Rulers of Veistanlu

A Letter for the Prince

The tall man’s face that was once painted with fresh anger had turned into abrupt dread when his green eyes looked at Prince Alvar who’s without any shape or form visible, as if he could really see the Prince’s nervous look. His grip on the spear’s metallic handle was so mighty that it might break the weapon in half. The Prince studied the man’s face; his straight black hair that brushed his lower back and broad shoulders, his toned slightly tanned arms, and his tall height that even when crouching, he stood out. 

It made the Prince’s heart flutter.

Thick brows of the man furrowed of confusion, such actions that the Prince should’ve done. He questioned in his head, Does he see me?

He lifted his hand that he couldn’t see, and he felt a breeze passing in-between his slender fingertips. The man did not seem to see his hand, his eyes did not follow the small wave— but Prince Alvar knew that the man stared at the location of his lips.

He does not. After the Prince’s confirmation, he walked to the right side of the walls silently and stealthily, and he looked back to the unfamiliar man to see him yanking away the spear from the Knight in an effortless manner, causing his lips to open with surprise before his body passed through the walls. With his invisibility, he wouldn’t need to be so mindful of his expressions— specifically for that man.

“What in the gods is going on over here?!” Renjiro came into the front gates with golden metal clanking every movement he made and the same color of spear in hand. His angry face was the most expressive one that the Prince had set his eyes upon. It was a good timing— the Prince could stay invisible for a while until he calmed down his racing heart that he hadn’t even known the reason for.

Was it from the near-death experience, or from the thought of someone rescuing him that made him feel this way? Even so, Prince Alvar knew that it wasn’t the right time to reflect and solve his internal thoughts and emotions. Not that he’s facing three men arguing in front of his palace with two other Knights as witnesses.

“Report to me the conflict at once, Sir Renjiro.” The Prince made his entrance, walking towards the Grand Knight that jolted his body from his voice. The Prince could now see his own feet, and the long-haired man’s eyes followed through his direction. He could see the Prince now.

“Your Royal Highness!” Everyone dropped down to one knee, except the man outside the gates who seemed clueless as his eyes stared at the Prince’s ocean blue ones.

“So, he’s the Prince?” The man asked Renjiro, whose head was facing the cemented ground. The richness of his voice made Prince Alvar’s spine shiver with coldness, causing him to be lightheaded as if he was casted with a spell.

“Staring is rude! Look away!” Renjiro shouted at the man who followed his order, his eyes shifted to his right. “And bow down to our Crown Prince!”

Even if the order was only directed at the serf, Prince Alvar obeyed him too, snapping away his gaze to look at the grass between his shoes. He inhaled sharply when he realized that he stopped breathing for a while that made him giddy. Good thing that Renjiro was too occupied with the serf’s lack of manners, or he would make a commotion about his sudden breathing pattern.

His peripheral had a long-haired man fall on one knee on behalf of his presence.

“At the very least, you should have worn a tunic,” Renjiro grumbled with pure distaste while standing up as his eyes searched on the man’s upper torso with only an undergarment. “Or remove the dirt on you!”

“Apologies, uh—” The Prince looked at a second time; the dust on the man’s bare arms gradually dissipated as he brushed it away with his palms. He continued, “I’m not in the best conditions. I’m in a very bad condition, I would say.”

There was an unnecessary emphasis from the man’s words, causing the Prince to slide his reckless eyes away from the man’s slightly tanned and strong arms. Is he implying something? 

Renjiro tugged his gray hair. “You shouldn’t be here if you're sick!”

“I’m not talking about my health.”

He is.

“Your Majesty, this is the report I have gathered so far—”

“Pardon me,” The Prince said, interrupting before the Grand Knight could get to his detailed statements. Realizing that Renjiro had been late in the scene as well, he eyed the eldest Knight of the trio and ordered, “I would like you to report to me the details.”

He frowned and was surprised by the sudden task that he hesitated to speak. Renjiro glared at the Knight and yelled, “That is an order, Sir Braun!”

Braun straightened up his composure. He exclaimed, “I am innocently watching out for the people who will sign up as your personal assistant, Your Majesty— and that guy claimed that he had no permission from his Lord. He kept insisting and threw insults!”

The old Knight’s rant had not ended there, in fact, his mouth kept blabbering as the Prince watched every movement he made as he talked. When Prince Alvar had enough of his erroneous explanations, his eyes floated to the tall man again and watched him roll his green eyes while letting out a sigh.

