"Adventure. Adventure. I'm going on...an adventure~"
Azrael sang quietly to himself as he walked through the halls of Celestial Summit alone, his hand was playing with his long hair. Another day had passed, and the next day would officially mark his first week inside his favorite novel as Azrael.
To celebrate, Azrael decided to explore their dormitory's floor because he hasn't actually gotten the chance to fully check it out.
Besides that, it was his first real free time today, and both of his companions were busy since Adham went to fill out the paperwork needed for Azrael's leave while Caspian had his so-called weekly check-ins with his father, and he did not want to stay the whole day cooped up in his room alone.
As far as Azrael knew, Celestial summit had facilities only the royals could access because they could only be found on their floor. It was interesting to him because normal dorms usually just have areas accessible to all, and each floors had rooms that sometimes were different in size and style.
'But in this world, it's different considering everything's based off of one's status.'
Azrael had been roaming around for fifteen minutes now, discovering things even he hadn't seen at the academy. First and foremost, there was a hall with paintings of people he didn't know, but their eyes were moving and followed his every move. Despite how creepy they were, he found them amazing.
'I wonder if they were alive or do they serve as something like a CCTV?'
Next, he discovered they had their own library, which was huge in comparison to the common library on the first floor of the dormitories. There was also an observatory, and as he walked, he was amazed by the interiors.
Each hall was decorated differently for some reason, and they were unique. The hallway where his and Eirian's rooms were located was white with some snowflake and star designs, and a floating chandelier that looked like it had a galaxy trapped inside.
He was already in awe by their hallway's design, but as he saw other hallways, he realized the interior changes. He passed one hallway that had a more 'earthy' design, with floating flower lanterns, plants that seemed like they had intelligence and moving, and glowing flowers. Then he passed another hallway that had black walls; it was quite dark, but as he passed, fire seemed to illuminate his every step, lighting him up.
At the moment he passed by the observatory, he came across a blue hallway and was amazed because there were fish drawn on the wall that seemed to be moving. It was like an aquarium, but they were moving drawings instead.
He couldn't help but realize that it seemed like each hallway corresponded to something. Then he thought, what?
In just a few moments of thinking, he realized that they could symbolize each Kingdom in Celestria.
"If that's the case, is that why our hallway is kind of snow-themed? Since Wycliffe Kingdom is mostly known for having snow and a colder climate," he asked himself. That would also mean that there's a possibility that the hallways also indicate which Kingdom the princes' in the nearby rooms were from.
'So since this hallway has somewhat of an Aquarium theme, that means the princes living here are from Aquarise, so Caspian's room is nearby,' Azrael thought to himself as he kept walking.
Azrael wondered if he should pay Caspian a visit, but he could be talking with his father, so he opted not to. Besides, one of his goals for exploring was also to find the training area that Caspian mentioned to him once.
Apparently, there was also a training area, like a gym on their floor where the princes could spar or train their magical abilities, but it was rarely used. 'Caspian said he used the training area sometimes and he'd never encounter the other princes. That could be a good place to practice.'
Azrael wanted to try and use his magical abilities because no matter how weak they could be, he needed them. So his goal was to look for that place.
Now, as he walked, his ears perked as he heard voices from a distance. 'I can hear people talking. I wonder who they could be?' He thinks to himself, resting his arms to his side. 'Should I check it out? Maybe I can ask them where the training area is.'
Azrael thought that but deep inside, he was just very curious. Truth be told, besides the characters he knew already from the novel, he has never met other princes that weren't mentioned directly in the novel, but he knew there were some.
As far as he knew, Caelum had a brother who was only ever mentioned once who went to Luminara Academy, so he definitely lived in the dormitories. Besides the twins, Caspian also had an older brother who was in the same class as Valerian.
There were also the Emberfall brothers who Azrael has never seen at all.
Besides the princes, the ones talking could be other princes' student servants, which Azrael would not mind meeting. According to Adham, most student servants were intimidated by royals, so Azrael would love to befriend them.
With those thoughts in mind, he smiles to himself as he quickens his pace, excited to meet knew people but that would not last as soon as he heard two familiar voices speaking when he got close enough to hear.
"Caspian that damn bastard! He has been hanging around the second prince ever since that day."
Azrael furrowed his eyebrows as he heard Caspian's name be mentioned. He decided to carefully move now, trying his best to remain quiet so he can eavesdrop.
"Mother is furious."
"How could she not be?! Father has been parading around that one of his sons were friends with an imperial prince. She thought he was talking about older brother but..."
'This is...Marinus and Oceanus? Again? This is the second time I've ran into them talking openly like this.' Azrael could not help but roll his eyes as he continued to listen because he wanted to know more about their conversation.
Marinus lets out a sigh. "We have to do something about him."
"I know! But what? He'd never leave his room on Restdays, and we can't go to his room directly because of the all-seeing eyes, in the academy, he's always with that damn imperial prince. It's so...so frustrating!" Oceanus, as elegant as ever, exclaimed angrily.
'All-seeing eyes? Could that be the paintings with eyes I keep seeing?'
