William and Dante's arguing has managed to become worse and worse. Although Dante rarely spoke, whenever he argued with William, the two never seemed to shut up. I didn't understand what they were even arguing about half of the time.

It was obvious that there was something much deeper causing a rift in their friendship, but they weren't paying it any attention. Instead, they chose to focus on mundane things to argue about instead of trying to solve their real issue.

It was starting to become a problem.

I walked along the halls of the Imperial palace trying to find one of the two. I walked into the Palace library and noticed William standing by a bookshelf reading with a Kingly aura. I walked over and spoke to him, "Where's Dante?"

He scoffed, "Who cares?"

"..."

Okay. This has got to stop.

I scolded him, "William. You are both adults. Whatever issue you two have with each other should be discussed. No more beating around the bush and fighting over stupid things."

He frowned never taking his eyes off of his book, "Our issue can't be solved."

I rolled my eyes, "William. The two of you have been friends since you were both children. Nothing could be worth ruining that friendship."

William glanced up from his book. His voice was monotonous, "We aren't friends."

I wanted to smack my forehead, "Of course you are friends."

He looked back at his book, "No. He was just someone who looked after me when we were younger. Now that we are older, it is unnecessary and unwanted."

I groaned, "You can't be serious..."

He spoke coldly, "I am very SERIous."

I frowned, "Don't use my favorite pun." I sighed and shook my head, "I don't understand your little feud, but you two ought to stop comparing d*cks."

William's face paled, "Comparing w-what?!"

"I didn't mean it literally. What I meant was, it is obvious you two are insecure about something and are letting it affect your friendship. And yes. I said friendship. Stop being proud and admit that you value Dante as a friend."

William clicked his tongue, "It doesn't matter what I value Dante as. He's the one who doesn't think of me as a friend."

I sighed, "Fine. Then I will just go beat some sense into Dante."

William scoffed, "Are you sure you can even do that?"

"William. I'm not afraid to hit a King. So don't tempt me."

William put the book back on the shelf, "Well I heard that my mother was looking for him for some reason. I will go with you to find him because I need to ask my mother something anyway."

I glared at him, "I thought you said you didn't know where he was."

William shrugged as he started to walk away, "I lied."

I see now that I may have been a bad influence on him.

I started following William as we walked to where the two were at. William's first guess was that the two were in the Queen's personal office. It was probably a good guess since she wanted to speak to Dante privately. We conversed while walking that way.

William spoke, "I received word that the envoy from the Western Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom will be arriving in a few weeks."

"Wow. That was quick. I'm surprised they found time to come on such short notice."

"I told you. They really want to see you. When I told them you would be the one responsible for escorting them around the kingdom, they replied immediately."

"Really?"

William glanced at my face which had a hint of arrogance. He frowned, "Don't think too hard about it. They just know that the stakes are high."

"Yeah, yeah."

We arrived at the door to the Queen's office and went to knock. However, I paused once I heard a conversation. I looked at William and whispered, "It seems like they are talking about something."

William shrugged, "Then we should just come back."

I smiled mischievously, "Or... Aren't you curious about what they are talking about?"

William fidgeted before hesitantly stepping towards the door, "I am a King now. King's don't eavesdrop."

I frowned, "You say that, but your ear is against the door right now..."

He held up a finger, "Sh."

I placed my ear against the door as well and listened alongside William. We both looked through the keyhole so we could see what was happening inside.

The Queen spoke inside the room to Dante, "How much do you remember from when you first arrived here as a child?"

"I remember a lot."

She sighed, "So you remember the letter you gave me?"

He nodded, "Yes. It was the one my mother told me to give to you."

"Did you ever read it?"

He shook his head, "No. My mother had told me not to."

The Queen sighed once more, "It's a good thing that you hadn't... However..."

"However?"

"Haven't you ever been curious about it?"

Dante grew quiet as he didn't know what to say in response.

The Queen continued, "Haven't you ever been curious to know just why I would take you in?"

"I have been curious." Dante admitted without shame.

The Queen seemed to have difficulty speaking. It was as if she was forcing herself to speak. "I had always told you that you should never speak about this matter ever. Not even to William. I said that if you pretended your life didn't exist before you met us, then you would be allowed to stay with us."

Dante nodded, "Yes. You also told me that I must remain by William's side and protect him."

"Sometimes I wonder if I was right in doing that..." She mumbled, "Do you want to learn the truth?"

"The truth?"

I held my breath and looked at William. He looked through the peephole completely shocked by what he was listening to.

I have a bad feeling about this.

I tugged on William's sleeve, "William... Perhaps it's best if we don't listen..."

He waved me off, "Shush. I want to hear this."

I turned back to the scene chewing on my lip. Since William made his choice, I can't do anything about it.

She walked to her desk and pulled out an envelope. She held it out to Dante, "I shouldn't have ever hidden it from you..."

Dante looked at the envelope and tightened his fist before gaining the courage to reach out to grab the letter. It still looked exactly how it did when he had given it to the Queen all those years ago. He silently looked at the envelope and flipped it over. It had no writing and no identification marks on the front or back.

His eyes coldly looked at the envelope before opening it up and pulling out the letter. As he read it, his fists clenched and his expression grew darker, "This is..."

