{The Abandoned Prince}

3. An....interesting new life

Everyday was a dull, boring routine.

Lathos didn't even have the energy to go outside anymore.

Time passed by slowly.

Soon, Lathos had turned 4.

»»————-　⚜　————-««»»————-　⚜　————-««

The sun rose over the horizon, indicating the start of a new day.

In a large palace bedroom, a small, pale albino was curled up, quietly snoring away.

"Wake up and get ready, you pitiful excuse of a prince! Don't make Ail wait for you!"

A snotty loud voice interrupted Lathos' dreams.

He woke up with a sigh. A maid with a frustrated and angry face was leaning over him. The face was so close that he could smell the putrid and overwhelming perfume sprayed on, as well as the makeup that was coated thickly. Lathos could not help but wrinkle his delicate nose in disgust. Even though he has seen this artificial face many times before, he still couldn't stand this kind of unnatural 'beauty'. 

The already angry maid was infuriated after seeing Lathos' expression. She couldn't help but slap him on the face, hard. Lathos' head whipped to the side from the force of impact.

The heavy slap left a deep purple bruise that would probably last for a while, and looked very painful. However, Lathos was already accustomed to this kind of physical abuse over the last few years, so the pain was barely even felt.  He personally thought that the slap was kinda pointless, but the maid would probably get even more mad and come back to harass him if he told her, so he kept silent.

The maid left after waking him up and venting her frustrations, not even bothering to do the duties of a proper maid. She didn't help Lathos get dressed, nor take care of his hair. Not that he expected her to do that, anyway. 

Lathos sighed, not wanting to get up at all. He knew that today would be boring and miserable.

 .....Not that any day wasn't. Still, he reluctantly left the warm and comforting sheets, and slowly walked over to the mirror in a corner of the room. 

He took a quick glance at his reflection, and sure enough, his left cheek was bruised. 

Lathos poked it a few times, and after determining that it wasn't as bad as the one before, decided to leave it be. He would only use medicine in extreme circumstances. After all, if Tessa (the maid), or Ail (the cook), saw the healing paste, it would only serve to piss them off more. And that would lead to more abuse. In the end, it wasn't worth using it.

This came from experience. Lots of it. Lathos could probably make a '101 ways to survive against abusive servants' guide if he wanted to. 

Still, Lathos couldn't understand why they would care if he used just some of the paste. Maybe they just want to see him, the disgraced and unfavored Crown Prince of Obelia suffer more? 

That was probably it. 

Whatever. He shrugged off his thoughts as he pulled out a tiny black and white suit out of the closet, along with grey trousers, and a white tie. This was what he wore everyday. 

Yes, it was quite boring. Lathos knew that very well. If he had a choice he wouldn't be stuck wearing these bland, plain and way too formal clothing. 

However, the thing was that he didn't have any choice to begin with. Tessa and Ail liked it when he wore these kinds of 'proper' outfits, and so to make his day as peaceful as possible, it was almost necessary.