A few of the Neirenians, who recognised him bowed as they passed him by while Eric just waved slightly
"welcome home ,My Prince" the ever familiar voice said and Eric turned around with a smile on his face to see the now aged man that has been with him the longest excluding his father
"It's good to see you, Lukas" he said now standing fully before his Aide who was there but with his head bowed as a courtesy
"Its an honor to serve you again, My prince ,although right now, I don't now if I should scold or hug you" Lukas commented with his head still bowed
Eric laughed slightly
"don't be so uptight, Lukas plus I could honestly use a hug right now" Eric said with a sad smile and after a few seconds of Lukas not making any actions
Eric sighed and was about to do the usual courtesy where he asks Lukas to be at ease when suddenly he felt himself engulfed in a hug
"It's really good to see you again too, My prince" he said into the hug and Eric sighed in relief, breathing in the the air around Lukas that he was used to as a kid
He really was home .
"Whoa, Neire really has developed way past what I left it as, there's even a railroad now? Whoa, just whoa"
"Well, King Thomas wanted to create less traffic on the roads" Lukas replied
"Right, the old man was always so concerned for the people "Eric sighed out like he was bored then smiled
"My old man really was amazing"
Eric commented although no one could hear him as he rode in the backseat with Lukas who was at the passenger's seat in front
Although Eric was not really a flamboyant type, he was glad it was a convoy that came from him, preventing him from the touchy reporters as he stepped out of the airport, he was so sure that by tomorrow, the newspaper headlines will be screaming about his arrival. Eric sighed as he thought
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, I wonder how that was for Dad"
The cars turned in another direction just as they were on the royal road that led to the palace and even if Lukas has been gone for years, he knew just where the current road let to
The ministers town, that is here
Here, most of the ministers lived and those who didn't live there had houses there
"Where are we going? I would really love to go straight to the palace right now and relax in my room before meeting with anyone or is the palace closed to me now that my father is dead"he asked clearly annoyed
Lukas quickly turned to look at him
"I apologize for the diversion , my prince but for now please trust me and rest for a while here before heading to the palace, its under a bit of disruption right now" Lukas tried to explain and Eric's frown turned into a confused one
"what do you mean by disruption" Eric asked
"well, its not my place to tell you but I assure you, you will be informed about it tomorrow, for now, I believe you should rest, after all you are weary from the flight
"I would love to argue right now but you are right, I do want to rest but tomorrow, I am tearing down that palace's gate" Eric stated then added "although I wonder what it could be than the fact that my father is dead". Silence overcame the car and no one spoke until a few minutes later and even the driver stiffened up knowing the words of the prince were true
Lukas sighed in relief
" Of course, My prince, of course "he replied then faced forward.
"So there's the royal town and there's a minister's town?" Kara asked over the call truly amused at the structure of her lover's country
Eric sighed with a smile as he laid on his master's suite king sized bed ,befitting the crown prince of the country "well, yes. The royal town is for the royal family while the minister's town are for the royal officials, its not compulsory to live in any of it though if you want" he replied
Kara chuckled "this just makes it for irresistible, I want to see this wonderful country of yours honestly" she said
"definitely, you will, soon" he replied
"When we get married?" she asked over the call ,teasing but slightly serious and Eric knew so he replied with a slight chuckle
"well, maybe sooner than that" he replied and he could practically see her blushing
Not that they didn't believe they had a future together but because it was the first time either of them had acknowledge the word "marriage"
There was a few seconds of silence before she spoke
"Well, that is good for her. Dad sends his condolences "she said
"Whoa well, thank him for me?" Eric said in disbelief and Kara chuckled knowing just how much her boyfriend and Dad didn't get along
"sure, I will" she replied then after some consideration on her part ,she asked
"So have you met 'Alex'?"
Eric couldn't hide his laughter as it rang off the walls
"you don't mean to tell me you are jealous ,are you?" he asked
Her voice dialed down a bit as she replied
"well you talk fondly about her and all and now you have a chance to see, I just .."she was saying but Eric interrupted her
"babe, there is nothing to worry about, okay? Alex is just a childhood friend and we haven't even seen or contacted each other in years. plus I love you, don't be like my old man" he said trying to reassure her and it looked like the last sentence worked as she replied
"I do love you too, I am not worried, it would be great to meet her someday too, anyway" she said
"that would be awesome" he replied and then added "to answer your previous question, no I haven't seen her just yet but I suspect I might see her soon, after all she loves this dear country too much to leave, she must be done getting her degree now so I am sure she is here somewhere here in Minister's town ,after all her dad is one" he explained
"that's nice" Kara replied ,still a bit jealous
"I have got to go, my shift just started" she said
"Oh okay, call me when you are done, love. I am never too busy, don't do something I wouldn't dp" Eric stated lovingly as she chuckled slightly over the phone
"you too" she replied and the line went dead