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[Img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230407/bf969efcc18e0689ce06eb2fc40de133.png[/img][/center][hr]Wulfric arrived at the race track just in time to catch the finale. While the crowd was busy being enthralled by the last, intense segment of the race, he casually ascended the stands to the top row. There, he observed the galloping horses with interest. It was an exciting ending.

Curious about the victor, he took out the spyglass to observe her more easily.

Might as well use the item for its mundane function as well.

But while he was at it, he did a few sweeps of the crowd, taking note of anything intriguing.

After the conclusion of the race, some time was wasted for the hat contest. Bored, he watched those gathered with his little trinket.

When the event concluded, Lorenzo Vikena – the man he’d been wanting to speak to – took his leave from the announcer’s box. Wulfric followed, stopping the man once he was close enough.

He ensured the location they spoke in was, if not entirely private, at least less exposed compared to where Lorenzo had done his announcing from.

[color=ab274f]“Duke Vikena,”[/color] he greeted, cooly polite. [color=ab274f]“I see that at the very least, you can manage some entertainment,”[/color] he commented. It was mildly sarcastic, and backhanded, but a compliment nonetheless. However, Wulfric didn’t bother acting as if he liked the other man. He was sure the duke already knew he wasn’t particularly fond of him. Even so, he could certainly act with the required professionality.

Unfortunately, the duke hadn't returned the same professionalism to the prince. Lorenzo had nearly finished his flask filled with the milk of the poppy and a sweet rum he had enjoyed mixing it with. If his slightly flushed face wasn't an indicator, the stupid pie-eating grin on his face surely was. To add to Lorenzo's disposition was the silent Kier clinging comfortably on his shoulder, staring at Wulfric with his blank beady eyes.


[Color=salmon]“Prince Wulfric! A pleasure to have you here, your grace. I didn't take you as a fan of such an event but then again, who can resist something so grand?”[/color] Lorenzo simply bowed his head, minding the ferret as he didn't wish to topple the small creature from his shoulder as he did the Alidasht royals.

Oh, this was such a mistake. How the hell was he supposed to have anything approaching a serious conversation with Lorenzo, now? Apparently, the duke was not only drunk, but - if his dilated pupils were to go by - under the influence of some other drugs, too.

Wonderful…Just wonderful.

[color=ab274f]“If it is so grand, then why are you acting like a common alleyway addict?”[/color] Wulfric couldn’t resist snarking. It was questionable just how much the supposed nobleman could comprehend in his state, however. [color=ab274f]“Is [i]this[/i] how you think a man in your position should act?”[/color] He didn’t mean only because of his status. [color=ab274f]“You realize just how precarious your situation is, I hope,”[/color] he added, but Lorenzo kept up his stupid smile despite the verbal daggers.

[Color=salmon]“Dear prince, dear prince… Don't you see? My… hmm… My state! My state is not the product of this grand event. Rather, this grand event is the product of my state!”[/color] Lorenzo chuckled before motioning his hand toward the race track, the air filled with joyous laughter and jolly voices. [Color=salmon]“I think our kingdom has accomplished something exceptional this afternoon, all thanks to our king's choice of making me the host of such an event. I don't think even you can deny that, my splendid prince!”[/color] He took a step closer to Wulfric, the stench of rum from his breath striking the prince's senses. [Color=salmon]“Yessss?”[/color]

The prince shook his head, as much in denial as it was in disbelief. That this drunkard thought he could argue with him… [color=ab274f]“Stand back,”[/color] Wulfric ordered frostily, because Lorenzo was much too comfortable about getting into his personal space. He stared at the duke with the full expectation that he [i]would[/i] move. Fortunately, the duke had, which might have been the wisest decision he had made since engaging with Wulfric. However, the stupid smile remained securely pasted on Lorenzo's expression.

Wulfric then set to reproving the older man. [color=ab274f]“I don’t know if you honestly believe what you are saying or if you are fooling yourself,”[/color] he sneered. Quite possibly, the duke was simply drugged out of his wits. [color=ab274f]“Events like this are popular in and of themselves. As for your contributions,”[/color] Wulfric exhaled sharply. [color=ab274f]“What you did under influence, you can do just as well if not better while sober.”[/color] He let that sink in.

