Sona stood over the bed as he looked down at the unusual flower the girl had been given the previous night. He had been staring at it since it had come into her possession, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was. It was strikingly annoying that he couldn't come up with its name nor its origin, and at a few points in staring at it, he had the urge to throw it away. After all, it could have been poisonous. That being said, without the girl's permission, he couldn't get rid of any of her possessions, a point of note in her contract with Haru.

"Are you still staring at that?" the girl ended up yawning, turning over in bed to gawk at the android's persistence, "Didn't you have anything better to do?"

"What is there to do here? Everything is done by the Vethelan staff. Even breakfast was cooked by them, and they wouldn't even let me serve it either."

It was weird seeing Sona pout, especially since he was usually very happy-go-lucky. Apparently, he had been since he was made. She wished she could say the same. Either way, once he was able to do a job, like getting her some new clothes, he cheered up a little more. Still, even after she took a shower and came back in clean clothes, he was still staring at the flower, the pieces of information about it eluding even him. Oddly enough, though she was known for her curious nature, she didn't stress about not knowing. To her, it was just a beautiful flower. That was all.

Going out to the hall, she wasn't at all surprised to find Bastien running around with the ambassador's daughter. They shrieked and bounded off the walls, even making a beeline straight to the playground. That left the adults...and Haru. He hadn't woken up yet, probably having spent the night tinkering with whatever electronics he could find in the room. Whether he had broken them or not was anyone's guess, but she figured he would just replace them before anyone ever found out.

Either way, she went to grab some food, eating in silence while the kids played outside and Kazuya and the ambassador ate in the living room. They were probably watching television, the sound of raucous laughter making it to her ears every now and then. She did have to admit that the food was delicious. And though it wasn't quite the quality she was able to enjoy the previous night, that was to be expected. They were not royalty despite their wealth. She began to look forward to the next meal she would share with the Trewin family.

Before long, she had finished. Though she spent the majority of breakfast trying fruits she had never before tasted, it was filling nonetheless. With the thought of fruit, her mind suddenly trailed back to the previous night, the image of the white-haired boy popping into her head. At the same time, oddly enough, she began shuddering, a sudden burst of cold flooding the room. She began to rub her arms to warm herself, but it didn't seem to help. Instead, she caught the sight of pale bare feet walking along the floor, disappearing the moment she looked up.

"Quack," a small feminine voice chuckled, followed by the sound of running footsteps leading outside.

Choosing to follow after the strange occurrence, against her gut feeling, the younger girl darted through the frigid air. She could see footsteps on the wooden floor, but could only manage to see a solid form when the figure got next to a corner. Then she was able to see a whisk or white hair with a light tint of orange or the edge of a little white kimono. However, the moment she turned the corner, the figure was gone, replaced with the footsteps, still.

As expected, she was led outside. Though the footsteps stopped for a second, a small questioning hum made, they continued when she kept following. (Y/n) knew it probably wasn't smart to follow after what could very well be a demon, but she still did, curious as always. It led her quite a ways away from the embassy, and, at some point, the girl had even lost Sona. She hadn't noticed until much later, but the small little demon had tricked the both of them into separating before stopping completely in front of a completely foreign location.

"Delivery messenger," the feminine voice giggled, a small piece of paper dropping from her as she departed, "Here ya go, sis!"

The (h/c) haired girl leaned down to pick up the piece of paper, examining it closely. In doing so, she lowered her guard, and whatever creature it was suddenly shoved her forward. Without a trace, the small thing vanished, as did the freezing cold feeling that she brought with her haunting presence. However, (Y/n) opened her eyes to find that she had gone through a segment of bushes, giving an audible gasp when she realized where she was, and even more so when she saw someone in front of her.

It was like something out of a fairy tale, a very slender male sleeping peacefully on the grass. He had short orange hair, something that must have resembled a dark honey to the butterfly that had landed on it. A few small sounds of tranquility came out of him, small little breaths that let the other butterflies flying around catch some air. They must have enjoyed it, too, seeming as they always circled back to do it again.

