Once back in the carriage, neither Eden nor Athis said a word. They weren't embarrassed about each other, at least, Eden wasn't embarrassed, but they weren't close enough to be able to start a discussion either. However, Eden had to start it if he wanted Athis to look at him with a better eye, and to be less suspicious of him.
"Tell me, I've been calling you by your first name since just now but I hope it doesn't bother you. I can call you with the honorifics if you want" Eden asked with a face that seemed to say he was really worried.
"N- no, on the contrary, I am happy that you call me with my first name"
"Really?" Eden replied with "stars" in his eyes. "I'm glad you told me that, I was worried you'd be embarrassed around me." He continued while having a relieved face.
'It looks like I'm talking to an angel, how could I be embarrassed?' Athis thought in the back of his mind before returning to the real world because of the angel in front of him.
"Athis, before we go to your palace, could we take a tour of the city?" Eden asked with puppy eyes "I wish I could explore it before we go to the academy. You can refuse of course" He continued, waiting for Athis' reply with great impatience.
Athis didn't understand Eden's reason for wanting to go to the city. Some people considered it one of the wonders of the world because it was really big and beautiful, but for him, it was nothing more than people getting together and partying until late at night. He also thought that there was nothing special about the city. He had only seen food stalls and mini-games the last time he went so there was nothing beautiful to see.
However, he could still accompany Eden if he wanted so much to go with him.
"Do you want to go with me?" Athis asked Eden, who nodded quickly.
"In this case, I propose that we go tomorrow morning. The city is very big so it would be a shame to enjoy it only at night"
"Wait, is it perhaps a date that you'd be offering me?" Eden asked Athis while smiling.
"Hey, uh no-no it's you who wanted-" Stammered Athis with a red face before he was interrupted by Eden's laughter.
"Hahaha, I'm joking don't worry. If you would have seen your head frankly hahaha" Eden laughed while holding his stomach.
The two boys continued to talk about things for about twenty minutes.
They then arrived at their destination and finally got out of the carriage after crossing the gate of the palace. On his way out, Eden has found it hard to believe his eyes.
He didn't think he would see a palace in that state when he heard the royal family talk about Athis.
He thought a prince couldn't have something below average, and in itself, it wasn't. But when compared to Aether's for example, Athis' palace was really, really in comparison.
The palace was exactly like Aether. At least, only the building. Everything that was around, the gardens, the training grounds, and everything that normally constituted a palace was in a pitiful state. The gardens were very, very poorly maintained with flowers fading as far as the eye could see. The training tools for the soldiers who were in the training grounds were filled with dust. One could see how they had never been used.
"Athis, why did you have a palace if it is not to have the servants who maintain it with it? I mean, you're a prince and it's all well and good to have a palace but if it's in that state, wouldn't it be better to just have a house a little bigger than the average?" Eden asked, who was still looking around while being stunned.
"Well, you can imagine that I have already asked my mother in 16 years of existence but she always told me that a prince should not be on the same level as commoners" Athis replied. "And then, even if the outside is like that, the inside is... in better condition? »
"Why are you asking me the question? This is my first time here" Eden asked Athis who simply shrugged.
After observing the outside a little more and noticing that the outside of the palace was in really bad shape, the two boys went inside the palace. As Athis had said, the interior seemed to be in better condition, and again, to say this was far too nice. There were certainly a few servants in the palace who cleaned it. But it could be seen very clearly that the work was extremely poorly done and sloppy. It was to wonder if the household chores were done by servants.
"Tell me Athis, it's not you who does the cleaning, right?" Eden asked Athis who showed him around the interior of the palace.
"Of course not! Who did you take me for? I must remain a minimum worthy of my rank" Athis replied furiously to Eden, who began to smile. Within one hour, his relationship with Athis had skyrocketed.
Once he had gone around the palace and met the servants who were supposed to take care of the palace, Athis showed Kila's room. His room was right next to him if he ever needed anything. After wishing Athis goodnight and returning to his room, Eden saw that it looked very much like the one Aether had given him.
