Mei Ruan May 3rd, 20xx

“But do you have any proof, your highness? Your claims against Esmeralda are too heavy to be charged without evidence!”

Cai looked at the woman that had spoken up, a member from a small family that barely qualified as noble and paused, obviously surprised that anyone would bother to respond to his provocation earlier but also more than amused.

With a smile that was much more charming than it should have been under such circumstances, he floated her over to the ground in front of him and released her from the bubble, seemingly giving her a fair platform to talk but just actually setting her up to speak from a position physically below him.

“Ah, you are….”

I couldn’t help but notice how flustered the fairy dared to be as she stood close to my fiancée.

Of course, he was a very beautiful fairy but to have the nerve to show herself like that… It looked like I had neglected the Toma family for a little too long.

“Toma. I’m from the Toma family your highness”

He raised an eyebrow as the name became familiar to him and his mouth that had previously adopted an interested half smile tilted sharply downwards into a displeased frown.

“Toma…. That’s a Baronet correct?”

She couldn’t not answer the question but at the same time, her reluctance to do so was clear. I just wanted her to answer so she could hurry up and stop taking up Cai’s attention.

With the possibly misplaced blame that I put on the loosened bonds, the baronet seemed to grow less pleasing to the eye the longer I saw her.

Like myself, although for different reasons, Cai visibly grew more and more displeased as he stared her down and outright scowled as she confirmed his statement.

“That is correct your highness.”

For what seemed like the first time since he had entered the courtyard he turned to me and began to speak me in a conversational tone as if I was right beside him rather than halfway across the large courtyard.

I straightened my stature, wanting to show my solidarity with him even if I couldn’t be right beside him.

The thought of risking the loosened but not broken bonds did cross my mind but I doubted it would be too impressive if I suddenly pushed him down as he showed off his power to the people.

“Correct me if I'm wrong but has it been so long since they met a royal that I have to justify myself to a baronet? Wouldn’t I just be a fool to respond? I mean, it should at least be a Duchess before I have to consider giving an explanation… correct? Are you trying to make a fool of me?”

He suddenly redirected his dialogue back to the baronet who paled three shades by the second as Cai uncharacteristically showcased his rage.

The Toma Baronet flopped to a single knee and folded both wings into her back so tightly that they almost disappeared.

“I wouldn’t dare your highness! It was my lack of understanding that pushed me to question you! Of course, you would have your reasons!”

He looked down at the woman that easily out aged him by a few centuries, trembling in fear as she kneeled to him and suddenly let out a big smile, much too happy at the view for comfort.

“I thought so… It’s nice to clear out misunderstandings before they escalate right?”

What other option did the Baronet have but to frantically nod in agreement?

The other fairies in the courtyard began to nod with similar or even more enthusiasm as he looked around for confirmation.

All this while Esmeralda sat in her reinforced bubble, staring dully at blank space as Cai put on his show and awaited her execution.

As lovely as I found his current obnoxiousness, I did not want Cai to kill her. The strain of taking a life was a lot harsher than most thought and I didn’t want that burden on him.

As selfish as it was, I did not want Cai to have to live with that for the rest of his life and weight of the crime aside I also did not think Esmeralda deserved to prey on the prince's thoughts, especially through her death.

I strengthened my resolve in preparation to intercept him before he could kill the fairy. Even if he got angry at me as a result of it I knew I had no choice.

Or that was what I thought anyway.

Cai turned back around to the green fairy who was no longer suffocating to death but didn’t even have the will to glare at the prince anymore and continued the somewhat pointless questioning.

“Esmeralda, do you admit to your crimes?”

From her collapsed position on the floor, she only smirked and gave an insane giggle in response to the prince’s half-hearted attempt at offering her salvation. It was pretty obvious all around that he had no intention of letting her go and even hoped she would resist even more than she had.

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“I will only admit to trying to protect the Queendom’s best interests! Even After your mother cut off our bond I remained loyal! Which is more than those who kept those bonds can say! How could get rid of a prince that had caused a Queen’s death ever to be seen as anything but honourable? The previous queen would have awoken in time to save us all if everything had gone according to plan but somehow, she could sense you were still alive and slowed down her awakening, for a mere prince?! The only regret I have is the moment of weakness I had that let me leave you alive in the human world”

The courtyard tensed, both in horror of Esmeralda’s confession, as well as anticipation of Cai’s actions but the prince only kept on that same bizarre smile that he had adopted while facing the Toma baronet.

I, on the other hand, felt like a fool as all of this was revealed and although unfair, felt rather betrayed that he had not told me of this before waiting to reveal all of this to the public. I’d had an idea but I couldn’t have imagined that Esmeralda would have gone so far.

He finally brought out his wand and used it to suspend Esmeralda’s sphere in the air, startling the green fairy and the others around him but I couldn’t let myself be caught up in my own emotions.

