Chapter Text
Some things ought to become more familiar as someone grows older. A noble coming from an influential county should know how to behave as an aristocrat. The noble should enjoy certain things and stay in the line for the sake of their territory. They should have petty political fights, try to become richer, look for earning some merit and additional territory for their family.
Cale Henituse might be a son of a noble, but he wasn't a part of the stereotype. He was the oldest trashy son of Count Deruth Henituse. He caused many problems and some of these problems are constant growing fear among servants. He had a habit of destroying property and drinking.
The etiquette of a proper noble was nowhere present within the rebellious man, so why did his father think it was a good idea to send him on such an important event? Cale had to wonder.
"Why would I go? I am not interested-" He slurred out in order to refute his father's decision of sending him to some royal event after all, who in their right mind would send an alcoholic to such an event. Bringing up a wine bottle ready to take another swig, despite it being long since emptied, Cale was stopped after a sickly cough coming from Bassen. At that moment, Cale realized that his younger step-sibling was sick.
'How annoying situation. How did he even manage to get sick. ' Cale thought angrily. Where did Bassen even manage to catch a cold? Maybe some reckless servants decided to walk around sick despite their father offering them a paid sick leave. The thought infuriated the young man, however there was no worth in trying to find the culprit behind it.
But he really didn't want to see the ugly and annoying nobles like Venion Sten. Just the thought of having to endure looking at their face made his stomach turn.
However, he may be trash- but he wasn't a heartless bastard.
He knew that Sending Bassen to the capital while he was sick would be a cold scrutinizing decision. Bassen could end up fainting in the middle of the trip, maybe even dying in the worst case scenario. They could get him potions, but there were no priests or doctors who could actually help him. Potions were only a temporary solution.
Cale tsked at his father before asking: "When is it even happening?"
The explanation Deruth provided was both satisfying and mildly annoying. Crown prince, Alver Crossman, was holding an event in order to find a possible future fiance. All young nobles and future heirs were invited. It was going to be a classical ball for everyone to have fun, but in reality it was still yet another political event. The main goal of the ball for the most lower and less influential nobles was going to be building relationships.
Deruth mentioned something along the lines: ‘I don’t think the first prince organized the event.’
But overall that comment flew over everyone’s head. Royal games weren’t of interest to Henituse County, Deruth and Bassen didn’t care. Neither did Cale.
All that was on the mind of the trash son was the alcohol he would be able to drink. It was going to be a boring gathering anyway, so he could at least try the taste of the shitty alcohol they would offer.
Though, it probably wasn’t good enough to win against Henituse’s extraordinary wine.
To someone like Cale such an event held no water. His father, Deruth Henituse, didn't seem to care much either. The fact that he was willing to send a dead weight like Cale to such an event proved this point. They were rich, and considering that their father stuck so close to the family motto, he didn’t want to suck up to the Royal family ass.
"I will prepare the best carriage for you. Ron and Vicross will go with you as well. Our residence in the capital should be good enough to stay for a few days." Deruth said, smiling slightly while observing his oldest son.
"The good time to leave would be in two days." The older man got up and calmly asked while approaching the rebellious teen: "Will you come and eat breakfast with us tomorrow?"
"Tsk I will see. If I feel like waking up." Cale answered annoyed before leaving the room rudely. He shut the door loudly behind himself to further show his disapproval.
The man left behind sighed while brushing his hand through his hair. His invitation was declined once again.
Cale was aware that he himself might want to eat breakfast with his family. But he didn't like to eat with them due to the awkwardness his family always felt. He couldn't stand all the flinches and glances they would send his way every so often. That made an unenjoyable breakfast even more annoying.
It was useless to wonder when this awkwardness started, because it has already been far too long. Although he appreciated his family, at the end of the day, it was far too late for any change to happen.
Needless to say, the breakfast went unattended. Cale didn't will himself enough to even wake up and fulfill his father's wish. Deruth never asked why he didn’t attend, so in the end nothing changed.
It didn’t matter.
It was just one of many more breakfasts that were to come.
Neither of them mentioned the declined invitation, nor did Deruth bother to force his oldest son to do anything. As for the upcoming ball, Deruth did his best to find an appropriate and the most comfortable carriage for his son. On the other hand…
Cale didn’t worry too much about the upcoming event and leisurely waited for the day to arrive. He spent his free days drinking and playing around in the bars. Leisurely relaxing.
And two days later the carriage arrived, ready to take Cale for his travel.
"I hope you arrive safely in the capital." Deruth said with a buffoon-like smile on his face, while his wife stood next to him. Truly, Violan didn't have even one hair falling out of her perfect bun. Her elegant noble presence was for praise. Although that same appearance made her come off rather unapproachable.
Next to them were his younger siblings, Bassen ,who was often wary of Cale afraid that some alcohol bottle could come flying his way, failed to notice that Cale never harmed people during his tantrums. On the other hand his little sister, Lilly was far more fearless, but they weren't close. The age difference and Cale’s distance were the cause.
It was a little funny that his family went to bid him a goodbye. It was funny that it made him slightly happy.
“Yes of course. How else should I arrive? Dead?” Cale grumbled while looking away. His clothes were as extravagant as always. He loved to show off his status as a noble, and nothing will stop him from that.
Deruth awkwardly laughed before informing his son about the trip. “You’ll have to take a break on a few campsites. The first place where you’ll actually be able to rest for a day is the Puzzle city.”
