Chapter 2

As the prince steps out and the crowd started to whisper with each other.

"Oh my~"

"who?"

"Is this the young prince?"

"Is it?" the crowd whisper with each other.

Kiel looks at the crowd and smiles politely while following the knights back to the castle with Yuran behind him. The news of the prince's first and sudden public appearance spread quickly and became the talk of the town.

As soon as the news reached the king, he quickly called for his youngest son.

Yuran knocks on his door. Kiel opens the door with an excited grin "yes?~ am I called by my father?"

Yuran sighs "yes, your highness."

Kiel grins wider "Lead the way~"

Yuran lightly scoffs at the prince's mischievousness. "Hey if I was a different prince you wouldn't dare do that in front of me" Kiel spoke, catching his scoff as he continued to walk confidently, stopping in front of his father's office.

He knocks before entering "you called? Father?" He steps in and the king sighs before looking at him. "What did I say about keeping a low profile"

"well.. I thought it was about the right time-"

"who gave you the right to decide that?" The king raises his voice a little before sighing. "it can't be undone. I'll let this go for now, but don't do anything reckless again" the king grabs some documents.

"Here's the information of the royal family of the Dremine. Study it and make a good impression." The king hands him the documents.

Kiel takes them and takes a look, skimming through it and looking at the pictures.

"How's your studies?" The king asks as he signed some documents.

"Father, about the alchemy. What are we aiming for?" Kiel looks up from the documents.

"I assume you've seen the plan that we are planning to restart the project we failed a long time ago. We're taking in some human subjects to turn them into a weapon when war comes"

"war?" Kiel furrows his eyes

"Yes, I don't suppose you thought that peace will last forever?.. of course we won't be the cause. But it will be our secret weapon, so no one can touch us" the king explains.

Kiel bites his lower lip, feeling furious and angered by his intentions. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm down. "I understand."

"Father, if there isn't anything else, I'll be taking my leave" Kiel bows before taking his leave.

Heading back to his room, the prince let out a sigh. He placed the documents on his table. Intending to go over it some other time as he now lays down on the bed for a bit before sitting up, feeling restless he heads out of the door.

"Yuran~ I want to practice" Kiel smiles childishly.

Yuran glances at him "oh? All of a sudden?.. alright"

"Also, I heard Lucas visited the other day, looking for you, but the Queen said you were busy and to not disturb you" he informs him.

Kiel lightly smirks "ooh, I see. It's a pity, you weren't able to see him" he teases and Yuran blushes. Yuran may or may not have taken a liking to the mentioned boy. Lucas was the son of a duke who also happens to be a trusted loyal follower of the king who was also a great contributor to Tallis' power hence why they were welcome in the castle. Lucas was one of Kiel's few friends.

Kiel runs a hand through his hair "I'll go get changed. You may join me in practice" Kiel closes the door and quickly changes, wearing a black and red top along with black pants and boots. He heads out with Yuran and make their way to the training field full of equipments. There were multiple kinds of weapons, such as swords, spear, claymore, and bows. Kiel looks over at the weapons, thinking wear to start. He grabs a sword, giving it a feel before putting it down, skipping over the spear and lifting the claymore. "Hmm" he turns to Yuran.

"Yuran, have you used a Claymore before?"

"No sir, It is not my type of weapon"

"then do you prefer swords like Rapier?" Kiel places the claymore down and picks up the rapier, pointing it at Yuran as he asked.

"Uhh, I prefer.. normal swords"

Kiel puts down the rapier and picks up the bow, getting into position and stretching the string, aiming. "Alright" he grabs a small bag, filling it with some arrows before walking over to the archery area.

He had good aim and was skilled in archery, as well as swords. He was more on the lighter side of things, preferring to fight with a light stance and move easily rather than a heavy and rock like stance. Yuran watches him fondly as he wasn't good in archery himself. "You know, I cant use the bow. My hands shake a lot" Yuran comments.

Kiel, unfazed, hit the target once again as he spoke "I guess I'm just blessed with stable hands.." Kiel smiles as he shot one last arrow before putting it down and turning to Yuran.

"Mmm, I don't think that's it" Yuran spoke as he fixes the tools for him.

Kiel turns around as he hears some footsteps and he sees a maid who looked flustered and surprised by the eye contact. "u-uhh, your highness, Prince Keyon is looking for you"

"Ah, is that so.." Kiel trails off curiously before smiling brightly "alright, thanks for informing me. Where is he now?"

