Remy stood around 20 feet towards the town, facing the girls as he waved to Prince Antoni. Manon looked between the two boys who were about the same age, then back at Colette, who didn't seem to be surprised at all. Colette had limited time to explain the mechanics of what was about to transpire- so while Manon knew the gist as this was an event specific for Antoni, it seemed Colette understood something more.
[New Side Mission: Antoni's Apple & Remy's Aspiration]
[Summary:]
[Just outside the town of Dales, there lies an orchard that was a gift to an Imperial Concubine hundreds of years ago when she fled the palace to go back to her home village. She did not accept the gift from the ruthless Emperor at the time, Vincent Dracon Orléan- and was punished by stoning in the orchard, left to wither alone, imprisoned in the endless maze of apple trees. Many sought to retrieve her remains and the gifts the Emperor left there for her- but all the townsfolk who try are either trapped in the maze to perish with her, or find themselves back in the town without any memory of what happened.]
[Objective:]
[Enter the Orchard]
[Find the Golden Apple Sapling]
[Find the Concubine's gift box]
[Failure: -10 AP with Prince Antoni and Remy]
The event which was usually a childhood excursion with one or the other love interest, was now merged into one quest. Manon seemed to grasp this fact quickly as Remy caught up with them, seeing that he had likely separated from Beckham and Terrance.
Remy bowed eloquently towards Prince Antoni as soon as he was close enough, which made Manon hold back a bark of laughter, Colette shoving her with her elbow to quiet down.
"Greetings, your highness." Antoni smiled wide at Remy, a familiar glint in his golden gaze.
"Remington. How interesting…Don't tell me you know these children as well?" Antoni came closer, his demeanor very friendly now as he shook Remy's hand, his other on the boy's shoulder. Remy smirked, a lopsided little thing.
"Ah, my fellow orphans. Mammot- I mean, Manon, and Colette, the little fox. Very sneaky girls. Cause me quite a lot of trouble." He shook his head dramatically, Antoni laughing in response.
[Remy is saddened that Colette didn't invite him to their little meet up. He does not intend to let this go.]
Colette struggled with the urge to not roll her eyes. Remy was technically not incorrect, as Colette had basically forced him into many situations where he had to form lies, cover, or assist- and from his perspective, Manon did too. But he had been paid handsomely- or...would be. Manon shared her windows for Remy with Colette then as if reading her mind.
[AP: 17]
Not bad and not good. Colette's own AP with Remy was currently at 30, which was quite good for this stage.
"Why don't you join us? These girls told me they know their way into the Golden Apple orchard." The prince suggested, eyes mysterious. Remy's smile faltered but remained a slight smirk as his eyes slowly slid over to meet Colette's.
[Remy is wondering how Colette would know such a thing. He intends to find out for himself. He also intends to join their expedition.]
"I would love to, thank you for your generosity, your highness." Remy said smoothly. Colette and Manon really didn't have any say in the conversation- and unfortunately, that was what Antoni was like.
Antoni saw all people as useful or un-useful. If they did not do as directed things could go south very quickly especially because Colette had no reasoning that the prince would find reasonable or logical.
Since it was out of her hands, she simply smiled and began leading the way to the orchard's entrance. They walked across the bridge, Manon lagged behind, her shorter legs struggling to keep pace. Like a gentleman, Antoni lingered a bit slower until they all fell into a similar walking speed. Though, Manon seemed to take it more like a challenge, huffy and puffing quietly enough to not draw more unneeded attention.
The field they were going to had tens of wild varieties of apple trees. It is said they were all planted in memory of the concubine who was trapped there, but in reality, they were planted to prevent people from finding the correct tree. The only reason Colette knew was because she made a mental landmark to herself after spending an hour looking for it in her games.
The entry tree was a pink lady apple tree. There were 20 pink ladies in the field. The correct one was not too small and not too large, but looked very very inconspicuously young, with few pieces of fruit and was deeper in the field than expected.
As they entered the field of apple trees, the sun shone through the leaves beautifully, shadows of leaves phasing across the children's faces as they walked. Unsurprisingly, Remy was the most talkative.
"Ah- the sapling is what you're after then. I don't suppose her highness the Imperial Consort agreed?" The chatty boy mused referring to Antoni's mother, walking slightly behind the prince and slightly ahead of Manon. Colette led the group, her hand shading the faintest of freckles on her face as she walked. Remy's words were toeing the line of disrespect, but it seemed that Antoni did not mind as he chuckled- which meant their familiarity was better than expected.
"You'd be correct. She explicitly forbid me." He grinned, white teeth flashing. "However, The Empress encouraged it. She allowed me to come here, so long as I handle my business without using the Imperial Knights or any contracted mercenaries. In other words- I can go if I promise to die and die alone." He laughed, as if it were something comical and not essentially a stepmother plotting to murder him. Remy laughed along, Manon snorting. Colette even hid a smile at the easy confident way Antoni spoke of his troubles.
"Haha! Is her majesty still praying you end up disabled?" Remy threw his head back, hopping over a large tree root as the group found the walking trail within the apple tree field. Manon had to take a rather large hop to get over it. Her body was small, but she was just getting used to using it without her knees straining painfully. Colette was a bit further ahead now, having run a bit to search for her land markers.
"She's given up on that. Now, she just wants me dead since her son turns 7 next month and recovered from his chronic illness. I should have poisoned his water longer." Antoni sighed, shaking his head. Colette ignored this comment whilst Manon stared and Remy raised a brow- Remy much more amused. Antoni saw their expressions and laughed. "It's a joke~" he wiped away a fake tear, golden eyes crinkling. Manon was now positive the prince was crazy. But Colette had explained as much earlier on their way here.