There was a large urge in her to touch him. He looked soft. And, sure, most people could be defined as soft. Skin was smooth, but his was ethereal. There was something that separated him from normal people, so her fascination only rose with each moment she spent staring at him. She wanted to know who he was, and why he was sleeping in the middle of a small enclave created by the labyrinth bushes.

For a moment, her hand jolted forward without her say-so, trying to touch him, but she held it back, putting distance between them. In her rapid attempt to exercise self-control, she must have frightened the butterfly that was resting on his hair. It began to soar along the grass, just barely flapping its wings to keep itself airborne. It wasn't long before it landed back on the male's hand, the boy stirring just slightly.

A sudden shiver ran down her spine as he let out a small moan of discomfort, his brows turning up in what looked to be pain. She felt a sudden pang of guilt, moving back a little bit more before her hand landed on the piece of paper. Quick to grab it, she opened it but was surprised to find her name written in chicken scratch. Surrounding it were a few dozen hearts, childishly scribbled alongside a depiction of her with some kind of wings. She narrowed her eyes, moving to tear it up, but soon found that she was being stared at.

Though he had not moved from his restful spot on the grass, the orange-haired male had woken up, his light teal eyes staring at her. There wasn't any particular kind of emotion within his eyes, aside from perhaps shock. It took him a while to register that she had started looking back at him, but when it clicked, his lip began to quiver and his face turned bright red. He then sat up quickly and scooted back, holding his arms in front of him as some kind of shield. She couldn't tell whether it was embarrassment or fear, but it might have been both.

The (h/c) haired girl didn't know what to do. She was clearly in the wrong, having stared at him while he slept and nearly touched him several times. And though she could have also left at any moment, she didn't. Bewildering herself, she put her hand to her mouth in thoughtful contemplation, remaining quiet and still. The boy peeked from behind his makeshift barrier and gazed at her, almost in awe of her as she was of him. Still, he held his guard up, not at all used to the interaction.

"Ah," he shivered, his voice barely coming out, "Who are you?"

She paused for another moment or so, wondering whether it was best to tell him or not. After all, even if Haru was fine ruining Kazuya's chances at getting Vethela's support, she was not. It would be best not to make enemies with any prominent figures. Especially considering the fact that he was in the labyrinth in the first place all but confirmed the fact that he must have been some kind of high-ranking figure or the child of one.

"Why are you quiet?" he asked with even more concern, shaking more and more, "Are you going to hurt me?!"

The girl was about to open her mouth but wanted to give as few hints to her identity as possible. If she had spoken, she definitely would have given away her identity as an Athainian guest. Though considering the fact that he was speaking her language, he must have already guessed that. Shutting her lips tight, she began to shake her head repeatedly with all due sincerity. He calmed down a bit at that, a bit too trusted for her liking, but it worked in her favor. The boy then had something else click in his mind and he was quick to flare up again. He turned his head back and forth as if looking for someone before giving a sigh of relief.

"Um, if you're not going to hurt me...could you not tell anyone I was here? I'm...not supposed to be here, so if you could...please do me this favor?"

That worked for her. She wasn't supposed to be there either, but he didn't have to know that. She accidentally let a "yes, please" slip out of her lips, revealing her foreign accent, but he didn't seem all that surprised. Hesitant but determined to have him keep quiet about her presence, she extended her hand to him, watching as he flinched. Either way, she continued with her goal and wrapped her pinky finger around his. Though he continued to wince at the feeling of someone else's touch, he suddenly looked down with a curious glance.

"It's a secret, okay?" she reassured him, waiting for him to squeeze her finger back.

When he didn't, she assumed that he must not have understood what the promise meant. That led her to guide his pinkie finger to wrap around hers, the male opening his mouth in shock. He looked amused as she pulled away, the boy staring down at his finger with awe. The girl departed quickly, making sure to take the piece of paper with her, ripping it in two before shoving it in her pocket. He didn't need to see it.

All the while, he watched as she left quickly through the bushes, giving a curious glance at where she was sitting. He didn't even know that the place they were in existed before that day, so to see someone else had found his secret spot was fascinating. The orange-haired male stared down at his own piece of paper, gazing at his name and the same figure with wings. Though he hadn't seen her paper, if he had, he might have figured out the implications of the meeting, but, at the moment, he could only lay back down, giving a heavy exhale. He was already burning up.

