The overcast sky allowed not a single ray of sunlight to pass through its dense foliage, plunging the Baron’s office into near-complete darkness. A single wick of flame loosely danced within the old, grease-covered oil lantern and scarcely illuminated its surroundings.

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. Droplets of rain crashed against the thick, iron-grilled windows producing a somber cacophony. Standing against this and looking into the foggy outside was a shadowed figure. His height was short and his back was slumped. His face, pallid and sunken, was veiled in shadowy darkness. His arms, loosely covered in garments, were dainty and folded.

Atlas Constantine stood beside the window of his office, overlooking the dense, rainy darkness outside, His eyelids, half-open and half-conscious, slid down to cover his drowsy eyes when…

“My liege!~” The door to the office slammed open and the large-bodied Baron walked in.

Snapping his eyes open, Atlas furiously turned around and barked, “What you egg!?”

“My liege!?” The Baron recoiled back in horror, his eyes colored with confusion. The young prince’s thorn-filled insult was rather sudden and…bizarre for the older man to comprehend.

Still, recognizing that he had erred by accidentally disturbing his liege, the large man apologized. “I’m terribly sorry, my liege. It was impudent of me to disturb your calm. Please punish me as you see fit!” The Baron loudly asked for punishment and awaited fierce rebukes.

“Stop yelling! Please, just stop yelling! I can’t take it anymore. Just shut up.”

Contrary to what he expected, the young prince replied not with rebukes but with earnest appeals. Raising his lowered head, the Baron found the prince covering his face with his hands and furiously rubbing his forehead.

“Gods, this headache is killing me! Why doesn’t this stupid world have some aspirin!?” Atlas asked, only to be met with confused silence.

“Ass-pie-ren? What is that, my liege!? Please tell me so that this servant can find it and bring it to you!”

“Baron Helm,” water gathered within the prince’s large eyes, “please, lower your voice.” His earnest pleas were not sincere begs. “Please stop talking for some time.”

The large-bodied man opened his mouth to say something, but wisely shut his mouth when he saw the prince’s tear-filled expression. His soft heart folded from seeing the prince’s appearance.

‘This is all my fault.’ He even began to inwardly blame himself. ‘His Highness is still a child lacking in experience after all. It was inevitable for him to break down into tears facing this difficult situation. I-I have failed my liege. My incompetence is to blame.’ He bit his lips, clenched his fists, and lowered his head with shame.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Atlas was desperately holding himself back from hitting his head against the table’s surface. No matter how bad he wanted to counter the internal pain by using some external force, he couldn’t bring himself to break character. Banging one’s head against a table was a very un-princely thing to do.

Fortunately, the few minutes of silence afforded to him brought him some much-needed respite. The headache receded into manageable levels, and the prince finally brought his attention to the matter at hand.

“I really need to sleep soon. Headaches are the bane of my existence,” Atlas softly muttered. Bringing his hands back to the table, he noticed a few strands of golden hair within his palms. ‘Hair? I must’ve accidently pulled some when I was rubbing my forehead. Cool, looks like this body’s got blonde hair.’

This discovery reminded Atlas once more that he had yet to check out his features in a mirror. ‘I sure hope I’m still as handsome as my previous self. Charisma goes a long way in the ruling business.’

Pushing extraneous matters to the corner of his mind, he looked at his loyal, utterly incapable servant and asked, “What brought you here in such a hurry, Baron Helm?” He then saw the older man nervously twitch without giving him a reply. Quickly realizing the reason, he continued, “You may speak again. Just take care to keep your voice to a minimum. You scream again and I’m ordering you to sleep outside.”

“...understood, my liege,” the Baron replied. He then gazed at the tired-faced prince and apologized. “I’m sorry, my liege. It’s due to my incompetence that you suffer.”

‘Would’chya look at that. He’s self-aware. That’s rare.’ Atlas flashed a warm smile and replied, “I appreciate the sentiments, Baron Helm. However, I’m not so petty as to blame my subordinates for every difficulty encountered.” He finished sincerely. ‘Indeed. If you had truly held me back and caused trouble for me, I would’ve already thrown you under the bus. Count your blessings for not having slighted me.’

“My liege!!” Baron Helm’s eyes oozed with tears and loyalty(?). He appeared to have been incredibly moved by the young prince’s words. Rubbing his red eyes with his sleeves, he then took a few deep breaths before quietly speaking.

“My liege, a few of the townspeople have arrived at the manor and have requested a meeting with you. They appear to have some questions.” While saying this out loud, the Baron inwardly thought, ‘Things happened exactly as the prince had said last night. Some townspeople did arrive the next day, holding questions in their hearts.’

“Just as I had guessed,” Atlas nodded his head, seemingly having expected this. “How many have come?”

“Eight, my liege,” Baron Helm replied. “And as you had guessed, they are all family members or close relatives of the coal miners.”

“Eight, huh? That’s less than I thought.” Atlas casually remarked. ‘Looks like the faith that the townspeople have in me is a lot higher than what I previously thought. All things considered, this is an excellent outcome.’ The higher the people’s trust in him, the more sneaky things he could get away with. ‘I can rest easy knowing that the ‘modified’ meals aren’t going to be discovered anytime soon.’ This revelation released a huge burden from his back.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Atlas rose to his feet, dusted his humble clothing, and spoke, “Let’s not keep our guests waiting then.”

