Chapter Three

       The smell of the hot tea lingered inside Keir's throat. He felt like he didn't want to drink it anymore. He'd been like this whenever he encountered something that could trouble his mind. Overthinking and losing interest in everything, to name a few.

        Keir had been standing here in front of the room, stuck between knocking right away or thinking first before knocking. To be honest, he didn't have any idea on how to approach the prince. His pride had been brutally lowered on his own will. Now that he had changed his mind, it would totally cost it a total lose.

       Later, Keir just found himself knocking with his free hand.

       "Come in!" Prince Zaeius answered inside.

        Keir walked in with a tray of hot tea and teacups and rice cakes. He put it on the little table beside Méah's bed. She's still asleep.

       "What took you so long?" the prince asked, suiting himself with a cup of tea.

        Keir went quiet. To be honest, he didn't know how to approach him after what he found.

       "Do you really want to send her to the shelter?" he finally gathered his voice.

       Prince Zaeius almost burst out the tea off his mouth. He quickly wiped it with the back of his hand and put the tea cup down. If it was in a different situation, Keir would've laughed his lungs out.

       "Why do you ask now?" Prince Zaeius couldn't believe what he just heard from him. It felt like awhile ago, he wanted to throw her out.

       'Think, Keir. Think!'

       "I think we should at least—uhm, you know, uh...wait for her to get well before we send her off." Keir looked away, hiding his embarrassment. "The shelter's attention might not be always on her. You know, she needed an extra care."

      'Damn, Keir. What did you just said?'

       Prince Zaeius was even more confused now. However, he couldn't help but feel relieved. It's just so unusual for Keir having a sudden change of mind.

       "Do you have a fever?" the prince asked him, sarcastically.

        'Right. He's still upset with me. I knew it. What were you expecting, Keir?'

      Even though the prince sounded like he was joking, it still struck Keir.

      'I was trying to make it up for him.'

     

       But seeing how his face lightened with what he said made him think that everything was worth it. And he was right. It was because of her. Well, he wouldn't just take random strangers under his attention right?

       But the problem is...

       "My grandfather. How are we going to ask him? You know that he's against me in following his footsteps. He said that he don't want to see me again after he knew I was pursuing his thing." Keir took in a mouthful sip of the tea. Now, he felt like he's going to finish everything in the tray.

       

     "Alright. What if I will be the one to ask him? I am from the royal family. I'm pretty sure he won't refuse me." Prince Zaeius nodded while holding his chin.

    "Okay then. We'll set out now while the sun's still up," in the end, Keir agreed.

         They journeyed to Keir's grandfather's house through the shortcut in the forest of the town. The house was still the same except for some small cracks on its brick walls and some wild vines growing on its rusty roof. The trees had grown too tall especially the ones that Keir used to play with under, when he was just a little boy. The feeling was just so nostalgic for Keir. They were delighted to see that the door was open, only to get it shut into their faces as soon as they got nearer.

     "Grandpa! This is me! Your grandson, Keir. Grandpa, are you there?" Keir knocked and knocked.

      "Grandpa? His highness wants to see you. Isn't it too rude to—" Before he could finish lecturing his outside, the door swung open.

      "Greetings, your highness. What can I do for you?" Bo greeted the prince, enthusiastically.

     "Grandpa, just drop the formalities. His majesty's not here. You can talk normally." Prince Zaeius casually talked like he's not a royal.

     "My little grandson, you didn't changed at all. Come in first. Let's talk inside." Bo guided the prince to the living room.

      Keir followed the two of them with a disfigured face. He didn't expect his grandfather would threw him such treatment.

       "Grandpa, I'm your grandson, not him. God, why am I always neglected like this." Keir sulked and Prince Zaeius smirked at him. Bo just shook his head when he saw Keir's tantrums.

       "Nevermind him." Bo whispered to the prince and winked a bit. "So what can I do for you, my grandson?" he asked him.

      "Actually, we came here to ask for your help. I know you're knowledgeable on this thing," Prince Zaeius started. "and we highly believe in your skills."

       "No, problem, grandson. Spill it. Come on," Bo said while leaning closer to the prince. He always loved it whenever he's praised, not to mention that it was the prince himself.

