WHO MADE ME A PRINCE
chapter seven - boat ride.

ARIUS WHO IS WALKING to Jade Palace.

'I don't know why but I really don't like Claude. Even though I'm not even the real Arius who had to go through the same suffering for two timelines. I Still cannot bring myself to simply accept him the way he is. He even tried provoking me by asking me such a stupid question. It would be better if Athy and Claude's relationship got better. I don't wanna play Family with them. The real Arius would be dead right now.'

Suddenly he remembered what Olivia told him about how his Majesty really loved his Mother and grieved for her death.

'HAH what a ridiculous thing to say. I bet Olivia just thought that was the case , there must've been some weird politics behind their relationship.'

"Eh?"

The Purple Rose Garden.

'But I was going towards Jade Palace.... I wasn't exactly seeing where I was going... I guess my feet just brought me here... Heh well let's just walk around the garden then...'  he just sighed and looked around the place.

LATER ON, ATHANASIA RETURNED to the Ruby Palace in the Arms of Felix. All the Maids gathered outside surprised by the visit of the emperor's royal guard.

"Princess!" Lily exclaimed

Olivia followed behind her and shouted, "What about the prince!?"

Both Felix and Athy looked at her confused

"Didn't my brother return yet? He left a lot earlier than me." They all looked at each other confused.

Olivia was about to panic or shout.

"Oh! Athy you're finally back." Arius said, coming out from some bushes, as he stepped closer to his sister.

"Your Highness! where were you?!?"

"Hahah sheesh Via , I was taking a stroll in the garden." The maids sighed. Felix also seemed relieved.

"The emperor says he will visit Princess Athanasia and Prince Arius in the near future." said felix beaming a smile.

A silence emerged. The maids as well as Athanasia had a rather mildly scared expression. The knight bowed to the royals and was about to take his leave.

"Sir Felix, May I talk to you?" Arius asked. He gestured for the maids to head inside as well as Athy.

"Your Highness, you don't need to be so formal, please address me casually like Felix or Robane." Arius smiled. He knew how nice and kind Felix was in the story unlike Claude..tsk.

"Then Felix". Felix beamed.

"I'd like to know about those Assassins." The atmosphere suddenly tensed up.

'Felix had a somewhat worried expression on his face. Uh oh it looks like something happened to the assassins.'  Arius's thoughts.

"I believe my servant told the Guards about the attack last night and the Assassins were imprisoned. Did they escape? "

"Pardon me, Your Highness , But you needn't worry about them. His Majesty will take care of whoever dared to send them." Felix said as he knelt on the ground and looked at Arius with a worried expression.

"Thank you Felix. But I would still like to know about their current status."

'Felix went into a deep thought for a while. He seemed as if he was struggling to say it. Oh, maybe Claude ordered him not to tell me. But why would he do that?'  He asked himself.

"....The Assassins have died." Arius was a bit surprised to hear this and thought of several ways that would result in their death.

'Did Claude lose his temper? No, why would he? Did I hit them too hard? wow I'm so Overpowered in this world. OH I GET IT–' on his thoughts but he was cut off by Felix.

"They took their own life." Felix Stated

'OF COURSE , THEY'RE ASSASSINS, I remembered reading in a manga that if an assassin fails to complete a mission and gets caught , they take their own lives so as to not give out any information about their sender. Damn pretty loyal bastards I tell you.'

Felix still seemed to be hiding something from Arius. But Arius is wondering if he presses him for it? He just sighed and nodded to himself.

"I see... Anything else?" asked Arius.

"U-Uh no.."

"Felix. I can trust you can't I?" Arius asked in a cute way, making a sad expression.

"Of course!" Felix replied

"Then, Anything Else?"

Felix hesitated but spilled it in the end.

"The Assassins are suspected to be sent by Feradinies who survived the incident almost six years ago." (Feradinies is what you call the people of Feradona Kingdom)

'What. So people from Feradona. My mothers country is the one trying to kill me? Okay, I need time to process this.'

"Thank you Felix. That is all I wanted to ask.. for now." Arius said with a grin.

"It is my duty, My prince" Felix stood up and bowed. Then he left.

'Welp this is getting confusing, why in the hell would Feradona wanna kill me. NO HOW DO THEY EVEN KNOW OF MY EXISTENCE!? Ugh this is giving me a headache. Let's just go inside.'  After that he sighed.

THE NEXT DAY. In the throne room, Claude called his children along with their Maids.

"Lilian York , Olivia Grantum."

"Blessings and Glory upon the sun of the Obelian Empire." Greeted the two together

"I haven't been able to pay attention to my only son and daughter due to my duties at court, but still Athanasia and Arius have grown into such healthy children. The credit belongs to you two." Claude said while staring at his children. Athanasia was slightly trembling while Arius was staring right back at Claude.

"Thank you , Your Majesty."

"However from now on , I will be looking into my children's well-being, there will be no need to worry." Claude smirked.

Athanasia mentally shocked and screamed. Arius just stayed quiet.

"Starting today, Both of them will be treated like True Royals."

A FEW DAYS PASSED and Claude would now invite them to tea. Arius would always refuse it , but be forced to come anyway.

Athy on the other hand didn't have any courage to say no to the cold blooded emperor. Athy and Arius got into a small argument after their first meeting with Claude.

