January 3rd, 1613
"Spare change… Please… have you any mercy for an old man?" An old man begged
Prince and an old beggar stood beside a pile of manure on the side of a cobblestone road, begging for money.
Covering his mouth and nose with his rags, Prince silently extended out his cup.
"This is absolutely disgusting… but it is necessary, I have to bear this for the sake of my plan…"
As Prince stood on the side of the road saw a familiar face round the corner.
A man with a fur Jacket and long white hair was waving to the crowded streets.
"Lindor….." Prince said hissing out of his teeth.
Dressed in the finest of clothes, Lindor, now a Count, bathed in exuberance, thrilled with his new level of nobility.
As he came around the corner, he gave Prince a cautious stare.
"What are you up to boy?" Lindor thought
"Get your leper hand out of my face!" A knight escorting one of the nobles yelled
Before Prince could react the old man beside him was shoved into him. Prince dropped the cup he was holding, along with the few coins he had managed to collect, as the two fell into a wagon of manure. Within moments, peasants from all over the marketplace nipped every single coin, as well as the brass cup he had been using to collect them.
Soaked in a disgusting manure and robbed of all his coins, Prince leaned over examining the palms of his hands.
"I'm so sorry young man" The old man said, trying to console him. "I've just gone and ruined your day haven't I?"
"Hmph" Prince laughed "And why would you say that?"
"You're covered in filth… and look, you've lost all of your money! And it's all my fault!"
"Wrong" Prince answered, cracking a smile. "That's exactly how a weak man would think."
"A weak man?" The old man questioned scratching his head.
"Is it your fault I am on the street begging? Or your fault that arrogant piece of shit shoved an old man who was freezing to death in the middle of Winter? No, you must mean it was your fault the puddle of mud happened to be there, or maybe, your fault all those people became peasants and stole all my money." Prince said softly "Only apologize if you are god, after all, it is only he who could control so many circumstances."
"You… you are a very kind boy" The old man said smiling.
"I hate that word," Prince answered, tightening his fist.
He walked to the edge of the sidewalk looking towards the progression of nobles.
"In this world, kind people die, or end up on the street as beggars." Prince said, raising his hand. "Saying I am a kind person is no different than wishing everything was taken away from me."
"Well, are you not on the street begging? Are you not someone who has had everything taken from you?" The old man asked
"That may be true…" Prince said defiantly "But today is different, today is the day I am going to get it all back."
"What is so remarkable about this day? The day in which you have lost all of your money and are covered in pig shit?" The old man laughed
"Today" Prince said walking out into the precession. As he stepped out into the crowd, he eyed a noble who wasn't inside of a carriage. The man was nonchalantly waving to the crowd riding alone on his horse.
"Sir Ivan Dewsbury, my target has arrived." Prince thought
"Hey! Get out of the WAY!!!!" A man cried
"Is the day I step out of the darkness…"
"Sir Ivan! Watch out!" A man yelled
"Today is the day I once again reclaim the name"
"Prince"
"Sir watch out!" Prince yelled placing his filthy manure hands all over the gentleman's robes.
"Unhand me you barbarian!" The man yelled drawing his sword. "What in the world are you doing?"
"Please sir just hear me out! I had a dream last night that I would meet you! God has sent me!"
"God has sent?-"
WHAMMMM!
A dozen barrels of wine crashed to the floor flooding the street with fine liquor. Sir Ivan and Prince stood just inches away from contact, a fate that could have easily collapsed onto Ivan's head.
"Sir Ivan!" The knights said surrounding Prince. They shoved him to the ground pointing their swords at him. "What should we do with this one?"
Sir Ivan looked at Prince and then at the wine.
A Merchant came out shaking his head. "That good for nothing son of mine! I told him to anchor those down tight! Sir Ivan I am so sorry those were bolted on my roof. My son must have done a poor job tightening them! Please forgive me." The man said getting on his knees
"This boy… he saved my life just now" Ivan thought
"Men lay down your arms." Sir Ivan said getting off his horse "Boy what is your name?" He said helping Prince to his feet.
