The Second Prince always does what he wants and never learns from his mistakes.
"The second prince?" Echeron asked the butler
The butler nods "Yes, my lord"
Echeron grunted as if feeling annoyed at the presence of the second prince.
"He always does what he wants to do", Echeron said, standing up at the chair. "And, tell him to wait in the lounge. I'll be there," he added.
Echeron suddenly grabbed Iris and carried her like a sack of rice on his shoulder.
Iris was startled and dropped the flower she was holding.
"HEY!" Iris shouted.
"Don't struggle and shut up," Echeron told Iris.
Iris doesn't want to start an argument, so she just shuts her mouth and lets him carry her that way.
They arrived at one room that looked like a small library. Echeron dropped Iris down the floor, and she hurt her butt.
"ouch" " Iris groaned.
"stay", Echeron demanded, treating her like a dog.
Iris gave Echeron a sharp look while rubbing her butt. But she did not complain since she was intrigued by the books on the shelves when she saw the room. Iris likes reading.
Echeron walked out of the room and locked the door just to be safe so she couldn't escape or get out and put the key in his pocket.
Echeron started walking to the room where the second prince was. He arrived at the lounge and opened the door.
When the door was opened, the Prince was lying on the couch like a lazy person.
"at last, you're here", he said to the Duke as he raised his hands and waved at the Duke.
The Duke bowed down. "Why did you come, my prince?" Echeron asked
The second prince raised his eyebrows, looking irritated at the Duke.
"Prince? Did you just refer to me as Prince?" he said
Echeron rolled his eyes at the Prince. "what do you want?"
"you got some balls to talk back at me?" the second Prince shouted as he rose from the couch.
The Duke ignored him and walked toward his chair.
The Prince turned red because of anger but brushed his hair up and regained his composure.
"So? Any news about the body of my brother?" the second prince asked, sitting on the chair again
The Duke removed his knife from the cabinet and started playing with it. Looking bored, he still answered the question of the Prince.
"We never found his body."
"ugh!!" the second prince screamed in anger." How hard can it be to find a dead body?"
Echeron looked at him and stabbed the knife on his table. "As you said, Dead body and it's been 15 years," the Duke said, putting his foot on the table. "Do you think we can find his body?"
The Prince threw a tantrum and rubbed his head. "the king won't give me the crown unless we find the body as proof that he is really dead."
"well", the Duke said, "you can fake the body," he suggested
"What?" the second prince looked in the direction of the Duke, looking confused.
The Duke grinned wickedly. "never thought about faking the crown prince's body?"
The second prince ran to the Duke's table, slapping his hand on the table.
"how do you do that?" the second prince asked. "there will be an examination of the body."
The Duke looked at the second prince, thinking, 'How dumb can this prince be?'
The Duke stood up and walked toward the window. Staring at the scenery outside, the Duke smiled, and the rain started to pour.
"The crown prince died at 10 years old, right?" the Duke asked, facing the Prince.
The second prince nodded as the lightning flashed to the Duke's face.
The Duke grinned, "Well, you can find a male with royal blood the same age as the crown prince when he died", the Duke said
The second prince gritted his teeth. It will be hard to find someone with royal blood at age ten since no one usually dies at that age.
The Duke saw the trouble on the second prince's face. "Dead or alive is okay. I'll do the rest," he suggested
The second prince's face lit up with an idea. He looked at the Duke with amazement and grim.
"I like that", he said, "I need to go". The second prince immediately left the Duke's manor to his carriage.
The Duke looked at the second prince from his window as he ran to his carriage. The Duke laughed evilly.
"how dumb is that human?" he said
The Duke looked at his shadow from behind and said," Follow him," like a mist, a shadow flew out and attached to the second prince's carriage.
Echeron sat from his chair; as he waved his hand, the butler appeared behind him, holding a glass and wine.
Echeron grabs the glass as the butler pours the wine.
"What plan do you have in mind, my lord?" the butler asked
The Duke grabs a small orb from his pocket, and then it becomes bigger and bigger, like the size of a ball.
"Show me The Crystal Palace," the Duke said
The orb shines brightly as it shows the crystal palace.
"do you see that?" the Duke asked the butler. "The Heart stone. It's becoming weaker and weaker", he pointed the stone at the top of the castle.
"That stone was the last magic that the gods left the humans to protect them from us", he said. "But human is so stupid. They didn't know it was left to them by the gods for thousands of years, and losing faith in the gods can lead them to their extinction."
"Your plan is almost complete", the butler complimented the Duke.
The Duke laughed viciously as he drank the wine.
"but for now, let's play with my new toy", Echeron said, sliding his hand on the orb and transferring the vision to Iris, who was now sleeping on the chair, with a book falling from her hand.
The duke smiled.