Paralyzed (Tboah!AlbeCale)

15) His Highness, Crown Prince Fuckface

'How did this happen?'

It was extremely confusing.

Alberu didn't understand what his father was thinking. It was extremely out of character for him.

He fidgeted with his mother's ring as he paced back and forth in his bedroom. No matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense.

After a while of this, his feet had gotten tired.

So, naturally, he sat down in a chair beside the bed.

He once again looked over toward the object of his confusion.

'Haaa, this is unbelievable.'

After witnessing Alberu's little stunt of personally carrying Cale Henituse to a medical ward, Zed Crossman had called him over to talk.

Alberu remembered his specific orders clearly.

'Alberu, you must have realized the fault of your actions by now. The crown prince personally taking someone with a bad reputation to a priest will surely spawn rumors, both good and bad.'

'Of course, royal father. But I believe the good will outweigh the bad based on his recent actions, and the... special... circumstances. Anyone could say I was not fully in control of my actions because of the chaos, and simply did what was right. I guarantee there will not be much backlash, if any at all.'

His father had then closed his eyes for a moment and looked as if he was holding back a smile.

'Yes, I am not worried about that. My reason for talking is about a different topic.'

'What is the topic, then?'

'You should start what you finished. If the crown prince did such an act because of the circumstances, shouldn't he follow through? Have Cale Henituse rest in the Palace of Joy. Actually, he should rest even more comfortably.'

'Royal father, what are you implying?'

'Then, I've decided. Cale Henituse will rest in the crown prince's bedroom.'

Alberu remembered being at a loss for words at the king's command.

'...Uh? Why, why there of all places? There are many other comfortable rooms, and where would I sleep? Wouldn't this create even more rumors? And most of them would be ill-intended!'

'You can figure that out yourself. You should do this much, that boy saved many lives.'

'...? How did he save lives?'

'Hmm. I wonder. Well, when he wakes up I'm sure he could tell you. But if he doesn't, don't force it out of him.'

Alberu stared at the cleaned up Cale who was sleeping peacefully on his bed. His arm was luckily found amongst the rubble, and was successfully reattached thanks to the palace's most talented healer. It lay in a sling, draped over his chest.

It was constantly gnawing at him. How could this person, of all people, be the one to save multiple lives? As far as he had seen, Cale had been in the radius of a particularly strong mana bomb, had fallen unconcious momentarily, before standing back up with a missing arm as if nothing was wrong.

Then he didn't move around that much, let alone rescue people. After the wind orb had dissipated, he had beaten up the second bomber, but that wasn't saving lives.

"Hmm."

He had a headache. All this thinking was also clogging up his train of thought.

At least he now had the chance to study Cale's face up close. The constant déjà vu had been driving him nuts, and since he could previously only glance at Cale from far away, he made sure to take advantage of this situation.