The Last Whisperer

11 | Four Brothers~

Once upon a time, the queen had five sons.

The first son, they named Aleco. He resembled his father with the same golden hair and features. He learned to love books and playing chess, and he played the organ flawlessly. He was a compassionate boy to the people and strived to be a good king one day.

Three years later, a second son was born and was given the name Louie. He, too, had golden-hair, but it was mixed with a slight shade of brown. He liked to be alone and people often mistook him as a problematic boy when he was younger. He always had a look on his face that said, Don't come near me. He often liked to visit the Ivy Harbor to go fishing on one of the royal boats, but most of the time, he was just quiet.

The next time the queen gave birth was to a pair of twins.

They were both brown-haired like their mother and was slightly palish in skin. The first boy to come out was named Jurian, and the second boy was named Jude.

Jurian and Jude were an energetic duo. They liked to do things together and played under the sun with dirt on their faces quite a lot during their childhood. But whereas Jude was curious on many things, Jurian was certainly careless about his studies. It was the only difference between them.

Two years later, the queen gave birth to a fifth son, at the same time the wife of Kaiser Wrillwraith gave birth to her first son. Both of those babies had entered the world with a magnificent amount of power clutching on their backs.

It was Monique and Artero. They were fated to rival each other since birth.

Queen Farith had passed away while giving birth to Nique, so he never really knew her. But that put a huge distance between him and the rest of his brothers. King Kepra, due to his fifth son's difference to the rest of them, sent Nique to the eastern mountains to live with the monks to learn how to control his lightning affinities when he was four.

When Nique turned twelve, he went back to Crescent Peak to study at the Academy for three years. After graduating, he wandered the world with his brother, Jude, as a member of the Ivy League. During the Goodwill Season on his third year as a member, Jude died after being killed by a centipede kregglin in the Feng Kingdom.

After Jude's death, Nique quit the Ivy League and went missing for two years.

Now, he was back in the palace, standing beside his father's bed and staring down at his weak and shriveling body.

His three other brothers stood around the bed, all looking at the same man they called 'King'.

"He got home one night on his horse. I got to talk to him for a bit—asked him about the trip. All he said was that it was a failure and that he was tired. He went to bed and wouldn't wake up for days. Eventually, I noticed he wouldn't wake up at all. I asked for Lord Koi's help and he sent Lazardo to attain a certain herb from Mount Nol. It made it easier for him to breath, but it still didn't wake him up," Aleco explained.

Nique was in deep thought, eyes wondering in space. So even the best doctor in the kingdom can't do a thing. He asked, "And the king's army?"

Louie moved away from the bed and left the room. The door closed with a soft click.

Aleco. "They're asleep."

•••

"That is a rather complicated situation you got there," said Nishian as a servant poured them both a cup of tea on the table.

Lazardo sat with his elbows on his knees. He talked to Nishian. "And I can't find her anywhere. We've searched the entire city and I'm convinced she's turned to dust."