Chapter 19: Drunken Prince (3)

As she watched Caellum absentmindedly sway around, Queen Esmerelda ran some calculations in her mind before finally speaking.

"Within 6 months, you said? Fine. I'll begin drafting the papers to relinquish your title and property, and when the time comes, you.

"I have property hic?" Caellum asked as his eyes brightened.

None of the records he had checked in the library mentioned anything like property belonging to him, especially since his mother's information had been burned away, but now that he knew that something existed, he was curious where it was and, most importantly, how he could profit from it.

Something to look into later and try to gain before he leaves the palace.

"Not anymore, you don't. Now get out, unless you want to be confined again? And I assure you, it won't be as kind as the king's confinement." Queen Esmerelda ordered even as the wheels in her head started turning.

"Ye~es, your high~ness oop you~majesty burp. Tha~nk you for your unders~standing~, and kind~ness" giving the queen another sloppy bow, Caellum staggered upright before turning to leave retching as if he needed to throw up.

"Ugh, what a disgusting thing. Camilla makes sure he leaves without making a mess of anything else. And get the servants to disinfect this entire room. I need a bath."

"Yes, your highness."

Camilla, the head maid, who was a beautiful woman in her thirties with black hair pulled back into a neat bun, bowed before walking past the queen and standing in front of Caellum with an imposing expression.

"Follow me."

"Yess~"

As he stumbled behind her, Camilla led him through the main hall in the queen's section of the palace until they reached the large entryway door.

Just as Camilla pointed at it, about to instruct Caellum to see himself out, the door opened.

And entering the doorway was a young man dressed in sweat-drenched training clothes and holding a wooden sword.

Caellum quickly glanced up, taking in everything about him.

Firstly, he was tall, much taller than Caellum's average height, with a more muscular frame that made it clear he had been eating well, and that wooden sword might not be for appearances.

With short golden hair held back by a leather band and green eyes like the purest emerald gemstones, his handsome face had so many similarities that it was easy to tell that the queen was his mother.

This must be the 12th prince, Lionell Jade Emberlin.

The queen's youngest child and only son, the eventual heir to the kingdom if the book Caellum's subordinates were always talking about was true, and the hero of the story and the world.

As their eyes met briefly, one set green and one set purple, Caellum quickly forced himself to bend over while clutching his stomach as if he were about to vomit again.

Then he heard a voice-

"Camilla. Why is this filthy servant dirtying up Mother's place?" a surprisingly deep voice spoke out.

"Your highness, this isn't a servant. This is your younger brother, the 13th prince. I was just leading him out after his meeting with the queen." Camilla replied with a voice full of doting and amusement.

"Oh. Make sure someone cleans the mess left behind. You know, mother doesn't like dirty things."

"Of course, your highness. I'll personally see to it myself."

"Good."

After the response, all Caellum heard were the steady footsteps of the 12th prince leaving.

From beginning to end, after that first coldly evaluating glance, the 12th prince had never acknowledged Caellum's existence.

Funny kid.

"You. Hurry up and leave."

Not saying a word, Caellum followed behind Camilla, grabbing his bags containing the things he had bought, which looked messier than they had when he left them, and exiting the fancy doors that led to the queen's section of the palace.

Bang!

As the doors slammed shut behind him, Caellum staggered back into his room on the far end of the palace.

After igniting the sturdy lantern and making sure nothing had changed or been planted in the purposefully empty room, Caellum went to the bathroom and began washing up while thinking about his interaction with the 12th prince.

"He's really a funny kid, just like his mother. Let's properly avoid the future hero from now on," Caellum muttered as he washed up and changed his clothes.

Although this meeting had gone as well as could be expected and he had reached a general agreement with the queen, he still had a lot of questions about her dislike and mistreatment of Caellum and, more importantly, didn't have a lick of trust in her or anyone in this palace.

All he wanted was to be left in peace to gather everything he needed to leave without being involved with whatever mess was going on in the palace.

As long as the queen kept up her side of the bargain in helping to get his paperwork signed, he would leave peacefully and disappear for good.

But if she decided to continue her little poison tricks, tried to frame him again, or send people to kill him once he left the palace, like he suspected she might based on her words today-

Well.

It would be better for her if she didn't go down that path.

For now, though, he needed to sleep in preparation for his nighttime activities: making money and finding strong people with nothing to lose who could protect him.

After cleaning himself and changing into the spare clothes he had bought, with the practiced ease of someone who knew sleep was valuable, Caellum quickly fell asleep.

And several hours later, around midnight, Caellum woke up.

Tucking his white hair beneath a tight-fitting black hat and wrapping his dark cloak around his body, he carried his shoes in one hand and crept out of his room, carefully opening and shutting his door.

Based on his daily guard-led tours around all ends of the palace, Caellum was quite familiar with the public and some private pathways that didn't lead to the living spaces of certain members of the royal family.

Recalling Emrys's explanation, Caellum walked through a particular hallway until he reached an ugly statue that was supposed to be some type of creature with wings.

Behind the statue was a wall with a checkered mosaic of black-and-white bricks that seemed to be a specialty of the Emberfield kingdom.

As Caellum pressed the bricks in a particular pattern learned from Emrys, he looked around to make sure no one was watching him.

For some reason, the hair on the back of his neck was standing up, but no matter how he strained his eyes through the dimly lit hallway, he didn't hear a single thing.

Pressing on the last black square, Caellum heard a soft click, and then, like magic, a section of the wall got recessed.

This was supposedly the hidden pathway that led to the city and what he would be testing out tonight.

After wrapping his cloak tightly around him, Caellum pushed the wall back, entered the dim tunnel, and swung the wall shut behind him, sealing himself in total darkness.

As Caellum waited for his eyes to adjust a bit, he took a deep breath, smelling the faintest bit of a scent that absolutely should not be here.

Turning in a particular direction and palming his stolen knife, Caellum called out into the darkness.

"Come out."

……

Silence.

Was he mistaken?

No.

Feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and smelling the faint whiff of something again, Caellum knew he was right.

"Yaga. Please don't waste either of our times or insult my intelligence. We're both quite busy, so let's get to the point. Why are you following me? What do you want?" Caellum kept staring at a particular spot in the darkness that seemed a bit darker than the others.

It was quiet for several more seconds before a flame flickered on, revealing a familiar old lady wearing a black chef's outfit with a black leather apron lined with dull black knife handles and holding a small black lantern.

"Good evening, or rather good morning, your highness. I wonder what you're doing here at this time instead of being asleep? And how did you know I was here?"

Hearing the polite greeting and seeing the glint of the little glass bottles filled with liquids in her apron pockets as Yaga caressed them, Caellum wanted to scream.

Why?

Why was she here, bothering him in the middle of the night like some ghost?

Hadn't they had a lovely and peaceful separation?

There was no need to rush the reunion; it hadn't even been one day yet!

They should continue to stay apart for the next hundred years.

Or was it that he had caught her on her way to a job?

If that was the case, he would apologize and sincerely mind his own business next time instead of calling her out.