[color=ab274f]“Don’t try to use the race as an excuse or justification for your habit of overindulgence,”[/color] Wulfric said sternly. [color=ab274f]“If you are a drunken mess, that is because you can’t pull yourself together,”[/color] he accused. [color=ab274f]“Yess?”[/color] he mimicked mockingly. A fitting final blow to whatever ego the duke had managed to save after so many embarrassments.

The stupid smile had died in that moment as Lorenzo absorbed Wulfric's informal reprimand. It was the truth in his words that struck him deeper than expected. The duke was used to ridicule from the likes of Count Damien, Duchess Victoria, and King Danrose, and even his late wife, yet this was different… yet familiar. In the span of two days, two young royals had addressed him with fierce criticism that was unlike the raving insults from his peers. First, Mayet Kadir and now Wulfric Danrose. Failing because you are simply awful is one thing, but failing knowing you were capable of doing better was a wound of regret that lingered and festered in the confines of one's mind. 

It was also a good way to sober Lorenzo, if only a tad. He clasped his hands in front of him with the look of a boy who had disappointed his parents.

[Color=salmon]“Y-you're right… prince. My apologies. I-I could have presented myself better,”[/color] he slightly bowed his head once again.

Wulfric’s irritation dissipated as he observed the duke’s contrite reaction. [color=ab274f]“Yes, you could have,”[/color] he stated. His tone was still cold, but matter-of-fact, and much more neutral than it had been at any prior point in their meeting. [color=ab274f]“And you [i]can[/i],”[/color] he stressed intently. His piercing gaze was affixed on Lorenzo as he studied the older man. The silent observation was a tad over-long and perhaps unsettling. He took in the man’s posture and expression, judging his sincerity. Eventually, he must have deemed it satisfactory, as he gave a curt nod. However, his next words revealed that the duke was not yet off the hook.

[color=ab274f]“So? What will you do differently?”[/color] Wulfric prompted expectantly.

Lorenzo peered up whilst still bowing slightly, not expecting such a question. 

[Color=salmon]“Um…”[/color] He cleared his throat as he adjusted his posture to properly face Wulfric. It also afforded him an additional fraction of a second to think up what to say. [Color=salmon]“Well, I guess it's as simple as not indulging in my recreational substances before an event like this one… But- I…I just find it difficult.”[/color] Lorenzo's gaze dropped as he took a deliberate breath. [Color=salmon]“No one can begin to understand what I feel and why I choose to numb that feeling… I can only promise that I will try, your highness.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“[i]Understand?[/i]”[/color] Wulfric hissed as anger sparked in his gaze. But he grit his teeth against it, and smoothed out his expression. [color=ab274f][i]Calm,[/i][/color] he thought, warning himself. There was absolutely no need to let this become personal.

Besides, it would be hypocritical for him to preach on proper conduct if he couldn’t even control himself, now, wouldn’t it?

[color=ab274f]“Trying is nothing without the determination to succeed,”[/color] he warned. [color=ab274f]“You should make a promise to [i]yourself[/i] that you will, then [i]do[/i] that. No matter how difficult.”[/color]

[I][color=salmon]A promise… to myself?[/color][/I]

[color=ab274f]“And no, of course the world will not cater to you,”[/color] he scoffed. [color=ab274f]“I don’t know why you expect anyone else to care about your suffering. [i]No one will.[/i] Nay-”[/color] he tossed his head to the side in sharp negation as something occurred to him.

[color=ab274f]“There [i]is[/i] someone who does. [i]Your daughter[/i],”[/color] Wulfric emphasized, sharpened gaze boring into the duke’s. [color=ab274f]“You haven’t forgotten [i]her[/i], have you?”[/color] he challenged. [color=ab274f]“While you’re drowning yourself in - what, alcohol and opium?”[/color] He’d had a lurking suspicion regarding the ‘substances’ ever since he’d been exposed to Vikena’s stench. [color=ab274f]“While you are doing [i]that[/i], what about [i]her?[/i]”[/color] He’d told himself he wouldn’t let this affect him personally, but it did rub him the wrong way. 

[Color=salmon]“Lottie…Heavens… I-”[/color] There was a crack in his voice as the realization hit him. He gulped hard in an attempt to hold back the overwhelming urge to burst into tears. [Color=salmon][I]Not here. Not now.[/I][/color] His jaw clenched as he felt his throat tighten. To know his actions were destroying the only person he loved. For Lorenzo it was like Emina all over again. No, it was worse! Charlotte did not choose him and his embarrassments. His shame. Charlotte had simply inherited the nightmare that had ended her mother's life.

