Rufus was walking outside the city beside the walls. He had been asked to meet up with the prince there. The prince was waiting there all alone not even being accompanied by August.
"I heard your mission in Wallach was more than a success. I believe congratulations are in order," said the prince with a grin on his face.
"Count Vlad Hunyadi is a good man. He was worth saving. I would have done it without you asking me to."
"How do you do this?" asked the prince.
Rufus didn't understand the question.
"How do you care for these people. You barely met the count and now you're ready to sacrifice yourself to him. Where do you find that fire inside you to help these people."
"I take it you really don't care for the people of this kingdom after all?"
"I never have. I want. I really do. I have never been able to care about anything. I really don't feel anything. Some people told me it was a blessing, but most said it was a curse."
"What do you mean never felt anything?"
"You wanted to know about my motives right. You from the beginning read me like a book. That my motives were really not the people. Well, I'll tell you my motives, but first I guess I have to tell a little bit about myself," said the prince.
~ ~
Many years ago the child prince at the age of six was looking from the window down to the gardens of the royal palace. There were some nobles who used a dog as target practice to test their divine powers. The prince just looked away. He didn't feel any pity towards the dog or hatred towards the nobles.
Rumors of the prince had gone around the palace and among the nobles. The prince with no heart. He rarely smiled. He just ate the bare minimum the was necessary and was completely obsessed with knowledge and reading. Even the guards of the royal palace thought something was off about the prince.
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The tutors of the prince had instructed the prince to at least smile so the prince had been smiling randomly, but people still saw past the smile and realized he had no feelings whats so ever.
At the age of eight, the mother of the prince was on her deathbed. He was called to hear her last wishes to his son. When the son came inside the room he smiled. Everyone was appalled that a son could smile on his mother's deathbed. The queen understood that his son was just smiling because he was taught to and didn't understand when it was okay to smile and when not to.
After the mother passed right in front of her the boy still didn't feel anything and kept smiling. He then straight away left the bedroom and entered the library to read. For him, only knowledge tingled his mind. He was desperate to find something that would make him feel.
Luckily for him, he couldn't even feel envy towards the people who had real emotions. On one occasion group of guards had taken the prince hostage. Many of the nobles wanted him dead so it wasn't surprising that there were attacks on his life often. The prince was eventually saved, but apparently, the thought of dying didn't even phase the prince. He had just stared blankly into space was a knife was pointed his throat.
On one occasion the prince was given August as his personal servant. August was in his teenage years, but the ten-year-old prince still seemed more mature than August. August did all his best to please the prince. The prince always acted politely, but August knew there actually was no real meaning behind those words.
At the age of fourteen, the prince started to go outside the city's walls with his attendants. They were all for hunting trips. The prince had learned to fake his enthusiasm about such activities. He was an expert hunter even though he didn't have any divine power. He excelled often in what he was doing, but really it didn't matter personally did he excel or not.
During one such hunting trip, he got separated from his attendants and his guards. He was tracking down his prey and found himself in unknown parts of the forest. It was getting late and the young prince was not sure how to get back. That was the first time the prince met Emilia.
"I am lost. Can I stay at your house for the night?" asked an emotionless Markus from Emilia.
"Eh?"
"I am lost. Can I stay at your house for the night?" asked an emotionless Markus from Emilia again.
"I heard the first time…But who are you?" asked a flabbergast Emilia.
"I am the first prince of the Jacob kingdom. Prince Markus Jacob," said an emotionless Markus.
"What!" yelled out
"I am the first prince of the Jacob kingdom. Prince Markus Jacob," said an emotionless Markus again.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I heard you"