Reincarnated to switch places with a princess (PART 1)

Chapter 39

Reius looked around. 

The last thing he remembered was Lukas falling and walls closing in on them before a shining bright light flashed before their eyes. 

 He was now  in a room but the others were no where in sight. Scanning the area, he noted how the room was heavily decorated despite its simplicity. There was also no door.

The walls and flooring were made of wood. The chandelier he noted was composed of Fairy lights. Everything looked new and clean however when Reius finger's touch the oakwood desk, he saw a heavily layered amount of dust. A sign that the owner had taken great cautions to not touch anything despite keeping it spic and span.

Shaking the drawers, he found that out of three only the one in the bottom was unlock. Squatting down, Reius inspected the contents. A dusty leather-bound notebook, a box and stacks of books. 

Flipping through the pages of the books, Reius couldn't help but smirk having read through the series. The 'two roads' series, one that if he remembered carefully was something that Iman was heavily fond of during his teens. Placing the books back in the drawer, he then began on the notebook. 

Opening it, he coughed harshly. The amount of dust expelled was huge but to be expected from having not been opened in years.  Skimming through the yellowing pages, he realised it was simply a diary of someone named , Takizawa Yoshi.

From the contents, Yoshi was a student at the academy and was an exceptionally talented if quiet student. The entries told of his days at the academy with his teacher and best friend. However, as the pages grew so did the mood of the entries. 

'This is getting really depressing', thought Reius as he read the later entries which were all filled with desperation and if he looked carefully tear stains. Yoshi it seemed, was under serious under pressure from some outside force but was blackmailed not to tell anyone about it which made the situation worse.

Suddenly, a photo fell out from one of the pages. Picking it up, he stared at it. It was a picture of a young man with chin length grey hair dressed in a hakama, his blue eyes were solemn as he sat on a chair, posing for the camera as he read a book.

Turning it behind, Reius read what was the words of the photographer, 

'To Yoshi, 

Hope your book does well and don't forget to stay healthy! 😄

sign,𝒜''

'A...whose 'A' ?...

Finally putting his attention on the box, Reius tried to see through the keyhole only to be greeted with darkness. Shaking it, Reius could hear a rattling sound inside. 

"Key, I need a key."

Walking around the room, he attempted to find a key or something that could break the chest open. Suddenly, an idea hit him. Digging into his hair, Reius produced a simple hairpin. His hair without the hairpin, was now let down. Resting on his shoulders. 

Not letting it bother him, Reius grabbed the chest before inserting the hairpin into the key hold, prying it open, all the while the words ' please work! please work!' were chanted in his head.

*Click*

Smiling, Reius opened the chest. revealing a simple note.

'All that for a piece of parchment?! '

Numbers were written on the piece of parchment, ' 6.8.3.2'

'What the hell does this mean?" Reius was puzzled.

Looking around, there was nothing with numbers. Taking a seat on the floor, he tried to puzzle out the numbers. Time slipped through his fingers as he thought, when suddenly an inkling theory began in his mind.

Standing back up, he walked back to the wall.

'What if it's not about finding but creating?'

Grabbing an arrow, using the headstone, he carved the numbers on the wood. Once he was done, Reius took a step back. Eventually, the numbers began to glow blue before they revealed a window. 

Looking through, he noticed it led to another passageway.

Bitterly, Reius said " This isn't going to end soon is it."

('Oliver' and Lukas)

"ugh."

"Where are we?"

'Oliver' and Lukas laid in a pile on the cobbled floor. Bodies aching from the fall. As they heaved themselves up, Lukas extended a hand. 'Oliver' looked at him, incredulous before taking it. Pulling themselves off the floor.

As they inspected their new surroundings, Lukas couldn't help but ask, " Hey, what's your name?"

'Oliver' was silent for a while before answering, "Sebel."

'That's really unique compared to Oliver'  ,thought Lukas 

"That scarabian isn't here." realised Sebel as he looked around. Lukas then checked, he was right, Reius wasn't here. Facepalming, Lukas mumbled, " Oh god." Suddenly, he remembered something. 

Patting against his clothes, Lukas furiously tried to find it. 

"Oh no."

Sebel arched his eyebrows, 'Oh no' was definitely not a good sign. " What did you do..?"

Lukas slowly looked at him in the eye, face contorted to in worry, " I lost it. The crystal. The thing that brought us here."

.

.

.

"WHAT?!"

Sebel was pacing back and forth now, the possibility that the crystal would be able to sent them back was great but without it, never mind. Eyeing Lukas, Sebel swore under his breath. All he was supposed to do was to get Lukas out of the cell but now with 4 additions to the plan and add in a missing prince. 

he was getting way too much attention now.

"Let's get out of here, first." 

(Timeskip)

They must have walked for a long time because soon they were both exhausted.  Sebel noticing that Lukas was lagging behind, simply sighed, " Shall we take a break?" Immediately, Lukas's face brightened causing Sebel to blush slightly.

'What the heck?!'

Taking a break, Sebel noticed something odd. Taking a closer look at the walls, he noticed a rose engraved on it. Inching closer, Sebel's fingers touched the mark. Suddenly, the whirring of gears could be heard.

"What did you do?" asked a wary Lukas who stood up in alarm.

Suddenly, a bunch of thorny shoots dropped down on them, wrapping their thorns around the two. Dragging them too beyond.