Obelia's Beloved Princess [ONGOING]

Chapter 2: The White Puppy

"Greetings upon the Future Sun and Glory of Obelia!"

Anastasius didn't even bother looking up at the servants' greetings. The 12 year old simply ignored them and continued on to walk among the halls of the Emerald Palace, also known as where Claude resided in. Never has he ever thought of visiting Claude personally, but here he was, on his way to his younger brother. 

If given the chance, Anastasius didn't want to even interact with Claude. Let alone even visit him. 

However, such circumstances couldn't be avoided. He knew that in one way or another, he'd eventually have to approach Claude. Anastasius didn't want to be a shitty older brother.... or so he thought. He didn't really describe himself as a shitty brother. 

Okay, maybe he was a bit of an ignorant older brother. But that was before.... before, when things didn't turn out to be like this. 

The said circumstance was unavoidable. And it needed both of the brothers' full alliance. It wasn't something Anastasius could do alone, or even Claude. 

It was something that involved Odette and---

"Big brother!" 

Anastasius flinched at the nickname. Not even Odette called him that. (Well, she did call him that. When she was 5 years old, and Anastasius being 8.)

The older prince was met with a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him. Claude secretly smiled to himself upon seeing Anastasius. 

Lately, Claude has been viewing Anastasius as an idol. He looked up to his big brother for quite awhile now. Not even Anastasius noticed when it started, but Claude became more attached to him. 

"You are like a dog..." the 12 year old muttered to himself awkwardly. 

He had to admit, Claude was bothersome but he was cute, to say the least. He gets why Odette seems to love the youngest prince very much. 

"I'm a cute puppy, aren't I?"

He's just a 7 year old kid, calm down, Anastasius thought to himself. He found Claude annoyingly cute, not even he could resist. "A troublesome yet cute puppy," he replied. "That's what you are."

Claude smiled and pulled away from Anastasius. "I missed you, big brother."

Anastasius groaned. He didn't have time for this. "I know," he said. "But we need to talk."

The younger prince raised an eyebrow. "Is it about you leaving for Arlanta?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's about Odette."

Claude instantly became serious. For the past few years, Odette has been a huge help for Claude. Because of her, he was able to share the same opportunities as she did. She was also the reason why he got close to Anastasius, too. So, Claude grew to love Odette dearly. More than anyone in his whole world, for that matter.

"What happened to Odette?"

"There's nothing happening... yet," he reassured. "but she's meeting up with someone important."

Claude was a bit clueless as to what Anastasius was talking about. "Who?"

"Her soon-to-be fiancé."

"A fancy? What's that?"

Anastasius facepalmed. "It's fiancé, not fancy." he paused, seeing if Claude was listening. He was, and he kept staring at Anastasius with curious eyes. It made sense that a 7 year old didn't know what the word meant, so he needed to explain.