“Prince,” the man’s rich voice interrupted Braun who looked so offended. The unfamiliar man held a hand over his wide chest, and defended, “I know I have the lowest rank in the hierarchy, but hear me out. Please.”

“You have become well-mannered all of a sudden!” Renjiro said, appearing to compliment the long-haired man. The Grand Knight half-whispered to the Prince, “I think we should hear him out just because of that.”

Even if the tall man appeared disrespectful, Prince Alvar would excuse him as being not educated enough to address him. It’s not a huge deal of a deal to shut his ears.

“Prince Alvar, I am not quite done!” Sir Braun took a step closer, but Renjiro prevented him from being nearer as his golden spear fell on Braun’s chest. Prince Alvar took one step forward, his head high of power, and posture perfectly straight.

“Your play is highly defensive and all the lies that escaped from your tongue were made in the last second after I ordered you to report only all truths but gave me only one, in which that the good sir right outside the entrance of the palace was not granted permission by his own Lord. When your shoulders kept shrugging while trying too hard to fill every element of your story, not a single syllable convinced me,” the Prince explained. While his face was strictly neutral, everyone else was astounded.

He saw the tall man’s eyes widened.

“Your Majesty,” Braun stuttered, his lips shuddering from the tension. “I am telling the truth.”

“A serf like you should not be here to begin with—” The Prince not only repeated Braun's earlier words, but also his tone, albeit rather less venomous. Prince Alvar knew that Braun was lying when he watched his expression go from worried to a fresh face of terrified. The Prince continued, “A mere crooked-nosed knave such as you does not have words to say to a noble.”

Prince Alvar, under his softly featured face, felt a strong sense of surging temper coming back when unpleasant words came spilling from his mouth just to illustrate his point, even if it did not originate from him. When it came to problems involving the social classes, he was quick to solve them. He, like the different generations of the Alvars, had always been vocal about the hierarchy without engaging in hostility due to their differences.

“I did not say any of those!” Braun exclaimed, and Renjiro’s grip tightened on his spear.

“I did not even say that it was from you.” It looked like the battle had ended with Prince Alvar claiming the flawless victory. With a cold voice, he said, “You could not handle frustration that you thrusted a spear to an innocent civilian.”

He left out the bit about his being the one who was meant to be hit. Braun was in shambles, eyes bulging out of anger.

Prince Alvar felt the need to insult him lightly, and said, “I recommend undergoing education again. You seem to fail in differentiating the truth from lies.”

“s**t on you, Alvar! May you never find happiness—” Harsh words escaped through a defeated yell. 

Prince Alvar did not at all flinch an emotion from any of Braun’s foul invective. Instead, his eyes widened when long strands of black hair swung away from the man’s back when he sprinted towards. The unfamiliar man’s nose scrunched, as if he was the one being offended.

Renjiro’s hand chopped the nape of Braun as he spoke, knocking the bad-mouthed Knight unconscious to the ground. Renjiro reprimanded, “You have no right to blabber evil nonsense to His Royal Highness! Such a disgrace in Knightdom!”

The unfamiliar man continued to glare at Braun, his leather pattens coming to a halt near the gates when Renjiro did what he had to do, thereby canceling his attempt to defend the Prince. Prince Alvar was secretly surprised by his actions.

“Prince Alvar, I will have Braun be sent to prison!” Renjiro declared.

“Have him be removed from Knighthood permanently and,” Prince Alvar took a moment to observe the two Knights of the same height as himself; their posture was boring, and they had not breathed a word. “Have these Knights in my sight to be removed as well due to their lack of competence. It was unethical of the two of you to let the unconscious former Knight whip his tongue with malice against a lower class.”

“Of course, Your Majesty!” Renjiro exclaimed, then eyed the other two that were about to cry. “You heard Prince Alvar! Follow me into the office.”

The Grand Knight carried Braun on his shoulders. Before leaving, he offered to Prince Alvar, “I could accompany you to your office first, Prince Alvar!”

“Carry on with your duties.” The Prince’s thick eyelashes fluttered from Renjiro to the unfamiliar man. He remarked, “I believe there is someone who would like to discuss something.”

Renjiro huffed, pointing the tip of his spear to Onyx. “Addressing the Prince requires ‘Your Majesty’ at every start or end of your statement, and don’t touch Prince Alvar. Do you understand?!”

“Just go away,” the unfamiliar man drawled, flicking his right hand at Renjiro that gritted his teeth as he walked away. Thankfully he was left alone, indicating that Renjiro trusted the Prince’s abilities in case things turn the wrong direction.

