WHO MADE ME A PRINCE
chapter four - athanasia.

DARKNESS. Darkness everywhere.

'Huh? Where am I? Am I dead? A light. Right. I must be dreaming.'  he thought and he closed his eyes again. After a while , he peeked open his eyes and looked around.

'Huh...this room looks like an anime's Did I get reincarnated or something?'  he glances back at his small hands

'That's so cool, omg wow this must be a second chance at life my first life was complete trash so this life is a compensation for that.'  he started smiling and laughing

'Okay so this room looks like...a noble's house. hmm.. did I get reborn as a noble heir or something. OH I WONDER IF THIS WORLD HAS MAGIC!! I'm so excited.'  he was super happy over a second life in a new world.

"Ah Prince, you're awake." he turned towards the source of the voice. A ginger haired woman with bright emerald eyes wearing a maid outfit came near his crib.

"Your Highness...."

She picked him up.

"You're so adorable!" Olivia said as she hugged Arius's small body.

'Huh...she said prince. I'M A PRINCE?! Wow, I'm so lucky . looks like this life is gonna be super fun .'  he thought while giving Olivia a wide smile.

ALMOST TWO YEARS PASSED by Olivia raising Arius with as much love as she could. Arius, although was mentally mature, decided to act as a child and enjoy a good childhood which he couldn't in his previous life.

Arius's plans were ruined when he came to find out his father was none other than Claude De Alger Obelia, the one who had Athanasia executed in 'Lovely Princess'.

'But he came to love Athanasia in WMMAP so maybe....but wait how come I'm here? A prince didn't exist in either stories so how come?..... wait, maybe I'll die soon so I won't be able to appear in the story and Claude has forgotten me just like he abandoned Athy in the start. So even if I died in both stories he didn't remember having a son. That's why a prince wasn't mentioned..?'  Arius thought

'..But now what?'

'Should I try winning the emperor's favor to live?.. but why, why do I always need to make people like or love me. This is just like my previous life. Plus I'm not Athanasia. She is the main character, she has the power of plot armor to protect her, while if a side character such as myself who was originally meant to die suddenly showed up in front of the emperor and acted all cutesy....I don't even wanna think about what would happen.'

'One year has passed since the incident at the Ruby Palace. The maids out of fear, of the Jade Palace being next, began to quit. Now Jade Palace is almost fully filled with commoner staff. But throughout Olivia never left my side. Athanasia should be a year old right now. Four more years until Claude meets Athanasia. But Arius probably died before their meeting......'

'But how did he die? Even if all the servants turned their backs on him, Olivia would've never left him alone.... but I don't even know much about Olivia... she's taken care of me with extreme love but...why.. '

"Your Highness..."

"...Your Highness.."

"Your Highness!" Olivia said as she grabbed the shoulder of the young prince who was in a deep thought. Arius flinched and turned to see Olivia.

"Uh Yes, what is Via?"

"Is there something troubling you, Your Highness?" Olivia looked at him with a worried look

"Oh no it's noth-" he stopped when he was given a more concerned look from Olivia

'If I say it's nothing she'll just worry more about it.'  he thought

"Then Via, I'd like to know more about my mother....."

Olivia gave him a sad smile as if happy to see him being honest with her and at the same time feeling sad about him not having been able to spend much time with his mother and being neglected by his father.

"Of course , Your Highness. The weather is lovely today, how about we take a stroll as I tell you?" she smiled at him.

Arius nodded in excitement. He hadn't known anything about who his mother was, was she a commoner like Diana, or maybe a noble? He was very excited to finally know something.

They began their stroll with Arius in Olivia's Arms.

"Your Highness, Your Mother was a princess who had come to Obelia as one of his emperor's Concubines. Her name was Lilith Vi Feradona. She was a very... kind and.... gentle person..." Olivia explained as she tried to hold back her tears.

Arius noticed her expression and suddenly said.

"Via! look the flowers have blossomed." to try and change the topic.

"Oh my , yes indeed. They look lovely, would you like to take some inside to place in the vase in your bedroom?"

"No, it's fine. I can just come here when I want to see them." Arius said with a rather mature smile on his face.

"Your mother was extremely fond of flowers...Her favorite was a Purple Rose. His Majesty gifted her a garden filled with purple roses. "

"A whole garden of purple roses?!"

Olivia Chuckles and strokes his hair.

"Yes Your Highness, I wish I could show you.. but it was near the Ruby Palace... There's quite some distance between the two Palaces. When You're a bit older , I shall take you there."

The stroll came to an end after a while. Arius learned some other things about his Mother as well. At night before sleeping he recollected all his thoughts.

'So my mother was a Princess and Concubine of the emperor. According to what Olivia said , Claude actually loved my mother a lot. That's kind of hard to believe seeing as how he killed all his other lovers when Diana died but didn't do that after my mother's death. He probably didn't know what love is and thought the feelings he felt with my mother were love but he later found out its true meaning after meeting Diana or something like that.'

'Welp anyways, Though I could see Olivia had a sad expression on her face , I still managed to ask how she died. Assassins huh, from Feradona. And Claude later Conquered Feradona and brutally killed all those involved in her murder. hmmm ...'

