Prince-In-Hiding

[Author POV]

Unlike other days, the main palace of the Tamerlaine empire looks deserted and empty. Still, there were some maids and troops strolling around in the corridors to do their daily jobs. Since the assault incident on the second prince's birthday banquet, Nathaniel Reginald Tamerlaine, all following events in near time were canceled, and the guests were sent back to their homes.

George looks stressed in his bedroom because of all the documents piled on his working table. It was a grievance document from the nobles who became the victim of the assault incident last week. Furthermore, the compensation charges for all the victims were not small. George massaged his temple with his finger due to a sudden headache.

The main assailant from this incident still has not been discovered. All the assassins who were arrested committed suicide by biting their tongue and died from blood loss. Thanks to them, the investigation became stifled. Tamerlaine fell into a reign of terror for not knowing when or where another ambush would happen.

"Your Majesty."

George looked up and saw Eleanora, his beautiful wife, and this empire's queen. "What is it?"

For additional information, George and Eleanora married at a very young age. George was 17, and Eleanora was 16 back then. They were bound together in a political marriage. However, love grew between them and made their marriage long-lasting until now. Their very first child was Kazech, who was born after 8 years of their marriage. Kazech's birth was celebrated by everyone in Tamerlaine, and George held a festival for seven days. Afterward, the crown prince title and the next line on the throne were secured for Kazech.

George did that thing to prevent a male child was born from his concubine; it would provoke a sibling war, and George did not want that to happen.

However, it turns out that another male child was born from Eleanora itself, not the concubines. One year after Kazech was born, Eleanora gave birth to Nathaniel.

George was worried about the possibility of a throne fight between those siblings. Still, as time passed, he felt relieved that Kazech was much more prepared to be the next heir, and Nathan was not interested in the throne. He inherited the free, adventurous, and a little bit mischievous spirit from George.

"Sorry for interrupting you during work hours. But it's an urgent matter."

"Go on," said George, ignoring all his documents and focusing on Eleanora. If his wife told him that it was an urgent matter, so George would listen to her no matter what it was.

"Nathaniel … he is getting hard to manage. This morning he even throws a tantrum with his maid because he doesn't like the breakfast menu. I have no idea how to deal with him, George." Eleanora sighed. She knew that Nathan was an active and proud child, but the late incident must hurt his pride and made him act more aggressively than before.

George tapped the table using his finger. It was his bad habit whenever he felt anxious and confused. "Where's Kazech? He must be able to calm down his brother."

Eleanora did not answer his question, which made him became curious. "What happens? Is there any problem?"

"No," replied her. Eleanora fidgeted her finger with a concerned expression. "It just … it's been a week since I have asked Kazech to do the same thing. But whenever Kazech tried to approach his brother, Nath immediately ran away from him."

"What the hell is wrong with them?" George massaged his temple again.

It was so fucking depressing.

He hated complicated things. Kingdom and political affairs made him get old faster. He wanted to abdicate the throne as soon as possible and spent his old age with Eleanora together in a secluded mansion near the suburbs. However, he must endure that wish until Kazech ascended the throne.

"Huft, just let them be. They are grown-ups who can think and solve their own problems. That's right, arent you have a guest from Palmerston today? I heard it from Hans."

"Yes, I invited Portia to eat lunch with Nath and me. At least I must apologize for what happened to her. Do you want to join us too, Your Majesty?"

George shrugged his shoulder with a tired face. "I don't know … I need to finish all these documents and go to another meeting after this."

Eleanora took a step forward and kissed George's cheek. She smiled, "Don't push yourself too hard, George. I will always choose you if I am told to choose between this kingdom or you. So make sure to not get sick from working too hard."

After that, Eleanora left the room. George smiled at her until her figure disappeared behind the door. He changed his expression back to normal, firm and menacing look.

"Hans," called George with a loud voice. From the curtain behind his desk, Hans—the palace's head butler—appeared and bowed down.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You said you saw Kazech wandering around in the slums?" asked George with clenched hands. He did not know what kind of things Kazech tried to get, but it would be a disaster if the public knew that this empire's crown prince entered the slums without palace preservation. It would start a rumour, and once a rumour was created, there was no cure for stopping that from spreading.

"This servant can not say it for sure, but for these past couple of days, the crown prince always sneaks out from his room wearing a disguise. He might have a business out there."

"Business? What kind of business?" George wondered. He tapped his finger on the table again while thinking hard. "Hans, do you think Kazech might have found the main culprit of this incident and tried to investigate it alone?"

Hans did not say anything. He glanced toward George's back which looked anxious. "… could be it. However, it does not close the possibility that the crown prince tries to bury something."

"Bury something?" The tap on the table stopped when another conclusion came from Hans' mouth. "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to say that my son is the culprit of the assault incident? He is Tamerlaine's crown prince! For what kind of reason does he do something that low? You must be crazy, Hans—"

Before George could burst into anger and throw a tantrum at him, Hans moved forward and knelt down. "Please forgive me for the impudence, Your Majesty! It's my wicked tongue that I can't control and accused the crown prince without clear evidence!"

"However! This servant only thinks about the other possible answers since the investigation is stifled." He let out an atrocious grin when he peeked out from his bow posture and saw that George had fallen to his words.

"Even though this servant knows that both of the princes were affectionate to each other, didn't we know if human hearts are fickle? When they feel threatened, it is possible to do something to eliminate the reason for their fear."

"As long as this servant knows, in recent months, prince Nathaniel received his sword class and has a rapid improvement. Some nobles from different factions also tried to approach him, even though the prince ignored them because feel bothered. This servant also doesn't know this for sure, but it is not impossible if the crown prince Kazech tries to scare him a little, so prince Nathaniel will never have thought to snatch the throne."

George kept silent for a couple of while after hearing Hans' words. He could not deny that he had even had that thought before, even though he got rid of it instantly because it was so ridiculous. Kazech tried to kill her own brother to secure his throne?

"B-But it is just groundless assumption, Your Majesty. There is no need to think about that. How can the crown prince Kazech that well-know for his wise and cautious actions, do something so obvious?

He had pulled out all his weapons. Now the time bomb has been planted in George's mind. It just needed some baits before the king perfectly fell to his words and distrusted his son. Hans knew that even a slight doubt could demolish the most robust wall in this world.

"Yes … you're right. You may leave this room, Hans. I need some time to think about it." George waved his hand weakly and held his head; that felt so heavy because of all the sudden information.

"As you wish, Your Majesty. Hope the goddess of sun blessing upon Tamerlaine." With a bowing posture, Hans left the room and closed the door without making any sound. When he was in the corridor, he walked and hummed something.

Ah, he felt so happy. "Hmmm. What a clear and cloudless day. Do I need to go to the palace garden and enjoy the scenery for today?"

Hans did not notice if his actions were supervised by a little boy hiding behind the pot near the door. He was there for about fifteen minutes because he almost crossed paths with his mother, so he hid there. After Eleanore went, he was about to go and find a place where people would not see him or bother him. However, he did not get up because he heard something inside his father's room.

"Kazech is this empire's crown prince! He can't do something that low—"

That boy's eyes opened wide in shock. "Kazech?"

He clenched his hand while looking at Hans' back, which slowly disappeared. Nathaniel gritted his teeth in anger. "Is that really you, Kazech? Do you want to get rid of me because I became your stumbling block to becoming a king?"