The Unwanted Prince

Ch. 22 - Adrian

The whiskey burned my throat as I took the shot, sitting out in the cold on a creaky wooden chair, a small round table next to me.

The night air was chilly, the smell of smoke growing fainter as the village turned to rest.

As much as I like drinking in bars, I prefer drinking quietly outside, especially during the night. It was calming to watch the sky become full of stars. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, the moon would turn a magical blue glow. Grandy used to tell me when the sky turns blue, then it was the perfect time to make a wish.

But I guess that wasn't the case for tonight. Instead, the moon was white with boring gray spots.

The maid from before had given me a fairly new whiskey bottle, I was halfway through it, with only my shot glass to keep my company.

I know I should be heading back to the room with Mar and Oliver, but I needed this time alone. Plus, I didn't want to deal with Mar's nasty looks. She was so judgemental.

I didn't even end up sleeping with that woman, I managed to get her drunk enough to leave me alone and let her annoy some other guy.

Sighing, I started pouring another shot.

The floorboards creaked, followed by a nervous squeak.

The maid was there, sheepishly fixing her hair. "Um, would you like to come back inside?"

I didn't say anything at first, only watched her squirm uncomfortably in the doorway. We were on the porch, with wandering drunk men nearby.

"Let me guess," I gulped down my shot before finishing, "The knight told you to get me, right?" The maid nodded, bowing her head in shame. "Hm, I'll be there in a minute."

"You said that last time- er, my apologies, Your Highness," The girl's face grew red. I squinted my eyes at her. She had to be barely a young teenager. As I asked her age, the girl's face grew even redder. "Um, Your Highness, I assure you, I'm too young for-"

"Oh my god, no that's not why I asked- just- how old are you?" The girl flinched when I raised my voice. I was surprised and rather offended she had assumed that. I felt bad that I had scared her. "Sorry 'bout that."

She shook her head, still not looking at me, "It's alright, Your Highness."

There was a moment of awkward silence. The maid was visibly nervous, fidgeting with her apron. She had very thin fingers, almost bone-like.

"I'm thirteen," She finally said, very meekly.

Thirteen? Damn, thirteen is when life gets shitty.

Drinking another shot of whiskey, I frowned as I noticed the maid was still standing next to me. She was curiously looking at my sword, probably taking note of the rich design. "What brings a prince to our village?"

Shrugging, I told her, "I'm rescuing a princess."

"Really?" For the first time, she lifted her head and looked at me. Her brown eyes were wide, sparkling at the mention of a princess. She had a scar trailing from her chin and over her left cheek. "Is she beautiful?"

"I don't know, I've never met her," I said honestly.

The maid smiled, holding her hands together in glee, "She's a princess, she must be beautiful!"

I'm surprised. I didn't think talking about princesses would spark energy in her. But she is young, living in the slums. Thinking about the fantasy of princesses must be the happiest thing she could do.

"One day," She blushed, rubbing the back of her neck, "I want to work as a servant to a princess."

That's a... weird goal.

But then again, servants working under royal get high pay.

Shrugging, I told the young girl, "I think you're better off working at this low-grade inn." She had pouted, crossing her thin arms.

"And why would you say that? It's dirty and dangerous in this town and the pay isn't all that good either," She started to say, her voice getting more shrill with every passing word. "At least in a castle, I'll be safe. And I'll be able to send a lot of money to my family. Also, I'll get to see a princess!

I sighed, rolling my eyes. I'm all for people chasing their dreams... Sorta. But I didn't want to tell this girl that the royal life is, well, great. Yeah, we nobles are rich and could claim anything we want. But, we are also the ones with the most desires.

It's human nature to have desires, that what my Grandy used to tell me. He was a huge philosophy nerd, by the way. I'm sure that if he wasn't put on the throne, he'd go off to study philosophy under the church's supervision. But unfortunately, life had other plans.

Grandy would go on and on about scenarios of morality and how important it is to differentiate between good versus bad. But then he'd go around and say that sometimes good is bad and bad is good? I don't really know, he was a super nerdy man.

But I guess that was a good thing. At least Grandy had morals. Honestly, I should take some of his advice these days. Maybe then people wouldn't hate me.

The maid was still there, waiting for a response. She was really young, too young to know how shitty the upper-class was.

I smiled at her, "Alright, prove me wrong. Next time I see you, you better be working in a kingdom."

The girl smiled, clapping her hands eagerly. With a high chirpy voice, she excitedly told me, "You got it, Your Highness!"

Standing up, I collected my bottle and glass, stalking through the open door of the inn. The soft warm lights inside touched my face as I looked to see men starting to doze down for the night.

"Adrian,"

"Hm?"

"My name is Adrian," I peeked over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of the young maid.

Her cheeks turned red as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh, um... My name is Lily."

I turned away, knowing that a smile had crept on my face, "Alright, Lily. You better keep that promise of yours." I started walking into the inn, thankful that it was quiet. There were only the drunken murmurs of men as they lazed around the bar.

"You know," Lily's voice said behind me, "You're a really nice prince."

My fists clenched, a "thanks" slipped through forcibly.

As I made my way to the room, I couldn't help but feel guilty.

I wasn't a "nice prince".

I was just someone who selfishly wanted to keep their royal title. Prove everyone who ever doubted me wrong. People hated me and I hated them back.

I wasn't nice.

But being nice doesn't always get you what you want.