"Well he was looking around for you, he asked me for your whereabouts in the library and I offered to come get you. He's probably waiting there" she placed her hands behind her back, still blushing.

"Alright, I'll head there in a bit" Kiel lightly pats the maids arm who flinched lightly at the action which didn't go unnoticed by the prince. "Ah- I'm sorry. It's a habit of mine" Kiel quickly retracts his hand and apologizes "no! Don't apologize" the maid quickly says.

Kiel smiles and hums before looking back at Yuran who finished fixing the weapons.

"Let's go, Yuran" Kiel unbuttoned his coat as he walked back to the castle with the maid followed behind them.

Soon, they reached the library and Keyon was sitting there with his legs crossed over another while reading a book with one hand and straight posture.

"You were looking for me?" Kiel stops in front of him.

Keyon looks up with a smile "Yes, i was. I heard about what happened, how was it?" He puts his book down.

"Hm? What do you mean? Are you referring to the people or the scenery?" Kiel sits down on the seat in front of him.

"Everything. Although I know it isn't your first time out. But it's the first father has heard of it"

Kiel shrugs "well of course. Do you think I can really sit around in the castle all day? If you knew why didn't you tell on me"

"it's cause I pity you of course" Keyon leans back on his seat.

Kiel frowns "I really hate that word." He spoke as he stretches casually.

Keyon only chuckles "Pitiful really." Keyon smiles.

"I'm not pitiful" Kiel looks at him seriously.

"You're miserable." Keyon smiles fondly. Clearing enjoying pissing off the younger.

Kiel glared at Keyon. "If you have nothing important to say, I'll get going" he gets up.

"You know the reason father doesn't want to show you to the public, right?" Keyon starts.

"He's planning to use you as the final product of the project. Of course after it's successful and after sacrificing all those people. Heh, I told you." Keyon continues.

Kiel listens to him but decides not to react to it. It's not like everything his brother ever said was true. He ignored him and headed out of the library. Yuran following after and looking back at Keyon who watched them leave with an unreadable expression. Yuran glances at Kiel who also had an unreadable expression.

The prince runs a hand through his hair as he headed to his room. Soon arriving, he turns to Yuran "you can take a break first. Don't worry I won't leave my room till dinner time. I'll be studying some documents" Kiel spoke seriously before entering. He grabs the documents with a pissed off expression as he gritted his teeth. He tried to relax himself, trying to forget about the talk as he sat on his chair and read through the documents which consisted of the history of the royal family of Dremine.

As the young prince was reading over the document and taking note of important things he placed the papers aside before getting up and walking towards his cabinet, opening a small compartment and taking out a classified book he had stolen from the library before they were able to get rid of it. He opened a page and bit his thumb nail out of habit. He smiles as he read over it and lets out a chuckle before closing it and placing it back. He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair. "It's ridiculous. Human transmutation.. really" he locks the cabinet and glances at the small family picture he had which appeared to be rusty and damaged. "What would Lucas think.." he looks to the side "I wonder if he'll be coming over at the gathering in a few days?.. mm probably, father really likes to show off" he talks to himself.

A few hours passed and there was a knock on his door, calling him for dinner. He fixed himself and headed over to the dining room, making sure to put on his act so his parents wouldn't be worried about him for the coming meeting. He was the last one to arrive. Again. Adelinde sighs heavily "why is it that you always take long to arrive" the Queen comments.

Kiel only smiles and lets out an awkward laugh. "Maybe it's because my room is the farthest?" He spoke politely as he sits down beside his brother. "Not that I'm complaining though... uhh I'll be on time next time"

Time flies and soon it was morning again and Kiel groans as he feels the sun on his face as if telling him to wake up. He was stubborn though and stayed in bed for a few more minutes before hearing a banging on his door. "Kiel! I swear to god your parents are gonna murder me if you don't wake up this instant!" It was Yuran.

Kiel only groans once again and refuses to move, feeling too comfortable as he stretches on the bed sleepily.

"Ugh, the Duke Alpheus and his son are coming over alright, so get up. Lucas will be looking for you again" Yuran looks around to make sure no one was around to be doing this. At the mention of the name, Kiel forced himself up, rubbing his eyes while yawning and stretching.

"Alright alright, you don't have to be so loud" opening the door with his messy bed hair and puffy face.

