Memoirs of A Second Life

The Prince's Friend

The slight hiccup that happened last night did not delay our journey. We were able to find our horses not fifteen minutes later after the battle. But to be perfectly honest, I was still shaken by the fact that I had just taken another man's life.

I had been so caught up with the fantastical things that were happening around me to realize that this world had its own fair share of cruelties; perhaps even more so, considering that it was a common thing for children like me and Marius to be fighting fully grown adults. To make matters worse, those men seemingly weren't bothered by the fact that they were being tasked to murder a boy.

And now, we were carrying on with our journey as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Perhaps to me, it was a peculiar experience, but to Marius and Beatrix, it was not far from the reaches of normalcy.

Now that these things had dawned on me, my excitement for the journey ahead was extinguished like a fire, and had been replaced by fears of what dangers lay ahead of us.

As we rode on horseback across the grasslands east of Freiheit, Beatrix seemed to have noticed my apprehension. She tossed an apple at my direction as if to test if I was still aware of my surroundings. Thanks to the training I received from Azlan, I was now capable of reacting to stimulus in a matter of seconds, and my body could instinctively know what to do.

I was able to catch the apple that she had given me, so I glanced at her and after seeing her nod, I took a bite of the apple. "Thanks," I said to her.

"Glad to know that you're not so shaken that you're incapable of talking," Beatrix replied.

Upon hearing her remark, Marius cackled. "Wouldn't it be funny if Altair suddenly got offed because he's too unaware of what's happening around him?"

"No, it would not," I replied with contempt.

Afterwards, I instructed my steed to move faster ahead of them. Right now, I wasn't in the mood to deal with Marius' antics. However, it didn't seem like he wanted me to have some time to myself. He was, after all, still too young to understand some social cues.

Despite the fact that I tried to ignore him, Marius caught up with me and said, "Hey, Al, what's got you so worked up? It's not like you're going to die just like that, you know!"

Adding to the fact that this boy was sort of a brat, I took into account that he was the prince of the nation I was born in, and he had a very loyal and capable knight with him, so I didn't give him a piece of my mind.

Instead, I took a deep breath to calm myself down, and practiced patience. Mother always said that I should understand for those who understand less than I.

"Your highness, truthfully, I was shaken by what happened last night. It was my first time to..."

"What? Kill a guy?" Marius cut me off. "You need a tougher stomach than that if you want to follow in your father's footsteps, let alone be my mentor. Just so you know, I still haven't completely acknowledged you as my mentor, and I still haven't learned anything from you! There are far worse things happening out there in this country, and that's why my father sent me on this journey. To learn more about these things and to toughen me up."

What he said almost ticked me off, but he was absolutely right. As a matter of fact, King Zeldris confided in me that he needed me not just as a mentor to Marius, but as his rival and friend. Which means there are things that I could learn from him that even I do not know.

Throughout our conversation, Beatrix never intervened. I could tell that she was deliberately not participating in the argument because she knew that it was best that we settled this on our own terms. However, it seemed that this only made things worse between me and Marius.

I could tell that I had lost the tinge of respect that Marius had for me. I don't know why it bothered me to know that, but I do know that I needed to earn it back somehow.

When night fell, we decided to set up camp at a forest clearing. Beatrix told us that she would scout the perimeter of the campsite and gather firewood as well. Meanwhile, Marius sat leisurely, leaning against a boulder with crossed arms.

If someone were to see him right now, one would think he was just a spoiled teenager of some wealthy man. Truthfully, kids like him were one of my pet peeves back in my past life. I had never had a child of my own, so I had no idea how to discipline an unruly child.

But perhaps parenting wasn't what Marius needed, considering both of his parents had never given him the time of day. The fact that they were both absentee parents must've been very hard for Marius. At the very least, that was something he and I had in common.

What I was saying wasn't pertaining to Azlan and Esfir. Those two had given me a warm and loving family that a child could only dream of. I was referring to the parents I had in my past life.

And so, I took out something from my satchel. It was a bead bracelet that Farina had given me in the past. I was never one for accessorizing, but I kept trinkets given to me as a sign of respect to the one who gave them. Moreover, it was given by my best friend, so the bracelet was very important for me.

It was made out of black pearls we found while we were fishing one day, and there was a single white bead in the middle, which I found rather eye catching.

I gave it to Marius, hoping that it would somehow appease him. But he just looked at me and said, "Why are you giving me that?"

"I am well aware that you do not respect me yet, but I do know that what you need right now isn't someone superior nor beneath you. Marius, this bracelet was given to me by someone dear to me, as a sign of our friendship. But now, I'm giving it to you, in hopes that you will consider being my friend as well," I told him with sincerity in my eyes.

At first, Marius was caught off guard by when I gave it to him, but it seemed that he was willing to accept it. So, I helped him put it on, even though he still looked a little reluctant.

For a moment, Marius looked like a normal teenage boy. Right now, he was no longer caught up by the fact that he was a prince and I was just one of his constituents. He was merely enamored by the idea of being friends with me.

He stared at the bracelet, looking very excited. Afterwards, Marius got up, pulled me up, and patted my back.

"Al, you are quite something! Nobody has ever consider being my friend. I have subordinates, servants, and retainers as you can see, but I've never had a friend," Marius stated. "I am happy that you want to be my friend, Altair. I, Marius Liberio, fourth son of King Zeldris, accept your friendship."

I could see Beatrix intently listening to our conversation from behind the trees. There was a faint smile on her face, and I could tell that she was happy to hear that Marius had made a friend.

Perhaps she didn't want to intrude on our moment, or maybe she didn't want to embarrass Marius, and that was why she hid herself.