Trapped In Hisstory

Brother Charles, whom I thought would only be with me, brought in a boy from outside of Circinus. I do not know where he came from but he arrived at the palace with dirty clothes, feet that seemed to always walk barefoot in the rough ground.

Although in appearance, he would be a dirty boy with unknown origin, others would see him as someone who lived poorly near garbage, but others would see me as the garbage itself.

So I guess a mysterious poor boy like him was much better than I.

Brother Charles took him to the palace, wherein I thought he did out of pity, but that does not seem to be the case. If it was only out of pity, he would have taken him as a normal knight.

But he wanted to have the boy as his personal knight. How could a boy near our age be a knight? A little boy cannot protect him. His life would be in danger. That was my worry.

But that boy seemed stronger than he looked, or so Charles said, to convince me of how great he was.

Whenever Charles praises him, there is a strange feeling in my chest. Maybe I was jealous of the attention he was giving the new kid. Perhaps because I have always yearned for attention, and I have only received it from Charles, maybe it made me want to have his caring side only to mine.

How selfish these thoughts were of a lonely kid.

"How brave of you to bring that animal in front of me!"

I could hear our father's voice echoing through the halls even if I did not enter the throne room. His tone was full of anger and it made me curious as to what made him so furious.

"I beg of you, Father. I will do anything, please accept him."

I was about to proceed walking, but I stopped as I heard the breaking voice of my brother. It was the first time I had ever heard of him being so desperate.

Seeing someone as bright as him approach me, I thought he was a kid who had it all, someone who never had problems.

"Why must I do that? Get rid of the wretch and leave. My answer will remain the same."

"Father, he has nothing to go to!"

"Of course, since I will kill him before that filth can even step outside of the palace!"

"Father! Father, please!"

I took a peek and my eyes widened when I saw Charles lowering his head to His Majesty while on his knees. I stood there behind the doors, staring at him without blinking. Why…

'Why must he kneel and beg, acting pathetically for the sake of that boy?' That was the first question I had inside my head.

If it was for me...would he also do the same?

I was becoming more greedy as these selfish thoughts flooded my head. There was no denying that I was jealous of how my brother treats the new kid.

Was it his hobby to take pity on people and help them, treating them specially? If so, then I wanted to look more miserable so that he would only be with me.

I let out a snort as I realized how stupid and ridiculous my thinking was.

"He has nothing to go to? Would you rather give him a place while you are the one who has none?" The King said and narrowed his eyes down at the First Prince.

Brother Charles did not say anything. He stood up from his position. He faced Father, "Are you implying that you will kick me out of the palace?"

"You know very well that I could and I would."

No. No. No! Charles cannot leave the palace! I-

I will be alone again!

I was about to push the door open even if the king would not listen to any of my words, but before I could even step inside, I heard the voice of my brother answering the King in a serious tone.

"I will not let that happen." 

His Majesty tilted his head to the side and rested it on his closed fist. Despite him being furious just a while ago, he looked amused seeing his first son's reaction.

"I see, so as not to be kicked out, you will give up on making that lynx stay?" 

"No." Brother answered firmly, "I will keep both my position and Alec by my side."

"The way I see it, you will never agree, even if I beg you. Instead of kneeling pathetically, I will work hard for you to see that I will not make the wrong choice."

He took a few steps forward, "I will become the Crown Prince." he said with all confidence.

Crown Prince…

What my mother wanted me to be.

But I knew very well that the crown will not be suited for someone like me. Even though it was what my mother wanted, I did not want to be the Crown Prince. I do not like its responsibilities and dislikes fighting for the crown. It was Brother...If it was Charles...It would be for the best.

"If I become the Crown Prince, I can choose my own aide. Then both of us will be able to stay."

His Majesty, Father, slowly stood up from the throne and approached Charles. He looked down at his son, but Charles kept his chin up as he gazed at him with a determined look on his face.

"Boy, I am delighted to see that you are now eyeing the seat." Father said with a smile on his face. He took a step down the stairs until he and brother were a foot closer to each other. "But you should remember that for something that you want, there will always be a price."

The two stared straight into their eyes as if they could understand each other through their gazes. "I will...pay. In exchange for the title."

The King put his hand on Charles' shoulders and he whispered something to him that made Charles freeze. With a smirk of satisfaction, the King returned to the throne and sat down, and as he rested his face on his hand, our eyes met.

It was just then that I knew that despite my brother's determination; he did not realize that he walked straight into Father's trap. It was what the King wanted all this time. For the son who had no interest in ruling and power to be tied to the throne.

He was never furious about the survivor of Animalia. In fact, he never cared at all. There was no reason for him to get mad over someone he could kill so easily. He merely used the boy holding brother's heart to control his own son.

A tear rolled down my cheeks as I looked at the King, fuming. But he only returned it with a smile. 

I walked away from the door. Although I did not hear what Father whispered to my brother, I already had an idea.

That things will change once again, and never once return as it was before.