After leaving the clearing, Arden and Lucas walked for a few minutes to the tree where Arden had tied his horse.

  Arden detached his horse, then he put Lucas on it, before getting on it in turn and settling behind him.

  "Sit straight, just like you were taught," he whispered tenderly in Lucas' ear.

  At these words, Lucas straightened his back.

  Seeing this, Arden let a slight smile appear on his lips.

  Arden firmly grasped the reins of his horse, then he gave him a slight heel pressure, and the horse started running.

  The regular sound of hooves resounded against the forest floor, mixed with the rustle of the leaves under the light breeze.

  The sunlight filtered through the branches, drawing golden spots on their clothes.

  Lucas lifted his head now and then to admire the sky.

  After riding for a few minutes, they reached the main road. Horse-drawn caravans passed by, and travelers walked, all going in the same direction as them, Kirven.

  The traffic in front of the walls of Kirven had become denser, because of the recent passage of the royal procession. Merchants were waiting for their turn, and some personalities surrounded by guards advanced slowly in their decorated carriages.

  After a moment of waiting, Arden and Lucas passed all the security devices and finally entered the city.

  Crossing the Kirven wall, Lucas opened his eyes wide, amazed.

  The city, bright with colors, movements and voices, gave Lucas the feeling of entering a new world.

  The streets vibrated with activity, and spicy scents floated in the air.

  Merchants passionately presented their products to passers-by, travelers exchanged their goods, and children pursued by their parents, ran between the stalls.

  Lucas lacked words to describe what he felt, but his gaze spoke clearly for him.

  Arden, who was walking while pulling the reins of the horse, noticed Lucas' expression. So he began to slow down his steps, in order to let Lucas carefully admire the city.

  As Lucas observed the city on both sides, a breeze carrying with it a strong sweet smell hit his nostrils.

  "So Lucas, the city is beautiful... isn't it ?" Arden calmly launched, trying to start the conversation.

  But at that moment, what Arden did not know was that Lucas was no longer listening to him.

  Because of the sweet smell he had smelled earlier, his look and smell were looking for the origin of this smell.

  In a few seconds, Lucas noticed a stand where a man was turning golden cakes on a burning plate.

  Without warning, Lucas suddenly pulled the reins of the horse, forcing him to change direction.

  Arden felt the rope of the reins slip from his hands, and was caught off guard by this sudden change of direction. He quickly caught up with the reins, and shot, forcing the horse to stop.

  "Hey Lucas, but what's going on with you ?" He exclaimed in a surprised tone, while looking up at Lucas.

  As Arden looked at Lucas, waiting for his answer, he noticed that Lucas had his gaze elsewhere.

  "Arden!" Lucas suddenly exclaimed, who quickly turned his head towards Arden.

  "Buy me this, please!" He said in an excited tone accompanied by a wide smile on his lips, while pointing at the man in the stand.

  Arden, surprised by Lucas' expression, stared at him for a moment. But as he looked at him, he noticed that saliva was drooling from the corner of his lips.

  He blinked several times to make sure he saw, but the drool on the corner of Lucas' lips did not disappear.

  When Arden looked in the direction where Lucas was pointing, he saw a man turning cakes. And at that precise moment, he finally understood Lucas' reaction.

  "Pfff... Lucas. You know we need to find a place to stay before anything else," said Arden while a sigh.

  "In addition, you are the Second Prince of our kingdom, you can't afford to eat that. Anyway, just wait a little, and we'll go find the best pastries in town just for you," he added calmly.

  Knowing that Arden was absolutely right, Lucas lowered his head, letting his hair fall back in front of his face. But when his eyes fell on his hair, Lucas froze, remembering something.

  "Huh, but wait... my hair," he suddenly thought while touching his hair.

  At that moment, the world around Lucas became silent, and memories of the previous day began to resurface.

  The day before the trip, in the middle of the night - Lucas' room:

  Lucas' room was bathed in a soft darkness, only illuminated by the cold glow of the moon filtering through the window.

  Sitting on a chair near the window, his knees folded against him, Lucas calmly watched below the royal guards making their round in the inner courtyard of the royal domain.

  A moment later, Lucas rested his forehead against the window, then looked up at the starry sky, contemplating it silently.

  As he looked at the sky, his eyelids began to close slowly, and he yawned for a long time.

