6 Living in the Palace of Antares
It has already been many minutes since they entered the gate. He realized that the gate was still far from the actual palace. 'So big. How long will it take to the palace? An hour?' he thought.
"We are near." Alec said, must have noticed what Chance was thinking about.
The carriage stopped for a while and the door opened. Alec got off first then waited for Chance to come out.
As Chance stepped outside the carriage his mouth parted at the sight of the palace. In his time, it became a tourist spot, he wanted to visit but he never had the chance because he was so busy.
Seeing it personally, he could not help but to be in awe. 'Looks much better than the one in the textbook.' he thought.
"Glory to Antares, I will take my leave now, Your Highness." said the coach. Chance nodded and the driver left, his horse galloping its way back to the gate.
The gardenscape was magnificent, the flowers and topiaries are well kept. Little further to his right is a big water fountain with a statue of a woman with a crown of a star, their goddess, Asteria.
'I wonder what the prison, Tartaria, looks like.' he thought as he and the knight walk straight the path walk to the palace.
Stopping in front of the palace, Chance saw a curved double staircase in which you will climb up to go to the door. In front of him is a door in the middle of the double stairs, 'I think this is where the servants enter' he said to himself.
Alec was about to go to the right staircase but Chance started climbing up the left one. Alec just paused for a bit, then joined Chance on the left.
When they reached the doors, Chance grimaced, 'This is the normal gate for mansions but this is just a door for them?' he thought.
Alec glanced at Chance, waiting for the usual order but Chance just stared back at him. The knight did not wait anymore and just knocked at the door by tapping it with the pommel of his sword.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"
Chance was startled by the sudden yell, he didn't notice that the messenger was still with them.
The doors slowly opened, they were welcomed by the maids in line, with the other servants, and of course the butlers." "Blessings from the Goddess, Welcome back, Your Highness." they all said in unison. 'Is it normal to get all the servants in line when a prince comes home?'
"Why do all of you have to be in line when I arrive?" He asked. One of the maids looked like she wanted to answer, "You can speak." Chance said. 'Do I sound like a royalty now?' he thought, almost made him laugh.
"Normally, the servants who are doing tasks close to this area, will be the one to open the door and greet you." she answered.
"Then why are all of you here?" Chance asked.
"Your Highness, you have been out traveling for days, it is only proper for the servants to greet you when you arrive." she responded. "We have been doing this whenever you come back late, why are you surprised, Your Highness?" the maid asked.
Chance did not answer but instead Alec chimed, "His Highness is not feeling well from the travel, you do not need to ask questions."
The maid immediately bowed her head, "Forgive me,Your Highness, Sir Valorian." she said and went back to her line.
Two claps and the Royal butler called them, "Now, now. You may go back to your unfinished tasks." he ordered.
"Yes, Sir Nicholas." they said in unison and they did as they were told.
Chance and Alec walked and when they were near the butler who seemed to be in his thirties, the man glared at Chance. "Your Highness, you are really so—!" he stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Next time you go out, please inform me, the Royal Head Butler! Such a worrisome brat you are."
Chance was taken aback by the scolding of the butler, 'I didn't know butlers could speak like that to a royalty. Are they close?'
"I had to send a dozen men to look for you! Good thing that Sir Alec sent me a letter!" he added. Chance smiled slightly, "I must have worried you a lot."
The Butler snorted, "Indeed, you did!" he said.
"I still have yet to find the person I was following." Chance said, hoping that he could get information from their reaction.
But the butler looked at him in confusion, "I did not know that you were following someone, who are you trying to find?" he asked.
"It's nothing. Sir Nicholas, aren't you supposed to come with His Majesty for the visit to Canopus? You should get going." Alec said.
The Royal Butler took out his pocket watch to check the time, "I suppose you are right, I'll be going now. Sir Valorian, I leave His Highness to you." he stated. "As always." he added.
The knight nodded and waited until the butler was nowhere to be seen, "I thought it was supposed to be kept a secret?"
"I slipped, my bad." Chance said and looked away.
Alec stared down at Chance and an awkward silence formed again. "I will escort you to your room." he said, breaking the silence.
The knight started walking and Chance followed him from behind, 'Good thing he's showing me the way, I'll be in trouble if I get lost here and say that I don't know where my own room is.' he thought and sighed with relief.
Even by just walking, the servants stop what they are doing and bow, every person they passed by shows them respect. 'I guess this is what the rich people experience everyday.' Chance thought. This is already normal for the rich, but that wasn't the case for him since he was never born with wealth.
Chance, who was in a deep thought, bumped into Alec's back and didn't notice that he was not walking anymore. 'Is this blank-faced man a wall?' he rubbed his nose and forehead.
Alec turned to him, "This is your room, Your Highness." he said and opened the door for Chance.
Chance went one step inside and didn't move. His eyes travelled around the room, it was painted with a royal purple complemented by the blue furniture. As for the usual of a palace, the decorations were mostly made of gold.
He went around the room to look at it clearly, the bed is king-sized and is in the further back. At the side was an enormous portrait of the royal family with a frame made of gold. In the middle of the room was a full set sofa with a low table and a chaise lounge. 'Besides blue and purple, everything here is gold! Goddess, you will forgive me if I take a few back in my time, right?' he thought, it was just a joke but maybe he will.
After walking he saw two doors far from each other, he opened the left door and saw lots of clothes. In the middle was a big, round, table containing drawers of accessories. 'The hell? Does he change outfits every minute?'
He went to the other door and it was as big as the other, but then he realized it was a bathroom. His eyes twitched as he spaced out, 'I was right, the bathroom is as big as my unit!'
'I don't know if I'm happy because I get to live lavishly here or should I be sad to realize how poor I am in my world.'
He remembered that Alec Valorian was still there so he rushed to the door to see him off. The knight was waiting by the door, his arms crossed while still holding the sword in his right hand.
"Sir Alec." Chance called his attention, the knight turned around to face him, "Thank you for escorting me, you can go back now." he said.
He did not answer and stared at him. Chance realized that his eyes are beautiful whenever he stares at him, the crimson eyes with the piercing stare is something you can't take your eyes off. Like a moth drawn to a flame. His eyes make Chance feel like he is always suspicious of him, since he was so observant and can see through lies.
Alec just shook his head as an answer, Chance did not understand what he meant so Alec spoke, "I will stay outside to guard you, Your Highness. It is my duty to do so." he said.
'Oh, right.' Chance thought. "Then, I will go inside now, thank you again.' he said.
He was about to close the door when he felt something was pushing it.
He looked to see Alec's arm pushing the door from closing. "What else do you need?" Chance asked.
The knight removed his arm on the door, "If ever you are having a problem or in a difficult situation, please do not hesitate to tell me." he said.
"No matter how bad it is, I'll stand by your side."
Chance went quiet, did not know what to say back. Alec bowed his head and closed the door for him.
He was left dumbfounded inside his room, 'Even if you were to know that your real master is not me?' he asked in his mind. He let out a snort, "Of course, you won't."
He ran towards the bed and jumped on it. "So great to sleep on this kind of bed, I feel like I am in heaven." he muttered to himself.
"I'll be like this everyday? Living in the palace lavishly 'til I die?" he asked, but at least he knows that when he dies, he will go back to his time and live again.
He felt tired just by walking around the palace, and he even got chased. He was about to close his eyes to rest but he felt someone was inside. "Who's there?" he asked, in a low voice so that the knight won't hear.
"Meow."
