Chapter 3: The first class (Francis POV)

"Greetings your highness. My name is Olivia Whitley from the Whitley family. Her highness the empress assigned me to be your study partner." A girl, who was standing behind my tutor, introduced herself.

So, my study partner is the daughter of the Whitley family. The Whitley family supported the Ashford family, and Rosaline came from the Ashford family. So, anyone could guess that Olivia is a spy. Were they trying to make it so obvious for me to know that she's a spy? Or is this a trap?

"Alright, let's start our class." My tutor's voice woke me up from my deep thinking. I walked to my chair and sat on it. Olivia walked and sat beside me.

During the class, I couldn't focus on my tutor. I was only thinking about Olivia. Beside the fact that she came from the Whitley family, there's something that made me feel weird. Somehow, I felt like I had known her before.

Her green eyes and her voice remind me of my friend. Even her cheering aura resembles hers. They couldn't be the same person, right? No, of course not. They are definitely two different people.

"Your highness! Please pay more attention. You haven't made any progress in your study." My tutor's voice, once again woke me up.

….

It's the break time at noon. My maids had prepared our lunch, so we had our lunch together. "Your highness, I have prepared some cookies before I came here. Please have a try." She offered me a plate of cookies.

"First, no need to call me 'your highness'. Just call me by my name. It's Francis." Olivia nodded her head and asked me to call her with her name too. "I will try your cookies after I finish my meal."

As I said, right after I finished my meal, I tried her cookies. "It's delicious." I gave my compliment. It's an honest compliment; the cookie is delicious. Maybe it's because I rarely get proper food, let alone cookies and desserts.

"Thank you, Francis, I will bring some desserts more often in the future." She smiled nicely and ate some cookies too.

"Your highness, I mean, Francis, can you tell me where the library is?" Olivia asked me after we finished.

"Follow me, I will take you to the nearest library." I stood up and started to walk, followed by Olivia and Noah from behind.

I stopped for a bit, and looked at Olivia who was behind me. "Don't call me your highness either. Just call me by my name; Francis." I continued my walk after seeing her nodding her head.

When we arrived at the library, I stopped. "Here's the library, you can use it freely. The librarian will help you." I was about to leave her there. Honestly, I hate to go to the palace library, since the librarian can record which book I was reading and report it to Rosaline.

"Your- I mean, Francis, please come and read together with me." She held my hand before I left. "It will be fun if we can read together." She added.

I didn't have any choice, so I agreed to her wish and entered the library. Inside it, I only followed Olivia as she wandered around the library excitedly. Looks like she loves books a lot, as expected for a Whitley.

At the end Olivia picked a book and me, I just picked such a simple book. "Are you still reading that book?" Olivia looked at me with a confused face. Of course she would act that way, the book I picked is way too simple that used to teach noble kids under ten years old.

"Ah, I still don't understand some concepts, so I think this book will help." I just replied with any excuse I had in my mind that time.

"You need to learn a lot, your- ah, I mean, Francis."

We ended up reading a book together. Sometimes, I asked Olivia a question regarding the book I read, and she answered it. Of course, I knew the answer, I just pretended and made everyone think that I'm a stupid prince.

….

It was afternoon already and my class was over. "Thank you for today, master." I bowed slightly to my tutor. He left me and Olivia after bowing back.

I wished Olivia would return to her family's mansion quickly so I could meet my friend outside the palace. It would be troublesome if she noticed something and reported it to Rosaline or whoever

"Francis, there's something I want to tell you." Out of nowhere, Olivia talked to me with a serious tone. Her face was so stiff and cautious, as if examining the room. "I'm on your side." She whispered those words right next to my ear, as she didn't want anyone to hear it.

I flinched, shocked at what I just heard from her. "It's true that I was ordered to spy on you. I won't deny it. But I can report them any information you want and tell you some information I know." She continued.

"What do you mean? How can I trust you? Who are you exactly?" Confused, I asked a lot of questions unknowingly.

"You don't have to trust me if you don't want to. Tell me if you are interested in my offer. For now, I will return to my place. See you." She bowed and left me.

I glanced at Noah and went outside the class with him escorting me. From afar, I still could see Olivia's back. From the direction she took, I guessed she went to Rosaline's palace. "She offered me something and about to go to that place right after it." I said to Noah with a low voice.

"She's so suspicious. You better be careful, your highness" Noah commented.

I let out a sigh and looked at him. "Let's go back to my room." I said that as I nodded to him. That's a sign, which means that's our time to go outside.

We went to our secret place, the place where I sneak out. Noah checked the surroundings. "No one here, you can go." He put his hand to help me climb the wall.

We only need a few seconds to get outside the palace's wall. "Okay, let's go." I said it and nodded to Noah, he nodded back. We walked to a bookstore, the place where we used to meet with my friend.

After several minutes walking, we arrived at the bookstore. "Looks like she hasn't arrived yet, Francis," said Noah. I asked him not to call me 'your highness' outside the palace to prevent bad things from happening.

"Then, I'll wait." I entered the bookstore, while Noah decided to wait outside. Inside, I walked between the bookshelves and searched for a book.

"Here you are, runaway prince." A whispering voice came from beside me.