"Young Master, His Highness has invited you to join him for tea"

"I refuse" Pier immediately said as he turned the page of the book he was reading.

He immediately got off the platform in the town square after Asher's announcement of what just happened in the boundary and the issue of the mayor and the attendant.

It was only by chance that he was able to clear most of the things that were bothering him because of the town's mayor's actions.

He continued reading for a few more minutes until the servant came back again.

"Young Master, His Highness has invited you to join him for lunch"

"I refuse," Pier said again.

He did not have any reason to join the Crown Prince in any of his endeavors.

'He can have lunch and tea all by himself without me' He said as he flipped another page of the book. He was leisurely reading the novel where he had gotten his extremely lame-ass nickname 'Prince of the Forbidden Snow'.

'They could have just called me the prince of snow or what, but they instead chose to give me a long one with total nonsense,' He thought and scoffed at the character people said he resembled.

"Matthias Whitlock, the Prince of the Forbidden Snow and the antagonist of the novel Back to the Nights of Winter. His character was the only reasonable one I'd approve." He grumbled as he was critiquing the novel.

The crow only tilted its head as it lay on Pier's bed, enjoying the cold feeling from outside.

"The male lead is totally shitty. He's a stupid moron who enjoys having concubines but does not want the female lead to be with another man," He commented as he turned another page again.

It was Eliam's habit of judging a book and how well it was written while still continuing to read it until the last page.

"Young Master, His Highness has invited you to join him see the sickly," the servant returned again but Pier's answers remained the same.

"I refuse," being near Asher was too suffocating for him and he did not want to interact anymore with the Crown Prince.

"People should not normalize the fact that just because a handsome prince is inviting them to something they should immediately go. Especially when the prince is like that" He referred to Asher.

The dislike he was trying to bury in his mind because the original Pier had liked the prince too much was already resurfacing and the memories of Pier did not help one bit with the situation.

Eliam was afraid to look more in Pier's memories with him and Asher because he might just go and bitch slap Asher right in front of everyone.

'That Crown Prince is a horrendous being' He thought as he was nearing the final pages of the book.

"Young Master, His Highness-"

"I said, I refuse. I refuse any of his invitations. Please relay that message to His Highness" Pier said as he sighed. He just wanted to be alone and read the novel because people were comparing him to the antagonist they had come to love.

"If you come back here one more time to relay His Highness' invitation, tell him he won't see Pier Belmiunde for the next days to come" He warned as he closed the book. It made a thumping sound as the hard bounded covers bumped with each other.

The servant shrieked as he heard Pier's warning.

He did not want to anger the young master who had a displeased look while he was reading and the book in his hands.

"U-Understood, young master!" The servant immediately left and Pier sighed as he watched the snow fall outside. It was the weather he enjoyed but he could not fully feel it because he was too occupied with things that he did not want to involve himself with.

"Haaah" He gave a long sigh and stood up.

"Do you want to go with me? I want to buy something and go somewhere" Pier asked the crow as he wore his fur coat.

"That reminds me, I need to talk with that idiot of a knight" He remembered as he was wearing the coat Gideon had given. Pier knew the instances where Gideon was feeling burdened because he could not do something he truly believed he needed to do.

"He was probably thinking how he could not protect me and stuff" He chuckled as the bird flew and hid inside his fur coat. The fur was very comfortable to lay at that the crow snuggled itself in.

---

"Y-Your Highness!" Asher who was talking with the physician turned to look at the servant he had ordered to request Pier's presence to join him in his activities.

"Did the young master decline again?" He asked and the servant nodded his head.

"A-And the young master also told me... that if you send me back there again, you won't see him for the next days to come" the servant explained and Asher immediately stopped.

'I won't see him for the next days?' He thought.

He nodded his head as he dismissed the servant.

"Alright, you're dismissed" the servant bowed as he hurriedly went away from the prince's presence.

Asher sighed as he looked up at the cloudy gray sky.

He wanted to talk to Pier but the young master was avoiding him as if he had a contagious disease or something.

His constant invites to the young master were all he could think of because he could never force Pier to meet him.

'Unless I want to see that disinterested and annoyed expression on his face, maybe I can' Asher had many things running through his mind.

