Nielle knelt silently in the main hall, pretending to listen to the king's shout. His father wasn´t a person capable of taking things with impartiality. All he saw were the current problems and his own opinion of the culprit, which was usually his youngest son. The truth was that even if Louise had made a mistake, the king would have found a way to blame Nielle anyway.

But Nielle didn't care. The angrier his father was with him, the more disadvantaged he was in his family position, the better chances he had for a free life in the future. That's why he just stayed on the floor, waiting for the king to finish his shout and wondering who was stupid enough to really kill under his watch.

A candlestick suddenly flew in his direction, whereupon Nielle ducked in surprise and looked up at the king.

"Are you even listening?! Do you ever even listen?!” He screamed.

"I'm listening," Nielle lied.

"You're only concerned with the security of the country, one thing and you can't even do that right?" he shouted, "In a minute we could have a celebration in honor of the reduced crime, there hasn't been a murder in so long! I thought it's to your credit as well! I wanted to reward you for trying, but as I can see you have absolutely no regard for the safety of the city! What are your people doing? Do you give them any orders at all? Perhaps I should put my own soldiers to supervise the goings-on in city? Do you want us to look like a rotten country with military surveillance in the streets everywhere? How will people look at us?"

Nielle tried to listen for a moment before he switched off again for his own good. First of all, he didn´t participate in the safety of the city, cause it was only him. No one else was throwing money or people into it, and no one else knew how to control crowds by force. The fact that the king was considering rewarding him as well only showed how he doesn't pay attention to his work. Nielle wouldn´t be surprised if the king thought that all the order in the city was thanks to Louis.

Nielle would really like to see him send his soldiers into the city and expect it to help something. When his people made a mistake, no one else would be better. However, Nielle intended to thoroughly investigate yesterday even without the king demanding it, as he didn´t intend to allow such things to happen under his control.

A sharp blow to the head brought Nielle out of his thoughts. He grabbed his forehead in surprise and looked up at the king again. A second candlestick lay on the ground next to him, which this time really hit him. Nielle just raised his eyebrows and wiped the blood from his forehead.

"Are you listening?!" the king shouted.

Nielle, who really hated the pain, got up with the last bit of patience and sighed deeply: "Father," he said and slowly wiped the streak of blood still dripping, "I will investigate the situation today, I will report to you tonight. It is the first murder in a long time, it won't be difficult to find the culprit." He clarified.

The king looked at him irritably: "For your own sake, hope you're not wrong!"

Nielle considered for a moment whether to remind the king that he wasn't the one who did the killing, but finally dismissed the idea, "I'm not wrong...if you're worried, feel free to send one of Louis' s men with me," He stated.

,,I should! If Louise wasn't busy I'd leave it to him.” He snapped.

Nielle sighed, "If that's all, I'll go," he said as he didn't feel like talking to his father any longer. Especially when he was throwing things at him.

The king shouted something at him, but Nielle considered the situation resolved and left the hall. He hadn't been home for several days and he already wanted to pack away from the palace. Even though he always said that he would stay here longer, everyone always irritated him so much that he couldn't fulfill his goal.

He slowly returned to his chamber, where he caught sight of a pair of people.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, closed the door and walked over to the table: "One murder and look how many of you are suddenly interested in me," he laughed.

"Nielle," Louis looked at him as always, trying to calm down the situation, "I see that father is really upset," he took a step towards him, "what did he say to you?" he stretched his fingers to Nielle's bloody forehead, but Nielle simply grabbed his palm and lowered it down with a gentle smile.

"Nothing special, thanks for your concern. Do you need anything?" He asked.

"Father said that I should give you a hand. I don't have time myself today, but I'll lend you Iuwin." He nodded to the young man next to him, who only bowed gently, but didn´t speak.

Nielle looked dispassionately at Lacrisan, whom he knew very well. Iuwine, who was Louis's only source of luck, had lived with them in the palace practically since childhood. Nielle had never particularly liked him, but he couldn't be said to hate him like the rest of the Lacrisans. Their relationship was more or less neutral, although sometimes there was a reason to fight.

