Gigantic castle walls loomed in front of the two Vanderwale siblings as they walked into the left building of the Lion Palace, the main castle of the Crown Prince.
It is quite a grand sight, even for the Duke's children. The dark golden castle is surrounded by black lion carvings on its wall, white marble statues, a beautifully arranged and colorful garden, and much more.
Jasmine entered the palace once again with her brother, Jamie, but without their father this time.
This day is going to be the start of their work. Specifically, the start of their training.
Jamie will be the advisor of the Crown Prince himself, and Jasmine will be one of the apprentice royal researchers.
"You nervous?"
Jamie scoffs. "Me? Nervous?"
Jasmine rolled her eyes at her brother's overconfidence. "Just remember that you're going to be serving someone directly from the royal family."
"I'm not that arrogant."
"Oh please, try to look at yourself with a mirror."
"A mirror can't capture the greatness of my intelligence."
Before Jasmine could refute, Jamie put his finger in his lips to shush her and gestured his head in front of them.
A tall man with sun-kissed freckled skin, luscious crimson red hair, and warm golden eyes walked up to them with great pride, that was until he saw the silver-haired woman standing in front of him.
His confident eyes wavered and staggered for a little bit, which made his current advisor, who was walking beside him, fill with worry. The royal slightly shook his head in answer.
Jamie and Jasmine bowed gracefully in front of the Crown Prince.
"We greet the Star of the Quintesse Empire, Crown Prince Marin, may the goddess bring her blessings upon you, Your Highness."
"You may rise." The Prince raises his hand but his eyes continue to stare at Jasmine.
"We thank you." Jasmine felt his intense stare. Not knowing what to do, she made her eyes look somewhere else other than the Prince.
"Hello, Jamie, Jasmine," The middle-aged man beside the prince, greeted and the siblings gave their bows. "I am the current advisor of Crown Prince Marin, Gretou cu Polin. Nice to meet such beautiful children of the Duke." He warmly smiles.
The middle-aged man is slightly smaller than the Prince, with pale blue hair and wrinkles on his sweet and smiling face.
"We are honored, Count Polin," Jasmine replied.
Jamie acting like a proper noble, smiled at the Count, as a perfunctory action. Gretou lightly chuckles at the two. "Well, you'll be taking my reins soon Young Master Jamie, so I'll show you what I do every day with His Highness." He gestured his hand to the Prince, who was still blankly staring at Jasmine.
Jamie raised his eyebrow when he noticed the look in the royal's eyes.
'Does he hate Jasmine?' was the first thought that had come into his head. 'He isn't glaring at her though... just staring. How curious.'
Jamie started having doubts about the man he was about to serve. He won't have it if the Crown Prince was even slightly lower in intelligence than he had expected him to be. He isn't expecting him to be as smart as himself, but he still had standards if he was to be under somebody.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll be going to the royal library now. My professor must be waiting." Jasmine spoke, still avoiding the prince's gaze.
Marin was about to raise his hand to converse with her even more but she had walked away much faster than he had anticipated.
"Shall we, Jamie?" Gretou gestured his hand to walk and Jamie slightly nodded. "You two are similar in age, so it'll be easier to get along."
After Jasmine walked away, Marin shook his head and came back to his senses. "I'll gladly be friends with you Jamie."
Jamie hesitantly replied, "What an honor, Your Highness. You're willing to be friends with such a person like me."
Marin scoffed, unnoticed by the two, and continued smiling innocently.
The day continued with Jamie being lectured on what the Prince does for the day and what an advisor usually works with. Fortunately, with Jamie's caliber, he already understood everything that needed to be done. This delighted Gretou immensely as he didn't have to explain everything too much.
"I'll leave you two together for now so that you can get to know each other." Gretou bid his goodbye to the two young men.
Marin and Jamie were both at the Lion Palace's central garden having tea. When the advisor left, the innocent smile on Marin's face left with him. Jamie noticed this immediately and made the hair all over his body raise.
"Let's get one thing straight," Marin leaned back on his chair and crossed his legs. "I don't care if you're called the 'Genius of the Century' in the Empire. You have to prove to me that you're even worthy of being the future Duke of the Vanderwales first. I assume you understand what I mean, right Jamie?"
'Genius of the century, tch.' Jamie had a grim expression on his face but removed it.
Jamie is many things but what he isn't is someone who can be surprised easily, this is one of the rare times he had been so. The beloved Crown Prince of the Quintesse Empire, known for his warmth and kind personality, was looking down on him coldly, exuding such a powerful aura around him just from the look of his eyes and his posture. An aura belonging to an Emperor.
Although he was shocked, he didn't show it on his face as his pride wouldn't allow it.
Jamie sneered, "So, this is your real colors, Your Highness?"
Marin smirked and straightened his back. Leaned in front, and sipped the warm tea.
"Just call me Marin when we're alone together. I don't like it when the people whom I'm supposed to trust are putting an act."
"I'm only following the standard manners for nobles, Your Highness, it's not an act."
"When it's coming from you, it is. Don't tell me you didn't think I'd notice your perfunctory smiles?"
This caused Jamie to chuckle loudly but he instantly covered his mouth. "Then, you're already giving me the honor to call you by your first name?"
"Just be honest, you're going to be my advisor anytime soon. Do you really consider that an honor?"
Jamie immediately shook his head. "Alright then, Marin. I'd love that, advisors have to be straightforward after all."
"You understand," Marin smiles and eats a cookie then gives one to Jamie, who gratefully accepts.
"You must hate the nobility so much." Jamie suddenly said. Marin's eyes stared at him for a while and he let out a small chuckle.
"For some, I guess I do. Once I become Emperor, I won't let them get away with the shit that they do."
"His Highness isn't so elegant with his words."
"I'm just being straightforward in front of my advisor. You're going to be with me for the rest of my life after all."
"Ugh, don't make it sound so disgusting, and it's only for 30 years."
"Isn't this basically a temporary marriage we're having?" Marin laughed out loud.
Jamie rolled his eyes and then stared at the Prince. A thought suddenly came to his head after the Prince mentioned marriage.
"Do you like my sister, Marin?"