Work Text:
Cale Henituse.
The Crown Prince sighed at the mere thought of that name.
This bastard was probably the only one who would dare to lounge on the Crown Prince’s sofa with his back propped up against Alberu’s shoulders while he leisurely munched on the cookies sent over from the Royal Kitchen.
“...how long do you plan on staying here?” Alberu asked in an annoyed tone as he continued to flip through the pages of his documents.
Cale, the punk he was, shrugged his shoulders, an action Alberu could feel due to the fact that Cale was still leaning against Alberu while lazing around, “How long can I stay?”
Alberu pursed his lips, “Haa….” This punk. The Crown Prince, of course, would not answer a question like this as it was, “Of course, for the treasure of the kingdom. You can stay for as long as your resolute heart that never wavers in face of danger wills–”
Cale frowned, “That’s one way to ask your guest to get lost.”
“Your words, not mine.” Alberu replied with a scoff as he leaned back onto the cushions, his movements making Cale lose balance against the prince’s shoulders and landing his upper body on the lap of the Crown Prince instead. For a moment, he seemed surprised at the unexpected development, but seeing that His Highness had no reaction whatsoever while he continued to flip through his documents, Cale returned to his usual blank expression while munching on the cookie again.
“So why did the children averaging nine years of age not accompany you today?” Alberu asked nonchalantly, naturally referring to the kids who followed behind Cale.
“There’s a night market in the Henituse territory today, they wanted to run around and spend money so Hans took them for a stroll.”
“Mm.” Alberu made a noise of acknowledgement as his attention continued to be on the document on his hand. Cale, head still resting on Alberu’s lap, was quite curious about how the Crown Prince hadn’t even commented on the shift in their positions, so he continued to watch his face a while longer, looking for any traces of a reaction.
“What.” Alberu finally asked him after a whole five minutes had passed by with Cale staring at Alberu intently. His blue eyes shifted from the document towards Cale, who, he now noticed, had finished his cookie but still had crumbs on his face. Alberu subconsciously frowned at the younger man’s messy eating habits.
“Hyung.” Cale said suddenly, solemnly enough that it had Alberu suspicious,
“What are you planning on doing now?” The Crown Prince asked with a sigh.
Cale, a bit baffled, opened his mouth, “Why are you talking like I’m always causing trouble for you?”
“That’s quite literally all you do.” Alberu shot back in an annoyed tone, the cookie crumbs on Cale’s face bothering him a little more than usual today…..it was probably because of how close he was.
Cale, who could not exactly refute the fact fully, decided not to comment on that matter, coughing as he decided to activate his glib tongue instead, “Your Highness’ generosity and patience is as vast and warm as the sun high up in the sky. To think how a lowly noble such as myself can serve the light of the Roan kingdom so faithfully–”
“Enough.” Alberu really did sound tired now, sighing as he covered his face, “Seriously. Are you planning on robbing me or something now?”
Cale smiled his bright, shining smile of a saint, “Your Highness, such crass terms. I am merely expressing my admiration for—”
Cale paused, he could not help it. An unexpected development had occurred. The Crown Prince had suddenly leaned down close toward him, looking at him closely while he reached his hand up. It was such a surprise that Cale blinked his eyes and was about to speak again but found himself speechless as he felt a gentle touch near his lips, and then Alberu, face mere inches away from his, spoke with a frown, “How are you taking care of kids when you are such a messy eater yourself.”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Was it the Vitality of the Heart? But he wasn’t hurt right now…..so why was his heart beating so hard to pump blood throughout his body? But Cale’s thoughts weren’t all in one place, he had remained frozen in his place as the Crown Prince wiped the cookie crumbs off his face with a slight frown, and then, when the Crown Prince’s glimmering blue gaze flicked up to meet Cale’s bright red eyes, the latter suddenly felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
For a moment he wondered if it was any of the Ancient Powers.
-It’s not us.
Having his question answered even before he finished the thought, Cale suddenly found himself stiff again, just watching the man above him with an open mouth, unable to make a single noise.
Alberu’s brow furrowed again, “Cale?” He called out, “Are you falling sick? You are turning re–”
Thump.
Alberu was so shocked that he could not move from his spot. Cale had just rolled off the couch, no, he had rolled off from his spot on the couch and Alberu’s lap and landed on the ground, face still red and eyes wide open.
The Crown Prince, bewildered by the crazy movements of the lunatic in front of him, opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say.
Cale, on the other hand, was clutching his chest. His heart really was beating louder than usual. But after affirming that it wasn’t the Vitality of the Heart or any of the Ancient Powers, he willed himself to calm down and evened out his breathing before looking up at a still puzzled and shocked Alberu with a calm expression, “Ahem, forgive me Your Highness, I just felt a strange sensation within my body.”
On hearing that, Alberu’s face changed. Cale could tell what it was almost immediately, even if the Crown Prince tried to mask it with seriousness. Concern. The Crown Prince was worried about him.