"Iwi," Nielle smiled, not exactly enthusiastically, "don't you want to tell Louis that you'll have a better use with him?"

"Prince Louis said I should go, so I'm going. If you have a problem with my presence, work it out between you," He clarified.

"Iuwin," Louis looked at him unsatisfied, "the king is really upset, if Nielle doesn't manage to solve the case as soon as possible, there will be no peace in the palace. You know how he can be. Don't let Nielle drive you away."

"Understood," Iuwin nodded and walked up to Prince Nielle, "You heard, I'm at your service today."

Nielle let out a deep sigh when there was a knock on the door. After Nielle ordered them in, a guard walked into the room with Shane.

"Your Highness," the guy greeted, letting Shane inside.

"Don't you have better clothes? How do you want to go to town?” Nielle laughed looking at his Lacrisan.

"My things ended up in the ditch," Shane reminded, looking at the pair of people at the table.

One of them seemed more noble, and as his graceful white hair, falling below his shoulders, sufficiently indicated his parentage, Shane had no doubt that he was one of the princes. He seemed to be the calmest of everyone in the room, while his prince looked like he'd love to beat someone up. Shane didn't understand why he couldn't end up with a normal individual.

The other one was obviously Lacrisan. His long black hair tied back in an elegant braid, straight posture, and piercing blue eyes that were strikingly similar to his, looked like they had enough luck for ten people. He might have been around twenty-five years old, but his demeanor made him look older. The soft white fabric on his uniform matched his bright irises beautifully.

"Nielle...is that the new Lacrisan that father was talking about yesterday?" Louis wondered, walking closer to Shane.

"He's meaner than he looks," Nielle nodded, "but his luck tastes better than anything I've ever had." He laughed.

Louis ignored his brother's inappropriate remarks and looked at Shane, "My name is Louis Alben von Rinsel, I'm Nielle's oldest brother, if you have any problem, don't hesitate to contact me and I'll see what I can do about it," he smiled. ,,what´s your name?"

"Shane," he introduced himself, "if I may, I would really appreciate it if he would at least call me by my name." He glared at Nielle.

Louis gave his brother a scolding look, "Nielle."

"Lacrisans don't deserve names, numbers and swears are better," He explained.

Louis, who knew Nielle well enough to know that it didn't matter right now, looked at Shane, "Don't worry, when he likes you, he'll start calling you by your name...he calls Iuwin by his name, eventually he'll call you as well." He smiled.

Shane looked at Lacrisan who was looking at him neutrally.

"I'm Iuwin," he introduced himself, "feel free to call me Iwi, Iuwi, the Lacrisan who stands around the crown prince...it's up to you." He clarified in a monotone until Shane didn't know if he was kidding or not.

"Beautiful times," Nielle looked at Iuwin, who only nodded slightly ironically, how the prince's treatment couldn´t be forgotten, no matter what position he was in.

"Nielle," Louis frowned.

"Yes, yes... don't worry, I won't touch him," he laughed, "as if he let himself." He looked at Iuwin who simply responded.

"You don't have to worry, I won't let you do anything, so you won't offend Prince Louis...even if you try something, Louis isn't the first one I'll go to," He promised.

Nielle laughed softly, how he still couldn't get used to the behavior of this individual over the years, but it amused him all the more: "Don't worry, although until yesterday you could boast the best luck in the palace," he took a step towards Lacrisan, "and it's true that I couldn't forget it´s taste," he laughed, "after yesterday you're losing." He roughly pulled Shane to himself, who immediately got out of his grip.

Shane gave him a confused look, but immediately noticed Iuwin's inquisitive look: “What?" Shane didn't understand.

"Prince Nielle says you have better luck than me," He pointed out.

"I don't compare my luck with other Lacrisans," Shane said.

"Me neither, I just don't understand one thing," Iuwin continued.

"What is that?" Shane didn´t really want to know.

"When you have better luck, why did you end up in his service?" He wondered.