The atmosphere became so different; it was quieter and the tension that the Prince would only have to endure now was any threat of assassination. It was just him and the tensed tall man that he gestured to pass through the gates.

“He deserved that.” The unfamiliar man’s hand drifted against his nape below the shadows of his hair. Prince Alvar noticed that the man’s face was crimson; he looked amazed. “But may I ask if you’re fine, Your Majesty?”

“What happens frequently does not bother me. Do not worry further,” Prince Alvar answered. 

Prince Alvar’s lips shuddered, hesitating if he should express his gratitude to the man for saving his life— however, it would reveal his magical abilities to a complete stranger. Even if this long-haired man looked so genuine, he was still part of the possibility that he would be something the Prince would dare to stay away from. A spy, a killer, a traitor.

After all, if he did explain, his time was very limited. There are still numerous duties awaiting at his office.

The next thing that happened was unusual for both of them; they stared at each other for a few moments, and the unfamiliar man looked down because their height difference was apparent. The more Prince Alvar feasted his eyes on the handsome fellow, he had the feeling that he may not be a “complete stranger.”

Black eyelashes blinked his green eyes away to his right, breaking eye contact with the Prince. “I’m sorry.”

A simple apology had done many things for the Prince’s head to get back on their main discussion. He stated his opinion, “Surely, your Lord appreciates your excellent service and does not want to see you go, so he refuses to grant you permission.” 

“Would your opinion change when I tell you who I work for?” He answered.

“Who is your Lord?”

He said darkly, “Dolian.”

Prince Alvar’s eyes widened, and when he realized that his face was being predictable, he blinked. He recalled Dolian having a dreadful name, according to a friend who had been disparaging him. The Prince had remembered that this man had requested Braun to let him talk to someone higher than the rank of a Knight, and this was why.

The long-haired man noticed, “You looked like you knew him for a second.”

“I have someone who has known him for years.” Prince Alvar’s leather pattens drifted to the wooden desk by the gates, as the unfamiliar man followed through. His hand searched his navy pocket in his trousers, and pulled the pen’s barrel. Prince Alvar slowly handed him a deep purple fountain pen that he had always brought with him, while his other hand carefully twisted the paper in the man’s direction. With his head high, he ordered, “Sign up.”

A deep sigh of relief from the lips of the man whom the Prince would soon learn his identity. The man hesitated, contemplating if he should sign or not. Shortly, a hand much larger than his decided to approach over his fingers, taking care not to make contact, then gently pulled the barrel backward. The Prince watched the fountain pen as it moved along the man’s hand with protruding vessels. His anticipating heart thudded harder at every letter that he wrote down to form his name.

Onyx.

Even with the letters upside down from his angle, Prince Alvar could clearly read it.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Onyx brought back the pen to him, and again, without his filthy hands touching the Prince’s. He then raised his arm, showing a pink plastic clinging into it. Onyx handed the box over with caution. “I have a gift to show my thanks.”

“Are you sure it is only for you to express your gratitude?” Prince Alvar asked. His eyes drew down to investigate the contents of the plastic when he received the package by clinging it on his left wrist, but all he saw was a pink box.

Onyx answered after a short, quiet pause, “Kind of. If you're smart as they say, you’d know.”

The Prince frowned slightly in suspicion, and placed his gaze back at Onyx. His free fingertips grazed below the box. After a few seconds, he felt it— a protuberance on the ostensibly smooth box’s bottom. There is the document.

“You seemed to have answered your question for me,” Onyx uttered, following every movement of the Prince’s pale hand below the crinkling plastic.

“It did appear so,” The Prince said, turning to his right to see two new Knights with Renjiro approaching them from behind. His gaze returned to Onyx's body, which had twitched slightly when he saw the chivalries, and his face hinted crimson, indicating anxiety.

Prince Alvar asked in a half-whisper immediately before someone would be able to eavesdrop, “I have a lot of things on my plate. How troubled are you?”

“Very troubled,” Onyx admitted. “Troubled enough that I shouldn’t be near you in the first place.”

“I will be the judge of that.” As the Prince had one last look of Onyx, Renjiro came into the picture with a troubled look.

“Prince!” Renjiro sobbed over a pink plastic that was securely clinging by the slim wrist of the Prince that had no intentions of letting go. “You’re not supposed to receive gifts from strangers!”

“Give the Prince a break from your noisy mouth,” Onyx answered on behalf of Prince Alvar who kept tracing his fingers over and over the bump beneath the box.

