Chapter 16

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Please accept my sincere apologies for the delayed update. I was supposed to finish this chapter and publish it last Friday (Nov 19) because I was so happy that I had finally finished all of my schoolwork and our examinations were finished, but it turns out that after the exam, they added more schoolwork and made me so stressed that I almost forgot that I was writing this story. Right now, I'm having a hard time figuring out what comes next in the chapter. (╥﹏╥)



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Still Riku's POV


I'm now standing outside the Palace with Allea, the maid. We're waiting for the carriage, which I believe will be my ride back. I was just dressed in basic clothing that had been handed to me earlier.


"Riku," someone called, and I could tell it was the highn—I mean, Hiroka. He was making his way towards us. The butler was standing next to Hiroka. I don't know what his name was, but he usually had a serious expression on his face. What drew my eye the most was the shimmering earring on the prince's left ear. It looked great on Hiroka and made him appear cool and gorgeous than the first time I saw him that day.

"I'm here to see you off, and I'm sorry I can't go with you since my father and brother prohibited me for a while because... you know when I was in danger, HAHA," he said, laughing slightly.

"You're also unwell, your highness," the butler added to Hiroka's remarks, which caused him to sweat a bit and stutter a little.

"R-right"

Now that he's mentioned it, I've heard from a few of the servants that he's sick. No, I should say he was really...really sick. I even saw him cough up blood right in front of my eyes. In addition, his body is currently made up of skin and bones.

"It's okay, Hiroka; you still need to heal after all," I answered calmly. Allea, the maid, and even the butler were taken aback by what I said. It had to be the name I used instead of addressing him as 'your highness' out of respect. Because of the butler's and maid's surprised expressions. Hiroka just lifted his hands to draw their attention to him.

"It's okay, I was the one who told him to call me that," Hiroka remarked, as the butler and maid calmed down from their stunned expressions. Suddenly, we heard a clip-clopping sound. We looked where the source of the noise was and saw the carriage.

"It appears that the carriage has arrived," Hiroka said, as the carriage got closer to where we were. Hiroka spoke up again.

"Allea, I'll leave Riku to you," he said, and the maid bowed, and then Hiroka faced me and smiled. "Have fun, Riku," he added.

'Have... fun?' I thought to myself as I stared at him, confused.

"Sir Riku, let's go," the maid said as she led me to the carriage. I was the first to enter, and she was the next. The rider shut the door and went to the horses. The carriage eventually moved when I saw the prince wave at me.

'Have fun?...what exactly does that mean?' I thought to myself confusedly.



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20 minutes passed


The carriage had already left the royal grounds. Trees may already be visible from the window on the carriage. I'm still thinking about what the prince said to me right now. What exactly does he mean by that?

I turned to face the maid, intending to ask her where we were heading. She was seated across from me. I noticed her glancing out the window, smiling cheerfully as if she was delighted about something.

"Excuse me, miss," I said suddenly, catching her attention.

"What is it, sir Riku?" she said and hearing her speak 'sir' made me a bit uneasy. I'm not used to being addressed by that.

"Just call me Riku," Allea seemed surprised, but she nodded in response to my remark.

"Then call me Allea too," She said that surprised me as well, but I nodded to her. She smiled when she noticed my remark.

"Then, Riku, what is it?" It made me feel better when she asked that without 'sir.'

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked, even though I didn't want to because I'm still not used to chatting to people. Only to be sure my current thinking about returning to that location was correct.

"Oh that, hehe," she giggled, which puzzled me, "We're going shopping!" She continued joyfully, which surprised me.


'S-shopping?'


"Shopping? What for?"

"Shopping for your clothes. I was supposed to tell you this earlier, but I felt it would be better if it came as a surprise." giggling, she said "Don't worry about the payment; leave it to the Callisto's money; furthermore, that pouch I handed you from the highness 2nd prince while we were still in the guest-chamber. If anything catches your eye, you may spend the money the highness gifted you; that money is yours; it's for your living."


'Huh...Surprise?'


"I'm not going back to that alley where I used to live?" Allea was perplexed and began to chuckle when she heard this.

"Of course not. Do you remember what I said to you that time?" she added, referring to the first time we met and whispered to me about my stay at the palace.

"You'll be staying with us, just as I predicted!" she said joyfully.

"B-but why?" I mumbled, glancing down at my hands.

When nobility passed by us beggars, they just ignored us. I assumed that all nobility or wealthy people were like this and didn't care. They mocked us and vented their rage on us despite the fact that we had done nothing wrong. However...This prince...A royal that I assumed he was the same as them.

I can tell that the maid gave me a sorrowful look, and then I felt someone touch my shoulder. When I looked up, it was Allea, of course, because we were the only two people in the carriage.

"Riku, I think you should ask that to the highness 2nd prince; I'm not sure what his intentions are toward you, but I heard he wanted you to be his personal knight," she said, which startled me.


'A knight, you say?'


"We have arrived!" said the driver, oblivious to the fact that we had already come to a halt due to our conversation.

Allea was the first one out of the carriage once the driver opened the door for us, and I followed her. When we had already exited the carriage. We were already standing in front of a clothes store.

Allea and I entered and were met by a man, who appeared to be the owner, and a girl, who appeared to be his assistant.


"Welcome," they said.

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