The Invisible Prince

Chapter 3 - Birthday (Part 3)

Arien and Arjen's POV-

Arien put her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Calm down, Arjen. It is not Arden's fault."

She paused.

"Speaking of which, I don't think we've ever met him. Have we, Arjen?"

Arjen shook his head, not understanding Arien's point. He stared at her with a questioning gaze, wondering why Arien suddenly mentioned this. Then, as if he was struck with a realization, he jumped off the bed.

"Are you suggesting that we visit him?"

Arien nodded happily. She had expected her brother to understand her intentions.

After a moment of thought, Arjen agreed. Together, the two siblings walked around the run-down castle and peeked through the cracks of every door, trying to find the room in which their youngest sibling resided.

They did this for nearly ten minutes, until they saw a tall servant enter a room holding a tray. Ducking behind a table, they waited until he was out of sight before peeking under the crack and seeing the person they were searching for. Then, they hid behind the table and waited until the man left before they ran to the room and opened the door.

There, lying on an enormous bed, was their brother. He was smaller than they had expected, and definitely paler too. However, the most shocking (and infuriating) part was the annoyed expression on his face. In the eyes of Arien and Arjen, Arden was simply ungrateful and undeserving of the care he had received.

Arjen took a deep breath to calm himself down. In doing so, he caught the attention of Arden, who turned to look at them with wide eyes. The small boy in front of them reached out his thin arm.

"You look like me.."

He spoke as if he was completely unaware of their existence. Was it possible that he really didn't?

The boy coughed, shocking Arien and Arjen. Now, instead of loathing their youngest brother, they were hit with a desire to protect him.

[315 words]