He had... bad memories... in regards to forcing the young master to do something and it did not turn out well because soon after, all of the things he had planned started falling one by one like a tower with no foundation.

He still could not get over the fact that Pier had changed. Where was the noble who used to follow him around all day and follow his every word?

The Pier he knew right now would outright decline any of his invitations if given the chance and would disappear from his sight even if he had just focused his attention somewhere else for a short moment.

"Your Highness, should we finish the talk here now? It seems like you are bothered with something" the physician asked as he observed the Crown Prince. Asher nodded his head in agreement with the physician's words.

"Yes, let's postpone this for now and continue until our final day tomorrow," He said as he fixed his clothes.

He started to walk towards Pier's room instead.

'If Pier does not want to see the attendant anymore, he can still see me' He assumed as he walked. People kept gazing at the handsome Crown Prince because it was extremely rare for them to see such a sight.

While he was walking towards Pier's room, Asher also had his own little thoughts rumbling.

"What should I tell him? Should I invite him to dinner? No, he would also decline," He contemplated his choices while walking. Everyone would definitely be grateful that the Prince himself had made effort to come and invite them but it was different for the recent Pier Belmiunde.

Being invited by the Prince was like a set of bad omens for him and he avoided Asher because of that. Asher ruffled his hair in frustration.

When he reached Pier's room in the building he was told to reside, he knocked on the door multiple times.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Asher knocked again, but silence responded to his calls.

He went back outside the building and walked to the knight who was guarding Pier's building from the outside.

"Have you seen the young master?" He asked when he reached Pier. The knight nodded his head before responding.

"Yes, your highness! I have seen the young master head to a shop located on the eastern side of the boundary. He was wearing his winter clothes too" The knight explained and Asher nodded his head.

The knight proudly puffed his chest out after talking with the prince. Pride surging through his body after having the chance to talk with Asher.

Asher immediately started walking towards the East of the Boundary where the knight said he had seen the young master. People were continuously greeting him and as the good prince he was, he greeted them back.

But he also heard some mixed gossip from the people who greeted him.

"Did you just see the young master?"

"Goodness gracious have you seen the way he walked?!"

"I have never seen a noble walk as elegant as that!"

"Truly he is not a prince pretending to be an aristocrat, no?"

"I don't think so, but the young master really did resemble the Prince of the Forbidden Snow!"

"It would be good if the young master was exactly the same but I'm not complaining"

"Exactly. His black hair looks better with his blue eyes!"

"Agreed!"

Asher listened to each and every one of the whispers about Pier.

He then thought about how Pier looked.

Pier was like a precious gem in a chest full of gold. His looks stood out without him having to do anything in particular. He just needs to pass by people and they would be enamored with how beautiful he looks.

He sighed. He did not know why he was feeling down all of a sudden.

Pier's obvious avoidance of him was making him frustrated.

Was it because he was used to having Pier by his side for many years that he was frustrated and angry at the sudden change Pier had?

It would have been good if it was only a temporary change because he knew how bad he must have damaged Pier's reputation and image back at the public shaming incident.

He expected that after a few days of the incident, Pier will be back to chasing him again endlessly.

But days turned into weeks.

Weeks turned into months.

Pier did not show himself to Asher nor in the Palace unless he was called by the king or had important matters to attend to.

Asher wanted to apologize to Pier sincerely because of what happened and start building their relationship as close confidants like he and Raphael were.

But instead, his apology came out as half-assed back at the Palace's garden because Pier was outright ignoring him as if he were talking to a child and Asher was annoyed with how he was being treated.

That's when he got the realization.

Was that how it felt whenever he ignores Pier before?

He did not know what the exact feeling was but it did not feel good.

He sighed again.

When he reached the Eastern side of the boundary, he immediately scanned his eyes on the surroundings.

Pier Pier Pier

All he was looking for was Pier and talk with the young master after that, but he could not find him.

"Have you seen the young master?" He asked a middle-aged man who was just passing by while carrying some meat he had brought from who knows where.

"A-Ah, your highness! I have seen the young master enter the boundary's borders!" The man replied and Asher's eyebrows raised at the statement.

'The boundary's borders?' The boundary's borders are the final place that people can step into without having the need to fear the magic fluctuations in the forbidden region.

