Azrael didn't know how to respond or even react to Caelum's sudden appearance. It almost didn't feel real that the antagonist was standing in front of him again after their short meeting a few days ago.
Reality only struck Azrael when Caspian stammered out a greeting from beside him while bowing. "P-Prince Caelum, I praise the saint of the Celestrian empire."
'I forgot that people did that weird greeting for Caelum, which doesn't make any sense because even if people thought he was the light magic user. Light magic is different from divine magic. How can he be a saint?' Azrael thought to himself bitterly, following Caspian's lead by bowing his head a bit, but not that much though considering he still, technically, had a higher status than Caelum.
"It's lovely to see you again, Caelum." Azrael tried his best to sound as polite as possible, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him.
Caelum hums in response as he placed both of his hands behind his back, tilting his head a bit to the side as he kept smiling down at him.
"It's lovely to see you again too, your imperial highness. It's quite a rare sight to see you with another student. I'm sure your brother will be pleased to know that you're starting to socialize."
"Is that so? I'm glad if that's the case."
Azrael could feel the tension in the air. He knew Caelum heard him look for Eirian; it was an error on his part for saying it out loud, but at the same time, he didn't expect Caelum to even be close enough to hear him.
In the few days that he's eaten with Adham and Caspian in Floral Haven, there has never been a case where he bumps into Valerian or Caelum.
So, he figured they ate at Lunar hall or had their own space as they were prefects.
Azrael got too complacent. 'It's fine. I just have to talk my way out of it. No problem. It's just Caelum.' He thinks confidently, but his shoulder drops almost immediately.
"Back to my question, your imperial highness. I'm really curious as to why you're looking for the child of darkness?" Caelum repeated his previous question, making Azrael's eyebrow twitch. '...Right, it's Caelum I'm dealing with.' He thinks begrudgingly.
'I don't wanna tell you, jerk.' No.
'It's a secret. Now go away.' Nope.
'Because I know he's the real child of light, and you're nothing but a two-faced devil.' Definitely not.
He tried thinking of an appropriate response, but nothing came to mind. All he wanted to do was make Caelum go away because being in front of Caelum pissed him off and scared him at the same time.
'Prim and proper. Act like a prince, speak like a prince. You're Azrael, you're not Zak. You can't lash out.'
Azrael closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he didn't want to stall any further because that would only make Caelum suspicious of him even more. So, without thinking much about it, he said the next best thing.
"With all due respect, Prince Caelum, but I believe that's my business and I was taught not to share my business with those whom I'm not that close with."
Azrael could practically feel Caspian's horrified expression beside him, but he couldn't stand down, and this was the best he could do. Azrael kept his face neutral, not showing that much emotion as he looked up at Caelum who seemed even more amused now.
"You wound me, Prince Azrael." Caelum says with a fake hurt tone but still kept his smile. "I assumed since your brother is a close friend of mine...you'd see me as someone close to you as well. I'm quite upset."
'What a liar. He's saying things like that while grinning ear to ear.'
"I would like to apologize for hurting you but it seems that you quite enjoy getting hurt considering how happy you look." Azrael couldn't bite back his sarcasm when he answered.
Caelum's eyes grew slightly but not enough to be considered a major reaction but Azrael did notice that something changed in the white-haired prince's demeanor as he responded.
"My, my. With all the years I've glanced at the young imperial prince, I never expected you'd have quite a way with words. You always seemed so timid, like a little bunny. It's interesting how I've never noticed that."
Azrael laughed bitterly, covering his face with his hand as he began smiling back. A mixture of fear and annoyance swirled inside him but he was mostly irritated by now.
Perhaps it's because with the amount of time Azrael spent recalling the whole events of the novel, he remembered how much Caelum's presence pissed him off.
"Do not worry about it. I didn't expect someone as revered as Celestria's saint to take interest in or get to know a mere second prince like me."
"Oh? A mere second prince? Don't jest, Prince Azrael. You are the second star of this empire, a direct descendant of our founder, Celestria..." Caelum ran his fingers through his long hair, his eyes showing a glint of mischief making a shiver run down through Azrael's spine.
"...but I'm honored that you see me in such a bright light. Get it? Haha. Jokes aside, your imperial highness. It seems I have to fix that."
'Huh? What does he mean?'
"I don't understand what you mean, Caelum. What are you going to fix exactly?"
Caelum chuckles as he steps closer towards Azrael, reminiscent of when he did when they first met. He leans down slightly, basically towering over Azrael which starts to intimidate him as he felt the urge to step back, but behind him was a table, so he couldn't.
"It's my bad that I haven't taken my time to get to know you, dearest prince. It seems I have to keep my eye on you from now on." Caelum mused against his ears, making Azrael's eyes widen in shock as he stared at Caelum who was smirking at him.
Azrael wanted to respond but the words seemed to be stuck inside his throat, his body frozen in fear and disbelief. This was the moment he started regretting everything he said to Caelum so far. 'This is a threat. He's threatening me.'
This rendered him speechless as it was the last thing he wanted to happen but he just had to keep talking. Even as Zak, this was a problem he always had. He could never stop himself from arguing with anyone he disliked, especially if he knew how bad they were.
This attitude got him in trouble so many times in his first life, and now it's gotten him in trouble as Azrael, with the ruthless villain of the novel no less.
Fortunately for him, when Caelum straightened himself and took a step back, another student, who seemed like another third year, called Caelum over.
"Prince Caelum! There you are. Professor Stoic is asking for you. Ah...Prince Azrael, Prince Caspian." The student bows his head upon realizing that there were two other princes present. Judging by how he was acting, Azrael assumed he's a student servant.
"Ah. What impeccable timing." Caelum spoke with a disappointed tone that Azrael couldn't tell if it was real or not, but he assumed the latter.
Caelum's blue eyes stared down at Azrael then bows his head. "I must take my leave, Prince Azrael. Let's pick up where we left off next time, considering you still haven't answered my question, and I'm still curious as to what your answer is."
Azrael had to hold onto his hand, hiding it as it was shaking but he tried to keep his composure as best as he could. "Have a nice day, Caelum."
"You as well, dearest imperial prince." That was the last thing Caelum said and then he turned around, walking away with the student servant who followed him hurriedly. He didn't even bother saying goodbye to Caspian, but to be fair, even Azrael almost forgot he was there.
When Caelum was out of earshot, Caspian cleared his throat then laughed awkwardly. "Wow uh...Prince Caelum sure is something. I don't know why, but he's kind of intimidating—Prince Azrael?" The blue-haired prince worriedly looks at Azrael who was staring at the ground shaking.
His breathing was erratic as his eyes seemed to be on the verge of bulging out from their sockets. "Prince Azrael, are you okay?"
'He's on to me. If he wasn't that suspicious of me before, he's definitely suspicious of me now.'
"Prince Azrael?"
'I have to think of a way to get him off my back...'
"Your highness? Prince Caspian, what's happening to his highness?"
"I don't know...He—"
Azrael tuned out everyone around him as he tried to get his breathing together, all the memories of moments from the novel where Caelum killed or tortured people flashed inside his mind.
'I have to...'
His head snapped up as he looked around Floral Haven for any signs of a black-haired man.
'I have to speak to Eirian.'