The Grand Knight pointed his spear at Onyx, and threatened, “I will find you and end you when the Prince gets poisoned.”

“Good luck with that.” Onyx’s response in a low tone sent Prince Alvar’s temperature high in a swift manner. 

Before anyone could see him, his body turned around and walked away with hot ears tucked under his light blonde waves of hair. Two Knights follow him, since they notice that Renjiro, the Knight above them, was doing ‘work’, which was scolding Onyx yet again. 

Although he may demand answers from him at the very moment, there was no need; the answers had already been provided. While the Prince sought to get another look at Onyx, he had already departed when he appeared to be in a hurry the entire time they had conversed.

Prince Alvar let his feet carry him mindlessly back inside, questioning the way his body was wrapped in strings of heat in a sudden, causing him to respond in a way that no one else should see but himself— the response of being breathlessly vulnerable.

**

"Dolian…" the name slipped out of the Prince's mouth through a whisper after walking in his office. Due to the amount of work he had amidst the difficult situation, the palace couldn't throw parties or grand balls any longer, so his knowledge about the peerage had been cut down for years— but he knew that Dolian was one of the most disliked persons of Nobility.

Before the Prince could track the depths of his mind palace, he noticed a guy sitting at his desk, next to the stack of documents he had studied the day before. The man's legs were crossed under his maroon trousers, and his arms were crossed over his maroon surcoat. His hazel eyes were softly fixed on the Prince, and his lips were smugly smiling.

With a calm voice, he said, “You’re being so sly again. What if King Alvar knows?”

“My personal intentions are not his business,” The Prince answered as he walked over to his workstation and carefully placed the pink package on his desk. “Besides, there was someone else who was sly.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Not until you sit on the appropriate furniture, Duke Mejia.” 

“Come on. I’m comfortable here,” The Duke rolled his eyes, and when he gazed back at the Prince, he was stared at with an arched brow. He immediately jumped off the edge with a nervous laughter. “Stop that.”

Prince Alvar walked away from Duke Mejia to rummage through the massive locker on the right side of his office, which housed records on every member of the kingdom's peerage. He opened the drawer labeled 'Velemau,' then searched through the files in the Baron category.

He saw the folder he was looking for and turned it into the case section of Dolian Wisel's folder— it was empty. However, he does find out that he ranked one as the richest Baron.

“Dolian?” Mejia’s posture jolted straight, seeing the tortilla colored folder between slender fingers. As his lips curled with disgust, he asked again, “Why are you suddenly interested?”

Duke Mejia was the Prince’s friend who disparaged Dolian for years.

The Prince responded with a new query, “How come his case is empty after you have been bad-mouthing him for so long?”

“The cases are at my residence. I haven’t written it down officially.” Duke Mejia explained while the Prince removed the pink packet from the plastic bag, and he had two quarter-folded caramel papers lying inside, the two letters where his fingertips had grazed. When both of the letters were in each of his grasp, their own labels stood out beneath his gaze, one of which as ‘Prince.’

The Duke continued, his hands in pockets, “I visited his residence yesterday, and found nothing. Such a disgraceful waste of time. Speaking of disgrace, did you ever feel guilty when you did something to a stranger that you regret? Bumping at them for example."

It seemed like a confession rather than a genuine question. As the Duke hoped that Prince Alvar would relate, he remembered earlier incidents; green eyes scanned his slender shape from head to toe, rich speech danced into the concaves of his hearing, neck soothing when his face looked up to see the tall fellow. 

Rather than not informing Onyx that he had to leave him for now, he hadn't remembered any regrets.

“No,” Prince Alvar replied after a long pause, but not too long to worry the Duke.

“Moving on,” Duke Mejia said with a smile. “Since we have no leads yet on that horrendous noble, there was another killing on the run at Vaisof. And guess what…”

Duke Mejia, without cautions, had his face close on Prince Alvar who remained staring at the two papers on hand. He lowered his voice, “The body had deep scratches. Big ones.”

The Prince's gaze was drawn to the Duke's solemn expression, his eyes slightly narrowed as he realized the Duke wasn't lying. Prince Alvar had plenty of things on his plate, a combination of human affairs and agenda; he knew he couldn't let this one slide off the edge.

He was torn between what goes first.

“I am afraid that I would let that slide, after the selection of butlers.” It appeared that the Prince had made his choice after another long of a silent pause. The Prince raised his hands to his face, two papers catching the Duke’s attention. “There had been another issue at hand.”

