Chương 46: The haunting of memories
Even the passing of time didn't dwindle the efforts of the boy servant, who he had finally gotten the name of.
June Abbot.
It hadn't been that long since the boy started working as a servant in the palace, evident from the way he stared as if no one would notice. It was however a period of time that should have made the original's personality obvious to June.
So that left Adrian with the task of flipping that impression completely, yet in a way that would leave the other with no doubts of him faking everything, even though he was.
A feeling so vibrant simmered in his blood, excitement as he thought of ways to twist the feeling of someone's completely, let them believe in things that aren't even there!
His brother, Aliya, had been good at it.
Using loving words to urge Acacius on. "Education suitable for a child that is the crown prince. No matter if once upon a time a child was made between me and Sophie. An heir to the throne."
Four years, four years in which he had endured hell as his tasks only grew , barely a word of love and without an end in sight and when he had heard his aunt was pregnant, flowers had blooded in his chest.
A child was to be born and the thought was accompanied with prayers of wishes that the child would be healthy.
If only for the mere fact that it would get rid of the status crown prince for Acacius, a title that had been leading his life.
But even when the child named Asani came into the world, nothing changed, the expectations did not lower.
Instead it heightened, reasons ranging from the example Acacius had to set for Asani or that as a spare he was expected to uphold a certain degree of education and especially uphold the reputation of the royal family.
In short there was no love lost between the once loving brothers.
One a king, the other a prince turned crown prince, only to return to his previous status as prince with still the same push to do everything.
Besides that was the happenings in his seventeenth year of life.
A year in which the kingdom stagnated, trouble brewed and rose.
Blood was shed that could never be returned, tears never ended upon the loss of friends and family alike.
Carts and carts full of wounded yet there were not enough beds to put them on.
His mind was still fogged with groans and moans of pain, images flashing full of soldiers that lost limbs, mind or both.
Bodies on the warfield, bodies on the streets.
Slowly but surely he had seen the kingdom fall apart, starvation, diseases, all that one could name broke it.
Ultimately the war Aliya had started was lost.
Lands fell into the hands of the enemy, more and more demands were made until after too long everything settled.
Adrian understood why the original would kill his brother.
Upon receiving all the memories he could feel the phantom pains, the experiences settled in his soul and part of him believed that he had experienced it himself.
And in a way he had, he had experienced it in Acacius's viewpoint after all!
Years after years had been spent healing, a walk in the garden did not ease his worries, a sword fight did not. The mental burden was too heavy to carry, shoulder hunched behind closed doors.
The tortuous education was one thing but with the war, a part of his responsibility, made the pressure even more insane.
A nightmare for the reserved and otherwise shy prince Acacius.
A shy part of him that still called for safety, a place far away where he could just be, just exist.
Shyness was not a part Adrian had expected, yet it was what he found, what he felt.
Slowly tapping his fingers on his desk, he recounted the last of memories.
On the night of his eighteenth birthday the two brothers had once more been fighting.
Swords had clanged and voices spoke in hushed tones.
Adrian had expected something, something big but instead he had felt a twinge of plain disappointment.
For hell's sake the boy hadn't even planned anything!
He couldn't deny that he had expected a great, thunderous fight but while Acacius went around killing one after another with merciless strikes he had merely gutted his brother.
The other's sword loudly clinging on the ground before stilling together with its owner's last breath.
Adrian could even write out the aftermath, a quiet why slipping past Aliya's bloody mouth before buckling lifelessly on the ground.
Acacius ripped out his sword without a care in the world from his brother's body, deranged laughter leaving dried up lips as he kicked the body over.
Grabbing the jeweled crown and with a smirk dropped it on his head.
Cold brown eyes, practically red, glowing with victory as he glowered to the attendants in front of him. Sword lifting in a clear warning, sun emphasizing his figure as they lowered on one knee.
A closer attendant draped a cloak over his shoulder with a your majesty, afterwards retreating to the others, detailed clothes had ripped on various spots, mud and dirt became the new colour and completely made it impossible to see it's former white.
Psychopathic stare and the dead body beside his feet made the surroundings silent as he ventured around, breathing in satisfaction, Acacius was pleased. "Pick up your swords and follow!
Commanding voices had left them scrambling, followers following steps behind him as he made his way to the inner quarters of the Empress.
It was quite something, going through all that in one night.
With the rumours of that night and the quick surroundering of Aunt Sophie Adrian hadn't much expectations for that part.
Even with the torture of his brother, Acacius remained soft, the feelings that brewed inside of him were full of scars. Desperate for love and Adrian felt that feeling. Had felt it a thousand times before.
This heart wrenching, suffocating feeling, followed him everywhere!
More alike than he personally wanted, Adrian had felt the other's exhaustion, fear of mistakes and the crashing weight of loneliness.
Clenching his fists Adrian tried to bottle the feelings.
It had worked for Acacius.
The moment he became Emperor, he had turned to stone. Unforgiving towards all that questioned him and that were loads of people, with even more useless opinions.
Harsh words were thrown at Acacius, even his imperfect shoulder length hair was criticized.
Which was why the boy had grown out his hair, no doubt beautiful yet horrendously long.
The feats Acacius had accomplished on his own was amazing, that was for certain. Way more than another could do given the circumstances.
He was flawed and so was Aliya, commander of an army that fell to the sword of his brother, his ego making him believe he was untouchable. That, however, didn't mean he didn't mourn his brother.
He was soft, so when soft laughter was heard from behind the thick door Acacius had stilled yet the door had nonetheless opened his sister in law drinking tea as her maid had played around with Asani.
Both had noticed something wrong and Acacius had spoken the truth with a raspy voice.
''I killed him.'' Horror crossed their faces yet what was most surprising was the intriguing look upon Sophie's face. Merely having told the maid to run with Asani, a pouch of gold landed in her palms as she stuttered meaningless words.
Sophie had quickly silenced her. ''We need someone to keep him entertained, it's your duty to protect to heir.''
With a nod of loyalty she was off, dragging behind a teared up Asani.
Sophie had been unsure, asking if Acacius would kill her. He wouldn't if she didn't fight and she didn't.
Words of how she wanted to see her son grow, even if it was only a glimpse in the future.
Acacius gave her everything she needed and wanted and in return she became his emotional support system. Wich explained why he visited every week
It was also ,unsurprisingly, not the only times she flirted with him.
More than once she had mentioned that he was better than Aliya and seeing as they barely spoke before he turned eighteen she gave him reason as to why they could happen.
She was right though, Aliya had left a mess of the kingdom, resources and even the council, if his reign had been allowed to continue only death would have awaited them.
Even though the public and the true heir saw Acacius as the enemy, he had actually done the kingdom a service, after his brother's death he had spent months if not years to establish his reign and deal with the consequences of war. He had quite effectively established the kingdom and changed rules that were formerly set to stones.
Rules that put the kingdom behind others and made it appear extremely lacking, which it was.
Not that it mattered very much right now, he , as the new Acacius, needed to make sure he didn't die at the hands of Asani.
But for that he needed to have access to magic, after all he needed it to perform his grand scheme.
The reprisal of minds that just about made the center of it was of course essentieel.
Small smile graced his features as a knock sounded and with an enter his long day began.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Myst_Rinnontoya
Myst_Rinnontoya Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực