Chapter 67:Kovir and Povis. 1/2

Albert walked around the city, listening and overhearing the conversations of strangers passing by.

Most of the talk was mainly focused on King and his demise, there were no hateful comments about him as being a foul king, and most of the people that Albert met admired their king.

"It's such a sad event that our king is not with us anymore. He was a great man. We never lived this way before him, but even his time came. Hopefully, his son will return soon and take the mantle of his father to continue the legacy." said one of the strangers on the street with some sadness in his voice, with his shoulders slightly down.

The sighing man that walked next to him replied, "I wish you are right brother, I wish you are right. I have seen Royal Prince Baldwin not too far back in time, he was in one of the orphanages in the city teaching kids, he seemed like a nice man, hopefully, he will be the one to come back and take the mantle of his father." The man looked at the sky and furrowed slightly, inquiring, "But where is he now?"

His brother shrugged his shoulders and replied unaware "I don't know, there was a fuss about something a month or something ago. I guess he is on some kind of job or royal mission"

"Hopefully you are right and he will return very soon. After all, this is his father." Replied the man and continued walking towards the centre of the city.

Under Albert's hood, a smile appeared on his face, and with a whisper, he said aloud, "Interesting"

Albert walked towards the orphanage that those people mentioned seeing what was up in this place. Information from the man caught Alberts's attention. Before that, he didn't really have a chance to see nobles other than those from Redania, Kaedwen and Temeria. Most of the time, they were nasty people that were really passionate about their likes and very aggressive towards their dislikes.

So hearing about a side that he hadn't seen in the nobles so far caught his attention, and without wasting time, Albert walked into the orphanage.

As soon as he did, he was met with a ghostly silence atmosphere. Not something you would expect from a place such as this. Even before entering, Albert noticed that the place was not short of funds. They lived in a solid brick building that provided warmth in the winter and protected them from blaming the sun.

Upon entering, he saw nobody in the lobby like area. There was nobody there. Walking around the building notices faint sounds coming from behind one door.

Slightly opening it, he saw rows of benches where a lot of kids were sitting. Looking for more, he opened the door a bit more and looked inside.

But before he could do anything the door created a creaking sound-making everyone in the room, turn their heads in his direction.

Wearing an awkward smile on his face, Albert froze for a second, not exactly knowing what to do next. That was until an elderly woman walked close to him. She had wrinkles all around her face. Her palms were also covered in wrinkles, showing that she was in fact quite old, but also there were a lot of calluses showing that she does a lot of work with her hands.

Despite that, her eyes were friendly and loving. Showed no hate for interrupting the session about what they were doing. Albert was welcomed with a warm smile.

Saying nothing, she dragged him inside and make his seat on one of the benches next to the kids that were present there. The kids that were present there didn't have cheerful smiles on their faces. Some of the girls had their eyes wet and some of the boys were squeezing their hands tightly.

Staying silent, Albert paid attention to whatever the elderly lady is going to say.

"Sorry kids, we got interrupted, but let's continue. I know all of you are sad over the news that rushed through the city like a storm, about your brother's father being dead and your brother not appearing here for long enough. Let's take a minute of silence to pay respect to King Estril and pray for the return of Prince Baldwin"

Before the minute of silence could start, one of the kids shouted, "But what if brother Baldwin won't return! We haven't seen him in several months, neither he was seen by anyone in the city."

The woman's eyes looked at the kid strictly and, putting her finger to her lips, she showed him to stay silent.

The kid dropped to the bench and looked down at the floor with his hand on his knees, squeezing his legs tightly.

The minutes passed in silence with no one opening their mouths. The required time passed, the woman said.

"Kids, I know that it might be a hard time for you, but all you can do now is just make a wish before you sleep for your friend's quick return. Alright?"

The kids replied with dimmed voices, "Yes"

Albert stay seated on the bench waiting for all the kids to leave the room and leave him alone with an elderly woman one on one. It didn't take long for all the kids to leave.

Albert stood and approached her with a slight bow. "Greetings, I'm Albert and it is a pleasure to meet you"

The woman replied with a slight smile, "You don't need to be familiar with me. I'm Rami, I look after kids here. So what can I help you with, young man?"

"I was just curious about your relationships with Prince Baldwin?" replied Albert, moving straight to the topic.

"Oh, why might I ask you want to know about this?" inquired Rami, looking into Albert's eyes.

Albert smiled and replied with a humble voice, "Just curious"

"Well, there is nothing bad in telling you, he is a nice young man. I guess he found some support in those children that live here. Royal Queen was not lucky enough to stay by his side, leaving him alone with his father, who was busy with the things in the kingdom and hardly ever had time to spend with his child, even with loving him with all of his heart. He valued his title before the family," replied Lady, smiling to herself and looking like she was dwelling on the memories.

"This is unexpected" Albert voiced his honest opinion hearing about a young royal that didn't spend his youth wasting money and doing some silly stuff.

"Anyway, I need to prepare for the announcement in the central square soon. So if you excuse me," said Rami and walked away from the room leaving Albert alone.

When she was gone, Albert looked at the corner of the room where 2 small eyes were peeking at their talk with Rami.

"Kid, walk out of there," said Albert, looking in the direction where a minute ago his head was stuck out.

The response was silence.

With a sigh, Albert appeared behind the boy silently. The kid started to look around, seeing how the stranger disappeared in one moment, leaving nothing behind himself.

The kid said aloud, "Where the hell is he"

Knocking on the shoulder of the kid, Albert said, "Excuse me"

*Aaaa*

The kid turned around as his face showed a scared expression with his mouth open and eyes wide as a coin. He tried to punch Albert on the impulse as soon as seeing something he didn't understand.

"Get away ghost" shouted the kid, trying to hit Albert with his tiny palms. All of his attacks were avoided masterfully by a few centimetres.

Catching both of his hands in his, Albert stared down at the kid and said in a calm, but strict voice, "Calm down"

The kid kept on panicking for a minute before eventually calming down and relaxing a bit. But as soon as he did, the kid started to ask, "Why did you speak about brother Baldwin? Why did you come here? Who are you?"

"Shhh, calm down, kid. What is your name?" inquired Albert, looking at the kid.

The kid blabbered something under his breath, making it impossible to hear for Albert.

"I didn't hear you," said Albert, looking at the kid with his hands across his chest.

"Selost" replied Kid quietly, seeming to look offended by the Albert acts.

"Kid, you were the one to start your act, not me, and now you want to stay the one to be hurt? Your actions don't make any logic," said Albert.

Selost stayed silent, looking down at the floor.

"Alright, I will leave," said Albert, making his way towards the door.

As soon as his hand touched the handle of the door, Selos quickly asked, "Do you know where is brother Baldwin?"

Albert slightly smiled and without turning his head around he said, "You will be able to see him quite soon."

Straight after that, Albert disappeared into thin air.

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