The Royal Agreement

Chapter Two

The classroom was its usual pre-class chaos, and everyone was wrapped up in their own worlds as we waited for our Comparative Animal Physiology professor to show up. Paige and Jamie were at their desks, heads down, busy rewriting notes for another class.

I should’ve been doing the same, but instead, I found myself staring blankly at the realistic anatomical model standing stiffly at the front of the room. Its vacant eyes seemed to mock my indecision.

Should I talk to the new guy? The idea danced at the edge of my mind, teasing me. But what would I even say? ’Hi, I noticed you’re really good-looking and sat next to me in the cafeteria. Do you also enjoy awkward small talk?’

Yeah, that’d go over great. I buried my face between my folded arms on the desk, hoping to smother the idea before it made me do something embarrassing.

The noise in the classroom was a comforting hum—a mix of chatter, the rustle of papers, and the occasional clatter of pens. I let it go over me, trying to drown out the urge to peek around and see if Mr. Mysterious from the cafeteria had shown up as if he was going to. I’m not even sure what his major was.

Suddenly, the room went silent, and my head snapped up. I first thought that the professor had finally arrived, but it wasn’t him. Instead, it was the new student. The same one who had everyone’s attention at lunch. The guy who had nodded at me like we were old friends.

He stood at the entrance, scanning the room for an empty seat. My heart did a weird flip when I realized the only available spot was right next to me—because I had chosen the front row, where no one else ever dared to sit.

He didn’t hesitate. With an easy, confident stride, he made his way over and settled into the seat beside me. Now, I had the perfect excuse to talk to him, but I could feel my courage shriveling up. Instead, I stubbornly fixed my eyes on the anatomical model in front of me, pretending to be utterly fascinated by its plastic organs.

Paige, however, wasn’t about to let me off the hook. I felt a sharp poke in my side and shot her a death glare over my shoulder.

“What the hell?” I mouthed at her, trying to keep my irritation quiet.

She just gave me a devilish grin and went back to her notes, clearly enjoying my discomfort. I groaned internally, burying my face in my arms again, hoping to make myself invisible. Maybe if I stayed like this long enough, the moment would pass, and I wouldn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of small talk.

But then I heard a voice—his voice.

“Hi!”

It was just one word, simple and unassuming, but it felt like it echoed through my skull. I slowly turned my head sideways, peering at him with one eye still buried in the crook of my arm. He was looking directly at me, and for the first time, I noticed the blue-green color of his eyes. They were striking, like the sea caught between a storm and calm, filled with something that made them almost… mesmerizing.

“Uhm… hi?” I muttered, my voice coming out small and a little squeaky.

“I’m Victor. You are?”

His accent was intriguing—like a mix of British refinement and something else, something from further east. It gave his words a kind of musical quality.

I opened my mouth to respond, but my tongue seemed to have forgotten how to form coherent sentences. Then I felt another poke—this time more insistent—from Paige, reminding me that I couldn’t just sit there like a fish out of water.

“I’m Ciella,” I squeaked, finally managing to get the words out. “Where are you from?”

As soon as I asked, I mentally kicked myself. Paige and Jamie had already told me he was from Denmark, so why was I acting like I didn’t know?

“I’m from Denmark,” he said, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. His accent seemed to shift, leaning more into the British side now. “And you’re from Seattle?”

I nodded, feeling a little silly. “Yeah, I guess that’s kind of obvious, huh?”

I managed to pull my head up and offered him a smile. He chuckled softly, and his eyes lit up, making them even more captivating. It was like looking into a pair of gemstones with stories from far-off places.

“Obvious, isn’t it, Ciella?” he replied.

The way he said my name sent a small shiver down my spine. It was like he’d said it a thousand times before, even though this was the first time we’d spoken.

I tried to ignore the strange familiarity of it all. “It is obvious. So, why did you transfer here to the States?” I asked, genuinely curious now. It wasn’t every day that someone packed up their life in Europe to go to a university in Seattle.

“I needed a new environment,” he said, his tone thoughtful. “It’s like a training ground outside my norm.”

I nodded again, impressed. It wasn’t easy to leave everything behind and start fresh in a new country. He had a sense of adventure, something that seemed to pull him out of his comfort zone. It made me wonder what else there was to him, what stories those blue-green eyes could tell if I had the chance to listen.

I found myself smiling, almost without realizing it. “Bear with me,” I said, my voice light and joking. “I suffer from retrograde amnesia, and it’s likely not going to get better anytime soon. I don’t know who is who, which is which, and so on.”

He laughed softly, the sound warm and reassuring. “Oh, no worries,” he said, his tone friendly. “You’re safe with me.”

There was something in the way he said it that made me believe him. I didn’t know why, but it felt… comforting. Like he meant it, not just as a casual comment but as a promise. The warmth in his voice wrapped around me, making me feel oddly at ease despite the strangeness of the situation.

I looked at him, really looked at him, and felt a tug of recognition again. There was something familiar about him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Victor’s smile was warm and genuine, and for a moment, everything felt perfectly normal. But then, suddenly, like a dam breaking in my mind, a sharp image flashed before my eyes.

A boy’s blurred face, the sound of his voice—gentle, comforting, and familiar—echoed in my head.

“You’re safe with me…”

The words rang with a strange familiarity, and with them came a pounding headache, like someone had flipped a switch inside my brain. Pain pulsed behind my eyes, sharp and insistent. I winced, clutching my head with both hands, trying to press the pain away. It felt like something was trying to break through, like a memory clawing its way to the surface, but it was just out of reach.