        While the two of them were busy talking, Keir felt so out of place so he just wandered around the house—from the kitchen, to his mom's room when she was a little, to his grandfather's room and lastly to his study room. He's never been there eversince. Bo had forbade him to stay away from his study room. But as a person who has developed this 'curiosity sickness' , he defied his words and broke in.

      His eyes were greeted with a gigantic bookshelf in the middle of the room and an averaged height ones on every corner of the room. The smell of books made him nauseated. He felt like puking and his head was spinning.

      "Right, I forgot I'm allergic to the smell of books," he said, holding his stomach tightly.

     Though, it didn't stop him from noticing something sparkling on the top of the giant bookshelf. Upon eyeing a ladder standing next to it, he almost crawled on his way up. As soon as he got nearer, the sparkling went brighter and wider. It shone the compartment were it was  in, only to find out that it was a brown book covered with dust and it was alone in there. He also noticed that there were chiseled marks surrounding it, as if it was forced to be taken away.

       "Weird. Why does it have to be chiseled when it was just a book and not a diamond or something?" Keir asked  himself.

      Just when he was about to touch it, a rat jumped unto his hand and crawled down to his back. He was startled and out balanced himself down together with the ladder. His body made a loud thud.

        "Ouch!" he groaned underneath the wooden ladder, "I think I broke my back," he slowly spoke, trying his best to sit down while massaging his right pelvis.

        Keir haven't recovered himself yet when he heard noises above the shelf. When he looked up, something fell on his face. And another one followed and then followed another one. The touch of it made him quiver. Soon, it was like these creatures were raining on him.

     "Rats! Help! Rats! Shoo! Shoo!" He cried and quickly ran out of the room after shutting the door.

        "So, you're taking in a random stranger you found in the middle of the forbidden forest?" Bo asked the  prince.

      "What else can I do? She seemed hopeless. I couldn't just leave someone dying out there," he explained to Bo.

      The prince noticed the sudden change of Bo's expression. However, he couldn't tell if it was worry, fear or shock or all of it. "Is there something wrong, grandpa?" he asked him.

      "Ah, no. Forget it. Just some random thoughts." Bo assured him. "Actually, I'm really busy today, your highness. My apologies. I have to go." Bo started walking towards his room.

      "Grandpa, wait!" Prince Zaeius called him, "There's something else that I wanted to tell you."

       Bo stopped on his way, putting both of his hands folded behind his back, "What is it?" he asked.

       "Her wounds...some of it just disappeared without a trace," the prince said in a low tone.

        Bo automatically looked back at him with a grim expression and half opened mouth as if he was about to say something, but then closed it and slowly went on his way. Prince Zaeius was left hopeless.

       "Rats! Help! Grandpa! Rats!" Keir came into the scene, startled.

        He automatically hid behind Bo whom he met on his way, their backs facing each other.  But then Keir turned to face his grandfather's back and held both of his arms from the back.

      "What on earth did you do?" Bo asked with disappointment in his tone.

       "Rats...too many of them. They chased me!" Keir answered while his hands were trembling. He turned to face Bo's back and took a peek above his shoulder to see if there were rats following him.

      "Get your hands off," Bo warned him.

     But Keir didn't listen to him and was busy watching the way. Prince Zaeius just watched the whole scene, forgetting about how Bo immediately changed his mind after promising to help him.

     "Look! There's still another one! Grandpa, help!" Keir yelled and unknowingly clutched Bo's shoulder tightly.

       Prince Zaeius couldn't stand Keir's fearful cries and quickly grabbed the empty tray and throw it on the rat. In a split second, the helpless rat laid lifeless on the stone floor.

      "It's dead. Now get off or I'll chop your hands off," Bo angrily said and shrugged Keir's hands off. He calmed down the moment he heard Bo's tone.

      "I'm sorry, grandpa. I... I'm really scared of rats," Keir sincerely apologized.

      "Get out and leave now! Both of you! Never show your silly faces here again!" Bo's anger eventually aroused but his voice was kind of shaky that he could barely speak.

      Before the two of them could react, he rushed to his room leaving the two young men dumbfounded. He was holding his right arm where Keir had grasped on. Before he disappeared from their sight, they witnessed a red stain slowly forming on his long flowy sleeve, right on the area where he's holding. Soon, it trailed to his palm down to his finger tips, leaving drops of it on the floor.