"Hmm? What did you say?" the Crown Prince asked, could not hear what the knight was whispering.

    The Valorian knight shook his head, saying that it was nothing. Chance did not believe him, but he did not ask any further.

    "It has been a while since we are all together. I miss you, brother." Carmilla said with a wide smile as she looked at the Crown Prince sitting across from her.

    Her eyes went to where Alec was. "And you too...blank faced knight." She added.

    The Princess of Antares took a slice from her pink lemonade cake with a fork and put it inside her mouth. She closed her eyes as she savor the taste. "Delicious! I suggest you take a bite from the desserts here, brother. All the cakes here make you feel like in heaven!" she exclaimed.

    Although Chance does want to take a bite, or probably eat everything in the table, he held himself back. "Tea is enough for me, thank you."

    Carmilla stared at him and made sure if he really does not want to eat, but Chance did not take his words back, "Fine then, if you say so." she replied and went back to eating her cake.

    Carmilla stared at the Valorian knight again as she sipped from his tea. "Oh, Alec. From all the years you were here, why have you not learn to bear emotions?" she asked. She cannot help but to ask since every time she gets a chance to see Alec Valorian, he always wore the same blank face and nothing else.

    Chance looked at his knight, then turned to the princess and smiled at her, "Of course, silly. He bears emotions, he just chose not to show it." The Crown Prince said.

    Princess Carmilla nodded, saying that she understands, "Just quite a pity that we never had the chance to see. He never gives himself away when it comes to his emotions." she said, slightly pouting.

    "Tell me the truth brother, after a decade that you were with your knight, Alec. Have you ever seen him besides that blank expression of his?" she asked with a tone of curiosity and excitement.

    Chance did not answer, and silence surrounded all of them. Chance tried to think back from the moment he came into the 19th century. ''Has his expression ever changed?'' he thought.

    He could not remember at all. Alex was kind and protective of him, comforted him, but still wore the same look on his face.

    ''What about the real Charles? If I were Charles Howard, the real Crown Prince, I would be able to answer this.'' he thought. But he was not Charles Howard, he does not know how Alec was like 10 years ago and until now.

    Chance tried to take a glimpse of Alec Valorian in secret, but he was startled when he saw his knight looking at him, waiting for his response.

    He averted his gaze and chuckled at the question of the Princess of Antares, "That question, I will not answer it.'' the Crown Prince said.

    Both of the Princess''s eyebrows lifted up slightly as she stared at her brother. "Eh, why?"

    "I do not want to share that with you, my princess." he added and smiled.

    "Eh..? B-brother! I am your sister, be generous! I am curious, brother." The Princess said, she has been wanting to know if for a long time.

    Ever since she was a child, she never once saw him smile, be excited about things, or doing something that he liked. Every time she saw him back then, he was training, working hard non-stop with a blank expression on his face. She has never seen someone as devoted as Alec Valorian, ''What a robot that man is,'' she always thought.

    "You will not be able to make me tell you." Chance said with a smile as he took a sip from his tea.

    The Princess of Antares gave up, knowing that his brother will not give him an answer. Deep inside the historian, he was glad that she did not ask any further. It was a good thing that he came up with that answer or else it would be dangerous to answer the question. He does not know whether there was a change of his attitude or not, so he cannot tell whether Alec has been emotionless for all ten years since they are together.

    He took a glance at Alec in secret again, looking at him from the corner of his eyes, and saw that he was not looking at him anymore. ''Was he really expecting me to answer?'' he thought, when he felt as if Alec was disappointed.

    "By the way, have you met with father? He would definitely want to see you immediately after arriving at the palace." she said, suggesting that he should go to King Cadell.

    He tried not to grimace in front of his sister. ''I would never want to see him. If only I do not have to meet him often.'' he thought.

    He put down his cup, "Yes, father requested to see me, and I went to the throne hall before I decided to go to my cute sister''s chamber." he answered and Carmilla chuckled at the last words of his answer.

    "But then how come you did not stay there longer?" the princess asked.

    ''That was not long for you? For me, it felt like hours.'' the Crown Prince thought. I guess time just feel so slow whenever we dislike the person we are with.

    "Alec and I excused ourselves, since father has something he and Her Highness, Caroline, must attend to."

    The princess''s face lit up as she heard the name of her mother. "Oh, mother. How I would like to have to spend more time with her for some day." she said.

    She looked down at her tea with sadness in her eyes. "I was so lonely these days. My mother was busy helping father attend gatherings, and my older brother was in another kingdom." She said.

    Chance almost went ''Awww'' but held it in. "Our princess has been so lonely. I am sorry, Milla." Chance said, trying to comfort her.

    After a few seconds, she gave the Crown Prince a smile. "I was fortunate to have William by my side. He keeps me company when everyone is busy."

    Chance smiled and glanced over at the butler, raising his eyebrows up and down, teasing him again. Butler William felt embarrassed and looked away from the prince.

    Chance suddenly paused and thought about something. "Since we were busy, why did you not go to Clayton? He is your brother too, after all."

    Carmilla stared at him, feeling awkward, and it took her a few seconds before answering, "I doubt brother Clayton would want to spend time with me."

    "Why?"

    "I love brother Clayton and I would like to be with him, but I do not want him to feel uncomfortable so I stopped trying to get close with him." the princess answered.

    Chance nodded. It was understandable that she decided to not go to him. Knowing that Clayton was the son of the concubine and was born first before Carmilla, he would definitely feel uncomfortable.

    ''Even if he was born from the concubine, it is not reason to call himself insignificant.'' he thought. He feels bad that Clayton was not close to his siblings, and he hopes someday that change and their relationship would improve.

    "Do you hate that Clayton was born before you? That he was given birth by someone that is not the King''s consort?" He asked.

    "Not at all," the princess immediately answered.

    "Why?"

    "I like being the adorable little sister of two brothers."

    Chance laughed at her answer and even the butler giggled, "You just like being our cute princess, huh?" He said and Carmilla chuckled.

    "But seriously, I do not hate brother Clayton at all. It was never his fault that he was born into the world. I hope someday he realizes how much of a blessing to be able to live in this amazing world." she said.

    Chance smiled, "Indeed, I hope he does."

    They spent an hour bonding together from his return from Canopus, they had fun chatting as they drink their teas and eat the desserts with giggles as the background.

    After that, Chance and Alec have excused themselves and left the room. They continued walking, making their way to the library of the palace when he spotted three people walking in the halls, but they have not yet noticed the two of them.

    Chance does not know who they are, but their auras emit grace and power. He could easily tell that they are big nobles just from seeing the three of them.

    One of them is a man that seemed gentle yet powerful. He looks slightly younger than the King. The woman by his side is a calm one, assuming it was his wife, and another one was a man that was as tall as Leonidas, probably the same age.

    Chance most caught a fly as his mouth was slightly opened from staring at the three of them. "Who are they?"

    "They are the Lockharts."