Play chess with me

Jonathan, of course, didn't take the bet seriously, as it didn't favor him. But when Scarlett woke him up with a glass of cold water at 5 a.m., he realized that the little girl was not hiding her tyrant's self in the slightest.

Have you gone insane?!"

The prince sat up frightened.

"You're late. I came to wake you up. Be on the training ground in 10 minutes. "

Scarlett tossed the empty glass.

"Oh and yes… this will be the case every time, until you learn to read the clock… Your Majesty. Ohohoho ... "

Giggling, she went forward. In the hallway, she could still hear the boy smashing in anger. Of course, he finally showed up on the field, and spent a pleasant hour and a half suffering as a younger girl teached him or beated him.

This went on for nearly a month. By this time, Jonathan was so angry , since there was no way he could overcome the girl, or shake her confidence with lowly verbal attacks ,that all the tension that had accumulated in him over the years had simply erupted.

After a poorly executed attack, the prince dropped his sword and began to shout with all his might in the shade of the huge sycamore tree.

"Yet why don't you finally leave me alone?! You and your damn family have ruined my life! You took my family, you didn't give me a chance to be happy… if your mother isn't born, then I would know what it's like to grow up with a loving father! If you're a damn freak, don't ... "

Here Scarlett stifled the word into him, as her fist-clenched hand put so much pressure on the young prince's face that he had fallen.

"Ah ..."

The boy tried to sit up with a painful moan as he touched the place of the blow. He could only look at the girl coming closer with half an eye.

"Are you really that stupid?"

She looked down with a contemptuous smile. Then Jonahthan saw Scarlett's face like never before. Cold and emotionless.

"I don't know what's more pathetic, blaming people who have already died because of your own emotional disability… or that you are really going to be the next emperor of this empire."

"You little…"

Jonathan tried to stand up, but Scarlett pushed him back.

"How dare you blame my mother for your own misery… when my whole bloodline and that innocent staff died because of your father's selfishness. So your father didn't deal with you? Hah at least you know him! At least you can proudly say yes - he is my father! And just say… what did you do to make the emperor love you? Have you ever tried to sit down and talk to him? Challenge him to a game of chess? Or even have dinner with him? A loving family is not born of the hysteria of a lonesome dumb man, but of the common memories of family members… a likewise it is not the name that makes someone worthy of an imperial position, but his actions.

And the fact that the emperor has guilt because he doesn't deal with you ... means exactly that he loves you, you idiot! "

Scarlett then walked away. Every word, like an arrow hit Jonathan's heart, and no matter how he tried to deny the girl's argument, she was right. He would have expected the same treatment that the children of inferior people received ... even though his father was the emperor himself — the father of the whole empire. He was jealous… but for what? Whom? After all, Hugo didn't paid anyone else more attention…

For 11 years he was grieved for his own stupidity… it is a fact that the emperor did not insist on common meals or programs… but he never said Jonathan should not join.

The servants tried to froze the huge monocle first with ice and then hide it with makeup. Then the Crown Prince gathered all his courage and joined his father during dinner.

The usual awkward silence dominated the room, and then he remembered her words.

"Father, would you like to play chess after dinner?"

He asked, afraid. There was a wide smile on the emperor's face.

"Of course."

It also relived Jonathan's tension. They played for hours, talking… as if that many years of bad relationships didn't even exist. All that was needed was to… set aside fear, pride , and open to the other. They both knew to whom they owed this change.

The next day, Jonathan was shyly waiting for Scarlett… he still found her annoying, but he knew the girl was right and had to apologize. He was actually aware that he needed to say thank you to the Lockhart heir, but he wasn't ready for that yet.

However, the girl did not show up that day or the next day, or later.