Antoni was not necessarily a psychopath, but simply a person born of high nobility, a person who thought of things from an extremely different perspective. In his original game route, Antoni was the perfect crowned prince. He did not expect perfection, he expected competence and beauty and indulgence when it was appropriate. The players who took his route were often frustrated because Antoni would keep many women before settling down with them and he would only consider it towards the end of the game. His bad endings were a frequent complaint, as finishing with only 50 AP or below meant he would execute the player for interfering with his multiple relationships with very rich influential noble women who brought him many connections in the empire and beyond. And if the player were to gain above 50 but under 100 AP by the end, he would marry them, but keep several mistresses, never making the player the Empress. Lastly, if a player reached 0 AP, he would send them to the guillotine with a polite smile.
Players were very upset with how they could not even get a half decent ending with Antoni unless they fully won the game. But Colette enjoyed the more difficult characters- loving the challenge and reward system. Antoni was her 2nd favorite interest, because he was very efficient and never unpleasant despite his moods. As an adult he just took a little…shaping.
"It should be just over here- we have to veer off the path." Colette called out, the other three children following. She had pointed deeper into the cluster of trees. Antoni kept a calm expression but his eyes ran cold.
"It's worrisome to leave the path. The trees over there are also small. Should I believe you?" He asked, staring Colette down, who tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear, prepared for the question.
"You've already followed me this far, your highness. Please believe me and I swear I'll get you inside." She said with confidence, a difficult feat in front of the intimidating 8 year old. Colette could hardly believe she was intimidated by an 8 year old- but that was just how quietly menacing and regal Antoni came off. The boy seemed to like her answer and her confidence, smiling before patting her head.
[AP: 6]
"Very well. Lead the way."
Remy watched the exchange and then glanced at Manon, who shrugged. The steel haired boy just chuckled, shaking his head as they all followed Colette away from the trail, risking getting lost in the apple fields. It was at this point that more apples were on the ground than up in trees, and while Antoni, Remy, and even Manon managed to coordinate their steps around fallen fruit pretty well, Colette was now the one stumbling every few steps, making Antoni rather weary about the prospect of the girl falling on top of him.
"Watch your step, Miss Colette." It was kindly said but it was a warning. Seeing her struggle, Manon hopped ahead of the boys and linked arms with the redhead, helping to warn her before she tripped over the slippery round apples littering the ground. In no time at all, Colette finally stopped right in front of a rather young looking Pink lady apple tree. It had few fruits and looked as if it had just begun growing them.
"This is the one" Colette said, her head nodding as if assuring herself. Her eyes were nervous but earnest as Antoni stared at her again, gaze piercing. "Your highness needs to pick the ripest apple off this tree."
"Are you sure, Colette? This one's a bit young, no?" Remy opposed, touching the trunk of the tree with his gloved hand. Antoni sighed, peeling off his own black gloves, made of leather and the imperial family crest embroidered with golden silk on the back. He stuck them in the back pocket of his trousers and assumed a jumping stance.
"It's quite alright. I'll believe Miss Colette is honest until I have reason to assume otherwise. It is imperative I obtain this sapling in order to leave by sunset." The boy said, grunting as he jumped onto the tree, hanging onto a lower branch as he climbed up. He was small enough as a child to do so, but had an adult done this they would have snapped all the branches in sight. Antoni disappeared partially in the leaves, seemingly searching for that ripe apple, as all the ones visible from the ground were small and yellow.
"Seems a bit troublesome. Should I help, your highness?" Remy called up into the tree, even though a teasing smirk was on his smug face. The prince just laughed from the tree, leaves shaking as he climbed higher.
"Now Remy, my pride isn't something to question. I'm capable of climbing a mere tree." Antoni seemed to grunt, there was a slight snapping sound, and then the prince fell, landing stable on his feet, legs taking the impact in a slight crouch. Luckily, he hadn't landed on any fallen apples. He tossed a ripe pink lady apple in his hands, before tossing it to Colette who barely caught it in time. "It's done. Now-"
He was cut off as the tree began to shake violently. The motion was so strong that the unripe fruits fell off their stems as well, one nearly hitting Manon if she hadn't swiftly moved her head. The prince side eyed her, as he had been about to hit the fruit away before she had moved. But his attention was short lived as the tree suddenly stopped shaking and a suspiciously long and narrow hole as tall as Manon's height appeared on the tree's trunk.
"Wow~ Colette isn't a liar. Who knew?" Remy sang, swiping the ripe apple from the ginger's fingers and taking a bite. "I vote that the pipsqueak should enter first. Just to make sure it's safe." He said, the crunch of the apple against his teeth like nails on a chalkboard for the brunette girl.
"I don't think-"
"I think that would be wise as she fits the hole best." Antoni agreed, stepping aside to allow Manon to step forward.
"...." Manon couldn't even open her mouth as no choices popped up for her. As if the system was locking her autonomy on super tight due to not one, but two love interests being around at the moment. Colette opened her own mouth to attempt to protest again, but Manon just unlinked their arms and shook her head at her friend.
Colette was at a loss of what to do, but realized she couldn't really defy Antoni here. Not in that fashion.
"Manon is a bit frail. She can test it, but I'd like her to stay at the entrance when we begin searching for the sapling. To keep watch. Will that be fine, your highness?" She did the only thing she could- give Antoni a reason not to bring Manon with them later.
Antoni nodded as if it were reasonable. With that, Colette nodded to Manon, who shrugged before turning towards the hole in the trunk.
It looked like one of those squirrel homes, but the trunk warped at the top and bottom curves, like something had stretched it open unnaturally. The girl looked at the size of the hole, figuring she could attempt to go in sideways.
She gave Colette one look before she stuck her right hand inside first, turning sideways to proceed.
But as soon as she did, she felt a violent tug at her arm, and her body was snatched into absolute darkness.