Prince Aiden Calix Solis Nigellus was the third prince of The Great Solis Nigellus Empire. He was born to the second wife of the emperor. He had golden hair that shine with the sun and warm gold eyes that made one feel at ease.
He was beautiful and adorable and was said to be the gentlest and most naive among the princes because his mother was overprotective of him.
And that same prince was with Stella in Valyenor. Due to the long travel time, her family had no choice but to let the prince rest in their residence. And she had to entertain him every single day since he was her guest.
Stella felt so annoyed that her study lessons were postponed just so she could have tea time and storytelling with the prince. She was honestly not interested to listen to him but she diligently did so for several days.
Prince Aiden stayed in Valyenor for five days before finally returning to the capital. In that short amount of time, Stella got to know a lot about him since they spent every single day together.
Due to that, she realized that Aiden was a truly kind and warm being. Aside from his good looks, he was affectionate, kind, and humble.
If he was raised properly, he could be a good emperor. He did not look too highly of himself nor use his status to lord it over other people. He also treated servants kindly and did not dislike the idea of meeting with commoners or dining with them.
He was a beautiful soul. Clean and pure. Warm and kind. Innocent and honest.
But that was also his weakness. He was sheltered by a good and powerful mother that shielded him from the cruelties of the outside world.
It was to the point that what Prince Aiden had seen and experienced so far were only the beautiful and lovely things that the world offered. He had not yet had a glimpse of the dark side of the world.
Stella was amazed at how strong and dedicated Aiden's mother was to be able to do that much for his son in the world of aristocrats where they smiled at each other by day but send assassins in the night.
With her knowledge as Yeong-ja, Stella knew that the ruling class had it rough too. She, as the mere daughter of a duke, was already having a hard time with all the pressure. What more for a prince of a huge empire?
Stella and Hendrick had no one to fight with since their father only married one woman. And he did not have any other children since he did not get concubines nor see other women.
She realized that Aiden might be smiling as bright as the sun now and had a cheerful aura, but someday, his pure smile would be sullied and his cheerful aura would turn dark. He would not be so innocent soon as he would get more exposed to the real world of royalty and politics.
Prince Aiden was twelve now and the competition for the throne would officially start once he turned sixteen. But in truth, it had begun since he was born. Aristocrats were already talking about which sides they would choose.
Even his three younger brothers were already part of the competition without knowing it.
It often depends upon the mother and her side of the family if the son would decide to compete for the throne or side with a brother instead.
And for the greedy, it was normal to use the princes for a chance to raise their standing in society.
* * *
During his stay, Prince Aiden had mentioned that his mother was very beautiful and kind. Aiden told Stella that his mother told him that if he did not want the throne, he could just choose which of his brothers to support.
Aiden said that he was still not sure what he wanted to do. For now, all he wanted was to study more about the empire and train to be stronger. After he knew enough, that was when he would make the decision of whether to support a brother or compete for the throne.
But in the novel, the throne fell into Aiden's hands since the two older princes died in war at the borders. Aiden avenged his brothers and won that same war with the support of Valyenor knights that were sent through Stella's plea. He came back home hailed as a war hero and was hailed as 'Aiden the Avenger'. His former reputation as an innocent pretty boy was changed into a valiant and strong prince who won a war the first time he went for it.
In his stay in Valyenor, Aiden had spoken warmly of his brothers. It was obvious that he loved them. The brothers looked like they had a good relationship.
Aiden especially spoke a lot about his older brothers Conrad and Fabian. He seemed to get along best with the older brothers.
'Perhaps that was why he went to avenge the two when they were killed. Now that I thought about it, Aiden was said to have gone berserk on the battlefield and hunted the ones who killed his brothers.'
Conrad was the oldest among the princes. He had golden hair and green eyes. He was born to the emperor's first wife. He was just about to turn eighteen but he was tall and well built. He had apparently been training hard under the emperor's tutelage since he was five.
Due to that, a lot of factions surmised that the emperor was in favor of his first child. Conrad was also outstanding in everything he did. He was the perfect heir. He was the most likely to be the next emperor since a lot of nobles supported him and he had the best reputation among the brothers.
Fabian, the second oldest was sixteen. He had blue hair and golden eyes. He was also born to the emperor's first wife. He also excelled in his lessons and training just like Conrad. A lot of nobles also favored him so he was the second in line to the throne.
However, there were rumors that he was more interested in magic than being the emperor. Some interpreted that as Fabian giving way to his older brother. But his supporters denied all that.
Stella had to wonder if the nobles actually just enjoyed seeing the princes fight and eliminate each other. She did not understand why they had to push brothers who get along well to fight each other. She felt bad for the princes who were mere tools of nobility.
Not that she was in a better predicament. She was also just another pawn on a chessboard. But at least, she did not have to fight with her brother Hendrick and their parents love them both.
Recalling Hendrick, she noticed that he seemed to dislike Aiden. She had felt him glaring at Aiden a lot of times but he was always smiling when she turned to look at him. She wondered if she was just imagining things.
She had been finding her brother to be a bit weird when Prince Aiden was in their residence.
"Little Stella," she suddenly heard a voice say. She was so surprised that she almost screamed. She had dropped the book she was holding.
"Sorry, did I surprise you?" It was Hendrick. He picked up the book for her
"Brother, how could you surprise me like that? I almost had a heart attack," Stella said as she rubbed her chest to calm herself. It was scary how she was just thinking about how he seemed weird but now he was suddenly there with her.
"What?! I'll go call the doctor. No, should I carry you there?" Hendrick panicked.
"That was a figure of speech," Stella sighed.
"Oh, I see. That's a relief," Hendrick sighed and seated himself across her. "I had called out to you three times. What were you thinking about that you did not hear me?"
"I'm sorry, brother. I was just a bit distracted. It's nothing to worry about," she quickly responded. "Why did you come here, by the way, Brother? Did you have something to say?"
"Ah, yes. I have something important to talk about. Will you have tea with me in the garden?"
Stella blinked twice. She was suddenly nervous.
'Was I found out? Did he notice that I am not his real sister?'
"You do not want to?" Hendrick asked in a sulky voice.
"Eh? I did not say that."
"You were having tea with Prince Aiden every single day the past five days that I was not able to talk to you at all. Don't you think it's not fair to talk with that stranger every day but not have time to talk to me, your very own brother? Does little Stella hate me?"
"Of course not. Not at all, dear brother. Let us go have tea in the garden. I will listen to what brother has to say," Stella quickly replied. She finally understood what it was about.