"You are very quiet today, Crown Prince Helias. Is something wrong?"
King Arias Astaze was having dinner with his sister and the Crown Prince of Eslore. However, unlike other days, the Crown Prince was mostly quiet and he ate very little. As the Crown Prince was his guest, it concerned the Araven King.
The King's words snapped Helias Casteveron out of his thoughts and he dumbfoundedly shifted his gaze to the King. When he saw the confusion on the faces of the siblings, he only realized that he had been acting strange.
"Oh. It's nothing much, Your Majesty," he quickly replied. "I don't have much appetite today."
As the Crown Prince talked, King Arias's gaze trailed to Helias's bandaged hand. "I heard what happened today," he pointed out. "I apologize for that and from tomorrow, I can assure you that the security will be better."
"I'm fine, Your Majesty," Helias Casteveron replied while narrowing his eyes at his hand. "This is nothing for me."
"I know that you're a well-known warrior, Your Highness. But during your stay here, I don't want any unfortunate event again. So, I will make a new arrangement and I hope you can accept it."
Giving a brief thought, Helias Casteveron forced a little smile. "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
The rest of the dinner passed by quietly and though it was obvious that Crown Prince Helias was bothered by something, King Arias didn't mention it anymore. Maybe the Crown Prince didn't want to talk about it.
*
Once dinner was over, Crown Prince Helias was back to his chamber but it wasn't long before Evan came to him. Halting two or three steps behind the Crown Prince who was standing near the window, Evan Ravire slightly bowed.
"Your Highness, about the task that His Majesty gave you... " He made a deliberate pause to see if the Crown Prince would interrupt him. But when Helias maintained his silence, Evan continued, "Will you do it?"
There was no response from Helias Casteveron and Evan understood him.
"Have some rest," the right-hand man said and walked out of the chamber.
Even when he was alone, Helias stood still and slowly narrowed his eyes on the floor. Then the task that his father gave him crossed his mind. Before he realize, he was already clenching his fists so hard!
Will the greed of his father ever end? He was so tired of this!
It wasn't the first time Helias felt this way. Even during his childhood, all he ever knew was the pressure and the suffocation caused on him by his father.
It seemed like greed truly had no end.
During his suffocating childhood, he found refuge in the presence of someone.
Marian Vizelle.
That little girl was the one who used to comfort him and lifted the burden off his shoulders. For the young Helias, she was his world.
He might be the Crown Prince but... he won't have to think twice if he was asked to choose between all the things he owned and that little girl who brought light to his dark world.
He will always choose her over anything else but... he can't even do that anymore.
If only she was still alive!
Crown Prince Helias stood still with his thoughts wandering back to the past, the moments which he called the best of his life. Time passed by, second by second, forming a minute, and in no time, it became an hour yet Helias Casteveron was still buried in his thoughts. By the time he finally climbed on his bed, it was already past midnight.
At first, he struggled to fall asleep. In this case, there was always one solution for him. He got off the bed and reached for his jacket. From the inner pocket, he took out the same familiar toy. Firmly holding that in his hand, he climbed and lie down on his bed once again.
With the chain of the toy entwined with his fingers, Helias Casteveron fell asleep in no time.
Though it was a relief, the peace didn't last long as familiar nightmares were very quick to steal the peace that was so hard for him to obtain.
* * *
Familiar nightmares cut short Crown Prince Helias's sleep and by the time the sunrise, he was already awake for a while now.
After a quick bath to refresh himself, the Crown Prince was quietly standing near the same window once again. This time, he just stared at the mesmerizing view while attempting to hold back himself from thinking too much. Breakfast time was fast approaching too.
Though he joined the Araven royals at dinner each night, he always had breakfast in his chamber alone and at lunchtime, he was rarely at the palace. He can still spend some of his time in leisure as he planned to meet the officials and finally do his job as the envoy only at the end of his time in Araven.
When the Crown Prince heard the sound of knocking on his door, he simply assumed that it would be Evan as his friend always came around this time. "Come in."
He didn't even feel the need to turn around as he was convinced that it was his friend but...
"Your Highness."
The voice proved that he was wrong. He quickly turned around before he could even realize.
Captain Elaine Vernimiere was standing there and maybe because of the expression on his face, the Captain appeared to be taken aback.
Seeing her face, Helias Casteveron realized that everything had become worse since this woman appeared in his life. Because of her, he had doubted himself; he was reminded of Marian all the time and... he kept on feeling confused.
"Your Highness," Elaine Vernimiere muttered again; stunned by how the Crown Prince looked at her. "Is something -"
"Just who are you?" Helias Casteveron suddenly asked. Walking closer to her, he lifted his hands and firmly grabbed her on each side of the upper arm. "Who are you?" he repeated the question while confusedly meeting her gaze. "Why are you making me like this?!"