Shane remained silent as he didn´t have an appropriate response to this knowledge. But the truth had to be clear to everyone in the room. Shane's goal in this country wasn´t to win a good prince and live a quiet life here. His goals were different, so his luck lay rather in the possibility that could lead him to them most effectively. And since Shane believed in his luck, he knew that Nielle was the one he should ended up with.

Nielle's sudden laugh snapped everyone out of their thoughts, “Lui, I get the impression that Iwi is losing his manners,” He laughed.

“Iuwine.” Louis looked at his Lacrisan who only bowed slightly and declared.

"I apologize, my curiosity crossed the line," He lied.

Louis sighed deeply and looked at Nielle: "When it's all over, I'll leave him at your service." When you come back, bring him back...in the same condition that I'm lending him to you. Do you understand, Nielle?” He asked.

"Stop acting like I'm a kid who doesn't care about the consequences," he laughed, "I won't hurt him, I only touched him once, right? After your last hysteria, why would I do it again when have better?"

Louis stared at him for a while and looked at Iuwin, "You'll give me a report in the evening," He instructed and after Lacrisan nodded he left the room.

Nielle looked at the two similar Lacrisans and crossed his arms over his chest. If he added five years, longer hair and nicer clothes to Shane, they would look like a photocopier. However, Nielle knew Iuwin's roots, he knew everything related to him, just like Louis, so he was sure that he had nothing to do with Shane. The Lacrisans were all more or less similar anyway. At least most had black hair and blue eyes, although other combinations were found.

"Iwi, did the king order Louis to help me or are you here with another purpose?" He asked after a while.

"I think you can answer it yourself without me telling you and getting into trouble," He informed.

Nielle laughed lightly, “Uncooperative as always, you'll get along.” He looked at Shane.

"I'm not the type to get along with others," Shane clarified.

"Me neither," Iuwin said to him as well.

Nielle smiled softly, "Iwi, wait down by the horses," He instructed.

Iuwin disappeared down the hall while Nielle looked at Shane contentedly.

"And as for you, don't think I've forgotten your insolence today," He took a step towards him, to which Shane only subconsciously backed away.

"I don't think I did anything wrong...I didn't know the rules, but the rule that unawareness of the ruled is no excuse is bullshit," He clarified.

"I don't mean the rules, they're just to have fun with the rest when I have time to spare," he laughed, "it was more unpleasant how you ruined a beautiful moment when I wanted to take tears from my property." He roughly slammed him against the cabinet behind him, causing Shane to let out a soft gasp as his whole back hurt.

"He didn't want to," he said, and when Nielle touched his chest, he grabbed his palm in displeasure, "and I don't want to either."

"Didn't you realize after yesterday that your opinion doesn't matter?" He laughed and roughly slapped Shane's face with his other hand as he tried to move to the side.

Nielle looked at him contentedly for a moment, his displeased expression, his beautiful blue irises staring at him irritably, yet without any sign of significant protest, as if he didn't want to get into real trouble.

"Or do you want me to give you a practical review now? If you don't remember.” He chuckled and dug his nails roughly into Shane's neck, running them down to his chest, down to his sides and under his clothes to his bottom which had had a night of action last night.

Shane frowned in irritation, and the second Nielle´s hand touched his ass, he aggressively pushed him away, giving him an angry look.

"You look like you're fine, but I see you remember our night in detail." Nielle gently licked his fingers that were still bloody from Shane's fresh scratches. He smiled sadistically, "don't worry, for how obedient you were in the morning, we'll do it again in the evening in a better torture chamber...I didn't get tears from you yesterday, I'll make up for it today." He smiled and studied Shane's frown for a moment before calling the guard in satisfaction.

Shane shifted his gaze to the new guy and took a deep breath as he realized he'd avoided Nielle intention for the time being. Shane would like to fight back more, he would like to kick Nielle to the ground and take back everything he did to him yesterday, but he knew he couldn't. At least not for now.

Nielle looked at the guard, "Let him get some good clothes."

The guard walked to the door and open it for Lacrisan to follow him. Shane gave Nielle a look before taking the opportunity to disappear behind the door. He knew that today he couldn't avoid the prince's presence, but that didn't change the fact that every moment without him counted.