  "No, I must not sleep now," he said, straightening up quickly, and slamming his hands against his cheeks.

  So, in order not to sink into fatigue, Lucas got up, knelt on the cold floor, put his hands on it, and positioned himself to do push-ups.

  "Just ten, and then it's good," he breathed, determined despite his exhausted face.

  But just as he bent his arms to start his push-ups, a slight click echoed from the direction of the door.

  Lucas jumped, his heart beating slightly.

  Without thinking too much, he hopped into his bed, quickly buried himself under his blanket, and pretended to be deeply asleep.

  The door opened slowly, and a soft glow entered the room.

  Two pairs of steps approached. One seemed more familiar to Lucas, while the other seemed heavier to him.

  "The first person is surely Maya... but who may be the person next to her," Lucas thought, intrigued.

  Suddenly, Maya's calm and sweet voice broke the silence that enveloped the room.

  "He is deeply asleep, Sir," she said in a respectful tone.

  "Perfect... just remove the blanket from his head, please," replied a calm voice.

  Maya nodded, then, with an almost maternal delicacy, she grabbed the edge of the blanket and slowly folded it to Lucas' shoulders.

  "You can start Sir Hallan," she said calmly.

  Hallan approached Lucas' bed, then leaned over him, watching him for a moment.

  "He's really acts just like his father," he thought, while letting an amused smile spread across his lips.

  "I won't linger," he said calmly in a weak voice.

  Hallan raised a hand over Lucas' forehead, and a soft gray glow spilled from his palm.

  Lucas, who had his eyes closed, felt a strange heat run through his scalp. It was not painful, but he had the strange feeling that his hair was being stroked with a viscous liquid.

  Shortly after, behind his closed eyelids, he saw two silver glows flash for a moment, before completely disappearing.

  After that, Hallan leaned even closer, calmly put his thumb on Lucas' right eyelid and gently lifted it, as if to check something.

  Hallan let a slight smile of satisfaction appear on his lips.

  "Perfect. Since he hasn't awakened his powers yet, he will be able to maintain this appearance throughout his journey," he said calmly.

  After these words, Hallan straightened up, put his hands in his pocket, then went to the door.

  As he was about to leave the room, his voice resounded one last time.

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  "You'd better sleep, Lucas. Tomorrow a big day awaits you. "

  Surprised by Hallan's words, Maya stopped sharply, and quickly glanced at Lucas.

  "But what are you talking about, Sir... His Highness is sound asleep," she said with a confused look.

  Without turning around, Hallan let a slight smile appear on his lips, and calmly replied:

  "Nothing at all. Let's rather finish all the remaining preparations. "

  They left the room together, Maya gently closing the door behind them.

  The room plunged back into calm.

  A few minutes later, Lucas suddenly opened his eyes, and quickly straightened up on his bed, his heart beating.

  "Wait... would Uncle Hallan have guessed that I wasn't sleeping ?" He thought.

  Feeling a strange heat enveloping his hair, Lucas did not want to think about this question, and got up abruptly from his bed, before heading to the large mirror in his room.

  When he saw his reflection in front of the mirror, his eyes lit up.

  His white hair had turned brown.

  His red pupils had turned green.

  He seemed to have become a whole new person.

  "Wow..." he breathed, almost amazed.

  A smile appeared on his lips.

  That evening, Lucas spent the whole evening contemplating his new appearance, and having fun trying all kinds of possible facial expressions, completely ignoring the passing time.

  Back to the present:

  As the images of the previous day slowly disappeared from his mind, Lucas blinked, observing again his hair that slid between his fingers, then he let a mischievous smile appear on his lips.

  "Eh eh..." he let out unconsciously.

  "As a result Arden, I think you're completely right," he said, keeping his head down.

  "As a prince, I can't afford to eat such things just out of envy. Thank you very much for your advice," he added in a slightly sad tone.

  Listening to Lucas' words, Arden stared at him suspiciously for a moment.

  "Hmm... it wasn't really difficult to convince him. I don't understand why these maids told me to be careful with him... Lucas doesn't seem to be a capricious child," he thought calmly.

  Finally, Arden let a smile appear on his lips.

  "Perfect. If you understand me, let's first find a good inn," he said calmly.

  "Then we can find the best pastry in town, and you will eat all the sweets you want," he added proudly while holding the reins of the horse.

