1 Secretive Side

"The world is truly rotten, isn't it ma?" Carlos whispered to his mum, holding her hand tenderly.

"I knew what was going to happen, yet I was far too late." he regretfully said, tears refusing to fall out from his eyes.

"We've lost the battle, we've also lost the war." he looked down as he gulped, "It'll never turnt out right in the end, nothing ever was right. With me in the picture."

Suddenly, a servant slammed the door open, trying to catch his breath as sweat dripped down his forehead. "Prince Aiden has fainted. The betrayers are still advancing towards the palace." he delcared in panic.

Carlos stood up and walked towards the servant, he looked behind at the unconscious body of his mother and father before thinking about his brother Claude being gravely injured along with his brother Aiden being drained of his strength.

"This is truly goodbye. The freedom I wanted, I never truly got it, sorry." Carlos getting soft at the end of his sentence.

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"Can't we go out? Please Helbert!" the young prince begged on his knees, tempting his butler with puppy eyes.

"No is a no my prince. We must stay in for this time period, it is not safe for you outside." his butler strictly replied while ironing clothes swiftly and with grace.

"I'm going to die of boredem if I don't go out! How long have we stayed inside for?" he put out his hands and started counting the months. "Four whole months! Can you believe it Helbert?" he asked dramatically while taking his finished ironed clothes and stuffing it into his wardrobe.

"Please don't do that my prince, it is my duty to help you with your daily needs. You need to focus back on studying and improving your magic." the butler said, rushing over to help Carlos stack his clothes up properly.

"Don't do that,don't do this." he mocked. "I just want to have some freedom in my choices! Is that so much to ask for?" he said before stomping out of the room and slamming the door as hard as he could.

Carlos always had the habit of seeing the beautiful flowers he had always loved, ice lilies glowing brightly in the cold winter night to calm down his roaring anger.

He realized how foolish he was to be taking out his anger on his butler just because he didn't get what he wanted. It wasn't Helbert's fault in the first place, it was his parents, the King and Queen of the ice kingdom.

They were often strict and cold with Carlos, not ever spending time with him. He didn't grow up in such a terrible environment, after all he was spoiled with riches due to the success of the kingdom.

However, Carlos was trained and disciplined harshly ever since he was a child up until now, with hardly any breaks to even take a breather.

He had such a burden ever since he was young, for he was highly praised and people had extraordinary expectations for him due to his talent for ice magic and his intelligence.

Many people treated him as if Carlos was an adult, to fufil their expectations of him, he had always been well-behaved and mature in his speech and manners out in public.

Only ever letting lose his inner childishness and devil-like nature with people he was closed with, such as the servants in the castle and his siblings who were extremely kind and supportive.

"I should apologize to Helbert later." he said quietly, determined. Standing up suddenly, startling the group of knights that followed behind him, trying to ensure their prince's safety.

Realizing that the knights that stood behind him weren't the ones he was closed with, his face turned cold as he glance at them with his crystal

like royal blue eyes, sending shivers up their spines.

"Leave." he said coldly and turned away, heading towards the castle front gate.

Carlos walked past rooms and rooms before arriving at Claude's room that was located on the second floor. No matter how many times he enters his brother's room, he is always amazed by the display of swords that gleamed along with many shields and banners that decorated the interior.

"Claude?" he called out, looking around and poking the blades.

"Carlos?" a man with platinum blond hair replied, looking behind to see his brother approaching him.

They both smiled warmly at each other as a greeting before settling down. Carlos jumped on the bed and made himself comfortable. "I really want to go outside, can't we?" he tries asking.

"You know the answers a no Carlos." Claude replies while polishing his blades.

"What if.. I escape?" his eyes gleamed with mischief, his lips revealing a mischievous smile.

The blade that was in Claude's hands dropped, making a loud clang that alarmed Carlos, making him jump. His brother turned behind with a frightened look in his eyes.

"Don't you dare think about it." he said coldly, picking up the blade. He breathed in and out as he calmed down his anger.

Carlos was taken aback by the aggressive behaviour that Claude rarely displayed to him, meaning that he was extremely angered currently. Not wanting to end the day on bad terms with his brother, he nodded and smiled brightly.

"I was joking, don't take it to heart! And besides If I had wanted to escape, I would have to pass through tough obstacles." Carlos reassured, not wanting to let his brother worry about him misbehaving.

Claude thought about it before nodding. "Sorry for startling you, I was shocked." he replied, a bit calmer now.

"Anyways, when can I go to school instead of getting tutored everyday?" he asked, changing the topic.

"When you're 15, you can attend the best academy for magic, it's far but it'll definitely be beneficial." he paused and sighed. "You'll also be able to get the freedom that you're thinking of."

"Really? I can't wait till I'm 15, which is in.. 3 years!" his eyes gleamed with anticipation as he chattered on about attending school while Claude quietly listened in on.

They have always spend every evenings together whenever they had the time do so. It has become a daily routine to spend time with each other, chatting and reminiscing about the past.

Suddenly they heard a knock on the door and they both groaned, knowing what was coming next. Carlos immediately stood up and fixed his shirt and coat, he walked over to the door and turned around. "See you at dinner Claude!"

With that, Carlos opened the door amd left for his daily lessons of being tutored by his teachers. Hw was tempred to slouch down and drag his feet, however, he knew he was going to get heavily reprimanded if he had ever done that out in public.

Carlos forced his back to straighten while keeping his tired legs from dragging themselves. 'I'm tired.' he suddenly had an urge to yawn but instantly slapped his hand over his mouth.

Finally reaching the library where his tutor was, the servant left and gave Carlos a motivating smile. "Goodluck." the servant said before rushing off.

Opening the doors, he prepared himself mentally and physically to sustain a proper behaviour throughout the whole lesson. "Garret..sir." he said.

"Ah, Prince Carlos. Do take a seat." a man with white hair and wrinkles on his face gestured over to the seat infront of him.

Carlos walked over and sat down, forcing his back to stay straight while listening attentively to the lesson.

"Carlos, I have a question to ask you. What are your ambitions for this kingdom in the far future when you're king?" Mr Garret asked while looking at Carlos with a serious look on his face as he hoped for a proper answer that'll satisfy him.

Carlos gulped and mantained a straight face as his hands fidgeted nervously. "To rule this kingdom with an iron fist like my father." he confidently replied, trying to keep a determined look in his eyes even though he was lying.

His tutor face turned to a smile and sighed happily. "Oh thank god. I thought you would've wanted not to be king. Sometimes you give off this feeling that you're unconfident and unsure of your actions. Definitely not beffiting for a king, but seeing the resolve in your eyes makes me relief."

Carlos nodded before flipping the pages of his book, desperately wanting to change the topic.

"What laws or projects would you want to implant in the future?" his tutor questioned.

Trying not to falter and make a grave mistake, Carlos bit his tongue and thought for a while. "Rights to education for the poor." he said.

"Bu-" the tutor this time was obviously unsatisfied and discontent with Carlos's answer.

"There may be hidden gems in the dust that we not know of. To stabilize the strength and magic of this kingdom we need those gems." he reasoned.

The tutor thought for a while before nodding. "I understand."

'What I want most is my right to freedom.' Carlos thought in his mind. He grimanced when he remembered the times where his freedom was so restrained to the point of having a pack of guards to be nearby him at all times. He had always hated being so protected and sheltered all the time.

'I definitely can't wait for a year, nevertheless, three years.' His mind starting drifting off to the forbidden topic of escaping.