0&1 Ch 15

Alex’s Side Story

Does everyone remember the day their life changed? Alex did. He would never forget it.

Alex had never had a family. He had no home, no parents, nothing to protect him from the world.

If he had parents, he wouldn’t have to beg. He wouldn’t have to steal things to meet his quota, or live in fear of being sold off to some unknown place one day.

That day, Alex was lurking around the market. Stealing things from people’s pockets was what he did best.

Alex was naturally talented. He was smart and quick-witted, so the director favored him.

“You’ve got a good face, so you’ll sell well.”Even as he said that, the director never actually sold Alex.

Alex sometimes filled the quota of other children. They were grateful to him. But that didn’t mean they would help him when he was beaten by the director.

A man was standing at the stall. He looked a few years older than Alex and was dressed in nice clothes. His brown hair was neatly combed, and his skin was pale. He didn’t look like someone who worked under the sun. Was he a nobleman out for a stroll? He didn’t have any servants with him.

Alex walked behind the young master. As the young master moved, he bumped into Alex.

“I’m sorry!” Alex bowed his head and shouted. In the meantime, his hand slipped into the young master’s pocket and came out.

Was it a ring? Something round was caught in his palm.

The yield went into the director’s hands that evening. It must have been quite valuable, because the director was in a very good mood and praised Alex, allowing all the children to have dinner.

The younger students looked up at Alex. Well, it was no big deal. Alex felt good too. That is, until the guards raided the orphanage a few days later.

The atmosphere felt strange, so Alex tried to run away. He didn’t want to be seen by the guards. The director was talking to a man with a goatee. Alex went out the back door.

“Where’d that brat go?” The director shouted from behind. He didn’t hear anyone answer, but Alex heard footsteps running toward the back door and knew he had been reported.

And so Alex entered the royal palace for the first time in his life.

The man with the goat beard said he was the captain of the guards. He said Alex had offended someone important.

Alex thought he was going to die.

He was so upset he could have cried. If he had known he was going to die like this, he should have stabbed the director yesterday instead of just taking the beating. Even if his income was a little less than it was now, he thought he could sell himself somewhere, but wasn’t it too much to just throw him away to die?

Alex forced himself not to cry. Even though it was the royal palace, it was still a place where people lived. There must be at least one hole in the wall.

However, the person who was offended by Alex was none other than the Prince.

Alex was as good as dead.

“The other children have nothing to do with this! I did it all by myself! The other children are good kids!”

Alex defended the orphanage. He was the only one who deserved to die. Even if the Prince only punished the orphanage director, it was obvious what would happen to the remaining children. They would be sold or end up on the streets.

“I’m not angry at you. I’m not angry at the children in the orphanage either.” The Prince stared at Alex, who was jumping up and down, with his beautiful dark eyes.

Alex had seen many nobles. The streets were filled with noble carriages and servants, as well as poor nobles who couldn’t afford to hire carriages.

None of them spoke to Alex as kindly as this nobleman.

When a dirty street child passed by, the nobles frowned immediately.

“Give him a bath and some new clothes. For dinner, give him something filling, like meat.”

The Prince gave instructions to his servant. Alex had once thought that servant was a nobleman’s son. Now, that same person bowed his head like a servant before the Prince.

Alex washed himself with clean water and rubbed himself with fragrant oil. He put on nice clothes and sat down at a large table.

Alex did not have to lift a finger during the entire process.

Alex had been caught for doing something wrong, yet he was being treated so well. He grew even more afraid.

What does the Prince want? He seemed like a good person. Was he a good person who wanted to give Alex something delicious to eat before killing him?

The director had told him that prisoners were allowed to eat whatever they wanted before their execution.

“Dot, cut Alex’s steak into bite-sized pieces.” The Prince ordered.

The servant took Alex’s plate without complaint and began cutting the steak.

The meat was cut into small pieces and placed back in front of Alex.

Alex squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lips.

What is this? Why is it so delicious? It melted in his mouth almost without chewing. It was as fantastic as it smelled.

“Doesn’t it taste good? Would you like something else?” The Prince asked.

Alex burst into tears.

It was the first time he had ever cried like a child. It was also the first time he had been comforted like a child.