Yuran heaved a heavy sigh and pushes him inside his room, "fix yourself up in the bathroom, I'll get your clothes." Yuran goes over to his closet and picks out his usual 'prince' outfit.

Kiel lazily heads to the bathroom with heavy steps and does his routine, taking a bath and fixing himself up. He leaves the bathroom, ruffling his wet hair to grab some clothes. Yuran hands him the clothes and pushes him back to the bathroom to change. They were close but it just wasn't proper in Yuran's mind to see the prince even half naked, he had no right.

Kiel gets changed and heads out "are we good now?"

"Yes let's go" Yuran escorts Kiel to the dining room as usual.

"Kiel.." Adelinde starts, "yes yes I know I'm sorry for being late again. I'm not a morning person" Kiel resists the urge to roll his eyes.

The Queen hums and takes a sip of her morning tea. Kiel goes over to sit beside his brother as usual and they all began eating. In the middle of their breakfast, there was a knock from the door and the butler entered "Your highness, the Alpheus family has arrived. Shall I escort them to the meeting room?" The butler bows.

"Yes please. Tell them I'll be right there" the king spoke, finishing up his food as the butler leaves. The king gets up "Kiel , follow me to meet with the Alpheus would you? You are great friends with his son, correct?"

Kiel looks over at him as he finished his food, "ah, yes father"

Kiel follows his father to the meeting room. As they entered, the duke and his son immediately stood up and bowed at the sight of the king. Kiel follows behind and sits beside his father hesitantly. The duke and the king began to talk about the matters regarding the kingdoms weapon supplies.

Kiel turned his gaze to Lucas who was also looking at him and smiles at the eye contact.

"Indeed, although there is a matter I must bring up. One of our deliveries were said to be ambushed by a group of Crawlers." He states.

Like how every realm had their own pests to deal with, so did the Woodland realm. Crawlers were once human beings who got corrupted and infected by the so called dark magic. It's source still unclear but these creatures walk around the thick forest surrounding Tallis, hideous looking creatures as they would say and people who have come across them had describe them to have no eyes and nose, only a mouth with huge sharp teeth, their backs hunched back, skin greasy and slime like. As the name suggested, they crawl on all fours.

For the Night realm, theirs were creatures called the Despair; namely beings that have reached their lowest point and have lost all human form, only to be reincarnated as a grimly looking creature.

The king tilts his head although keeps calm "is that so? I'll take note of that and let my man patrol the surrounding area. How odd. The mist are supposedly enough to block them. Have they mutated?" The king mutters.

The mist acted as a camouflage to block the sight and sense of smell of the crawlers.

"Father.. if I may. Based on the reports, our barrier may have weakened which causes them to be able to go further into the forest." The king looks at Kiel with an acknowledging hum. Only the people of direct descendant of the royal family had the power to control the mist. To be able to generate them, control their path and density.

"Alright, I'll research more on this matter after the wedding. I wouldn't want to spoil my sons important days. Kiel, you may spend time with Lucas. Duke Alpheus and I will discuss some other matters" the king places a hand on the young prince's shoulders while the Duke nods at his son to go ahead.

"Alright father"

Kiel gets up, waiting for Lucas and the two eventually head out. As soon as they got out of the room and the doors closed, Lucas let out a breath "that was scary.. the king is truly something. I always feel tongue tied in his presence" Lucas comments with a small laugh as the two walked.

Kiel laughs as well. "Even I am intimidated by him sometimes, don't worry"

Lucas looks around "where's Yuran?"

"Oh, he was called to the knight's headquarters. Probably to discuss the same matter as your father brought up. Why?" Kiel tries to hide his teasing smirk.

"Well he's always trailing behind you so it's weird without him" Lucas shrugs. "But at least I have you all to myself now" Lucas grins and Kiel playfully roles his eyes "You sure you aren't disappointed that he's not here?"

Lucas laughs "don't worry, this time I really came for you. I have something to tell you" Lucas says and looks forward, seeing a figure approaching. It was Keyon.

Lucas bows before standing straight up with a polite smile "congratulations on your engagement, prince Keyon"

Keyon looks at the two and returns the smile. "Thank you. It's good to see you Lucas. I just hope you two aren't up to trouble again"

"Oh don't worry, we have to be on our best behavior. Especially since the Royal family of the Night realm are coming over. The kingdom needs to be perfect, right? So there's no room for that" Lucas grins.