The Queen nodded with a somber expression, "I'm sorry I kept this from you... I'm sorry that you weren't able to know who your father was before he died."

Dante spoke in a strained voice, "My father... Was the King..."

Oh sh*t.

I quickly looked at William in a panic and saw him looking through the key hole with his mouth agape. He looked so shocked by the news. He stuttered out, "W-What... H-He..."

The Queen sighed, "I didn't know your mothers circumstances when she wrote this letter, but I know that she must have cared for you to go through all of that."

Dante interrupted in a dark tone, "Why did you let me stay here?"

She looked away with a guilty expression, "William never had a friend around his age... He was always so alone... So I thought that... You two could become good friends."

William flung the door open and I flinched from his sudden outburst. "YOU WANTED US TO BE GOOD FRIENDS?!"

I rushed to his side, "William!"

The Queen flinched and looked at William with a horrified expression, "W-William! I can explain!"

William shouted back, "Explain?! Oh! You better explain! You knew this entire time and you never thought that you should tell me?!"

"I thought that you may overreact and feel hurt..." The Queen looked at him with a soft expression.

"You were worried I would overreact?! You thought I would feel hurt!? Well good job with that! Because now I am unbelievably hurt!!!" William tightened his fist. His voice cracked, "Was everything just a lie?"

The Queen spoke, "William, I-"

He continued biting his lip to refrain from crying, "Is that why? Is that why father always preferred Dante?"

The Queen rushed to his side to hold his arm, "William. Your father didn't prefer Dante-"

William stepped out of her grasp, "He did. Father was always saying how Dante was better than me. He was always saying that Dante would be suited to become a King. Tell me the truth. Father wanted Dante to become King. Not me. Didn't he?!"

"No-"

"DIDN'T HE?!"

The Queen flinched from his reaction. Her lip trembled, "William... Your father loved you..."

"He LOVED me?! If he loved me, then why did he never say he was proud of me!? If he loved me, then why did he never want to spend time with me?! If he loved me, then why was I never good enough for him!" William turned to Dante with hate in his eyes, "But not Dante. Dante was always perfect in his eyes. He never missed an opportunity to praise Dante."

The Queen shook her head, "No! William, your father was proud of you. He just was harder on you because he knew you could do better."

William turned to her with the same cold look in his eyes, "Why should I even believe a word you say? You are just like the rest of them. I bet you never wanted me to be King either. I bet you also thought I was just a worthless son."

The Queen looked shocked by this, "William!"

William bit his lip and turned around to storm out of the room. The Queen quickly ran after him shouting at him to listen to her. I watched the two run out of the room speechlessly. I had no idea what to say in this circumstance. It was only natural that William would feel hurt. Something this big had been kept a secret from him. His parents both knew and purposely chose to hide it.

"You knew?"

I heard the dark gravely voice behind me and turned around to see Dante glaring at me with an unfamiliar look. I shrank back slightly upon seeing that. He had never looked at me like that before. I choked out, "D-Dante... I-"

"Did you know."

I swallowed and nodded my head.

Dante tightened his fists, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I... I..." I fidgeted uncomfortably under that stare, "I tried to hint at it..."

"Hint at it?!"

The words started spilling out of my mouth from nervousness, "I tried to get you to figure it out on your own. How many times did I compare your eyes to the King's?! For f*cks sake! There's only two people in the world who have golden eyes like that! You and the King! How could you not see it?!"

"Hah.." Dante chuckled sarcastically, "I guess I am blind then. I wonder what else I am blind to."

Dante glared at me coldly and I flinched back from his stare. He stepped closer to me and my body was screaming at me to run.

But why would I run? This was Dante. He would never hurt me... Right?

Dante's sharp unfamiliar golden eyes looked into my own. He spoke through a clenched jaw, "What else have you been hiding from me?"

I blinked in surprise, "What?"

"What else?" He tilted his head and sneered, "You are always hiding things from me. It makes me wonder, have you been tricking me this entire time?"

"Dante! You know I would never do that to you!"

"How would I know? It's not like you ever tell me the truth."

I clenched my fists as they trembled, "I told you about my other world..."

He chuckled angrily, "Right. Because you did that intentionally."

I felt my heart sting.

He continued, "You never were going to tell me about that either. You had planned to keep it a secret from me." He studied me closely, "I bet you also know more about Simon than you are letting on."

My eyes widened.

He stepped even closer to me, "You were always so close to Simon. You were always whispering to him in secret. Did you help plan all of this? What were you offered in return!? Money!?!"

I couldn't speak as he looked at me with hate filled eyes.

Dante scoffed, "Of course you won't tell me. That's just who you are."

He crumpled up the letter and threw it on the ground before pushing past me to leave. I stood there looking at the letter with a trembling lip. A single tear rolled down my cheek.

The other me stepped out wearing a frown under her hoodie, "First goes William. Then goes Dante. I tried to warn you that they were going to leave you."

I bent down toward the ground and picked up the crumbled letter with shaking hands, "I... I know..."

The other me sighed and bent down beside me, "I just didn't want you to get hurt again... It's better for us if we are-"

"Alone..."