There are plenty of ways to ditch his royal duties.
He could fake a headache. Pretend to be studying in the library.
—But Heinz? Heinz preferred the straightforward approach.
"Your Highness! Please wait!!"
Without a second thought, Heinz vaulted over the garden hedge. Behind him, Master Wallace was bent over, gasping for breath as he gave chase.
Man, how's he even still running? Heinz thought, picking up speed.
"Prince Heinz! You need to return to your etiquette lessons—!"
"Ohhh, Wallace, my dearest friend!"
Heinz threw an imaginary arm around Wallace's shoulder in the air as he called back.
"Ever think that etiquette's just a fantasy made to chain down our free spirits?"
"Ugh... b-but, Your Highness...! If you run away again, Prince Liam will—"
"Liam…?"
Heinz clutched his chest dramatically and wailed.
"That's the one thing I definitely can't deal with."
"Prince Liam will personally reprimand you—!"
"Then I absolutely can't go back!!"
Yelling that, Heinz bolted off even faster, leaving Wallace in the dust.
---
Eldorion Royal Palace—
A dazzling monument of white marble and golden filigree.
A symbol of power and prosperity that everyone admired.
—But to Heinz, it was just a fancy prison.
Mornings spent learning etiquette.
Afternoons training in swordsmanship.
Evenings wasted listening to the mind-numbingly dull conversations of the nobles.
Honestly, what was even the point of this life?
His brother Liam was the perfect crown prince. His sister Alice was a top-ranking general.
...Was there even a place for him?
With a hollow feeling gnawing at his heart, Heinz slipped into his favorite hideout—the Royal Archive.
No one ever came here. He should be safe for a while.
He flopped onto a sofa and sighed from the depths of his soul.
—But.
"You skipped out again, didn't you?"
"Ugh..."
Peeking over the armrest, he spotted the paragon of perfection himself—Liam, standing tall in his black and gold-embroidered uniform.
"Heyyy, bro. Fancy seeing you here."
"Master Wallace looked ready to collapse, you know."
"Yeah, think of it as... cardio training."
"..."
Liam gave him that classic exasperated look and was about to launch into another lecture—
when—
BAM!!
The door slammed open, and a shadow tackled Heinz.
"Heinz!!"
"GUH!!"
Before he could react, he was trapped in a headlock, his messy black hair being thoroughly ruffled.
"Gi—Givvve up!! I give up!!"
The assailant, laughing like a maniac as she tightened her hold, was none other than his sister, Alice.
Wild and free-spirited, the complete opposite of their straight-laced brother.
"Heard you ran away again, so I came to congratulate you!"
"Cut it out, sis...!"
"Don't stop now! You're killing it!"
Liam let out a long, suffering sigh.
"Stop encouraging him..."
"Oh, c'mon, who cares? Everyone knows Heinz isn't cut out for the whole 'prince' thing."
"Finally, someone who gets me," Heinz said, slumping in defeat while Alice grinned triumphantly.
In the middle of their (questionably) heartwarming banter, the conversation suddenly shifted.
"By the way," Alice said, "sounds like the southern border's heating up again."
"Ugh, again?"
"Nothing major yet, but..." Liam added, cool as ever, "the Holy Kingdom's starting to kick up a fuss."
Alice clicked her tongue in disgust.
"Those bastards seriously piss me off. Like hell I'm bowing to a bunch of sore losers."
Heinz couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
The Holy Kingdom—a zealot country that worshipped magic as 'the blessings of the gods.'
They looked down on anyone even slightly different from them. Total trash.
Even someone as politically apathetic as Heinz could tell trouble was brewing.
—
Eh, future me can deal with it.
Right now, he had bigger priorities—like finding an even better hiding spot.
With that carefree thought, Heinz wandered into the East Wing.
And then—
He found it.
A door.
Plain, with no name or sign.
But it gave off an unmistakable aura of wrongness.
"...This is sketchy as hell."
And of course, sketchy things just begged to be opened.
Heinz reached for the doorknob—
"HEINZ, STOP!!"
Liam's shout rang out through the hall.
...Which was weird. Liam never yelled.
In the next instant, Liam grabbed Heinz's wrist, just in time.
The usual calmness was gone from Liam's face—
replaced with raw fear.
"You... You're not supposed to be here."
"Huh? Then what the hell's in there?"
"You don't need to know."
"The hell I don't!"
Liam didn't answer.
—
Which basically confirmed there was definitely something inside.
---
Later that night.
When the palace was silent and asleep—
Heinz stood once more before the door.
(Yeah, there's no way I'm letting this go...)
This time, no one could stop him.
He slowly opened the door—
And what he saw inside was utterly bizarre.
Crystals.
Thousands of them, glowing faintly.
In the center, a massive device floated, pulsing like a living heart.
Unfamiliar magic circles. Strange runes.
This...
This was definitely bad news.
But Heinz didn't stop walking.
One step.
Another step.
And then—
CRACK!!
The space around him tore apart.
The world itself fractured like shattering glass.
"—!!"
An overwhelming surge of magic slammed into him, burning him from the inside out.
It hurt.
It hurt.
It hurt.
It hurt.
IT HURT!!!
It was like his soul was being ripped apart.
Out of the corner of his fading vision, he saw golden runes spiraling madly.
He tried to scream—but no sound came out.
And then—
Darkness swallowed him whole.