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Things have been incredibly rough for the Republic. With Elder Canele in prison for embezzling funds and selling what was essentially poison to the Lower City, and Elder Mille-Feuille missing after escaping incarceration for leading a religious cult of thieves, the rest of the Convocation had been getting the side-eye from the public. This on top of the destruction of the Republic from Dark Enchantress. Rumors and speculation swirled as the Convocation worked to fix the mess left behind by the White Masks and Dark Enchantress. Clotted Cream had been working hard to try to fix everything as fast as possible. Being the Consul of course, most of the responsibility fell on his shoulders and there was a lot of pressure to rebuild what was destroyed and get back on track with preparing for the future war.
At some point after Dark Enchantress’s attack ended, Clotted Cream learned that his father, Elder Custard, had fled the Republic during the attack and wasn’t sure when or if he’d be back, leaving Clotted feeling a little betrayed even though he wasn’t surprised. This also added more problems to the already long to-do list, with now a third Elder missing in action. Although deep down, Clotted Cream felt some relief that Custard wasn’t there, hovering over his shoulder and criticizing his every move. So he took advantage of Custard’s absence to get the more urgent things done without his father’s interference. Though, all good things must come to an end.
Clotted Cream sat alone in his office, planning out the Republic’s next moves in preparation for another meeting with the remaining Elders to further discuss the future. He had plans for the ongoing reconstruction of the Republic to bring it back to its former glory, orders to continue the manufacturing of Pearl Candies and recruiting more manpower to the Pearl Legion, Paladins and the navy, setting up search teams to go out and find the scattered pieces of Soul Jam, and planning out possible elections to appoint new Elders to the Convocation to replace Canele and Mille Feuille.
“There you are, boy.” A sickeningly familiar voice boomed suddenly, sending an involuntary jolt through Clotted Cream’s body, shaking him out of his train of thought. He looked up to see Custard standing in the doorway of his office
“Father…” Clotted Cream was less than thrilled to see him. His voice was colder than usual. “You finally decided to return to the Republic.”
“Hmph, I had other business to attend to outside the Republic. Don’t tell me you were too incompetent to run the Republic without my guidance.” Custard began walking up to the desk.
“I’ve run the Republic just fine,” Clotted Cream shot back. “The Convocation has already set plans in motion to rebuild everything lost and get the Republic back into shape so we can continue preparations for the upcoming war against Dark Enchantress. All things considered, things could be much worse but we’ve much to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
Custard glared at the blond, who was still seated at his desk. “I do not appreciate your tone, boy,” he growled.
Clotted Cream forced a fake smile. “Truly, I believe I’ve been quite polite considering the stunt you pulled, leaving me and the republic behind in the middle of a siege. Conveniently, after you attempted to keep the Soul Jam to yourself knowing full well the Ancient Heroes would not take too kindly to that,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
“They were momentary lapses in judgment. I was doing what I thought was best for our house.”
“So abandoning your own son and the Republic during an attack is a lapse in judgment? I expected a little more tact coming from an Elder…”
Custard slammed his hand on the desk,“You have no right criticizing my actions with how many mistakes you made!”
“Mistakes I made??” Clotted Cream stared up at his father, feeling rage boiling up inside of him. “Truthfully the only mistake I’ve ever made is listening to you.”
“Excuse me?!” Custard exclaimed. “You had better watch your tongue, boy.”
Clotted Cream stood up, clenching his fist at his sides. “No I won’t because it’s the truth. I’ve spent my whole life bending to your will, doing everything you’ve commanded me to do. I underwent all of the training and teachings you forced me into to make me the perfect candidate for Consul, all while berating me and my ancestry for any little flaw I had. And yet, I did it. I finally became Consul.” He gestured widely to the office they were in.
“And you wasted no time going around bragging about your ‘achievement’ of raising me, yet the second no one’s looking, you turn around and criticize every. Single. Thing. I do if it’s not to your exact demands. Nothing’s ever good enough for you!”
“If you’d listen to me and do as I say, there would be nothing to criticize!” Custard snapped back.
“I DO!!” Clotted Cream shouted, causing Custard to step back. He had never raised his voice at him before.
“I DO listen to you! And for the most part, I do as you say! But I draw the line at your demands that would’ve put us in even more political strain with the kingdoms then we already were in. With everything else, I did what you told me to to the best of my abilities and everything ran pretty smoothly all things considered. But of course, one little mistake or unaccounted for event and suddenly I’m just too incompetent to be Consul. You blamed me for an ambush from a group no one even knew existed in our Republic even when I took every possible precaution I could!” He was shaking at this point. He lowered his head and took a few deep breaths.
“I am sick of the constant disrespect from you.” Clotted Cream muttered, his voice low and shaky. “If you didn’t think I was fit for this job, then why did you even push me into it? I worked my ass off to meet your expectations and yet, no matter what I do, I’m still not good enough. What more do you want from me? I have managed to keep everything in working order, the Republic has made giant leaps in terms of technology and strengthening our armies under my leadership. Everything I’ve done has been for the betterment of our Republic, because if the Republic falls,” Clotted Cream lifted his head to look at his father.
“There would be no more House Custard. Whether you like it or not, I have to prioritize the Republic as a whole if we want any chance of surviving this upcoming war.”
Custard glared daggers at the blond. “Are you done with your little temper tantrum?”
Clotted Cream just stared at Custard, fighting back tears. That sentence cut into him like a knife. Temper tantrum. That's what he thought about his feelings. Even though it wasn’t surprising, it still hurt on top of everything else.
“Tch, I’ll come back to discuss things when you can act and speak to me like a damn adult.” And with that, Custard turned on his heel and walked out the office, slamming the door behind him.
Clotted Cream crumbled, falling back into his chair, holding his head in his hands. And began to sob uncontrollably.
“Why did I have to end up here…”