Izo left her abruptly, saying he would be right back or something. Hikari wondered why he was going so suddenly. She jumped, trying to see over the crowd. She hated how short she was. Izo shot up like a bamboo pole a year ago, but she did not. She was waiting impatiently for her growth spurt.

"I hear the king is coming," an older girl said behind Hikari.

Hikari turned to look at them. They did not notice her at all. She faced forwarded, hoping to hear more from her.

"No way," the girl next to her.

"I hear he's coming for Chosuke's funeral," the first girl said. "In honor of the angel."

"Oh, yeah, the angel is still in town," the second girl commented. "I wish I could be as beautiful as she is."

Hikari blinked in surprise at that. Mother prided herself in being strong, worrying less about looking beautiful. That was the demon way. She owned it. Mother told her strength was more important.

"She's so too pale though," the first girl commented. "And her husband," her voice shuddered. "He looks ready to kill at a moment's notice."

"Weird for an elf," the second girl added. "Must be from all those years in the fighting pit in the capital."

The first girl gasped. "I see him!" she exclaimed.

Hikari tried to peer between the people in front of her. She wanted to ease drop more with these two girls behind her.

"He's so tall, regal, and handsome," the second girl gushed.

Hikari wondered why they would talk about the king in such a way. He was old... Older than Father, older than Mother's father. Elves did age three times as slow as humans. Old man hot? She slightly shook her head, not agreeing.

"How old is he again?" the second girl questioned.

"Fifty-five," the first girl answered.

"No way," the second girl was shocked.

"Elves age so slow. He's like eighteen-ish for humans." The first girl gushed. "I'm old enough for him then..."

"A human would age too fast," the second girl said, pout emanating in her voice.

"I would do everything in my power not to," the first girl reasoned.

Hikari clued in finally. They were talking about the prince. She laughed softly to herself. She had met the prince before, a few times over the year when her family interacted with the royal family. Father did his best to avoid the king and queen, but spoke surprisingly highly of the prince. Brave, getting stronger, potential to be a good king one day, so long as he left his exploratory and vain nature behind. Mother always looked surprised when he said stuff like that. Yet she had described him as a sweet boy, curious to a fault. Like to wander off too much though.

Hikari heard the girls decide to go off through the crowd to see if they could get a closer look at the prince. Hikari looked around, wondering where Izo was. She bit her lip. She saw Mother's museum. It was so crowded... She could claim she got lost in the crowd... Still the excuse that she wanted to see the prince, too...

She pushed her way through the crowd as quick as she could to get to the museum. No one would wanted to be there anyway if everyone wanted to watch the royals. The attendant at the museum's front counter did not even care to notice her beyond taking her money. It was a bit pricey at that. She was too busy peering out the window for her own glimpse at the royal family.

Hikari knew she would need to move fast to see what was what in this museum. She had tried to convince Izo half a dozen times to go with her, to see what was fake, but he said their parents said no, so he said no. She moved fast, looking at things quickly around her. The process was unreal when she walked through the parts about Mother's childhood. According to the museum, Mother was one of the most popular girls growing up. Mother said she only really had her cousin and her secret father as friends growing up. The rest of the kids teased her for her pale skin and bastard status, fought with her and her cousin, or ignored her coldly. This place was so fake. Father was right. She regretted coming into her in the first place.

She kept her head down, not waiting to see anything else, to notice anything else. She quick stepped her way to the exit, only to surprised by a tall, honey haired youth slipped his way into the museum from the exit. His hair shone like golden sunlight, like it had been brushed and brushed to perfection. She knew him, the back of her mind told her so. His hair cascaded down around him, covering up his ears and concealing part of his face. His eyes met hers for one brief second, and then she knew who he was. The prince.

She dropped her head immediately, hoping he would not remember her. She turned back, looking at the closest exhibit she could. She wished her hair was longer, so it could conceal her face as well. It hung just below her chin. Anything longer had been singed off by the fire serpent around her neck when she fought. She kept her composure, trying not let the prince notice her. She tuned her attention on the exhibit in front of her. It was Mother's letters to her uncle. Hikari saw her name dance through most of them, making her stomach drop. Sometimes Izo's name was near hers, sometimes they were stand alone. Mother mentioned loving her, and her brother. How she wanted to raise them both, especially Hikari as the lady of Alaric, properly. Mother voiced a jealousy at Father's deeper connection with her, and how she wanted that, even though it was so difficult. It was not as difficult with Izo.

Hikari felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes. This was real. This was true, this was honest. This bit was genuinely Mother.

Yet the prince stepped right up next her, looking over the letters as well. Hikari closed her eyes slowly, opening them up. She had to keep calm and step away before the prince recognized her like she recognized him.

"She's such beautiful handwriting," the prince commented.

Hikari clicked her teeth and hummed, "hm." She turned, meaning to walk away.

Yet he kept talking. She could not very well walk away from him while he was talking, being the royal crown prince after all. "I knew her when I was much younger, you know?" he spoke way too jovially, too familiarly with her. He thought she did not know who he was. He still did not know who she was. She planned to keep it that way. "You look too young to have ever met her though, growing up in this town," he tone was a little condescending. "Humans like yourself age so fast, too fast my father says. That's why they often have big families as if they are avoiding extinction. Plus the climate down South is more your speed. Too cold in the North."

She frowned to herself. The North wasn't that cold. It did not thrill her like it did Izo, but it was manageable. It hardly affected her anyway, unlike Mother. Mother sometimes hated winters, wearing multiple layers, hands and lips dry and cracking from the cold. "I'm sure the North isn't all that cold," she commented. She turned her head farther away, noticing out of the corner of her eye he was studying her.

"Did you grow up here or in the North?" he asked in a rude, yet playfully teasing tone.

She shrugged, saying, "maybe."

He was still staring at her, which was making her uncomfortable. "Think you could give your crown prince a tour?" he asked haughtily. That would be the worse idea ever in her mind. She really just needed to flee this museum before she was missing too long and was caught. "Starting with this museum?"

"I'm busy," she stated, heading towards the exit in a rush so fast he could not follow.

She did not look back, but could hear he was following behind her. She slipped out the exit, running down the alley way and into the outskirts of the crowd. Thankfully he did not follow her out the door. She hardly had a chance to catch her breath, when she heard Izo, and then Mother calling her name.