A long time ago, there was a little prince, borned to the second empress of an emperor. His name was Carlyle Argent. He was the spare heir as the emperor already had a son from his previous wife. That son was his elder brother, Theodore Argent, the Crown Prince and first in line to the throne.

Theodore had the love and adoration of everyone around him. He was the golden prince, the beloved heir, the perfect epitome of nobility. 

But not Carlyle. Carlyle was the shadow to his brother’s light. A stain beside the brilliant gem. An outcast among the nobles.

Why the wide disparity in the treatment? Both were the emperor’s beloved sons, were they not? Was it because of the age difference of only a few years? The fact that they had different mothers? Was one empress more popular than the other?

In a way, yes. The first empress wasn’t that beloved, but the Empress Matilda was highly distrusted for being a mage. And Carlyle, her son, also inherited her magic.

Carlyle, the little prince, grew up surrounded by hatred and hostility. It didn’t take long to find out why he was the target of such emotions nor why. And he responded to the hatred of others with his own in return. 

He lashed out at the servants who disrespected him and his mother. He attacked the nobles who snubbed him. He slaughtered the many assassins that were sent to target him and his mother over his entire childhood. Thus, he gained the reputation of being cruel and scheming.

The emperor understands his plight. His father tried to shelter him the best he could, but even the emperor himself couldn’t change everyone’s heart. He tried to fix Carlyle’s reputation by ordering him to do good things. Like rooting out corruption and upholding justice.

It was almost laughable how big of a failure that campaign was. But Carlyle carried out his father’s orders happily, venting his anger and frustrations at those greedy criminals. 

Eventually, Carlyle and the other nobles came to a silent agreement. As long as Carlyle keeps to himself and doesn’t challenge Theodore for the throne, the nobles won’t bother him anymore.

Theodore, who’s presence only shines brighter with the misfit Carlyle by his side. The nobles don’t know that Theodore’s only good trait is his charisma. They don’t know that Theodore is a lazy, incompetent prince who would rather gamble and spend money on frivolous activities than focusing on improving the empire’s affairs. 

The emperor knows this fact. So do Carlyle and his mother. But the nobles do not, for Theodore is very good at deceiving others and manipulating the public’s perception of him. Even if they knew the truth, would it make a difference? If Carlyle wasn’t a mage, would the emperor make him the heir instead of his useless other brother?

For Carlyle, every day was another day of torture. Another day where no one supports him except for his family members. Until, one day, there was another person who did.

The incident started out like any other day. Carlyle was heading to the library because it was one of the few places he can go without experiencing the judgemental stares of others.

On his way there, he encountered two young knights. He knew they were imperial knights by the uniforms they wore. They wore theirs proudly too, as if they were made of gold itself. He couldn’t remember what the two men looked like. They were barely of any importance to him. 

One saw him and his face twist into a sneer. The other, catching sight of his companion’s face, turned and saw Carlyle as well. His face was also filled with mockery. One of the knights—Carlyle couldn’t remember which one—muttered under his breath, “Oh look! It’s the emperor’s cruel dog!”

The other knight laughed.

Perhaps the first knight meant for Carlyle to catch that. Perhaps he didn’t think Carlyle would retaliate. Or perhaps he only meant for his companion to hear. 

But Carlyle did hear, and he did retaliate. Quick as a whip, Carlyle’s mana lashed out and encircled both of the knights and levitated them high in the air while they screamed and begged for mercy.

Before Carlyle could think of a creative way to punish them without getting his father too angry, a female voice cut through his thoughts.

“Put them down!”

Maybe he was startled by an unfamiliar voice commanding him, but surprisingly, he retracted his mana and let the two knights fall to the floor in two ungraceful heaps beside one another. 

Carlyle turned.

Standing in the hallway a short distance away was a girl with flaming red hair and eyes the color of the ocean. She was also wearing the imperial knight uniform, but she also wore a cape, which signified that her status was higher than the two who had insulted him.

“Your Highness,” the girl addressed Carlyle. “My men are not your toys. I apologize if they offended you, but please don’t treat the lives of people so lightly.”

She did not avert her gaze when Carlyle turned to look at her like most people would. She fearlessly maintained eye contact with him, refusing to back down or budge a single inch.

The two knights quickly crawled toward her. “Captain! Help us!”

Captain? This young woman was their captain?

“Your men insulted me.” Carlyle’s voice was leveled, not betraying a hint of emotion.

Being mocked by strangers was something he had experienced many times in his life. And no one had ever taken his side. This girl would not be any different.

“We didn’t!” They stumbled to their feet. “We just happened to pass him in the hallway! He said the way we bowed to him wasn’t low enough, so he wanted to punish us!”

Carlyle wanted to laugh. What a bold outright lie. 

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “You think a sloppy bow is an insult, Your Highness?” She seemed angrier now. She was a troublesome girl, this one. At least her loyalty and protectiveness over her knights were admirable. Although, a bit too gullible and trusting toward them.