If you think Keyon or Kiel had a bad attitude, Lucas was worse. But of course he knows when he should be proper too and he is good to people who have earned his trust and loyalty. Which is Kiel since the two have known each other since they were kids and Lucas would even visit him when he didn't live in the main castle yet.

"Alright, I'll trust you on that. I'll get going, enjoy your stay" With that, Keyon proceeds to walk.

Lucas glares at Keyon's back as he walks passed them. The two made their way over to Kiel's room. Kiel enters first and Lucas follows. Both sitting on his bed.

"So what happened" Kiel spoke first as he watches Lucas.

"Okay so. You think the Nightrealm knows what we're hiding?.. I mean I assume you know that.. you know.." Lucas trails off, avoiding to mention it.

"I heard they started looking for people to experiment on. They're looking for children. Around the age of 4 to 7. They say it's because their body responds faster" Lucas looks at him.

"They're too cruel" Kiel could only rub his forehead before getting up and grabbing his book and handing it over to Lucas. "Are they really risking everything for this? Why spend time and knowledge making weapons for war rather than figuring out how to solve conflicts and kill the crawlers" Lucas spoke as he takes the book. Opening it and skimming through the pages. It was a record of the past failed experiments they had done.

"Our kingdom apparently cares more on how powerful other realms see us" Kiel shifts on his seat to lean closer to Lucas.

Lucas sighs "you know my father opposed to it though. It's just the King who is really pushing and you know he can't go against him" Lucas closes the book and hands it back to him. "But who cares. We're gonna die soon anyways so that's not our problem. Good luck to the next generation" Lucas lays on the bed and Kiel hits him with the book "don't say that" he frowns.

"Okay okay, let's not talk about this" Lucas sits up and fixes the prince's sleeve. "Just know I got your back though, okay?"

——- Dremine ———

At the first morning call of the birds chirping outside, the young prince groaned and rolled over to the other side of his bed that faced away from the window. "Oh, curse this light…" he muttered in a low, raspy tone that was almost unrecognisable from his usual voice compared to last night.

Marshall secretly pictured the Sun Realm waking up at the crack of dawn in full spirits to worship their beloved shine of an orbit, and he absolutely despised it to no end as he slowly sat up to face reality of another day. The Night Palace worked in many wondrous ways, for one, the royal family did not have any physical form of servants but instead ran a system in which they were served by shadows. In this case, shadows were friendly beings that have worked as underlings for them since ancient times till now and only ever begin to appear near evening when the Sun goes down. Other than that, everyone works their way around in their own way; it was also a matter of principle that the family members could do simple things such as dress themselves or serve tea without help of a servant. So, Marshall began his day first by closing the curtains. After a cold shower, the male made his way down the staircase to the dining room where he would have breakfast.

"Last one there is a rotten apple!" a lively one exclaimed from behind him, to which the volume gave him a fright as he immediately turned around to find it was none other than Camilla, who was still in her nightgown. The prince had almost, if not completely forgotten that his oldest sister was now staying in the palace until their trip to Tallis, as there was no point of the princess consistently travelling back and forth from her base to the palace.

"Camilla, you cheat!" he exclaimed irritably, watching the female shamelessly abuse her powers by blending in with the small shadows behind the staircase to get down quicker as the doors to the dining room slammed open from the gush of wind. As he ran after her, Marshall was met with the content stare of his mother and took his seat next to his sister, praying for no lecture so early in the day. "Well, I was worried that the long distance between you two would've made things difficult, but you get along just fine," the Queen began with a smile, and sipped her tea quietly.

The King wasn't present at the table since he was already occupied with paperwork in his study room, as all Kings are. So, he ate his meals separately from the family in order to work diligently.

The two were unaware that their mother could hear everything the two shared even if they were whispering because no one else inhabited the vicinity except the family themselves. "Camilla don't think I didn't hear you running down the stairs earlier. And for that, you can go ahead and practice etiquette with me till noon," the Queen stated, earning a clear response of shock from her daughter.

"What? That's not fair," Camilla complained, but quickly quietened since talking back was even worse. If there was only one person who would discipline someone such as herself, it was the Queen alone. Not even the King could do so, since he didn't understand enough of royalty in a woman's perspective to teach her of these matters, so he only focused on Ayu and Marshall.

Just as the two women were about to leave the dining room, the Queen turned back to relay one last thing, "Marshall, there is a letter waiting for you in the lounge room. Be sure to read it after you finish breakfast," she ordered. "Yes, mother," he obeyed then sat back down to drink the remaining of his tea.

