Adelio Antaios

Detective Prince

Adelio, the Detective Prince of Prologia, is an imperious young man of striking contradictions—equal parts sharp-witted investigator and wistful romantic. By day, he meticulously untangles mysteries with cold logic and precision, priding himself on deduction and intellect over brute force. By night, however, he trades his magnifying glass for a pen, crafting tragic romances under a pseudonym, embedding pieces of himself in stories of longing and sorrow.

Despite his undeniable talent, Adelio keeps his literary pursuits strictly separate from his detective work. Fame holds no appeal for him; he prefers the solitude of his immaculately organized office, where every file, every note, every detail is fastidiously placed. Though he would loathe the comparison, he mirrors his father in more ways than he cares to admit—blunt, unsentimental, and unwilling to waste time on empty pleasantries.

He can read others like an open book, yet his own emotions remain carefully guarded, buried beneath layers of professionalism, quiet cynicism, and impeccable tailoring. In a city brimming with reckless thrill-seekers and self-indulgent aristocrats, he remains something an anomaly—too rational for dreamers, too sentimental for cynics. In a way, his own contradictions mirror those of Prologia itself: a city that needs realists to keep it alive, yet dreamers to give it a soul.

Relationships

Robin Hood

"Give it back, give it back, give it back!" Adelio’s voice rang out, desperate and broken, as he threw himself against the grand window of his father’s study. His small chest heaved with the force of his unrestrained fury, his fists clenched tight, smiting the glass pane with all his young wrath. But the swashbuckling thief had already disappeared from view.

Shock, shame, and arousal swelled within Adelio as he stood frozen, his pulse hammering in his chest. His fists continued to pound against the window bench, still feeling the prickling sensation of that rough stubble against his smooth skin that was fast being committed to memory. He screamed after the man, but no words could undo what had happened.

Nothing of value had been taken—no prized artifact, no important document, and no trace of the theft remained. The maids and butler of the Antaios family ensured that much. Yet Adelio was certain something precious had been stolen from him, something he couldn’t bear to speak of to the staff. It wasn’t treasure or riches the notorious thief Robin Hood had stolen that day. No, it was something far more intimate—the first kiss of a young boy, one Adelio had intended to save for another. Since that moment, Adelio’s mind rarely strayed the thief, his every waking moment consumed by thoughts of Robin Hood and the memory of the kiss that should never have been. Any crime that carried the faintest trace of the thief’s style or scent was examined with obsessive scrutiny. And once Adelio found him, he swore the thief would pay for what he had taken.

Elijah Ardalos

Adelio always admired his father with an intensity that bordered on reverence and perhaps something deeper, that he was then, too young to understand. How could he not conflate the stories of heroism he would hear whispered amongst the household staff, of his father fighting for justice, of righting wrongs in the darkest corners of the city, with the romantic tales that would be read to him at night, of dashing knights slaying dragons, whisking youthful princes into their saddles and carrying them off to be wed? What was his father if not an embodiment of knightly virtues and what was he if not little princeling?

That was before the incident—before that mysterious and beguiling thief, stole a kiss Adelio had saved for his own knight in shining armor. After that, shame and guilt gnawed at him, twisting inside like a knot. He could no longer bring himself to speak to Elijah, nor bear the weight of his secret. A distance formed between father and son, a rift that widened with every passing year. Elijah, however, remained unaware of the true nature of the incident, believing it to be a mere childish embarrassment. As the years rolled by a gossip-filled whisper reached Elijah's ears - one that changed everything.

A fury, driven by more than just paternal protection, boiled in Elijah’s veins when he learned that his son had been a victim of Robin Hood’s audacity—that the thief had not only stolen a kiss but had taken something far more precious. His anger, an emotion he rarely allowed himself to feel, consumed him entirely. And so, the heroic police chief took matters into his own hands. The official investigation was publicly framed as a crackdown on organized crime in the outer slums of Prologia. Any records of what truly followed have been heavily redacted. What is known is this: Chief Elijah led the raids himself, and justice was dealt with extreme prejudice. Many criminals were beaten to a bloody pulp, and several did not survive.

The press spun it as a righteous purge, a necessary cleansing of the city's "undesirables." The public saw only the results—order restored, danger pacified. But Adelio heard the hushed rumours of his father’s ruthless actions. The hero who had once shaped his understanding of justice and honour was gone. In his place stood a man who had crossed a line, a man driven by something darker than justice. Horrified by what his father had become, Adelio severed all ties, leaving home and struck out on his own. Father and son are no longer the same—divided by secrets, shame, and betrayal. Now a young man, Adelio is haunted by the ghost of who his father once was. He continues his search for the thief who stole what he held most dear. Yet even as he hunts Robin Hood, a question lingers in his mind: does he seek justice—or merely an escape from the shadow of the monster his father became?

Emanuel Van Redfo

During the simpler days of his youth, Adelio would occasionally accompany his father on some of the less risky police investigations. On these outings, he often crossed paths with another boy his age, Emanuel, who would tag along under the watchful eye of his elder brother. A thrill-seeker at heart, Emanuel would invariably grumble about the lack of criminals to “chase down and beat up.”

Adelio, however, would pointedly object, making his disapproval of such a simplistic attitude toward police work known. He emphasized the importance of investigation and deduction, insisting that solving a case required more than just catching criminals—it was about uncovering the truth. But his words fell on deaf ears. Emanuel had no interest in the subtleties of detective work; for him, it was all about action, pursuit, and the thrill of the chase.

Prince Charming

Adelio had always been perplexed why he was considered a spoiled brat when someone with the self-aggrandizing name of Prince Charming lived just a stone’s throw away from his detective office. Not a Saturday night passes without the wailing sirens of the Prologias Police Department piercing through the streets, signalling yet another attempt to break up one of Charming’s extravagant (and excessively loud) parties.

Without fail, the man would be arrested—only to be bailed out before the ink on the paperwork had time to dry, only the cycle repeated itself once more. On particularly wild nights, Charming sometimes ends up passed out in Adelio’s trash, the unfortunate victim of his own excessive drinking. Adelio casually steps over him with a disgusted sigh come morning, the notion of a perfect prince well and truly ruined.

Antonio Satõ

As today’s kids might say, the defence attorney matches Adelio’s freak to an unsettling degree—so much so that Adelio sometimes is forced to ponder his own grip on reality. To say Antonio is unhinged, would be an understatement, yet there is no denying the man’s sheer brilliance. He knows exactly how to captivate an audience, weaving logic and charisma into airtight arguments that leave both juries and opponents spellbound.

Whenever Adelio needs inspiration— whether for his writing or cracking a particularly stubborn case—he finds himself drawn to Antonio’s court performances, studying the man’s sharp deductions and unmatched theatrical flair. Outside his courtroom performances, Adelio was most perturbed discovering that Antonio was in fact a hurricane of unbridled chaos, sweeping up anyone in close proximity into his mayhem. Despite this, he tolerated the man’s antics and even worked with him on several cases.

Unfortunately for Adelio, Antonio also has no filter, especially regarding his relationship with Kotaro—their sex life being a particularly favoured topic. These overshared details sail right over Adelio’s head, his brain instinctively converting anything licentious into something bizarrely wholesome.