Emmerich-16 / Hans-12
The Horse was useless.
Emmerich gave it another glare, he regretted having so many expectations on the newborn animal, but as he looked at it's feeble body the prince concluded that the safest thing to do was to sell the horse.
It was unfortunate however, that Emmerich was too proud to sell a horse from the royal stables to a commoner "The other option would be to put him down…" the prince mumbled under his breath as he looked at the horse, he wouldn't like to do that either, so he thought himself lucky when he saw his youngest brother sneaking into the stable.
"What are you doing here Hans? Hiding from Richard?"
The youngest prince froze when he saw his older brother "N-no…" Emmerich snorted
"You are not even good at lying Hans"
Hans looked at the floor, he knew that he had to bite his tongue when he spoke to Emmerich unless he was looking for a beating
Emmerich sighed "You are almost as pathetic as this horse over here"
Hans gave a curious look at the horse his brother was talking about, it was a white newborn horse, It certainly looked normal to Hans "W-what happened to that horse?" he dared to ask, the older brother turned to the horse
"Nothing, he was born defective… he will never be as strong or fast as any other horse of his family-" Hans immediately understood what his brother meant when he compared him to the horse, both brothers remained in silence for a moment "-I'm going to put him down" Hans looked at his brother, shocked by his words
"Y-you are going to kill him?! B-but he has done nothing wrong"
Emmercih chuckled "I know, but I can't take care of such an animal… it would be a waste of time"
"T-then why don't you sell it?" suggested the youngest prince, Emmerich turned to him-
"And allow some common peasant to use him for breeding? Never. His genes are those of a royal horse, not a common farm-horse"
Hans tried to protest but he couldn't come up with a solution to convince his brother, concluding only with a sad sigh.
Emmerich pondered for a moment before he smiled at the horse "If you want to save him… why don't you raise him yourself? I'll allow you to keep it here, but you will feed him and you will wash him and you will take care of him if he is sick"
Hans was speechless, it was the first time his brother ever gave him anything, a sheepish smile crossed his face "A-are you sure?" Emmerich nodded and patted his younger brother's back
"A fitting horse for you" he scoffed as he left the stable, leaving Hans alone with his new horse.
Unknown to his youngest brother, Emmerich left with a smile on his face; because as useless as Hans was, he was still a far better option than any other person.