The Prince said he would not kill Alex.

The servant took Alex to a bedroom. Alex lay on the bed and tossed and turned. The bed and the pillow were too soft. The servant who brought him here and the servants who bathed him treated him as if he were an object.

But the Prince kept talking to him.

He was a very strange person. Would someone like him eventually become like the nobles Alex knew?

He didn’t think so.

He thought he understood why even the orphanage director revered the royal family.

That man was going to be King. His heart beat faster for no reason. He had met the Prince.

His heart kept racing, and he couldn’t sleep that night.

But as the Prince had said, he couldn’t stay at the castle. He had to go back. Without him, what would become of the young orphans, who had no skills to speak of?

Alex wandered around the palace, looking for an exit, but couldn’t find one. He ended up being dragged back to the prince’s castle by a doll-like blond boy.

The blond boy was skinny but surprisingly strong, and Alex couldn’t overpower him. Alex had planned to break free and run away, but he was beaten and dragged along.

His jaw was hit hard, and his head shook. What is this kid? He was stunned, but the Prince said that the blond boy was also a Prince.

What? This guy?

Alex had no equal among his peers when it came to fighting. But the blond boy easily overpowered Alex.

On top of that, the blond boy insisted that Alex’s wrist should be cut off.

How could the Prince be so merciless?

“You have to leave as soon as it gets light tomorrow. You’d better eat a hearty meal. I guess you got your wish.” The real Prince said.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of punishing Alex for disobeying his orders and running away.

The Prince took Alex to his own bedroom. Alex couldn’t believe it. How could this person be so trusting?

Alex was a pickpocket. He could confidently say that he was one of the best pickpockets in the capital.

Without a hint of suspicion, the Prince laid Alex on the bed, pulled him into his arms, and fell asleep.

Alex couldn’t fall asleep easily.

In the middle of the night, Alex heard moaning. Like a child in the orphanage having a nightmare, the Prince was covered in cold sweat.

Alex heard the Prince muttering something as he lay in his arms.

It sounded like he was begging.

Should he wake the Prince? Should he call the others outside?

At that moment, the Prince opened his eyes. He gasped and looked around, as if checking something.

“Ah.” The Prince sighed. Alex closed his eyes.

The prince was looking at Alex. Wherever his gaze landed, it felt itchy. Alex suppressed a cough.

A moment later, the Prince hugged Alex and exhaled evenly.

Alex spent another night awake.

What was that about?

Early the next morning, the Prince saw Alex off. Alex had never been seen off like that before.

The same went for gifts or worries.

The Prince said it was cold and wrapped his outer garment around Alex. He was the perfect Prince.

Alex had only what the Prince had given him.

He didn’t steal anything from the Prince’s bedroom. There were small, precious items sparkling here and there in the bedroom that no one would notice if he took them. It was as if his patience was being tested.

But Alex left the castle without touching anything.

The castle was like heaven. The Prince lived there. Just knowing that such a person existed made Alex feel good.

The Prince would become King. Alex would live in a kingdom ruled by such a King.

When Alex returned with the Prince’s gift bag, he was greeted by the director’s kick.

Alex thought he might die this time.

He was being kicked in the cold hallway, and all the doors in the long hallway were closed. He wondered if anyone was inside the doors.

“Do you know how much damage you’ve caused? Because of you!”

Where had all the other children gone? Were they listening to this?

He wished no one was there. He wished the director had sold everyone into slavery. Alex thought that and was shocked by his own thoughts.

Even after all that, Alex didn’t die. Not when he was thrown onto a freight wagon bound for somewhere unknown. Not when he was locked in a dark basement.

If he survives.

If he manages to live this time.

Alex remembered the labyrinthine castle and the perfect Prince who lived there. He wished he had asked the Prince what kind of nightmare he had had.

The Prince wouldn’t have scolded him for being insolent.

“Are you Alex?” The basement door opened.

A huge man stepped inside and asked. The light behind him blinded Alex.

“His Highness the Prince is looking for you.”

Alex had no home, no family. Nothing to protect him, nothing he could protect.

The orphanage wasn’t Alex’s home. Alex wanted to protect someone, but no one needed his protection.

If I survive.

Alex grabbed the man’s hand.