Stood at the entrance to the room, Marshall stepped inside and walked towards the glass table next to the couch to find a paper with the initials 'R.A' written on it. Full of curiosity, he picked it up then flipped it to find a small message, "Library. Bring… mask?" he read aloud confusedly, but soon understood it and grinned enthusiastically. Not wasting any more time, the male rushed to grab his mask in his bedroom and made his way above the palace. There could only be one person who would send him this letter, and they would always visit in the morning for some strange reason, but he couldn't care less and still made the effort to meet them in this closed area of his home. The library was of abnormally huge size, yet it was rarely used by any of the family and was located at the very top of the palace; almost considered as the attic at one point.

"Rei!" the male exclaimed, bursting through the doors. To his expectation, the person with pearly white hair turned around and smiled brightly as they waved towards him, "Hey, Marshall!" they greeted and hopped off the windowsill.

"I wasn't expecting you at all. It really took me by surprise," the prince told truthfully and took a seat on the couch with them.

"Oh, really? Sorry about that then" the shorter male giggled. It was the fact that they didn't need to apologise at all since he really didn't mind. Rei Ashford, or Rei, was someone very interesting to Marshall. The first time they met was quite whimsical too. About two years ago from now, the said latter was on duty one night and happened to run into the other during his training; they were severely hurt from the situation and so the young male brought them back to the palace. More so, the library that they were in now, and treated Rei's wounds. Whether it be coincidence or fate, they both got along well despite their differences. Rei never saw the prince's face and it was decided best to keep it that way. No one in the royal knew of this friendship at all and that was more as to why Marshall found it precious to him.

"It's fine. What are you up too? Is the forge doing well?" he asked, face resting against his palm and staring with full attention.

"Oh, the shop? It's alright, I guess. Dad is always busy running it and now I am too, but I'm not as good as him with the whole blacksmith business. I end up reeking the smell of coal everyday now unless I double shower," Rei sighed, but they were happy to see he found this entertaining to have earned a laugh or two.

"Yeah but, I'm sure it's not as amazing as what you do, Marshall. You probably do way cooler things like fencing, archery, horse riding, even writing old calligraphy!" they insisted with a sparkle in their eyes.

"Ah, I suppose. It's not that great as you make it sound though," the prince chuckled, yet that didn't sound convincing enough.

"No way! You're amazing, I know it." Rei stood their ground on what they said and wouldn't take 'No' as an answer. Although this was just innocent praise, Marshall could feel his face heat up not only from the overflowing shower of compliments but also from how close their faces were just then.

"Stop that, Rei… it's embarrassing," the male mumbled, his head turned away as they enjoyed the moment. He only acted this way in front of them and no one else since only Rei was able to make him feel this flustered without even trying. It was a shame they were so different, but that didn't matter to him at all. Young love was sure cruel to say the least.

For the rest of the day, the two of them spent it with joyous chatter; simply catching up with one's life and joking around until the Sun began to set.

It always felt as though time stopped whenever the two were together alone in the library. No rules, no status, nor were either in peril or the other not; just two people who lived contrasting lives yet held grand dreams for the future.

"I want to become a knight," Rei admitted distantly, clearly deep in thought though their words were definitely not left unnoticed by the young male.

It was a whole two seconds before he found the voice to respond, "A knight?" he retorted curiously, head moved up but was yet tilted back in its original position since the shorter was braiding a small piece of his raven locks to pass time.

"Mn, you see, my brother is a knight. He serves the Eastern wing of the Night Realm so I barely get to see him…but I thought that if he could do it then, maybe someone such as myself could also achieve becoming a knight," the shorter spoke sincerely, there was a hint of hesitation behind their voice, so Marshall knew to take them seriously.

"I see…" he commented shortly; all that ran through the prince's mind was that Rei's brother must have served Camilla then, so he could somewhat relate to not being able to see her often as she is a chief commander after all.

"Well, if that's what you want then I'll undoubtedly support you. But I never knew you liked fighting?" he added, scarlet eyes constantly observing their careful fingers fold each strand of hair over the other.

"Ahh, you're right. I'm not exactly fond of the whole concept of war and bloodshed, however, I want to be more than just a blacksmith. I want to mark my place in this kingdom and maybe create a safer place for everyone to live in," Rei laughed, yet soon began to stir off topic due to embarrassment from suddenly spilling their motives too casually. Though, what they didn't catch on was the fact that the taller, if possible- and it was, fell harder for the snowy haired male during this. "…I think that's a wonderful aspiration to have," he muttered under his breath, faced away from them.