"My name is Prince" Prince humbly said.
"Prince… do you have a last name?"
"No… I'm a bastard child, I never knew my father…"
"You did me a great service just now, what was it that told you to save me?"
"It was god sir… I felt his presence and he instructed me."
"I see… Well Prince, I don't believe that our meeting is a coincidence, what you did was remarkable, if you are a man of god such as myself, I would ask that you come to work for me in my estate. You look able bodied and I'm always looking for help. Let's get you off these muddled streets." Sir Ivan gestured.
"Sir… I couldn't possibly."
"No no I insist!" Sir Ivan said "You have done a great service for me! I can easily overlook the manu-"
Sir Ivan stopped freezing in his tracks. As he looked down at his pants he said a silent prayer as he examined them in disbelief.
"By the good grace of God, what is this?" He exclaimed
Engraved onto his trousers was the imprint of a cross, the holy symbol.
As he stood in the street amazed, beggars from all corners were taking their empty cups and filling them with the wine still spilling out of the barrels.
"It's a Miracle! A New Year's Miracle!" They started chanting
"Prince" Sir Ivan said opening the curtains on one of his carriages. "Would you care to join me at this great hearing?"
"It would be my pleasure" Prince said walking into the carriage. "Would it be too much if I asked for a blanket? I am horribly ashamed of my hideous appearance" He said humbly bowing.
"Your vocabulary is quite expansive for a beggar" The man said stroking his beard.
"I am well versed in the word of god." Prince said bowing. "Through years of reading the bible, I have managed to pick up, an ounce of the romanticism that is carried in my speech." He said bowing.
"You are quite remarkable" Sir Ivan said letting him into the carriage. "I believe god will do great things through you in the future."
"Heheheheh HAhahahahah!" Pedro said laughing "That was too easy! It went just as you planned!"
"That's right, Sir Ivan Dewberry… Lindor talked of him in the past, he's a man that is devoted to the church, and has claimed to have witnessed many miracles. Of all the nobles here today, I figured he was the most likely to fall for this ruse. It was just as how Zoe had targeted me with those chocolates, due to a person's predisposition they can easily be manipulated.
"I had doubts when you said you were going to sell everything you had in order to buy a few barrels of wine, but the way you set up that trap was perfect"
"Yes, aiming my knife to be thrown up on a roof to cut the rope was the hardest part, but with a practice run with the barrels I bought, and the help of your shadow eye, it was impossible to miss wasn't it."
"Yes indeed, covering yourself in a hoodie was a splendid idea, I doubt anyone noticed your hair change"
"Excellent now we go into phase two of the plan." Prince said as one of his eyes began to glisten red.
"I see, the robes and fireworks you spent the rest of your money on. You're going to use them now aren't you?"
"Exactly" Prince said "It's time for me to remind the world of the Bourbon name, and also to show my uncle I haven't forgotten him"
"My king" Weisheng said bowing. He and Godefroi were alone in Vienne Cathedral preparing for the hearing. He watched as Godefroi uncomfortably cracked his neck from side to side.
"Is there something that troubles you?" Weisheng asked
"My nephew's mother died 2 years ago around this time" Godefroi said "It's an image that still haunts me"
"My King, you mustn't concern yourself with the past, the future is yours to rule"
"The past will sneak up on you if you do not look back on it" Godefroi said." And the future will pass you by if you do not look towards it. A man cannot look at the past and the future at the same time, nor can he think about both of them at the same time. But if he is ever to ignore one, the other will haunt him. Which means, there is something in my past I am ignoring... that, is what is haunting me."
"What is it that you have ignored?"
"My nephew," Godefroi said. "I ignored his potential, and now I am haunted by what he will become in the future."
"Sir?"
"I cannot explain it, I can only feel it, but he will be here tonight, that much I am sure of."
"If that comes to pass I will capture him" Weisheng said
"Alive Weisheng" Godefroi ordered. "Or I will haunt you much worse than your past or future ever will."