Prince Alexander knocked on the door of Camila's house at 6: 57 am the next morning. 

She had been up for hours. Well, she hadn't slept. 

Staying awake to analyze the previous night's events and coming up with plausible reasons and conclusions proved futile. She had no idea who the perpetrator could be and what they wanted from her that they could not have gotten from her deceased, more experienced master. 

However, she was certain of one thing. Her presence in the kingdom and her possible relationship with the royal family threatened the kingdom's safety. If she chose to be with the prince, there was no telling what would happen to him if their enemies decided to take her by force.

She opened the door and stepped out locking it behind her. When the prince saw the cold expression on her face, his smile fell. He looked around; there was no one within fifty yards.

"C-Camila, is there a p-problem?" he whispered, his voice quivering with...fear?  

She looked at him and tried to read his expression. He looked scared of...maybe...

Losing her.

She looked away and replied in her signature monotone voice, "None, Your Highness."

When he didn't reply, her heart dropped.

She didn't need to look at him. She could feel his overwhelming sadness in her chest. She wanted to jump into his arms and console him but couldn't. That would be a sign of relinquishing control, and control was her greatest strength now that her knowledge failed her.

As they walked to the archives, she felt the air thicker with each step. Her steps slowed involuntarily as if the pull was forcing her closer to him. She heard him pick up speed behind her to catch up perhaps. She tried to speed up but that was impossible. 

As he got to her side, her legs overcame the spell cast on them and began to move normally. He walked beside her with just an inch between their fingers. The sadness in her heart cleared. 

They walked in comfortable silence for another twenty minutes before the thirty-foot-tall ancient black gates of the second-largest collection of knowledge in the world came into view. She placed her hands on the gate and it opened. The biometric scan on the gate scanned from the retina to DNA. No one except the king, queen, Freda, and herself had access. Even Freda's was limited, she could only go into the first of the four compartments of the archives. 

She turned to her left in time to see the prince's jaw drop. 

It was beautiful.

The cobbled path they walked on had stone animal sculptures on each side every few feet. The grounds boasted a vast exotic collection of flora and fauna, some of which were extinct in the outside world. As they walked, some of the birds flew around the prince's head and he laughed, spinning in circles.

"How is this even possible? I have seen at least five animals that are supposed to be extinct," he said, grinning at the birds as they flew away.

"Within these walls, everything is allowed to grow," she replied, watching him.

"Even love?" he asked, still looking upwards. Her heart skipped a beat. She frowned.

What was it with her organs malfunctioning whenever he was around? 

She continued to walk without replying. When they got to the buildings, the prince stopped and stared at the three massive castle-like structures in a triangle joined to each other by drawbridges. 

When the actual doors opened after another scan and they stepped in, he whispered, "How did I not know this was here?"

From floor to ceiling, there were books, scrolls, journals, and everything in between. What made it special was the fact that some of these works were moving around themselves, organizing and updating old information, and recording new ones. That meant Freda was around. The person in question came into view after they rounded the corner.

"Freda," Camila said before dropping her bag.

"Hey, kid," Freda replied before looking up from the textbook she was studying.

"Hello, Your Highness?" she said, confused as to why he was here.

"The lessons begin today," Camila said and Freda nodded.

"He is relearning 11th and 12th-grade local history, right? He failed those.  Also the class on foreign customs and diplomacy for high-ranking kingdom officials; got an E in that class. The only classes he seemed to be good in were foreign paranormal history, etiquette at social events, and gym." Freda said, pulling out his transcript from a drawer on the table. 

"I'm right here, you know?" the prince said.

They both ignored him.

"I might need your help when teaching dialogue in diplomacy. Half of his current dialogue skills are used in yelling at a videogame screen and flirting. He'll need someone to practice with," Camila said. Her assistant laughed.

"Hey," the prince protested. 

"I suppose when he's mated, his queen wouldn't like that," Freda said, referring to the flirting part. Camila did not dare look at him.

