BXBX NOVEL Chapter 30 The Guilty Prince
The sound of Eli\'s heart rending cries continued to fill the study.
Not knowing what to do, Leon found himself standing towards the group, frozen. In reality, this was already his third time seeing \'Lady Elise\' cry. The first two instances were obviously not triggered by him, but by someone who even he, himself would deem as cruel.
However this time, he knew that it was likely triggered by his appearance and the subsequent circumstances that happened along with it. Everything that was revealed thereafter, most probably caused the lady in front of him to break down.
Seeing her pitiful state, Leon felt the guilt in his heart grow stronger and stronger. The more he heard her sobs and the more he saw her tears from falling, the more his guilt thugged the strings of his heart.
He started to feel embarrassed of himself.
\'Have I truly become so cruel that I have brought a lady to cry so bitterly?\'
He was not oblivious on how the people of Seirende Empire viewed him. He, the third prince of the Empire, was of lowly birth. His father, the Emperor, fell in love with a humble but lovely bard. Emperor Valentin took her as his consort, the Second Queen, and had Leon as the fruit of their love.
He was born with blood red hair, to which for the Seirende Imperial Family, was a sign of vast strength and capability. This color was the same as the first Emperor of the Seirende Kingdom - the first Victor. Although every Seirende offspring was born with reddish hair, everyone knew that the closer their hair would be to the color of blood, the more potential and talents they must have.
His blood red hair became the cause of the rumors that he would most likely be the one appointed as the crown prince rather than his two older brothers from the Empress and First Queen, who were both of noble origins.
To add to this controversy, it was known that Emperor Valentin, was madly in love with the lovely Second Queen, and that the Empress and First Queen never had favor in his eyes. Due to this, the noble families they belonged to started to target Leon\'s reputation and his life. They saw him as the threat to seizing control of the throne.
Realizing this at the very young age of five, he avoided dangers by blatantly avoiding any princely activities about the Empire\'s governance and politics. He wanted the aristocratic parties supporting the first and second princes that he was not even interested in fighting for the throne. He distanced himself, almost lived like a ghost prince locked away in his place at a very young age.
However, the aristocratic families of the Empress and the First Queen were never convinced of his stand, as they could clearly see the Emperor\'s affection towards him and her Queen Mother.
They started to intensify their attempts to assassinate him and even tried to poison his Queen Mother. It only subsided during his constitution assessment ceremony at the age of seven, when he, from the esteemed position of being the prince closest to the throne, became the most laughable prince in the history of the Seirende Empire -
He was assessed as a D Class - Devourer.
This, to the aristocrats, had locked his fate as a prince to be ineligible in inheriting the throne.
For no one would believe that a person belonging to the D Class was able to lead an empire as powerful and as large as Seirende. What was more cruel was that his assessment was blamed on his lowly origins.
But his Father Emperor wouldn\'t let him live a life of humiliation.
To take him far from the people\'s ridicule, the Emperor had no choice, but to ask Leon to go and take the path of blood, being a warrior exposed to ruthless battles and wars. To expose him to the dangers of the battlefield and prove himself that he can do great things despite this low assessment.
He sent him under the tutelage of his most trusted general, Eugene Farauld, to train as a knight, hoping that he would hone himself to survive even in the cruelest of wars. This was a suitable path for Leon, nonetheless, for devourers are known for their immense physical strength.
It did not take Leon that long to learn and excel in the art of war.
His battles and victories, helped him to gain his reputation as the Barbaric Blood Prince. A prince that didn\'t have any other talents than to kill. A prince that had no other avenue to prove himself as a rightful member of the imperial family and had no choice but to become the Empire\'s mad dog. Everyone who sees his blood red hair would tremble in fear because of his renowned cruelty in the battlefield.
Now the same Barbaric Blood Prince was at a loss upon seeing Eli cry, wondering if he had gone beyond the bounds of being valiant and stepped inside the realm of real cruelty.
"Making a lady cry… I never would have thought.." he absentmindedly thought as he stretched his arms towards Eli\'s head.
With a guilty look in his eyes, he gently patted her head and said in an calming tone,
"Hush.. Lady Elise.. I should be the one to give an apology.. ."
The guilt in his voice started to manifest in his slightly cracking voice,
"I was inconsiderate..."
He was overwhelmed by the growth he saw from Eli earlier, compared to the time he last met her. He had forgotten that she was still akin to a child due to the fact that she was captured. How could he forget?!
"Let\'s calm down first and take one concern at a time…"
"Hushhh.. We are here, you aren\'t alone anymore.."
"Even I don\'t know the right answer.."
"However, We, You, have to stay calm for the little one.."
"Please calm yourself down…"
The guilty third prince wracked his brains to squeeze out every comforting word he could think just to coax Eli. He wasn\'t the best person to do this, but he needed to, because he was at fault in this matter.
Eli felt the comfort that the bunch was giving to her, however, their concern overwhelmed the anxiety that she was feeling. But after sometime, she felt a warm hand patting her head and a voice coaxing her to stop crying. Then, one phrase had gently pulled her emotions back to the ground..
"For the little one.."
\'Yes, I shouldn\'t let these emotions get the best of me. Calm down, Eli, calm down..\'
As she told herself to calm down, she felt her heart had somewhat let go of the anxiety that was invading her mind. She took a deep breath and she felt that her chest became relaxed.
After that she felt that her body was exhausted. Maybe because of the activities she did throughout the day, or maybe because of her overthinking, but she felt like her body wanted to rest and get a nice sleep.
Seeing that Eli finally calmed down, and that her body demanded for a rest, the bunch heaved a sigh of relief.
"Aiyoo, she must have felt exhausted… Let her stay first for the night.." Grandpa Andi said in a relieved tone while asking for the permission of her two companions. Wisey looked at the night sky beyond the window pane and gave Grandpa Andi a nod of consent.
"Come I\'ll lead the way. Your Highness Third Prince, I hope you\'ll excuse us first." He then gave a bow and asked Leon for permission to leave.
"Grandmaster Andvari, please carry on, I entrust her to you.." Leon in turn gave a nod of gratitude.
Baobao immediately stood up and gently carried Eli, beating Leon to it. He and Wisey then proceeded to follow Grandpa Andi to another room outside the study.
The moment they stepped out of the door, it wasn\'t the familiar hall that they saw, instead it was a long corridor that was dimly lit. The flickering candlelight revealed that the corridor was painted in silver, elegantly matching the red colored carpet.
Grandpa Andi led them to a bedroom where Eli could rest for the night. After that, he bid goodbye to the two companions and assured them that the place was safe.
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Meanwhile, back in the study, Grandpa Ben and Leon sat in the room wordlessly. Leon, still feeling guilt, didn\'t know if he would have to stay or excuse himself to leave first. This was the first time he felt the need to retreat.
The prince who, although ridiculed by everyone, had always kept his head up high. But now, in this remorseful state, his head hung low in embarrassment and helplessness.
Seeing the troubled third prince, Grandpa Ben finally gave a sigh of sympathy and said,
"Your Highness Third Prince, let\'s stay here for a while and wait for Old Andi,"
"We may need to talk with you first before taking the next step.."
Startled, Leon looked towards Grandpa Ben and saw his eyes of sympathy towards him..
It was at this moment he knew, he would be receiving the kind of rebuke that he might never forget in his life -
The admonishment of the Two Legendary Grand Masters of the Seirende Empire!