The Third Prince Of Darkness

I was walking calmly through the corridors with white walls and beautifully decorated windows. Every maid I passed looked at me more respectfully and greeted me. After Fiona left the palace, many maids were dismissed by Isabella, and the remaining ones, knowing that the power was no longer with Fiona, cunningly aligned themselves with my mother and Isabella. But I don't blame them; after all, they are trying to survive in this palace, too.

Anyway, I continued walking without acknowledging their greetings in my funny yellow shoes. Unfortunately, my sisters Kayle and Violet were currently in private lessons. They were being taught by Baron Luwans, the best tutor in the Asina Kingdom, and also Richard's old teacher. I was learning both the elf language and the half-beast language, but of course, I wasn't very good at it. Since knowing languages is one of the most important tools for my goals, I really wanted to be trained by Baron Luwans, but I couldn't attend his lessons yet because I was too young. When I turn twelve, I'll be able to attend his lessons, and even worse, Fiona's younger son Lugoar will join the lessons with me.

Shaking off these thoughts, I finally reached the door of the room Isabella used as her office. Emilia opened the door for me and I walked in. When Isabella saw me, a gentle smile formed on her face, and she signaled for me to come closer with an elegant hand gesture. "Welcome, little Ethan," she said in a soft but determined tone. "Come to me."

Isabella's room was furnished in a very minimalist style. The white and gray-toned furniture made the room look spacious and orderly. Besides many documents and notebooks on her desk, there was also the hourglass I had given her for her birthday the other day. The paintings hanging on the walls, in elegant frames, contained simple but impressive landscapes and portraits.

I walked towards her, and she took me onto her lap. While enjoying the comfort of her soft thigh and the gentle touch of her breasts against my head, Isabella returned to the documents she was working on. This had become a routine for me; either I would go to my mother's study and sit on her lap, or on Isabella's lap. Meanwhile, I had finally learned what my mother and Isabella spent most of their time on.

Typically, every queen is given an important task by the king. For instance, my mother managed the state's social aids, and Isabella handled all the palace-related affairs. Fiona managed the transportation sector, but now that she was gone, Baron Kyluo, who graduated from the Dragon Academy, was in charge.

Even though these tasks seemed like they were given to the queens to empower them, they were actually meant to stop the struggles and intrigues among the queens. In short, tasks were given to the queens to keep them occupied, but of course, no one could have guessed that this would lead to even more intense power struggles and intrigues. However, since the rule of giving tasks to the queens was introduced by the third King of Asina, it had become a kind of tradition.

"Little Ethan, since you're here, let me give you this," Isabella said, taking a kind of notebook from the desk.

"What is this?" I asked as I took the notebook. It had the names of many people and noble houses written in it.

"This is a list of palace friends for you. These are the noble children who want to be friends with you, and we have carefully chosen these names together with Luciana " Isabella said.

Palace friends are a naturally developed tradition. Usually, children between the ages of six and eight are given as friends to princes and princesses. Of course, many noble families want their children to be friends with the princes and especially the princesses, as it can bring significant benefits to their houses.

 There was even a rumor that when some nobles found out that one of the queens was pregnant, they started impregnating their own wives. Of course, these were rumors, but I believed that such things did happen, after all, the age of the friend had to be close to that of the princes or princesses. 

"You can choose whoever you want. I trust you" I said as I handed the notebook back to Isabella.

"Would it be a problem if I chose a girl for you?" she asked.

"No, you can choose whoever is most suitable" I said. And rested my head on the two soft natural pillows behind me. Sometimes I wonder if I have a weakness for breasts. I think I have it. But shouldn't every cultured man like breasts,right? It must be something in the nature of men. Actually, this is an interesting topic for discussion...

When the door opened, I looked up to see who had entered and saw Emilia coming in with a tray in her hand. I hadn’t even noticed when she went out… This woman’s skills were improving day by day. She approached us with the tray and served the drinks.

“Thank you, Emilia. But If you had asked the servants, they would have brought it” said Isabella as she took her coffee.

“No problem. It is my duty to serve my master." she said, while handing me my fruit juice and winking at me lightly. It seemed that Emilia was learning what made me happy as time went on. I was sitting comfortably as I drank my cold beverage.

A few minutes after reading the letter, I noticed that Isabella had taken out a political map of this continent from the drawer and I looked at it curiously. Of course, I had already memorized the map, but what I saw surprised me.

“Why is this area a single country? Shouldn’t there be many clans?” I asked, pointing to the southern part of the continent.

"Not anymore. It seems that the South is aggressively merging, and the interesting thing is that the person who is merging it all is only eighteen years old."  said Isabella in a murmured tone.

This information shocked me for a moment. After all, the south is a place of tough men. The fact that the south was so divided yet still not conquered by other countries was no coincidence. Each clan leader is someone with very powerful Kaizer abilities who has lived for hundreds of years. That’s why the south has remained divided for centuries; after all, southerners only bow to someone stronger than themselves. And for this person to be eighteen years old was an absurd event.

“What’s this person’s name?” I asked Isabella.

“Alpshar....Oh? I see our little Ethan is quite interested in this matter” said Isabella as she literally nipped at my cheek.

“Uh! Yes, I was just a bit curious” I said.

“You are still very young, Ethan. Let us adults handle these boring matters” Isabella said as she stroked the cheek she had just bitten. 

“Okay” I murmured.

Now that I think about it, it would be great if I had an organization from which I could get information personally. I need to gather information about this man named Alpshar, but I don’t know how to do that for now.

 I can’t tell if such a talented and powerful man is my enemy or not, and human fear the unknown the most. This event shows me that having an organization to exchange information with would indeed be wonderful, but unfortunately, even my dear stepmother doesn’t take a six-year-old child seriously. So, I should return to my very boring task… Growing up.