Chapter 4

Assignments

Arthur sat in his study early in the morning and looked through the pages of his folder with the candidates' information. It was a simple room with a large desk by the window and a long bookshelf on the side in dark wooden brown color.

"Your Highness, I need to dress you for breakfast now," Arthur's servant Leo told him.

"Just a minute. I can't remember all their names to their faces and I don't want to sit beside someone who's name I forgot," Arthur said without looking up.

Leo nodded. "30 is a lot but I'm sure you'll remember them soon especially with the dates coming up. If you don't mind me asking, who will be your chaperone for the dates?"

Arthur closed the folder and sighed. "The King."

He stood up not looking forward to having his mother by his side during his first dates with the alphas. He knew she'll only judge them but mostly only him for his choice.

-

Alfred walked through the glass corridor that connected the palace and the contestants building. He looked up through the windows and blinked into the rising sun. A spectacle he never witnessed in the subcity of Rovice before.

Someone from behind started to talk to him and Alfred stopped and turned around.

"You did so well yesterday," started the same alpha who made a comment about his accent. "I hardly think you'll last long." He walked past Alfred with a smug smile on his face.

"Would be funny if I'll outlast you," Alfred said and the alpha stopped and turned around.

"I highly doubt that. You and I are nowhere near the same level and you should know that." He came closer and whispered. "I recommend you to give up and go back where you belong."

"I recommend you to brush your teeth," Alfred said without thinking and quickly regretted it when the alpha's eyes went wide and his hands came dangerously near his neck.

"What did you ju-"

"Why the long faces?" Another alpha came their way and cut off their dispute. She smiled but her smile looked rather mockingly and leaned on Alfred with her hand on his shoulder. "Do you get it? Long. Faces?" She looked at them but both just stared at her and she brushed them off, letting go of Alfred. "Forget it. What are you talking about?"

"Just telling him where he belongs." He glared at Alfred.

"You are so right, Anthony. We both should show him his seat at the breakfast table, you are so kind." She smiled at him but Anthony scoffed.

"He doesn't belong in the palace, you fool."

"Neither do you but the Prince doesn't complain about it," she said and Anthony rolled his eyes and walked away while muttering something incoherent mean about her.

She turned around to Alfred and introduced herself. "I'm Julia, it's a pleasure to meet you." She was a little shorter than Alfred and her skin was very pale, she almost melted together with her white ruffled shirt. The black ink tattoo showed the number 7 and was prominent against her skin while the blue undertone seemed to be nonexistent. Her long blonde hair hung wildly down her head and she put on a grin on her face when she talked to Alfred. "Just a little tip from me. Don't let yourself be pushed around. You were chosen by the Prince, you can act like that. I do that, I act like I own this place." She winked at him and walked away.

Alfred watched her leave and had a slight feeling that he knew her from somewhere. At least her grin was very familiar to him but he couldn't pinpoint where he had seen it before.

He shook that thought off and walked to the breakfast room and sat down beside Jake. "Have you read the newspaper?" Jake asked him while munching on a baked good.

"Mhmm," Alfred hummed, lying. He saw a picture of him in the newspaper which Toris had laid out for him this morning. It was a picture of him standing awkwardly and looking at the broken swan statue in shock. He doesn't need to be able to read to understand what the reporters might have written about him.

A wave of heat overcame him and he felt himself sweating, wondering where this came from. He adjusted his shirt and tugged on it to cool himself off a little. He looked over at the Prince and watched him talking to an alpha. Today he wore his normal glasses, Feliks promised to give him new ones in the following week, and he was able to see the Prince's face from the distance. He remembered their meeting yesterday and how kind he was despite his mean face and status which made Alfred smile.

-

It was something new for Alfred, sitting in a class and listening to a teacher. It was an experience he never got to have and now he could feel like a real student. The teacher told them about the rules of the competition and what they are allowed to do and what not. He told them that this class is to freshen up their knowledge and let the people who don't have a higher education get to the same level. They'll do projects and assignments and the Prince will judge their performance and see who of them is capable enough to become the King Consort and lead the kingdom beside him.

