a cold snezhnayan wine does not make everything okay, it seems.

,then her loyal harbingers will listen. (PROLOGUE final)

[Name] looked out at the empty streets and closed markets. He pulled his cloak around himself tighter. Since there was no sun in Khaenri'ah, so it was constantly freezing cold. The young boy had sneaked out of his household to go explore the street area and have a look at Khaenri'ah's royal palace from a distance. Despite being a place with no Gods, Khaenri'ah has their own royal bloodline. Rumours have it that there is a supposed young prince, however the royals are trying to keep him away from the eyes of the public.

His mother would always pull him away from overly crowded areas during daytime, she was being a bit too overprotective of him. Whenever [Name] would ask her why, she would respond with a bittersweet expression and try to change the topic. Maybe she was still grieving from the death of her husband, [Name]'s father. What [Name] didn't know was that an alchemist who studied the art of Khemia were snatching Khaenri'ahn children away, doing who knows what experiments on them. It is a whole surprise that the King of Khaenri'ah knows about this and chooses to do nothing.

Everything looked so... dead. Every shrub planted around were practically stripped bare of its leaves, only a few dead ones hung on. However its just the norm here now. Nothing can grow properly, and if it even just sprouts thats a whole miracle in itself.

[Name] wandered around the city square, about to turn a corner when suddenly, a hand shot out behind him to grab him and pull him behind a wall.

Distance voices could now be heard from the corner [Name] was about to walk.

"Prince Kaeya?"

"Prince Kaeya, please return immediately! It is under the word of the Majesty to not let you outside!"

"Oh, where did he go... The King is going to kill us if we can't find him!"

[Name] looked at the person who took him aside like they were crazy, "What are you doing? Let go of me!" he whisper-yelled, jerking his wrist away from the person in an attempt to free himself. The shouting voices seemed to the the guards and knights of the palace, it would be smart to not draw any attention.

As [Name] looked over to the person, he realised that they were actually a kid around the same age as him, which is 12 to 13, with navy blue hair hidden under a hood and a pair of cerulean blue eyes looking at [Name] with slight desperation. He whispered back, "Shh! Please keep quiet for now! Just so they," The boy signalled to the knights running around with a look of his eyes, "won't find me.."

[Name]'s eyes widened. This was the rumoured prince of Khaenri'ah? He thought that the prince would be at least a young adult! He sighed and nodded tensely, complying to his request.

The two boys stayed completely silent as the knights searched the area, however not too thoroughly, since Kaeya and [Name] still remained unknown to them. A small while later, they could hear the sounds of footsteps getting faint. Kaeya slowly peeked from the wall they leaned on, and looked at [Name] with a nod, confirming that the guards had left.

The non-royal let out a sigh he didn't know he was even holding in.

Kaeya looked guilty. He said quietly, "Sorry for roping you into my own problems as the prince."

[Name] waved his hands in dismissal, "Oh, uh no worries! I should be the one apologising, I didn't know you were the prince... please excuse my manners."

"It's alright. I actually liked being addressed like an actual normal kid and not just some prestigious aristocrat," the prince smiled.

[Name] hummed. A while of mutual, but awkward, silence passed.

"Uhm!" Kaeya spoke up, "Uh, so... what's your name? Sorry I didn't ask earlier."

[Name] observed that the young prince has a habit to say sorry a lot. "My name is [Name] [Lastname]. You're Kaeya, right? It's a nice name, prince."