He tried to banish the scenes from the distant past from his mind. It had been a different life. It was no longer possible to get it back. He had to let it go.
“He didn’t send me directly to the army,” Nero grinned... or Eren did.
Once again, Hadjar nearly choked on his pipe. “The Generals?”
“Yep,” the Prince laughed. “Can you imagine me in the company of pompous turkeys in uniform? Naturally, I escaped, crippling several of my imperial ‘bodyguards’ in the process.”
Hadjar looked at the man’s hair and the scars on his face and hands.
“Did Serra change the color of your hair on purpose?”
“Of course. In addition, I covered my tracks in Spring Town very well. I even bought forged documents and made up a fake inheritance. Fortunately, the money that my father gave me for the road just about covered all of that.”
“All you needed to do was keep a low profile,” Hadjar continued. “So instead of becoming an officer, you chose to be a simple soldier.”
“But you made me an Officer. Well, by that time, they’d already stopped searching for me,” the Prince concluded. He looked at his father. The father and son’s eyes met, and even Hadjar could see that Nero was in for a world of hurt. “I think he’ll punish me soon. But… I figure when people find out that Commander Nero is actually Prince Eren, he is unlikely to find an argument that can negate such a trump card.”
It was worth noting that Primus’ son wasn’t a fool. Although he often pretend to be one.
They stood there and smoked their pipes silently for a long time. Each of them wanted to say something, but neither one had the courage to do it. It was sometimes much easier to fight an enemy army all on your own than to discuss how you felt with someone. Especially if you were a man.
Hadjar could’ve just turned around and left. He never did. Who was he to judge his friend for his actions? Was he honest with his friends? Hadn’t he tirelessly fed Nero lies, hiding his true motives? Hadn’t he been planning to kill Eren’s father?
Chapter 198
“Do you mind if I continue to call you Nero?”
The Prince turned to his friend and smiled.
“I would consider it an honor, my friend.”
They shook hands.
What would their friendship, their blood oath, be worth if it could’ve been destroyed by such an incident? To both of them, the title of ‘friend’ wasn’t just a meaningless word.
As for Primus, Hadjar would solve any additional problems as they came up. So far, the true identity of his friend hadn’t changed his plan.
“By the way,” Nero held his pipe between his teeth and took an amber medallion out of his pocket. “Take this. I’ve gotten used to your arrogant face, buddy, so I’m inviting you to live in my house for a little bit.”
With a wink, the Prince looked around at the huge Palace.
“Not interested,” Hadjar sighed. “Compared to my tent, it’s a shack.”
“Compared to your tent, anything will be... a palace.”
“Really? And who kept constantly spending all his time in that same tent?”
“Because the officers’ tents are even worse!”
“Just admit that my tent is better than a palace.”
“You know nothing about palaces, Hadj! When the celebration ends, I’ll give you a proper tour! When you see our parade ground, you’ll thank me. Especially if it’s being cleaned by the maids! Working as a maid is very popular around here. Every beautiful girl from the trade district dreams of becoming a servant in the royal Palace.”
Hadjar snorted and shook the ashes out of his pipe into the darkness.
“I imagine there will be a lot less of them soon enough.”
“Why?”
Hadjar just looked at him. When Nero realized what his friend was saying, he slapped himself.
Indeed, why would girls want to work in the Palace if the Prince had gotten married?
The two friends laughed together.
***
Despite all of Nero’s promises of tours and other entertainment, Hadjar hadn’t seen Nero or Serra for several days. The Princess didn’t want to talk to him either, and Hadjar couldn’t blame her.
For all her talent and strength, Elaine was a flower that had been grown in a greenhouse. The brightest and most beautiful of all of them, but a flower nonetheless. She didn’t have Serra’s ardor or Nehen’s cold determination. She would barely be able to understand why Hadjar hadn’t wanted to help that man.
As a result, he had spent several days sitting in a huge room. It was, of course, still smaller than his last room in the Palace had been. Thanks to the servants, Hadjar had found out that the western wing, where he’d used to live with his parents, was now sealed away and nobody could go there.
There was no one else in the Palace, except for the maids and the occasional nobles seeking an audience with Lithium, the King, or the Prince. Sometimes, one of the girls would come to Hadjar and inform him that there were visitors here to see him. However, the former General never received them. Not only did he not want to see anyone, but he was also not relishing the idea of leaving his chambers — the corridors, which had once been noisy and full of life, were now empty and filled with the ghosts of the General’s past.
“Meow,” came from the bed that was so huge Hadjar could’ve held an orgy with forty people there. Therefore, the small, white kitten lying atop the endless sheets, under a huge canopy, looked like a snowflake that had gotten lost in a spring meadow.
“I know,” Hadjar nodded. “I’m the Mad General, not an ancient recluse.”
“Meow,” Azrea repeated.
“What do you want? Okay. I’ll get out of here and leave you alone.”
“Meow.”
She seemed to nod, then wrapped her tail around herself and fell asleep. Sighing, Hadjar took a few pieces of meat from the table (he had wondered for a few hours if he
