<on hiatus> 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 - 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝟐𝟒

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴,

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘺.

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥—𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺—𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦,
𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦–𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘦.

Nicholas looked up from the note that his older brother had passed to him in a white envelope with the blue House Wayne seal on it.

"Where is Tim now?" Nicholas asked.

"Don't worry, son. He's somewhere in Auden," answered Duke Bruce.

"He's safe, and is on a mission as of now, so don't worry," Duchess Ariana smiled at her son. "He'll be home soon after his mission is over."

"... looks like he won't be assuming the mantle again anytime sooner," sighed Nicholas as he folded the note and placed it back into the envelope.

"I'm afraid not," Dick said. "Damian will be taking your place as Robin as you will be taking Tim's as Red Robin."

Dick handed over to Nicholas a white square shaped and slightly flat gift box with a blue ribbon on it. He opened it to reveal his older brother's Red Robin uniform and gear.

"It's time, son," Duchess Ariana said, placing a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder. "Your brother chose you to inherit his legacy."

"Mother..." Nicholas said, staring at the uniform and gear in the box, "... am I even worthy of wearing this?"

"Nicholas," the duchess sighed, looking at her son sadly and patted his back.

"Nick, Tim chose you to take his place as Red Robin," Dick said. "Out of all the capable people he knew, he chose you. He trusts you with this, and so do we."

"Son," Duke Bruce began, "I chose you as my heir, our family's heir, the heir to the Wayne Dukedom, because I trust you and that you would make the right decisions as our family's heir and as my son. I trust your brother Timothy and his decisions, and I trust that you will be able to take over and do your duty as Red Robin well."

Nicholas did the unexpected and kneeled before his parents and brother.

"Nick?!" Dick said, shocked.

"Son...?" The duchess said, shocked.

"Father, Mother, brother..." he began, "I am unworthy for the position, but I will do my best to live up to your expectations and Tim's as well, for the sake of our family, and protecting the people from any harm or danger. I will do it only if you allow me one thing."

"What is it, son?" Duke Bruce said, curious to hear what his son had to say. Seeing that he kneeled before him, he knew that it must be something important.

"... allow me..." Nicholas said, "to tell the truth to her highness."

"Uh oh," Dick said. "Which princess?" He asked, silently praying it wasn't Princess Macy.

"I've hidden this long enough from her," Nicholas said, "and all I ask before I assume my place as Red Robin, is to tell Cadenza the truth."

'Thank goodness,' Dick thought as he silently sighed.

"... please rise, my son," Duke Bruce said and Nicholas got up in his own two feet to face his parents and brother.

"Very well," Duke Bruce said, his lips curling into a smile.

"She deserves nothing more than the truth," Duchess Ariana smiled at her son. Dick nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," Nicholas smiled at his parents and brother.

"What are you doing?" Dick said, pushing his brother to leave. "The princess is waiting for you."

"Right. Gotta go," Nicholas ran off.