The first assignment would be three pages long about the current political stand and their defining opinion about it. They had two weeks to complete it.

Alfred sat in shock when he heard about this and began to sweat even more, tugging on his shirt again. The teacher began to explain how the assignment should be formatted but Alfred could only think how to get out of this situation.

After the class, Alfred followed Alexander and asked to speak to him. He followed the annoyed alpha into a room and got distracted when he saw that every single item was green but quickly got out of his surprise when Alexander crossed his arms.

"I have a problem," Alfred began, he didn't want to admit but had to. "I can't read or write."

"Excuse me? What do you mean you can't read or write?"

"I've never learned it and I can't do the assignment without knowing how to do it," Alfred said.

"You don't have to do it, just find the item and you can go." Alexander moved his round glasses up his nose.

"But, what if I won't find it in time?"

"That's your problem," Alexander said and went out of the room leaving Alfred in despair.

-

Beautiful flower petals swayed when Arthur put a bouquet down on his table in his living quarters. It was another courting present from one of the alphas, and he looked up to see Leo come in with another bouquet of flowers. It was huge with orange and red roses and little bows on the side.

"Someone tries to get your attention," Leo joked and looked around to find a good place to put the flowers down. He put them down on a little table beside the entrance to the living room.

"They can try to get it as much as they want," he said and smiled, looking at a note from one of the flowers. "I want the bouquet on the balcony, it takes up too much space here."

Leo nodded, took the flowers and passed through two comfort sofas and a fireplace to get to the balcony of this room. Arthur took this opportunity and sneaked out of his room.

He walked past the guards who did not say anything and looked around the corridor until he walked into an alpha when he turned around the corner.

"Joao!" Arthur said.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness, I hope I didn't startle you?" he said and smiled as well.

"I'm not that easy to scare," Arthur said with a quite smiley tone and Joao chuckled. "I received your note. You wanted to speak with me?"

"I do." Joao began and Arthur looked at the tall brown haired alpha and nodded. "I wanted to tell you how glad I am that you picked me, I have not thought that I'd see you again."

"I also thought you might have moved on and found someone else."

"I couldn't. Not after meeting you." He brushed over Arthur's cheek and Arthur tensed nervously.

"Very.. charming." Arthur bit his lip. "I also want you to know that I won't give you special treatment only because we have a history together. You have to participate in the Selection fairly like everybody else."

"Of course and I will make sure to win your heart again." He took Arthur's hand and kissed it without breaking eye contact.

They heard footsteps and Joao spoke a quick farewell to Arthur and turned around the corner.

"Your Highness, you have to wait for me," Leo said out of breath when he catched up to Arthur but Arthur only watched in the direction in which Joao went away.

-

Alfred had no idea where to begin his search and brooded over it while sitting at the stairs in the foyer and looking at the Dragons. Dragons were magical and he looked for a magical item but if this place can show him anything, he highly doubted that. He stood up and got closer to the dragons grazing with his finger along the tail and closed his eyes, waiting for a vision that might show him something useful but there was nothing.

He knew his visions didn't work like that. They were coming and going whenever they wanted and sadly, he couldn't control them.

Suddenly the clock chimed 4 and the middle part of the clock began to rotate. The outer parts and the middle part with the rose rotated in two different directions while a tune was playing. Lights on the glass lit up in star forms and died down when the parts did one full circle and came back to their places.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Alfred jumped when Julia suddenly appeared right behind him. "Yeah, it is."

"The clock is amazing and the Dragons beside them look so smooth. Did you know some people actually believe they existed?"

Alfred nodded and looked up at the dragons. "I've heard about it."

"Oh, have you also lived near a cult?"

"A cult? No... what is that?"

"Some people gather together and take it to the extreme with their belief about all kinds of magic," she said and that perked Alfred's interest. "I remember being a child, I sneaked out and watched them dance around a straw statue. It was scary but so interesting at the same time. But they got caught later and put into prison. Cults like that are forbidden."

