Trapped In Hisstory

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

Chance gritted his teeth as he shot a glance at his father. The King of Antares felt his gaze and met directly with his eyes.

They stared at each other and without a doubt, Chance was right. His grip on his fork and knife got tighter and he averted his gaze from the King to continue eating.

Trails of sweat traveled down the side of his forehead as he went into a daze, 'This warning may be just to scare me, but he might not do it for real.' he thought. 

He does not believe that King Cadell will remove him from the position of Crown Prince, there was no way he would do that to Charles Howard, the son he favors the most.

'There has not even many days passed since the birthday celebration of mine as an official Crown Prince, how dare he threaten me with it.' 

His blood boiled, other than the hatred he had for the king because of his cruel acts to the innocent, it makes him mad that he is using Clayton, his son who he never noticed until now, against him who is trying to build their relationship better.

Clayton raised his gaze to glance at the Crown Prince who seemed to be in a bad mood, he snorted bitterly, 'Does it displease you so much that I am here?' he asked inside his mind.

It was another misunderstanding between the brothers. The reason why he is not in the best mood was not because of the Second Prince, but the King of Antares.

If it was Chance, he would have no problem with his brother, Clayton, taking the title of Crown Prince, the next in line to be King. In fact, it would be much better since for the first in Clayton's life, he will be known and noticed by the people. Attention that he deserved, attention that he never received from his family.

But it was not Chance's life. Even if that is what he wanted, it was not up for him to decide. He may still be 'Chance' but he is in the body of Charles Howard, and the life he is living is for Charles.

'Charles...Charles must become the King. That was what really happened. It cannot be changed since it is fate,' he thought. 'He will become King and die as the Last King.'

"What is the problem, Charles?" King Leonidas asked, as if he has been observing him since earlier. "You seem troubled." he said and Caliber, as well as the other royals looked at him.

King Cadell also turned to him with slight worry on his face and his fake care made Chance almost want to puke, "Right, is something the matter? We should handle it, after all, you are our precious Crown Prince."

Chance hid his displeased expression and smiled at the King of Antares, "It is nothing, Father. I am just thinking about what I should do to keep my crown safe."

There was suddenly a heavy atmosphere inside the dining and they all fell silent at the tension.

Clayton stared at his brother, 'What...Does he think I will steal the position of Crown Prince from him?' he thought, thinking that his brother had become obsessed with the Crown.

After a few moments of silence, the King laughed at his own son. Leonidas was slightly surprised and smirked at seeing the ever so stern and impatient King could actually laugh.

"My son," The King called out as he finished laughing, "You sound as if the Crown will be stolen from you." he said and a corner of his lips lifted.

Chance snorted and took a bite from his food, "There is no guarantee that it would not be." he said.

"You are the First Prince, child of the former Queen, Charlotte and I. The Crown has long been yours, was that not enough of a guarantee?" King Cadell stated with a laugh.

Chance smiled, "Thank you for reassuring me, Father." he said to end the conversation.

He was saying all of those, but who knows what he really is thinking inside his head, Chance thought.

'The King...shall be Charles.'

"My, my. Was that just a normal conversation between father and son? It sounded so tense despite the laughter." King Leonidas as he took a sip of his drink with his amused smile.

"Of course, it is. You would not understand yet since you do not have a child." Cadell said, trying to mock the Canopus King.

"Naturally. After all, I am still young compared to you." King Leonidas said in return and laughed, making King Cadell turn serious as usual.

'Ah, that is right,' Leonidas said inside his head as he put down his glass, 'You are already so old, I wonder when you will die.' he thought.

Those thoughts disappeared for a moment when he noticed Chance looking at him, Leonidas glanced at him as well and gave him an amused smile.

Leonidas suddenly felt someone kick him from under the table. He tried to ignore it but the kicks kept coming and despite the smile on his face, he was starting to get annoyed.

He turned to his brother, Caliber the Second Prince, who was staring at him while kicking him underneath the dining table. 'I would have beheaded you if you were not my dear brother.' he said inside his mind.

'Tell him, tell him.' Caliber said to him using his eyes. 

Leonidas knows that the impatient brother of his will not stop until he does it. 'It is not like I would not tell him, can't you wait, you impatient brat.' he thought.

He kept his smile and hit his glass lightly with the knife in his hand to get their attention. "Cadell," he called out.

King Cadell stopped and looked at him, "What do you want?"

Leonidas smiled, "I decided to extend my stay here for a while. Let us take some time to appreciate the kingdom and palace of our neighboring land."

King Cadell took a few moments to answer as he glanced at Caliber Stein then back to Leonidas, "Are you sure that is the only reason for your stay?"

"Of course."

"Very well, I will allow it."

Chance's bad mood slightly diminished as he heard that Leon and Caliber would stay at the Howard Palace for a while. That would mean that they could still be together for long.

He tried not to smile so that King Cadell would not notice that he was glad that Caliber stayed. Hiding feelings was a pain in the a—Chance thought.

Clayton just ate silently, although he was invited as the King, his father, finally noticed him. He still felt like he did not exist inside the dining, as if he was not with them.

Suddenly, something caught the Crown Prince's eyes in the window. He squinted to look at it more clearly and felt like the figure was familiar.

When his sight finally became clear, he saw a child peeking through the window and staring straight at him.

~~~~~

'How did a little girl enter the library?' he thought in confusion, "Alec, did one of the noble families visit today? It must be their child." he said and turned his head behind him to look at Alec.

Alec shook his head. "Not that I know of. I was by your side these days, so I have no knowledge of whoever comes to visit the Royal Family." he answered.

'So then, who might it be?'

---

"You can call me Teri, Your Highness."

"Oh, Teri, what a cute name." Chance said, making the girl chuckle.

"I would like to call you Howard, if it is all right?" Teri asked.

Chance furrowed his brow, curious about her words. 'Why not just call me by my name?' he thought.

"Calling him without honorific? Such insolence." Alec muttered.

The Valorian Knight was still wearing his usual blank face, but he does not know why he felt hostile towards the child. There was no aura emitting from her that would say that she is bad or an enemy, but there was something weird around her that the knight cannot point out.

Chance stood straight and patted Alec. "It is all right. No need to be so hard on the little one." he said. He turned to Teri with a smile. "Call me any name you would like, do not mind this blank face right here." he said.

A grin spread across Teri's face. "Yay! Thank you, Howard! You are now my friend."

"Howard." the girl called out, and Chance turned around to look at her. "Once you see me again, approach me. And I will guide you to hear the prophecy." Chance looked at him with furrowed brows, but the girl just smiled.

"A prophecy that even Fate did not tell you."

~~~~~

'That girl...she is back!'

Teri smiled at Chance and slowly turned around to walk away until she was nowhere to be seen again.