Chapter 3 — The Crown Prince and the Stranger

"Some people enter your life like a coincidence. Others arrive because fate has been waiting for them."

[ Imperial Observatory — Portal Room ]

Light.

The moment Arkar Linn Myat forced his eyes open from unconsciousness, the very first thing he saw were beams of brilliant blue light that nearly blanketed the entire sky.

Along with those waves of light, the chaotic noises of machinery and the panicked shouts and arguments of numerous people rushed into his ears in a jumbled mess.

"The energy level is unstable! We can't suppress it anymore!"

"...The portal is closing! Fix it quickly!"

"...Your Highness! Please be careful!"

To Arkar, all the clamor sounded entirely muffled and indistinct, as if echoing from somewhere far away. Fighting through the dizziness that made his head feel as though it were being struck by a mallet, Arkar forced his eyes open as wide as he could.

"Ugh..."

His entire body felt incredibly heavy and sluggish, as if weighted down by lead. Beneath the palms resting on the ground, he could distinctly feel the cold, rigid touch of a metallic floor. As he shook his head and forced himself up into a sitting position... the breath in his chest momentarily caught.

This place was an extraordinarily strange environment—one he had never seen in any historical record or visited in his entire life.

Looking up at the high ceiling, he saw peculiar lamps twinkling like stars, mysterious white metallic walls surrounding the entire perimeter... and data screens hovering and drifting weightlessly through the air.

Everything, every single sight... belonged to nothing from the simple era he had lived in.

"...Where... where am I...?" Arkar murmured in deep anxiety.

Shring——!

"Don't move!"

A sharp metallic ring echoed as a stern command boomed through the space. Arkar gasped and immediately snapped his head up, only to find dozens of royal guards systematically surrounding him in a tight circle. The tips of the energy swords in their hands were all pointed directly at his chest.

At that sight, Arkar’s breathing instantly quickened, panic seizing him.

"Wait... please wait. I... I won't cause any harm, sir."

To demonstrate that he harbored no ill intent, he slowly raised his trembling hands into the air. However, no one around him seemed to believe him, their brows furrowing as they continued to glare at him with suspicion.

"Arrest him immediately!"

The moment an officer shouted the command from a short distance away, two heavily built guards lunged forward toward Arkar. Terrified, Arkar frantically scrambled backward on the floor.

Millions of questions swirled chaotically inside his brain. Where on earth was this place... and who were these people wearing such strange attire...?

Tap... Tap... Tap...

Amidst that chaotic moment... the entire hall suddenly grew as silent and freezing cold as a vast sheet of ice.

A single footstep. And then another...

Footsteps that were quiet and steady, yet carried an absolute aura of dominance and authority that overwhelmed the entire room. The moment those footsteps echoed, every royal guard holding a sword immediately lowered their weapon and dropped to one knee in unison.

"Your Imperial Highness..."

From the path cleared by the parting crowd... a man walked forward with a slow yet magnificently imposing presence.

He wore a striking black royal military uniform, and upon his shoulders, royal emblems mercilessly embroidered with golden threads gleamed proudly. With every movement of his body, his long black cloak trailed elegantly along the metallic floor.

Though the sharp contours of his face were so exceptionally beautiful that even young maidens might envy them... on the flip side, it was as cold and stern as an iceberg. A pair of deep, serene ash-gray eyes—devoid of any emotion—stared straight down at Arkar on the floor.

Arkar found himself unconsciously staring back, captivated by the man's breathtaking aura—

'So beautiful...' The thought accidentally flashed across his mind. Only then did he snap back to the reality of the situation, mentally scolding himself in absolute panic.

'Arkar Linn Myat! Your life is in literal danger right now, is this the time to be thinking about that?!'

Thrill Yan Khit Kaung came to a halt directly in front of the frantically breathing Arkar. By now, the distance between them was a mere single step. Khit Kaung did not utter a single word at first, simply staring down at Arkar in absolute silence.

It was incredibly strange... He was absolutely certain he had never seen this unfamiliar face before. Yet... why did his entire chest tighten with a sensation that felt so agonizingly familiar?

"Name."

Though the voice was low, it carried the absolute weight of a royal command that brooked no refusal.

