lucitor short stories

the prince and his beast

    lucien didn't know how to feel when his father, the king, died.

sad? not quite.

angry? not really.

happy? definitely not.

he was the prince of a flourishing country. his mother was the former empress who died when he was still a toddler. he could vividly remember crying his eyes out with snot running down his nose as he begged his mother to play with him for just a while longer. after all, and his mother's death was the biggest event he'd ever gone through.

his mother was soon replaced by the current empress and his current step-mother, who was merely a concubine back then. she was fairly loved even as a concubine.

as a kid who didn't know what was happening, he didn't get a chance to grieve before his fate was in the hands of a woman who despised his very existence.

now as a 17-year-old man who just had his coming-of-age ceremony days before his father collapsed for the worse, he stood in the funeral hall in silence.

when the funeral was finally over, he walked over to the open coffin where his pale father was laying peacefully in. he took in a deep breath before he started his dramatic crying, doing the same thing he did to his mother as a toddler.

he died a little inside as he acted everything out.

"the poor boy, losing both his parents at such a young age," a noblewoman whispered to her husband, hiding her face behind a fan.

the more he cried, the more nobles came to comfort and pity him. it was exactly what he was aiming for.

despite lucien now being an adult man, many nobles thought of him as a boy who never grew up. to the public eye, he would always be as innocent as a child, not knowing a thing about the world.

of course, there's always more than what meets the eye. in reality, lucien didn't have anything to live for other than getting revenge for his late mother, who met a tragic death after being poisoned by the current empress. everything he ever did was an act to gain the loyalty of the nobles who were part of the anti-royal faction.

due to the influence of lucien's activities in the anti-royal faction, the amount of nobles in the group had greatly increased.

the funeral ended and lucien was dragged out by his bodyguard, helios, the only person who he could truly trust. as soon as helios escorted him back to his palace, he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away his crocodile tears.

"your highness, you put up a good show today," helios praised, his silver hair shining in the moonlight. lucien sat down on his bed.

lucien sighed once again. "helios, do you think i should just fake my death? if i die, a lot of nobles would come to see the empress with contempt."

helios shook his head. "your highness, do you really think that's enough to avenge your mother? we've already come this far."

"i'm just sick of acting this way. i don't even want to inherit the throne anymore. if i dethrone my step-mother, i will obviously be first-in-line to the throne. youran is in no position to take over the throne in her current state," lucien stated, leaving helios standing in silence.

"that is something i cannot refute, your highness."

lucien stayed sitting for a while longer until he excused himself and dismissed helios for the night. his bath was prepared by maids sent in by the empress, not that he cared since half of them would eventually be charmed by him. he was blessed to have inherited his mother's beauty.