The Scholar and The Crown

14

Maude

I sighed as soon as I saw Cedric's discreet thumbs up from afar.

We were now in the palace's library for the ladies' History class. Instead of following the usual teaching method, I had given them an activity requiring the use of various books. This allowed us to be here in the library, but my true motive was different.

Last Saturday...

"How are we going to build their love story, though?" I asked Laura and Cedric.

"I wasn't expecting to be involved in this kind of field," Cedric said shyly.

"Not a newsflash," Laura commented quickly. "Let the expert handle this," she added, referring to herself.

"Wow, big words coming from you, huh?" Cedric retorted, clearly irritated.

I loved watching them bicker.

"Anyway, back to the topic, we should let them meet in a fated way," Laura cleared her throat.

"Fated way? You mean like those fictional scenes from romance novels?" I asked.

She nodded.

"What kind of fated way, then?" Cedric asked.

Laura smiled creepily. "Like the typical love story where the boy accidentally catches the girl when she loses balance reaching for something."

Both Cedric and I tilted our heads in confusion.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked again.

"Yes."

"How sure?" Cedric asked too.

"55 percent huh?" I whispered to myself as I looked at Lady Sia, who was quietly answering her work. I inwardly sighed. How could I get her to go to that bookshelf?

I stood up from my seat, getting their attention. "Can someone accompany me? I just need to get some books that might help you," I informed them.

"Can I go with you?" Lady Sia volunteered quickly. Lucky!

I smiled in response. "Thank you, Lady Sia."

Luckily, the two other ladies who might also want to come with me weren't here since their parents visited and they had been summoned.

"Can you get the Conflicts of the Fading Age book? It's in aisle 7, right row," I informed her as soon as we got far from the study area.

"Yes, Lady Maude," she kindly responded, and I smiled back.

While we were walking, I was just following behind her.

When we approached aisle 6, I stopped. "Lady Sia, the book I'm looking for is in this aisle," I pointed at the line of bookshelves on my right.

"Go on, Lady Maude," we both smiled at each other before parting ways. "Is the prince in position?" I asked Cedric as soon as I approached him.

He nodded, then peeked through the gap above the books on the shelves.

Aren't we too obvious here?

I also peeked and saw Lady Sia, who seemed shocked to see the prince there and greeted him. I guessed from their gestures that the prince greeted her back.

Then Lady Sia proceeded to reach for the book placed on a higher shelf. But fate wasn't on our side because the small ladder I reminded Cedric to place wasn't there.

So, Lady Sia struggled to reach the book that even the prince couldn't reach.

"Ced, where's the ladder?" I whispered to him. "Ladder?" he replied, confused.

I looked at him, dumbfounded. "Did you forget it?" I asked.

He gulped before biting his lower lip. "Y-yes," he confessed.

Seriously?!

I face-palmed immediately.

We're both doomed when Laura finds out.

"There you are, Ced," we immediately straightened up when we heard the prince's voice.

"Yes, your majesty?" I could see the sweat forming on Cedric's forehead.

"Can you get the ladder? And help Lady Sia get the book she's trying to reach?" I saw Lady Sia peeking from behind the prince as they both looked at us.

"Yes, your majesty," Cedric said, then left.

"Sorry, Lady Maude. The book was too high for me to reach," she apologized. I pretended to return the book I grabbed earlier in panic to its place. "It's alright," I approached them.

"You let her get the book?" the prince commented behind me. I took a deep breath. "I was short of hands to get the books by myself," I reasoned, facing him.

"...your majesty." Not addressing him had become a habit.

"Who are you to order the ladies in the selection around?" he mockingly asked.

Haaa...

Sorry, Laura, we should reschedule this stupid plan of ours.

"Oh, my bad," I said lazily before turning to Lady Sia. "Sorry, Lady Sia, you can return to the study area. I will get the book," I bowed.

She was about to say something, but I assured her with a smile.

Then she left us.

I now went to the shelf where the freaking book was.

I mockingly laughed in my mind when I saw how unorganized the books were. Is the palace still alright?

I tried to tiptoe and reach it, but yeah, it was pretty high.

I heard the prince snicker. "Was it really that high?" He walked towards me.

I slid aside to give him space to try it.

Then my eyes suddenly saw the book I was looking for randomly inserted here in the lower part of the shelf.

I got it but then noticed that the prince was already tiptoeing and trying to reach the book.

Luckily, he managed to reach it, but it triggered the books sitting on top of it to topple over as he pulled it.

In a split second, I saw the books from above topple over, about to hit us.

Before they could hit us, I opened the book in my hand and put it on the prince's head like a hat. The books fell, creating a loud noise.

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