Luck in flowers 3

The guy laughed, "Of course I need it...but for me it's lucky if someone buys flowers." He declared.

,,Really? I don't know if I have enough diamonds for your bouquets," he laughed, "you increased the price." Ylre pointed out ironically.

The merchant blinked nervously: "What are you talking about? What diamonds?" He laughed.

"Did I say something funny? I just saw you sell a customer two dozen of roses that grow free outside the city for a diamond." Ylre laughed in a way that didn't sound amused at all.

Strange chills went through the man when he looked at his face, forcing him to back away, although he didn't know the reason. The young man oozed danger that he would like to avoid, but suddenly he didn't know how to react so that nothing would spread further. If anyone found out about his deception, he would be out of town...at best.

"You must have seen wrong." He tried.

,,Really? I can still see him," Ylre looked at Rue, "Should I go and ask him? Or better yet, should I ask the guards around the corner to search your pockets? I hear it's been pretty busy with thieves lately...if they found something you couldn't have, they would definitely be interested." He clarified.

A cold sweat ran down the man's forehead as he began to panic: "I-I," he didn't know how to answer, "I...I just need money..." He finally admitted.

"Next time, choose the person you rob more wisely." Ylre said, placing his palm on the counter to take the diamond. The guy looked at him in embarrassment.

"I...I really need it." He tried.

"More than the hand you'll lose if I report you?" Ylre wondered.

The men flinched in terror as he imagined at best getting his hand cut off by one of Prince Nielle's executioners if the guards really looked in his pockets. He hesitated for a moment before realizing that he really wasn't lucky, that he really had just foolishly come up with something he didn't even claim and reached into his pocket with a sigh. He took out the diamond he had only owned for less than a few minutes and handed it to Ylre.

"Good choise." Ylre laughed and turned away.

,,Hold on! And for those flowers? They weren't free…now I've redone…at least pay for his flowers!" He protested.

Ylre looked at him dispassionately: "You wanted to rob him, he ended up robbing you. Learn your lesson and be glad that you have all your fingers left," he said and walked away.

Ylre didn´t care about the Rinsel man who had just run out of money. He smiled gently and ran on his way to find Rue, whom he had been looking for. He knew he wouldn't be far, so he only hurried lightly. But when he came to a crossroads and suddenly had no idea where to go next, he took out his compass with and looked at the hands that showed a clear direction.

He continued to run through the crowd until he saw a beautiful black robe in the crowd that he recognized from Infey. He smiled contentedly and quickly caught up with Rue. He touched his shoulder very gently and stopped him.

Rue turned in surprise. He slowly backed away from the man who was able to touch him, though he was wary of everyone and blinked a few times. His golden eyes met Ylre's bright blue ones, evoking a strange feeling in him. He wanted to run away, but for some reason he couldn't tear his eyes away from the young man's expression, so he hypnotized him for a few long seconds before realizing that he was acting strangely.

However, he couldn't help himself....something told him that running away wasn´t right, something told him that he should stay.

"Can I help you?" Rue blurted out, taken aback by his own behavior.

Ylre smiled and held out his palm with the diamond to Rue: "You dropped this."

Rue blinked at the shiny stone and looked at the young man again, "Me?" He didn't believe.

Ylre nodded, "I was standing by the flower shop when you were paying and one fell on the ground." He smiled and looked at Rue's hand, which still hadn't taken the stone.

However, he didn't force him to do so, he didn´t reach out to him, nor did he force the stone into his palm. He was waiting...waiting for Rue to realize what he was saying and take it himself.

"I see...in that case, thank you," Rue smiled more tenderly and gave him a pleased look, what a happy feeling filled him. "How nice the people are in this city," he thought to himself.

He gently spread his palm in front of him. Ylre stared at him silently for a moment before setting the stone over him and releasing it. The stone fell into Rue's palm, who slowly gripped it and pulled it close as Ylre watched his satisfied expression. His golden eyes locked on him again and barely before Ylre could take a closer look at him, barely before he could think of what to say, Rue backed away again.

"You're welcome," he smiled. Ylre continued to watch him carefully, lost in his own thoughts to the point that he almost didn´t notice that Rue handed him a white rose.