"Why would they be forbidden?" Alfred asked and felt hot and sweaty again.

"Hm? Oh, well, some eat human flesh because they think they can absorb energy and become magical." She smiled and something about that smile was oddly terrifying. It seemed to amuse her.

Alfred wondered if Alexander was in a cult. He believed in that and should know a couple of things about the item and where it might be.

"What else do you know about cults?" Alfred asked and tugged on his shirt for cool air again but Julia ignored his question.

"Do you think the Prince is cute?" she asked and looked at the ceiling dreamingly.

"I, um, think so. Do you think there are cults-"

"What do you like about the Prince?"

Alfred was thrown off by her questions but answered nonetheless. "I don't know. His eyes are pretty."

"Yes, his eyes are pretty. Like a forest, you can get lost in there."

"Sure, but, do you-"

"I think you should concentrate on the Prince and not the cults, people could get the wrong idea. Also I know nothing about them."

She smiled again and Alfred had a feeling that she lied.

When Alfred came back to his room he noticed how hot it was but no one else seemed to sweat and it dawned on him that he was in his heat. Toris came back later and gave him a special tea against the heat. In the subcity the only possible medication against heat symptoms were some dried out plants and he'd never thought to make tea out of them. As long as the plant reduced his hormones and made him less competitive, horny, bashful and sweaty, he'll take them.

Toris explained to him that for these couple of days he wasn't allowed to be close to the Prince and had to keep his distance. Alfred understood that the risk of an accidental mating can happen and some alphas can get really possessive over an omega they like. But he wasn't worried about himself, there were times where he would simply forget that he was in his heat and nothing ever happened. He would only notice afterwards when it was over and think to himself how absurdly horny and sweaty he was. Luckily, heats were only twice a year and he needed to start to track them.

Toris gave him a sheet of paper with questions the host might ask during the radio interview. Alfred took it and pretended to look over it, thinking he needed to find out about the cults. If they believed in magic, they might have some answers.

The next morning after breakfast, Alfred followed Alexander again, and they ended up in the green room once again.

"What do you want this time?" he asked, annoyed.

"Are you in a cult?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm not."

"How do you know about the item then?" Alfred asked, confused.

"Alan was the one who introduced me to this. He was the expert, not me." He waved dismissively with his hand. "He wanted the item as well but didn't want to share."

"And now he's..." Alfred looked at Alexander to continue and tell him what happened but he didn't and Alfred concluded his own thought. "Vanished?"

"Exactly."

It made all sense now. Rich spoiled kids who never learned to share. But now Alfred definitely had no idea where to start looking.

-

"Thank you so much, I had a wonderful time."

"The pleasure is on my side," Arthur said politely.

The alpha in front of him bowed to him and left the table. Then Arthur sat down again beside his mother who stirred her tea.

"He has terrible articulation." Her short blonde hair was put up and her monocle pointed out her snobbish attitude even more.

"You always find something wrong in an alpha." His one hour dates with the alphas were quite short but his mother saw it as an excuse to judge them and pick out the smallest details about them and talk bad about it. It annoyed Arthur and he wished he had someone else as his chaperone.

"Don't expect me to find anything terrific about them."

"Oh, I don't. I know you're just complaining because I've announced a Selection instead of choosing one of your favorites."

She clanked with her spoon against the cup, it chimed in his ear painfully. "At least once in your life you could listen to me."

"I would if your instructions were actually good." Arthur said and she glared at him.

"Do not stress me now. I have enough work to do without your childish behavior." She stood up and her servant followed her when she left the room.

Arthur's grip on his cup tightened, the urge to smash it in her direction was big. The ongoing fight between him and her about his decisions took all his energy and more. He looked away and calmed himself down but her cup of tea irritated him, instead he pushed his cup away and stood up abruptly.

-

For a few days, Alfred looked around the castle for some clues. There was nothing. He started to look in libraries for books that could give him clues but without the skill in reading it was rather hard and the pictures he saw looked more like normal fairytale books than anything that could give him clues about the magic item. He felt lost about his search and doubted himself. He made a mess at the banquet, he couldn't read or write and he had not seen any visions since he stole the money. Sometimes he thought that he should give up but there was one part of him that still had hope. Only that hope won't show him the way to the item.

