Trapped In Hisstory

Alec hesitated and looked at the Crown Prince if he was sure that he wanted to come see the Second Prince, "His Highness might be a bit difficult, are you sure you want to visit him?" he asked.

Chance sighed, he knew how much Clayton hated him and his father. Although the Crown Prince was still not sure of why the real Charles and Clayton had this kind of relationship, he still wanted to at the least, grow closer to him.

There must be some kind of misunderstanding between them, Chance thought. "I made up my mind. If Clayton becomes mad and tells me to leave, then I will leave." Chance said. "But I still want to give it a try."

Alec nodded as a response and listened to his orders so they started going to where Clayton's chamber is located. 

It was weird, Alec thought. 'Why did he do that back then, if he will just try to make up with His Highness?' he asked in his head, but he was already used to his strange behavior, and everything he does just proves that his deduction for the reason for his weird changes was right.

Chance's eyes caught sight of a familiar figure walking towards their direction. As they walked, the man's face started to become more clear and he saw who it was, 'Theo—I mean, Clifford Lockhart!' he thought.

Somehow, every time he sees the face of the duke's son, Theo always appears in his mind, how strange. "Sir Deaf! Good to see you here." He greeted Lockhart.

Clifford rubbed his neck, "I can see that you still kept the nickname..." he muttered, a bit embarrassed since he avoided the Crown Prince that time and pretended not to hear him, afraid that he might get teased from staring at someone.

Chance looked at him from head to toe, "Why is Sir Deaf wearing an attire similar to a servant?" he asked. 

Clifford looked away and sighed, "The Duke and Duchess are bullying me, I suppose that is the best explanation for this." He responded.

Chance thought of the time he met the Lockharts. He understood that Clifford Lockhart will be staying in the palace because the Duchess said that they will leave him in his care.

But to think that he will be staying in the palace as a servant, the Duke and Duchess are such a bully no matter what reason it was.

"Does His Majesty know about you staying here as a servant?" Chance asked.

Clifford nodded his head, "Yes. This is why we were there that day, to request an audience with His Majesty for my parents to tell him about it."

Chance laughed slightly, the duchess, duke and king looked as if they were ganging up on the poor Duchy heir. 'The Lockharts...the first time I met them, they were overflowing with grace.' he thought. 'But I never thought they would be the kind who seemed to be having fun all the time.'

He expected them to be kind and serious most of the time, but the family they were in seemed so free unlike other noble families who were always in conflicts.

But this kind of family, it is sad to think that this great family will soon disappear. Their fated death in flames.