"It's well cleaned here at least," Eden thought before going for a bath. Once in the water, Eden could finally release all the stress he had accumulated.
He hadn't noticed it, but his meeting with the Empress had been much more tiring than he might have thought. He never thought that so much would have happened in just two days. Two days that had passed like a year. He didn't know what the future would hold, but what he could be sure of was that his new life was going to be much more exciting than his last. However, he should not forget to find tracks to be able to find Cayron.
He hadn't forgotten what he had done to him, and he never could. His ex-best friend had stabbed him in the back, and if there was one thing he hated above all else was being betrayed. However, he didn't know if this emotion was reinforced by the fact that he had become a vampire.
He was 100% sure he wasn't like that when he was still Kila, so seeing himself so agitated made him quite puzzled. However, he thought quite frankly that it was not a bad thing. If he could express his emotions more openly then he wouldn't say no at all. During his time as Kila, he very rarely showed his emotions to people, and the only person who saw them was Cayron, who had decided to betray him.
So if he could live more freely, he wouldn't say no.
After a good bath, Eden finally went to bed. He could finally rest after accumulating so much stress by confronting the Empress. He was also happy to see that he would not have to sleep once again on a tree.
Once inside the bed, he fell asleep as fast as a rock that fall in the ocean. However, if the walls weren't soundproofed, Eden would probably have been awakened by Athis' "screams". These were not cries of martyrdom but rather cries of joy. Athis was extremely happy to have found someone who seemed to really want to be his friend.
"Calm down Athis," he said to himself. "I still don't know if he's doing it on purpose or if he wants to be. I'm sure he'll make a blunder at some point and I'll see his real face. The only thing I can trust is my invocations and nothing else."
After calming down, Athis also began to fall asleep. The night passed extremely quickly and the sun seemed to have arisen in the blink of an eye. Eden was the first to get up, and he got up extremely early. It was barely 7:30 a.m. when he had just gotten up. However, he was absolutely not tired when he woke up. He suspected that it must have something to do with his vampire body, but it didn't bother him more than that.
For Eden, getting up early meant he could do more things in the day, and the first thing he did was to do some exercise in the nearest training ground. He never exercised in his old body because he would feel way too exhausted after that, but with a vampire physique, it was like a walk in a park.
After finishing his exercises, he took a good shower and began to get ready. He went into his wardrobe and decided to go with something quite simple for today. He wore a white shirt that was in his black high waist pants that one would see people wear in old age and a black vest to not catch a cold. The pant fit Eden like a glove so he didn't bother if one would mistake him for a middle-aged man. On the contrary, it would just mean that the person would be blind. Eden was far better than a model with his outfit.
Once ready, he walked out of his room and walked to Athis'.
"Should I wake him up? It's barely 8:30 so there's still time" Eden said to himself just before the door opened.
"Uh? What are you doing in front of my door this soon? Athis asked, who was also dressed like Eden but with light color instead of a dark one.
"Ah... uh... I just wanted to see if you were awake?" Eden replied, who seemed to have lost his means.
"I'm not in your silly head, why are you asking me?" He said while chuckling a little.
"Anyway, when are we leaving?" Eden asked with stars in his eyes.
"After eating?"
"No, no, we're going to eat outside" Eden replied with a smile to Athis.
'Ahhhh why is he a vampire? It's impossible to deny something to a piece of art' Athis thought while being pulled by the arm by Eden.
The two boys then immediately walked to the carriage, finally... Eden pulled Athis towards the carriage. Once inside, Athis took out two capes from his inventory and gave one to Eden.
"It's to avoid being noticed. You can imagine that a piece of art and a prince will be noticed if we go like this in the city, right? Athis explained to Eden, who nodded like a little puppy.
After about 10 minutes, they finally arrived in town. On his way out, Eden was captivated by the immensity of the latter.