Kristoff walked through the market square, having just delivered a shipment of ice to the castle. Today was not a market day, so the shelter by the harbor was standing empty, and he was going to take a rest, when he noticed a sundial. He had never noticed it before. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to it, since the clocktower was right there, and more reliable in general.
Several ships were unloading, which of course was nothing unusual, but he suddenly recognized Prince Hans getting off one of them. Somehow, he hadn't been aware that Princess Anna's husband had been away, but that would explain why Elsa had been spending time with her sister again. But that was none of his business.
"Oh, hello," Prince Hans said, walking up. "All done with the ice deliveries?"
"Yes," Kristoff replied. Hans had insisted that they drop titles between the two of them, which was fine on his own end, but he never quite trusted that Hans considered him as an actual equal. Still, if he told him not to refer to him as Your Highness, who was he to disobey.
Hans looked at the sundial, then up at the town clock.
"Almost noon," he commented.
"It is," Kristoff said.
"Where are you off to now?" Hans asked him.
Kristoff wasn't sure what to reply. He had been thinking about visiting the trolls, but something told him that, even if Hans knew that the trolls existed, which he probably did, it would be best if he didn't know when Kristoff was visiting them. Their location seemed to be a secret, buried in the library, and written in a script that few people could read. That's what Elsa had told him.
"I suppose I'm going to have lunch now," Kristoff finally replied.
"Well, no point it lingering out here, why don't you come join us?" Hans gestured toward the castle.
There was no point in refusing.