“The trip shouldn’t be too long. However there were some reports about the bandits going around…” Bassen commented worriedly. He was really soft hearted. No wonder the side family wanted to throw dirt on him. A soft sniffle could be heard coming from the still slightly sick Bassen.
“Ehhh, Henituse’s soldiers are strong, though.” Lilly argued slightly and Bassen refuted back with classical ‘ You never know what might happen ’.
Their arguing was pushed back as Violan moved slightly forward.
“Stay safe.” She said in a calm voice befitting of a noble woman, wishing him a safe trip. It felt off-putting. Two of them were like strangers. They didn’t spend much, if any, time together. Though, he was rather amazed with the way his step mother held herself and showed her status.
Cale acknowledged his step-mother with a nod, before grumbling “ Tsk , it’s annoying. But I will survive until we reach the residence.”
As the words left his mouth, the man entered the carriage and seated himself comfortably inside. The carriage started making its way out of the city shortly after. He didn’t look at his family as the carriage left.
Although he wasn’t aware, they were watching the carriage leave. Neither of the family members moved until the clatter of horses was inaudible and the horizon was left empty. Deruth was worried about his son, but there wasn’t much he could do. As a head of a mere county, he needed to obey the people higher than him.
Traveling was boring all the way to the capital. No dangerous bandit attacks happened, which was slightly disappointing to Cale. He wanted to see a slight chaos in the overall boring ride.
Although wishing on some misfortune like an attack by bandits happening on the trip was quite brazen, Cale had trust in the Henituse knights. If they weren't able to protect their master, they were useless.
To put it promptly, their trip towards Puzzle City went without any problem. Cale observed the scenery outside the carriage while drinking wine from a bottle like a thug. He still managed to look like a proper noble.
Hans was sitting on the other side as far away from the young master as possible in fear of unexpected bottles being thrown his way.
Although he was afraid and nervous, the ginger man was aware of his position as a deputy butler.
He quietly observed Cale with his sharp eyes and awkwardly weighed options whether or not to give the noble some interesting information.
However, the next rough movement of Cale's hand in order to take another sip of the alcohol, set in stone Butler's decision to keep quiet.
Why play with fire, when he could simply sit down and let the young master be. Hans turned his head towards the other window and observed all the tiny towers made out of stone. The sight was quite wholesome and the meaning behind the numerous structures was rather interesting.
Eventually the boring carriage ride finally came to its stop. After one of the servants opened the door, Cale plopped out. “Haah fucking finally!My ass started feeling all sore.”
“I’ll fastly get us a room, young master! Please wait a few minutes.” Hans answered before hurrying into one of few available inns. The redhead clicked his tongue before calling out for Ron.
“Hey Ron, I will be taking a walk around.” The troublesome young master announced before walking away, leaving the bottle of wine. It was annoying to sit for the whole day, so Cale ought to take a walk.
They were bound to rest here for a few days before continuing their travel towards the capital. Cale was beginning to count how many times he cursed the crown prince in his mind. At the moment he was on number 27. It was one of the things that killed his time, aside from the drinking.
Ron, the loyal butler who meant far more to the redhead than he would like to admit, followed after him. They arrived at the big stone tower.
If Cale remembered correctly, there were no temples in the Puzzle city because of some myth about gods abandoning the city and its citizens. There was also a silly legend about building towers of stones as a promise to oneself. He mindlessly wondered whether to waste his time on something like that or not.
“Oh, you’ve already arrived Cale.” The voice from behind made the redhead flinch slightly from surprise.
He turned around to see the culprit. His cheeks might’ve still been flushed red considering the slight disappointment drawn on the person’s face.
However, the person decided to ignore the flushed cheeks before approaching him.
“It is great that we meet here, Cale. It has been a while.” Eric Whilsman said while gently placing a hand on top of Cale’s shoulder.
‘Some people really never change.’ The redhead thought while turning towards the older, and giving him the grace of a decent greeting.
“It has been a while, hyung. How’ve you been doing… Apart from this shitty event.” Cale commented. Although it was a bonus to meet Eric here, it still didn’t mean that any of this was satisfying.
“Everything is going well. It is slightly surprising that you’re coming instead of Bassen. Did something happen?” The stuck up guy asked the other, with a gentle but still worried smile. The redhead sighed slightly before answering the curious question.
“He is going to be alright, but I ended up going instead of him because he got sick from some servants.” Cale complained to his close friend. It was rather interesting how someone like Eric still stuck to him even after he became nothing more than trash.
“Hopefully he’ll get better.” The older sighed and shook his head. “But either way, now that you’re coming… you know that this is an important event?”
‘Hah, it didn’t take long’, Cale thought while his smile perked up. This was going to be a fun night. He will be able to tease Eric a little bit, though, he won’t go overboard lest the poor noble gets a heart attack.
The two men talked, well, mainly the older one telling Cale how to behave and forbidding him from drinking a drop of alcohol at the event. Once they returned to the inn, funnily enough they were staying in the same inn, they ate.
The day went well, without any more stress.
As the night approached, Cale observed the stone tower left on their balcony. The small tower was still standing strong despite all the rough winds trying to destroy it. Mindlessly wondering if he should build one, Cale realized he had no particular wish… apart from maybe his days being less boring. Maybe getting closer to… Heh, what a fun thought.