Algernon Black

(Chapter 154) The Prince's Relief

"He still hasn't come out," Beal whispered, standing outside Loy's cabin between Cal and Marve. They had been keeping track of the prince ever since the night of the ball where he had returned to the ship just to lock himself in his room, not even coming out for food. Marve knew Loy wasn't recovering from any physical injuries but something much harder to heal. According to Selice, he had lost all control of himself in a savage ambush. Had truly lost his mind as all he acted on was blind murderous rage that ended in the deaths of countless people. What Marve could figure out only because of his own experiences with the madness of war, was that Loy wasn't so afraid of that side of him that had awoken, everyone had a part of that wrath inside of them, but for Loy, it probably terrified him, to be so incapable of stopping himself when that dark part did awaken. So far gone he probably didn't even remember his name. And to know that state existed meant there was a chance of it always coming back but no guarantee to come out of it.

The trio continued on, not noticing Selice had just come around the corner to check on the very same thing.

"Do you think he died?" Cal casually asked.

"He died?" Beal asked back in a high-pitched panicked whisper.

Marve noticed Selice and hit Beal on the side of the head. "He didn't die." He geared his gaze on Selice, seeing how affected she was by Loy's self-imposed isolation. "He's just in need of some comfort," Marve explained, loud enough for her to hear. Whether she knew if it was directed to her or not, he couldn't tell. As far as he understood Selice didn't seem like one for doing any of that mushy stuff, and probably only believed herself to be a toy for Loy's amusement, not realizing how much the prince depended on her.

Cal took a sudden serious stance. "If he's dead, I'll take his poncho in honor of him."

"Yeah right!" Beal protested back. "You just want it because it's cool!" By his tone, it was very obvious the boy wanted it for the same reason.

Marve shssed them both. "You two cool off or I'm going to throw you into the sea." He pushed them away to leave the path to Loy's room clear for Selice. And he hoped she'd be keen and kind enough to take advantage of it.

Selice had been debating what she should do for days after witnessing Loy in his monstrous blood-shedding rampage. And while she stayed away to work through her own fears, she also did it because she didn't want Loy aware of the anxiety she felt towards him, because if he was already feeling like a monster, it wouldn't help to know she was thinking of him as one too. But Selice wasn't only thinking of that one memory of Loy, but the many others they shared. An entire childhood of memories ranging from his sly saves of her secret to days on end of his non-stop harassment. But as the week went on and Selice saw none of Loy, she started realizing that the only thing worse than seeing Loy as that demon in the ballroom was seeing none of him at all.

"Loy?" Selice called out while gently unlocking his door.

Loy didn't look up but continued to stare at the shiplap wall from his bed. "Get out," He ordered in a tone that nearly mimicked his kingly voice but lacked its strength.

Selice froze where she stood but didn't back away. "Loy, I don't know what to do. I only know how to fix things, not people." She wasn't used to people breaking, especially not someone as strong as Loy.

Loy imagined himself as the devil that overcame his body. When all he was capable of was murder and devastation. That wasn't even a person anymore, that was a demon inside of him that was never too far from showing. The demon most of the world labeled him to be when they named him the psychotic prince. And as hard as he tried to overcome his brand, he had lived up to it in its complete monstrous entirety. "Not all people are worth fixing,"