***

Shane wasn't surprised that the castle had separate tailoring rooms, but he was surprised by every quality type of fabric they offered. Shane got measured and after saying that the color didn't matter and staying in the tailoring room with just the guard, he tried to find out at least the basics. Especially when the guard didn't look like he belonged to Nielle.

"Can I ask something?" He said politely, as he would appreciate the man's cooperation.

"I can't help you with transferring to someone else, sorry," the guy said calmly.

"No need, I just wanted to know how it is possible that Prince Nielle talks to Iuwin in a different way than to other Lacrisans. It seems to me that there is some enmity between them, but at the same time he speaks to him more politely than to others," He clarified.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The man laughed softly: "Of course, Prince Louis wouldn't allow him to speak disrespectfully to him, and although Prince Nielle won't confess to anyone, he doesn't want to repeat his mistake and its consequences."

,,Consequences? Did something special happen between them?” Shane wondered.

The man sighed, "I'll tell you because it's not a secret, but don't tell Prince Nielle anyway," he said, "when Nielle was fifteen he caught Iuwin. Prince Louis always relied on him and didn't let anyone, especially his brother even touch him. However, Prince Nielle isn´t one to listen anyone, so he caught him once and took his luck by force. It wouldn't be the first or the last such thing he did and usually no one dealt with it. But with Iuwin, the situation was different."

“Has Prince Louise complained to the king?” Shane wondered.

"Of course not," the guy shook his head, "Iuwin himself went to complain. Prince Louis didn't complain, he punched Niello directly."

"Lacrisan went to complain," Shane was surprised.

"Prince Nielle was also surprised, the king had him punished quite harshly, Prince Louis didn't speak to him for half a year, and Iuwin ensured his own safety," He said.

"The whole situation doesn't make sense to me. How could the king punished the prince because of the servant?" Shane clarified.

The guard laughed softly: "You've only been here for a while, so you probably don't know, but Prince Nielle is not in the king's favor, everyone knows that the king will find any opportunity to tame him. However, Prince Nielle doesn't seem like the king's methods are working on him. He doesn't spend much time in the palace though…I guess because of the king's displeasure with his behavior.” He said.

"Hm," Shane mused, "so the king doesn't like Prince Nielle."

"No one will tell you this out loud, but everyone knows it," He clarified.

"I didn't know you had similar problems in Rinsel in the royal family," He said.

"I wouldn't call them problems, it's Prince Nielle's problem...if he didn't have his people, he'd be-" he continued as the tailor slapped him roughly on the back.

"When you value your life, keep your mouth shut and don't slander the royal family, it's not your first day here, do you want to end up on the prince's list? And what if the king doesn't favor him, he holds similar power to Prince Louis...if he visits you at home with his men, will you still be talking smart?" He reminded him of how dangerous backbiting was in the palace.

Shane looked at the man, "My fault...I don't know what's going on in the palace, I wanted to at least find out the basics," He clarified.

"If you don't want to get in trouble, do your duty and hope you stop entertaining the prince," He clarified, handing him clothes that should fit Shane.

Shane looked at the black-white and black-yellow robes he had obtained and thanked him. He changed his clothes and went with the guard to the place where they were to meet the prince. As they walked through the castle, Shane tried:

"There's one more thing I'm not clear on," he began, "only Prince Louis can meet women privately, right?"

"That's right, like in Lacris, only the crown prince has a fiancee...in case something happens to Prince Louis, she goes to Prince Brelle," He clarified.

"Ah," Shane mused, "So I should keep quiet about things like that if I don't want to cause conflict." He nodded to himself.

However, the guard was interested: "What kind of things?"

"None, you just said that we shouldn't slander the royal family, let's not have problems. I just came, I don't want to annoy Prince Nielle right away." he lied.

"I didn't say anything like that, some are unnecessarily frightened, I love gossips, I won't tell anyone anything," he promised.

"If you mean it, I'd just like to consult," He began.

"Available," The guard laughed and stopped, looked around, and leaned over to Shane.