Nevertheless, Rei heard it all and couldn't help but smile brightly, "You think so? I'm glad. I never told this to anyone, not even my friends," the shorter giggled. It would be a lie if Marshall said he never felt a slight tinge of jealousy or curiosity whenever the other brought up any mention of their friends, in fact, there were times he would forget that Rei wasn't from the palace but instead lived outside where the rest of society was.

A thought came across his mind, however, concerning the trip that would occur in a few days no less. "Actually, there's something I need to tell you," the prince began and fixed his seat on the couch to face them front forward, "What is it?" Rei answered almost instinctively, then proceeded to braid another piece of his raven locks. This time, he wanted their complete attention, so he held their hand to briefly pause, and they looked up obediently.

"Listen, I'm going to the Woodland realm in three days' time so don't come to the palace until I return," he explained quietly.

At first, their face was blank then it formed into a surprised expression, "What? All of a sudden? Why are you going to Tallis?" they shot up from their comfortable position in the matter of a second upon this news, which disappointed him a little inside since he found it adorable for them to use his lap as a head rest. Well, good things never lasted long anyways. "There's family business I must attend too, and I don't exactly have a choice whether or not to go," Marshall sighed, body leaned back into the pillows behind him. This time, the shorter was clearly saddened by this and it showed by how their shoulders visibly slumped, "Oh, I guess there's no stopping you then if it concerns your family," the shorter acknowledged.

What the male hadn't anticipated was the sight of the two teary rose-tinted eyes staring back at him, which startled the prince and his hands quickly yet warmly embraced their snowy face. His eyes unknowingly glowed scarlet due to concern, "Hey, what's with this reaction? I'm only gone for a few days-" he panicked since it didn't seem to make the shorter feel better until a thought clicked inside. "…Are you worried I will turn into one of those?" Marshall asked gently, the colour of his eyes glowed less after earning a nod from them. It couldn't be helped, Rei didn't have the best experiences with Despairs in the past, not that anyone would, but his mother turned into one not long after the poor boy could learn to talk. Only he and Rei's father knew about this, and it was the best guess as to why they seemed so worried in the first place. "Geez, you really scared me there. Don't worry, I won't ever let something so weak as Despairs affect my temperament," He assured, a little thankful he never told Rei about his night duties if this was to be the outcome.

Fairly enough, it was understandable for how they reacted, for outside the boundaries of the Night Realm, people were known to be more vulnerable to transforming into a Despair. That, excluding the royal family of course, but Rei only thought Marshall a noble instead of a prince. For a moment, with their faces this close together, he couldn't help but become side-tracked by something else. The vibrancy of his eyes was slowly returning, and a painful feeling crept inside his chest, "…Can you promise me that?" Rei pouted, only feeling a little better after they received a firm nod.

"Okay, I believe you. Promise me you will be back!" Rei exclaimed yet was unable to meet his eyes since they were now blushing, "I promise," the male assured once again.

Soon the sun had begun to set. 'Is it time already?' he thought displeasing and glanced towards the window. "It's getting late now. You should go," he stated, hand pulled away from the other's face. "Oh, I guess so," Rei jumped as if snapped back to reality, it seems he wasn't the only one caught up in the moment. Like any other time that Marshall was visited, his company would always leave by noon. Just until Rei was about to leave through the window, they remembered something and turned around, "Wait, I forgot to tell you one more thing. I will be taking the entrance exam tomorrow for the Western wing as a knight!" they told, feet balanced above the platform outside. "Really? You should have told me sooner," Marshall complained, yet he didn't want to keep them any longer since night was approaching. "Ah, I guess I should have. Well, until next time~" they waved, readied to leave.

At the last second, he gasped then grabbed onto their hand, "Wait, when will you visit again?" his hopes were set high on this one, and their answer certainly pleased it, "I'll come visit in the morning before you leave for Tallis!" they answered and was finally let go to ascent their way down. At least now, he had a day to look forward to.

Marshall was heading back to his room when the King's voice stopped him. "Just a moment, Marshall," the King spoke, as Marshall looked back expectantly. The man then brought his hands behind his back and stared pridefully towards his son, "Expect to receive a letter on your way back to your room. Make sure it is to be given to young master Hagino," he ordered, as the male immediately abided by his words then continued on to his room.

