With a frown, Berne asked Yan,
"What did you just call me?"
Yan, who thought it was a joke, answered with a slight smile,
"You are Prince Callian. I am Yan, his attendant. I have to take you to breakfast right now."
After those words from Yan, unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.
The Kairis Royal Palace, the etiquette, the weather, the schedule, the horseback riding, the flower garden, the magic, the queen, the king and the two elder brothers.
Yan was right. He shouldn't be late for breakfast. His memories urged him to get up immediately, because he had to be in the dining room before the other two princes.
He asked quietly, his name was now Callian,
"What's the date today?"
"It's April 28th. It's nice weather, Your Highness."
Once Callian heard this, he took a moment to look around. From the atmosphere, it didn't seem like there was currently a war with Secritia. Then Callian asked another question,
"Which year is it?"
"It's the year 522."
Callian's eyes widened. The year 522 in the Kairis' calendar was the year 525 in the Secritia' calendar.
It wasn't the year in which he had died, but rather…
'10 years ago.'
He was 10 years into the past… as the Third Prince of Kairis.
Memories about the other two princes kept rushing into his head, as if urging him to hurry up.
Callian was still deep in thought, so Yan lost his patience and grabbed the prince by the sleeve. He intended to help the prince up.
Slap!
Callian smacked his hand away reflexively. Not only was his attendant's hand reddened, but also his own delicate palm.
Since he was not used to such harsh actions, it was painful for the prince as well.
Yan asked with teary eyes,
"Why did you do this, Your Highness?"
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to."
Yan was so shocked by the slap that he didn't notice the change in the prince's speech and said quickly,
"More importantly, Your Highness. You must get ready fast. Otherwise…"
Callian waved his hand. He didn't let his attendant finish his sentence.
Callian was clear that he should not waste any more time here. The memories that came to mind about his 'elder brothers' practically implored him to arrive first for breakfast.
He also needed to separate himself from this attendant named Yan in order to sort out his thoughts.
Calian dipped his entire face in the basin of water, then lifted it up and patted his cheeks softly.
At that moment, new memories flooded his mind. He realized that his manner of speech was different from Prince Callian. With that in mind, he spoke again,
"I'm sorry for making you wait. I'll get ready now."
"Not at all, Your Highness. Today you apologized more than usual. Allow us to attend to your clothes."
With a slight nod from Yan, the maids came forward with a complete set of clothes and dressed the prince, while another one came to fix his hair. His black hair was neatly styled to cover up his eyes.
Berne usually pulled his long silver hair back, so he felt uneasy with his current bangs that covered his eyes. But thanks to the memories that continually trickled into his brain, he knew the reason Callian kept his hair like that.
Callian had such long bangs because his two elder brothers, especially Prince Planche, despised his red eyes. He was so scared of his brother's hatred that he would avoid showing his own eyes.
Without even realising it, Callian clicked his tongue.
'Although I had already heard about this, he truly lived like a fool.'
He laughed as he thought of that man.
The enemy he hated the most. Planche, the Crazy King.
He was the King of Kairis. No, since this was 10 years in the past, he was a mere prince now. And he was the mastermind behind the attack on Secritia.
'Planche…. the fact that you are breathing right now makes my skin crawl.'
Callian could not bear to utter that hateful name from his lips.
This place was the Kairis Royal Palace. He felt like he was in a dream, but he was actually the Third Prince of Kairis. Because of this, Callian repeated the same words in his head multiple times,
'Even if I see him, I can't kill him right now. I have to endure it.'
It would be truly ridiculous if this was not a dream, but if it indeed was reality, and Callian's head went rolling because of his impatient actions, it would truly be a shame.
The maids, who had no idea what was going on in Callian's mind, finished the last adjustments on his clothes, even cutting and sewing them to make sure they suited him well. The preparation was so meticulous that he wondered if this was really just getting ready to go and eat breakfast.
'How much must they all have suffered simply because of his clothing that they were preparing his clothes with such careful precision?'
Finally, all the preparations were complete and Callian took a deep breath before leaving his room. He passed through the corridor, went down the majestic central staircase and headed into the dining hall to the far right.
No matter how much he tried to remember his age along the way, he couldn't. He wondered if Callian had lived his life so far without even paying attention to his own age. Eventually, he decided to just ask Yan,
"Yan."
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"How old am I?"
It was a sudden question to Yan, who thought the prince had been acting strangely since this morning.
"You're 14 years old. You have 4 months left before you become an adult."
"Hmm, I see."
Callian nodded his head in thought, no wonder he looked so young. Yan, who noticed the prince was deep in thought, asked him in a worried voice,
"Your Highness, did you perhaps read the novel about the knight last night?"
He had asked this because the prince's manner of speech had changed.
The original Callian had been afraid of horses, and since there was a riding lesson the next day, the prince may have been anxious about his performance in class and read the novel of the knight to calm himself down.
Callian shook his head,
"I'm not interested in that kind of story."
With that reply, Callian entered the dining room. There were servants already lining the walls of the room, but there was no other Prince in sight. Callian looked at Yan,
'Why did you make such a fuss to rush me?'
Callian thought he simply wanted him to get ready quickly to make sure he wouldn't be late.
By the large window, there was a wide, round dining table at which the princes would eat breakfast every morning by order of King Rumein. It was the worst place for the previous Callian.
One of the servants pulled a chair out. When Callian realized that was his seat, he went and sat down, then turned his gaze to the unfamiliar landscape outside the window.
'As I had heard, the land here is really immense.'
He knew that Kairis was the largest of the four kingdoms on the Shisterra Continent. Even the royal grounds themselves were truly vast. It differed largely from Secritia, whose royal grounds consisted of some large buildings and two annexes.
The royal family had six palaces, each one magnificent. There were also other buildings for different purposes, as well as gardens and artificial lakes, all within the royal grounds.
The Chermil Palace, where Prince Callian and the other princes resided, was smaller than the other Kairis palaces. However, it still had a large garden and a lake in its grounds.
The sunlight, which reflected on the water, came in through the window.
Just like that, staring blankly out of the window, 10 minutes passed and finally the First Prince, Randell came. Then, after another 30 minutes, the Second Prince Planche showed up.
Callian looked at the Second Prince, who sat down silently next to them, with surprise.
'What the hell…'
Callian frowned at Planche's absurd appearance.