FLASHBACK

"Brother, why were you so rude to Dad?"

'YEA DUDE WHAT THE HELL. DO YOU WANT US TO DIE. DID HE NOT SENSE THE MURDEROUS AURA COMING FROM CLAUDE.'  Anthanasia screams internally.

"Well , I could ask the same from you , why were you so nice and cute with him."

'CAUSE I WANNA LIVE DUH.'

"Because he's our dad."

"Yeah, some dad who hasn't visited us in years, and we had to just run into him to accidentally grab his attention."

"Bu-"

"I would be dead." Athanasia flinched when he heard that from his brother.

"Athy, That so-called Dad of ours wouldn't have cared if I died. He only visited the Jade Palace after hearing about the assassination attempt. What about before that? The maids quit work everyday. The workload for Olivia increased. Olivia--" his voice cracked and tears began to flow down.

He continued...

"...Became so busy. That's why I'd sneak over to meet you...."

Athanasia, after seeing her brother cry like that, realized several things.

'Unlike me who's reincarnated, my brother is just a normal child. He's acted mature several times but that doesn't change that inside he's still a child. He was neglected and almost killed, but he still smiled so I thought It would be okay. but...he's been holding back this whole time..'  her thought with her sad expression.

Athy also began to cry over how much of a Jerk Claude has been to them. She tried to comfort her brother but Arius just ran out of the room still crying.

'UGHH great why the hell am I crying. GEEZ I'M NOT EVEN THE REAL ARIUS, plus I knew... from the beginning that Claude was a jerk... and yet the fact that he still didn't care about Jade Palace until the assassination attempt kinda made me...UGHH and his blank expression. He didn't even look worried about his son or anything when he was inspecting the Palace . This is so annoying.'

Once again, Arius unknowingly found himself at the entrance of the Purple Rose Garden. Arius has always loved and admired nature. This garden had become his favorite over the past few weeks. It gave him peace and quiet.

He began taking a stroll in the garden.

'I know... I know Claude has been through a lot of things and that he erased his memories of Diana after she died. Maybe he erased my mom's memories as well. I don't know. I know Claude has a reason for being the way he is. But having a reason doesn't justify his actions. Just cause you're sad and have a tough life doesn't mean you do the same thing for everyone around you...Geez did I really expect Claude to actually be a nice father to us? Am I that stupid?'

After a while , Arius returned back inside and saw Olivia worried to death , Lily was calming down Athy who was still crying. Arius just ignored her and went back to his room.

They stopped spending too much time together. Arius would just stay in his room most of the time and read books. Their relationship began falling apart.

END OF THE FLASHBACK

"I THINK YOU GOT a bit chubbier since I last saw you."

"Hehe , You look pretty too Papa." Athanasia replied.

Claude shifted his gaze at Arius

"You, on the other hand, seem thinner, are you eating well?"

Arius just stayed silent and nodded. The atmosphere became extremely tense as Claude glared at Arius and Athy just stood in the middle.

"..."

"Follow me , I was on my way to the lake. Get ready to join me."

"Your Majesty , I worry about the children being around water.." Lily spoke up while Olivia nodded in agreement.

"What's there to worry about when they're with me?" Claude replied

"B-But.." Athy pulled Lily's clothes and told her it's okay.

"Don't you want to join me?"

"Yep, Athy wants to go with Papa!"

"No."

The siblings said at the same time. There was a big silence. Athy looked back with daggers at her brother who just stood there with a blank expression. Claude just stared at him. The maids that were gathered just shivered over the prince's answer. They could all feel the tension in the atmosphere.

Claude didn't say anything and instead simply grabbed Athy and put her in the boat. He then turned around to face Arius. They both had a staring competition. Claude moved closer to him while he took a step back.

Olivia stepped in from behind and picked up Arius and placed him on the boat next to Athy. Arius gave her a look of shock and betrayal. Arius then saw Claude's cold gaze on her back.

'Well in the end she can't deny an emperor. Ugh Dammit.'

The boat ride began and Arius merely stared at the beauty of the lake as rays of sun shone over it. He could hear Claude and Athy talking but didn't bother paying attention. Suddenly he heard a scream

"HELP!"

He turned to his sister drowning helplessly while Claude merely stared in amusement.

"Dad! Help her!"

Claude seemed uninterested. Arius looking at Claude's blank expression knew that he was a total jerk. In the end Arius used his mana to help Athy out of the water and teleported to the land.

"Princess!"

"Princess Are you Alright?!"

Olivia ran to Arius and asked if he was okay as well, to which he responded yes.

"Mana?" a cold voice asked from behind them. He could feel a cold gaze on his back.

"So that's how you survived the assassins." Claude said with an amused look.

Claude then glanced at Athanasia who was coughing continuously.

"Felix. "

"Yes Your Majesty?" Felix said worried

"Teach Athanasia how to swim, it would be a shame if an emperor's daughter drowned to death in a mere lake."

Claude turned and left. While Athy was being comforted by Lily. Soon enough when they got back to the Ruby Palace, Olivia noticed Arius looking pale.

She took him to his room and began examining if he was sick when suddenly, Arius coughed up some blood and then passed out. Olivia's expression suddenly darkened and she shouted.

"MY PRINCE!?"