I did not know what I was thinking, why did I even attend this celebration?

    They probably do not even know who I am but the stares they are giving me is making me anxious and in the back of my head, the whispers grew louder and louder, ''Oh, it is the son of a whore!''

    I must be being paranoid, I know that the people were not really saying those words to me at that moment, but it keeps repeating in my head. Those words were all I ever heard, even from the servants of the palace when I was a child. The voices became normal, and I finally accepted the demons behind me, staying close to my ears.

    I glanced at the seat beside the King, it was the seat of the concubine, my mother, but it was just empty since it is now impossible for my mother to attend anymore. It was a bit irritating to see the seat where my mother was supposed to be sitting, taken so easily by the ruler of another kingdom. There was nothing wrong with that, since my mother will never be able to sit there, as she rots forever in the Royal Glass House, waiting for her death.

    I am not the type to drink alcohol because of my low tolerance for drinks like that, but the stares of the people are making me anxious. I saw a server from afar and grabbed a drink from his tray. There was a part of me who wanted to be intoxicated to keep myself distracted, away from the eyes of the guests.

    But after a few drinks, I do not know what happened next as I wandered around and all I could see was darkness.

    ---

    I opened my eyes and the dizziness hit me as soon as I had woken up from sleep. I did not even realize that I had already fallen asleep. Ugh, my head hurts like hell, it must be because of the alcohol that I drank in the celebration.

    I let out a frustrated sigh, my mood has gotten worse already so early...in the morning. It was already morning when...was it already morning? I turned my head to the side and saw light coming in my chamber and saw the window open. Tsk, why is it opened so widely?

    The light coming from the window hit my face, my eyes were in pain, making me squint. I sat up and was about to get off of my bed when suddenly, I saw a figure lying in my bed. I opened my eyes and looked at it clearly but I only stared at it in surprise. A-are my eyes playing with me? It can''t be!

    There is a man, a complete stranger, lying down on my bed! Which means the entire night, I was sleeping beside a man?! I do not even know what expression I have on my face, it could not be explained as it went from shocked to weirded out to confusion and to...anger.

    "Wh..at the hell?" I muttered and the man slowly moved, awakened from sleep. He turned, and his eyes slowly opened.

    His eyes began opening wide, but not as wide as mine did earlier. The man looked surprised to see that I was already awake.  Cannot believe he dared to enter my room and sleep with me.

    He sat up and smiled. "Your Highness, I did not know you were already awa-"

    "Who the hell are you?" I immediately asked with an annoyed expression that was clearly never going to leave my face.

    He fell silent as he was cut off and stared at me with a dumbfounded look, "Eh?"

    "What do you mean ''eh''? Tell me who you are and why you are here!" I ordered, I need answers at once because I know I will never let anyone into my room.

    The man got off the bed and stood. He took a few steps towards me, "Your Highness...after making me come inside your chamber, cry on me, pull me to your bed, you do not even remember me?" he said and acted as if he was hurt.

    I stared at him, unable to take my gaze away from his puppy eyes. He is so weird, W-where did this innocent-face dog come from?

    "Wait..."

    ''Your Highness...after making me come inside your chamber, cry on me, pull me to your bed, you do not even remember me?''

    ''You do not even remember me?''

    ''After making me come inside your chamber, cry on me, pull me to your bed...''

    "I did what?!" I yelled after processing what he said. I laughed, how absurd. The last person to ever enter this room was my brother, ever since then I never let anyone in nor made anyone stay. Who is he trying to fool here? "Are you accusing me of doing such embarrassing things? I will call the knights and throw you out of here!"

    "You will?" he asked.

    I felt weird, did I just hesitate?

    I averted my gaze, feeling awkward, "Anyway, do not lie and tell me the truth! How did you come here and why are you in my bed?" I asked.

    "Y-your Highness, please look at me," The man said and for an unknown reason, a part of me listened to him, looking at him in silence just as he told me to. "I am telling the truth, Your Highness." he said in a serious tone.

    I was almost convinced that he was not lying, but how could it be the truth? I would never ask someone to come inside my chamber!

    "It seemed ''someone'' mistook me for a server..." The man said, and rubbed the back of his neck.

    Server

    "You there!"

    "Yes, Your Highness..?"

    "A drink! I- I want a drink! Another drink!"

    "I said give me a drink. What are you waiting for?!"

    "Erm, I do not have any drinks brought with me, Your Highness."

    "How could that be? Then go to the table! I saw a lot-hicc- of drinks in there!"

    "Your Highness, you are no longer in the room where the celebration is being held."

    "Ohhhhhh!" I muttered while nodding his head.

    I tapped the server''s shoulder and giggled, "All right~ Thank you-hicc!"

    My jaw almost reached the ground as his mouth dropped open. I wish the floor would just swallow me and make me disappear. My mouth wanted to let out some curses the moment I remembered what happened. In the name of Asteria, Clayton, what the hell were you doing...

    I felt all the blood rushed to my face, and my cheeks heated up in embarrassment. It was decided, I slowly raised my gaze to the man who I ordered around inside his chamber. "I-I apologize. It was because of the alcohol." I said and pointed at the bottle that was lying on the floor.

    For a few moments, I felt as though the bottle had a mouth and glaring eyes. "Ah, so now you are blaming me?" the bottle said, annoyed. Wow this bottle has an attitude, huh?

    I froze, and blinked my eyes and the bottle does not have a face anymore, "I have gone crazy, so this is what alcohol does to people..." I muttered.

    The man chuckled and I turned to him, confused. "Your Highness, I hope that was not the only thing you remembered," he said.

    There is more?!

    ~~~~~

    "What are you doing? At least open the door." the man said to me, "Do you think you are a ghost who can go past walls?" he added and I just grinned, cheeks flushed with redness from the effect of the alcohol, making him hot.

    I grinned and let out a chuckle when I also saw his face, "Why are you red, I am the one drunk~ not you~" I said and poked the server''s cheeks.

    ---

    "If my mother was not such a bitch, if she was not so desperate to get laid by His Majesty, then both of us would not be suffering right now!"

    "A courtesan, a prostitute! What did you expect from sleeping with the King and giving birth to a son? Power? All you received was shame and hate!"

    "And now you are suffering...because you gave birth to someone like me."

    ~~~~~

    I was frozen on the spot, remembering my rants. Clayton, you stupid-- You just told someone that you are a son of a bitch!

    I started to panic, but the panic subsided as my mood also dropped. Of course, I bet he already knew, anyway. Everyone knows that I am the son of the King''s concubine. Every servant knows.

    My hands felt warm and I saw that the man in front of me was holding my hand. Then another memory came to my head. All I could think of was the compliment he told me. One that I liked, one that I would remember.

    "The moon is very beautiful."

    "Hearing the words you say, it is obvious how low you think of yourself. You might think that you are insignificant, but there are others who would not agree with that."

    "So tell me, who would even think of me as someone important?"

    "I would."

    "I love the moon."

    I stared at him, seeing the way he was dressed, it was obvious that he was a servant of the Howard Palace. "You..." I muttered. "Who are you?"

    The man smiled. "My name is Clifford Hill, Your Highness."

    Clifford Hill.

    Who would have thought that a person named Clifford would come to shake me up again. The lock I promised never to be opened up, started to move. I desperately hid the key, but a part of me hoped that someone would find it.

    Because my mother and my brother...lost the key.