Let Me Tell You a Secret

Chapter Eighteen

"From today your name shall be Agnis."
 
As soon as King Edahn dismissed his son, he was taken to the living quarters of the Palace. It seemed his father had arranged for the bluenette to live there as one of his chosen children.
 
It made sense.
 
As, from that day on, the boy would have intensive lessons and training, drilling femininity into his mind and body.
 
A specialist tutor had been hired, someone who could be trusted and would be able to bring up the child as if he were born a true princess.
 
Not only that, the boy couldn't be raised as any ordinary princess. No, he had to work extra hard, be extra feminine, be extra appealing.
 
He needed to be able to fool a room full of hundreds that he was the most desirable woman in the room. Because, as soon as he had them hooked around his little finger, the more difficult it would be for the target to escape his grasp.
 
Basically, the hopes of King Edahn were for the poor suspecting fool lured in by princess Agnis to be so taken by the woman, that he wouldn't even care once he discovered Agnis was really a man.
 
A very unlikely outcome, but it would be the most ideal situation.
 
Regardless, the bluenette needed to become a temptation, a desired woman, so his father could marry him off to the most beneficial recipient.
 
So, the day Agnis returned to his father, he was spared no time to rest and the tutor immediately set to work, correcting his behaviours into the most desirable Princess he could be.
 
And Agnis was fine with this.
 
Because he made a deal.
 
Because his father promised to help out the family he had left behind. 
 
Even if he could never see them again.
 
It wasn't until the bluenette stumbled to his room, collapsing face first onto his bed, that it finally dawned on him.
 
He would never see them again.
 
His chest tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut, the prickly stinging in them made him want to scratch them out.
 
Huffing a sigh into his pillow, Agnis couldn't stop his mind from thinking about them.
 
V, who would teach him useful tasks and buy him fishing gear. Arlene, who had given him the love of a mother and showered him with affection. And then there was the brunette. The boy that idolised him and followed in his footsteps. The boy that complimented him and looked at him with such awe. The boy that never failed to make his cheeks blush and his heart pound.
 
The tears started to fall.
 
As much as Agnis tried to hold them back, they wouldn't stop, only encouraged by that brightly smiling face with honey gold eyes, reflecting such innocence and raw joy just to be in his presence.
 
How Agnis wished he could run away from the Palace and return to the family.
 
Return to their idyllic lives where nothing but them mattered.
 
But no.
 
He had to stay strong.
 
Agnis needed to hold on and hold his head up high. Be the best Princess he could be, all for the sake of his blood father finding the family and helping them.
 
That's all that mattered right now.
 
As long as the three members of his family could be together, Agnis could live his life as a Princess. He would willingly marry the man of his father's choosing.
 
A sharp pain jolted his heart and a flash of the brunette's face appeared in his mind before quickly vanishing.
 
A new wave of melancholy gripped Agnis in its hold.
 
The tears continued to fall until he fell asleep.

A month after Agnis moved into the Palace, his father finally sent a message via a servant.
 
The bluenette had been preparing himself for the day, holding his breath as the maids tightened his corset and ruffled the puffy, frilly skirt he had been forced to wear.
 
He had to get used to women's clothing after all. 
 
The young male servant entered the dressing quarters and paused, blushing slightly at Agnis being dressed. The boy scowled at the servant, embarrassed by the man's reaction, his blue hair flowing in loose waves over his shoulders, the corset cinching his waist and giving him curves. His face painted and lips a seductive red.
 
Agnis was only in his early teens but everyone agreed he would surely become a true beauty as he grew into his skin.
 
Much to the disdain of his sisters.
 
It had only been a month and Agnis had already made plenty of enemies within his own family. Some he had created with his arrogance, some had appeared due to his natural beauty.
 
Either way, his sisters knew that Agnis would steal everything from them.
 
Fortunately, the bluenette managed to make a few friends, a few allies in his many siblings.
 
His half brothers Ran and Hachuling and half sister Maria.
 
Three of the other chosen children.
 
Though they were all considered outcasts by the other Khun children within the Palace.
 
The servant stared at the floor, shuffling closer to the bluenette and handing the boy a letter. The servant refused to meet Agnis' gaze and quickly fled from the room.
 
Agnis furrowed his brow at the letter, carefully opening it up, ignoring the maids still arranging his clothes.
 
His deep blue eyes skimmed over the elegant lettering and his breath hitched, an excited gleam twinkling in his eyes.
 
The letter was from the King! 
 
His father had found them!
 
It was a short but sweet letter, very much to the point, but it told Agnis everything he needed to know.
 
The knights his father had sent to search for the family had easily discovered them. Apparently all three members were happily reunited and back home at their cottage in the woods.
 
Agnis sniffed, tilting his head back to stop his makeup from running, tears threatening to flow.
 
How relieved he felt, knowing that all three members of his family were safe and sound, all together once again.
 
They even passed a message on for him, wishing him well with his new life. 
 
That comment was like an arrow through his heart.
 
Somewhere, deep inside, he had been waiting and hoping for his family to ask him to return.
 
A weak, disdainful smile curled his lips. He wanted to laugh at his own foolishness.
 
Of course they wouldn't ask him to return.
 
They aren't his real family.
 
Glancing at the letter again, Agnis noticed his father had made him another offer.
 
If Agnis continues to act as a princess and meets his father's standards and expectations, the King would provide protection and aid to the family that took him in.
 
An offer he couldn't refuse.
 
Because even if they didn't want him back, even if they didn't miss him, that wouldn't change his feelings for them. And if Agnis could help them by living as a Princess from that day on, then why wouldn't he?
 
So the bluenette made his decision. From that moment, he would live as Agnis and do all he could to help the family that saved him.