Sun rays were shining into a window of the mighty palace, and there lay a young man with short blond hair. He was in his early twenties with a refined, handsome face and ivory skin tone. Under the blanket, you could see his slim body and hint of muscles, but his slumber would soon be interrupted.
The maid knocked on the door and entered.
"Your Highness, it's time to wake up."
The young man opened his eyes, looked at the maid with his aquamarine blue eyes, and said in a tired voice.
"What do you mean? I thought that today I could rest all day."
The maid sighed.
"His Majesty wishes to speak with you... And even if not, you shouldn't sleep all day."
The young man answered with a surprised expression.
"My father? What does he want?"
"That I don't know my Highness."
The young man wondered why his father wanted to speak with him. For the last 5 years he never directly summoned him.
'Well, we will see.'
"Alright, I will be there soon, you can go now."
The maid bowed and said.
"I will be on my way then. If you need something, just call me."
The young man nodded, and soon after that, the maid left.
'Let's get started then'
The young man slowly got up from his giant bed and headed to the changing room opposite the front door. There in the wardrobe, he grabbed a white shirt, a black military jacket with golden buttons and red sleeves, a dark brown leather belt, the same colored knee-high leather boots black pants. He took off his white loose nightwear and put on his clothes after some time.
He opened the front door and entered the main hall. As soon as his feet touched the wall-to-wall, wide red carpet that spread through the whole hall, he headed right at a fast pace. On the way to his father's study, he looked around, then his pace slowed, and his eyes stopped on a large painting.
There was depicted a man slowly going to his senior years, he had medium light brown hair mixed with a slight greyish shade, with a happy expression on his face. He sat on a throne made of gold with red soft padding. The man was his father Aldrick Raventoll, to his right side was his older Half-Brother Jordyn Raventoll, in his late twenties with brown hair, a spitting image of his father, and finally, he saw himself standing on the right side of his brother.
'Of course, my mother isn't there.'
The young man sighed and looked away to continue on his way.
Soon, he arrived at the door to his father's study and knocked on the door.
"I am here, Father."
"Come in, Cian."
Cian opened the door and looked at the man, who was sitting on a chair behind his table. The table was filled with various documents for the man to check and sign. The man was slightly older than he was in the painting Cian saw in the hall. His hair was grayer than before, and he had a tired expression.
His father gestured toward an empty chair in front of the table.
Cian then walked deeper into his study, sat on the chair, and looked at his father.
"So what do you need, Father?"
"Not wasting any time, I see."
His father sighed, closed his eyes, and after some time spoke.
"There is a founder's festival in the city, and I want you to accompany me and Jordyn to it."
Cian frowned
"Why bother now, when you never invited me before?"
"Even if you don't think of yourself as royalty you are still one."
Cian bit his lip out of anger
'I don't think? More like you don't think of me as one.'
"Before you were just a child, so I didn't want you to mess up something and hurt our reputation, also this is the 100th anniversary of our kingdom, so every member of the royal family must be present."
Cian retorted in an angry tone.
"If every member of the royal family, why doesn't my mother have to participate?"
On the king's face was an annoyed expression.
"You mean Myliam? She isn't even a proper noble, let alone of a royal bloodline. As if I would ever allow her to come."
"So why did you even marry her? If you are so disgusted by her presence?"
"I didn't have a choice, if I didn't, there would have been an uprising."
After some time of silence, his father said
"So stop arguing about your mother and let's get back to the festival."
Cian wanted just to leave, but knew that it would just prolong the time he spent discussing it.
'So be it, it isn't like I could speak some sense to him.'
His father didn't wait for his answer.
"Will you go or be stubborn again, and protest against me even when you know it's meaningless?"
'Do I even have a choice here?'
Cian looked at his father with a defeated expression.
"...I will go."
Delight appeared on his father's face.
"Excellent, it wasn't even that hard, Cian. The festival starts next week, we only need to appear during the opening ceremony to say the opening speech and have a short toast. After that, you can do anything that you want..."
His father instantly shut his mouth, and after a short pause, he continued.
"Of course, still behave like a proper royal. So get prepared, my son."
"Don't worry, Father, I will not do anything. Can I go now?"
"You may go, Cian."
Cian finally left the study and headed back to his room.
Cian spent his week before the festival sleeping and eating, and to alleviate the boredom in between, he read. On the final night before the festival, he read a book about a young man who always ends up in strange and dangerous situations.
'What an interesting man'
When the maid woke him up, he put on the same set of clothes he had worn to see his father a week ago, but he also put on some more accessories and finally a black cape to complete his outfit. Then Cian set off to the festival.
'Let's get over with.'
Then it all happened, the day that the world will never forget.