While the teacher haven't sent any report to his father yet, Marsh was already struggling inside his head, thinking of excuses that can ease the harsh treatment of his father when he gets scolded.
The whipping from last time left him hoping that it won't happen again, but with his current situation, it's likely his father would do more than just whipping.
Marsh couldn't participate well during class, reciting wrong answers or failing assessment. And Lem loved watching him closely, often glancing at him with a nasty smirk.
"Tsk..." Marsh clicks his tongue, refusing to bat an eye at him anymore.
And when classes were done, he was quick to sneak out of the classroom to avoid any confrontation with Lem and headed straight to the library.
Marsh can feel it, how everything was going down the drain, how unfair life was treating him. All his hope to become a good son and student was now but a distant dream, he felt so out of place in both life at home and school, and the only hope he had left was Pink.
But deep inside, even the most slimmest thread of hope was slipping through his hands, though surely Pink won't abandon him as well. "She won't do it, right?" He asked himself before opening the door to the library.
Marsh takes a deep breath before entering, and he was instantly relieved to see her inside, reading a book like usual. "Pink, hey there—"
He stopped when he noticed a guy standing beside Pink; a tall man with a pure white cube shape head. His eyes widened as he realized who this person is, "The crown prince!?" He exclaimed.
The crown prince and Pink turned to look at Marsh, both had this indescribable expressions on their faces and it made him wonder what was Pink doing with such important figure in the kingdom.
"Tch. You better sort this out." Said the crown prince to Pink before he walked away from her, and as he passed by Marsh, he glared at him and slammed the door shut.
"P-Pink, what was that?" Marsh asked.
Pink approached Marsh while not even looking to his eyes, "It's the Prince Sugar Cube... he came to see me personally today."
"I see... but, w-why?"
"You're smart, Marsh. I believe you can make the right guess." She forced a smile.
Even though Marsh can guess her relationship with the prince, he couldn't handle it especially in his most devastating time.
Marsh slowly shakes his head, refusing to believe anything that had happened. "Pink, you know..." he takes her hand gently then looks into her eyes, "...I li—" and before he can even make his confession, Pink pulled away from him.
"N-No, I... I can't do this Marsh. I thought you understand that." She passed by him, "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to see you anymore." Pink cried after she closed the door on him, leaving Marsh all alone in that empty library.
Now that his only hope was shattered, Marsh was now consumed by an inescapable black hole. After that day, Marsh went numb and still had to face his father who finally received the letter report from his teacher.
"Marsh!" His father yelled, "You utter disappointment!"
Marsh was already holding his pants up as his father pulls out the whip on him, "I never should've wasted a penny on you!" And he couldn't even feel the stinging pain from the whipping.
He stayed completely quiet throughout the whole time he received his punishment, "I knew it, you were better off sent to the monastery! They could've exorcised whatever evil lurks inside of that troublesome head of yours!!" And all of the Baron's harsh words echoed through the hallways.
When the Baron was finished, he kicked Marsh out his office and he found Mallows outside, waiting for him. "Marsh..." she felt bad for her troubled twin brother, she wanted to reach out and help him, but he didn't bother to respond and left her like how she left him.
Mallows then walks through the hall filled with their portraits, noticing that Marsh never really had any portraits of him put up on display except for their family portrait, and there she saw Marsh's face smudged. "Oh dear..." she gently touches the painting, thinking that this must be her twin brother's doing.
The next day, Marsh went to the academy after all that happened. He never stopped thinking about the thinga that happened ever since crossed paths with Lem, and this only led him to one conclusion;
All his misfortune was caused by Lemmy Lemondrop!
This time, he didn't sneak away to avoid Lem after class. Now he's face-to-face with Lem and his henchmen, prepared for this confrontation.
"Why... why are you doing this to me?..." Marsh asked, "I thought you were my friend."
Lem scoffed, "You still think that?" To him, Marsh was just another commoner he can toy with. With the power he holds over him, he knows he can do anything he want. "How much pathetic can you be?" His henchmen laughed with him.
"Answer me, Lem!" Marsh pressed, "Why are you doing this to me? And to all the kids of lower status than you as well?"
