the heartless prince and the duck

Part 4

To say that Cale Henituse led a complicated life would be a gross understatement and cruel minimization of his struggles.

Cale Henituse didn't just lead a complicated life.

His life was twisted and wrenched so very far out of his control that it could really only be properly described as tragic.

Cale Henituse wasn't even leading his own life at the moment.

Cale Henituse, as the world knew him, had gone missing four years ago.

No one knew where he went or what happened to him.

And just as though they'd been bewitched, not many bothered to even look.

Cale Henituse as the world knew was gone.

And in his place, Cale Thames entered the palace as a candidate for the position of Crown Princess.

As if bewitched by the very same spell, no one asked where she'd come from or what her legitimacy was.

She was beautiful, fierce, and bitingly cruel.

And if she didn't play her part, her family would die.

God's who play with the lives of humans were cruel beings. The best god's were those who avoided stepping into the realm of mortals.

A god who'd chosen to involve itself with the goings on of mortals might decide that they knew better than the morality of mortals. They might in fact decide that there was a way that things ought to go and twist reality to fit their narrative.

The god pulling Cale's strings had stolen everything from him. His life, his family, his identity, and even his body.

She was given the role of villainess and told to play that part well, or the Henituse family would fall upon a cruel fate.

That worked well enough for Cale. Regardless of identity, they had always been playing a 'part' and villainess wasn't all that distant from trash.

But Cale had never been told why.

She'd never been given very simple answers to why her life had to be torn to shreds. Why she had to pretend to love a prince she'd hardly even met. Why she needed to be the puppet on the end of strings.

And those questions built up inside of her, cruel and merciless and endless.

She was the perfect bait for a heart shard looking for a shell to haunt. A woman full of nothing but unanswered questions and suppressed curiosity.

When the voice whispered ghostly in her ear the simple why it was like a madness had overtaken her.

But Cale had become adept at suppressing even madness.

Her footsteps through the halls of the palace were muted to her own ears as the haunting whispers of a curious heart asked her, again and again, for answers that she didn't have.

And then she saw him.

An entity like herself. A being that didn't belong.

Cale had none of the compunctions of the others within the palace, those who were willing to dismiss the incongruent due to a lack of sanity.

Cale knew personally, intimately, that the hiccups in reality weren't just the mind playing tricks.

The anger was hot and uncontrollable.

Another entity like her.

A person who didn't belong.

She instinctively hated it. Hated that it meant the god's were playing around with their lives yet again. Hated how little control she had.

Hated the voice whispering in her ear contemptuously. "Who is he? Where did he come from? He wasn't here yesterday, was he? I want to know. Please tell me."

Madness.

She had every intention of killing him if he couldn't answer her questions. It wasn't even out of hatred or wrath.

She couldn't handle the voice in her ear any longer. Couldn't suppress it. Couldn't endure it.

She'd kill him and then herself.

"Where did you come from?!" She demanded, echoing the sentiments of the ghost. "Did it send you?!"

"You should eat something."

The strange suggestion coming out completely calmly from the stoic man caught her momentarily off guard and she took a step back, her face a mask of confusion. "What... why?"

"You're upset." He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Food is a good way to calm your nerves."

Cale blinked at him owlishly. She wanted to be angry but he was just so out of step from her expectations.

"Why would he say that? He's strange."

She agreed with the cursed voice, pupils shaking with unease as she took in the strange man.

He smiled angelically at her and she felt even more iffy about it.

"And then, after we've had something to eat, we should exorcise that thing haunting you."

Cale Thames, once Cale Henituse, felt a strange relief all at once. She wouldn't be able to explain it if asked. It was just that the way he spoke put her at ease.

As though after eating things really could get better.

"I don't understand. Aren't you curious where he came from? What if he hurts you, Cale?"

The ghostly voice tickled her ear and a shiver ran down her spine. She felt the urge to echo the ghost, to act as the puppet she now was, and to play out the scene as the villainess she needed to behave like.

Wouldn't the scene be more interesting if she heard him out first though?

She sneered arrogantly at the man, holding her chin up high and glaring down at him. An impressive feat considering he was taller than her even with her heels.

"You presume to have food that will suit the tastes of the crown princess?" She laughed haughtily. "Very well. If you can't please my tastes, I'll have you punished for your insolence." She turned away, her hips sashaying with the grace of a queen and the elegance of a whore. She was quite proud of mastering that particular walk for her role. "Meet me in the garden in an hour." She shot a glare over her shoulder. "Don't disappoint me."

The ghost at her side stared at Roksu in confusion before following after Cale and continuing his endless parade of questions.

It didn't drive her quite as mad anymore though.

She felt as though she could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Perhaps another aberrant existence wasn't a problem but a potential ally.

Cale would do anything to escape this story and guarantee the safety of her family.