Chapter 2

"I hate you so much."

"Aw, you don't mean that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here right now," Shiro teased, chuckling. "You love me, remember? I'm your big brother you said."

"Hmph. That was before. Besides you are," Keith crossed his arms, blushing.

Shiro elbowed him gently. "I love you too."

He let out a burst of laughter when he saw Keith was blushing even more. Keith had never been good with talking about his feelings.

They were waiting in the throne room for his soon-to-be-a-royal-pain-in-his-ass to come. Keith still couldn't believe Shiro had managed to get him to come. He had grumbled about the prince all the way here while Shiro tried to cheer him up.

And now he had to wear this super itchy bodysuit. It was black and went from his neck to his ankles. And he'd been scratching ever since. Of course he couldn't complain because at least they'd let him keep his knife. He would've fought them if they hadn't.

"I'm sorry about the delay but he never listens to anybody. It's a struggle for me to get him to listen," King Alfor laughed. "Yes, you'll have your hands full with him, Keith."

Keith glared at Shiro who acted like Keith wasn't secretly killing him inside his mind.

"I wonder whose fault that is," Keith whispered through gritted teeth.

"But I do sincerely hope that you two will become friends. He's a chatterbox so it won't be too hard to strike up a conversation," King Alfor continued. "Ah, here he is. You scoundrel, you're late to meet your new bodyguard!"

Keith wiped the pained expression off his face and took a deep breath. Here we go then I guess.

He turned to face the prince and was stunned by what he saw. 'Encal?! No, his hair is different. But… it looks just like him! Who… Who is this?'

But of course, Keith already knew exactly who it was.

The prince.

Prince Lance.

The one whom he was to protect.

But… he looked exactly like Encal. How could that be?

They had the same face and the only difference was Prince Lance had white hair while Encal had brown hair and he had his blue markings. Encal had gold ones. And his eyes… those perfectly ocean blue beautiful eyes. No. This was not Encal. This was the prince. They were two separate people although they practically looked the same.

Still. It's resemblance was remarkable…

Prince Lance was a dark-skinned boy around the same age as Keith. His white hair cut short and Keith couldn't help but notice how long his legs were.

Keith thought Prince Lance looked shocked. But then he recomposed himself.

This was the first sign.

If he recognized Keith then most likely it was from the orphanage and that would mean he was pretending to be Encal the entire time.

'But that can't be,' Keith thought. 'Why would a prince be at an orphanage in the first place?'

The second sign was the most important sign.

Prince Lance smirked. And it was no ordinary smirk. It was the smirk. The smirk that Keith had never forgotten no matter how hard he had tried. Because Encal had the same smirk and Keith had never forgotten him… And now, Encal and Lance were the same person.

'Oh quiznak. It's him. What the quiznak is going on here? He's the prince?!'

Shiro gave a quiet chuckle. "Who's head over heels now?"

Keith was just about to open his mouth to argue that he was not in love with Prince Lance although he had to admit he was beautifully handsome when Prince Lance walked over with the smirk still on his face.

"Hello, Keith," he said, emphasizing Keith's name. He put out his hand for Keith to take.

Keith grabbed it and they shook. Keith made sure he had on a i-just-met-you-for-the-first-time-so-let's-get-to-know-each-other-by-shaking-hands-first face. "Hello. Very nice to meet you."

Prince Lance frowned, obviously wanting a different reaction but Keith wasn't going to give it to him.
"Well, um, I- It's a pleasure to meet you too," he said, a confused look on his face.

All of them turned when King Alfor cleared his throat. "Well then, I'm glad you could accept the job Keith. I know it was short notice but I'd rather not leave Lance unguarded. Especially since we'll be having the annual ball in three days. I'm so busy right now."

Keith did notice the bags under King Alfor's eyes. And it was true that he was rather busy for Keith had seen all the servants hustling about with large bouquets of flowers and dishes stacked up to their chins.

King Alfor looked at Lance and shook his head. "Heaven knows we don't need to have him running around wherever he likes right now."

Lance gave him a sly smile and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just a curious person."

"Too curious." The king gave him a stern look but then smiled. "Although it was your curiosity that helped us to find out about your guard being a thief. So I guess I'll have to keep you around."

Prince Lance laughed and Keith couldn't help but notice the way his laughter seemed to light up the room. Everyone but Keith was smiling.

"Alright now run along you two. I have business to attend to. Shiro you may go back on duty now."

Shiro and Keith bowed and Keith was surprised that Prince Lance hadn't done so as well. He looked up to see Prince Lance already walking towards the door.

"I'll see you later," Shiro said and Keith nodded and started to walk towards the prince.