CAL VELIUS LEROY

Once upon a time in the Empire of Angletonia, there lived Cal Velius Leroy, a prince of unparalleled brilliance and intelligence. As the Prince of Emraullt, heir apparent to the greatest empire ever to exist, he resided in the imperial palace with his father the Emperor, the most magnificent leader in the world.

The universe was filled with lies and deception but one thing that cannot be truer, it was how much the Prince and his father loved each other. His father played with him, protected him, and cared for him in a way that no one else had.

From their unspeakable bond, they agreed to make a sacred pinky swear, promising that there shall be no secrets among them. Cal Junior had stayed true to that promise, until eventually... There was something he wasn't telling him.

The year of his sixth birthday, the Prince discovered that strange things had started occurring within him. Bizarre, peculiar things that no one else was able to do. Abilities that only existed in the world of fairy tales that he had been reading.

One day, a few pieces of papers flew across the desk and into his hand as he intended to grab them. Thinking it was the wind that had blown them in his direction, Cal calmly shook it off. But sometimes, bigger, heavier objects started being affected. First, it was the pencils, then his books and soon even the tables started to screech against the alabaster floor when he merely thought about shifting them.

Cal wasn't just excited when he discovered his talents, but also fearful. What gave him this ability? Papa couldn't do it, so were Grandpop and Grandmere when they were alive. Was he cursed? He remembered asking his father if an evil witch had put a curse on him when he was a baby—a common occurrence in fairy tales—only for it to be dismissed with laughter.

Another reason he could never tell his father because Papa dislikes the very thought of the supernatural and anything of the like. Hates the very idea of them being real. For him, magic was no more than a made-belief, a trick and bedtime stories. And Cal hated the very idea of betraying his father.

So he kept it secret. As long as Papa didn't know, they would keep living happily ever after.

However, his consolation didn't last very long. Soon after that, his father told him that he was going to get married.

There was nothing that could properly describe how he felt at that moment. Not that he should be surprised at all, it was written all over the books he was reading. The princesses got their princes in the end. Kings had their queens, and even the great dragon had found an equally enchanting female dragon to lay more eggs.

Soulmates weren't fathers and sons, they were lovers.

His father was an emperor, literally speaking, he should have an empress; as Grandpop with Grandmére.

But in the books, people got married because of true love. When did his father fall in love with this woman— this princess? He had never seen her! Say they did love each other, would his father stop loving him? How would it feel to share his father's affection with someone else? Wouldn't she become an evil stepmother?

Cal shuddered at the thought.

Yet who was he to prevent his father from finding true love? Cal didn't want to be the villain, not to his father! So he buried all his feelings deep down, presenting him with his blessing.

If Cal had to sleep in the attic after this, so be it.

On their wedding day, Cal had expected his father to put him to the side in favour of whisking his new bride into the sunset. But his anxiety died down seeing that they were acting like strangers towards one another.

So... it wasn't true love?

To his surprise, the new Empress never asked him to move into the attic, not even to clean up the chimney. It did feel odd to have someone else eating at the same table with them now. He was aware that she had been using his library in the past week, the one place he thought only he could enjoy. But fearing rejection, Cal kept a safe distance, observing her from afar.

People could still be mean even if they weren't evil stepmothers, the very reason he was still homeschooled.

Until that fateful day, she came up to talk to him.

As soon as they started talking, Gigi never ceased to surprise him. Not only she liked books, she understood the beauty and complexity of fantasy. She had folklores to tell from her home country and willingly taught him her language. She wasn't an evil stepmother, she was the fairy godmother!

Now, this was true love.

Why couldn't his father see it? Why couldn't he see her the way he did?

On the night of the banquet, his father took her dancing. Every couple who got a happy ever after in any book always had a dance. Cal sighed dreamily as he watched them dance, picturing them dancing amidst the lush fields of an enchanted forest.

To his delight, his father proceeded to take her on a ride the next day. Prince Charming would always take the Princess for a ride on his noble stallion. They must be falling in love any day now...

As weeks passed with little progress, the realization dawned on him, that it was entirely up to him to bring the two together. Cal was indeed the chosen one. The hero! The one to convince Papa to give Gigi the true love's kiss.

It was time for him to take matters into his own hands.

"Papa?" Junior looked upon his father as they were enjoying a morning ride on Inferno around the perimeter.