He held back a smile as he heard Alberu’s stern voice, “You punk, you were supposed to be resting and yet you came here instead, do you want everyone around you to age a hundred years with worry?” He huffed as he spoke, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, “What is it? Did you use your Ancient Powers sometime recently? Is the pain too much? Should I call someone over from the Henituse estate—”
Cale chuckled lightly as he stood up, making Alberu frown even more and almost stand up himself, “There’s no need for any of that, Your Highness. I feel completely at ease now. It must have been my Vitality of the Heart, working to keep my body as healthy as possible.”
-Liar.
Cale ignored the ancient voice in his head before looking at Alberu’s suspicious face again,
“Hey.” The Crown Prince called out to him.
“What is it?” Cale asked casually, willing the heat on his face and body to subside as he tried to keep up his mask of nonchalance while his heart continued to beat wildly each time he recollected the moment with the Crown Prince from five minutes ago.
“Have you gone crazy?”
“....”
“How can you just roll off like that? What if you had hit your head on the table? Or injured yourself on the floor? Having a regeneration ability doesn’t mean you can just treat your body however,” Alberu paused as he shook his head and clicked his tongue, “It’s one thing to do that in a battle where so many lives are at stake, but you are fooling around testing the limits of your Ancient Powers at a time like this as well?”
-He’s not wrong.
-Except that part where he thinks it's us.
Cale once again ignored the voices in his head and tried to reply to the sighing man in front of him, “Aw, is Your Highness worried about this humble subject of yours? Well, I am truly honored, Your Highness, the star of the Roan Kingdom-”
“You—!” The Crown Prince grit his teeth and stood up, seemingly having finally decided that he was done with this brat for today. Before he left, however, he spoke to Cale again,
“....of course I am worried, you fool.” He muttered in an annoyed tone, walking away without even giving a chance for Cale to reply.
Cale blinked as he watched the door of the Crown Prince’s study close behind him. A strange thought crossed his mind.
His Highness always seemed to get upset when it came to such matters.
Cale vaguely recalled the time in the Imperial Palace of Moguru Kingdom when Alberu, silent and upset, had thrown aside his documents and slammed the door shut behind him on hearing Cale’s decision to immediately start moving towards the Eastern continent after his recovery. However, back then….
Cale waited, looking toward the study door.
As expected, it opened just slightly, and the Crown Prince’s serious face was visible again as he coughed into his fist and muttered out loud, “Don’t waste those cookies. Finish them off before you leave.”
And then he was gone, and Cale found himself smiling again,
‘He really is an affectionate person.’
Just like his reaction back then too…..when he had come back just to give Cale a document with the Mercenary King’s info.
His heart, fortunately, had calmed down as well now. Perhaps it really was the regenerative–
-Not me.
Cale’s lips turned downward. Ahem, perhaps he accidentally used one of the Ancient Powers–
-Not us.
“....”
-Running away won’t help.
Cale felt a bit annoyed at the Thief’s voice. Running away? He wasn’t running away. What was there for him to run away from?
There was no response. As expected.
‘I am not running away.’ He muttered in the empty room, as if to convince himself more than anyone else.
-Liar.
Cale made a face, he had a strong urge to ignore the glutton priestess’ voice as usual, but curiously, and foolishly, he asked, ‘What am I running away from?’
No response again.
Were these Ancient Powers playing with him or something right now–
-In our times.
Surprisingly, it was the Super Rock who spoke, in his solemn voice.
-We were hailed as heroes. We had duties and responsibilities to fulfill, to protect the world and save the people.
Cale already knew about all of this, he wondered where the Super Rock was going with this conversation.
-We didn’t have time to do much of what regular humans did. Growing up in difficult times, learning to survive, using our powers to help the people. And each of us died with many regrets.
Cale did not like where this conversation was going. Especially when another rough voice chimed in,
-What the brute wants to say is that you should not have any regrets when living your life.
Cale frowned, however, a sort of solemnity had taken over his features as well.
Because of course. He understood what it was that the Ancient Powers were trying to tell him.
Live without regrets.
He peeked towards the door that had shut behind the Crown Prince, and couldn’t help but sigh……as Kim Rok Soo…..Cale hadn’t really had time to consider such things….but now….
He couldn’t help the smile stretching across his face. It couldn’t be helped…..of all people…..why did it have to be Alberu Crossman?
‘But he’s the Crown Prince….’ Cale subconsciously thought to himself. Alberu had enough burdens on him as it was…..perhaps Cale should keep this to himself?
-Live without regrets.
Cale smiled wryly. Of course, even his thoughts weren’t confined to his mind.
-Live your life to the fullest.
The voices seemed quite gentle as they said that to him.
However, there was one voice that wasn’t as gentle in its tone at all.
-Why can’t you guys just XXX give it to him straight. Hey, if you want to XXX the Crown Prince, just XX do it
“...”
He decided to ignore the voices once again today as he snatched the plate of cookies off the table and headed towards the magic circle in the corner of the study.