"Let's think of a proper plan to deal with him. This won't be hard. Prince Azrael is just a small predicament, besides his reputation is worse than that cursed prince, it doesn't seem like the crown prince cares about him that much."
"Yeah, more or less, the expressionless crown prince always has a bad look on his face whenever he sees his brother. It's pathetic really."
Azrael's eyebrows twitched a bit. 'These two...I swear to god.'
"Cove."
Another person, who had been quiet during the whole ordeal, spoke. "Yes, your highness?"
"You know Prince Azrael's student servant, right?"
"Yes, your highness. Adham Lambert. His room is right next to mine."
"Great. Is he the type that can be paid to...do stuff." Azrael's eyes widened a bit in disbelief once he heard Marinus say that.
'Is he for real?'
Cove, who now Azrael assumes is the boastful student servant of the Aquarise twins, responds. "I don't think so, your highness. If anything, he might end up telling Prince Azrael about it if we try."
'Of course, he will. He isn't anything like you.'
Oceanus groaned. "Fuck. Is there any way we can threaten him then? We need someone close to that damn four-eyed prince to get rid off the bastard."
"Oh? Oceanus, do you actually have a plan?"
"The way you asked that is pissing me off even more, Marinus."
"It's normal for me to be surprised that you're actually thinking for a change."
"Why you—"
Azrael could hear a few noises, most likely Oceanus trying to attack his brother, and then he hears a few hitting noises followed by Oceanus wincing in pain. "Ow! Don't just hit me like that."
"You did it first, now stop with the childishness. What is your plan?"
"Asshole."
"Oceanus, what is your plan?"
"I was thinking of getting someone to mess with the pink-haired prince, and when I say mess with him like really mess with him. For example, put some indigestion potions on his food, or we can ask the Emberfall prince to give us Fire Mints then have someone to rub some on his glasses to make his eyes burn."
"And the point of that is?"
"Ah!" This time, Cove was the one to speak. "Could it be that his highness wants to frame the bastard prince?"
"Exactly! See, Marinus? Even an idiot like Cove could understand."
Azrael did not know whether to laugh or get angry because he just found out the twins wanted to frame Caspian for some reason, but the way their student servant confidently expecting to be praised by his master, only to be brutally insulted.
'I can't burst out laughing now.' Azrael thought as he covered his mouth with his hands.
Marinus lets out yet another frustrated sigh. "And the point is? We've framed him multiple times, no matter what we do, father still seems to think that he's the perfect little angel."
"Yes, but this time, we have to make the second prince hate him. Come on, at the end of the day, Prince Azrael is a Celestria. That bastard is probably just to make himself feel better about his sad, pathetic life, but once he feels like Caspian is acting high and mighty, pranking him. There's a high possibility of him hating Caspian."
"And?"
"And...after that we can do what we've always wanted to do."
"Get that bastard expelled?"
"Yes! Finally, you understand now! The moment the second prince hates Caspian, we make a plan to have him expelled. The only reason wehaven't done that is because wewanted to torment him, and make him give up on his own, but we see now that might never work."
Upon hearing that, Azrael did not want to laugh anymore. Rather, all he felt was anger. 'I swear to God, older brothers in this world are just infuriating jerks.' He thought to himself, his eyes narrowing a bit.
"That does sound like a good plan, and father might even end up disowning him and treat him like the whoreson he is, especially if we say that he somehow offended Prince Azrael. Hmm. Good job."
'A good plan, huh?'
"Right?! Prince Azrael is an insecure idiot. He'll also, definitely, use whatever bad crap done to him...to cry to the crown prince!"
"Your highnesses are very smart." There was a clapping sound after Cove spoke. "I can try to convince Adham Lambert to mess with the second prince, if that doesn't work, I can somehow trick him."
"You are very reliable, Cove. We'll see to it that you'll get rewarded if we successfully manage to get that leech expelled."
"O-Oh! Thank you so much, your highness."
Azrael clenched his hands into fists, it was taking all of his willpower not to jump out and yell at the three of them. 'Even their servant is just...' He couldn't even finish his thoughts without wanting to cuss. He had to think of something to do because he did not want to risk anything happening to Caspian.
And all in all, he just hated Marinus and Oceanus.
"Let's make sure the tricks played on that damn second prince is memorable for him. I still have a bone to pick for him even coming between us and that bastard."
Marinus hummed. "That's true. It took all my strength to even show a tiny bit of respect towards him. He's acting as if he is as important as Prince Valerian, but he's nothing, and he has nothing except the Celestrian name. He's normal, maybe even weaker than the weakest student servant."
"Yup. And he looks like a girl too! There's not an ounce of masculinity on that wimp. I can't wait to mess with him and blame it on the little bastard. They won't know what hit them."
"Yeah—"
"Oh?"
With darkened eyes, Azrael steps out from where he was listening and revealed himself in front of the three who all visibly froze as they heard his voice. Cove, who Azrael saw for the first time, looked like his eyes was about to pop out from it's sockets as he slowly walked closer to them, his hand was playing with his hair.