He leaned with his head against a shelf in a small library and closed his eyes. There was no point for him to hope, he'll end up dead soon anyways.

Someone knocked at the shelf and Alfred jumped and looked around until he saw the Prince.

"Please forgive me, I didn't want to startle you," he said and held his hand in front of his mouth trying to hold back his laughter.

Alfred laughed and waved with his hands. "Nah, I'm fine."

"Are you looking for something?" Arthur asked.

"Ah, yes, well, it's just for the assignment." He smiled at him. "And you? Are you looking for something or are you hiding again?"

"I need a little rest, that's all. I had three dates today."

"Running away from your suitors, huh?" Alfred laughed and Arthur shook his head with a fond smile. "You can rest here if you want. Just pretend I'm not here." Alfred moved slowly forwards but remembered his heat and stepped back again.

Arthur nodded and sat down by the window while Alfred looked back at the shelf, grazing at the books and tugging on his brown waistcoat.

"I doubt you'll find anything in this section for your assignment," Arthur said and watched him.

"Yeah, I know that." Alfred clanked with his teeth before giving Arthur an awkward smile to which Arthur stood up and told him to follow him.

This library had five shelves, three at the walls and two in the middle, separating the room into sections. Arthur led Alfred to the middle and pulled out a green book and handed it to Alfred.

"This one should help you," he said.

"Thank you," Alfred replied and stepped back again when he took the book with his left hand.

Arthur's eyes landed on that hand. "You have a metal arm?"

"It's copper actually," Alfred said and raised his bronze hand and wiggled with his fingers.

"You can move your hand? That must have been very expensive."

"Not at all. I made it myself," Alfred explained.

Arthur moved closer, curious. "Can I...?" He reached out with his hands and Alfred tensed up and nodded when he took his hand. It got very hot and Alfred could feel himself sweating beside Arthur while he watched the Prince being fascinated with his hand. "You must be very smart if you did this yourself without a proper education. What happened?"

"It's um, just an accident at work when I was 9," Alfred said.

Arthur let go of his hand and Alfred stepped a little backwards and smiled, hoping the Prince wouldn't notice his nervousness.

"That's terrible but your handiwork is quite excellent."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Alfred said. "It wasn't easy to build it together and find the right parts."

"I'm sure Mr. Dandelion would love to hear that in his interview."

Alfred perked up. "The interview! I forgot, I have it today. What time is it?" Alfred did not wait for Arthur to say anything because he knew it was late. The sun was going down the last time he looked into the window. "Oh, no I have to go, I'm sorry." Alfred stormed out of the room but came back again. "I don't know where the interview is going to be. Can you please tell me?"

Alfred felt stupid when Arthur shook his head amused at Alfred, it was the second time he had to ask him for the way. "I'll show you," he said and led Alfred through the corridors.

During their walk, Alfred kept his distance which got him a questioning look from Arthur but Alfred decided against telling him about his heat in case he would get mad that he was close to him the whole time. The Prince delivered Alfred to the interview room and wished him good luck.

"I will go now. I have another date soon and I'm curious how ours will be," he said.

Alfred smiled back, looking into his eyes properly for the first time and thinking that Julia was right. "Me too." He watched Arthur walk away and gripped the book in his copper hand.

It was true no one had teached him how to build his arm or how to connect wires together, it was a skill he teached himself over time by redoing his arm over and over again. If he was smart

enough to figure this out, he'll be smart enough to figure out how to read and write. It can't be harder than mechanics. Alfred was sure that finding the item in such a short amount of time was impossible without any clues but he could at least try to stay here as long as possible and do his best in the competition.

I know the name 'Joao' isn't spelled like that but I sadly don't have that 'a~' on my keyboard.

I could've taken another name but people seemed to have given Portugal that human name and I like that name too.

Let's just say it's how they spell it in that world but the pronunciation is the same.