Chapter Text
The Prince materialized in the Forest Kingdom, hidden by the trees and greenery. The wandering isle had been close to the forest region, so with full focus he had managed to make it here.
He drew the hood of the cape over his head, and focused, calling on his magic. In a flash, his appearance changed. He now looked like an ordinary woman from the forest kingdom, tan skin, black hair, average height. Disguising himself would make it far easier to stay away from unwanted eyes. The only detail that still gave him away were his dark, stormy eyes, a mixture of black, gray and blue.
With that out of the way, his mind started to wander. What was he to do now?
He had lost everything all over again. His original plan and mission laid in shambles, his house was compromised, castle Obscure wasn’t safe anymore. He had practically nothing on him either. No food, no water, and no currency to pay with. He hadn’t even bothered to bring any money, the only money that laid around in the Sleeping Palace was old money with his father’s face still on it, money you couldn’t pay with anymore.
He had always had an objective to follow, a plan laid out. But now, for the first time in a long time, he did not know what to do. He had no idea where the spell verses were, nor how much time had passed. He recalled Nomenziona saying that it hadn’t been that long, but how long is that? Days? Weeks? Months? And his father remained asleep.
He had failed him.
He hated the royal family, hated Nomenziona for what they had taken from him. Revenge would keep him going. As long as he breathed, as long as he moved, they would all pay eventually.
Three options presented themselves in his mind. He could take someone’s place and lay low in their place. He could try to figure out what happened to the spell pieces after he was put to sleep with them. Or he could devote himself entirely to revenge.
First things first. He had to find food and water, and pay respects to a friend. As much as he hated it, his body was weak from stasis, and desperately needed sustenance.
He knelt down, taking out the little box, intending to give his beetle friend a better resting place. He carefully let it lie on soft grass, and covered it with leaves. Return to the cycle of nature. He hoped it would be at peace, here on the soil where it was born. He took a breath, blinking.
He stood up and walked away. That was enough useless sentiment for today. He would find some fruit and water, then see if he could find out more about the passage of time and the location of the spell pieces. It would be significantly harder without his beetle… but the royals already knew that trick of his anyway, and besides them, nobody knew about those verses anyway.
He had found water and something to eat. Now it was time to get moving again. He supposed he could check the previous hiding places of the spell verses one by one. It would be exceptionally stupid to just put them back where they were last time. They hadn’t counted on him being woken up. He wondered how long it would take the palace residents to find out. He hoped it would take a while. He could use the stealth and the element of utter surprise.
Well, it would be far stupider if he didn’t even look.