Eren P.O.V
I stumbled down the hall as I tried not to drop the stack of books I was holding for Levi. My knees grew weaker with every step, and I thought I would crumble at any moment. Then I turned a sharp corner, and sure enough, I banged into a piece of furniture.
Except it went 'oof'.
I tripped over the "furniture" and fell to the floor, dropping all of the books I had been holding. When I groaned and crawled back up, I turned around to see the back of the head of a little boy with tanned skin and dark brown hair. Then he turned around. He was clearly blind from the cane he had been carrying."Oh my, Maria! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as I gathered my books together and helped him up, grabbing his cane and handing it to him as well.
He struggled to regain his surroundings but then I heard him make a set of weird clicking sounds with his tongue. Then I remembered hearing about this kind of thing."Echolocation?" I whispered, and the kid looked up at me, seemingly shocked."How did you know?" He asked, surprising me by how deep his voice sounded for an eight-year-old."Oh! Uh, sorry! I just read about it somewhere. Are you alright?" I asked, and he nodded before smiling."My names Leo! What about you?" He asked, and I smiled even though he couldn't see. "Eren." I replied, and he nodded."That's a nice name mister!" He exclaimed as he held his hand out in front of him.
I shook his hand, but then I noticed his outfit. He was wearing a rose-red jacket over a white shirt, both made with fine fabric. Then he had a small dagger tied around his waist by his belt and a pair of dress shorts with black shoes. He was clearly the son of a man with power."Well, Leo, I heard you're from Trost." I said as I picked up my books."That's right! I wish I could actually see it though, I've heard it's beautiful." He said with a sigh."Oh... well, I'm sure you're imagination is better than the real deal anyways." I said, and he beamed. "I hope so." He replied, his smile still evident.
I smiled back before moving my hair and walking towards the stack of books. I placed my hand on the top but stiffened when Leo set his little hand on my own. His warm palm rested on the back of my hand as he stared at me.
For a moment, I thought he could see me. He stared into my eyes for a moment before he smiled, his brown eyes glistening with happiness."You have a colour!" He exclaimed, and I tilted my head in confusion."What do you mean?" I asked, and he giggled. "Papa said that people with colours had kind hearts! You're a really pretty green and gold!" He explained, and I giggled myself."Well, thank you, Leo." I said, and he nodded."You sound pretty." He said with a smile before he walked away, somehow making me blush.
I softly smiled at his retreating figure as he slung his cane over his shoulder, not even using it, and clicked his tongue to listen to it bounce off the walls.
-+~•~+-
I stood by Levi as the king had a meeting with the man from Trost, whose name turned out to be Alphonse, and he explained his fruitless search."We have approached every woman in Shiganshina with our amulet, yet nothing seems to be showing up. I came here to humbly apologize for unintentionally taking advantage of the kindness you bestowed upon my son and me." The man said, motioning toward a Leo, who was pretending to be sad, which made me hold back a giggle.
King Kenny nodded, clearly slightly annoyed with the outcome, but then I thought of something.
The book said something about a princess but what if..."What if the records are incorrect..." I whispered, so quiet that no one could hear.
But Levi did.
"What if the records are incorrect." He suggested, repeating my statement for me, which made me blush."Might I ask what you mean?" Alphonse's questioned, and Levi smirked."Records are wrong all the time. You think someone is dead, but they've been alive the whole time. People have been recorded being charged for a crime, but in the end, they were actually acquitted." Levi said, and the man tilted his head."I'm not sure I'm following..." he murmured, and Levi sighed.
"What if your missing 'princess' isn't who you're looking for. What if you're looking for your missing 'prince'." Levi finished, shocking the entire room into silence.
We all reflected on what he just said, and I was slightly pleased that this was my original comment. I softly smiled before looking back at Alphonse. The man looked down at his lap for a moment, seemingly in terror of the possibility that this was true, and then he shot up.
"Of course! The records must be wrong! The amulet has never been incorrect before, so therefore we've just been looking at the wrong group of people! Thank you, your highness." He exclaimed, bowing towards Levi and King Kenny.
The King smirked and Levi turned around to look at me. He gave a discrete wink, and I felt my face heat up as I smiled back, desperately trying to hold back a laugh.
And so a new search begins.
-+~•~+-
I desperately tried to finish sweeping the floors of the dining hall before the king held his next meeting, but it proved rather difficult as time flew by and suddenly a servant was rushing inside, yelling at me to hurry up and finish.
But thankfully, I swept the last dust off the floor before I hid behind a pillar as King Kenny opened the door. I stayed there until his esteemed guests, himself and Lady Kuchel had all taken a seat and prepared to start the meeting.
While they were busy conversing, I snuck around the pillar to leave the room and carefully opened the door. A small squeak erupted from the rusty hinges and I whipped around.
Lady Kuchel was staring at me, seemingly shocked that I was in there. But then she gave me a cute smile and winked before turning back around to continue her conversation. I beamed as she continued talking and ducked out of the room, thankful that it was only her that I had caught the attention of.
I found the nearest supply closet and placed the broom and dustpan inside before shutting the door. A smile graced my face as I thought about leaving to see Levi, so I did just that.
Isabelle and Farllon were waiting by the door as always and beamed at me before opening the door for me. I smiled back and stepped inside, noticing how Levi's face seemed to light up when I stepped inside.
I felt my mood lift as well as I bowed."Good morning, master." I said as I slowly stood back up, to which he nodded in return and the door shut."Hey Levi." I said with a smile, and he chuckled. "Hey, Eren." "Thanks for repeating what I said earlier," I said, feeling sheepish. He smiled and waved his hand. "It's no big deal. It was rather genius, if I may say so." He added, making me flush.
