Judas processed Elenor's words before answering, "...What do you mean? Slavery trading? Wasn't it...banned?"

Elenor didn't say anything, allowing Judas to mull over her words. His face paled, stumbling on his feet before gripping on the railing tightly, his other hand resting on his forehead.

"...I thought we got rid of everything already.." he muttered to himself.

Hearing his words, Elenor was finally reassured that he wasn't involved with Hera. His reactions couldn't be faked.

He looked at Elenor with conflicted eyes, "..What do you mean involved with Hera? Please tell me everything, I need to know."

Elenor gripping her forearm tightly before relaxing it, "There was an illegal slavery trading that had been going on still, behind the scenes. Your sister, her highness is most likely involved in it. That man beside her was at the auction."

"...There's no way..she would do these things." Judas reasoned but Elenor spoke again,

"Then do you know how she gets so many men? Ranging from commoners to nobles." she questioned.

Judas didn't respond back, Elenor knew what she had just said was something he couldn't retort back because he had the same guess and answer as her.

"Prince Judas, what will you do now?"

"Pardon?"

"What will you do now that you have some suspicion on your sister, will you pretend like you knew nothing or," she paused her words, side glancing at him who had a stiff expression,

"Would you rather join hands with Lloyd and I in putting a stop to this?"

Judas kept silent, unable to look at her in the eye, resorting to keeping his eyes up at the night sky which twinkled brightly above them.

Elenor said nothing else as she knew she had said enough. She pushed herself away from the balcony railing and turned her body to him, facing him directly this time.

"Shall we head back to the party?" she asked before making her way back inside the party without waiting for his answer.

Judas watched as her figure was about to disappear when he abruptly opened his mouth, "Lady Elenor I-"

She stopped her footsteps and turned back at him. The wind suddenly blew harshly on them. Elenor's dress fluttered as she awaited for what he wanted to say.

He closed his eyes shut tightly for a mere second before opening them, his gaze sharp, different from his usual soft gaze.

"..Actually I love my younger sister dearly, she meant a lot to me ever since we were little." Judas began, his eyes returning back up to the night sky.

Elenor wasn't expecting him to suddenly speak about his past but nonetheless said nothing and quietly listen to him speak.

"She was always hard to see as she was never allowed to leave her room. However, I would always try my best to see her even if it meant being punished after that," he paused, staying quiet for a moment as if he was reliving those memories in his head.

He opened his mouth to say more but halted and slowly closed his mouth. He heaved a small sigh and shook his head.

Elenor walked closer but stopped mere feet away. Judas never once looked away from the sky as he spoke.

"...Do you still love your sister?" Elenor quietly asked.

When he heard her question, he smiled, finally bringing his gaze away from the sky and down on to her. "I do but as the crown prince, I must do my duties."

"Lady Elenor, please let me join you and Lloyd in bringing Hera down and punishing her." he firmly said, fists clenched to the side.

"If you don't want to-"

"No, I must." he cut her off before she finished her sentence.

Elenor shot him a smile yet it didn't reach her eyes. Lightly, she nodded, "...Thank you, Prince Judas."

He wanted to show her a smile yet he couldn't bring himself to. All he did was nod before looking back at the sky.

Seeing this, Elenor left the balcony, allowing him to indulge in his own thoughts alone. She bowed and left.

Judas internally thanked her for noticing that he wanted to be alone at the moment. The party now becoming background noises as he spent his time alone with his thoughts.

"Where's Hera?" he asked a maid who was walking through the hallway.

The maid froze for a split second before smiling at him, "Unfortunately, I do not know where her highness is."

Judas nodded with a pout on his face. He waved goodbye to the maid and headed to the garden where he would always find Hera waiting at.

Upon reaching, there was no presence in the garden except for his. Confused, he decided to search around to find her.

Judas searched through the main palace but wasn't able to find her.

"That's strange... she was never a good hider if we ever played.." he muttered to himself, heading to the other buildings in search of his little sister but before he could, he was stopped by a few nobles who noticed him.

"Your highness what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class with the tutors his majesty prepared for you?" one of them asked with a frown.

"I will, I'm looking for Hera right now." Judas responded before trying to walk past them but was stopped once more.

Although he wanted to frown and raise his voice to make them move, he was under many eyes. He swallowed back his words and kept patient.

"Does his highness not know?"

He raised an eyebrow at the question, "Pardon?"

"Her highness was ordered to be moved away to another building. His majesty even banned everyone from meeting her." they responded.

Judas paled at the words. He slowly stepped back before running off to his father. Without knocking, he burst into his father's working space, panting hard.

"Father!"

His father frowned at him, "What is it Judas? Why did you not knock on the door before coming in? That is extremely unmannered."

Judas ignored whatever his father said and immediately questioned what he came to ask, "Why did you make Hera move away? She has been living with us this whole time."

"Hera?" his father scoffed at the name. He placed his pen down and directly looked at Judas, "She has been taking too much of your time. Because of her, you haven't been caught up in your studies like I asked you to."

"But father I have been-"

"I want you to be better. Smarter. Even if you understand everything you have been learning, you need to be farther in your studies than everyone else. What would the people think if the crown prince couldn't even do what he's tasked to do? That half blooded girl has been pulling you down." he strictly said, his tone cold.

Judas flinched at his words and looked down at his shoes. "Father-"

"Enough. This is your own doing. If you hadn't pampered and paid so much attention to her, perhaps I could have let her off."

Those words struck him deeply, as if an arrow pierced through his heart. He didn't speak even after he left. Aimlessly, he walked and walked till he finally stopped back at the garden where he and Hera would often be together.

Hera calling him brother, echoed through his mind as he quietly stared at the ground. He curled his hands into tight fists before running again but this time, searching for which building Hera was now residing in.

No matter what his father said and others thought, he still wanted to see his sister. He wanted to see how she was doing right at this moment. He ran and ran until he was caught by one of his guards who was sent to find him for his classes.

Even after that, he continued searching for her until finally he found which building it was. The sun had already begun setting, the sky turning from blue to a mixed of red hues.

Judas was a mess with his clothes sticking to his sweaty tan skin and his hair that was combed neatly now all messed up due to him running everywhere.

He ordered the maid that was cleaning the building to bring him to Hera's room. The maid fidget on spot before cautiously speaking to him,

"Her highness said to not allow anyone to meet her.."

"Tell her it's her brother." Judas pleaded.

"Your highness... his majesty has also said that if your highness ever tries to see her highness, she would receive a punishment."

"..." his yellow shade eyes fluttered back open and he quietly released a sigh.

He straightened his back and headed back inside the party, firmly promising to himself that he wouldn't mix his personal emotions with his duties.

As he walked out of the balcony, the memory of Hera smiling flashed before him for the last time.

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