Trapped In Hisstory

"The Second Prince, Clayton Howard, has arrived!" 

Clayton Howard entered and there was a slight surprise in his siblings' faces. 'Hah, you all must be surprised to see me here. I am surprised as well that I was invited.' he said inside his head.

Clayton immediately bowed in front of the King of Antares to pay his respects, "Clayton Howard greets Your Majesty the King." he greeted.

He then turned to the ruler of another kingdom that will be joining them in dining, "Second Prince greets Your Majesty, King of Canopus." he greeted and King Leonidas smiled as a response for his greeting.

The Second Prince was about to sit down at the middle seat, away from them but King Cadell pointed at the seat beside him. Clauton stared at it in silence and had no choice but to sit there.

Clayton sat down and he could feel the Crown Prince's stare right in front of him, it made him feel uncomfortable and annoyed but he tried not to meet his gaze.

The surprise disappeared from Princess Carmilla's face and smiled widely at his Second brother, "Brother, I missed you! I am happy that you came to join us!" she said cheerfully, glad to see his brother eating with them again after so many years.

Clayton ignored her words and had a grim look plastered on his face, "Grateful for your feelings but I am not sure if I am happy with this."

"B-but did you not came to—"

"I did not come by my will, I was invited, more like ordered to come here." Clayton said with emphasis, truly displeased about having to come to dine with them.

'Father—the King invited Clayton?' Chance thought. It should be a good thing that he was invited as he was finally being noticed by the King, but Chance felt something was off.

Judging by the stories he was hearing from rumors as well as what Clayton had told him, he has a bad relationship with Charles and Cadell.

King Cadell has never paid attention to him, but why did he suddenly change his mind now? Chance thought.

The King of Canopus, Leonidas, laughed in amusement by what he was hearing. "Judging by your son's tone, it seems like he was forced to come. What a great relationship between the two of you."

Caliber chuckled at his brother's sarcastic tone, 'He really likes angering Cadell, huh.' he thought.

All of them were startled when King Cadell slammed his hand on the table, Clayton looked and saw the King glaring at him. Clayton looked back at the food and ignored his piercing stare.

King Leonidas and Prince Caliber looked at each other, "Looks like someone forgot their table manners." Caliber whispered and Leonidas smiled.

Chance sighed, although he would want to laugh, 'They have a great talent for annoying him.' he thought.

"Father, it is great that you invited Second brother to come here!" Princess Carmilla stated as if forgetting the attitude that Clayton gave her earlier.

King Cadell, who was mad just a few seconds ago, smiled. "Indeed, I invited my son to dine with us, that is not a problem is it, Leonidas?" 

"Naturally, it is your palace and your son after all." King Leonidas answered and took a sip of his drink.

"You may all start eating." King Cadell said and they all started just as he ordered.

As they all dined, Chance kept taking glances at his brother. His curiosity grew as he wondered what the King was thinking of when he suddenly invited the Second Prince.

Clayton knows that the Crown Prince was glancing at him, 'Whatever it is in your mind, I have the same questions. I do not know what your father ate for him to notice me so suddenly.' he said inside his mind.

'Seeing that Charles is surprised, then he must not be the reason why I was invited.' he thought. 'As expected, why would he even do such a thing.'

Chance's gaze shifted when he saw a familiar man, standing behind the Second Prince. He was about to take a bite but he lowered his hand and stared at the man.

'Clifford Lockhart? What is the Duke's son doing in here?' he thought. He looked at his father, the king, who seemed to have already noticed Clifford's presence but paid no heed. 'Did he not notice or is he acting like he does not know him?'

Chance looked at Clifford again and their eyes met, Clifford looked surprised and at the same time nervous. 'What is this, didn't he not know my brother? Why did they come in here together now?' he thought.

~~~~~

The Lockhart soon-to-be duke bowed his head again, "I will have to stay here for a while, Your Highness." he responded and Chance's eyes slightly widened to hear his reply.

"Stay here? In the palace?" the Crown Prince asked, making sure he understood it right. 

'Our son will be in Howards' care.' 

'So that was what the Duchess meant.' he thought as his head nodded.

He went back to the question he had almost forgotten. "You have not yet answered my question. What were you doing earlier?" he asked, and the Lockhart lowered his gaze again.

Chance wondered why it was so hard for him to answer such a simple question. The only possible reason he could think of was that the man was hiding something. He looked at his face and saw a slight blushing of his cheeks. 'What the...is he actually shy?' he thought with his lips slightly parted.

"Why...do you look embarrassed?" Chance asked, seeing the look that was plastered on the Lockhart's face.

The man looked at the Crown Prince in surprise and laughed, "I am not embarrassed about anything at all, Your Highness." he answered and gave him a smile.

"Your Highness, if it is all right. I would like to ask something." the man said and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face again. Chance definitely saw it. What a lie it was for him to say that he was not embarrassed about anything.

"What is it?"

"That person...in the library. What is his name?" he asked, looking directly into the eyes of the Crown Prince, eagerly waiting for a response.

Chance blinked and stared at him. He scratched his cheek with his index finger, "Erm, there are four of us in the library." he said.

"Go on."

"The librarian, Edmund?"

"Hmm, I think not." he replied.

"My knight, Alec?"

"No, that person cannot possibly be a knight," he responded, putting his fingers on his chin.

Chance finally knew who he was talking about. "You mean Clayton?"

"Was he the one reading a book?"

"Yes, indeed, that is him." the Crown Prince said and the Lockhart's face lightened up. "I thank Your Highness for your help," he said, and his smile widened. 

Chance smiled to see how glad he was to know his brother's name. "I guess that explains why you were peeking behind the door." he said with a teasing smile. The man stopped smiling when he realized he was smiling widely in front of the Crown Prince.

"Y-your Highness, you might misunderstand me." he said, nervously.

Chance chuckled at his reaction. "Of course not, do not worry." 

It seemed like the son of the Duke and Duchess had never seen or known about Prince Clayton, seeing how curious the man was about his name. "Just so you know, Clayton is my brother." he said, which made the man turn his head to look at him.

"Forgive me for my ignorance. I did not know Your Highness had a brother." he said.

Finding out that there are people who do not know the other prince of Antares makes Chance's heart ache. He must still be hiding behind his walls, walls he made with the excuse of being the son of a concubine.

"Clayton is the Second Prince of Antares. The son of His Majesty, King Cadell with his concubine, Her Highness, Melanie." Chance said so that the Lockhart would know. Seeing someone curious about Clayton made him happy.

"I see, thank you, Your Highness." 

~~~~~

Chance stared at him, trying to communicate using his eyes, 'Wow, just some day ago you didn't know my brother, and now you're sticking close to him?'

Clifford blinked, 'I do not know what you are thinking right now, but I swear it is not what you think.'

Chance smirked, 'You sure are fast, Your Grace.'

'It...is not like you think.'

Clifford and Clayton noticed both of them staring at each other and their expression darkened for a bit, 'Why are they looking at each other like that?' Both princes had the same thought in their minds.

Clifford sighed, he was not planning to come inside because he knows that the Crown Prince and the King recognizes him.

But the King knew that he was acting as a servant now, so it was a good thing that he played along. As for the Crown Prince, it was a relief that he did not greet him or tell them anything about his identity.

He does not know why he changed his mind and went with the Second Prince, but he does not want to leave Clayton alone with the people he dislikes.

Even though Chance wanted to put aside the thought that Clayton is with them, he kept worrying about the King's plan.

He gripped the silverware tightly as an idea came to mind. 'Hah.' he glanced at the King of Antares.

'The one holding the title of Crown Prince can be changed, is that what you are trying to say?'