Chapter 18: A Gift From the Lonely Prince

BLAM!

Prussia slammed her fist on the wooden railing.

"What manner of a useless personality is this?! Do you have no respect for the nobles who came from far and wide to bid on these items?! Be a good dog and shut up so serious people can bid!"

Adonis paused. He looked around the auction hall and saw those same judgmental stares from the surrounding lords, merchants and adventurers. He sighed regretfully. He looked back up at her with utmost seriousness.

"You’re right. It won’t happen again."

Prussia nodded steely, sat back down in her chair, crossed her long, armor-covered legs, and folded her lithely muscular arms snugly beneath her bountiful breasts.

"At least he’s still an obedient dog..."

She scoffed and settled into her chair.

Clearing her throat to break the suffocating silence, Lady Ariel flashed the crowd a tight smile.

"Ahem! Moving on..."

She gestured to the cloth-covered pedestal behind her.

"The next and final item of the day is said to be an immortal dragon egg from the Dragon Continent Etelica! While we humans lack the ancient knowledge to hatch dragon god eggs, it still makes for an exquisite, status-defining aesthetic in any noble estate, wouldn’t you agree, Your Majesty?"

Lady Ariel smiled softly toward the royal box.

Her plan was to goad King Aldrius into a bidding war to drive the price of the egg up.

The nobles chuckled softly at this.

But not King Aldrius.

’Is this woman trying to get me killed?!’

The idea of bidding against Darius Dunamis wasn’t remotely funny to him. Cold sweat beaded at the King’s forehead as he stared at the stage.

"The starting bid for this extraordinary egg will begin at five thousand gol—"

Lady Ariel barely finished.

Adonis casually raised his numbered paddle high in the air.

"TEN THOUSAND!"

Darius growled furiously at the smug fifth prince.

Beside him, Queen Minerva slapped a hand over her face and shook her head with a long groan.

Prussia jerked up from her seat.

"HAS HE GONE MAD—?!"

Korgan immediately held the warrior lady back.

"Lady Prussia, please, lower your voice—"

She swatted his hand away, continuing to scream a barrage of ruthless insults and scary threats down at Adonis.

Down on the main floor, Adonis turned toward the Dunamis balcony and offered a polite, angelic wave.

"Ooo, ooo, Darius, Darius!"

Adonis called out playfully.

"Place your bid so it doesn’t fly away, yeah?"

King Aldrius wiped sweat off his forehead.

’This scoundrel of a son is going to kill me someday...’

Darius gritted his teeth.

"Eleven thousand."

Currently leaning back in his chair with a cheek stuffed full of grapes, Adonis mumbled casually—

"One hundred thousand."

Prussia’s shrieks hit a pitch that nearly shattered the crystal glass on the tables.

"I WILL PERSONALLY KILL YOU AFTER THIS! YOU’RE DEAD, DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME?! DEAD!"

Adonis leaned over toward a pair of thoroughly bewildered nobles sitting beside him and started whispering.

"Anger issues... life, am I right?"

The nobles were frozen, unsure of how to respond.

"One hundred and one thousand."

Darius angrily placed a counter bid.

"Two hundred thousand!" Adonis countered.

The Fangfather was vibrating with so much suppressed rage he looked ready to detonate like a bomb.

"T-, Two hundred and one thousand."

He said through gritted teeth.

Too avoid too much drama, Lady Ariel quickly slammed her auction gavel.

"SOLD!"

She was desperate to put an end to the ridiculousness.

Adonis blinked, waving a hand in protest.

"Hey! I was just about to bid five hundred thousand!"

"The auction is dismissed!"

Lady Ariel declared and wiped her brow as she signaled the guards to close the curtains.

As the doors opened, streams of nobles and adventurers exited the Halcyon Auction House. Many openly whispered that King Aldrius must have traded every last shred of the Fifth Prince’s common sense in exchange for his god-tier looks, given the shameless display he’d just put on.

With the early afternoon sun still high, House Dunamis was eager to depart on their dragons and head back to the Marsofian Union as quickly as possible. Darius approached Lady Ariel directly, demanding that their purchased items be prepared for immediate pickup rather than delivered later.

While the items were being fetched, King Aldrius approached Darius with an outstretched hand.

"Lord Darius, I hope you enjoyed the auction... and I must deeply apologize for the disgraceful behavior of my son."

Darius smiled, but he made no move to take the King’s hand.

"I only shake hands with true warriors, King Aldrius. Not cowards. Your older sons have far more backbone than you do. Still, I can respect a man’s readiness to humble himself if it protects his family and people."

Darius gave the King’s shoulder two patronizing pats.

Third Queen Lucelia hurried over with a welcoming smile.

"Lord Darius! Must you leave so soon?"

Lucelia asked sweetly.

"Surely you and your noble family can stay for the final gala tonight, hm?"

King Aldrius looked at her in shock. Nobody in the nation wanted House Dunamis staying another night in the capital, but Lucelia was relentless when it came to her son Leander’s future. If Prussia or Mariella could be secured as brides, her son would be politically tied to three of the four major nations in the Magic Nations Alliance.

Darius sighed and considered it.

"Fine. But I want my items in hand first. We will attend the ball later tonight, provided there are no further delays."

"That’s perfect!"

Lucelia smiled at Prussia.

"And will you be joining us as well, Lady Prussia? Leander will be so eager to see you there!"