"On the way to the palace, Prince Nielle stopped at a village, I asked the guards in black why he was staying so long and I heard something about a woman...I wanted to ask Prince Nielle directly, but I don't know if he'll leave me alone if he finds out that I know about it, if it were true." He lied.

The guy looked at him in shock: "Woman? Prince Nielle?" He didn't believe, "Holy shit...he wouldn´t dare."

"I'm not saying it's true, I just heard it," Shane shrugged his shoulders, "Don't tell anyone, I don't know whether to ask the prince or not." He clarified.

"Don't ask anything.” He knew it wasn't the best idea.

"You're right, I don't know anything," He nodded and continued down the corridors with the guard.

They left without a word, as if the guy was thinking about the things Shane had said and couldn't figure out whether or not to verify them. However, it didn't matter to Shane, it was enough that he mentioned a suspicion to someone. And his revenge against Nielle could begin. After all, it was the prince's fault that he didn´t accept his proposal for a pleasant cohabitation.

***

When they arrived at the part of town where the night's murder had taken place, Nielle's first glimpse was of an interested crowd. Fortunately, his mere presence was enough to gain privacy. A pair of members of his Black guard stood by the bodies, covered with sheets, waiting for his arrival. As soon as they spotted him, they bowed politely and began to explain the situation to Nielle.

"According to the information, these are the employees of the gambling hall, the owner found them during the opening, the last time he saw them was yesterday after the last game, they went for a break just after dark and he hasn´t see them since.”

"What about witnesses?" Nielle asked .

"None."

"The cause?" He wondered.

"The killer beheaded them, it looks like they didn't defend themselves much, but their weapons were drawn, maybe there was some effort, but we don't know," They clarified.

Nielle looked at the white sheets with bloodstains and slowly bent down to them, "Clean" He examined the neck of one of the guys, severed in one swing.

"The other one looks identical," one of Nielle's guards said.

The prince just looked at the gash for a moment and wondered what he didn't like about it. It looked really clean, as if it had been made with a freshly sharpened sword, but there was something about it that was different from what he normally saw. But before the guards could ask him if he had come up with anything, Nielle asked for a handkerchief and ran its white surface over the bloody wound.

The entire edge of the wound looked black, not so different from the dried blood, but enough for anyone to notice after a while. Nielle looked at the handkerchief, where nothing black remained, and after a moment he sighed deeply.

"Did you find their compasses?" He wondered.

"Yes, sir," The guard nodded and handed Nielle pocket compasses, telling the state of luck of the victims.

"It doesn't look like they were short." Nielle looked at the orange colored stones in the compasses and assessed that although they didn't have the most of luck, they clearly hadn't reached the stage where their body would be overflowing with pitch.

"Did they have any black stones?" He wondered.

"Only clean one," The guard said.

Nielle looked at a few clean stones that the men hadn't had time to use, just to confirm that they weren't so unlucky as to turn their skin black. There were a number of things that could happen when the Rinsel man's luck ran out. Either the individual ended up under the nearest tree, randomly flying axes, tripped and smashed his head on a rock, slipped into the water, or some other kind of inconvenience was found for him, which usually ended up like these two guys on the ground.

However, when a person managed to avoid all things, a different situation arose. After a while, black spots began to appear on their skin. They used to be painful and no one really knew what they were, but they meant that a person didn't have a shred of luck left, that the only thing left was bad luck.

Of course, to prevent anything like this from happening, people carried clean stones with them, which could absorb bad luck during periods of lack of luck and thus keep the individual alive until he replenished it.

"If they had enough luck, why are there black spots on them?" Nielle asked, intrigued by something that didn't make sense, and he gently ran the handkerchief over the black wound from the weapon again.

“It looks like someone drained luck from them…or a weapon…can a weapon drain luck?” Nielle laughed to himself, the curiosity suddenly filled him.

He just watched the two men in front of him with interest before he stood up and looked behind him, "Iuwin," he smiled, "since you've come all the way here and are spying for Louis, come closer so you can tell him the details." He laughed.

