Chapter 4: Birthday Gift

"Happy birthday, Kai!"

Esmond personally came to his door without notice. Looking at the gift box wrapped in colorful paper topped with a bow, Kai felt a warm current rush to the bottom of his heart inexplicably. He took the gift with hesitant hands, to which Esmond shoved it further into his hands.

"Hurry and open it! I did a lot of thinking to pick out the perfect gift!"

Kai unwrapped the box and under Esmond's expectant eyes, took out a small inkstone ingrained with gold letters; on it read his name. The warmth in his heart was instantly washed away and he blankly stared at the inkstone, then at Esmond.

"Thank you, but I'm unworthy of such gifts, Prince." Esmond quickly caught onto Kai's mood and frowned, staring at him with aggrieved eyes.

"Do you not like it? I heard from your mother that you like drawing a lot. This is the finest ink imported from Pinoa, and the engraved name is customized just for you! It's even painted with real gold!" He clasped Kai's hands, forcing him to keep holding onto the inkstone.

"Ah, so you've put a significant amount of thought into it. Thank you, Prince, but I will have to politely refuse." Esmond knitted his brows and took the ink away from his hands, tossing it aside. Kai inexplicably flinched after watching this, subconsciously reaching out to stop Esmond but it was too late. It was fortunate the impact wasn't too hard so the ink didn't fracture, but a dark smudge was stained on the peerless floor.

There was a sharp pang in his heart. Kai had already started calculating the price of the gift after listening to Esmond.

"Forget it, since you don't like it, we can go into town and I'll buy you anything you want!"

Without another word, Kai's hand was taken by Esmond and he was dragged away. Kai listlessly picked up the inkstone and put it in his pocket.

Although he didn't like the gift, it was the first one he was given and he was sure that not even his mother would bother celebrating such a meaningless thing again.

When the two arrived in town, Esmond made no move to announce his status as a prince and even made an extra effort to disguise themselves as ordinary village boys. Although secret guards were still stationed a few distance away, to supervise their safety.

Esmond dragged Kai into a random shop. He pointed to a mirror hanging on the wall, "What about that mirror, Kai? Doesn't it look nice?"

Kai stared at their appearance reflected on the surface. Two kids standing side by side, in unglamorous clothes, huddling close together like they only had each other left. He glanced at the frame of the mirror, which was made of silver and replicated the patterns of vines and grapes. He quickly glanced away in disinterest.

Esmond saw his reaction and grumbled, pulling him away to another item. "How about this?" Kai looked at the replica skull stabbed in the forehead with a knife. In his head, he wondered, what kind of shop did they enter? But then he started wondering what made Esmond think he would enjoy having something like this. He turned to Esmond and the boy nervously looked away.

"Well, you carry knives around with you...I don't think I'm wrong to think you'd like this kind of stuff."

"I'm not some sort of cultist."

"I-I didn't say you were!" Esmond hurriedly tried to defend himself. "Look, if you don't like that one you can choose from the others!" He pointed to the other assortments around; it was only then did Kai realized what kind of weird shop they stumbled upon.

On the other side of the wall, multiple heads of mutilated beasts hung on the wall like trophies; along with the heads, there were rifles and guns displayed on racks. On the ground below the disturbing display were barrels of swords and weapons, some rusted looking and others looking as good as new.

Kai glanced at Esmond beside him and muttered loosely under his breath, "You must be seeking death taking me to a place like this." A cold sweat fell on Esmond's back and he hurriedly grasped Kai's hand, rushing out of the shop with an ugly face.

For the next few hours, Esmond ran around the town looking through all kinds of shops and open stalls with Kai but after nearly exhausting himself, there hadn't been a single gift that Kai wanted.

Kai stared at the sky was nearing dark, the orange and red sky glaring sharply at him like a warning. He glanced at Esmond who sat exhausted on the bench, breathing in and out heavily.

