The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

Trip to Mond Empire (Again)

The curving walls of Lunaris City stretched out to the distance. Standing on a small hill just a couple of yards away from the city gates, I could see the Empire's moon city in all its glory. After trudging on by foot and hitching out a ride from a passing merchant group, the innkeeper's family and I had finally arrived in our destination.

"Lunaris City..." I murmured in awe.

"Didn't you say your family had visited a couple of years ago?" Joren asked with a straight face, although I could easily sense the excitement he hid behind his nonchalance.

I nodded distractedly, still staring at the huge, white coral walls. I mumbled after a while, "Well... I haven't really gotten a good look at the city from a distance."

I recalled how I had fainted from the overuse of magic from back then. I had just saved my older brother, the Second Prince Clement, from being sabotaged by our eldest brother. Later on, I had awoken in the Moon City of the Empire, and couldn't even accompany my parents as they went on to the Empire's royal capital. Looking back, it had only been two years at most, but it felt like such a long time ago that I could almost believe that it had happened in my past life.

Sensing movement behind us, I waited a few seconds before looking behind me. Tabitha and Freud had finally arrived at the top of the hill. Freud was panting heavily, his boorish body flushed a deep red. Tabitha, though, was just calmly supporting her husband with steady arms. Observing her, I sensed how the notes surrounded her more heavily than others. 'Definitely a strong mage...' I thought.

She looked at my direction, and upon finding me staring at her, she smiled at me gently. I immediately perked up. "That must have been quite a climb."

"Right ya are, lad!" Freud bellowed in between catching his breath. "We ain't as filled wid life as da both of ya, young li'l imps!"

Tabitha gently patted her husband's back. "Take a rest there by the rock, sweetheart."

"Oh, th-tha I'd gladly do, hun." He walked off almost dejectedly towards a big rock outcropping in the middle of the grassy hill. Joren looked at his father almost comically.

"My old man surely needs some exercise, don't ya think?" the boy asked me.

Knowing how an adult body can easily turn weak (since even at 18, I had felt a lack of my usual energy), I immediately sided with the innkeeper. "Oh, Uncle Freud is healthy enough for his age. Not everyone has a large energy pool that young boys like us have."

Joren only huffed and looked away, jumping on the balls of his feet while staring off towards the city gates. Sensing his impatience, I asked him, "Are you feeling excited?"

"Y-Yeah!" he shouted, and then added with a whisper just by my ear, "And don't you know today's the last day of the entrance exams for the... that school?"

He looked cautiously back and forth towards his mother and me.

"Oh?" I asked smilingly, as though we were talking about something pleasant. Sneakily, I aided a few notes in the surroundings to stop the winds from leaving our sides, so our whispers wouldn't be easily heard by the adults. "Keep talking."

He closed an arm around my shoulders, and continued to speak in hushed tones. "I saw a pamphlet while we were travelling with those merchants. It said the examination will last five days, and today's the last day, and it'll only be until noon!"

I looked at the sky, where the sun was still just starting to rise. "Well, don't we still have a few more hours?"

"Well, Ma and Da will soon be busy talking business with our relatives, but that will probably be later in the morning. We might be cutting it close if we wait until then..."