7 The sleepless dream

The marketplace was still filled with the hustle and bustle of folklore, the very characteristic that made this palace the well-known city of vendors and market. The kingdom that he was to rule was the one who was looked at by others in envy.

The kingdom once had a name but one really used it and the young prince was the envy of the heavens themselves with such a rich and plentiful land to rule.

The young king Kaito Seni was not a real prince, but rather an award was taken in by the king and queen, their inability to have a child of their own elevating the once orphan to a prince status.

Of course, this was a topic for the dark places because the royal rule dictated that you could not speak ill of the royal family, lest you be punished for it if you were heard.

And so the young prince roamed the roads of his kingdom, the almost sixteen years old making his way through the crowd of people to get to his destination, the central plaza of the place where the people gathered to entertain themselves.

"Young prince, you should not be out here without informing your guards" the old caretaker who had followed the prince called out to him, his voice tired with fatigue. No doubt, his old body protested at having to keep with the young and vigorous prince.

"It's alright. If I tell them then they are going to make a fuss and that would defeat the purpose of this trip. Besides, I can take care of myself on my own" the prince called out to the elderly, his voice boasting full of confidence his young self had.

The elder just sighted at the stubbornness of the other, the tired eyes looking at the youth in a weary manner.

"Please, they worry for your own good" the young prince ignored them, the stall at his side catching his attention and he leaned in to have a look.

The jewellery the lady had displayed was eye-catching for its colour but nothing special or extravagant as the ones sold in the castle by the far away vendors. His mother had a collection of rare and beautifully crafted items, so these ones did not awe them.

And yet, their fragility had something in it that attracted the young prince's curiosity.

Seeing that the rich-looking young master had his attention on her display, the woman who was operating the stall quickly shifted her attention toward the prince at once.

"Anything caught your eye, young master?" the woman's voice was dropped in saccharine, her intention of selling her collection fairly obvious and Kaito knew that this was a trap. As soon as he confirmed her suspicions, the prices would rise exponentially.

He really did not have a problem paying extra but he would much rather pay it to the artist than to the merchant who was selling this for a marginally larger profit than she was entitled to.

"Hm, I was wondering who made such a fine work of art. Can you point me to the artisan? Surely such a lovely lady as you must know all about it" flattering always got the job done and he knew as soon as the lady blushed that he had her in his grasp, right where he wanted her to be.

"Ah, yes. Why the lovely artisan in the outskirts made this lovely piece and sold it to me for quite a sum, but I'm a generous lady so I'll sell it to you without any profit of my own. 5 silver would be enough for a young master" The lady really thought that he was an ignorant young master and could be fooled easily.

Ordinarily, 5 silver coins were less than enough to make any self-esteemed young master demand something more costly and that was surely what this old lady was going for, but unlucky for her that Kaito knew his fair share of the outside world and had no attachment to status.

He had been raised better and so he knew that the quoted price was likely more than double the original price.

"I see, so the old maker outside the town made this. Thank you for telling me, but I feel like I'll get a better deal there than here. You see, I'm looking to have something custom made after all" he could see the understanding on the vendor's face and the moment it registered that she had been played.

And yet she did not make a scene at all, simply looked away from him and focused on her work. Maybe for her, it had been an everyday occurrence but Kaito refused to feel bad for her.

They scammed others of their money and as a result, got scammed themselves sometimes. It was just a vicious circle they had to face overall.

Kaito left the place as soon as he had reached it, his eyes taking in the landscape around the city. The place was ever-changing, a true representation of its customer base, widespread and very grand in making.

He had seen the place change a lot over the years, like the new pavements and the addition of the side plaza. Even the main steps were a recent addition and he could tell it from the memory.

And as he moved to get out of the place, the commotion from the side caught his attention, the voice crisp and clear - a call for buying something. He heard it plenty of times when he came out here, people looking to sell their stuff calling out to him.

And yet, this one particular time was when his attention diverted toward the call, his instincts calling out to him to check it out. It was the first time his dormant alpha had demanded that he follow the call.

And he did. A small crowd was gathering in an almost gallery and it was thick enough to black his view. This was the first time the young prince had found himself in such a remote corner of the market and it was an uncomfortable feeling.

Yet, he had to know what they were selling or his alpha would not stop it's nagging.

Somehow, he twisted his body enough to make his way through the crowd and came to an almost standstill as soon as his eyes met wild, feral blue ones on a young face.

Long hair bounded back on the dirty, small face but the fangs looked anything but cute.

It was a child, a small, fragile and young child who stood before the crowd. The child seemed almost out of his mind from the fright and as the crowd pointed at him and gossiped among themselves, the child seemed to be getting worse.

"Please everyone, calm down. This beast here will entertain us all. Now come, witness the show" there was a small moment in the body and Kaito realised with horror that it was the chord that was attached to the young neck that produced that small moment.

The child was collared and leashed, definitely against his will and forced in front of the audience. This was slavery and in broad daylight at that.

By the clothes and looks of the merchant as well as the kid, they looked to be of foreign origin and seemed to be on travel. Was this a kidnap case? Or was the child an orphan too?

While their kingdom had no concrete laws about slavery, it was an unspoken rule that the royal family condemned such practices. But maybe it only exited in his mind and not the general populace's mind.

Kaito left the place peacefully as he made his way outside the town to find the person that could complete his order but his mind refused to erase the image of the sad blue eyes that haunted his mind.

They hated him bad enough that he could not focus on anything but those eyes at all and it was only after some time that he found his focus back on the topic at hand. The order was placed with flawless ease and then they came back to the town.

The crowd had almost tripled in size at the alley and Kaito felt his eyes involuntarily move in that direction too. He could hear the crowd's amused laugh as well as the satisfaction brimming from their core.

But there was an almost overpowering smell of fear and dread in the mix and he wondered if people chose to ignore it or just did not care for it at all. It was a sad existence and he wanted to help.

But not in front of so many people because his cover would be blown and the insiders would escape in that time.

He needed to get them when they least expected it to happen.

That night, a patrol of silent workers spread all over the city, looking for all the foreign merchants and their groups. At least 5 groups of slave traders and child traffickers were found and taken into custody.

And yet the white-haired, blue-eyed child was not seen in any of the aftermaths. It was like he had never existed anywhere but in Kaito's memory. He wrote to Jess about that child and she consoled him.

Her own family force helped him sweep the area and the work was finished much early.

He only saw the child again when he was gifted the slave by one of the branch families of Dawn, Jess's being a part of the main family and she swore that she had nothing to do with this fiasco.

And he was relieved that she did not because she had no reason to. She already had his love along with his promise of a future marriage. The branch family on the other hand were clearly trying to establish a connection with him.

But he did not do anything, simply choose to accept the slave and as soon as he was able to - freed him of the slave status and gave him a name to go along with it.

That was the day Noah had been born in the royal family's registers. A companion, a friend and perhaps an almost sibling to him till the day Kaito had believed that he had been betrayed by the other for the first time.

And that had been the downward spiral of everything that went wrong at that time.

The fog densed as the time passed in the scape and all of a sudden he could no longer see where he was headed to in it.

And then he woke up to the sunlight.