“That’s fine. I plan to go to Vaisof first to tell you the exact details,” the Duke answered, the serious expression topped off with his smiling lips.

The Prince’s shoulders relaxed as he saw Duke Mejia’s relieved look, causing his confidence in decision-making to not waiver. Back in the folded letter was his title as a Royalty that seemed carefully written with the least wobble on every stroke that he swiped a thumb upon, whilst the unlabeled letter was left back to sit on the desk.

He unfolded it.

Dear Prince,

I have heard your name from the announcement, but I couldn't get the gist of the spelling.

Prince Alvar softly chuckled. He had remembered every word of honesty that came from Onyx’s tongue as his gleaming hair oscillated by the calm wind.

Dolian tried to get rid of me yesterday, but it did not go well. He had planned a trap back at the mansion when I was away, using another serf as a hostage and used a woman to lure me to a room, then she pulled herself to me then claimed that I touched her, when I did not. I believed this happened because I stopped him from hurting others in the house for years, and he wouldn't know that it was me because he would always be drunk or drugged.

He claimed that he wanted to put me in jail and refused the idea of just letting me free. I don’t have evidence on me, but there are on my workmates.

I didn't mean to make a scene or add another problem. I can simply run away, but leaving my name unclean would stop me from working. I'm supporting two people in Avairu, so I can’t have that.

Since he bribed and can bribe Knights, I realized that I need to be heard by someone who has a higher title than his, and that's you, Prince. You are the only one who I think is accessible right now. If I haven't met you at the time I registered, I will give this to you at the selection, but that would be very unlikely because I’m a very wanted man by then.

I also chose you because I was impressed that you’ve gotten away from assassins 33 times. Even if you have an ability or a Knight that I’m not sure of, I am sure that it requires a sharp mind. The woman will come and report to you and you’ll see that she’s lying if the sharp mind is from you.

I will be offering a deal. Catch Dolian, and anything you’ll ask from me is what I’ll do. You have always been a target, and helping me take out Dolian would make people like you more, right?

Prince Alvar's thin lips parted. He had anticipated that it would be bad news, but not this bad. He remained calm while processing every word before he landed his eyes on the final notes of the paper.

I hope you'll like the cake that I had been wanting to eat since last night. I’m sorry if it's cold now. If I buy it before I go to the palace, I might get caught. It isn't much, but I hope it fits your royal taste buds.

If this lands on someone else, please give it to the Prince.

The Prince chuckled once more, finding it a bit humorous that the letter referred to the writer's misfortune, yet it gives an idea of what his preferred food was. The Prince assured to keep that in mind. 

“Your face kept oscillating between emotion and emotionlessness. From serious to sad, glad, and impressed.” Duke Mejia smiled with amusement, watching his friend go through the least scary roller coaster of feelings, too small of an expression change that occurred in the Prince’s face. The Duke, who rarely got to see the Prince with anything but a stiff look asked, “What could the letter possibly hold for you to show such life?”

Capitalizations and the grammar are very accurate. The paragraphs were well-organized, holding different information one at a time. Correct punctuations wrapped it all together, making it so much easier to read and understand, Prince Alvar paused after his quick-thinking brain answered the Duke’s query silently, without letting him know. His knowledge in writing is commendable. He folded the caramel sheet in half when he found himself admiring every glance he took at the declivitous paragraphs in ink.

He knew that Onyx was clever for dropping subtle hints using emphasis over his tongue and used a gift as a decoy to send his message, since letters for the Prince took weeks to enter the palace, and now he could affirm that Onyx was not an ordinary peasant.

“You've been so still for a minute and counting. Care to share your thoughts?” Seconds after the Duke’s question, the Prince handed him the half-folded sheet from his hand.

“Is this the sly man you had talked about?”

“Figure it out yourself, detective,” The Prince watched his dark brown haired friend take out his reading spectacles, holding it against his hazel eyes that moved to read the inked letters. 

Light yet fast tapping sounds were heard by Prince Alvar nearing his office door that removed his gaze from the occupied Duke Mejia. He slowly turned his body that was certain to block the pink box behind him, his chin raised up to see who dared to run within the palace’s halls. He seemed to have a clear idea of who it was going to be.

Wooden doors swung open, and a familiar woman with brown locks of hair appeared. Her plump lips frowned, her eyes glossed out of accumulating tears in front of the calm Prince and the unfazed Duke that kept reading despite her dramatic entrance.

“Your Majesty, I have a report against a man named Onyx.”