Entry 29: The Journal of a Slothful Prince
It is Slinco (The sixth day of the week) the 7th day of Feltear the third month of the year 106 987 P.C
In four days, the emperor, my father, shall marry again.
I was as taken aback as almost everyone else when the news was revealed, I may be the textbook definition of laziness but in courts like these, I make sure to hear all the latest gossip and attempt to understand the political structure.
Least my ignorance becomes the death of me…
It's not as difficult as it sounds when you're surrounded by insatiable gossips every second of every day…
I've had several tutors and teachers over the years tell me of Mercurion's history and break down some of the political structure to me, and I know enough to know that there is something wrong about the coming union.
In this world there are three casts, Royal, Nobles and commoners… merchants have a role, but they are thought of more like the annoying friends of the three casts.
Royals are the elite class, but even amongst the royals there are 7 ranks, and the titles have some correspondence with the cultivation aspects of the world, I'm apparently too young to think about cultivation so that part is currently still kept out of my studies.
In any case, the royal ranks go, Juvenile, Mature, Millennial, Precursor, Ancestral, Ancient and Sacred, I shan't not write the criteria here for each rank, for I'm yet to learn that, yet my fault perhaps, I'm not exactly the most cooperative of students, or so all my teachers have claimed.
In my studies, I have learnt that there are nine and only nine Ancient royal lineages currently beholden to the empire, and only those of the main lineage of Ancient royalty may ever hope to marry a Sacred emperor.
The nine lineages have long since married a daughter of the main household to the emperor, thus the nine empresses of Mercurion, of which none have passed on, thus there is no one currently beholden to the empire that meets the requirements to marry my father.
I had thought of the possibility of an Ancient royal lineage external to the Mercurion empire marrying in, but such an occurrence would be widely known already, there could be no hiding the diplomatic talks that would go into it.
Then whilst writing this I heard a servant mention the name of the family that will be marrying their daughter to my father, the lineage of Aydal, perhaps I'm thinking of the wrong one here, the name Aydal is not exclusive to one family after all.
But the only Aydal lineage I know of in relation to the Mercurion empire is an Ancestral royal lineage that is beholden to the Ancient lineage of Lawvellius… naturally, Lawvellius is beholden to Mercurion.
If this is indeed the Aydal's I know, it is a problem, not since the second empress of Mercurion has the blood of Ancestral royals been added to the pool of imperials.
In fact, even the current state of things with my father having taken a wife from each of the nine beholden lineages is unheard of in the empire's history…
These facts truly make me question his actions, but also they give me a sense of foreboding, I have a knack for identifying things that are going to disturb my rest, and this feels like one of those things…
Now it is time for me to get some rest, with the odd festive mood spreading perhaps I can convince my tutors to take the next four days off, that way I shan't be interrupted from my rest until the day of the wedding…
---
The first four years of Lucian's blissful life passed by, of course, there were disturbances along the way.
The moment he uttered his first word at the tender age of three months, his education begun.
Much to his lament, he tried holding those words in for so long, but there was only so much he could take of the caretakers always speaking in their never-ending chatter and gossip, disturbing his serenity and occasional thoughts that he allowed to pass through his head.
But after three months of interruptions passed by he had reached his limits and cursed them out with words a child should not even know, to shut up and be quiet in his presence.
After giving his caretakers a fright and accidentally revealing his fast-mental development, his first teachers arrived, to bore him to death.
Of course, this news was also accompanied by talks about a new incredible prince, but within two years all those talks turned into one thing and one thing only, The Lazy Prince.
The Lazy Prince quickly became his moniker, not that he minded, Lucian found it quite fitting for himself, he had always had an impression of calling himself a sloth.
And so the years passed by with many a lesson forced upon him, he had grown accustomed to being disturbed by buckets of cold water, a caning on his feet, and being tied to a chair where he was made to sit with proper posture and listen to the tedious lectures of his tutors.
Then the news arrived late one night about the wedding, and in four days there was going to be a huge gala.