He chuckled before he handed me a list. "Chores?" I asked, and he scoffed."Just because we confessed doesn't mean you got out of doing chores." He said with a smirk, making me gape at him before scoffing."Aye aye, Captain buzzkill." I said as I walked out with a curt salute.
He let out a hearty laugh before I winked at him, to which he stopped laughing to return the gesture.
-+~•~+-
After I finally finished my chores, I walked towards Isabelle's room to pick up Schalk. I laid three knocks on her door before she opened with a bright smile. I watched as Schalk's head shot up and he sniffed the air for a moment before he looked over at the door.
He opened his mouth and started to pant with his tongue sticking out before his tail started to violently wag and he jumped down from the bed and ran up to me, jumping onto my chest as he did so. "He was awesome! Not a problem." Isabelle reported as the dog continuously licked my face, making me giggle and laugh.
When he finally understood my surrender, I picked him up and held him away from my face, even though he seemed ecstatic to see me. I was excited too, but I had to report the recent news to Isabelle. "That Alphonse guy is gonna start searching the kingdom through the men, so that should be interesting." I cautioned, and she smiled. "Well thanks for telling me! And if you're you know you better not forget me!" She said with a sheepish smile."So you already knew?" I asked, and she nodded. "Word travels quickly, but thanks for the heads up. I'm really glad you're back." She finished with a sincere grin.
I smiled back and then waved goodbye as I turned to walk down the hall. She waved and shut the door.
-+~•~+-
About a week later, every single maid and servant in the castle was brought to the dining hall, for a reason we didn't know of. They had all of us line up in rows by last name.
Because I don't have one, I was last. And just my luck, Petra's last name was Rall.
Apparently, they never checked the girls here so there doing it as well.
She stood next to me, seemingly bored with the whole situation. I noticed that my mother's necklace was strung around her neck again, and she noticed me staring before smirking.
I watched as she picked up the locket as if to admire it, and then I noticed how rusty it looked. My heart stopped beating as I realized that she was slowly trying to destroy the beauty of the locket, and I grit my teeth to keep from strangling her.
I grimaced as she rubbed her thumb over the gem on the front before dropping it back on her chest. I growled, and she heard.
Then the row in front of us stepped a few steps forward, signifying that they were done with inspection and none of them were the heir. I heard the faint patter of Alphonsus' footsteps on the floor as he held up his tracking device to every maid and servant, seeing if it would get brighter or dimmer.
A look of defeat was covering his features as he went to woman after man, coming up empty every time.
The necklace only held a dim glow, and it seemed to be as bright as he thought his future was.
Then it flickered.
It was small, but it was there, and it shocked the whole room into silence. Alphonse raised his hand in the air as if trying to receive a better signal, and it flickered again, only longer this time.
His entire face lit up and he quickly started walking beside the remaining women and men. It only got brighter and brighter, and then something else glowed.
He stopped in front of me, shock evident in his face before he dropped to his knee."Your highness." He whispered, and then I looked at his amulet. It was almost a blinding white. I was shocked too because my locket only grew brighter as the seconds went on.
It was quiet for a moment before I realized something.
All hail princess Petra.
Petra stared at the locket in shock for a moment before looking around at the shocked faces all around her."It's... me?" She asked, and the man nodded. "It's never glowed this bright before! Royal blood flows through your veins, miss." Alphonse confirmed, and Petra's face went from shocked to ecstatic. Then something broke the silence."Hey! That's my locket!"We all whipped around, and a redhead was standing up, fuming at Petra. "You stole it from me!" She exclaimed, and another girl stood up, this one with blonde hair."Are you kidding me?! That's my locket!" The blonde exclaimed, and a ravenette stood up.
"That's mine, you liars!"
"No, it's mine!"
"I've been looking for it forever! It's mine!"
"You're all a bunch of liars!"
"I said it's MINE!"
Next thing I knew, it was total chaos. Girls and guys were ripping out each other's hair and clawing each other's faces in a battle for who gained ownership of the locket and the throne of Trost.
Alphonse ducked as a chair was thrown at him, and Petra screeched before ducking down and crawling out of the room. I watched as someone was so mad that they took off their shoe and chucked it at another girl, to which she dodged.
Everyone was throwing furniture and vases, not to mention punches and kicks.
Then I remembered something.
Leo is in here.
I started sprinting around brawls and fistfights before finding the little boy curled up in a corner, relieved that he wasn't hurt yet. I saw that he was crying and shielding his ears as if trying to escape the chaos through his mind.
I ran up to his trembling figure and crouched in front of him."Green and gold..." he whispered, and I quickly grabbed him from under his arms and held him in my arms as I tried to find an exit.
He held his arms tightly around my neck as he cried into my shoulder, and I grabbed the back of his head to save him from any damage we might receive if we tried to escape. I swiftly dodged a guy that was stumbling across the floor, and jumped clean over a fistfight between two five-foot-tall brunettes, holding Leo tightly as I did so.
Then I was in the middle of the room, right under the fancy chandelier.
It was almost as if it was the eye of a storm, seeing as how it was relatively clear of fighting. Then I watched as a girl with very muscular arms grabbed a heavy vase and threw it in the air with the aim to hit the opposite wall, apparently trying to hit a random person on the other side of the room.
Instead, she hit the old, rusty chain of the chandelier, and I watched in horror as it snapped. With quick thinking, I started running to get out of the way, but it became very obvious very fast that I wouldn't get out of the way in time.
I grit my teeth and did the only thing I could do.
I repositioned Leo and then threw him about six yards away, out of the way of the chandelier, and watched in horror as the bright, glimmering, diamond-covered light fixture fell on my body.
My world went black rather quickly.
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