[Color=salmon]“I didn't-”[/color] He choked up once more, this time with a familiar tingling in his eyes. Lorenzo was on the verge. Another wave of pain or perhaps a simple wincing of the eyes would break him. [Color=salmon][I]I can't! I mustn't! I WON'T![/I][/color] 

[Color=salmon]“I didn't think of anyone but myself. Perhaps… I'll kill her too as the selfish creature that I am. No one deserves this. Me. The girl would be better off if I…”[/color] His eyes were still low as he sighed.

[color=ab274f]“Kill…”[/color] Wulfric repeated, bewildered at Lorenzo’s wild mood swings. [color=ab274f]“Is that what this is all about? You believe your late wife committed suicide because of you,”[/color] he surmised. The prince shook his head, disbelieving. [color=ab274f]“What utter [i]nonsense.[/i]”[/color] He looked at the duke sternly, voice firm. 

[color=ab274f]“If she had thought [i]you[/i] the source of all her misfortune, she might as well have killed you rather than herself. She had the means, no doubt,”[/color] he huffed. Lorenzo finally met his gaze upon hearing his logical argument. [color=ab274f]“That she chose to end her life was her own decision. I don’t know why she did that-”[/color] he had a guess, however. He’d always thought his father’s careless public diatribe had affected the late duchess terribly. Then, in a moment of great desperation, she’d done something that couldn’t be undone. [color=ab274f]“But [i]she[/i] was responsible for her own actions,”[/color] he stated.

[color=ab274f]“And, do you know what is [i]truly[/i] selfish?”[/color] he stared down at Lorenzo. This time, Wulfric was the one to voluntarily take a step forward. He extended his arm, and his index finger forcefully poked at the duke’s chest. [color=ab274f]“Thinking that killing yourself is the solution. And that you would justify this as ‘for’ her…But your true reason would be to escape your own pain.”[/color] The prince shook his head. [color=ab274f]“When I asked if you have forgotten your daughter, what I meant was this: Just as you have lost your wife, [i]she[/i] has lost her mother,”[/color] there was another poke to emphasize his point. Lorenzo's mouth was agape. The continuous poking at his chest was… unexpected.

[color=ab274f]“Yet now you believe you ought to abandon her too? [i]Just what are you thinking, man?[/i]”[/color] There was a third, final poke before Wulfric retracted his arm. He waved it a bit wildly, because he didn’t know how the hell they’d come to this point in the conversation. [color=ab274f]“For Gods’ sakes, did you not see how desperate she was to protect you last evening?”[/color] He still did not think she should have been the one protecting her father rather than the other way around. But at the very least, he would not deny her the agency to do so. 

[color=ab274f]“Are you so absorbed in your self-pity that you cannot recognize your importance to her?”[/color] He’d thought the man dysfunctional as a duke, not as a father. [color=ab274f]“If she is precious to you, then [i]live[/i], and strive to do better. For her sake, if not for your own.”[/color]

[Color=salmon]“B-but…”[/color] The duke gulped down the imaginary frog in his throat. [Color=salmon]“But don't you think I've been doing just that?!”[/color] He cried out as the tears finally burst free from his eyes. [Color=salmon]“Everything I do is simply wrong! Always wrong! I never wanted to topple the Alidasht royals! I didn't choose violence this morning at the park! And I just thought if I could come here to this damned horse race without feeling the grand embarrassments of these past two days, that I could pull it off! And if I didn't, I'd just be the intoxicated fool of a duke that ruined yet another of your father's events! There's something wrong with me…”[/color] His voice lowered. [color=salmon]“And I just don't know what's right anymore. All I can do is try… Try and pray I'm doing right…”[/color] Lorenzo wiped his tears on his sleeve. [color=salmon]“But you're not wrong, and I apologize for shouting like that. I-I just find it frustrating that I fail to simply do good for those I care for.”[/color]

[color=ab274f][i]The park?[/i][/color] Wulfric sighed because there was apparently a recent incident of Lorenzo’s he was yet unaware of. He merely waved off the apology, because he felt that they were finally getting somewhere. That, and he was frankly tired; he ignored the unbecoming crying outright.