Asher started to run towards the borders of the boundary. He did now know why but with Pier's constant attraction of trouble recently, he's probably bound to attract another one.

He ran for minutes, but his stamina did not show any signs of even getting depleted by a small amount. He ran towards the borders and people who he passed by were looking at the prince in confusion and awe.

When he reached the entrance to the Boundary's borders, he saw the knight stationed at the spot.

Going to the borders is not prohibited, especially if the person came inside the boundary. It would be another story if an unknown and unregistered person came from outside the boundary though.

"The young master" He immediately asked the knight stationed at the border.

"I have confirmed the young master's entry into the borders, your highness. Is there something wro-"

But before the knight could ask what was wrong, Asher started to move and locate the young master inside the borders.

He was having a premonition that something bad would happen if he were to leave Pier alone.

There were no buildings inside the boundary's borders. Instead, there were tall trees and plants where the residents would usually get their supplies for medicine and even consumable goods.

Buildings did not exist within the borders because even though the influence of the forbidden region's magic fluctuation did not reach the area, they wanted to be sure.

Asher searched for Pier for a couple of minutes.

He did not know where to look because he only knew Pier from his childhood until the shaming incident.

He was unable to completely understand the new Pier who walked with his head high amidst of everything. He had no clue as to what the new Pier liked or what are his favorite spots when he goes into the forest.

All he had known about the previous Pier had been thrown out the window and completely altered by the new version.

After almost a twenty-minute search for the young master, he started to hear a guitar getting strummed near him.

----

"So that is the forbidden region," Pier said as he was perched on top of the tallest tree he could find on the border.

It was a completely desolate place. No plants or any signs of life could be seen.

It was like a dessert but with some huge boulders.

"I wanted to go there but I don't want to die early. I don't even know if I'll die there but I wanted to make sure, you know" He asked and the crow responded with a short kraa!

"Maybe I'll go there when I finally fulfilled my dreams in this world and decided to die. At least I can experience going inside a forbidden region" He joked as he grabbed the guitar he had bought from the instrument shop of the Boundary's Eastern side.

This is what he wanted, alone time with no Crown Prince to disturb him.

He could not come to a conclusion why Asher was even becoming bolder in inviting him into things when he could just forget a person like Pier Belmiunde existed.

'That's what he has been doing for the previous years anyway' He grumbled as he positioned the guitar on his lap.

The cold winds of the boundary were thankfully not that freezing because of his winter clothes and the fur coat Gideon had given him.

He started to play a song on the guitar.

'To the wishes I had back in my previous life that were coming into reality'

He thought as he strummed the strings.

"When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you"

Eliam sang as he strummed the guitar.

He was an avid fan of wishing upon falling stars back when he was still a child. Thanks to the influence of the movies he had seen. But that soon was gone.

He wished he could see a magical world where almost everything was possible.

"If your heart is in your dream

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do"

He thought he was going to live a boring life pleasing others with his genius in different fields such as music.

Was he glad that he died and was transported in this world? He did not know. He felt pity for the original Pier but he was also thankful for the person because Pier gave him another chance to live life and experience all the things he wished for.

"Fate is kind

She brings to those who love

The sweet fulfillment of

Their secret longing"

'Fate sure is not kind, but at least for me, she was. Not for Pier.' He despised and loved the thing called 'Fate'. It was kind to some but it brought damage to others.

Was it Pier's fate to die alone in his room without anyone to comfort him in his final moments?

He could not understand it.

"Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star

Your dreams come true"

He sang the final lines of the song. It was one of his favorites.

'If Fate brought us into each other's lives, Pier, I'd thank her for that, I'd thank her for this chance. But it wasn't the same for you. Fate is an asshole, you know,' He thought as he strummed the final chords.

"Hah... I wish I could just leave everything and go on my own" He said as he watched the desolate region ahead of him.

Asher watched the young master sitting above the tree.

'He wishes to leave?' Asher asked as he observed Pier's elegant figure look towards the boundary. He contemplated in his thoughts for a few more minutes.

What did Pier mean when he wanted to leave everything behind?

"Pier! Please do not leave and kill yourself!"

Asher immediately revealed himself to the young master.