Controlling the tremors in his chest, Arkar took a deep, full breath and answered.

"Arkar... Arkar Linn Myat, sir."

The exact instant he heard that distinct name... a flash of profound shock flickered across Khit Kaung’s cold, ash-gray eyes.

Arkar...

This name... this pronunciation... where had he heard it before?

BOOM!!

Suddenly, a violent flood of past visions violently forced its way into his neural pathways once more.

It was a place filled with countless dusty books... a night of torrential rain... and then, the sight of a young boy looking at him with an immensely warm, gentle smile.

"Khit Kaung..."

"This time... please don't forget me again..."

"...!"

Khit Kaung suddenly knit his brows tightly, his shoulders flinching as he experienced a sharp, splitting pain through his head.

"Your Highness!"

Seeing Khit Kaung's unusual reaction, the Royal Advisor, Aldric, anxiously stepped closer and called out.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

"I am fine."

Raising a hand, Khit Kaung stopped Aldric and slowly drew a breath back in. Why did these strange, impossible memories keep flashing repeatedly inside his mind the moment this young man appeared in his life?

"You..." Khit Kaung’s cold voice directed itself toward Arkar once more. "What era... what time period did you come from?"

Arkar fell quiet for a moment, turning still. If he told the truth, would these strange people even believe his words? And yet... given his current predicament, there was no reason to lie either.

"I am... I am a library staff member who worked at the Royal Grand Library... The current year I lived in... was the year 2178, sir."

Hum————

As those words left his lips, the entire grand hall plunged into absolute silence once more, like a calm sea before a massive storm. The face of a senior scientist reviewing the data drained of all color, turning completely pale.

"The year 2178...?"

"Then... that means..."

"This youth..."

"Is a human who came from the past world of three hundred years ago!"

The moment Arkar heard those words, he felt a violent shock as if his entire heartbeat had instantly ground to a halt.

"What... what did you say...?"

"Three... three hundred years ago...?"

In utter disbelief, his eyes darted toward a massive screen floating near him. Displayed upon that screen in bright digital text was:

[ Imperial Calendar Year 2478 ]

Arkar's fingers began to tremble violently as his entire chest threw itself into complete turmoil.

"It's impossible... how... how can something so impossible happen...!"

He scrambled backward in terror, his breathing turning completely erratic. If it had been three hundred years... his parents who were waiting for him... his master, the chief librarian who had warned him... and everyone he knew and loved... were no longer on this earth...?

That single realization alone suffocated Arkar's chest as if a massive boulder were crushing it down. Weakened by the psychological shock, his legs gave out... and just as he was about to collapse onto the floor—

Flash——

A strong hand swiftly reached out, grabbing Arkar by the arm to steady him. It was the distinct touch of a royal glove—cool, yet remarkably steady.

Arkar looked up through tear-brimmed eyes, only to find that the one holding him up was none other than Crown Prince Khit Kaung.

For the second time, their eyes met perfectly in the air.

One pair of cold-blooded, ash-gray eyes.

One pair of gentle, brilliant brown eyes.

For a few brief seconds... it felt as though everyone and every piece of roaring machinery inside the grand hall had strangely vanished from the face of the earth. Struck by a bizarre tremor within his own heart, Khit Kaung immediately released his grip the moment Arkar was steady.

"Aldric."

"Yes, Your Highness. Awaiting your command."

"Do not send this stranger to the underground dungeon."

Aldric was utterly stunned by the Prince's unexpected decision.

"...But Your Highness, his origins are uncertain—"

"Have him properly accommodated in the Imperial East Residence. Furthermore... I will personally interrogate him myself."

Hearing those words, Arkar furrowed his brows as a wave of deep apprehension washed over him.

'Interrogate me...?'

Would he ever be able to return safely from this bizarre futuristic place to his own past world? Or... would he remain trapped for the rest of his life inside this future world ruled by advanced machinery and technology...?

What no one inside that hall knew at the time was that this fateful encounter between him and Thrill Yan Khit Kaung—was the opening prologue that reawakened a profound "promise from the past," one that time itself had refused to let vanish across the span of centuries.

Chapter 3 End

Next Chapter — Chapter 4: A Guest or a Prisoner?

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