[color=ab274f]“Did I not say that you do fine when it comes to entertainment?”[/color] he questioned rhetorically. [color=ab274f]“You did ‘pull it off’, so to say…but you were also dangerously intoxicated. Why is it either all or nothing with you?”[/color] Was it a mental illness? Sheer ineptitude? A magical affliction? The causes could be multifaceted for all he knew. It also struck him that Lorenzo was acting rather like a child seeking parental guidance, or a faithful beseeching the gods, or just a man looking for some kind of a ‘master’. No wonder the likes of Calbert Damien were drawn to him.

[color=ab274f]“You should assess yourself honestly, and as objectively as possible. You cannot do this by running away from your issues.”[/color] He decided to offer some advice the duke was so obviously desperate for. [color=ab274f]“Whenever something goes wrong, you need to identify the causes. Face your weaknesses, then overcome them. Identify your strengths, and use them.”[/color] Why did something so obvious need to be said? And was Lorenzo truly expecting someone else to break it down for him? If so– [color=ab274f]“Hell, hire an advisor,”[/color] he interjected. [color=ab274f]“Or rely on your daughter; she’s much more socially sensible.”[/color]

[color=salmon]“Advisor?”[/color] Lorenzo frowned at the suggestion as he felt adding more to his failed equation of a life could complicate things. [Color=salmon][I] I don't think I need that- Wait?! Edin… has an advisor. Yes, Arnold. Arnold Plannington![/I][/color] With his eyes slightly reddened from the crying, he raised an eyebrow at Wulfric. [Color=salmon]“That could work. However, it would need to be someone I actually listen to but I think you may be onto something... In fact, I think I already have an idea on a great selection pool.”[/color] Lorenzo's eyes were wide with realization as if experiencing a grand epiphany. [Color=salmon]“Many thanks, your highness. Your genius truly precedes you. To experience it firsthand is remarkable. You'll be a fine king, I think.”[/color] And just like that, Lorenzo was all smiles again.

Wulfric simply stared for one long moment as Lorenzo went from crying and wanting to kill himself back to grinning foolishly. [color=ab274f][i]Something wrong indeed.[/i][/color] The prince felt that he’d been merely wasting time and words with the duke. Thus, his demeanour also shifted; he seemed stony and unimpressed, a denigrating tilt to his expression.

[color=ab274f]“Yet an advisor will be all the more disastrous if you cannot learn to [i]think for yourself,[/i]”[/color] Wulfric warned frostily. Out of all the things he’d said to Lorenzo, [i]this[/i] was the one he latched onto? To have someone else do it all for him. Just who was he so eager to let influence him and his duchy?

[color=ab274f]“In fact, since you are so confident in your selection,”[/color] he sneered, [color=ab274f]“you will present your final candidate to me. If I deem your judgement poor, [i]I[/i] shall assign someone instead.”[/color] However, he was thinking that he might not set someone to Lorenzo, but instead of him. An official regent? An ‘advisor’? A new duke? Maybe, with the help of his daughter, something sensible could be done. Either way, Wulfric was now even more firm in his opinion that Lorenzo was ill-fitting for his position, and that any future inadvertent damage he could cause should be prevented somehow.

Finally, he moved onto a different matter; the one he’d come to address in the first place. [color=ab274f]“In a few hours, you will be attending dinner with His Majesty The Sultan, and his family. Make yourself presentable, arrive on time, and be mindful of your conduct. If - and only [i]if[/i] - you can procure appropriate gifts, bring them. Apologize to each and every one of them for your actions. Promise that it will not happen again, and ensure that it does not.”[/color] Wulfric paused for a moment to judge if Lorenzo was even taking this in. It was especially difficult to tell given his fixed unblinking state and that smile that was just uneasy to look at from him.

[color=ab274f]“I doubt they will care if you make a fool of yourself. But if they think even for a moment that you are making a fool out of them- Well, I do not have to tell you that this should be avoided, I hope.”[/color]

[Color=salmon]“Oh, of course!”[/color] Lorenzo gave several animated nods. [Color=salmon]“I was already planning to do every bit of that. After attending the theater, I'll make all the preparations needed to ensure I undo my past transgressions to the Alidasht peoples. Great minds really do think alike, huh?”[/color] Lorenzo scratched his chin for effect.

Wulfric grimaced at that proverb. [color=ab274f]“Do not think to compare yourself to me.”[/color] The very notion was repulsive. [color=ab274f]“Ensure that you act as a duke should, and do not cause further offence.”[/color] With that parting comment, the prince took his leave.

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