  But as soon as Arden pulled the reins of the horse, it suddenly stopped, surprising Arden again.

  "What !!" Arden suddenly exclaimed.

  "But what's taking you Lucas !" He said, turning to Lucas with a confused look.

  Lucas slowly raised his head, and with an air of pretending ignorance, he tilted it slightly to the side.

  "What do you mean what's taking me ?" He replied calmly.

  "I'm the one who should ask you this question, Arden," he added innocently.

  Arden froze for a few moments, looking at Lucas with a confused look, not understanding what was happening.

  "But what are you talking about... you just agreed with what I just said," he said, slightly lost.

  "Exactly," replied calmly Lucas.

  "As you said, Prince Lucas can't eat this kind of thing... but you forget something Arden," he added in a calm and composed voice.

  Lucas raised his hand, and with an almost theatrical gesture, he slid it between his hair, as if to force Arden to look at them.

  "Who would be crazy enough to believe this hairs and these eyes belong to the Ingriss family ?" he said calmy whit a teasing smile on his lips.

  Arden, shocked by the unstoppable argument that Lucas had just come out, froze on the spot.

  "Wait... don't tell me that this kid dared," he thought with a slightly angry look.

  Instead of responding immediately, Arden remained calm, continuing to simply observe the way Lucas had just literally turned the situation around.

  "Therefore, since no one would recognize me, currently I am just a completely banal boy... and a boy of my age, he can eat whatever he wants," Lucas added slowly, while sketching a victorious smile

  Seeing Lucas' expression, Arden lowered his head and tightened his grip on the reins of the horse.

  "Ahh, so that's what he wants to play... very well, let's play in this case," he thought, smiling, while inwardly seething.

  Arden inhaled deeply to regain his calm, then he raised his head, staring at Lucas who looked at him victoriously, with an innocent smile on his lips.

  "Very well, Lucas… I re… recognize that you are right. With this appearance no… no one would recognize you," he said in a hesitant voice.

  At these words, Lucas' eyes sparkled with joy.

  "Yes!"

  "In this case, let's go quickly to the cake stand... they might run out before I get there," he said, all excited.

  While Lucas rejoiced inwardly, convinced that he had convinced Arden, the latter suddenly raised his hand, as if to stop him in his party.

  "Wait Lucas... you don't notice that you're rushing a little too fast," said Arden in a calm and composed voice.

  Lucas began to look at Arden with a puzzled look.

  "Huh? What do you mean?" He asked calmly.

  Arden approached slowly, put his hand on the horse's neck, and began to caress it tenderly, while having a smile on his lips.

  "Even if no one can recognize you like this appearance... you really think my horse would go unnoticed," he said in a calm tone.

  At these words, Lucas' inner joy quickly faded.

  "I'm sure you've noticed it, but some people's have been staring at us for a while now because of my horse," Arden began in a slow tone.

  "It's understandable you know, he is imposing and clearly has a noble look... only blind people would not notice the presence of such a horse," he added calmly, while stroking his horse.

  "Therefore, to avoid attracting attention, we must first find the perfect place to stay," he said happily, while raising a finger in the air.

  Following Arden's sentence, Lucas slightly opened his mouth, but he immediately closed it. He desperately searched for a solid argument, but no idea came to him.

  Seeing that Lucas was unable to answer him, Arden let a slight smile appear on his lips.

  "Perfect," he said happily.

  "Since you can't answer me, let's go find the perfect place for to stay," he added with a victorious smile on his lips.

  But as Arden was about to take the reins of the horse to leave, a young clear voice suddenly emerged behind them.

  "Uh... excuse me, my lords. "

  Surprised, Lucas and Arden turned around at the same time.

  A young boy with slightly blond hair and who seemed to be only fifteen years old, was there, respectfully bowed in front of them.

  "Sorry for the lack of respect I show, but by the way, I may have overheard one part of your conversation by accident," he said in a calm and respectful tone.

  Arden frowned slightly, looking at him suspiciously, while Lucas watched him curiously.

  The young boy straightened up, and raised both hands in the air, as if to show that he was not a threat.

  "My name is Leo, and I think I have the solution with your horse, and the place where you can stay," he said with a confident smile on his lips.

  At these words, Lucas' gaze marveled, while Arden's gaze darkened.

  "Is fate against me today or am I dreaming ?" Arden thought with a mixed air.