Iuwin sighed and walked closer, “You must be clear that Prince Louise isn´t the one who ordered your control. He has enough of his responsibilities and I would be more comfortable with him than in the city with you," He explained.

"Of course, but seeing how excited you are, it's more fun to put you to work," he said, "so take the bodies with my new Lacrisan to Elyan, have him inspect them and report back to me." He clarified.

Iuwin sighed deeply, "Since I'm supposed to watch over you, it's not logical to go somewhere else and leave you here alone, don't you think?"

"I don't know you're spying on me," Nielle pointed out, "Louis gave you to me as help, I could use your help... so take them and don't let me see you until the evening." He waved and went elsewhere with his two guards.

Iuwin looked at him unsurprised, as if he knew something like this would happen. He looked at Shane, who didn't feel like spending time with Nielle, so he was fine with the situation.

"Can you take one of them?" Iuwin asked.

Shane nodded, "They're usually carried on carriages in Lacris," he explained, slung one of the guys over his shoulder. The man wasn't the lightest, so he had a bit of trouble carrying him. His injuries that he picked up yesterday didn't help and Shane stopped for a moment, as he felt like he was going to topple over. Iuwine held the guy up for him at the last moment and when Shane nodded he took his and stepped forward.

"I know, when I came here, I thought they only had backward rules...over time I got used to the fact that they have everything the same as we do, they just don't make it easy for us. If we weren't here, these guys will be brought to the prince's doctor by soldiers on a chariot." he said.

Shane didn't even find it surprising. He just walked for a while before asking, "Is Prince Louis better than Prince Nielle?"

"It depends in what," Iuwin clarified.

"In dealing with people," Shane set an example.

"Definitely...better with people, better at dueling, better at responsibility and general duties...when you think of a prototype for a king, you see Louis," Iuwine said.

"So he's better at everything," Shane reasoned.

"I don't think so, each of the princes has something different," he said, "Louis will be king, of course he has the most aptitude for the best things...but without Prince Nielle, he wouldn't be seen in such a good light as he has been all his life. A good individual is commonly valued only when people have someone to compare him to." He clarified.

"So Prince Nielle has no good qualities," He mused.

"Not really, he behaves inappropriately towards the Lacrisans, but overall he's really capable... the king just doesn't know how to appreciate him, which is partly the prince's fault, but if the king behaved less one-sidedly, maybe Nielle wouldn't behave the way he does." He clarified.

Shane looked at Iuwin through the guy on his back, "You've been living with them for a really long time, haven't you?"

"Yes, almost my whole life, so believe me when I tell you, don't cause any trouble," Iuwin said.

"Me?" Shane wasn't surprised.

"I know you've just come from Lacris and the new country seems disgusting to you, but after longer, state here you'll understand that all countries are the same and no matter how much you think that Lacris deserves more, it doesn't," he clarified, ,,in the end it will be better for both Lacris and Rinsel if you do nothing at all, so don't make trouble for whatever reason you're here," he added, "I came here today especially to tell you."

"In the name of Prince Louis?" Shane didn't understand.

"On behalf of everyone you see."

Shane sighed deeply, "I don't have anything planned," he lied, "but for the first time we're talking, you're very straightforward."

"I'm always like this," he explained, "princes spend their whole lives talking slowly, picking up, spying on each other...if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have a proper conversation to this day. Prince Nielle is the most direct of the princes. I think you noticed."

"I did," he remembered the yesterday´s moments, "so when you started, I also want to ask a straightforward question."

"Do as you wish." Iuwin said slowly.

"How did the king punish Prince Nielle when he took your luck?" He wondered.

Iuwin was silent for a moment before thinking, "If you want to know, ask Prince Nielle."

Shane sighed in disappointment, "Not the best idea."

"Not a good either," He nodded.

They walked side by side in silence for a few more streets before turning towards the part close to the palace where the buildings gradually thinned out. When they entered through the smaller walls into a part that was not yet part of the gardens, but everyone knew they shouldn't cause trouble in it, since only a group of people close to the royal family lived in it, Iuwine stopped at one of the nicer houses.

