Simon was still pondering in the darkness of his carriage when his thoughts were disrupted by a knock on his door.
He turned to the right and called out, “Who is it?”
“It is Rode, your highness,” answered his brother’s attendant.
Simon opened the door.
The bright morning sunlight entered his dark dwelling, making his eyes squint involuntarily.
“Good morning, your highness, Prince Simon,” Rode greeted him. “Your brother, Prince Juno, would like you to join him for breakfast.”
Simon stared at Rode.
The attendant's words hardly registered in his mind. It took a while for him to nod his head and slowly get off his carriage.
“How is my brother?” he asked as they walked towards Prince Juno’s carriage.
“He is doing fine, your majesty. And you?”
“I hardly had a wink of sleep.”
Rode looked closer at the young prince.
Dark circles surround his bloodshot eyes. It really did seem like he stayed up all night.
“I am sorry to hear that,” he said with a slight bow, “I suggest you eat a hearty meal this morning to lessen your fatigue. We shall be leaving for the nearest town soon, then you can rest in an inn to recover your strength.”
Simon gave a sigh.
“I would like that very much,” said he. ‘Then perhaps these thoughts would finally leave my head alone.’
“Good morning brother Simon.”
Simon almost jumped at the mention of his name. He looked forward and saw his brother seated behind a portable table.
“Good morning, brother Juno,” he replied.
“How was your night?” Prince Juno inquired.
“It was okay.”
Juno stared at his brother’s haggard looks and sighed.
“Why don’t you sit down and join me for breakfast?”
Simon looked at the food spread in front of them.
He felt himself salivate at the sight of the feast, particularly at the steaming meat pie Rode was currently cutting.
He just remembered that he hardly had any dinner due to the traumatic fight that happened.
“Seems to me, you weren’t able to sleep well last night,” Juno said.
“There were just... a lot of things in my mind...” Simon replied.
“I know how you feel.”
Simon looked at his brother once again.
He does seem to look a bit nervous this morning.
“Never the less, we need to leave for the nearest town soon. Who knows what else is waiting to ambush us along the road. It would be best to eat your fill now so we can go on our way.”
Simon stared at the food on his plate. Now that he was looking at it, his appetite seem to have left him.
It was probably because of his brother’s words.
Would more assassins try to kill them again?
Would he be lucky enough to beat them all?
“What’s the matter, brother, aren’t you hungry?”
Simon snapped out of his thoughts.
“Do you not like the food, perhaps?” Juno asked.
“Ah... no, this is fine.”
Simon took hold of his fork and knife and proceeded to cut a small portion of the pie. It was then that he noticed that his brother’s plate was still clean.
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“How about you, brother?”
Simon noticed his brother Juno’s shoulders tense up.
“Ah, I have a slight indigestion. I think perhaps, I should just eat some fruit instead.”
Upon saying this, Juno took an apple from a basket of fruits in front of them and took a bite off it.
Simon stared at him and slowly placed his fork down.
“Brother, I was actually planning to ask you something...”
“And what would that be?” Juno replied.
“The knights from yesterday,” continued Simon, “I was wondering how they were able to accompany us without any of your knights realizing that they were impostors?”
Simon watched his brother’s jaw tighten.
“Didn’t your knights Sir Eli and Sir Trix find it suspicious that they were different people?”
He looked around and saw his brother’s two knights standing guard, their eyes watching him.
He turned to look the other way as if searching for someone.
“By the way, brother, did you see that bearded knight that was with me yesterday?”
“The bearded knight?” his brother answered rather nervously. “He was nowhere to be found when morning came. We’re suspecting that he was collaborating with the rest of the bandits you killed yesterday.”
Simon stared at Juno wide-eyed.
“That can’t be,” he said, frowning. “That knight was the one who helped me kill those bandits. If it wasn’t for him, I would have been killed as soon as I stepped outside of my carriage.”
“Is that so...” Juno looked pass him.
Simon followed his gaze and noticed Rode standing behind him with a long, serrated bread knife in his hand.
“I’m afraid the bearded knight is no longer here,” said the attendant. “He probably ran away during the night.”
“Perhaps he got scared after seeing how... ‘heroic’ you truly are,” Juno said with a sarcastic grin.
It was an expression that Simon had gotten used to seeing, but something inside him told him that this was something he should no longer condone.
“Brother, are you playing a trick on me?” Simon asked Juno in a flat tone.
