Reborn Financier-Chapter 20: A Family to Remember

The sun was already setting as Kaidën stood up from the bed where he lay and went to check on who was at the door. Due to the bandages on his eyes, his sight and vision were restricted, so he was unable to see through the door unlike before. As he opened the door as he meet the prince and princess caught up in an argument over what to say when Kaidën opened the door.

"Hello?" Kaidën said, breaking the argument between the twins as he drew attention towards himself.

Cut off unexpectedly, the princess responded in an awkward manner, "Why are you blindfolded, and how can you even see us with the bandages on your eyes?" Arrogance could be heard in her voice.

Kaidën, stunned by the sudden questions and arrogance, was rather irritated as he immediately closed the door on both twins and went back to his bed without uttering a single statement.

This sudden action of Kaidën sent the princess into a rage. The prince immediately said in a gentle but convincing manner, "I told you to be a little nicer; remember, he is our cousin."

But the princess, who had grown up with people doing her bidding and trying their best to engage with her, was surprised when someone turned her down so easily. The pride she possessed as the only daughter of the king of a mighty kingdom made her angry. She didn’t want to even hear that he was her cousin, but all she knew was that he was of lower rank than she was.

"How dare he! How dare that kid disrespect me in such a manner..." she said, her eyes blazing with rage.

Immediately being cut off by her twin brother, the prince, "Calm down, Elizabeth. Remember, you are also a child, and remember, he is your cousin. In fact, you were the one who was rude to him first."

Elizabeth immediately turned and stormed off in anger towards the castle halls. The prince, David, instead of running after her, stood next to the door, knocking again at the door of Kaidën’s room.

Kaidën stormed out in anger, but before he could even say a thing, he saw the prince with his head bowed, saying, "I’m sorry for disturbing your rest, and I’m sorry for my sister’s rude actions. I only want to know you, as even though we are cousins, this is the second time in 5 years that we are seeing each other."

He said this in utmost respect for the child who was 2 years younger than he was.

"I’m Kaidën, and I can see you because of magic, even though I have a bandage on my eyes," Kaidën said respectfully but without emotions.

Prince David smiled purposefully as Kaidën responded to him politely.

"Can I go rest now? I really want to rest, as it was a long journey coming to the royal capital from Aschel," Kaidën said, rolling his eyes in tiredness.

"Yes! Yes!! Long journey, I should really take my leave. Sorry for disturbing you," the prince said, starting to run towards the direction the princess had headed.

"Finally! Peace and quiet again," Kaidën said, closing off his door and heading to his bed for the second time.

****

At the royal palace, King Edward and Kaidën’s mother, Princess Sofia, were discussing business transactions in Aschel and the deep-rooted corruption plaguing the land. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Why don’t you just leave that godforsaken land and come live here in the capital? I will personally get your family a fine estate that suits your taste. If you desire, I can even grant you and your family a piece of land that would be pleasing. So why don’t you just give up on that land and listen to me?" King Edward said, trying his best to convince his sister, Princess Sofia.

"I can’t abandon those people suffering from continuous starvation, slavery, and poverty. I can’t stand seeing children on the streets forced into a life of crime just to survive. I am a mother—I can’t bear the sight of children burdened with the dark side of life at such an early age. I have lived all my life with a golden spoon, but in Aschel, people are born without even a spoon. I may have failed to help my people in the past during the plague, but this time, I will not fail at any cost. I must at least help them survive the evil lord of that land," Sofia said as tears fell from her eyes. One could immediately sense the intense emotions and pain in her words.

"Okay, what’s next? What’s your plan for that land? How do you intend to come out of that financial mess without my help? No noble will want to work with a declining family," King Edward said, stepping closer to Sofia in an attempt to persuade her to reconsider.

"If nobles refuse to help, I will work with commoners. But I will definitely do something to help the people of Aschel," she said, her eyes burning with determination and unwavering resolve.

"All I ask is for you to help me with Lord Alric Veldon, and I will figure out the rest myself," Sofia added.

"Okay then, tell me the details," King Edward responded.

To be continued...