Vampire twin vs. Human twin

Chapter 4: Richard's Ingenuity

“You mean he might refuse to be a Prince?" Claire asked with a note of deep concern in her voice. “How will that affect the kingdom, Sir? Won't it be against the constitution of the country?" she asked further.

Raven almost dropped his cell phone as he stood listening at the door.

“There's a strong possibility that he could be found? How can that happen? It can't be true!" he said to himself through his teeth, with his jaw set tightly.

He then walked down the hallway gritting his teeth as he walked. “Why does the government have to involve themselves with something from the past, just to disturb the balance of everything?" he muttered to himself.

A short while ago Raven was only worried about his new sports car and the possibility of finding dancers at the last minute. Now the world looked completely different. He stormed out into the garden and sat on a bench to get a hold over himself and think.

Richard heard his brother's muttering as he walked past the study because the door was not completely closed. He had kept it slightly open so that he would not miss the call to dinner. When he became deeply engrossed in his work he often missed the call for dinner. This usually placed him in a bad light with Sir George and the staff members who were serving.

“What on earth has upset him now?" Richard asked himself. It was always one thing and then another. It was never just one thing, period when it came to Raven.

“Should I go out to see him and try to reason with him?" Richard asked himself. The robot that he had just completed needed testing and he wanted to do it just before dinner, though.

“Robot or brother? Which one now? If I don't go out to find him now he could be more miserable later. We don't need that," Richard told himself. “If I do go out to see him I will lose my motivation to test my robot model properly and I will procrastinate. So, which is more important?" he asked himself as he stood there scratching his head.

He looked at the robot for a few more minutes.

“I can go far if I keep at this even if I'm the youngest in the family. I can do better than some people who are just waiting on an inheritance," he told himself as he looked at the giant bird that he had worked on. It could now move and pick up objects with its beak as well as its claws.

“I can even hire this out to movie companies and later on make more out of it. Entrepreneurship day at school has done me a lot of good this year," Richard said excitedly as he jumped up from his chair and walked out of the study.

“Rather avoid trouble and headaches later on when Raven feels that he needed serious attention, but nobody noticed," he told himself. According to Richard, his brother always expected everyone to be able to read his mind.

Richard locked the door behind himself before going in search of Raven.

“I can't leave my project unattended and vulnerable. Can't risk anyone finding out about the robot now and it's too big to hide behind the shelves," Richard said to himself as he walked down the hallway.

He headed for the staff room. Someone there must have seen where Raven just went. They had a habit of following him because he was often truly dramatic.

“Hello there, Joan," Richard greeted the cook's assistant. “Did you perhaps see where my brother went? He rushed past here a few minutes ago?" he asked with a friendly smile.

He knew that the staff members were all aware of Raven's temper outbursts. He did not have to explain. He only had to mention the fact that Richard was in a rush and they would know that it was either due to impatience or a temper outburst.

“Oh, I crept out after him when he stormed past here. He went to the garden only. He didn't drive out," Joan responded just above a whisper. She stretched her eyes dramatically at the implications of Raven's possible temper outburst. She never took them seriously and Raven knew that as well, but he could do nothing against her cool composure. She knew too many of his secrets since childhood. So, he was not taking chances with her.

“Thanks Joan, I owe you one," Richard responded and blew a kiss to her before rushing further down the hallway.

Joan always kept his secrets and for that favor he gave her something for her birthday or at Christmas, whichever came first. He would get her either a lovely brooch or a box of chocolates. The chocolates were her favorite.

When he reached the garden, Richard looked around while he searched as far as he could. It would soon be dinner time and it would be better for him if he was on time today. Otherwise his uncle would think that he was jealous about Raven's new sports car.

“I won't be in trouble just for wanting to calm my brother down," he mumbled to himself. “And when is that stupid car showing up? It's all because of the car!" he swore to himself out loud.

“Oh it's not about the car anymore," Raven commented from a short distance away.