The first time he saw him staring at Clayton, Chance knew that he would be the one to break his wall, but if ever the two of them really falls in love with each other, Clayton would be the one to suffer if he dies.

~~~~~

Can I borrow it even while you are renting it? I swear just for a while." he said and Theo looked away, it was obvious on the look on his face that it is hard for him to decide, but Chance did not give up, "I am not going to take it home, let me just borrow it for a bit."

Theo stared at the historian, and after a few seconds, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Alright. If it is you, then fine," he said and smiled, extending his hand to give him the book.

Chance smiled and grabbed the book with a huge smile on his face as he sighed in relief. "Thank you, Theo!" he said and headed to his seat. He put the book down on the table and sat down, opening it immediately, 'Time is ticking, I need to get to it now.' he thought.

He kept turning the pages of the book and almost everything was about the family, the duchy, and others that he had already researched. The book is not that thick, it just contains info about the Lockharts and their death so there is not much to put. 

He continued flipping the pages until a word caught his eye, Death. "This is it, this is the page," he muttered and stopped turning the pages as he finally found the one he needed to read.

"I see..."

"Yeah, death of- Eh? Theo?" He was surprised to see Theo sitting across from him, with his cheeks resting on his palm, looking down at the book he was reading. "Why are you here?"

"Why can't I sit here?" he asked.

"That's not it, I mean, don't you have work to do here?" 

He showed Chance his empty hands, saying that there's nothing to do anymore. He pointed at the clean rack with books organized into order, "I am already done."

"I see..."

Chance lowered his gaze and put it back to the book, pretending there was no one there so he could continue reading. His eyes scanned the book until he was in a paragraph about the death of the Lockharts.

The Lockharts were powerful and could easily win the hearts of the people because of their kindness and wise decisions that were made for the sake of the kingdom's people. The King was known to be ruthless, having the citizens abide by the laws he had made for them. On the other hand, the Lockharts use their power to help the people. They were full of grace and their beautiful hearts reached the people, but the Lockharts are known to be loyal to the Howards. Loyal to the king. But even so, they still did all they could to help the people.

One day, in the year 1890, the Antares Duke of the Lockhart Household along with the Duchess and their son died. The servants and everyone in the manor that day died as well.

In a fire.

'I see, so that is why the book was Be One With Flames. They died because of a fire.' he thought and slowly nodded. He took a glimpse at the man in front of him and saw Theo seriously looking at the page he was reading, with a serious look on his face. Chance was curious, but he ignored him and went back to reading.

The manor was huge and could easily be seen by the people. The weather that day was great, but the bright and blue sky turned gray as the smoke spread, engulfing the whole manor in flames. The manor was burnt to the ground while the perpetrator was still unknown and the royal family did not even send an order to investigate the death of the Duke and his family.

"What a prick." Chance cannot help but mutter.

The people were devastated to hear the news about their death, knowing that they are not safe from the King's ruthless orders anymore and it made them become even more fearful.

The image of the burning manor remained in their memory as the big fire danced, turning the kingdom red and gray from the blazing fire and smoke. They could imagine the happy family sitting together with no worries, not knowing the tragedy that will come to them. The people could only imagine them burning, being one with the flames, as it engulfs all of them, slowly turning them into ashes...

"What the hell, their deaths were not even investigated?!" he exclaimed and covered his mouth, almost shouting inside the library. 'Gosh, why are the people who are nice die so fast, and those pieces of crap are not even found, enjoying their life despite killing a great family?' he thought.

He should not let it get to him, he thought. They are already dead anyway, a century has already passed.

"It's sad, huh? For one to die with death they did not deserve."

Chance looked at Theo, who was still looking at the book with a cold look on his face, his icy gaze raised and met with his. "Right?"

Chance nodded as a response. "Uh, yes. Right," he said. He felt strangely weird when Theo asked him that. 'Come to think of it, why does he have this book?' he thought.

"I...have been having nightmares. Every time I wake up, I am covered in sweat. The nightmares just won't stop and I am desperate to know why I keep getting these dreams."

Chance stared at him and continued listening. "What do you dream about?"

"Fire."

Chance and Theo stared at each other and the historian's lip slightly parted upon hearing his answer, 'Fire?'

"Then suddenly, I found that book. Somehow, no matter how hard I try, I cannot let go of that book. I feel connected to it." he continued. Chance was glad that he was able to borrow it from him, even though he was planning not to give it to him. How lucky.

Theo stared at him, and after a while, he extended his hand. "Now that you have read it, can you return it to me now?" he asked.

Chance was startled and snapped out of his daze. He grabbed his phone and snapped a few pictures of the page and gave it to him immediately, "Here you go, thank you." 

The man grabbed the book from Chance and stared at it before looking back at the historian. He stood up and took two steps closer to his seat. He bent down, putting his face near Chance. "There is something they did not know, though," he said, making Chance look at him in curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"The son," he said and went near his ear, "Did not die in the fire."

He stood up straight from the bend, his cold stare vanished, and he smiled at him like how he usually does before turning to walk away.

Leaving him in a daze.

~~~~~

"How in the world would he know?!" Chance exclaimed and the two men glanced at him. "Ah, I apologize." he said.

But if it was really true that Clifford did not die in the fire, then it might be possible for Chance to save him in the fire incident.

'For the sake of Clayton's happiness, I will not let Clifford die.'