Trapped In Hisstory

"Baron Saville..."

Baron Saville raised his hand that was holding a glass of drink and he bowed to greet the Crown Prince. "Andres Saville greets Your Highness the Crown Prince." 

"You may raise your head." Chance said.

"I believe you have met my daughters?"

The Baroness watched with a grim look on her face. The humiliation she and her daughters had because of the Crown Prince ignoring them might have annoyed the Baroness, and so she went to tell it to her husband.

But the thing was...

'Who?' Chance thought. The Crown Prince has no idea what the Baron, Andres Saville, was talking about. Chance knew who his daughters were, but never met them in person. "I do know your daughters, Baron Saville, but I have never met them," Chance said. "Why do you ask this, baron?"

The people near them who heard Chance's response gasped, and some started to whisper because they saw the three ladies stop by his table. 

"Oh, my. Did we not see the three daughters of the baron introduce themselves to the Crown Prince?"

"Indeed, they did. But they never received a response,"

"Not only response, but attention. Crown Prince did not even bother looking at them."

"Anyone can tell that His Highness was lying, he probably knows that they were there earlier,"

"But pretended that they were not there."

"I guess that means the three ladies were nothing more than wind for His Highness."

"I pity Baron Andres Saville's family."

Although they said that they pity them, they were giggling and some are stifling a laugh. The Saville Sisters, Stella, Lorella, Jessa, lowered their gazes, knowing that they were talking about them. They glanced at their mother who was gritting her teeth and hands gripping the hem of her dress tightly as she holds back her anger.

Being ignored was the same as being humiliated for them.

Something so simple has already annoyed them, even though in truth, Chance was just thinking too deeply to even notice people coming to his table. The Crown Prince felt uncomfortable as he hear their whispers. 'It seems they did come earlier, but I did not notice...' he thought.

"It must be a mistake, Your Highness. Almost every one near us has said that they saw my daughters talk to you. How could you just deny such an obvious fact?" he said, trying to keep his smile intact.

Jasper laughed, "How bold of you to say that the Crown Prince, a higher figure than you, made a mistake?" 

Andres Saville was taken aback. "A noble of another kingdom has no right to interfere with our talk." he said.

Insult. Saying such a remark was already an insult to the guests of Canopus. Although Jasper Cameron was not yet the Duke, he did not have to say it that way. "A noble of a low status has no right to even approach the Crown Prince." Jasper said. "You are standing in front of the Future Duke, Crown Prince and the Crown Prince Elect of Canopus just because your daughters were ignored, how cute of you."

All the eyes shifted to the Baron and Andres felt uncomfortable with so many people watching. Chance put his hand on Jasper's shoulder to stop him from arguing with Andres Saville any further. "It is true that I made a mistake. I apologize for not noticing your daughters," Chance said. "But whether I ignore them or not, I do not think that the father of the people that were ignored has to come to me."

Baron Andres Saville went silent. Now it looked as if his daughters, the Saville sisters, are the type of ladies that would cry to their father when they get rejected and let their father handle the mess and humiliation. 

Chance turned his head when a woman stopped in front of him, standing beside the Baron. "Louisa Saville greets His Highness the Crown Prince," she said and curtsied to give respect. 

"After the father, now here comes the mother," Jasper said in a low voice, hiding the smirk on his face, but Chance slapped his arm in secret. 

"Pleased to see the baroness. Lady Louisa, did you also come here for your daughters?" Chance asked.

"I have come here to respond to your question to the duke. My daughters are very shy and are not shameless enough to approach you for the second time to embarrass themselves," Baroness Louisa said.

"Ah, so the parents are the ones who came to embarrass themselves," Jasper whispered. Chance glared at him. 'You are making the situation worse!' he scolded but only through his gaze. Jasper just shrugged and looked away.

Baroness coughed to get the Crown Prince's attention, pretending that he did not hear what Jasper said. "And so I think that it was rude to not pay attention to your surroundings, causing you to ignore my daughters who were standing for so long in front of you." she said.

Chance Howard's hand made its way to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose using his finger, and let out an inaudible sigh, "Such a simple issue has become too big when it is not even a serious matter," Chance muttered.

The Crown Prince left the table and went to where the three daughters of the Baron and Baroness and the three ladies were surprised by his sudden approach. Chance bowed to them, startling the three of them, so they curtsied in return. "I apologize for not taking notice of the three of you. I hope you understand that I was thinking about something important, that was the reason and not because I wanted to ignore you all." he explained.

'Important? Thinking of something important?' he thought, and recalled what he had thought about, 'Treason was on my mind, how was that important, you idiot!' he said to himself.

Sincerity was present on Chance's face and the three daughters blushed, "I-it is fine, Your Highness. We understand." 

Chance smiled at them and returned to the spot where Jasper and Caliber were. Chance looked back at the pair. "Your daughters said that they understand. I hope you understand as well, Lord Andres, Lady Louisa." he said.

"Your Highness, c-could you at least dance with one of them, so the embarrassment will be lessened?" The Baroness asked, not meeting the Crown Prince's gaze.

Chance could feel Caliber's stare drilling a hole in the back of his head. 'Eek, he will definitely be upset.' he thought.

"I already noticed your daughters, Lady Louisa. But as for the matter of dancing with them, I do not think that it will be your choice," he said. "Your decision does not matter here, Lady Louisa."

"Lessen the embarrassment? It is not my fault, it was you yourself who embarrassed yourselves. You could have let it be, but you decided to approach me."

Chance shifted his gaze to the Duke. "Leave and do not humiliate yourselves any further."

"That serves them right."

"They think that daughters of a mere baron and baroness are enough to qualify for the Crown Prince?"

"I bet they wanted to create a relationship with the Royal Family to gain more power."

"First time I heard of a parent asking the man to dance with her daughter."

"Well, what do you expect? It is not like the Crown Prince himself will ask for a dance."

The whispering of the nobles became much louder. The Baron and his wife had no choice but to leave the Crown Prince's sight and return to their table.

The King of Canopus, Leonidas, chuckled. 'Of course the little fellow would not dance with such ladies. He would rather dance with my brother.' he said inside his mind. 'Caliber must be happy,' he said and smirked.

Cadell glanced at Leonidas from the corner of his eyes and returned his gaze to his son. It sometimes confused him that there are times where Charles does not act like himself, but there are also times where he is exactly like before. Nevertheless, he would soon find out the reason and he will continue watching him.

Chance looked at Jasper and glared at him. "Stop making side comments like that. Are you not able to sense the mood?" he said and sighed.

"I say what I want to say, mood does not matter." Jasper said with a shrug.

Caliber laughed. "Oh, then can you say that you hate King Cadell in front of him?" he said and Jasper widened his eyes.

"W-well, I do not 'want' to say that. So it would not count." he said.

Suddenly, a lady from afar caught Chance's eyes. Their gazes met, and the lady started walking towards him. Chance was not familiar with her, she was neither a person she knew in this century and in his century, but he felt connected to her.

"Blessings from the Goddess, Glory to Antares." the woman said while raising her arm in his direction. She curtsied.. "Vanessa Lanstone, the daughter of the Marquess, greets Your Highness."