Lucian shut his new journal as soon as he finished his latest entry, the brown leather binding gave off a perfumed scent and had a softness that would make one feel like the book was melting into their hand, 'It could make a good pillow if I ever find myself without one,' he thought as a knock echoed on his door.
"Why must someone always disturb me," he grumbled as he brushed the eraser shavings from his desk and looked to the door, a new coat of polish was applied to it but minutes after the news of the emperor's new bride was revealed.
The scent of the polish was sweet, and the door looked like a golden-brown mirror, with how well it had been polished.
After several observations and building up his tolerance for being annoyed Lucian answered, "Enter," and the door swung open, Claudia the head of his caretakers since day one entered, her blonde hair was tied into a bun as usual, she wore her full-length black dress with a puff on the shoulders and a plain respectable undershirt, and simple but elegant black heeled pumps.
Behind her was Diego, Lucian's personal body guard, he wore the Royal Guard steel armour with a violet cape draped across his shoulders and two swords on his waist, one long, the other short, he kept his helmet on most of the time, but currently it was off, his long black hair fell to his shoulder, he had a long scar on his right cheek.
"Ah, if it isn't the people most commonly known for disturbing me," Lucian greeted unenthusiastically, "What can I do for you on this fine evening of Slinco[1] on which I made very clear that I did not wish to be disturbed?" he asked.
Claudia's face instantly turned as stern as stone, "Your manners are still appalling young prince, and your shoulders are slouching worse than a commoners," Claudia criticised him, while Diego kept his face expressionless, though it did, evidently, take him some effort.
"It's not prince, but prince 786," Lucian corrected pointedly, "You must never forget the number Claudia, imagine what should happen if we were in the great hall and you should utter such words, every prince shall have to receive your criticisms, even those doing everything correctly,"
"I needn't remind you what a petty bunch my stupid siblings can be, let alone, the nearly one thousand of them all together," Lucian uttered in a false sympathetic tone.
Claudia's lips pulled into a thin line as thin as a razor as she listened to the prince's nonsense, "Need I remind you that a name must be earned Prince 7!8!6!" she spoke sharply, "Perhaps if you spend 23 hours less on your bed every day, you'd have earned one by now," she rebuked him.
"And is your ability to retain information so lacking that you do not have the capacity to remember how many siblings you have?!" she reproached him once more.
"Now stand up and stand up straight with proper posture, I must take your measurements for the suit you shall wear to your father's wedding, and so help me if there is one incorrect measurement you make me take…"
"It shall be because your age is catching up with you and your eyes are going crooked," Lucian interrupted her as he stood up, at the age of four years and 5 months he was hardly tall enough to reach her waist, yet it caused a tremor to run through her body.
Claudia's eyes narrowed into slits, but she spoke no more, those words were a popular opinion as of late, no doubt started by this prince and spread by those coveting her position, the worst part was that it was starting to reach the ears of the 7th empress, and it wouldn't be long before it reached the Umbar family.
Lucian smirked ever so slightly at her new found state of silence, "Now as for the number of siblings I possess, you can hardly blame me, 2 years ago I heard that there was a princess 952, and I had only started to learn math at the time,"
"But let me tell you believing that I had 200 siblings that were younger than me after only living for 2 and a half years, was strange, I mean the numbers didn't add up,"
"There are nine empresses and to make such leaps each empress would have had to have had 9,2 children a year, 9 is impossible enough but once you factor in the 0,2…well let's say even if I was lacking in common sense and bad at math, I'd know that something was wrong,"
"It was only then that I learnt the first number in our names is for our 'delightful mothers'," Lucian quipped as his voice oozed sarcasm.
"Do you now understand where my trouble lies?" he asked Claudia as she continued wrapping her tape around his limbs and taking his measurements.
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{1} Slinco is the 5th day of the week.
- to explain there are 7 days in a week in the world of Ariadne and here they are in order…
- Ashvi
- Higso
- Setco
- Parren
- Slinco
- Darsha
- Methz