Chapter 72 - Meeting (part Two)

Ander looked shocked at the man who was using his father's name to order him. His anger shot up again, he was the prince and not even he had the nerve to call out his father's name.

"Are you trying to be funny?" he asked the man. "The king hasn't left his palace in sixteen years and even if he were to come out, he never does for too long. So who the hell are you," he yelled in fury.

"I am the king of Arimelari," Alexander said to him confidently.

"Impersonating a king is a crime punishable by death," Ander informed intrigued that there was someone brave enough to impersonate the king of dragons.

"Talking back to the king is also a crime," Alexander said getting irritated that the boy was doubting his identity.

"If you are the king surely you would know why the king doesn't leave his palace?" Ander asked curious to hear what excuse the man would use. He might not be the king but he might be able to give him an idea as to why the real king was behaving the way he was. Because who better to know what goes on in one's mind than someone who walks in the same shoes.

"I would rather not say."

"Then how can you call yourself the king. I don't believe you so I am leaving," Ander said and turned around to walk away.

"Wait," Alexander shouted desperately. "The reason I keep myself locked away from people is that I lost something important to me," he said thinking back to that day when he was helpless to save Francis when Ander attacked him.

"What could that be?" he questions his curiosity rising.

"Someone that I love much more than my life," he said in a soft sweet voice.

"Awww," Francis said appearing beside Ander.

Ander looked up at Alex and then at Francis and it hit him. The two of them had the same expression on their faces.

"You know him?" Ander asked Francis.

"N..no," Francis said nervously. "I don't know who he is," he added and vanished.

"Know who?" Alexander asked assuming Ander was talking to him.

"Nothing. Now tell me, my king, how can I be of service to you," he said.

"I'm looking for a man, he goes by the name Francis and has a dragon-shaped mark on his neck," Alexander said describing Francis. Ander smiled at him sweetly, he could tell that the man he was looking for was the ghost that just claimed not to know him.

What are the chances that there would be another person named Francis with a dragon mark on his neck just like his ghost had?

"Have you seen him?" the king asked.

"I have seen him but I don't know where he went so suddenly," he said. "But I can help you find him," he added.

"Thank you," Alexander told feeling grateful.

Ander led Alexander around the school as they searched around for Francis. He only agreed to help him because he was bored with Francis finding that fire maiden more interesting than him. Not that he would want to see Francis after he broke his heart a few hours ago.

He also wanted to know what it was like to have a father, the man might not be his father but he was pretending to be his father so he decided to play along.

"So, if you are the king then tell me how is the prince doing?" he asked him. Alexander halted in his tracks and turned around to face him, he wore an angry look and his eyes were full of hatred.

"Don't ever ask me about that person ever again," he said to Ander.

"B..but why?" Ander asked nervously his heart thundering in his chest. He could feel the genuine hate in those eyes and for some reason, they were directed at him.

"He is responsible for all the pain that I feel in my heart. There is no one I hate more than I hate that person and it would be better if I never meet him. Only the heavens know what I will do to him," he said making Ander shudder from the threatening sound of his voice as he spoke.

"W..what did he ever do to you?" Ander questions feeling an uneasy feeling in his heart.

"Can we just find Francis?" Alexander asked not wanting to jinx him finding his beloved by talking about the evil that separated the two of them.

"Su..sure," Ander said and followed him around. Even though in his heart he knew that the man was not his father the king, he assumed that he could feel the same way about him and that is the reason that he had never met him.

His mood got worse listening to how Alexander felt about him. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that was wrong with him that everyone in his life hated him. It was then that the reality of the fact that Francis had rejected him sunk in. He cursed the fate that made him face so much hatred and rejection.

"Be that as it may, you love your son right?"

Alexander heard the question and turned around. He faced Ander, he didn't understand why the boy kept asking him about the prince but he decided to answer him so he would stop bringing up the topic.

"No, I could never love someone like him. He might be my flesh and blood but I have never met anyone who could evoke such bitter feelings in my heart as he does, just a year's mention of his name makes my blood boil. So how can I possibly like someone like him," he replied.

"But he is your son and what could he have done for you to hate him so much?" Ander asked with disbelief in his eyes that his real father could ever say such things about him. It confused him why the fake king felt like that about him.

"He ruined my life when he killed the love of my life," he said truthfully. "He was innocent and didn't deserve to die," he added.

Ander stumbled back when he recalled what Francis had said earlier about the king losing 'his' lover. He found it hard to believe that the king truly never loved his mother but was in love with a man. Maybe that is the reason that people are blaming him for the male's death because he would never let a man who dared do that to his mother live.

"Alex," they both heard behind them and turned their heads to look. "Alexander," Malia called out again making sure she wasn't seeing her eyes.

"Sister in law," Alexander responded happily to see her. The two moved towards each other and hugged each other. They held on to each other tightly having missed each other for so long.

Ander is on the side watching his mind becoming chaotic. He couldn't get out of his head how his aunt had called the man. The realization hit him that he was not a man pretending to be his father but he was his father, tears of despondency ran down his cheek as his words of hatred echoed in his ears.

He staggered back unable to feel his whole body as it had gone numb. The man he had always wanted to meet, the father he had always wished to meet just told him to his face that he hated him so much.

"I could never love someone like him," he heard over and over again in his ear. His heart shattered into pieces from hearing that. A man he never met who couldn't even recognize him as his son felt so much hate for him.

"Ander," Malia called to him after breaking the hug. She could see the tears in his eyes and it troubled her, she took a step to go to him.

"Stop. Don't come near me," Alexander said to her.

"Ander baby, what is the matter?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"I don't need your fake concern so don't you dare come near me," he told and ran off.

"What was that about?" she asked Alexander who was stunned to hear that the boy was his son. 'So that's why he was asking so many questions,' he thought.

"How should I know," he replied and walked away to find Francis.

Ander ran out of the school and into the school lake, he dropped to the ground with his on his knees. He felt as though he was suffocating in his breath, he was drowning in pain with no one around to help him swim through. Alexander's and Francis's words ringing in his ear repeatedly making him cry even more. He held his knees and folded his body.

The tears in his eyes wouldn't stop falling. The two people in his life that meant so much to him, didn't feel the same way about him. It hurt knowing that his father hated him so much but it made sense why he had never met his father in his life.