H.A.S.E

PROLOGUE (III)

"I am bored".

"Yet you're still looking up from your bed with no intention of actually moving. I feel like you don't actually want to cure your boredom, host".

"No. I am just simply overwhelmed by laziness. Have you never been lazy before? Or do parasites such as yourself not feel anything at all?".

"There's no need for sarcasm, host. And yes I cannot feel human emotions. But I can sympathise with you... on a surface level".

"Sympathise with laziness? Oh. You simply spoil me. Even my caretakers and tutors would disapprove of me lying here, not doing anything. I guess there are some perks to having my brain on daily scrutiny by a parasite such as yourself".

"...I told you. I am a system not a parasite, host".

"Oh yes. Such an astounding difference between the two".

"...You must really be bored. Your sarcasm has grown in size. Maybe you should get up and... play with your stuffed dolls or something".

"...You insult me parasite. You forget I am several centuries old. A stuffed doll? I would scoff but I can not gather the energy for that".

"It's what normal kids do".

"I am neither normal nor a child".

"Can't you just pretend?".

"I am sick of pretending".

"So you're just going to lie there? Even you're feeling stuffed by the duvet you're covered in?".

"Yes. I shall continue to stare at the ceiling and follow the smooth texture of the marble like I always do".

"...Maybe you should finally pay attention to your servant who has been staring at you since she entered your room fifteen minutes ago".

....

Nitidus finally stopped the strange almost schizophrenic conversation with the voice in his head and turned his head slowly to the right.

A person immediately came into his line of view. It was Amayaa, one of his caretakers.

She was staring intently at him, her steely silver eyes on him like she seriously wanted to dissect his brain and find out why his turquoise eyes had been glazed over, unresponsive even with her numerous calls to him.

'Haha. She looks like she's considering how to tell my mother that her child has gone mad', Nitidus mused with a small fake smile on his face.

Amayaa almost flinched at this and an involuntary shudder passed through her spine as she stared at her young prince. And she didn't easily get startled.

Ever since he woke up from being poisoned- a failed assassination attempt on his life, he has been very... strange.

First of all when he woke up; after several weeks of doctors and chaos in the palace, he had a surprisingly apathetic look on his face.

His simply vomited the residue of the poison; majority of it on himself, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Before he did, however. Amayaa saw the look in his eyes.

They were...different. Tired. Annoyed. As if the numerous healers around him were a bunch of annoying flies.

Amayaa blamed it on the poison. After all he had just woken up. Maybe he was still drowsy, or his reaction time had been blurred by all the medicine he had been consuming while unconscious.

But then he woke up fully. Then she realised that everything had changed about him.

First off, hs manner of speaking had lost it's childish tone, and some of the words he spoke were too advanced and mature for a six year old.

Amayaa might be overthinking it, but... he had somehow become sarcastic.

He also hadn't thrown a tantrum once in the past three weeks since he woke up. That in itself was a celebration worthy miracle.

He didn't cry or refuse his medicine or needed to have candy afterwards to be coaxed.

He had lost his playful demeanor- no matter how evil. Intact he hadn't once asked a servant to do a ridiculously impossible task that would have surely ended their lives.

He simply slept and ate too much. Sleeping after he drunk his medicine. Eating when his mother came to visit him and slapping her hand away when she playfully tried to touch his dessert. Sleeping while eating snacks during his walk in the gardens.

Most alarming he didn't need Olive to sing for him or Wensty to recite a poem before he went to bed. He often had a glazed look in his eyes plus a bored, indifferent facial expression.

His Highness the sixth Prince had changed.

"Did you come here during my nap for a reason, Amayaa? Or where you simply planning to stare at a little boy during his sleep?", Nitidus asked, with the same look and tone Amayaa found strange.

Amayaa was sure of it this time! He definitely souded cynical just now! And he just called her Amayaa. Her actual name! Not Ama because her name was too large for her childish tongue.

"Yes, your highness. I came to check on you during your sleep. My apologies if I awoke you", Amayaa said with a small, polite bow.

Despite her misgivings he was still her liege after all.

"I see. Did the last assassination attempt scare the palace so much that they finally decided to pay attention to me? Even ignoring my orders of not disturbing my rest at any cost? Or did you decide that on your own?", Nitidus slurred, his eyes fixed on the ceiling again.

Alarm bell rang in Amayaa's head. Somehow she sensed an irritated tone underneath his nonchalant question.

"My apologies once again, your highness.  I was simply worried about you. I shall leave now, if you wish", Amayaa said again with a bow and sweat behind her back.

For the first time she found herself wary of the little brat. He sounded dangerous despite his small voice.

"But of course. See that you close the doors on your way out", Nitidus waved his hand at her, as if he was shooing away a street dog. He turned his body.

Obviously this conversation was over.

Amayaa bowed again, glad to be getting out of this unusual dialogue. She needed to do some thinking on why her liege had changed so drastically,  and how to report this to the imperial household agency.

Nitidus heard Amayaa closing the heavy marble doors almost a second before the parasite spoke again.

"That was different from how you usually talk to her your past lives".

"Yes. Well, I've lost my ability to give two fucks about anything", he replied.

"Language please. Your body is still a child", it chastised.

"Whatever".

...

Outside the doors Amayaa's ears twitched. Was he... talking to himself?