"Do you now understand where my trouble lies?" Lucian asked Claudia as she continued wrapping her tape around his limbs, taking his measurements.
"Of course, Prince 786," Claudia replied with a stained smile but a perfectly respectful tone, that could fool anyone that wasn't blind.
"Oh and now I ought to begin worrying for all my future siblings, think about it with a 10th empress the first child shall be named 101, I fear they might think themselves my elders, or worse my betters, and what of the 10th empresses 10th child, number 1010, if that child should have a caretaker like you, they should fear believing that they have 1009 siblings,"
"Else they shall be taken to their mother to receive a beating, isn't that right Claudia?!" Lucian concluded his speech with a cold look at the woman currently taking his measurements, though the look was hidden behind his mask with the number 786 etched beneath the right eye.
Lucian could almost smell the fear that coursed through Claudia even as she stilled and opened her mouth to make an excuse.
"Quite," Lucian snapped before a word could leave her mouth, "Remember this I'm not like my foolish siblings, the only ones that know about the real me are you two and that wench you call my mother, but well your opinions of me are all compromised by association, you can tell others I'm smart but all they hear is you trying to bolster my wenches reputation,"
"I like it that way, no one gives a second thought to a sloth, it allows me to relax, and stay out of the nonsense with my foolish siblings,"
"I know how to stack my deck and I know how to play my cards, so in the future, I expect an improvement in attitude! Is that clear?" Lucian asked with a barely concealed sneer.
"Yes," Claudia nodded, her eyes betraying little of the thoughts in her head.
"Very good," Lucian muttered and pulled away from her, his measurements were done, "Now disappear," he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
---
Ø Addition to Entry 29: The Journal of a Slothful Prince
I have finally put Claudia in line, no doubt Diego will attempt to report this to that wench and Claudia shall beg him not to…
A caretaker that can't keep her charge in line is not useful after all…
I wonder what kind of outcome shall crop up, I've long since noticed Diego's gaze that lingers on the caretakers, and Claudia is no exception, I mean he literally has to spend his every waking hour with me, it must be boring to always watch someone meditate…
All I need is for him to do something that will compromise him…
If Claudia still has her job tomorrow, I can be certain that he has done such, and finally, after two years of seeking an opportunity, I'll have both the fools under my thumb…
Now I only hope my earlier feeling is wrong…
Well, that's for future me to resolve, time to take a nice long 72-hour break…
---
Lucian sat up with a happy smile, 72 hours had passed by without interruption, he couldn't recall a time when he got such a long period of rest, as he climbed off the bed grabbed his mask, and set it on his face.
It was a perfect fit as always, there wasn't even a need for a strap to hold it in place, though he was one of the few with such a mask, all of his siblings had one too, but a strap was necessary to keep it in place.
Every prince and princess got one, and they were told to wear them on a daily bases, at least until they received a name, but most of them treated the masks like an ornament, the princesses tend to attach the masks to their waists, while the prince's attached it to their shoulders.
As he got up the doors opened wide as his caretakers started to enter, yet they all stopped and looked at the prince with perplexed eyes, no doubt it was a first for them all to see the prince moving about at such an early hour, truthfully it was a rare sight to see him away from his bed, even on a daily basis.
Along with the caretakers came Claudia much to Lucian's delight, a suit bag attached firmly to her hand.
And Diego like always was there, standing like an ornament in armour.
"You look more refreshed than I've seen you in a long while Diego," Lucian noted with a smile behind his mask, "And you Claudia are glowing," he complimented her, yet his compliments were met with two suddenly still as statue people.
Lucian chuckled behind the mask, "I see you've brought me my suit Claudia, well done, I do look forward to working with the two of you in the future," he whispered as he leaned in between the two of them.
"Your Highness, your bath is ready," one of his caretakers called out.
Lucian smirked and turned to get himself cleaned up for the big day.
An hour later the young prince was all dressed up in a black suit with a red inner lining, a plain white shirt was buttoned up all the way, a deep black tie fixed firmly in place, his vest formed a deep v that highlighted both the tie and the jacket he wore on top of it.
Golden cufflinks adorned his wrists with the Mercurion emblem of the nemean lion engraved into it, he wore a simple pair of black pants and shoes with a wedged heel to give the 82cm(2'9") tall prince a bit of extra height.
---
The gala wasn't till much later in the evening, and Lucian naturally had no desire to spend the entire day being active, naturally, he could think of a way to fill in all that time, by using his meditation technique to fall into a trance.
When the main part of the event came, which was essentially the part where the emperor and new empress walked arm in arm through the hall and onto the throne, all the princes and princesses were required to gather on the stairs before the throne.
It was shortly before that when Lucian arrived, his small child's stature making it easy for him to be missed in the crowd when he reached the throne room, but he quickly received many looks.
He stood out quite a bit from the other princes and princesses, only because unlike the others he never removed his mask.
This was a major event across the realms, while the emperors and empresses of foreign empires didn't pay a visit, they sent a number of royal branch members, and ambassadors to attend.
Lucian had no doubt that most of them were curious, even more curious than he was to understand why the emperor was marrying an Ancestral royal.
As he walked through the great hall he kept his ears peeled for conversations on such topics, but there was a lot of bolstering chatter going on, with just a glance he managed to spot over a dozen princes and princesses going out of their way and practically fighting each other to introduce themselves to anyone who would give them two seconds of their time.
Lucian almost felt sad for them as he saw their desperate displays, he couldn't help but curl his mouth in disgust, he wished that Claudia was assigned to one of those fluttering buffoons, then she would realise how lucky she was to have landed someone like him as her charge.
All it took was one word of false praise from anyone, and those desperate siblings of his were like open books for anyone to study.
As he walked through the crowd Lucian picked up little appetisers from the waiters, moving swiftly on their feet when he was suddenly blocked by a woman he very, very reluctantly accepted to be the most beautiful woman in the world, as much as he hated to admit it there was no denying hard facts.
"I'm surprised to see you here… mother," that last word of his came out in a half snarl.
"Well I had to come when my dear son is wandering around like a lost puppy," she answered in the sweetest of voices that could make even stone melt.
Lucian glanced around at all the eyes that were falling on him now that he was in her presence, he gritted his teeth under his mask to stop the many things he wanted to shout out from tumbling out of his mouth, now wasn't the place or time, and it could easily backfire on him.
"What do you want?" he managed to say without popping a vein.
"Take that silly mask off and present yourself, there are more people with power here than you'll get to meet until you're able to reach the purple core, don't waste this opportunity because of your silly little pride," she spoke in a tone of motherly concern, that made Lucian's stomach twist.
Khalia reached for his mask but Lucian's hand beat her to it, he pressed it to his face refusing to let her take it off, at least without causing a scene.
But the moment was quickly interrupted by the doors of the throne room opening completely, giving everyone their first look at the Emperor and the new Empress.