Book 3: Chapter 1: The Two Sides of Light and Darkness Part 1
Immediately upon noticing His Highness Prince Lancelot’s presence, I bowed my head towards the end of the hallway. Keeping my head lowered, I held my breath, intending to wait until he passed me by. But he didn’t, instead stopping right in front of me.
“Are you Cyril?”
Although the question was directed at me, I kept my head bowed and remained silent. I couldn’t forget that this was the royal castle. In other words, this wasn’t the Academy, which was renowned for its equality. I tended to forget about this because His Highness, Prince Alforth was very friendly, but there was no way a mere butler like me would be allowed to answer a prince directly. I was waiting for his servants to instruct me to answer His Highness’ question, but I suspected that Prince Lancelot had stopped his servant from speaking. Once more, it was Prince Lancelot the one who spoke right after.
“It’s alright, I allow you to answer me directly. Raise your head.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I certainly am called Cyril.”
I raised my head and answered his previous question. Before me stood a young man who looked very similar to Prince Alforth. Although his aura was similar to Prince Alforth’s, his facial features, framed by golden hair, were sharper and more masculine. His green eyes observed me appraisingly.
Various questions were surging inside me, such as why Prince Lancelot knew me and why he had stopped me, a mere butler, to converse. However, keeping the difference in our positions in mind, I swallowed them all down.
“…I see, it seems like you know your place. But it’s hard to have a conversation this way. Just act as if you were talking to an upperclassman from the Academy.”
Here it was, the ‘You don’t have to be so polite to me.’ phrase. If the day came when I actually said something like: ‘Thank you, upperclassman.’ in response, most people would chide me for being an insolent fellow. That being said, if I didn’t change the way I spoke at all, I would be called dense.