When he opened the door, a shadow stood there with an envelope held out by its hazy form of imitated hands. The prince gently took it, "Thank you," he smiled and waited until the shadow floated down the hallways to then go tend to its other duties. "This must be it," he muttered, gawking at the letter that must have been the one his father mentioned earlier. After he took one last deep breathe, the living colour of his skin began to fade, and his body became but a translucent form that was almost unseeable if it wasn't for the moonlight that shun from the windows. This was the true form of the royal family whose blood line has been passed down for centuries; they were people who naturally unified with darkness, hence as the name of the kingdom implies. Without a second to waste, his journey to the town was short due to the speed that was also part of the pure inheritance.

Under the company of the moon, the prince sat on the rooftop of a building and waited for someone, legs dangled over the edge. "Good evening! Or should I say good night? I never know which one to use," a voice full of energy greeted from beside him. This person was Kenji Hagino, they were the second eldest son of the Hagino family. Wealthy nobles with close relations with the royal family since who knows how long ago, all they knew was that it was inevitable for the two young prince and lord to meet at some point in their life. It was only a convenience that they got along well.

"Kenji keep it down. You'll wake the people," he scolded quietly, though broke into a smile since theirs was too contagious not too.

They trained together in clearing Despairs, and tonight was like any other ordinary night. "Oh, sorry… I saw a Despair on my way to you though. Shall we?" the raven-haired male suggested, as they agreed to head off.

It was near an hour or so into their duties that Marshall had realised he had another small job to do. Once his hand felt the paper inside his pocket, he pulled it out and called them over, "Hey, my father wants yours to have this." He stated then handed the letter towards them.

Kenji looked over curiously, pulling their sword out of the Despair promptly before walking over to take it, "Oh, what is it?" they asked curiously, however, he shook his head. "I don't know, he didn't tell me. I only assume it's somehow related to my aunt's engagement," the male replied, eyes glued to the stars while laid down.

The sudden mention of the engagement caught their attention, "Ah, the engagement! How is that going? I met Lady Donna at the ball my family recently held. I've never seen her look so joyous before, I did send her my wishes though," Kenji recalled enthusiastically, their hands clapped together even after being told to stay quiet several times.

"Yes, yes, all happy and great things may bestow upon us." The prince said sarcastically, having gotten tired of the constant blessings for the engagement, they came up so frequently that it might as well have been his wedding they were congratulating.

"Anyways, this reminds me that I also had something to tell you during our hunt. You know how our families are close? Well, mail came to us about three days ago from the royal family of Tallis. It appears we were invited to the wedding as well! Isn't that exciting?" Kenji expressed; gloved hands placed firmly on his shoulder.

"The Hagino's are invited?" he blurted out in surprise.

"Yup. I know, I'm surprised too. At first, I thought it was a little strange since we're not even related in any way except trade. I suppose the Tallis' really are trying to turn over a new page from all this overdue tension," they spoke absentmindedly before having faced towards him. "How do you feel about all this?".

Their question caught him off guard to say the most, though, he drew in a long breath and glanced away towards the empty streets. "I… don't have any opinions on this, to be truth. All I know is that I'm just going to accompany my aunt safely to her wedding and then…" he answered yet fell deep into his thoughts that the sentence didn't quite finish.

"-and then?" they asked.

"And then, I'll just see how things play out. If the Tallis really is turning over a new leaf with us then that's great… but if they aren't, I won't hesitate to kill them," the prince confessed truthfully. They stared wide eyed at him, likely at a loss for words from his unexpected comment. In attempt to lighten the mood, their lips parted to say something, though immediately went shut after noticing how crimson the male's eyes glowed despite still in his shadow form. This only meant that he was serious about what he said.

"…I see. Then the same goes for me," Kenji stated in a firm tone. Midnight was coming soon so the two decided to end their duties for the night and return home after chatting a bit longer.

As Marshall arrived back to the palace, he quietly stepped through the hallways, careful not to wake his family nor the shadows that lurked around to prepare breakfast for them the next morning. 'Ugh, I'm so tired. I shouldn't have spurted all that nonsense to Kenji either, what on earth was I thinking? Now he probably thinks he's obligated to follow my orders again. Whatever, I'll just clear the misunderstanding tomorrow,' he thought glumly, body slowly regained colour again. After he reached his bedroom, the prince fell into deep slumber.