The Fallen Prince

⋇- 27: Path of a King -⋇

The outdoor's white lights illuminated the spacious surroundings as a trio walked down the street. Crossing paths with a small number of people and drakes transporting carriages, the trio filled the silence with their chatter and laughter.

"It sure was a long day," said Miria as they crossed the road.

"Yeah," agreed En, sighing. "The little stroll we had ended up being a huge event."

Miria raised a brow as she gazed at him. "Why the long face? It's not my fault Marius asked us to wait for him."

"I only wanted us to hang out like we used to," said Marius by Miria's side. "Didn't you have an enjoyable day, En?"

The chatter of the citizens walking by filled the silence for a moment as the trio kept strolling downtown. Besides him having to awkwardly face Amaya and apologize for disappearing after that summer, his day wasn't bad.

"I did have fun," he said. "But waiting for you until you were done with your work ruined part of the day."

Miria chuckled as Marius narrowed his eyes. After the event at the coliseum was over, En and Miria had to wait for Marius to finish interviewing several athletes and people. By the time he was done, it was sunset and they only flew around for some minutes and stopped by a restaurant to have dinner.

"Well, at least you had fun and we were able to distract you for a moment, in the end." Marius crossed his arms, looking away.

"Yeah," said En almost in a whisper.

As they walked, En was grateful to have his cousins by his side to brighten his mood. It was incredible that only now he realized that they had always been there for him to make him smile. He concluded that living in another country without them by his side made him forget he had people that supported him.

"Oh, did I forget to switch off the light when we left?" wondered Miria.

As they approached one of the houses in the neighborhood, En saw that the large windows of the residence of his cousins' family displayed a bright light behind the delicate curtains.

"You're lucky mom isn't here," said Marius, "otherwise she would scold you for wasting electricity and increasing the monthly bill."

"Thankfully, Her Majesty Regina isn't here indeed," teased Miria, grabbing the keys in her pocket. "She would spend the entire night reminding me to be responsible and save money."

En raised a brow. "Even though she's the leader of our clan, she worries about that?"

"Yeah." Miria nodded. "She told us that just because she's the leader of the clan and we're part of the royal family, it doesn't mean we should relax and receive everything on a golden tray. We're still people and have to work hard to get what we want."

En's brows raised. "I guess this is why you live in a simple house instead of a mansion."

"Yeah," said Marius. "Dad built this house with his own money, so she preferred the family to grow here. I remember dad saying she always has been like this, a princess who valued hard work. 

"He even jokes that due to that attitude, she accepted his proposal, otherwise she would have rejected him to marry a man of a higher status."

A quick chuckle escaped En's lips, not understanding why Kraden would think Regina would reject him. Every time he would see them together, he could see that they had an unbreakable bond, which he guessed was strengthened for many years since they were childhood friends.

The door in front of them opened before Miria could insert the key. A well-built silver-headed man greeted them.

"You're finally back," teased Kraden. "I was starting to think you would spend the night away from home."