Stronger (RPG)

"For this day's schedule, you shall be accepting audiences from nobility. They have come to give you presents and to show you their support," Rode, the butler, told Simon as his new attendants dressed him up for the day.

"Your younger brothers also wanted to meet you, but you need to meet with members of nobility first..."

"But aren't my brothers royalty?" Simon asked, frowning at Rode.

"That is correct," answered the butler, "but as you are well aware of, princes who are not in the direct line of succession, are only considered as mere nobles without titles."

"Oh..." Simon said thoughtfully. "When can I meet them, then?"

"I can not answer since the schedule for the visit of nobility is still being attended to. The earliest would be next week."

"Oh..." Simon replied once more.

"Ahem... as I was saying," Rode continued, "your first visitor would be Duke Fann and his family, followed by Earl Summers and his daughter June, then you shall be attending lunch with his royal highness the King, and have tea with the Countess Ruby and her family with..."

"Can't I meet my brothers tomorrow?" said Simon, interrupting the butler.

"Tomorrow, you are to visit your royal father's twin brother, his royal highness King Maurice Jobert Krems, in the West Kingdom."

"Oh... then, is Father coming with me?" he asked Rode.

"His royal highness will be busy with other things," the butler replied. "Your two brothers, Prince Juno and Prince Largos will be joining you instead."

Simon looked disappointed.

The attendants finally finished dressing him up.

He looked at the full length mirror in his room and admired how sharp he looked in the blue double vested suit. They even placed a cloak on him, fastened with a thick gold chain with the Krems family crest of three twigs burning in a pyramid.

'I can't believe this is really me!' he thought as he stared at the golden haired boy with the wide blue eyes. 'Can I really change myself this time?' he asked himself. 'Can I really be a hero?'

"Shall we leave now, your highness?" Rode called to him.

"Oh, not yet, I still have a healing session with Nell," he answered back.

Upon the mention of his name, Nell stepped forward from the group of attendants and gave a curt bow.

"Then I shall wait outside. Please call for me as soon as your session is over."

Nell approached Simon as Rode left the room.

Simon reached a hand to him as he sat on an armchair. Nell held his hand, palm down on his, which he covered with his other hand. Soon, a light blue glow emitted from the healer's hands, signaling the start of the healing session.

"I'm feeling so much better now, Nell!" Simon told the healer happily. "My leg hardly aches anymore, and I feel so much stronger than I have ever felt before!"

Nell nodded his veiled head.

"In fact, I feel so strong that I think that I could actually kill a behemoth!" he said with a laugh.

Nell paused and tilted his head.

"I-I mean... I think I could kill another one!" Simon corrected himself with a nervous laugh. "And I have you to thank for that, Nell! You really are such a great healer, that I know I would be ready to face anything that comes my way!"

Nell kept silent as usual.

"So, how was your first stay in the Eastern Twin Kingdom? Did you sleep well? Did you have a good breakfast?"

Nell nodded.

"That's great to hear! After this session, I'll give you some new clothes and other stuff you could use during your stay here, as I had promised!"

Nell shook his head.

"Oh, but I insist!" he said happily, when he suddenly remembered his brother Prince Juno's words. "Ah, but my brothers would probably get angry with me again..." he mumbled, looking glum.

"You see, Nell, here in the Twin kingdoms, there's a tradition where only the two eldest princes are treated well in the reigning royal family," Simon explained. "This has been so, since our ancestors usually have twins, thus, the kingdom is divided into the East and the West kingdom."

"According to tradition, the king who bears a twin son, shall have his two sons rule both the East and West parts of the kingdom," Simon continued, "but since my father, King Morel Jacob Krems of the East and my uncle, King Maurice Jobert Krems of the West, both failed to produce twins, then their first born sons will be taking their place instead."

Nell tilted his head in question.

"I know, it sounds complicated, doesn't it?" he said with a little laugh. "It is actually because of an old prophesy from a priest that dated back to our first ancestors. He said that as long as twins sit on the throne, then no harm will befall our East and West kingdoms. Even the current kings are twins, and they say that this was the reason why the Great War of Liberation didn't even reach our boundaries."

"I mean, we are just a small insignificant kingdom in the middle of nowhere. We are located farthest from the empire's capital, but even so, we were the only place that wasn't affected by the war at all!" Simon looked at the healer proudly. "Don't you think that's really something?"

Nell slowly nodded his head in understanding.

"You see, that's why the two kings have lots of children, it's so they can get twin princes to take their place in the future," Simon went on. "Sadly, there have only been a pair of twin princesses from the West, and we all know that women can't hold power," he shook his head sadly.

"Do you know that only the two eldest princes, are given their own palace?" Simon went on. "It's to ensure that at least one would grow up fit to be a king, in case twins are not born in either royal families. The rest of us live in a separate place, much likened to a dormitory, where we are treated no different from lowly nobles... aside from basic education, food and clothing, we aren't even given the privileged to roam around the main palace without permission. Most of my older brothers like to pick on us younger ones, too," he added with a pout. "But we're still quite lucky, compared to our sisters who are sent to a convent to train for future marriage exchanges as soon as they can walk."

Nell looked at him, brows raised.

"I know, the laws here are quite old fashioned," Simon said with a shrug. "I heard they allowed women to hold positions in government in the capital when the war ended. Do you think that's true?" he asked the novice priest who shrugged back at him.

"But anyway..."

Simon gave a deep breath and stared at Nell whose honey brown eyes were partly covered by long lashes so blond that they were almost white.

"Nell, do you think I could actually change myself to be a hero worthy of my name?"

He asked the healer.

Nell looked at him and gave a small smile.

"Thank you Nell," Simon smiled back. "I knew you would understand me. From now on..."

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CHOICES:

[I shall try my best to be a worthy companion to you.] go to Part 25

[I'll show you what a hero can do!] go to Part 26

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