"I suppose she wouldn't," Camila muttered.

"How do you plan on teaching him geography? They learn at the sites they are taught about," Freda said.

"I contacted the king about that already. He approved my idea. His Highness will have to go back to high school to pass that class," Camila said, pulling out her phone.

"What?" the prince exclaimed. She looked at him.

"No way am I going back there," he said.

"I have Anders on the phone. Do you wish for him to pass your message to the king?" Camila said, showing him the front of her screen that had Anders's name on it.

"You wouldn't," the prince said as if daring her to do it. She put the phone on speaker.

"Anders, may I speak to the king? The prince seems to have a problem with his lesson arrangements," Camila said.

"Right away, Miss Allard," Anders said from the phone. The prince's eyes widened.

"Fine. Fine," he cried out.  

"Hold on, sir. The prince appears to have a change of heart," Camila said, raising an eyebrow at the panicked man in front of her.

"Oh. Is that so, Your Highness?" Anders asked.

"Yes, Anders. It is so," the prince said.

"Glad to hear that. Thank you, Miss Allard, for being patient with our Alex," Anders said.

"It is no problem. I apologize for the interruption. I am sure there will not be any more henceforth. Please pass my greetings to the royal family," Camila said quickly.

"Of course. Goodbye, miss," he said before hanging up.

"Can I be you when I grow up?" Freda whispered in awe.

"Freda, you are two hundred and twelve. I am twenty-one. You are grown up," Camila said.

"That's not the point. I'm trying to say that was so cool," Freda said, jumping up and down.

Camila picked up her bag full of study materials and began to walk to the learning area.

She looked back at the prince and gestured for him to follow her.

He groaned but stomped after her anyway.

.//.

"I can't do this anymore. King Nolan the Third, a mated man, started a war with the merfolk because he wanted to have one as his concubine and she refused. What is he, crazy? She can't live out of water!" the prince exclaimed all of a sudden and dropped his head on the table.

His frustration caused a warm feeling to swell in her chest. It was currently four pm, an hour to the agreed end time and it seemed that the prince was at his peak.

"We have a visitor, one who is not aware that these buildings are impenetrable and naturally, soundproof," she said, before walking to the door and yanking it open. The eavesdropper fell on his side.

Without looking down, she said, "Hello, James."

He got trying to look as dignified as possible.

"Camila. Didn't see you there."

"Come. I've been expecting you," she said and turned to her earlier position.

He followed her asking, "What do you mean by that?"

In response, she showed him an email she received from Anders an hour ago containing a message similar to that of the prince that she had received yesterday.

"This essentially means I have to go back to high school. Yeah right. I'll just tell my dad that I don't wanna do it. Besides, I came here to get Alex. We're going to a party tonight, remember?" James said, finally turning to his best friend and frowning when he saw the books in front of him.

"Dude, what're you doing? Is that a history textbook?" James said, picking up the book in the prince's hand by his fingertips. Irritation bubbled in her stomach at the way he held the book.

"Sit down," she snapped.

"You can't tell me what to do," James said and she looked up abruptly, fixing her glare on him. It must have looked scary enough because he sat down immediately.

"As the future beta to the crown prince, your education is important. If you have a problem, I would advise that you relinquish your position or take it up with the king," she said so coldly that it felt like the temperature in the room began to drop.

James opened his mouth to respond. His best friend cut in.

"Don't bother. She has Dad's private line on speed dial," the prince said.

"So there's no way out of this?" James frowned.

"If there was, do you think I'll be reading the life history of a king who started a war because a chick rejected him?" Alex said, pointing furiously at the open textbook.

"I suppose not," James muttered and grimaced at the textbook Camila placed in front of him before she walked away to replace some of the books she took from the shelves. 

From a distance, she heard James whisper to the prince, "Hey, we still on for the party?"

The prince looked at James with a sarcastic smile. "What do you think?"