The Invisible Prince

Chapter 1 - Birthday (Part 1)

Arien and Arjen's POV-

"Your names will be Arien, Arjen, and Arden."

Was it just a whim? Instead of cutting our throats, we were given names. That was the first memory we had of him. A voice as cold as ice, and bright, golden hair like the sun.

Eyes as red as rubies blinked open as the chubby baby stared at her father. Beside her laid two babies, one with equally red eyes, the other with green eyes that closely resembled those of the man looking down at them.

That was five years ago.

Two golden haired children sat inside a small bedroom. One of them, a small girl with rosy cheeks, looked outside the window and mumbled, "It's already our fifth birthday". Behind her, her brother who hugged his blanket with a listless expression. He grumbled, "Why does it matter? Nobody cares about us."

The girl startled for a brief moment before reluctantly admitting that the harsh words of her brother were indeed the truth.

Arien turned to look at her brother, who was lazing on the bed like a sunbathing puma.

"It's our fifth birthday, but you're just going to sleep more, Arjen?"

"Mm-hmm"

The girl's name is Arien Beatrice Yuriana, and her brother's name is Arjen Isilven Yuriana. They are the only princess and fourth prince respectively, and they are the son and daughter of the emperor.

The girl looked out the window once again.

"To be exact, it's our twenty-third birthday, isn't it?"

Arjen looked up at her with a questioning gaze.

"...Aren't you supposed to subtract our past lives?"

Arien held up her fingers, confused. Finally, she relented.

"Okay, then let's count this as our fifth birthday."

That's right. Inside their five-year old bodies, they had the minds of twenty-three year-olds. They used to be ordinary eighteen year-old high schoolers in Korea, but died and awoke to find that they had been born again as the emperor's children.

'The daughter of an emperor...that's lucky', Arien had thought, but she was gravely mistaken.

Arjen yawned.

"I'm sleepy...We'll be celebrating by ourselves like last year, right? Let's go out after lunch and..."

He stopped and made a face, as if he remembered something unpleasant.

Arien looked at him in understanding.

"Ah...Today is also Arden's birthday. Rurahel went out to get a present, so we probably won't get lunch..."

Arjen looked dejected.

"We had to skip dinner last night and breakfast today too".

"She left last night and still hasn't come back. The maids only give us food when Rurahel is here."

Arjen seethed in anger.

"Why does Arden get to bask in her affection while we suffer?"

It was unreasonable, but Arjen could only blame someone to comfort himself. The victim of his blame was none other than his brother, an innocent boy who was spared from their mother's abuse due to his sick body. At least, that's how it appeared on the surface.

[463 words]