with his class. He also doesn't possess the magic of time so it's wondering if he even has the same blood as us" Aether concluded with a big grin.

'... So there is even an academy in this world. Ah, I want to go now. And then it feels what if it has nothing to offer. We can always solve this' Eden thought while having a smile on his face that destabilized the princes and the empress.

"I see, anything else?" Eden asked.

"N- no why? Wasn't I convincing enough?" Aether replied.

"No, on the contrary, your words are... convincing," Eden replied to Aether, who began to smile before that same smile faded away because of Eden's next words. "But I don't think I ever said that I was interested in this kind of thing. And if he still hasn't gone to the academy, it just means that he was still not old enough, and since we're about the same age, I could just go with him when the time comes, right? Eden asked turning toward the empress.

"*Sigh* Since it's your choice, I won't interfere, but are you sure? As Aether said, it's not the best choice if you want to have a quiet life" The Empress asked.

"I'm sure of my choice" Eden replied. "And then a life without any action is rather boring, don't you think? I'm sure you'd rather go hunting monsters and climb levels than do administrative work like you do now"

"You're indeed right, a boring life is not for people like us" Karaine replied while nodding. "So be it, you can go with Athis. He will be 17 years old in 5 days and you will of course be invited to his coming-of-age ceremony. You will go to the Academy 2 days after the ceremony so prepare all your belongings by then. And since no one intends to say anything else, everyone can go back to their business" the Empress concluded before clapping her hands and disappearing in front of everyone's eyes.

Seeing the empty throne, Eden found it hard to believe his eyes. He didn't think that time involved teleportation and especially instant teleportation. Most often, people teleported through portals connecting a point A with a point B, so even the empress disappearing with a simple clap of the hands made him quite perplexed. But he couldn't sit back and think about what she had done because of the people around him who seemed to love him far too much to let him wander in his thoughts.

"Eden, why do you want to go with him?" Aether asked. "If what you're looking for is to have fun then come with me, I'm sure I can satisfy you"

"Aether, just because I'm leaving with your brother doesn't mean we'll never see each other again, you know? You can always come to his palace. And then you know very well that even if I come with you we can hardly see each other. You are a prince and you have to attend to your duty. You have responsibilities."

"But still-" said Aether before being interrupted by Christian.

"Stop it Aether, you look like a kid. Your attitude is not worthy of a prince," Christian said before turning to Eden.

"As for you... Eden, I don't know why you chose him when you had us but I will respect your choice. However, don't come and complain when you see how incapable he is" he said before leaving the throne room, not even letting Eden answer him.

'Huh, is it me or he's always pessimistic? And what do they all have to meddle in the relation of another person? Eden thought before looking at Athis who avoided his gaze as soon as they had crossed paths. He then looked at Aether only to see him staring at the ground.

"*Sigh* Aether, stop being like this, you know very well that we are already friends so you hurt me by reacting like this. I would have preferred to have you supported me in my choices rather than take it as that" Eden said to Aether, who raised his head to look at him. "And then, in any case, I would have gone to the academy so we wouldn't have seen each other again for a very long time"

After looking at Eden's smile for a few moments, Aether decided to leave without saying a word. However, before going, he throws a furious glance at Athis which sends some shiver down his spine. He didn't have the level to confront his brother so it was a completely normal reaction.

After looking at Athis, he turned his gaze back to Eden and smiled at him. As he said, a friend is supposed to put up with the choices of his friends so he will try to do it, even if it would take him a lot of time. He had never liked Athis so it would be extremely hard for him. But for the sake of his friendship with Eden, he will try anyway.

'*Sigh* I hope everything will turn out good in the future' Eden thought as he saw Aether exit the throne room.

Once gone, only Eden and Athis remained in the throne room. Athis was looking at Eden's back. He wanted to tell him something but didn't know how to do it. Eden however, felt Athis' anxious look on his back, but he needed to clarify his thoughts before chatting with his future friend. It was as clear as water that Athis had a trauma, so he didn't want to go too fast for fear that he would never open up to him.

Not that it would encourage him to do so either. Eden wasn't the type to get people to talk about something they didn't want, so he'll wait for Athis to talk about his problems on his own. They had all their lives ahead of them after all so there was still time.

"S- Sir Eden, can you tell me why did you decide to choose me? My family is right when they told you that I was useless" Athis finally asked after having gathered the courage for this action.

"First, Athis, don't call me sir please, I feel like I'm old otherwise. And then we have the same age, right? So you don't have to care for etiquette" Eden replied with a smile. "Secondly, I would like to know how you are useless. I don't think Aether explained it to me well."

"Well, I am useless, I have no wealth, I have no political power or the time power of our family," Athis replied in a trembling voice.

"And why would I be interested in all this. I don't like to be dependent on one person in the first place so even if you had all the things in the world, I would have refused your help," Eden explained. "I prefer to win things by myself. Where is the merit if everything is served on a silver platter? And then you saw everything I had accumulated in terms of equipment, didn't you? It's only a matter of time before we can recognize your true value" Finished saying Eden before taking Athis' arm to take him outside.

"Mr. Eden what are you doing? Asked Athis who was caught off guard

"Let's see Athis, I've already told you to drop the sir right?" Eden replied while looking at Athis with a smile. "And then, I don't have anywhere to go so obviously we're going to your house," He said while laughing nervously.

Leaving the castle and heading towards Athis' carriage, the latter could not help but smile. His father had told him how good it was to have a friend and he was glad he had finally found someone who wanted to see him for who he was.

However, he did not want to open up directly to him. He was afraid of suffering if Eden was just playing with him, so he will wait to see how things will go in the near future