It took a while before a tall man of about thirty-five years old in a long white bloodstained cloak, opened the door. His black hair, which would have been down to his shoulders, was tied back in a short ponytail, but Shane could still see a few light streaks of a brownish-orange to pinkish color in it that didn't match his appearance. At first glance, he would have guessed he was Lacrisan, but his strange eyes, sometimes pale brown, sometimes black, made it clear that he wasn´t.

"Can I help you?" he asked before realizing who knocked, "Iuwin, long time no see."

"Hello, Elyan," he greeted and let himself in, followed by Shane, "I'm carrying a couple that was murdered near the arcade, you must have heard."

"Heard," the doctor nodded and closed the door, "throw them on the table at the back to Brelle."

The Lacrisans walked through the book-filled rooms to the back, where their eyes suddenly fell on the long white hair. The man was standing at a metal table that was stained with blood in one part and filled with books in the other. Brelle, with his back turned to them, looked around in surprise, as he didn´t expect that the doctor would really let someone in. He smiled gently at them:

“Iuwin, hi.” He placed the book he was studying on the table.

Iuwin threw one guy onto a large metal table and Shane followed suit, giving Brelle a look.

"Greetings, Your Highness," Iuwin said.

"And you?" Brelle looked at Shane who just bowed slightly as if he didn't know what kind of prince this guy would be.

"Shane, Prince Nielle's new Lacrisan," He clarified.

"Oh, yes, I heard," he smiled, "you look really younger than I thought," he said, "you look like Iuwin." He looked at the other Lacrisan.

"How many times did you say that?" Iuwine asked.

"So many times you looked alike," Brelle laughed when Elyan entered the room.

"There´s too many of you," he looked at them, "all the kids out." he sighed.

"Elyan," Brelle frowned.

"You don't," the doctor said, looking at the Lacrisans, "all the Lacrisan kids out."

"Kids?" Shane didn't understand, as no one over the age of seventeen was considered a child. And none of them were younger.

"Ignore him," Iuwine said and walked out.

"Can't we stay?" Shane asked. He wasn´t interested in Nielle's wishes but was quite attracted to getting to know the other prince he had yet to meet, "Nielle said you were to say the results today, if you could give us something brief right away he would be pleased."

Elyan looked at him and laughed loudly: "As Lacrisan," he took a metal tool resembling a knife and flipped it into his other hand, "you follow Nielle's instructions too much," he pulled back the sheets from the guys and looked at them carefully, ,”but if you don't mind the sight of blood, boy," he laughed, "stay.”

"Elyan," Brelle sighed unsatisfiedly, "I came today because you promised me a demonstration of new procedures, do you really want to show such inappropriate things to someone who just arrived in the country?" he dismissed and looked at the Lacrisans, "Shane, go see Nielle and tell him he's getting a report today. If you don't want to go to him, don't, I'll tell him you were with us," he smiled, "you don't have to be here though, go eat something with Iuwin. I don't believe my brother gave you anything to eat at all." He sighed.

"We'll do just that," Iuwin said, pulling Shane out of the room.

Shane, who was beginning to be surprised at how nice Nielle's brothers were to the Lacrisans, unlike him, hesitated for a moment before actually walking up to Iuwin. As they walked outside, Shane looked at the front door and remarked:

"Prince Brelle is friendlier than the rest."

"If you think so," Iuwin didn´t answer.

"Am I wrong?" Shane wondered.

"No, he's really the nicest to us, he's not interested in royal things and spends all day reading books or helping Elyan." He clarified.

"Sympathetic," Shane nodded.

"The prince shouldn't behave like that...but it doesn't the king isn´t bothered by that and we aren´t in the place to say anything." Iuwin clarified.

"Really strange people...in Lacris, all the princes are fighting for the throne, while with them I feel like Louis has no competition," He said.

"He doesn't," Iuwine agreed.

Shane thought for a moment before changing the subject, "Where are we going?"

"Where would you like to go?" He wondered.

“What about some meal?” Shane asked.