“You’re spoiling my mood.” Carlyle decided to cut this conversation short. He was tired of this disgusting charade. “All of you, get lost.”

The girl looked like she was about to argue at first, but decided against it. She gave him a curt bow and turned to leave, the two knights clamoring after her.

Carlyle thought it was the end of that. So, it came as a surprise when the girl came to see him again three days later with the same two knights who mocked them.

“I’ve ordered Sir XX and Sir YY to apologize to you for their crimes of Lèse-majesté.” The girl said. Carlyle didn’t register their names in their head. It wasn’t important to him. He wasn’t even sure if they were the same two men as last time. She could have grabbed two new men and he wouldn’t even tell because he couldn’t care to remember the faces of the two knights from before.

At her words, the two knights knelt down before Carlyle’s feet and started begging for mercy and forgiveness.

She then lowered her head to Carlyle and added. “As their captain, I apologize for my subordinates’ offense to Your Highness.”

Carlyle could only gawk at the scene for a full second. Never had anyone apologize to him out of their own free will before. Usually, it was because Carlyle was one second away from blowing their heads off with his mana.

Carlyle quickly recovered. “Send those two men out so we can discuss their punishments.”

The girl shot the two knights a sharp look, who immediately took their cue and left the room with frightened expressions on their faces.

Carlyle placed his chin on one palm as he studied the girl better. She was young, maybe a year younger than Carlyle himself. For her to become a knight captain at such a young age, she must be incredibly skilled. Or had connections to a powerful family. But judging by how obedient the two knights were toward her, Carlyle guessed that it was most likely the both.

“I don’t think I’ve received an introduction from you.” Carlyle finally broke the tense silence between them.

The girl startled at his word, having grown used to the waiting.

“I am Lorelai Ashburn, knight captain of the second imperial knight squad.”

“The daughter of Duke Ashburn?” Carlyle raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Carlyle remembered a bit about her. Lorelai Ashburn, the most famous lady of high society. From what he heard, Lorelai Ashburn was the daughter of Duke Ashburn. She was popular and well respected by everyone in high society.

“Yes.” She confirmed.

“How would you punish those two if you were me?” Carlyle asked.

Lorelai’s eyes flickered in surprise. She clearly did not expect that question.

“The most common punishments are temporary imprisonment, fines, and maybe flogging.” Lorelai stated.

As expected, Lorelai was a stickler to law. Carlyle fought the urge to smile in amusement.

“But you don’t like those punishments, do you?” Carlyle pressed.

Lorelai pressed her lips together. “I would assign them cleaning duties for a month as well as take away some of their privileges during that time. And two months of extra training.”

It appears that Lorelai was a rather merciful captain.

“Hmm.” 

Lorelai took that cue as a sign of disapproval. “You don’t want them dismissed, do you?”

“Wouldn’t that be nice? If they can’t learn to respect the imperial family, what point is there to keeping them as knights?”

Lorelai sat in silence for a while, then stood up. “Very well, Your Highness. I will have them dismissed.”

Then, would that be the end of this situation between them? But Carlyle was too intrigued by Lorelai to let her go so easily now.

“No.” Carlyle decided. “Let’s go with your punishment. But let’s add something more creative. You said two months of extra training right? Let me decide on the training. I want them to mop the path around the main palace every time it rains while it is raining and I want them to trim the grass in the imperial garden every week with scissors.”

Lorelai’s mouth dropped open in disbelief at hearing his cruel and unusual punishment. “What?”

Carlyle grinned in response.

“I suppose you expect me to make sure they carry out those punishments, right? Is that my punishment for doubting Your Highness before?”

“No, you don’t have to. Your punishment is one dance with me at my father’s fiftieth birthday celebration.”

Lorelai looked even more surprised and perplexed. “Why?”

Carlyle shrugged. “I’m very intrigued by you. That has never happened to me before.”

Lorelai fumed a little. “Very well, I accept. One dance with me, and nothing more.”

As she turned to leave, Carlyle motioned for her to pause. 

“Wait.”

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“Why did you end up believing me? About your men committing Lèse-majesté, that is.”

Lorelai paused in thought for a moment before answering. “The servants who serve you at your palace spoke highly of your character.”

Carlyle blinked in surprise. He did not expect that. Then, he realized that she was telling the truth. Back when he was a child who still lived in the main palace, the servants around him were of higher standing than other servants and looked down on him and his mother. 

But after he became a little older, he moved out to another palace, where the servants were of lower standings. Those servants were people who desperately needed their jobs and incomes and couldn’t afford to displease him like the servants of the main palace did.

“It seemed like you were so occupied by the hostility of the nobles that you overlooked the commoners around you.” Lorelai noted.

“Thank you for telling me this, Lady Lorelai.”

“Please call me Lorelai. There’s no need for such formalities when we are alone.”