"Found you." A white face suddenly popped up from the shrub of leaves, nearly scaring Esmond out of his skin. He clutched the area around his chest tightly, feeling the heavy and erratic beating of his heart while taking deep breaths. Esmond glared at Kai who suddenly appeared.
"Damn it! How do you always find me so quickly?! You're using some tricks, aren't you!? Come on, tell me!" Esmond stood up from his spot, which was shrouded by bushes and foliage. Pointing a finger at Kai's face he accused the boy who was still knelt on the ground, part of his body hidden by the bush while his legs stuck out from the other side, creating an odd image.
"You put a tracker on me or something, no way you could've found me after just 2 minutes!" Kai stared up at Esmond with a deadpanned face. His honest thoughts silently brewing inside his head.
No, you just are that bad at hiding.
"You're making that face again! Like I'm stupid!" He stomped his feet, yelling at Kai with puffed-up cheeks. "I don't want to play hide-n-seek anymore! Change the game!"
"Change the game?" Kai tilted his head, still submerged in the bush. "Okay, I have a knife with me right now. How about I try and catch a rabbit?"
"Why are you carrying a knife around?"
"That's irrelevant. Do you want a rabbit or not?"
"Of course! Hurry up and get me one!" Esmond pulled Kai up with ease, almost throwing him back if not for Kai reacting just in time and holding tightly onto his sleeve. A nervous drop of sweat flowed down his temple, this kid was oblivious to his strength. It was dangerous hanging around him sometimes.
"Alright...um, let's go find some gain." Kai cheered dully, his face still a bit pale due to almost being thrown away by Esmond's strength.
Ever since the two met a few months ago, they were nearly inseparable. Against the adult's original intentions, Esmond had become more attached to Kai than what was considered normal. And on the wishes(orders) of his mother, Kai had no choice but to indulge and play along with the first prince's intentions.
On the surface, it looked like Kai was always the one following Esmond like a lost duckling, but in actuality, he would be leading the oblivious prince along with his words that were too quiet to be audible for outsiders to hear.
The two play out of range of the adult's supervision. By the time the sun was starting to set, it was only then did they finally appeared in front of the distressed grown-ups. Both of them were covered in grass clippings with mud stains and smudges. Kai held tightly onto Esmond's hand with an expressionless face while the other kept bawling his eyes out.
Nanaia pulled Kai to the side, scolding him for making the prince cry while Esmond kept being comforted by multiple servants. Yet no matter how much they coaxed him, his tears kept spilling.
After his mother finally stopped scolding him, Kai stared at Esmond from the side and muttered under his breath. "Cry baby."
The scene immediately turned silent and Esmond's cries became mute. A pair of bright amber eyes that were stained with tears glared fiercely at him, with snot dripping down his face he rushed to Kai's side.
"I'm not a crybaby! I don't understand why you have to leave, can't you just stay here?" Esmond sniffed, burying his head into the crook of Kai's shoulder. Kai did his best to resist the urge to push the snot-covered baby away from him and silently comforted the other party by stiffly patting his back.
The other's were rendered stunned by the first prince's words and an awkward air of silence soon fell down the scene.
"Ahem!" Nanaia was the one to interrupt the awkward atmosphere, with a faint smile on her lips she tried reasoning with the prince. "We're very flattered that you feel this way, Prince. But it's very rude to suddenly stay over without a notice beforehand. Although it isn't impossible for Kai to stay over, I'm afraid we're going to have to do that some other time; you have to send out a formal notice first, Prince. To have a guest stay overnight at the royal castle needs a lot of preparation and time." She said while gently patting his back.
Esmond sniffed, turning to stare at Nanaia with his big glassy eyes. "Really?"
Her eyebrows slightly twitched as she answered him. "Really."
Esmond finally let go of Kai and allowed them to leave, although still with a bit of reluctance. Sitting in the carriage, watching the little figure of the prince disappearing bit by bit, Nanaia sighed with a smile on her face. She then turned to look at her son, sitting opposite her. his head was resting on the edge of the wall, nodding off to sleep.
"It seems you have made yourself a good friend. That's good...great." She looked out the window again, the red sky turning dark with stars. "Well, I have no choice but to keep our promise then. You can advance your studies, Kai."
A hint of nervousness crept into her voice as she said those last words, her expression turning lost as if recalling an old memory. Subconsciously grabbing the pendant around her neck, she opened the locket and saw the familiar faces of her husband and eldest son.
Kai was taken in by the servants the moment they returned home, while Nanaia insisted on roaming the halls in a daze before returning to her chambers.