Confused, Ylre accepted the rose and looked at it. He hypnotized the flower with a look as if he had never seen a similar one before. He wanted to say something, thank him, but he didn't have time to do anything as Rue spoke again and ended their conversation.

"Luck with you," Rue smiled at him contentedly and waved at him.

With a rose in his hand, Ylre watched as he walked into the crowd, before he conjured up a barely noticeable smile, "Luck with you," he said, though Rue had long since disappeared into the streets of the city.

But it didn't matter, because even though their meeting was short, he knew that once he found him, he wouldn't lose him again. He knew they would meet again soon.

***

Shane felt like a prisoner. A group of soldiers surrounded him in formation, as if waiting for him to escape, while Nielle galloped contentedly at the head of the group. Shane had no idea where they were going, but he assumed they were near the capital, so the palace would be their destination. That's why he was quite surprised when they suddenly stopped at a small river and everyone dismounted.

"We'll rest here for a while, wait." Nielle ordered.

One by one, the soldiers led their horses to the river, the flow of which wasn´t tolled. Shane followed suit. He looked at Nielle. However, the prince didn't even look at him before slowly making his way along the river to the small bridge that led to the village which could be seen on the other side.

"Where's he going?" Shane asked the soldiers, but they didn't look like they wanted to communicate with him.

Shane let out a deep sigh and sat down on the grass. His first day in Rinsel wasn't exactly the most ideal, but it was still tolerable. And so he just waited for Nielle to come back, wherever he went.

While the group of soldiers stayed by the water, the prince made his way across the bridge to the other side. At a certain point, he threw on a coat, threw a hood over his head to cover his conspicuous hair, and calmly made his way between the houses.

The village they stopped at was nothing significant compared to others near the capital. More populated that it almost didn't resemble a village, with a bunch of travelers just passing through. It wasn't Nielle's first time here, but it still didn't represent anything important to him. He walked among the people with a slow pace towards the place he had to visit today.

When he finally stopped, he didn't even look up at the name of the store and simply walked into it. The pleasant smell of a mixture of herbs and fruit aroma immediately hit his nose.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The merchant smiled at him from behind the counter.

Nielle walked past several customers near the shelves to the seller and placed his hands on the table: "Ninety grams of lavender and something suitable for sleep."

The merchant laughed softly, "Lavender is also good for sleep."

"Something stronger," added Nielle.

"There are several stronger herbs next to you, and if you don't like them, I have the strongest one at the back. You can choose," he said.

"As strong as possible," Nielle nodded.

"Then come with me," tje merchant said, allowing Nielle to walk past the counter and back through the curtain.

Nielle followed the merchant into the warehouse to the next room. They walked purposefully before stopping at one of the shelves. The guy slowly opened it, revealing the passage to the dark corridor. Nielle took the initiative and finally dropped the hood from his white hair after the shelf slammed shut behind them giving them privacy.

"When did you catch him?" He wondered.

"Yesterday after midnight, Your Highness, I let you know as soon as we confirmed his identity," he clarified.

"At the Lucky Mines?" He asked.

,,Yes, sir."

Nielle continued to the next room, which at first glance looked like just another tea warehouse, if not for the handcuffed stuffed guy on the ground in the middle of it. Lacrisan, about thirty years old, whose blue eyes were fixed on him, looked like he would prefer to stab him if he had free hands.

"What a nice view," Nielle said, "you killed your owners, tryied to break into a place where you shouldn´t, and now you are looking at me like it's my fault you ended up like this?" He laughed.

The Lacrisan grunted exasperatedly into the obstruction in his mouth, before Nielle let him speak.

He spat on the ground in anger and barked through the blood in his mouth: "You bastards...your nation should never have existed, it all belongs to us," He shouted.

Not wanting to listen to the same crap again, Nielle sighed and roughly kicked the guy in the face, simply sending him to the ground.

"I don't have time for nonsense, I don't care what you did, if you want to save yourself a really unpleasant interrogation, answer the questions, otherwise you'll end up like a bunch of your colleagues before you. Understandable, right?" He raised his eyebrows.

The guy just grunted in irritation and spat bloody saliva on Nielle's shoes, who let out a deep sigh: "As you wish," He said and nodded to his employee next to him, who understood and pulled the guy´s hand out of the ropes. Then he spread out his palm to Nielle, who stomped on it roughly.

