As the carriage swayed and the noise of the crowd filled the plaza, Shera opens her eyes and finds herself inside the carriage with the boy she met a while ago.
"Claude? what's going on? where am I?" said a confused Shera
"We're in my carriage, we're heading to the plaza. Unless you want me to leave you in that alley?"
Shera still confused at what's happening began to remember the events before she was unconscious. After staring for a while, she suddenly realized that this boy in front of her is no ordinary boy, but a noble.
With the sudden realization she quickly thought that you can never trust a noble nor be rude towards them. Having thought of that she began to panic, one wrong move and she could be sent to some dungeon or worse, a slave.
With a swift motion Shera bowed her head and with a concerned tone she said, "I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused you, I'll repay you for the troubles so please don't put me in the dungeon!"
As she kept bowing she could hear the boy in front of her letting out a laugh. with Shera feeling tense she didn't know whether Claude was laughing at what he's about to do to her, or maybe he has a plan far worse.
As Claude saw Shera bow, he couldn't hold back his laughter, it had been a while since he's seen someone with this kind of personality change, when a day or two ago she was speaking informally to him, now she's bowing with no trace of the girl he talked to a few days ago.
"Ha-ha-ha!, you really know how to lighten up the mood, Shera. Please, raise your head it's just us two here, and the guards are outside you can relax a little, and stop being so tense," Claude said with a gentle smile.
Shera can't help but to raise her head, slowly looking at Claude. Only now does she feel the regal air around Claude. With her eyes fixated on Claude she is still at a loss on how to talk to a noble but the more she doesn't talk to him, she thought Claude would get mad.
"I didn't know you were a noble, my lord. had I known, I wouldn't be so disrespectful towards you, please forgive me" Shera said with a concerned tone.
Claude pondered for a while, before cheekily saying,
"Unfortunately, I'm a royal, not a noble. Big difference between us, lady Shera."
With Shera living in the slums it's nearly impossible to meet a noble, let alone a royal. And if angering a noble meant being sent to the dungeon or worse, then the idea of upsetting a royal terrified her even more.
"Then you're the prince? If so which one?" asked Shera cautiously.
Normally, being one of the royal family, revealing one's identity to anyone poses a risk, but Claude gave Shera the benefit of the doubt.
"Well, with the eldest brother currently preparing to venture off, and my older brother currently down south at the borders, that leaves me here, the third prince, Claude Tariel Valence" Claude declared, his voice calm and noble.
As Claude kept chattering on, Shera quietly wondered how she could leave without insulting the prince, yet every option would lead to insulting him or even displeasing him. Shera has no choice but stay until the prince lets her go.
Shera accidentally lets out a sigh, though she meant to keep that to herself, she sighed. Enough for the prince to hear her.
"Is something wrong Shera?, feel free to speak your mind. There's no need for formalities between us." said Claude in a concerned tone.
With the opportunity to leave now given by Claude, now's her time to leave the carriage and rid herself of this headache. But as Shera looks at Claude she could not see the regal prince, but a boy with a lot on his shoulders.
"Why did you run off the other day?, normally nobles let alone a royal would be up at your manor and having parties. But you were in the alleys roaming the street and nearly getting yourself killed, why?" asked Shera.
As Shera looks at Claude with those curious eyes and that endearing tone, he couldn't help but wonder, how long had it been since someone had shown this kind of interest in him?
As Claude began to talk, he let out a sigh.
"Being a royal is hard, to say the least. The everyday training of Swordsmanship down to etiquette, is a pretty tiring day, and being forced into marriage to some woman I haven't even met. You might think being a royal gives you freedom, but it only locks you in a cage of responsibility. One I've been carrying since the day I was born"
Claude is filled with the weight of being a royal, looking into the crowd outside his carriage, he grips his chest, wondering if there's a life for him outside his responsibilities.
As Claude looks into the distance, pondering at what seems to be his cage of responsibilities called life, Shera looks to Claude, to a young man forced to carry a burden ever since he breathed unto this world.
It was then that Shera understood that even royals, are caged in their own lives.
Both Shera and Claude sit across each other silently looking into the distance. One looks to the future full of burden chained to being a royal, yearning for the freedom he's been dreaming for so long, while the other looks not at the future, but at the present. Where she realized that maybe her life isn't so bad after all.
Both looking in the same path, yet a different journey unfolds, for the prince and the thief.