'If I'm also a lovechild like Athy then maybe he wouldn't do anything too bad to me...ugh no. Adults are all crap. I shouldn't rely on them, especially my parents. Olivia....can also not be trusted.. who knows maybe she's just sticking around me because I'm the crown prince who will later become the emperor or so she thinks. But later she realized the emperor favored Athy more and left me... in the end everyone is always looking out for their own selves. '

'I hate having to suspect her like this.... I guess I have no choice... I'm not interested in the throne , I just want to run away and be free and independent , Claude has Athy anyways and it's not like my existence has been publicly announced... I also have somewhat mana inside of me, not enough to cause a mana explosion like Athy's but enough to help with running away and doing whatever'.

'But I'm reincarnated into WMMAP , this is my chance to see the characters and see all those funny scenes that I read . How can I miss this opportunity? I have to at least see my sister's beauty and cuteness once before leaving.'

'Okay, I've decided ! I'm going to stay here. Even if Arius died in both timelines, this time it'll be different. Even if all the servants , including Olivia, leave me , I'll just run away too using my mana, but I'm still not sure if that is what really happened. For now, I'll continue living the way I have , while also trying to connect more with my mana... since it would be dangerous to use it before my body matures a bit.'

THREE YEARS HAS PASSED. Arius is now five years old while Athy is four. Things have remained peaceful for both of them. A bit too peaceful...

'This is so suspicious, I'm five , there are still servants working in Jade Palace, Via hasn't left either.... Was I wrong? But then how did Arius die? UGHHHH this is so confusing.'

He looks at the window. Olivia seemed really busy. Olivia's work had grown over the years, because the staff kept leaving. Unlike Ruby Palace which had some gold and silver in it to keep the commoner staff busy stealing it, Jade Palace was the lowest of the low with almost no gold whatsoever .

The commoner servants only stayed for a year or so and after they had stolen all the minor luxuries this Palace had to offer, they left their jobs without a second thought. Arius had not intended to keep his abilities hidden, at least not after finding out his father is Claude. 

So as soon as he got the opportunity, he immediately showed Olivia that he knew how to write and read letters, which made Olivia believe he is a genius because children during those times didn't learn these things until they were older.

Olivia provided Arius with some story books upon finding this out. So whenever Olivia was too busy to give Arius company , he would just read books.

'Ugh, I'm bored... let's go for a walk.'  thought Arius to himself

As he was walking through the garden he remembered the garden of purple roses which Olivia told him about. He decided that since Olivia was busy, he'd go and see it by himself and at the same time, take a look at his cute little sister.

'I don't know where Ruby Palace is but I'm sure I can find it ! After all, Athanasia also found the Emperor's Palace while just going here and there!'

3 Minutes Later

Arius looked around.

'I'm lost...' he thought as some sweat started running through his forehead.

'Hh, Athanasia was the main character...'

"I'm not the main character." he said as he mentally cried.

Rustle!

'Is it an animal?...Huh!?'

Athanasia flinched and turned around to see a boy with Cerulean Jeweled eyes. Both looked at each other with confusion and shock in their eyes.

'WAIT SHOULDN'T ATHY BE FOUR.. BUT SHE'S HIDING HER 'RICHES', THAT TOOK PLACE WHEN SHE WAS FIVE.'  mentally screamed Arius.

'Jew-Jewelled EYES!?!?! WHAT , WHO IS THIS BOY AND HOW COME HE HAS JEWELLED EYES !?' Athanasia mentally screamed.

Both of them began studying the other to answer their questions. The silence was then broken.

"Uh..Hello, I'm Arius. What's your name?"

'Arius? I haven't heard that name in the novel.. is he a side character? but those eyes make him pretty special to be a side...OH I SHOULD REPLY.'  Athanasia's thoughts.

"I'm Athy... "

Another silence began.

'OMG she's so cute and pretty!!! THIS IS MY SISTER!? DAMN I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A YOUNGER SIBLING.'  Arius screams internally.

'That's my brother !? I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD ONE AT ALL PLUS HE'S SUCH A CUTIE I WANNA HUG HIM!! He has black hair... we must have different mom's then..'  Athanasia screamed internally

"Can you lead me to the Ruby Palace? I got lost on my way there." Said Arius while rubbing his hand on his neck.

"Uh sure.." Athanasia said as she began walking back. Arius followed.

"But what do you want with the Ruby Palace?" asked Athanasia with her eyes sparking with curiosity

"I wanted to see the purple rose garden." said Arius

'A garden?' Athanasia thought as she looked at him with 'Why' written over her face

"Say, You're my sister right?"

Athanasia stopped and looked at him.

"Uhm Yes..brother..."

Arius almost died of a heart attack. The character he loved the most just called him brother. He had a hard time acting normal and controlling himself from hugging her.

They reached back to the Ruby Palace rather quickly. Athanasia had many questions she wanted to ask this mysterious brother of hers. But she had to go back to her bed or else Lily would be worried.

Arius made Athy promise not to tell anyone about their meeting. Arius told her to meet him at the same place tomorrow.

Arius now made his way to the gardens that surrounded Ruby Palace. After going through some maze-like places he finally reached the Garden of Purple Roses.

'Woah! It's so pretty , and well-maintained too. To think Claude would actually give such a pretty garden to my mother. Well talking inheritance wise , shouldn't this be mine now?'

Arius spent some time exploring the garden and admiring the flowers. He then returned to the Jade Palace. To his surprise , no one noticed him come and go. It was kind of sad , but he could use it to his advantage, since he'd be meeting Athy tomorrow.