“How much longer are you going to pout for, Filiel?” Theodore asked, smiling awkwardly. He was looking at Filiel, who didn’t answer. The prince just silently sulked as he gazed at the passing scenery outside—he was trying to rouse Theodore’s sympathy.
The two of them were currently inside a carriage. They were on their way to make an informal visit to a tea party being held at a mansion of one of Theodore’s acquaintances. Filiel had vehemently refused to go, all the way up until the very moment it was time for them to depart. However, he was still no match for Theodore’s strength, so his grandfather had just tossed him into the carriage and forced him to come along. Filiel refused to accept this, and he was still angry at his grandfather.
“I said I didn’t want to go,” Filiel muttered.
“You’re royalty too, so you’d better get used to going to social events, sooner rather than later,” Theodore said. “You hardly ever attend.”
“So what? Even when I want to go, everyone else hates me,” Filiel mumbled sadly.
“Filiel...”
Silence fell.
Filiel’s control over his magic energy was still weak, so he constantly emitted a powerful aura. This appeared to produce an instinctual fear and awe in others. Whenever he went to events, it was practically certain that people would stand in a wide circle around him and watch him fearfully, so he absolutely detested going to those kinds of places. He was royalty, so none of them could be openly fearful around him, but their attempts at smoothing things over were just further torment.
“Filiel, it’s not that I don’t understand, but in just a few years, you’ll be going to the academy. You should get to know more people now because it’ll help you later on. It’s your only chance to attend school, so wouldn’t you rather enjoy your life at the academy with friends?”
“There’s no way I’ll ever be able to make friends. They’ll all be afraid of me. Everyone will run away.” Filiel maintained his self-deprecating attitude, and Theodore patted his head somewhat roughly.
When they arrived at the mansion and were led to the garden, those around them immediately noticed who they were and started to get noisy. Nobles gathered around to greet Theodore one by one, and he gave practiced responses to all of them. However, the nobles were visibly afraid of the magic energy overflowing from Filiel as he stood at his grandfather’s side. Some found it so difficult to be near Filiel that they gave up on greeting the former king and left. Filiel knew that all the adults were so scared they could hardly stand it, so their attempts to smile and talk with him like everything was normal seemed ridiculous.
“Grandfather, would you mind if I went for a short stroll around the garden?” Filiel asked.
The adults were obviously relieved, but then instantly put their facades back up. Though Theodore frowned, he gave Filiel his permission.
As Filiel wandered around aimlessly, people nearby automatically moved away—this formed a large, empty space around him. Despite how it made the prince feel, this was only natural; not only nobles, but all citizens of Garlant knew that touching him was dangerous.
No one here is willing to sign themselves up for what’s essentially suicide.
At least, that was what Filiel thought, but now there were people standing in his way—several boys and girls around his age. The nearby adults were shocked that they would do something as disrespectful as blocking the path of royalty, but Filiel was more surprised than anyone by the fact that some people had come near him.
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am the son of Baron Ballue. Would you be so kind as to join me for some conversation?”
He’s probably doing this because he wants to make acquaintances with royalty, Filiel thought. Unfortunately, all of them were afraid of his magic energy. He could see them trembling, and they looked ill. None could move any further or speak another word. As he stood before them, Filiel worried about whether he ought to leave, but then, there was a timely intervention.
“Excuse me, it is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I am the son of Count O’Brian, and my name is Cecil O’Brian.”
“My name is Carlo O’Brian—I’m his younger brother.”
Filiel glanced back and forth between the identical faces of the two boys who had abruptly appeared. “Twins?” he asked.
“Yes, we are, Your Highness,” Cecil replied.
“I’ve never seen twins before.”
“Then, I shall consider this an honor,” Cecil said. He glanced at the other frozen children, and Filiel looked back at them too, having momentarily forgotten they were there.
“Uh...umm, uh...” With Filiel’s attention back on them, they lost all composure and were unable to speak properly.
“It appears that, in the presence of Your Highness, they are too tense to speak,” Cecil said.
“If you wanted to talk with His Highness, you should’ve properly studied your etiquette first,” Carlo said to them. “Blocking His Highness’s path is inexcusable. Got it?”
The boys and girls around them nodded silently. They took a cue from Cecil’s and Carlo’s words and scurried away.
“You helped me out there,” Filiel said. “My thanks.”
It had been clear to everyone that the children had been so afraid of Filiel’s magic energy that they’d been unable to move, but Cecil had covered for them, attributing their actions not to fear, but to tension. This might’ve been an informal appearance, but the children had behaved disrespectfully toward royalty. So, if their failure had been due to tension instead of fear, they wouldn’t be punished very severely. They’d probably get away with, at worst, a harsh scolding from their parents.
“Not at all. If I happened to be of service to Your Highness, then there can be no greater joy,” Cecil said. He and Carlo both had unbroken smiles on their faces.
Filiel stared at them. He quickly realized that they weren’t visibly shrinking back from him. “You aren’t...afraid of me?” he asked.
“Why, of course I am.” Cecil’s carefree words belied their true meaning. “However, I can’t imagine that Your Highness would ever think to use your tremendous power to hurt anyone. No one who intends to hurt others would anxiously ask whether we’re afraid.”
Filiel was taken aback. No one had ever said that to him.
“Of course, we may end up in the same class at the academy, so we also had the ulterior motive of making your acquaintance before then.”
“Are you my age?” Filiel asked.
Cecil nodded. “Yes, we are. I am greatly looking forward to the day we can pursue our studies together at the academy.”
“Now, we’ll be taking our leave. I’m looking forward to meeting again, if we ever have the chance,” Carlo said.
Filiel watched them as they bowed and left, and he made sure to burn the names Cecil and Carlo into his memory. For a brief moment, the student life he’d thought he would hate so much seemed like something to look forward to.
Filiel resumed his stroll. He took off his gloves, yielding to the heat of the sun, then headed deeper into a deserted part of the garden.