Without saying a word, he left the bench and headed to one of the bustling streets, where a bunch of rich aroma wafted from. With all the running around they did today, they barely had any time to stop and eat.

Kai went to a nearby stall that sold fresh-looking kebabs. He held the slightly warm sticks in his hand and wanted to immediately head back, however, when he turned around he met a familiar head of red hair; glaring straight at him just like the blazing sunset.

"What a coincidence, little master. I didn't expect to run into someone like you here," His eyes fell on the pale hands that held the bottoms of the kebabs tightly. With a curve of his lips, he extended a hand out to him. "Your hands look a bit full, why don't I help you, hm?"

Kai squinted his eyes while staring at the red-haired teen. He distanced the recently bought food from him and wanted to side-step away. He had already been gone for some time and he hadn't told Esmond where he went off to, the other party must be worried right now.

Yet before he could leave, his view was obstructed by the red hair again. Kai glanced up at him, raising his brow as if to ask him 'What'?

"Little master, I haven't repaid you for the kind gift you gave me last time. My apologies if I come off a bit forward but can I ask if I can treat you to dinner? That meat and vegetables on sticks wouldn't be very appropriate for your appetite I'm afraid." Kai's stare hardened.

"Do you think you're in the position to decide on what I can and cannot eat?"

"..."

"I think you should mind your own business. I've already donated a valuable sum to you with that gem, there's no need for you to personally approach me and beg for more." Kai tilted his head back as he said this, not bothering to even look into his eyes as he spoke. The uncaring attitude he displayed made Sigrun grit his teeth, secretly tightening his grip.

"I didn't mean to give that impression, but if you truly see it that way then I can only dismiss myself." He gave him a curt nod and walked past him without looking back. Kai snorted secretly and returned to Esmond's side, handing the boy a stick and watching as the other ate with gusto.

"I was about to send out the secret guards to search for you, Kai. I didn't expect you to buy me food!" Esmond spoke with a mouth full of grease; Kai had a difficult time watching it so he reached to cover his mouth with his own handkerchief. While rubbing the grease off of his lips, Kai failed to notice the blush that dawned on the Prince's cheek and the amber eyes that stared at him deeply.

"Well...this trip feels like a whole failure. I was supposed to buy you something but you ended up buying for me instead." Esmond grumbled, lowering his eyes while looking at the handkerchief that had been dirtied be stuffed back into Kai's pockets. Kai nodded while saying, "You can pay me back later, but I'll be adding interest."

Esmond sighed, dragging him back into the carriage to return back to the palace.

In the distance, leaning against a corner of a block, Sigrun stood quietly stalking the two and only retrieved his gaze when the carriage was out of sight. Standing in the dark, the small item in his hand would be almost invisible if it weren't for the gleam of gold that illuminated under the moon's light.

"An inkstone...huh," Sigrun muttered dully. "What a lame gift."

The next morning Kai realized the gift he got from Esmond disappeared. Out of fear that he dropped it somewhere in town, he decided to go back and search for it. Retracing all their steps and places they visited. Unfortunately, by the time the sun started to set again, he was still unable to find that thing.

Kai looked at the sky, the clouds were getting thicker and gathering faster together like it was getting ready to rain. The unease in his heart intensified tenfold at this moment and he couldn't help but start looking everywhere again, covering places neither he nor Esmond ever visited.

He ran around as the rain poured down on him, gradually wetting his clothes and hair. Kai was only taken back when it was completely pitch-black and his mother started to worry about his absence. Being pushed into the carriage, Kai only blankly stared outside the window, watching as the town got farther and farther from him with an increasing emptiness in his chest.

It was the first gift given to him by Esmond. Even if he didn't really like it, he still wanted to treasure it.

But now it was gone...

How useless he was. He couldn't even do the simplest thing as keeping an important item the same... It's no wonder his mother kept him away from his brother and father's room. She probably didn't trust him enough to think he wouldn't break anything he touched.

Kai went to bed listlessly.

The next morning, he contracted a high fever.