I began to near him and quietly extended my wand into a lance, not bothering to transition through the sword first and aimed at the green fairy. I couldn’t get too close to Cai as I currently was, but I had enough confidence in my throwing skills to be able to hit a still target before he could suffocate her to death.

Contrary to my expectations however he began to flood the sphere with magic and began to mouth an unfamiliar spell but going from the amount of magic he gathered I could tell it was a high levelled one. Much higher than anything I had ever learned and much higher than anything I knew the Gagnons or Esmeralda would have taught him.

I couldn’t tell if it was a deadly spell or not due to my inexperience and could only sit back and fret as the prince had increased the density of the sphere to withstand the strength of the spell. I didn’t have confidence in piercing it without using magic and even then, I couldn’t guarantee my success.

As things stood now, I could only sit, watch and feel more powerless than ever.

The sphere eventually condensed into a bright golden ball that would have been beautiful if not for the knowledge that a full-grown fairy was trapped within it, probably facing her last moments of consciousness completely isolated from the world.

Even through my horror I couldn’t help but be so intensely impressed at how advanced his magic was despite the short amount of time he had had to learn it. Especially with the knowledge that he had only learned he wasn’t human a few months ago.

The oppressive silence of the yard was suddenly broken by harsh screams from within the sphere and odd coloured magic began to leak out from the sphere and into a much smaller pearl at the side.

I was afraid to look up to see my fiancée’s face and see that same insane smile he had taken to carrying but at the same time I couldn’t fight off the curiosity. Was it an act? Or had he always been like this and had finally let himself loose?

And finally, if he chose to attack me like this or to lose control at me would I be able to do anything about it?

I finally took at his face and heaved a sigh of relief to see him focusing intensely on the sphere with a grim expression on his face, in fact upon a closer look I could even see a few signs of regret on his face.

I dismissed the thought, after all, what was there to regret about getting rid of such a clear threat to one’s safety? And focused on the golden sphere as it gradually lost density and the screaming dwindled into soft whimpers and finally into silence.

More gently than one would expect he floated the rapidly thinning sphere onto the ground and smiled warmly at its inhabitant who gradually became visible through the transparent sphere.

The surrounding fairies didn’t dare gasp in horror at the sight for fear of triggering Cai’s irritation, but their shock was clear. Esmeralda, who had been a fairy past her second century and always took care to dress herself in fineries and power had suddenly turned into a harmless child of no more than 3 years of age who was human in every way except for the wings on her back.

He frowned in irritation and thickened the sphere once again, obscuring the child from view until he loosened the spell once again and the wings had liquified into the same pearl-like substance that the rest of her magic had taken and joined with its counterparts.

It was clear that the only thing keeping her alive in this world was the sphere that Cai kept her in although I couldn’t figure out the logic behind it.

The child blinked itself awake and began to look around curiously at the sights of the strange creatures that surrounded it, looking simultaneously amused and horrified.

It finally settled on my overly attractive fiancée and settled down, probably calmed by the sense of familiarity in him due to the magic that had turned her this way. She waved at him in a friendly manner that was returned with just as much enthusiasm by the prince despite the contrastingly horrified expressions of those surrounding him.

He held a hand onto the surface of the sphere and with another warm smile put the child to sleep with a spell.

“Cambridge!”

The fairy, that looked the most dazed at the events that had occurred flew up to the prince. I could tell that she was cautious at what he intended her to do but she also didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, your highness?”

He flinched at the title, especially because of its source but didn’t verbalize his discomfort and floated the sphere over to Cambridge.

“This will last about two days or so before the spell collapses. I need you to find a good- well, an okay human family and let her live there for a while. Esmerala….no longer exists and never will again.”

If interpreted wrongly, his words could be taken to mean that he didn’t even want to kill her in the fairy world and have her disintegrate into the system that sustained us all but if interpreted properly then it meant that he had fulfilled his anger against the green fairy and was giving her a chance to live.

“Mei!”

I was caught off guard by my sudden summon but didn’t let myself hesitate for too long. I flew up as closely as I could before losing my sense of rationality altogether due to the weakened bond.

“Yes, your highness?”

He still reacted uncomfortably to the title but once again he chose not to react and waved an arm around the courtyard.

“I want everyone that came here at Esmeralda’s behest stripped of rank and I want to award everyone that came here at your request with a royal pardon emblem... yeah that should be enough. I don’t know who was who but I also don’t particularly care. I’ll leave it in your hands.”

He tossed me the small crown he wore on his wrist, a clear passing of power and responsibility and took off without looking back.

Leaving the punishment and rewards after such a big deal, and even going as far as to mention that he wouldn’t double-check the list afterwards was saying that my word was as good as his.

I caught the small crown and watched him fly away, torn between whether to follow him or to take the chance he had given me to solidify my power in the castle but the decision didn’t take me long to make.

The decision didn’t take me too long and I quickly tossed a few looks between my friends and tossed them my family's seal.

I would confirm it later on and use the crown Cai had entrusted me with but for now, he and I needed to talk.