There was a crack through the room as several of his tiny bones broke in a second. The guy's scream of pain faded away in the hand of the man who kept holding him.

"If you don't want to say who else is working with you, that's fine," Nielle pushed his hand more roughly and added, "I'll catch you all, you're not the first or the last to try to pass information. I just wanted to give you a chance... you wasted it." he stated and stomped on his hand again.

"Nghhhh!" The guy whined in shock. His bloody face mixed with the tears that came out of his eyes with another stomp. Nielle just laugh softly.

"My Lacrisans can withstand almost anything and I won't get tears out of them right away," he said, "how did they train you in Lacris? Probably didn´t." He nodded to his man behind him, who smiled contentedly and leaned towards the guy. He kept his hand over Lacrisan´s mouth so that his unpleasant scream couldn´t be heard.

Nielle watched as the man gently approached Lacrisan's face and pressed his lips to his cheeks. The man's struggle to break free multiplied in a second, his squealing went from discomfort to maddened aggression as his body heated up in agony, and although Nielle was still standing on his arm, the man no longer felt the slight pain from the fractures.

"What's it like?" Nielle wondered after a while.

The vendor pulled away from Lacrisan's tears and dropped his unconscious body to the ground as the pain stunned him, making it impossible for him to continue his interrogation.

"Average," he clarified, "thank you, sir."

Nielle just nodded and said, "His owners?"

"We burned down the house, it was closed as an accident with four victims including him," He answered.

Nielle nodded, "I was going to take him to the palace for questioning, but I changed my mind, just get rid of him." He declared, knowing that this guy, like his predecessors, knew nothing about the movements of others.

"Yes, sir."

They went back to the teahouse. In the warehouse Nielle took the required tea from a nearby bag and put the hood back on his head before returning to the register.

"Good choice," the salesman laughed as he placed Nielle's tea on the counter.

"And the lavender, I need it to last at least a week," He said.

The guy understood the hidden meaning behind Nielle's words and nodded. He set about preparing the tea he had ordered and after getting everything he needed Nielle headed out.

He wasn't the most pleased with the outcome of his trip, but he couldn't help but get rid of the guy. It wasn't the first Lacrisan in the last weeks to kill its owners and try to break out, probably with sensitive information. Luckily, Nielle had noticed and resolved all the incidents before they reached the king, but still hadn't found all the spies involved in the incidents.

However, right now wasn´t the best time to be interrogate new Lacrisans in his dungeons, and he wasn't going to risk anyone in the palace finding out about things they weren't supposed to know about.

Nielle knew what the Lacris had been trying to do for years, he knew that they wanted nothing more than the destruction of other countries. However, Nielle wasn´t going to allow any of that. Neither their dominance nor their foolish endeavors coming to light. He knew that his father would intervene, he knew that he wouldn´t hesitate to declaring war on the daring Lacrisans. He knew that Louise would go there, and maybe even himself.

And he was clearly not going to risk it...war or end to his peaceful life. That's why he didn't let the king find out what Lacris was planning, neither let Lacris succeed. And since it worked for him in recent years, he continued.

The local tea shop was just one of many he owned. There was nothing better to hide a network of spies than an inconspicuous business that immediately caught on in all countries. His tea came from several lands, was the most popular, and his brand was a variety of goods suitable for both the poor and the snobbish rich.

Everyone in the world knew his tea, and no one would ever have guessed that the third Prince of Rinsel was behind their operation with other goals. Also the finances that he obtained from the business weren´t harmful. Anyway, it wasn't noticeable.

After all, Nielle had a free hand in punishing criminals and sending spies and men wherever he wanted. He shouldn´t have needed to do so secretly without the king's knowledge. However, the reality was different and Nielle needed that no one, especially his father, knew about his affairs, he needed to keep his network of people secret both from him and from anyone who wanted to destroy his plans.

He didn't trust anyone...and his family the least.

And so he took the tea bags to the river. On the way, he stopped at several shops, one with coffee, one with sweets. He packed souvenirs for his brothers so that the tea deliveries wouldn´t sound conspicuous after each of his trips and returned to the road.

After all, once the small matter that had forced him to leave the palace was resolved, he could spend the rest of the day doing more pleasant things...like getting to know his new Lacrisan more privately.