Lem looked at him from head to foot, "I guess, I always l hated seeing people like you breathing the same air as we nobles do..." he brushed his hair back as his brows furrowed at Marsh, "...it's unacceptable to see people like you soiling these grounds that's only meant for nobles."
"You..." Marsh gritted his teeth, his hands forming into a fist, "You just really look down on us, huh?—on me? It's such ashame that you think so highly of yourself when you can't even do anything on your own!"
His words gave Lem a sour taste in his mouth, his boys were about to beat him up but that would prove Marsh right.
"Hold on." He puts them into halt, "Let me take care of this." He raised his sleeves with a smirk plastered on his face.
Lem dashes up on Marsh, striking him on the face with his bare fist causing him to fall on the ground. "Hah! Look at you, you're nothing but a useless spare. Why don't you go kill yourself than be a waste of space." Lem laughed.
Although he have taken a hit, Marsh still managed to grin at Lem, "Was that the best you can do?—it didn't even sting!"
"Asking for more, huh." Lem pounced on him, punching his face several more times, "Fine, I'll beat your face to pulps! How'd you like this!? Does it sting now!? TELL ME!"
While Lem was busy with his punches, Marsh was about to do the biggest regret of his life. He pulls out a dagger in his pocket, stabbing Lem on the waist.
"H-Huh?" Lem stopped as he felt the sharp object pierce through him, he looked at Marsh with widened eyes, he never expected that Marsh will do this.
"Ah... T-This... you made me do... t-this..." For a moment, Marsh snapped out of his anger and realized what he had just done. Quickly pulling out the dagger from Lem, he broke down in pain. "AHH!"
"N-No! I didn't intend for this to happen!" Marsh said, but it was too late to talk things out as Lem kept bleeding from the stab wound.
"BOSS!" Lem's friends rushed to his side and Marsh pushed him away to escape.
"HEY! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" That was the last he heard of them before Marsh rushed home, taking some stuff with him before running away as a fugitive.
Then as Marsh went to the streets with no intention of ever going back, he soon found news from newspapers getting distributed throughout the town. He saw his face printed on paper, stating that he's charged for attempted murder for stabbing Lemmy Lemondrop.
"What the crumb, he survived?" He scoffed, somehow he was relieved that he didn't killed Lem, but sometimes he kept thinking that he should've killed him after all.
For days, he roamed from town to town, hiding from the sight of authorities hunting him down. It wasn't easy for Marsh to go into hiding on the bare streets, and he'd spend the days bearing with the inexplainable ache in his chest as he further spiral down to the worst state he ever went through.
Marsh was baffled with mix feelings as he one day found himself staring at his reflection at a public rest room, seeing his chest without his shirt on, Marsh was devastated to find himself in a crumbling state...
"...I always thought my life was already bad as it is, but I never thought it can get even worst when I found these cracks on my chest." Marsh told Choco, "After that night, I went into the Cotton Candy Woods and found you there. I can still remember how surprised I was when I found another guy who ran away from home like me." He chuckled and turned to Choco, and he was taken aback when Choco was intently staring at him with his mouth gaping.
"Uhh, dude, are you alright?"
"I'm... alright?—DUDE, YOU'RE STORY IS CRAZY! It's like you were born with the worst luck in the whole world!" Choco exclaimed, "And that's the longest time I ever listened to anyone too—you just blew my mind."
"Yeah, so that's pretty much it." Marsh shrugged, wrapping up his story.
Now that it was over, the two went quiet and laid down on the ground, gazing on the sky that finally turned into the sparkling night with the moon shining bright.
Marsh smiled at the view, "The moon looks beautiful tonight. Don't you agree?" He asked, and Choco frowned after he was left feeling empty by his tale. "I'd say it looks more like a round old grey cheese."
"Pft, what are you trying to say there."
"That cuts it—Marsh!" He suddenly calls his name.
"Y-Yes!?"
"We're never going back to that stupid kingdom—like what Raisins would say—f*ck them!" Choco looks at Marsh with his determined eyes, "Let's go to places we've never been to before, let's travel the whole world together and find that cure for that damn curse of yours!"
Marsh eyes glistened by his words, "S-Sure!... sure." He smiles warmly, feeling that he's fortunate to have found a true friend like Choco.
And they spent the rest of the night talking more, sharing memories and dreams with one another.