forming ripples in the water

he was drowning yet again

༻𖥸༺

ALMOST TWO MONTHS AFTER the debutanté of the crown prince, summer began installing itself within Obelia's borders and so, said prince found himself leisurely loosing his time lounging in the gardens of the Sapphire Palace.

From his time as both Ye-Jun and Athan, the reincarnator knew the little princess was soon to make an appearance. Though he knew her attempts at making Calude adore her had little success一 only to the point that their father wouldn't want to see her dead (he still prided himself to being the only one to receive Claude's special brand of parental love, thank you very much), he thought of how she will react to him, an existence outside of the reality that she was aware of.

The simple concept of fucking up her plans of surviving were looking kind of tempting, but he digressed. Having her dead would defeat the purpose of the manhwa and the story that was built. At the moment, Claude could care less if she died, seeing as he already had an heir and he was still a bit salty from she-who-shall-not-be-named's 'betrayal'.

(Really, his father could be so dramatic at times.)

But, then again, Athan digressed. She shall have her little attempts at gaining Claude's favour and he will satiate his curiosity in seeing how she will behave around him. Two birds with one stone and he could retire at night knowing that he really didn't have a reason to interact with his little sister.

Then his mind wandered to the real plot of this manhwa and he vehemently refused to spare even a second lost on such topics as the concept of coming in contact with Jeanette didn't even cross his mind.

So Athanasius was content with spending his days laying down in the grass, uncaring to the green stains that might appear on his silk clothing, either running a hand through Biyakko's fur or reading a book that caught his eye, as most of his paperwork was already filed, signed and sent to his father's office.

Stretched under the shade of a tree, with a blue-covered book in hand, Athan looked like a well-fed cat that might start purring, though such actions were not as far-fetched seeing the drowsy look in his jeweled blue eyes.

As maids skittered at the edges of the garden, watching with admiration etched in their eyes as the prince prepared himself to nap under his familiar's watchful gaze, Kassian heaved an exhausted一and exasperated一sigh.

Getting assigned as the crown prince's personal guard had given him a boon in both rank and certain privileges, such as free passage within the Sapphire Palace, unquestionable entry to the Golden Palace and the Emperor's important meetings with the nobles and an unending row of 'why do I even have this job' questions.

He had been the lucky guy to be assigned to be the prince's guard that fateful day ten years ago and have the said royal take a sudden liking to him, and from there, the rest was history.

(Though what Kassian didn't know was that he was assigned simply because Athan liked his honest personality一that and that every thought he had was clearly painted on his face whenever answering to the two royals.)

Casting a glance at the napping prince, Kassian ran a hand down his face and shook his head. For all the people of the empire knew, Athanasius De Alger Obelia was as beautiful as his parents and as innocent as they can get. 'Yeah right.' With the amount of blood the teenager already had on his hands, he was the farthest thing from innocent.

But then again, Kassian couldn't really blame the youth. Being the target of multiple assassination attempts from such a young age, of course he would already be tainted in red, no matter how much the emperor wanted to preserve his son's oblivion to the world. Such things were mere fantasy in the reality they lived.

"Sir Claes."

Tearing his golden eyes from the sleeping blonde, Kassian glanced at the knight that bowed to the waist before him.

"What is it?"

"His Excellency, the Emperor sends his summons to the Crown Prince in the throne room."

Kassian pursed his lips. 'Oh, this just screams trouble.' Not for him, of course, but he worried for his charge. "I shall notify His Royal Highness at once." Dismissing the young knight, the imperial guard threaded through the grass, kneeling before his sleeping monarch and drawing even more attention to the scene.

Sleepy jeweled eyes opened to glance at him as the prince rose from the ground. "I take it father wants to speak with me."

"Yes, my prince."

A sigh一bordering between tired and resigned一left the youth's lips as he began walking, the beastly tiger and the knight following close behind. "Then, let's not keep him waiting."

The walk towards the Golden Palace was silent, save for the whispering of the maids, but those were easily ignored. No, the prince wasn't simply ignoring them, he was lost in thought, going through his memories with a fine comb and mulling over what could have his father possibly asked him for.

But he came up blank, and so he left it at that; something that he will soon find out about.

The moment Athan stepped through the main palace's borders, he instantly noted the sheer silence that engulfed the halls. His father was no fan of noise, but not seeing maids scurrying about their tasks was a bit unnerving. With a healthy dose of wary anticipation nestled in his heart, the young heir moved forward, coming before the large doors of the throne room.

The two guards at the door bowed instantly, opening it wide for him to walk through.

Waiting for him on the other side of the chamber was his father, though the pensive look on his face instantly had Athan's guards up. Coming to stand at his right, the son lowered his head to whisper to Claude, "Dad, what's wrong?"

He was worried, that much was clear, but Athan could not, for the life of him, figure out why this worry was aimed at him.

Claude glanced at him, his jeweled eyes narrow and eyebrows pinched in sheer concentration. He was trying to find a loophole in this situation, but he came up enpty handed and simply gave a resigned sigh.

"Send them in." The order, directed at the guards, was instantly followed as two men, dressed in white and black robes with golden details etched into the material, walked in and instantly bent the knee and bowed before the two royals.

"Athanasius, these are representatives of the Church."

'I don't like this.' The Church一the prideful bunch that they were一was known to be in charge of monitoring the magic barrier that surrounded Obelia, and for them to come directly to the Emperor, who they only supported if his mana was powerful (capitalist bastards), was worrying in and of its own.

"The issue?" He asked his father, thoroughly curious and apprehensive.

Claude pursed his lips and shot another glance at the representatives kneeling. "The barrier is weakening."

Oh...

...

...

...

Oh!

Athan masked his realisation with a sour, almost pained, look. If the barrier was weakening, it meant two things; either the mana supporting it had ran out or some outside source was interfering. Either way, there was only one solution, to recalibrate it and refill its mana reserves.

But for that, a member of House Saint had to be put to the task. With his mother gone...

(Athan fisted his hands)

...He was the one who had to do it.