The grin on Juno’s face faded.
“O-of course not, brother, why would I play tricks on you?” he quickly replied.
“I just can’t help but think that you’re making fun of me, like you and brother Largos always do.”
Simon stared straight at Juno.
“I have always respected you as my elder brothers,” he continued, his gaze unwavering, “but I can’t help but wonder why you always try to make my life miserable. You never really picked on our other brothers as much as you picked on me.”
“Brother Simon, how can you say that?” Juno tried to smile but ended up with a crooked snarl instead. “It just so happens that I was quite fond of you,” he reasoned. “That’s right, I just like to play harmless tricks on you because you were fun to tease...”
“Is that so?” Simon tilted his head to a side.
“Ah, it’s because you never give up,” he explained. “Seeing such a skinny boy practicing with an oversize sword every day was just so...”
Juno paused and smiled at Simon.
“Inspiring.”
Simon’s brows raised up at his brothers words.
“I have always thought that you would simply throw your bastard sword away and stay locked up in your room crying after we make fun of you, but no... you learned to raise that sword and wield it around with those twig arms of yours, even if all you knew were two moves – just a straight down slash and a stab. Yet you kept at it, even though not a single instructor wasted their time to teach you anything else.”
Juno tried to read Simon’s expressionless face as he went on.
“Wasn’t it I who told father to send you to the Behemoth expedition to prove yourself to him?” he went on. “I knew that you would be able to slow the monster down for us to kill it, but you went past our expectations and even slayed the behemoth yourself! You are our kingdom’s Hero!”
The smile on Juno’s face looked desperate.
“I guess it is true what they say, that the gods favor the pure and the innocent!” he concluded.
“Is that so?” Simon asked, finally smiling at his older brother. “I had no idea you had such high hopes in me.”
“Of course I do!” Juno declared. “You are my brother, after all, we are of the same blood, though we have different mothers...”
“You see, I was thinking a lot last night,” Simon continued, disregarding his brother’s words. “I don’t believe our cousin Prince Hayle would bother killing us. I doubt if you could actually take his place as future king in the West Twin. I also doubt that there were people from another country who plan to capture our kingdom,” he went on. “If that was the case, they wouldn’t have wasted their time attacking us. They would have targeted our country while we were away.”
“But wouldn’t they –”
Simon raised his right hand as Juno tried to speak, raising his silver bread knife up in the air.
“I doubt if they were merely bandits in disguise as well,” he said. “no bandit is stupid enough to attack a hero’s entourage, and if they truly are idiots, they wouldn’t have been intelligent enough to infiltrate our knights. Like I said, I don’t believe that your knights never realized that they had been infiltrated in the first place.”
Juno’s face looked pale.
“And so, I concluded, that someone close to me must have orchestrated everything.” Simon’s eyes stared at his brother’s. “Thus, I asked myself,” he added, pointing the bread knife at Juno, “who would benefit the most if I were to die?”
Juno suddenly stood up and moved away from the table.
“Are you pointing your blade at me?!” he shouted at Simon.
“What blade?” Simon feigned ignorance. “I’m merely enjoying my breakfast with you, brother.” he said with a smile, his thin lips stretched across his face.
Juno kept his distance.
“Say brother,” Simon added after a while. “This meat pie looks delicious, why don’t you take a bite? Is there a reason why you won’t eat it?”
“O-of course not!” Juno stuttered.
“Then why don’t you sit back down and join me eat?”
Juno stared at Simon who had never taken his eyes off of him.
He looked at Rode next, then at his two knights who now stood next to their table.
He took a deep breath and finally sat back on his seat.
“Rode, please serve me some of that pie.”
“Of course, your highness,” Rode replied with a slight bow.
The attendant used the long serrated bread knife to serve him a slice. He placed it on the empty plate in front of him and stood by his side, facing Simon who sat still on his seat.
Juno took his knife and fork, and cutting a chunk of pie, placed it in his mouth and started chewing.
“There,” he said after swallowing. “now, can we finally have some breakfast?”
Simon smiled at Juno.
“Of course, brother.”
Only then did he take a bite off his food.
Simon went back inside his carriage as soon as he finished his breakfast.
Sir Eli was tasked to drive his carriage since the bearded knight was nowhere to be found.
Soon, the entourage was on its way towards the nearest town.
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Go to Part 51
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