"MOTHER?!" Leander blurted out.

Prussia offered a small smile and nodded. "I’ll be there."

House Dunamis exited the main plaza to head toward their dragon mounts. The royal family was preparing to board their luxurious carriages when a familiar sight halted them.

Adonis sat casually on a wooden bench by the roadside happily munching on a skewer of grilled street meat.

The moment Esmarie laid eyes on him, she lost it. She rushed over and grabbed Adonis tightly by his jacket collar, yanking him upward.

"What was that utter nonsense back there?! Do you have no respect for the crown?! Wastrel! Why can’t you be more like your brothers?! How utterly foolish can you be?!"

Adonis sighed, looking down at her hand.

"What is it with people and grabbing my collar? You know these are some of the only good clothes I have left."

"You can’t even show a single shred of remorse, even in front of your own father?!"

"Esmarie, that’s enough..." King Aldrius said.

"But Your Majesty—"

"I SAID ENOUGH!"

Esmarie reluctantly let go, glaring at Adonis.

Adonis smirked quietly, using two fingers to neatly adjust his jacket collar back into place.

King Aldrius frowned at his fifth son.

"I don’t know where I went wrong with you, boy. I did everything right to ensure you would be the perfect prince... but now, you’re a nobody to me. I can’t tell if this failure is my own doing, or if it was inherited from your dead mother. Your brother Leander is on the verge of securing an alliance with both Soron and Marsofia, while you’re nothing but a waste of royal resources. At some point soon, I’ll forget you’re my son entirely and have you expelled from the palace."

Adonis nodded quietly. "That’s fine..."

He sat right back down on the wooden bench, took another bite of his meat-on-a-stick, and watched nonchalantly as the royal family loaded into their carriages one by one. Minerva was the last to step inside. She lingered at the door for a long while, looking back at Adonis with eyes full of worry and deep sadness before finally pulling the door shut.

Omyujin, the muscular dwarven street vendor, turned around from his grill and looked at the prince.

"Aren’t you gonna join your family, kid?" Omyujin asked.

Adonis yawned, stretching his arms behind his head.

"Nah. I’d rather sit here with my favorite meat guy. How’s the family doing these days anyway?"

Omyujin shook his head and put a fresh skewer on the grill.

"For the most handsome man in the entire kingdom, you’re a pretty lonely soul."

Packing up his cart, the dwarf headed down the alley.

Left alone on the bench, Adonis sighed softly.

[Ding! Congratulations Host for destroying the Dunamis family. Rewards are currently being prepared...]

"Sure, sure... I should probably go pay them a visit before they lose their friggin’ tops."

...

Back at a high-end suite.

Darius, Prussia, Korgan, and a small circle of Dunamis elders were hosting a private celebration. On the central table sat their hard-won prizes: fat sacks of Golden Fairy Soil and the radiant Immortal Dragon Egg.

Korgan poured a cup of ale and raised it high.

"Congratulations, Lord Darius!"

Darius threw his head back and laughed proudly.

"The Dunamis family has never known defeat! Not even in the face of ancient dragons! There is no one beneath the human sky who could ever stand in our way. Securing these treasures was no act of providence... it was my destiny!"

Prussia smiled mildly. Seeing her father in such high spirits was more than enough for her.

"Prussia dear, bring the egg to me." Darius ordered.

Prussia picked up the egg and handed it over.

Darius took it in his hands. But as he held it, his instincts that had been honed through decades of hunting lethal dragons noticed something wrong. He didn’t feel the signature presence of a draconic soul inside.

Curious, Darius tapped his knuckle against the shell.

Thump. Thump.

It sounded slightly hollow.

The egg radiated a powerful aura, but it possessed an elegant, fluid quality that was entirely unlike a dragon.

CRASH!

Darius smashed the egg onto the floor.

The room froze over.

The elders genuinely believed the Fangfather had gone mad with excitement.

"Lord Darius, what’s wrong?!" Korgan yelled.

"Father, are you okay?!" Prussia shouted, hurrying forward.

But all words died in their throats as the shell pieces settled. Inside the shattered egg, there was no fetal dragon, only hollow magical fragments and a single folded piece of paper resting on the floor.

Darius picked up the paper and unfolded it.

Drawn on the center was a remarkably goofy doodle of Adonis’s face, complete with a tiny "xoxo" written at the bottom.

Right above the drawing was a short sentence.

A murderously trembling Darius read the words aloud:

"I favor the twin ego."

The moment those words left his mouth, Prussia’s face lost every bit of color. A wave of debilitating fear hit her so hard her legs trembled, forcing her to grab the table to support herself.

"I... I’ve heard those words before... Adonis..."

Korgan frowned, looking at the paper.

"Hrm, ’Favor the twin ego’? Gibberish. It means nothing."

Darius crushed the paper in his fist.

"It’s an anagram..." Darius growled.

Prussia swallowed painfully. "An anagram... for what?"

Darius looked up with eyes that burned with unimaginable amounts of hatred for Adonis.

"It means... ’Forget it, I have won’ that bastard..."

...

Adonis sneezed on his meat-on-a-stick.

[Ding! Darius has developed 5-star hatred for you!]

[Ding! Prussia has developed 5-star hatred for you!]

[Ding! Korgan has developed 5-star hatred for you!]

[99+ notifications...]

"Bruh..." ಠ_ಠ