[EPISODE 1.1]
Method Acting
Episode 1 Part 1
'For someone well-respected in this Kingdom, Azriel sure is dumb.' It was ironic coming from a person who's known for being dumb and useless. 'There's a lot of people out there. Why did he have to love the wrong person?'
It was no doubt the second lead died because of his love for the male lead. If Azriel didn't make his promise with Andreus, maybe he wouldn't have died.
Maybe if Azriel loved him a little less, he wouldn't have died by the hands of the main villain.
"Haaaa... What a dumbass."
Caspian was left stressed out.
Last night, he finished a story called The Faithful Encounter. It was a mysterious book he found in the library, and it's about romance. If you base it on the writing style, it seemed like the author attempted to write a story about the relationship of one man and a woman.
But for some reason, it ended up confusing.
'At first, it looked like the story was about the romatic life of the protagonist. I don't know if it's intended by the writer, but it seemed like your typical love story at first. I didn't expect it to be so complicated and mysterious?'
Instead of romance, 'mystery' fits the story more. The writer limited A LOT of information even in the ending. It will leave you with a mind full of questions.
It will also leave you with a headache.
To the final boss, the author never revealed the identity of the villains in the story.
'What kind of story doesn't reveal any information about the antagonist?'
Who's the murderer?
The main antagonist of The Faithful Encounter.
'The narrator always calls the antagonist 'hooded man'. Hooded man this, hooded man that. Maybe they didn't have any naming sense?'
The hooded man was the most mysterious character in the story. Without telling the reason for his actions, the main villains went on killing spree. Killing all the important characters of the story, starting from the male lead.
Caspian wasn't done with his questions.
'Who wrote this story? And why is it inside the library of this house?' He found the book lying on the table yesterday. 'My brain can't handle this.'
It was too much for his small brain.
'And at last, why would someone write this story?'
Only an insane person would write something like The Faithful Encounter. It's because the characters inside the story is based on real people. Starting from the side characters to the important ones, they were all living in people in real life.
'It totally makes sense why the author didn't place their name in the book. If someone read this and report it to the knights, the writer will be locked up.'
You don't have to be smart to reach this point. Even the reader of this story can go to jail.
'Too bad. The story was well-written. Well, except for the ending part.'
The death of the second lead was pointless.
Knock Knock
His thoughts were disturbed by a knock.
When Caspian heard someone knock on the door, he put the book inside the drawer of his nightstand. After placing the book inside, the prince stood up from his bed.
"Your Highness, it's time for breakfast."
It was the voice of his personal maid.
Before Caspian headed straight to the door, he turned his head to the window. His blinds were neatly tied to the sides, while the sun lightened up the whole room.
He admired how the sun shone with the blue sky.
It was a beautiful and peaceful morning.
'If only that book never existed in the first place, this morning might be better.' He rolled his eyes. 'What a way to ruin the day.'
Caspian turned away and headed towards the door. With a click, he opened it to see Eliana standing on the side outside his room.
Right after she saw her, she bowed her head.
"Good morning, Your Highness." She greeted. "Did you have a good rest?"
A smile formed on his lips.
"I did."
Click
The door clicked once again after Caspian closed it behind his back. Him and Eliana had their conversation while walking in the hallway.
"I had a great sleep, although my dreams are a bit weird these days...." Caspian continued their conversation. "Well, all dreams are weird so it probably doesn't matter."
Talking to God in your dream is a bit weird, indeed.
"How about you? How's your sleep?"
"I had a great sleep." Eliana smiled. His questions were very much appreciated by the maid. "I'm glad you also had one, Your Highness."
"We were busy the other night, so it's only right for us to catch some sleep. After all, like what you always said before, sleep is important for the brain."
It was what the maid taught him.
Eliana Lister felt like a proud mother.
"Yes, Your Highness. I'm glad there were no other disturbances last night."
"I'm also glad."
After a couple seconds of walking, the both of them arrived to their destination.
Caspian opened the door to the dining room, before they walked in. He sat on the nearest chair infront of the long table.
The table was enough for a whole family of more than ten to dine in. Yet, it was empty except for his plate.
"You may leave, Eliana."
Caspian dismissed the maid.
For the last time, Eliana bowed her head before she walked out of the dining room. Right after she left, someone stepped up to his side. It was a man in a white uniform.
He was the head chef of the house.
Few second of silence passed before he spoke.
"Is this for real?" Caspian raised an eyebrow. "This again?"
Caspian didn't touch his utensils and only stared at the content of the plate with disgust. He waited for the head chef's response without removing his gaze from the plate.
"My apologies, Your Highness, but this is the only food our budget can afford. According to Miss Eliana, there has been a financial problem in our residence. Hence, this is what we can only afford."
It was a slice of steak with some vegetables. It was pretty fancy for your average meal.
"Tsk."
Nevertheless, Caspian clicked his tongue.
He was annoyed. Likewise, the head chef was also annoyed of his attitude.
Well, everyone was annoyed of his attitude.
Except for his maid, no one respected the famous dumb and useless Prince in this residence. In their minds, there were no reason to do so. Why would they when all he did was nothing?
'He doesn't do anything and he still has the guts to complain like this?' The head chef was tempted to click his tongue.
'He truly is the disappointment of this Kingdom.'
His feelings for the Prince was justified. Caspian, who should be the one managing the house, never did anything and only left his work to Eliana. He let the poor woman do all his work with no mercy.
This is Caspian Ames Percival.
The disappointment of their Kingdom.
"I should tell Eliana to hurry up and fix the problem."
The chef heard the Prince mumble to himself before raising a piece of steak into his mouth.
'How shameless.'
The chef pitied his maid. If he was in her place, he wouldn't survive dealing with the dumb Prince. Hell, would he even last a day?
Eliana Lister has the toughest work in this house. She needed to deal with everything and had to act in place of the Prince. Beside serving the Prince, she needed to fill all the gaps Caspian left.
Which is a lot.
At this point, she should just be the head of the house instead of Caspian.
Everyone saw her as a pitiful angel.
"Why haven't you left yet? Go."
The chef didn't bother bowing and left the dining room as fast as possible.
Once the chef left, the Prince was finally alone.
It was quiet. The only noises that filled the room were Caspian's utensils hitting the plate, and the noise of his glass hitting the table as gently placed it down.
'It has been a week since I started eating this meal.'
Despite his thoughts, Caspian ate the food.
'Breakfast, lunch, dinner... It has always been this kind of meal.' It made him wonder, 'Why? The financial issue he was talking about started two days ago.'
Caspian placed the fork down and wiped the side of his lips with a napkin, before he leaned his back on the backrest.
'Did he lie?'
For a moment, his dark blue eyes went sharp, until he decided to shrugged the thought off.
'It's probably nothing.'
* * *
It wasn't nothing.
"Are you sure, Eliana? Maybe you're over-thinking this. I don't find the chef suspicious at all."
"I'm positive, Your Highness. I've been keeping an eye on him today. He's a suspicious person." The sun was setting outside the windows. "If you let me, I will look into this matter by myself."
"No. What if he's innocent? It's wrong to accuse an innocent person."
What a righteous Prince.
"But, Your Highness–!"
"This is the last time I'll repeat myself. Don't involve yourself with the head chef."
Eliana didn't know what was on his mind. His voice sounded serious, yet the words that spout out of his mouth didn't make any sense for the maid.
She felt displeased.
"Yes, Your Highness...."
Eliana felt displeased but trusted Caspian's words.
In spite of all the years they spent together inside this house, Eliana was never sure of his true colors. Nevertheless, it was her choice to trust the prince.
"As you wish, I'll let him be."