My Priceless Treasure

Chapter 2

"Hey there, white-haired lad!", the boy continued walking, he had no interest in reacting because, well, was he meant in the first place? Seishiro didn't think so; it was quite rare to have anyone actually acknowledge his presence or even his existence. "Hey? Weird to be ignored...", Prince Reo followed the young Nagi, hoping to get the latter's attention.

He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey there!" The commoner turned around, looking at the genuine and friendly smile the royal gave him. "So you were talking to me...", at that the prince chuckled. "Well yes of course! You are the only person around here with hair as white as yours!" He ruffled through the peasant's hair, letting out a surprised noise: "And fluffy at that! You really are the definition of beauty!"

Seishiro on the other hand just looked at the royal as if he just asked him what his hobbies were, making the purple-haird man laugh. "I don't understand what you mean, prince. I wanna go home", Nagi turned on his heel and began walking away when a hand grabs his wrist, holding him in place. "Wha-" "You seem familiar. What is your name?" It wasn't the action the prince has took in front of the crowded market that caught the boy off guard, it was the fact that someone actually recognised him. Just this fact alone made his body go on autopilot; he spoke: "Seishiro Nagi"

Then it hit Reo. "So you're her son! Oh it's so nice to meet you, Seishiro!", he took the boy's hand and shook it eagerly to which the latter responded by just pressing lightly. He didn't know how to react to a lively soul such as the prince's, especially when he actually did know him in some way. He would've loved to ask where he knew him from when he wasn't already cut off by him: "How is your mother doing? I hope I didn't give her a too difficult request!" So it was the prince himself who made me go outside huh... Nagi just nodded, "She seems fine" "Oh that's good to hear!", Reo exhaled, relieved. He didn't want anyone have more burdens because of his extravagant wishes and dreams. The white-haired man nodded again, "Can I go home now?", he took a step back, making clear that he didn't want to be there any longer.

"Let me take you home", Seishiro stopped again in his tracks. Did he just offer to bring a dirty and poor servant home safely? That really was as the rumors told, it was surprising to have a rich one be this generous. Was he some kind of angel? "Maybe I am, maybe I'm just what a human should be", Mikage playfully said, grinning from ear to ear. He was delighted to hear the poor thinking so brightly of him, that was all he wished to hear. All he wanted to do was make everyone see the power of genuineness, make everyone see that money was just a social structure, not a social factor. The crowd behind the two started cheering, they praised the prince for his good deeds and his humanly thinking. Just then Seishiro realised he thought loudly, however, he wasn't embarrassed whatsoever; he accepted the offer.

Reo laughed excitedly, "Finally someone bold enough to accept my offer!" "I don't like walking, that's all", Nagi replied, "Such a hassle..." The peasant apparently brought the prince into high spirits as he laughed a lot while helping him mount the horse. "Here's a helmet, we don't know yet how Little Princess reacts to a second passenger", chuckling, the prince handed over his helmet. Nagi looked at it, tilting his head. "What? Never worn anything like that?" "Put it on for me" Sighing, the royal obliged: "Like a little child" "Can you give me money then?", the white-haired asked innocently. If he was a child, he wanted to be treated like one then; it would just be fair.

"When you get home, I'll give you and your mother some, of course!" With that, they rode into the horizon – rather into the north-west actually. Seishiro clung to the prince for his dear-not-so-dear life as he didn't know how to act on a horse that could portentially kick him off if it was in a bad mood. "Go slower", he demanded but Reo had other intentions; he went even faster, laughing at the reaction the man behind him gave. "The face you're making is priceless!", he exclaims, "Don't worry, we're home." Just as he said it, Little Princess, the horse, stopped in her tracks.

The young Mikage helped the young Nagi dismount safely. The door suddenly opened, revealing the woman that had raised the boy next to the prince for the past 17 years. "Oh dear Mrs. Nagi! Good to see you well!", he smiled which the elderly woman returned: "My my, loving Prince Mikage, it is good to see you too. I see you have met my wonderful son. I hope he didn't cause any trouble; he usually is not one to disturb peace." Seishiro looked away from both of them, clearly sulking. His mother always knew how to offend and embarrass him. How dared she think this way of her own son?!

Mikage denied any possible accusations in one go: "He's just very interesting, it must be the genes! I want to do you both good, especially since the incident.. Which is why I offered to take your son home! Also, I will be paying for all the material since it would be asking for too much to make you pay for high quality fabric." He didn't even get to finish his sentence that the elderly woman in front of him tried to decline. Such a humble woman, such a contrast to her bold son. The miserable attempts to decline were then followed by multiple "Thank you, dear Prince"s to which the prince smiled in a delightful way. Looking into the sky, the royal realised he had to get on his way back home before dusk.

"I've got to go now. Thank you for appreicating me this much and thank you for all your effort on making fantastic clothing", he gave Nagi the promised money, a little more than 100 gold coins; money worth half a decade of bread as well as other important things such as sewing and spinning tools, maybe toys for the adolescent, something he might find interesting. Then Prince Reo mounted his loyal friend, saying his goodbyes and riding off, listening happily to Mrs. Nagi thanking him as long as he was in earshot.