puppy love (alver x og cale)

Part 11

An oily smile and dishonest tongue, playing meek in such an obvious attempt to portray fake sincerity. It would be more believable if he was his normal self, but the overacting was really what settled any dark suspicion into fact.

Deruth Henituse was furious.

Did Alver Crossman really expect him to believe the nervous and clumsy suitor persona? He knew that the man was quick witted and manipulative but this was so much more insulting than if he'd just worn his normal perfect smile and weaved together glib words to defend his romance.

Count Deruth Henituse was not known for his great intelligence but he was no fool. Anyone could tell that Alver was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. Was that how the sly bastard had seduced his son?

The insult alone would have led Deruth to do something rash if Alver was anyone else. The Crown Prince was simply too indomitable of a force to fight back against directly. At least, not yet. Perhaps if he gathered enough forces, he might be able to manage a coup?

It said a lot about Deruth's overprotective and misguided affection for his son that he would even consider such a thing. It was a shame that Deruth's clumsy attempts at showing affection often only made matters worse for his son.

At the very least though, Deruth knew that he needed to show his son the truth. It might be painful for the boy to endure but he couldn't let that scoundrel continue to manipulate his beloved son with those obvious lies.

It pained his heart to even think about it. Cale was normally such a cynical child. The fact that he hadn't seen behind the Crown Prince's obvious farce spoke to how deep his affection must have grown in such a short period of time.

This would require a delicate touch to ensure that Cale's feelings were protected as much as possible.

"I forbid you from seeing him."

Deruth was, for lack of a better word, a buffoon. And subtlety was not a skill that he had ever acquired.

Cale raised an eyebrow before letting out a graceless snort.

"Didn't you already approve of the courtship, father?"

Like a blow to his gut. Had Deruth already failed to protect his son? No, he couldn't let that swindler take advantage of his innocent little boy.

Among Deruth's flaws as a father, front and center would be the amount of time that he had spent with his son over the past ten or so years. Or, to be more accurate, the lack of time spent. For all of his affection, Deruth spent very little time with his son.

And so, somewhere in the back of his mind, Cale was still an eight year old child who didn't know left from right. This of course shows another bit of ignorance on his part, as Cale had been quite bright for an eight year old and knew significantly more than basic directions.

This flaw meant that one: Deruth didn't properly respect Cale's autonomy as an adult. And two: Deruth did not properly respect Cale's intelligence.

"There's nothing in a courtship that states you must see the other party." Deruth said stiffly. He knew more than well enough that yes, there were quite a few things that said just that and even the pointlessness of separating them under such a clause when such intimacy had already occurred, but he was counting on Cale's ignorance to support his fib.

Cale gaped at his father.

The sheer shameless audacity of the bald faced lie was incredible.

Theoretically, the lie shouldn't have been any obstacle to the practiced lout but the trouble was that while Cale had been a troublemaker and a punk, he'd never actually been disobedient.