Baron Helm nodded his head and led the prince towards the manor’s parlor.

–--

The duo quickly arrived at their destination and found a group of adults anxiously pacing around the parlor. Seeing the Baron and the little prince walk in, they hurriedly stopped and paid their respects.

“Your Highness, Lord Baron, thank you for meeting with us,” one of the more eloquent townspeople announced his thanks.

“To soothe what ails his citizens is but the duty of a prince. Please take a seat, my fellowmen.” Atlas greeted them in response.

Meeting with the prince’s calm and noble bearing immediately soothed over half of their initial worries. “We couldn’t take a seat in the presence of his noble highness and Lord Baron. Please allow us to stand.”

“Oh, but I insist that you gentlemen and lady take a seat,” Atlas paused his eyes over Anna for a second. He noticed that she was the only woman amongst the eight arrivals. “It must’ve been rather troublesome to come seeking me in this horrid weather. Please grant me this honor of comforting you and have a seat.” The prince firmly and politely stated, giving no room for a rebuke.

Faced without any options, the townspeople reluctantly took their seats. Soon, a portion of their tension blood from their faces as their taut bodies relaxed against the soft cushioning of the seats. The anxiety in their hearts lessened further.

Atlas took a seat himself and the Baron stood behind him, acting like an aide. After giving a couple of seconds for the townspeople to settle in, he then continued with their conversation. “May I ask your selves, what brings you here in spite of this terrible weather?”

Just as the eloquent townsperson who had initially greeted Atlas was about to open his mouth, Anna, Gunter’s wife, intervened and asked directly, “Is it true that there is a pack of wolves roaming in the forest outside the town, milord?”

The others within the room glared at Anna for rudely hijacking the conversation. However, they didn’t hold any grudge against her as this question was the reason for their arrival at the Baron’s manor.

Hearing this question, Atlas did not show any outward reaction. He showed neither surprise nor shock, but simply directed his gaze towards the ground.

‘As expected. The damage was already done. By the time I reacted to control it, it was already too late.’ The news regarding the wolves leaking to the townspeople was something that Atlas had already expected. It was an inevitable conclusion given the facts. It was just that he was a little disappointed at how soon the people had reacted. ‘I would’ve definitely liked it if they had come a day or two later. Then again, that’s simply wishful thinking.’

While Atlas was silent and lost in his thoughts, Anna, the speaker of the question, clenched the hem of her humble dress in trepidation. Her simple, pretty face was overcome with anxiety and fear towards the state of her beloved.

Just as the passing seconds seemed to grow unbearable for her, she heard the youth before her, the gorgeous, doll-like prince, reply.

“I’m afraid it is true, Mrs. Abel,” Atlas replied, recognizing the woman from her features recorded in the Citizen’s Registry kept in his office. (Atlas had asked two scholars to document everyone in the town and compile it into a book. His unnatural memory allowed him to correlate the woman before her with the information recorded in the book.)

“Our town is under the risk of being besieged by a pack of wolves. I offer my sincerest apologies for hiding this matter from you and the other townspeople. I simply did not want to spread fear and fester panic in the hearts of my citizens, while the truth of the situation remains unknown. Please accept my apologies.” Atlas stood up and bowed towards the eight seated adults.

“I would also like to offer my apologies.” Baron Helm, who remained standing behind the prince, also offered a bow.

The truth of the matter hit the gathered townspeople like a metaphorical truck and caught them off-guard. Before they could process his new information, however, they found their two noble leaders bowing to them.

“Your Highness!” “Lord Baron!” The townspeople immediately jumped up to their feet and hurriedly dissuaded the noble leaders from bowing. Their hearts collectively thumped with both excitement and fear as they answered their apology.

“Please raise up your head, Your Highness. It isn’t natural for a noble to bow before a peasant.”

“It is only natural for the wrongdoer to ask for forgiveness while admitting his wrongs,” Atlas sternly replied to that remark. ‘Blast! All this shouting and moving is causing my headache to return. What I would kill for an aspirin…’

“Still, please raise your head, Your Highness! We don’t dare accept your apologies. Just knowing that Your Highness’ heart was with our townspeople already serves as an apology. You have done nothing wrong.”

“Indeed. Please lift yer head, milord. Ye’re simply lookin out for us.”

“To know our lord worries about us peasants is apology enough, please raise your head, milord!”

One by one the peasants voiced their replies and soon, even Anna joined in.

“I wouldn’t dare accept your apology nor was it my reason for coming here, milord! I came here to seek your counsel regarding the situation and…” she paused here and clenched the hem of her skirt once again, “is my lord knowledgeable about the situation of the miners?” More than the situation with the wolves, Anna was worried about the situation of her beloved.

“About that, Mrs. Abel…,” Atlas was just about to reply when a shout drew his attention.

“My lord! You were right! The tracks do lead away from the town and towards the mines!”

The scout whom Atlas had sent out a few hours ago, promptly arrived with information.