"Yes, sweetheart?" replied Senior ever so kindly as he held the reins in his long-fingered hands. He was so strong. So awe-inspiring. Cal Senior was everything Junior wished to grow up to be and more.

"Do you like Gigi?"

Senior chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "I do. Do you?"

Junior frowned. He needed to be more specific then. "Do you like Gigi as more than a friend?" he asked again, and the air on Senior's face shifted. Halting their horse to a pause, he looked back at Junior with his warm brown gaze.

"...I think I do," Senior sighed, running a hand through his son's hair once more. "Would you mind if I do? Say I like Gigi as more than a friend, would you be okay with that?"

Junior's eyes narrowed. So the only reason his father abstained from falling in love with Gigi was because of... him?

"Why not?" His expression brightened, encouraging. "She's smart. She's beautiful. She's my best friend. She really likes you. But you know that, don't you?"

Senior didn't answer, only taking Junior into his arms.

"If you like each other, you should tell her," he urged at his father's chest, hoping to rid Senior of any doubt. "I want you both to be happy."

"Oh, my darling..." He showered Junior with kisses, holding his son tighter in his embrace. "Thank you, my dear, thank you."

***

Soon, Senior had to leave for a conference and dropped Cal Junior off in the palace's back garden.

The weather was peculiarly sunny that morning. Even though he was never the type who enjoyed going out in the sun, the excitement about Gigi and his father filled up his chest. So, with a bounce in his steps, he made his way into the palace.

Seeing nobody else was around, he decided to summon his abilities. With a flick of his fingers, he tried bringing some of the fallen leaves into the air. They fluttered before lazily dropping back onto the ground.

The last time he let his anger get the better of him, he accidentally sent a bully falling into a pond. It was regrettable; not what happened to the bully, but the risk of exposing his talent.

After a couple of tryouts, the leaves started floating around him, circling. The energy had become more stable, flowing through his fingertips like tiny sparks of fire. He hummed, smiling to himself as he tried to reenact a scene that he'd seen in a book.

The Princess was dancing and singing alone in the woods, surrounded by her friends; birds, chipmunks and rabbits. And after she spun around on her feet—and Cal was spinning around with her in his mind, his arms spread emulating a dress—there stood a Prince!

"Ah!" Cal fell onto his butt as he jumped back so suddenly at the sight of a familiar cat, the one he had rescued from the bully. "Kitty, I thought they've returned you home, why have you come back?"

The cat meowed, looking back at him as before running in another direction. Cal ran after her, only to find her in the arms of a strange girl who appeared to be around his age, dressed in a fine linen dress. As Cal looked on with suspicion, she started conversing with the cat in an unknown language, though Cal managed to catch 'Anglese' among her words.

Was she the owner of the cat? Why hadn't he seen her coming? He was the Prince. She should've curtsied to him, or bowed. Though judging by her clothing, it didn't look like she came from around here.

A trespasser!

"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Cal ordered.

"Fate, destiny, whatever you call it," answered the girl lazily, not being the least intimidated by Cal's presence. "That's a beautiful dance. Did you practice it yourself?"

"Fate. What are you doing trespassing my garden?" Cal frowned, trailing his gaze from her head to toe. And holy, she couldn't possibly be a servant's daughter with all those glittering jewels seated over her bronze skin. She swept her flowing black hair off her shoulder, exposing an armlet bearing a constellation of five stars.

"I just wanted to see what you look like."

Cal's lips twitched in a scowl, her words don't make any sense. Did she want to see him because he was... the Prince? "Do you have any idea who I am?"

'Fate' burst out of laughter, as the cat kept close at her side. "Funny, how you asked for my name when you've forgotten yours!"

Cal clenched his fists. "Don't play around with me! Guards!" He turned over and yelled, summoning for the guard.

"Yes, Your Highness!" An armed man came rushing to his call immediately.

"Arrest that girl, she's a trespasser!"

"Right away, Sir." The guard said, looking in the direction he was pointing. "Uh, where?"

"Over there!" As he directed his finger to the place she stood, Cal froze, realizing that he was pointing at nothing. Both the girl and the cat had disappeared. There was nobody in the garden beside him and the guard who was now looking around dumbfounded. "That's impossible. She was right here!"

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

This chapter was meant to have fairy tale references since our little Prince does love fantasy, so I think he deserves a happy ever after, am I right?