"Wouldn't it be fun to like, go beyond the borders?" he mumbled aloud, twirling a key in his hand.

"My prince, you mustn't think like that!" a brunette beside his throne scolded in a hushed tone, pushing his glasses back up. "Have you forgotten that beyond the borders are monsters, witches, creatures of the dark that will surely slaughter you if you meet them?"

"No, I remember," the prince sighed. "Unfortunately," he added under his breath.

"Perhaps a walk would help clear your mind?"

He nodded and jumped off his throne. "Good idea Joe. Some fresh air ought to be nice. Come on Wels." He gestured to the young knight with blonde hair.

The prince pulled his dark green hoodie on and rushed out the doors. "Your Majesty please!" Joe hissed, chasing after the brunette.

He ignored his advisor and continued on. "Prince." A hand gripped his wrist and he was stopped in his tracks.

"What?" he snapped, spinning around to face Wels. The look on the knight's face said everything. "Yeah, yeah I'm breaking the rules," the prince spat bitterly. "But who cares?! Father isn't here! You can act normal! I can act normal!"

"But prince, we're going out into public-"

"I don't care!" He sighed. "I'm tired of acting royal. As your prince, I command you to treat me like a friend instead of royalty."

The blonde hesitated for a moment, but finally caved and nodded. "Sorry, I'm just a bit worried about being caught," Wels admitted, chuckling slightly.

"Your Majesty you can't keep doing this," Joe protested. "Your father shall be furious if he finds out."

"But he won't find out!" the prince reassured. "You... you won't tell him right?" The advisor sighed in annoyance but shook his head. "Of course not Your Majesty."

The three swiftly left the palace, the prince in the lead, and began wandering the streets. They didn't look too out of place, at least that's what the prince hoped. Joe was wearing a black shawl and jeans and the prince had a hood covering his face. Wels looked the strangest wearing a knight's visor, but it thankfully wasn't too uncommon to see knights wandering the town.

Looking around, the prince saw the various shops lined along the bustling streets. From delicious street food to gorgeous animal skin coats, it seemed like the village had everything to sell. He could even see a few shops with hunting supplies, cork boards with wanted posters hanging from them. One with a hideously ugly witch, warts and wrinkles covering her, nearly flew into his face, to which he dodged and let the wind blow it elsewhere.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see a familiar bearded brunette. "Iskall!" he exclaimed, launching him into a hug. "Hey buddy!"

"Good to see you too!" his friend chuckled. "Where've you been? I know you're the prince and all, but I haven't seen you in a while!"

"These two wouldn't calm down about the royalty stuff." Wels rolled his eyes and playfully nudged the prince. "More like Joe wouldn't shut up."

The advisor looked mildly bothered but he didn't say anything.

"C'mere, I wanna show you something!" Iskall grabbed the prince's hand and dragged him across the town while Joe and Wels tried to "casually" follow them.

Near the wall that separated the three lands was Iskall's house, along with dozens of other shacks. The brunette rushed forward and began clearing out of pile of junk from behind his house.

"What're you-"

"SHHH!" Iskall quickly slapped a hand over the prince's mouth. Joe shooed him off and seemed ready to lecture him, but the prince swiftly halted him. "Sorry 'bout that, but you have to be quiet!" He continued to hastily shove away the clutter. "Someone might find us."

The prince nodded and pushed some brown locks out of his face. "Apologies."

"Hey!" a voice snapped. They looked up to a girl with blonde hair and goggles perched on the roof of the house. She leaped down and stood right up in Iskall's face. "What're you doing? And don't say you're "cleaning" because I know how much you hate cleaning Iskall!"

"Shut up False!" Iskall hissed, raising a finger to his lips as a gesture. "I'm just uh, doing chores!"

"Actually you didn't even say what you wanted to show me," the prince muttered, although he immediately regretted saying anything once Iskall glared at him. "Er, nevermind."

Iskall face palmed.

"Well now you've gotta show me!" False retorted. Without hesitation she flung the remaining scraps away from the pile, much to Iskall's annoyance.

The prince peered around the girl and gasped. There stood a gaping hole with a few rusty bars acting as a ladder, leading into a tunnel that was just barely tall enough for the prince to walk through.

"So uh, yeah!" Iskall chuckled nervously. He kicked some clutter into a sort of wall in front of the hole, before jumping down into the tunnels and gesturing for them to do so as well.

Joe turned to his prince, unsure of what to do. "Your Majesty, perhaps it is unwise to jump down. We do not know where this peasant might be leading us."

Iskall rolled his eyes. "It's safe, I swear on my life. And don't call me a peasant!"

The advisor glanced at Wels with an uncertain expression. The blonde simply shrugged in reply. "I'll go wherever His Majesty goes," he said, smiling warmly at the prince.

The prince grinned and nodded. "I'm going then."

False leaped down after Iskall. "Well what're you waiting for?! Hurry up Xisuma!"