I’m responsible for you

She silently led Perry to a comfortable-looking chair in front of a table, gesturing for him to sit. Perry sat and glanced at his bodyguard, feeling a little guilty he also didn't have a chair. But the other man was too busy glancing around the space.

"I shall return shortly with the books you requested, Your Highness." The older woman bowed to him.

"Wait," Perry blurted out before she could retreat further away. "What's your name?"

It felt weird to keep calling her 'the older woman' or 'the librarian' in his head. 

She hesitated and blinked at him for a moment. "Galana, Your Highness."

There was a strange tone in the way she said her name, but Perry couldn't decipher what it was. Was he already supposed to know her name? Or was he not supposed to?

Perry nodded, clamping his mouth shut, worried that if he said anything else, he'd just make things more complicated for himself. He didn't know who he could trust, after all. He figured a librarian might be a safe bet, but he wasn't willing to bet his life on it.

Speaking of trust…

He glanced at his bodyguard, who had moved to a shelf to the right of where Perry sat, and ran his eyes over the cover of some of the books. 

Perry cleared his throat, trying to get the other man's attention, but he either didn't hear him or pretended not to. He cleared his throat again. He was still ignored. 

Since subtlety didn't seem to be one of his skills, Perry decided to be more straightforward. 

"So, when I, well, claimed you, did that mean…" Honestly, he had no idea how to finish that sentence. He'd mostly done it to keep yet another one of the prince's lovers out of the dungeons. 

Because guilt sucked. 

And also because, as Perry's bodyguard, the other man seemed to have a vested interest in Perry's safety and well-being. And since there didn't seem to be too many people worried about that, Perry figured he'd take the wins he could get them. 

The other man stopped examining the books and turned his focus on Perry. Perry resisted the urge to fidget. Those damn green eyes seemed to see straight through him. 

The silence grew and grew until it buzzed inside his ears. 

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Uncomfortable and a little annoyed at himself and the other man who just stood there, looking at him, Perry shifted in his chair, the wood creaking lightly.

"Did… did me doing that mean that I now, like, own you or something?" The thought made him feel more than a little queasy. 

Or maybe it was all the food he'd spent all day stuffing himself with. 

Or maybe it was the thought that when the prince, his brother, had done that to him in front of all those lords, ladies, and noble people, he'd been basically telling the kingdom he was Perry's new owner. 

Like a cat or a toy. Or a piece of furniture. 

A complicated feeling settled in Perry's heart, one that ached when he prodded at it to try and figure out exactly what it was. 

The other man, with his hands still behind his back and oblivious to Perry's internal struggle, walked over and stood in front of the desk, forcing Perry to lift his head to meet his gaze. 

"Would you like me to appease you, or tell the truth?" he asked. 

"The truth." Perry didn't even have to think too hard on that one. He felt like he was being manipulated and pushed around enough as it was. He wanted to believe that at least one person could be honest with him, no matter how bad it might make Perry feel. "Always the truth."

"Very well." The other man inclined his head to the side. "In a way, as a prince, you own all your subjects. You may call on anyone, be they noble-born or commoner, to perform any task you deem necessary. You must, of course, always consider the consequences of doing so."

All the food Perry had eaten clumped together in his stomach and seemed to pull all of his body down. 

Well, he had asked for the truth. 

"By claiming someone, you extend that ownership into a responsibility." The other man's voice was calm and smooth, as if he wasn't in the process of telling Perry that he was his in the same way his shoes were. "Whatever deeds I commit must now be shouldered by you."

Perry's attention, that had wandered away from the other man, snapped back to him. "So I'm responsible for you?"

"Yes, and I appreciate it. Being claimed so publicly by a prince is no small thing." For some reason, that made him smirk. 

"I'm responsible for you," Perry mumbled to himself.

"We are responsible for each other. I keep you safe, and you keep me here, Your Highness."

A thought occurred to Perry. "What if I remove my claim? Or someone else tries to claim you?"

"As I said, being claimed by a prince is no small thing. Overruling your claim would be… difficult, but not impossible. Especially if you were to do so yourself. However, I would advise against it." The smirk curving his lips grew and he placed both hands on the desk, leaning his body forward until he practically towered over Perry. Craning his neck back to keep eye contact, Perry felt his mouth go dry. "Claiming me comes with many, many advantages and benefits. Ones I hope you will make full use of." He leaned closer still, those green eyes pinning Perry in place. "Your Highness."

The last words were so soft they were almost a caress. But hearing himself being called that, in that voice, was like dunking his head in a bucket of ice. 

He thinks you're the real prince. He thinks you're your brother!

Perry pushed his chair back so hard it would've toppled over if it weren't so heavy. 

"That's good to know," he said, voice unsteady as he jumped to his feet and moved away from the desk and the chair. And that man. And those damn eyes. "Tha-Thank you for explaining."

Perry was saved from having to dig himself deeper into any other questions he might regret by the arrival of the librarian carrying an armload of books. 

"So many?" Perry took some of the books she carried with the intention of helping her, only realizing that might not be something a prince would do after the fact. He tried to cover up his slip by rushing to the desk and flipping through the first book. 

If he was in a hurry to find the information, she wouldn't find his behavior strange. Right?

"There are a few more in the forbidden section of the library," Galana said. 

Perry paused his perusal of what were mostly indecipherable symbols and looked up at her. "Do I need those?"

"That depends on what your intentions are with these techniques, Your Highness." She set the other four books she'd brought with her next to the other three he'd taken. 

He considered being honest with her because she had one of those faces that made him want to trust her. Or maybe it was because, aside from his bodyguard, she'd been the only one who treated him as something other than his title. 

Granted he hadn't interacted with her long enough to say for certain and she could be putting on an act. So he decided to lean in to some of the truth. 

"I take it you heard what happened during my, um, celebration." Perry's sense of time was a little screwy thanks to being kidnapped and put to sleep while he traveled with Master Rennin. He wanted to say the show Master Rennin had put on had happened yesterday, but he couldn't be certain. 

"Yes. Even though I spend most of my time alone, gossip does reach the corners of my library," she said dryly.

Perry couldn't help but offer her a small smile. "I'm more curious than anything else."

That part also wasn't a lie. He was curious to find out if there was any way to counter the Puppet Technique. Learning how to evade de Blood Concealmeant would also be useful, but he was more worried about being pulled around by an invisible leash held by people who wanted to use him for their own benefits. 

"Then these should suffice." Galana gestured to the seven books on the desk. Then she produced a small, golden bell and placed it gently on the edge of the desk. "If you need assistance in any way, please ring the bell and I shall make my way over to you as fast as possible."

"Okay. Sure. I mean, yes. I'll ring the bell if I need to. Thanks. Thank you." Perry resisted the urge to slap one hand across his face. 

Could he be any worse at this pretend game? It was a good thing he'd never considered acting as a viable career option. 

Galana hesitated, as if she wanted to say something. Perry waited, trying to look as unbothered as he could. In the end, she simply bowed and left them there alone with all those books. 

Now, where to start?