"Can you repeat that? Who won't know who hit them?" Azrael asks with a mocking tone as he stops inches away from them, tilting his head a bit with a smile.
The three were silent, tension was high. Marinus, whose back faced Azrael, was the first one to break it as he turned his head a bit to glance at Azrael. "Your imperial highness, you seem to have the habit of showing up randomly and disrupting other people's private conversations."
When Marinus said this, Cove looks at his master in disbelief, probably not expecting him to blatantly disrespect an imperial prince.
"Ha." Azrael chuckles as he stopped playing with his hair and crossed his arms against his chest. "And you lot have the habit of doing distasteful things out in the open, within academy premises, and expecting others not to hear."
From where he was standing, he could see Marinus grit his teeth as he finally turned around. It was obvious that, despite Azrael's weak stature, all three of them were intimidated because of him being an imperial prince. Oceanus wasn't even speaking, he just stayed behind his brother.
'Hah. What a coward.'
"Before you speak, let me address a few things." Azrael held out a hand to stop Marinus, who seemed to want to say something. "Cove...that's your name right?" He looks at the student servant who had dirty green hair and black eyes, his face had multiple freckles.
Cove, who sounded confident earlier, squeaked in response. "Y-Yes, your imperial highness..."
"You can try to bribe Adham, but I don't think it will work because my father pays him three times the amount King Nereus gives your masters for their allowance." Azrael said with a bitter smile on his face. Of course, he wasn't sure if that was true, but he wanted to crush whatever pride these people had.
'You all are underestimating the power of a fan who has wanted to degrade every annoying side characters when given the chance.'
"Your imperial highness, I—"
"I'm not done speaking." Azrael narrowed his eyes at Cove who tried looking at his masters, who were silent, trying to ask for help but they did not even spare him a glance. "Prince Oceanus." He calls out, making Oceanus flinch a bit because Azrael's attention was on him.
"I'm an insecure idiot?" Placing a hand on his heart, pretending to be upset, he continued. "Am I the one desperately trying to get rid off one person because you fear your father favors him more than you? Doesn't that reek of insecurity?"
Oceanus eyes widened after Azrael said that, he bit his lip as he seemed like he wanted to charge him, only to be stopped by Marinus. "Fuck off! What do you know, huh?!" Oceanus screamed, struggling as Marinus held onto his arm. "Let me go, Marinus!"
"Oceanus, calm down."
"That...that damn prince! I don't care who you are, you don't have the right to say shit like that to us!" Oceanus screamed, not even caring if princes or staff nearby could hear them.
Azrael couldn't help but roll his eyes. 'Is he actually acting like a victim now? As if I didn't see them physically hurt Caspian? As if Caspian's self-respect is basically nonexistent because of them? As if I DIDN'T overhear them plotting to expel Caspian and mess with me?'
"I don't have the right? What right do you have to constantly torment Caspian?"
"He's a fucking bastard! He doesn't deserve to even be here!" Oceanus was yelling, and Marinus had to cover his mouth to stop him. Azrael's eyes narrowed as he could see that Marinus was trying to whisper something to his brother, and whatever it was...it made Oceanus calm down a bit.
'What are they planning this time?'
Azrael decides to shrug it off for now as he continued his earlier statement. "That's your only reason? Or did I hit the nail earlier that you two are insecure because he's far superior and favored by King Nereus?"
Not only that, but Azrael remembers that it was briefly mentioned that Caspian's mother was King Nereus' true love. Yes, he was a womanizer. He had a wife and concubines, but the maid...Caspian's mother, owned his heart.
Marinus, who lets go of Oceanus when he calmed down, looks at Azrael with an expressionless face. "Your imperial highness."
"Yes?"
"Mind your own business."
Azrael wanted to burst out laughing because of the audacity to tell him that, but he had to stop himself. "Mind my own business? Caspian aside, you openly insulted me and planned to play tricks on me, an imperial prince."
Marinus' eyes visibly twitched when Azrael mentioned the words 'imperial prince.' He runs a hand through his hair as he stepped a bit closer to Azrael, confusing the younger prince.
'What is he doing?'
"We only thought of that because you were not minding your own business. As I said, this is a family matter, you would not be involved, if you do not involve yourself."
"And as I said, my position is higher than yours combined, you are in no position to tell me what to do, or mess with me for defending someone who did nothing wrong to you."
Marinus continued to walk closer to Azrael, making him step back a bit but kept his confident demeanor. It didn't take long for Marinus to be right in front of Azrael now, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Oceanus move closer to Cove and they seemed to be whispering something to each other.
None of these rang alarm bells inside his mind until he saw Cove's eyes widen in both shock and fear as he looked back and forth between Oceanus then at Azrael.
"Your imperial highness." Marinus whispers, now dangerously close to him.
"What?"
There was a strange aura surrounding Marinus as he stared down at Azrael, who was looking up at him, trying not to get swayed by the sudden obvious act of intimidation.
Marinus' blue eyes glowed bright as he leaned down to whisper something against Azrael's ears.
"You are aware that there's only so much your status can do within academy premises, right?"
...what?