General Cayden Avary stared at his Crown Prince friend who maintained his silence with a strange reaction on his face. Then he realized that Elaine was sure right.
He's unpredictable.
Cayden still waited and after what felt like hours, he finally spoke up again. "Did I say something wrong?"
The question snapped Helias Casteveron out of his thoughts and he quickly shifted his gaze to the General. "Adopted, you say?"
Did that really bother the Crown Prince that much? General Cayden struggled to understand him once again. Nevertheless, he nodded.
Helias Casteveron thought of the person from his memory whose features were very similar to Captain Elaine, but... Marian was dead.
What was he even thinking?!
"Why?" the General asked his friend; giving in to his curiosity. "Is something wrong?"
Helias promptly shook his head. "No. It was quite unexpected. Maybe because you two have so many similarities."
"We're used to hearing that," Cayden Avary remarked with a smile on his face. Though he wasn't that convinced by the Crown Prince's response, he didn't mention it. That will only make things harder for Helias.
After a few more casual chats, General Cayden left and Helias was alone again.
Though he tried to not think too much, what he heard still bothered him.
If Captain Elaine was adopted... then who was she before she became Elaine Vernimiere?
Curiosity invaded him deeper and deeper and after he was alone for more than an hour, the Crown Prince find it hard to be still.
He was never this curious before.
When Evan Ravire entered the chamber, he noticed how the Crown Prince appeared a bit strange than usual. "Is everything fine, Your Highness?"
Like it was often these days, there was no response from the Crown Prince and it made Evan wonder if this was about Captain Elaine again.
It seemed like that female Captain occupied all of his master's mind these days!
The right-hand man stood still, wondering if he should speak up again, until...
"Do you think there is any possibility of Marian to be still alive, Evan?" the Crown Prince suddenly asked, turning his head in the direction of his friend. "We never got to see her corpse."
Though confusion and surprisement were written all over Evan's face, it wasn't long before he regained his composure again. "I don't think that's possible, Your Highness. You clearly heard from Aimeric. Marian was buried alongside her parents."
"Aimeric... " Helias Casteveron muttered and narrowed his eyes. "I will never be able to understand him."
The Crown Prince was acting even stranger than yesterday and it puzzled Evan. "What's the matter, Your Highness? Did something happen?"
Crown Prince Helias shut his mouth for a while before he said, "Cayden told me that he and Captain Elaine aren't blood-related. She was adopted into the Vernimiere family."
Evan Ravire raised a brow. Did the Crown Prince connect the Captain with Lady Marian Vizelle?!
"That hair, those eyes and all other features, her smile and... that response; there are so many things to confuse me," Helias Casteveron muttered in a very low voice. "It makes me think of some strange things, like... if Marian was still alive, she would be just like that Captain." He let out a heavy sigh and added, "I don't know what's wrong with me."
Evan Ravire thought of what to say to his confused friend. Though the Crown Prince was right when he said that they never saw Marian's corpse, the same went for all her family members. They were all buried right away without a funeral as the family was branded as traitors.
"You can ask her if you're confused, Your Highness," Evan finally said after much thought. "Rather than spending your time in confusion, a little chat with Captain Elaine will solve everything."
Crown Prince Helias looked at him; a hint of amazement on his eyes. "Do you think that will be a good choice? She's adopted. What if she feels uncomfortable talking about it?"
"Though you are friends, will General Cayden tell you if the Captain is uncomfortable with it?" Evan asked his friend back. "You know how much the General cared for his cousin."
Helias Casteveron knew that Evan had a point. If the topic was sensitive for the Captain, then Cayden won't spill it that easy.
Did that mean all the Aravenians around her knew that she was adopted? That's highly possible.
"You can give a thought, Helias," Evan calmly said; getting back to being a friend. "I don't want you to spend your time this way. It will be better to clear every confusion."
He still saw a hint of reluctance on the Crown Prince's face but Evan understood.
Even if the adoption matter wasn't a sensitive topic for the Captain, Marian Vizelle was always a sensitive topic for Helias.
"You can take your time, Your Highness," Evan stated and realized his reason for coming to the chamber. "I almost forgot," he said and took out a letter from the inner pocket of his jacket. "This is from His Majesty," he informed his friend as he offered him the letter.
Without saying anything, Crown Prince Helias looked at the letter on Evan's hand. Though he felt a strong urge to ignore it, he made up his mind and took it as he rose from his seat.
"What did he want this time?" He narrowed his eyes at the letter yet he didn't make any attempt to open it.
He wasn't that eager to know what his father wanted.
Evan didn't respond as he knew that it wasn't really a question. Then after a few seconds, he said, "You can ignore if you don't want to do what His Majesty wants. It's not like he can do anything to you for disobeying him. He has so many men to do the job for him, like the members of The Flaming Crimson."
The Flaming Crimson. An elite group of warriors that only live for the ruler of Eslore. They only listened to the ruler and no one else. In case something happened to the ruler, the authority over the group fell to the heir apparent.
The group was created by Helias's father a few years ago and they only had one purpose - to serve the King. Not many knew about the purpose and even the name of this group and Helias also knew it only because he was the heir apparent to the throne of Eslore.
Even the members will also pose as a soldier, a guard, or anything else and one won't be able to guess that they belonged to the group.
Helias Casteveron abhorred the existence of The Flaming Crimson. Aside from the fact that the members of the group were practically possessions of the King and that the King can discard or do whatever he wished to the members, Helias knew the horrendous secret behind the group. It was why he would never be able to accept the service of the group.
Though Helias wished to ignore the letter from his father, the leader of the group in question crossed his mind and he clenched his fist. Without even reading the letter, he looked at Evan and said, "I will obey my father. Make preparations."