Trapped In Hisstory

The fork that Chance was holding was already near his mouth, about to take a bite, when he caught a shadow from the corner of his eye. He turned his head around, but the person already vanished.

He looked around again and caught a figure climbing the stairs that lead to the upper part of the Royal Library. His eyes would not make a mistake. He clearly saw a little figure running up the staircase.

"Was that a kid?" he muttered, and the knight heard his whisper and looked in the direction that the Crown Prince was looking at. 

"Your Highness?"

Chance looked at his knight, confused, and pointed at the stairs. "I think I saw a child going up the stair of the library." the Crown Prince responded.

Alec took another glance at the upper area. He has been feeling a strange presence since earlier when he was about to leave the Royal Library to call for the servants. He checked every corner and every rack but did not see any person around.

For the Crown Prince to say that he had seen someone, then he must be right about the presence he was sensing. He turned to the Crown Prince. "Would Your Highness want me to check it?" he asked while gripping the handle of his sword.

Chance cannot help but take a bite of the delicious cake that has been seducing him as he thinks. He ate half of the sliced cake and wiped his mouth with a napkin before turning to the knight again. "Yes, please." he answered.

Alec was about to carry out his master's order but Chance stopped him by grabbing his arm. The knight stared at him, "I am coming with you to check." the Crown Prince added because he was curious about the child he saw.

The Valorian knight did not answer, and continued to stare at his master. The Crown Prince waited for his response but felt weird when the knight was not taking his eyes off his face. "Is there something on my face?" Chance asked.

He noticed Alec's lowered gaze and realized what he was looking at. The Valorian Knight pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and raised his hand to wipe the corner of the Crown Prince's mouth.

Before he could even wipe it off, Chance wiped it with his thumb and licked it. "The cake that you told the servants to prepare was delicious!" Chance exclaimed.

He patted his knight's shoulder and pointed at the stairs. "Let us go check it now." he said and marched towards the staircase.

Alec Valorian slowly put down his arm and put the handkerchief back in his pocket, following the Crown Prince as he climbed up the stairs.

Chance thought of the little girl he saw again. He was not sure if it is a girl since he did not saw the face because it was running too fast for him to see it clearly. He did see a long hair, so he assumed it was a little girl.

'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.

Chance returned his gaze in front of him and continued climbing the stairs. "So then who might it be..?" he whispered.

They arrived at the upper library and Chance cannot help but gape at the wall of books right before his eyes; he had already seen it from downstairs but looking at it clearly just truly amazes him. Might be a dream of every researcher or even the readers that are addicted to books. 'This is awesome.' he thought.

At the middle of the railings, there was a long sofa, two single chairs, and a low table. It was a good spot to read, but it is probably used by the female nobles to read, mostly just chatting with each other while having tea. 

"You seem to like this spot, Your Highness. Would you like to use this area instead?" Alec asked, noticing how much he was staring at the wall covered with the racks of books.

"Oh, no. I just like it, but I would rather stay downstairs. It would be hard for me to write here, I prefer the high table." Chance answered. If he was to switch here, he would most likely fall asleep immediately.

"Oh, my, hello there..."

Chance and Alec looked at the tall window at the second part of the library where they were in and saw that it was opened, with the curtain slightly being blown because of the wind.

A little girl was standing on the window cill with a head turned in their direction upon noticing that there were people in the upper area of the Royal Library other than her.

"Child, what are you doing in the window? You might fall!" Chance exclaimed, surprised to see the kid standing on the window cill where your death is guaranteed once you miss a step considering how high it was.

Chance was about to rush to where the little girl was, but Alec blocked his way with his sword that still has the scabbard on. "Do not approach her so easily, Your Highness." the knight warned.

The Crown Prince has no idea why he was blocking his way. It was just a child, there was nothing to fear. "Eh, but..."

"It is all right, I will come down now." the little girl said and hopped down from the window. She gave out a wide smile and took a few steps towards the Crown Prince, but Alec pointed his sword at her.

Chance looked at the sword in surprise. "Put it away, why are you pointing your sword up to a child's face?" he asked.

Tears formed in the little girl's eyes. "I...I just wanted to say h-hello." she said as she sobbed, scared at the sword that was pointed at her face.

Chance panicked when the little girl started to cry and looked at the knight. "Put it down!" he ordered and Alec immediately did as he was told. Chance bent down to level himself with the girl's height and caressed her back. "There, there. I am sorry for frightening you."

The little girl started to calm down, and she stopped sobbing. She looked at the Crown Prince and smiled weakly, "T-thank you, Your Highness..." she muttered.

Chance stared at the little girl. She had a rare black hair, flowing until her legs, maybe a few more months, and her hair would reach her feet or the ground. "Your...black hair is beautiful." Chance said, and he cannot stop looking at it.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I have been wanting to cut it, it is a hassle." the girl said with a giggle. "What a shame, such a hair is exquisite." Chance responded.

The girl was wearing a white dress; it was much lighter than those gowns that other female nobles her age would wear. "May I ask from which family you are?"

The little girl waved her hand left and right along with the shaking of her head, "That I cannot tell you." she said.

"It is a question from the Crown Prince of the kingdom you are in. You have to answer His Highness's question." Alec chimed in.

"And I am someone who does not need to follow any of his order." the girl stated with a serious gaze meeting with Alec. Her smile came back, and she turned to Chance. "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." 

A new friend. That would be good, Chance thought. He looked down at the table he was on downstairs and saw the other untouched desserts on top of it. He glanced at Alec and Teri. "Wait a bit." he said and went towards the stairs to go down back to his table.

The mood instantly changed when Teri and Alec were left alone upstairs. The two of them stared at each other, with Teri's cute smile disappearing from her face. "Best if you leave His Highness alone, from whatever your motive is from approaching him." Alec said. 

"You two are the ones who approached me," Teri said in return.

"You showed yourself in purpose for us to approach you."

"And yet, in the end, you two still approached me."

Alec raised his sword and pointed it once again to her face. "How cruel. Do you have no pity for this poor child you are pointing at?" she asked with a cracking voice, as if she was on the verge of crying. "How scary, how will the Goddess bless you if you have this kind of personality!" she whined.

Alec stared at her with empty eyes. "I believe in no Goddess."

The two of them stared at each other in silence, right before Teri laughed. She put her hand on her mouth, preventing another chuckle from coming out as she looked at the knight, amused.

"You do not believe in the Goddess yet you all use her to greet your Royalties with the wish of them being blessed," she muttered and the tone of her voice slowly changing. "How cute."

Her voice changed and the thin and little voice of hers vanished, looking at the knight with her amused smile. The Valorian Knight suddenly stepped away, feeling a strong aura. At that point, he knew that there was danger in being near the little girl.

Chance's footsteps were heard as he rushed upstairs with plates in both of his hands. "Here! I brought dess-"

"Let us go, Your Highness," Alec said, blocking his way from going near the girl.

"What is wrong?" Chance asked, in confusion.

Alec did not answer, and Chance put the plates on the table. Alec grabbed the Crown Prince's hands and guided him towards the stairs to leave.

"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."