Still being carried by the royal knight, Chance felt awkward, aware of the stares that the other knight, Tristan, and the young prince was giving them.
He tapped Alec's back with his left hand that was hanging, "Put me down." he whispered. By his order, Alec put him down gently on the ground.
He looked at the other two, Tristan does not really have any other reactions since he knows the crown prince and the head knight are close friends. Unlike the ignorant knight, Caliber's young brother was looking at them closely with narrowed eyes.
His face turned serious and it made Chance anxious, "What does he mean by 'Your Highness'?" he asked.
Chance is finally getting a bit closer to the kid and now it will be ruined again. 'What would be his reaction if I told him that I am not a servant, but a prince?' he thought. He sighed and looked down, 'He will surely be angry.'
Since Prince Louis is a smart boy, Chance thought that he probably would not believe any excuse he would give. "He said 'Your Highness' because—
"I have not yet finished my words." Alec chimed in, he looked at Chance with his usual blank face, "Your Highness was looking for you." he said and Louis squinted, still watching how Chance would react.
Chance stared at Alec, unable to believe that he actually lied, 'Alec is helping me, I didn't even tell him that Louis did not know I am a prince.' he said in his mind. Since Alec has already said so, might as well just continue it.
"His Highness? I thought he had already left to return to Antares?" he asked, as if he was not Charles.
He took a quick glance at the young prince's confused face to see if he was taking the act and looked back at Alec, "He was wondering why you did not see him off, as a proper goodbye now that you are staying here." the knight continued.
"I did hear about a royal family visiting our kingdom. So it seems you are from Antares?" the young prince said and they turned to him.
"Yes, I am an acquaintance of the prince that wants to work. He did not want me to work in their palace so I am trying my luck here." Chance answered.
"Well, you have tried your luck. You are now my personal servant." Louis said and the royal knight immediately glanced at the prince after hearing what he said, 'Servant?' he thought. He did not like the idea at all, how ridiculous it was for a royalty to serve someone lower than he is. He gripped his sword tight to calm himself from saying anything.
Louis Cole let out a snort and looked at Chance, "What kind of a luck servant are you? Acquainted with the crown prince and you are friends with my brother, close enough for him to consider you as his lover." he stated.
Talking in a mean tone is usual for the boy, but there was a meaning that Chance did not quite like.
"What are you trying to imply?" Chance asked seriously.
The boy just shook his head and shrugged, "Nothing at all, I am just saying that for a servant, you are very lucky." he said with a smile and went back to leaning at the tree, both knees bent while reading a book that was on his lap.
Chance did not want to ask more about it since they might argue. He felt that the closeness they had from talking earlier vanished in an instance. 'I am not sure what he meant by his words, but I feel guilty for lying to him.' he said inside his mind.
'I think it is not the time for him to know.' he thought and glanced at the boy who was reading, ignoring them.
Twisting from his position, he raised his gaze and saw Alec looking at him with his blank face but staring at him with seriousness. By seeing his look, Chance knew that the knight was upset. "I did not know you are a servant now, Charles." he whispered to his ears.
Chance gulped, he surely was upset, he thought. A good royal knight that he usually is, will not dare call him by name no matter how close of a friend he was to him. "I-I will explain to you later." he whispered back, "Also, why are you suddenly calling me Charles?" he asked, still keeping the low voice.
The Royal Knight folded his arms in a cross and looked at him blankly, "Should I call you a Highness? That cannot be the case since you are a servant, right?" he responded, he was speaking the same way he usually does but he felt the sarcasm.
'Damn, he is upset. I guess it really is a big deal for a prince to be a servant.' he thought.
A loud shutting of a book was heard and they looked up at the young prince, "Listen, I do not care if they are your friends. That does not mean that they can just enter this place as they want!" he said and did not even bother hiding the annoyance in his tone.
"They are knights from Antares." Chance said.
"So? Send them back to Antares then."
Louis noticed the sudden silence, 'Did my way of talking upset him?' he thought. "I mean, why are they even here. From what I know the celebration has ended and the people from Antares has returned to their kingdom." he added.
"If that was the case, why are they still here?" he asked.
Chance glanced at the two knights, trying to think of a reason for their stay, "As the two families ended with an alliance, our crown prince left his personal aide, the Head of the Knights and the Captain of the First Squad, Alec. Accompanied by the available knight, Sir Tristan." he said to introduce the two of them.
"They are here to guarantee the safety of a young Canopus prince. Which I suppose, from what I see, it may be you." he explained to him, inside he was screaming, wishing that he would take the ridiculous lies.
"If I needed a knight, I could have requested one. We have knights too here, if you are not aware." the boy said with sarcasm.
"Well, no matter how many knights your kingdom has, to this special knight of ours, they will not stand a chance." Chance tried to go even further, but that was such an exaggeration. What if Louis ordered the royal knight to fight all of their knight? Dead for sure.
Louis wanted to laugh, in terms of strength and skills in fighting, no one can surprise him more than Sherin and Niro. "I can sense that he is indeed strong, but why would someone like me need knights?" he asked.
Chance knew he was going to say that because he stays inside the secret place all day, but still. "Just because you are always here, that does not guarantee that you are always safe." he said.
"I hope you will not oppose the idea and just let them do their jobs." he said immediately so Louis would not say anything else to refuse.
Louis just sighed, "Fine." he responded.
Chance smiled and was happy that he did not mess up. His smile disappeared, it was not the time for him to be rejoicing. How could he be so happy by the lies he had made? Not only that, days had already passed and he was still not getting the dreams that Fate had mentioned. There were still not many clues to the death of the king.
He has few guesses, but still not sure. The only thing that will prove his theories, is to experience Charles's death. He will only know what truly happened if it finally happens to him.
He was already guilty of lying to the boy, but then he realized something.
It was not only Louis who he had lied to, he lied to everyone. Just by acting like he was Charles was already a lie. Living the life of the Crown Prince is already a lie. All of it was just...lies.
The one he was mostly guilty of, was lying to both his knight, Alec, and to Caliber.
He lowered his gaze and thought if it was right for him to make that wish back in his world. Everything is starting to become a mess. Although he has this kind of thoughts, he has no choice but to continue what he had started. If he backed out, the lives of the people precious to him, will also be affected.
He has to do it and by continuing his goal to find out the king's death, he needs to find out everything while living as Charles.
Even though he did not like the idea, he will only get information if he was the Crown Prince himself and by living inside his research subject...
He needs to lie.