“Ciella, are you okay?” Victor’s voice was laced with concern, his earlier calm replaced by a touch of panic. His blue-green eyes were wide, searching my face for some clue as to what was happening.

I nodded, though it felt like my head was going to split in two. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I muttered, trying to sound more convincing than I felt. The throbbing in my skull was slowly easing, but it left behind a dull ache, like an old wound reopening. “Just… bear with me if you’re going to be my seatmate for the rest of the semester.” I forced a smile, hoping it would put him at ease.

Victor watched me for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he was trying to read between the lines of what I’d said. But before he could ask anything else, the classroom door creaked open, and our professor finally made his grand entrance, late as usual.

“Good morning, class,” he greeted us with all the enthusiasm of someone doing their taxes. “So today is our second meeting. We’ll be diving into the course proper, but first, we have a new student joining us. Mr. Crisford, if you’d please come up and introduce yourself.”

I gave Victor an encouraging smile as he stood up, all eyes in the room immediately zeroing in on him. Paige and Jamie, who had been furiously scribbling in their notebooks, looked up at him like he was a celebrity gracing us with his presence.

Victor walked to the front of the room with the same easy confidence he’d shown earlier, though I noticed a slight hesitation just before he spoke.

“Hello, everyone! I’m Victor Crisford, originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, but now I’m here in Bellevue, Seattle.” He nodded to our professor. “I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you and, of course, to you as well, Mr. Brown. I hope to unleash all that this school and major have to offer. Thank you.”

His voice was rich and deep, the kind that made people listen, even if they weren’t particularly interested in what he was saying. His accent only added to his charm, a perfect blend of British and something more exotic, more mysterious.

I could practically feel the collective swoon of the girls in the room—except for the ones who were too busy melting into puddles of admiration.

“Okay, moving on,” Mr. Brown said, clearly unimpressed by the show of charm. “Welcome to the family, Victor. I hope you won’t regret choosing this university.” Victor gave him a polite smile before returning to his seat. “Now, let’s get down to business. Today, we’ll be choosing partners for this class. Please choose someone you won’t mind hating for the rest of the semester.”

I shot a glance at Paige and Jamie, but they had already paired up, leaving me on my own. They stuck their tongues out at me playfully, and I sniggered, pretending to be offended. I was about to start scanning the room for a potential partner—maybe someone who looked smart and quiet—when I saw three girls already swarming Victor’s desk.

“Victor, can we be partners? I promise I won’t hate you!” one of them said, batting her fake eyelashes so hard I thought she might take flight.

“Victor, I’ll give you straight A’s if you pick me,” another added, leaning a little too close to him.

“Hey, hottie, I can be your partner here in class—and outside of it,” the third one purred, her voice dripping with innuendo.

Victor looked genuinely alarmed, his eyes darting around as if searching for an escape route. I sighed, ready to stand up and make my way over to the quiet girl sitting alone in the corner for recruitment to the dark side, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here. At least she didn’t seem interested in charming Victor to death.

But before I could move, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder, pulling me back down into my seat. I turned my head, startled, and found myself staring into Victor’s blue-green eyes.

“Sorry, girls,” he said, his voice smooth and unbothered, “but I’ve already got a partner in crime.”

I blinked at him, stunned. Did he just…? The disappointment on the girls’ faces was immediate, and they reluctantly backed off, shooting me looks that promised this wasn’t over. I could practically hear the gears turning in their heads as they plotted their next move.

Victor withdrew his arm and smiled down at me, a mix of relief and amusement in his expression.

“I apologize for making such a hasty decision,” he said, his voice sincere, “but I’m more comfortable with you than with anyone else here.”

I raised an eyebrow, a little thrown by his confession. “But… they’re good, you know,” I said, nodding toward the trio who were still glaring at me from across the room.

Victor looked mildly panicked as if the thought of partnering with anyone else truly horrified him. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“Save me.”

For a moment, I just stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious. But the look in his eyes—half-pleading, half-hopeful—made my decision for me. I nodded with a sigh.

“Alright, I’ll be your partner,” I said, and his face lit up like I’d just given him a get-out-of-jail-free card.

He grinned, that same childlike smile from earlier as if I’d just made his day. I couldn’t help but smile back, a little amused by how relieved he seemed.

The class had officially begun, but my thoughts were still spinning around the guy sitting next to me. Victor. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as he focused on the professor’s introduction, trying to piece together why he seemed so familiar, why his gaze felt like it held memories I couldn’t quite grasp.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown continued with his lecture, outlining the course proper and handing out a list of materials we’d need for the lab.

Victor followed along diligently, jotting down notes with the kind of precision that made me suspect he was more than just a pretty face. He didn’t argue or second-guess anything I suggested, going along with whatever I said like an eager puppy.

As I watched him, though, my mind drifted back to that moment earlier—the one where my head had felt like it was splitting open. The words he’d said, “You’re safe with me,” had triggered something deep in my mind, a memory that had been lost in the haze of my unfortunate situation.

Was it really just a coincidence, or was there more to it? I bit my lip, my gaze drifting to Victor as he wrote.

There was something about him, something that tugged at the edges of my mind. Maybe it was just my condition, making everyone seem vaguely familiar, or maybe—just maybe—there was a connection buried deep in my lost memories.

But whatever it was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that meeting Victor was just the beginning of something bigger. I just hoped that whatever it was, it would help me piece together the fragments of my past, rather than shatter them even further.

For now, though, I was content to let things unfold. Victor glanced over at me and caught me staring, and I quickly looked away, pretending to focus on Mr. Brown’s lecture. But a small part of me was curious—curious to see where this new partnership would lead, and what it might reveal about the pieces of my past that I’d been trying so hard to remember.