Iuwin nodded at the proposal: "At least we agree on something."

***

Nielle interrogated one of the bartenders at the gambling den where the men worked. He knew what this business was, he knew what kind of things everyone was doing illegally here, but the truth was that if he really had a problem with it, he would have resolved it a long time ago. However, seeing no reason to overprotect the Lacrisans in the city when they were stupid enough to come here, he didn't shut down similar businesses. However, when he listened to the guy, he wanted to make an exception and at least beat him.

"I didn't ask if they worked legally, I want to know what kind of customers came to them, or who they were with last time, if they did anything to them," He explained.

"I-I know...Your Highness...I'm saying that...that their work was legal," the barman looked at the tent from the side, as he didn't have time to hide all the containers of drinks he was offering to the Lacrisans.

"He's not listening to me," Nielle sighed, nodding at his guards standing next to him.

In seconds, the men grabbed the guy from behind and slammed him onto the table with a force that nearly stunned him. One of them hit him roughly in the stomach with the blunt side of the sword, and the other pounded him harder on the table with his face. The guy cleared his throat and as soon as they let him go, he looked around in alarm, although there was no one in the business today because of the case.

"I know you work illegally and I really don't care, I want to know the description of the last customers, hair, clothes, accent, anything you can think of," Nielle said more slowly.

A few rough jabs at the guy's stomach brought his tongue to life, after which Nielle finally learned something normal.

"They didn't have regulars...only one-offs...sometimes two at a time," he chatted, "last time...yesterday...yesterday they had two."

"Do you have any details, or do you find it more tempting to talk to us in the dungeons?" Nielle supported his chin.

"No...no...I know...wait...I know what they looked like...one had blue, very blue eyes...red hair," He recalled.

Nielle, who didn't consider blue eyes to be very rare and red hair wasn't such a specialty in Lacris either, sighed deeply, "Anything else?"

,,Yes! One had black hair," he began, but as Nielle tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, he added in horror, "and golden eyes...golden..."

Nielle noticed and blinked in surprise: “Golden? Lacrisan?" He couldn't believe it.

The guy nodded: "Black hair, strange orange strands...and golden eyes...really...I'm not lying...he was all weird."

Nielle sighed deeply as he had just described the Lacrisan he had recently met at the camp. He wondered for a moment if it was a coincidence or if it was really related to the case somehow. However, having obtained the information he wanted, he got up and left the game room.

He let out a soft sigh as he walked out. He wondered if it was appropriate to have a manhunt for Lacrisan given that he knew who it was despite the poor description. He had no idea why he was even hesitating, as normally he would have immediately found suspicious Lacrisan, locked him in the dungeons, interrogated him, and within a day would have reached a resolution.

However, Nielle felt a special sympathy towards the individual from the camp, not allowing him to really suspect him. Yet he knew that he must and couldn´t overlook clear evidence for subjective feeling. But first, he intended to go somewhere to eat.

He walked through the streets of the city, ignoring people's stares and thinking about those golden eyes that attracted him so much. He had never had the luck of Lacrisan, who possessed golden irises, but he knew it would taste unique and be worth it because only his presence radiated something special. And yet he didn't want to take it from him. Nielle found it all strange.

As he thought about what Lacrisan actually looked like, how he felt about him, and where he might be found, he went around a corner towards the food stalls. However, he suddenly stopped in surprise when he heard a familiar voice that he was trying to remember.

He looked towards one of the establishments, in front of which stood a black haired Lacrisan with orange streaks. His familiar black-gold robes, matching the overall noble appearance he had once seen, made it clear to Nielle who stood before him. No matter how much he said to himself that he was only dreaming, that such a coincidence wasn´t possible, the moment the Lacrisan looked in his direction, Nielle knew.

Nielle could notice even from a distance the golden glint of his eyes, which he didn't have to search.

However, no matter how much he thought about it...about how this Lacrisan, right after being suspected of theft, had just become involved in suspicion of murder, the situation didn´t make any sense to him.

After all. How could the golden-eyed Lacrisan be so incredibly unlucky?