Partners in Crime

There's gotta be a reason that I'm here on Earth

Summary: The story of two sworn brothers, Alberu Crossman and Cale Henituse—the Crown Prince and the Hero of the Roan Kingdom. It perhaps involved more illegal acts than it should. Assassin!Cale.

Free-choice for Day Five of Trash of the Count's Family Fandom Week 2020 (Posted Early)

I. There's gotta be a reason that I'm here on Earth

Henituse Territory, Roan Kingdom

Age 11

"Young Master," Ron called. The old butler stood at the entrance to an alleyway.

Cale jumped and turned around. "Ah. . .Ron," he muttered. Cale thought he had lost the servant a half hour ago. Thinking about it further, he should not have expected being able to hide from the master assassin for long.

"What are you doing?" Ron glanced down the alleyway. He could not see anything there that would make his charge sneak off.

". . .Nothing."

Ron stared at him with an expression that simultaneously seemed to be both respectful and judging; he might be starting to get on in years, but he wasn't stupid.

Cale wilted at the look and dropped his gaze to his mud-caked feet. It was as good as an admission of guilt to Ron, there was definitely something back in that alleyway that Cale was trying to hide.

Ron walked past Cale, ignoring the grime that clung to the bottom of his pristine dress shoes. He peered into the shadows of the house eaves. There was a body, hidden as much by the darkness as the trash and mud. The person was obviously no longer alive; there was an unnatural stillness that Ron was personally acquainted with from years of being a professional killer.

"I just found him there," claimed Cale, who had followed him down into the alley; his tone was innocent and held a little bit of fear, as if he'd been frightened by the experience. A normal reaction for a young noble who'd never seen death before.

Ron would have believed him. It was hard to think that this little master, raised in luxury, would be able to kill a man in cold blood. . .if it wasn't for the blood on Cale's sleeve, and the few specks that had fastened themselves to his knuckles. Even if the boy had touched the corpse, the blood should have been on the opposite side: his wrist, his palm, or his fingertips. "Young master, if you plan to lie about such things you should insure there's no evidence to prove otherwise first."

"What do you mean?" Cale carefully replied. He still had a wide eyed look of shock, but perhaps that was from being caught in the act, and not a sign of his naivety towards death.

Ron shot a pointed glance towards Cale's hands, causing the boy to look down at them.

Cale's lips parted slightly in surprise as he caught sight of the blood.

"I am curious how you got involved in such dealings." Ron rolled up the boy's sleeve to cover up the evidence. "But it is more important that you are not caught. I will wash this when we get back to the estate."

Cale's eyes narrowed at Ron's actions and he stared at the man as if he was trying to read his thoughts.

The butler imagined that all kinds of questions were going through the boy's mind at that moment, but Cale didn't ask any of them out loud. Instead the young noble simply nodded his head and gestured for Ron to lead the way back home. It wouldn't do for a servant to let their master out of sight however and so Ron gently placed his hand on Cale's shoulder, guiding the boy to walk ahead of him.

Cale didn't seem too happy about it but made no protest; perhaps because he did not wish to do anything that might agitate the butler and cause Ron to reveal what had happened to his parents.