Night Prince

Rooftop Conversation

"Your highness." Seri gasped.

It was him...It had to be.

But...she had to be sure. Blatantly accusing his royal highness of being her Night Panther if he wasn't would be detrimental to her.

"Are you okay?" Prince Ri was frowning down at her.

Somehow, that frown looked wrong on his perfectly chiselled face and Seri wanted to reach over to smoothen down those lines.

"Yes." Seri squeaked, her mind still whirling with her suspicions.

Prince Ri was still frowning slightly as he checked her over for injuries before he finally let Seri go. Awkward silence clung to the air around them as Prince Ri and Seri attempted to calm their racing hearts.

Prince Ri was mentally berating himself for scaring Seri and his mind was struggling to come up with a topic for them to talk about. Years of studying to become the country's next leader meant that Prince Ri was trained to make small talk. He had no problems when it came to the ambassadors or other royalty. Why was it so difficult when it came to Seri? It wasn't as though it was the first time they were meeting.

"I heard you were discharged." Was the only thing he could come up with.

"I feel much better now, your highness. Thank you for saving me." Seri curtsied in thanks.

Silence

Seri let out a fake yawn, using it as an excuse to escape. She needed some peace and quiet to organise her thoughts and she surely couldn't do that with Prince Ri next to her. "I apologise, your highness. I would love to accompany you but I'm exhausted. I ought to turn in for the day."

"You should. Let me walk you to your room." Prince Ri nodded his head in understanding.

With that, Seri and Prince Ri left the library together. Clutching the book tightly against her chest, Seri was trying her best not to sneak a few peeks at the prince. 

What was she going to do if he really was her Night Panther? If anyone were to tell her that Prince Ri had a mystery persona in the form of NP, she would have knocked them in their heads. Yet, was that so ridiculous now that the answer was staring right back at her?

The walk back to the room was quiet. Usually, Seri despised awkward silences but that wasn't the case today. She was almost thankful for the peace and quiet for her mind was anything but silent. On the other hand, Prince Ri was simply too tongue-tied to offer much to their lack of conversation.

"This is me." Seri pointed at the door and smiled politely at Prince Ri.

Prince Ri nodded his head mutely and gestured to the door. "Have a good night, M'lady."

"Good night, your highness." Seri bowed her head.

Prince Ri's soft wistful eyes were the last thing she saw before she closed the door to the guest room. The minute the door closed with a soft click, Seri let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

Lighting up the candle, Seri carefully flipped open the book. There was one mystery she had to solve first. The mystery behind the royal family. 

This particular book was the original copy of the book she found in the town's library. The book caught Seri's interest the minute she saw it on the shelves of the royal library. Since the one in the town's library had been tampered with, Seri wondered if the original had the information she sought.

Seri thumbed the pages until she found the page she was looking for. Tracing down the family tree, Seri was delighted that there were three names spelt out clearly below the King and Queen.