"I thought she would stay a little longer," a voice sighed, crossing their arms over their chest as they gawked at the brief encounter.

"I thought he would be more curious. He's always curious," another voice hummed, rocking back and forth on her bare feet before tugging on the taller individual's robe, "Do you think he noticed?"

"We'll find out. More importantly, what'd I say about touching?"

"Um, not to? But it's hot today. Will you carry me?"

"...alright."

. . .

When (Y/n) had managed to find her way back, she was out of breath and wishing for her own death. She couldn't believe she had done something so stupid as following some unknown ghost girl. Not only that, she had clearly run into someone she definitely should not have. Praying to whatever gods Vethela had, she begged and begged not for her actions to have any negative consequence on Kazuya's mission. Of course, somewhere deep inside of her, she knew it never worked out that way, but it was worth a shot.

As she attempted to slyly slip through the back door of the embassy, she was confronted with the sight of Sona. He was mad. The girl chuckled nervously before trying to run up to her room, locking the door with great haste. She didn't feel like being scolded when she was already cursing herself. Consequently, she also wished that the android hadn't gone and told Haru he had lost her. If that happened, she might have to deal with him trying to stab her again, and she was not in the mood.

"I'm back, so we can just forget this all happened!" she spoke through the wooden barrier, trying to maintain a playful tone to lighten the situation, "I'll just go ahead and look over all the emails I got, so - "

"I don't know how you're planning on getting your emails when I'm the one who always summarizes them for you!"

"Well, I do have eyes. I'm sure I can read!"

"Open the door before I break it down!"

"It's my door! According to the contract, you can't touch it without - "

"This door is the possession of the Vethelan royal family. It has nothing to do with you. You just happen to sleep behind it! Should I get Haru to - "

Without another moment, she let the door creak open, the girl standing upright as if the good posture would deter him from contacting his creator. She began to hold her breath as soon as Sona entered the room, the teal-haired android closing the door at a painstakingly slow pace. The girl then put on a very fake smile, but he wasn't buying it. He was too smart to be outwitted most of the time. She just hoped that the current instance would let her get away with it.

"He's still sleeping," he assured her before accentuating, "but what would you have done if he had woken up?!"

"I didn't go far! And it was only for a couple of minutes, anyway! I'm fine, aren't I?"

"That's for me to decide."

The (h/c) haired girl raised her eyebrows at the android. He was seriously going to do a full body medical check on her because she disappeared from his sight for little less than twenty minutes? She narrowed her eyes at him but he didn't budge. Rather, he seemed to be threatening her, pulling up the brunette's phone number to wake him up. As such, the only thing she could do was comply.

She aggressively sat down on the bed and sat still, letting him do whatever he needed to in order to satisfy him. The android began pressing down on her wrist to monitor her heart rate as well as her blood pressure. He then moved to see if she had any bruises or cuts, giving a tsk when he noted the small scrapes falling into the bushes gave her. Sona then pressed a damp cloth soaked in ointment onto the tiny wounds, making her hiss and pull back. Still, he continued to press on it, clearly still upset.

"That hurts, Sona!" she growled, yanking her leg back again.

"It wouldn't have hurt if you didn't go off and get hurt. Would you rather Haru find out you're bleeding?"

"I could just kiss him. That usually shuts him up. 'Course I can't do the same with you."

For the life of her, (Y/n) never could figure out why exactly it was Haru made her own personal android a male. He usually warded off anyone near her, regardless of if they were male or female, but he especially disliked other guys. It wasn't so much jealousy as it was the need to protect her from a perceived threat. Either way, the decision to make Sona a male was absolutely puzzling to her. It never occurred to her that Sona might have had a say in it.

Some ideas she came up with were that most people didn't take women seriously, bodyguard or not. If she had Sona - who had a male appearance - next to her at all times, people might be less likely to approach her. Then again, it was fairly obvious that he was an android, a glowing light always coming off of him whenever he interacted with his interface. So the mystery continued, the girl, ever curious, still looking for any evidence to find the real reason behind it.

"There. It should heal up sooner or later. Are you going to tell me where you went?" the android questioned, placing the cloth in the hamper and putting the ointment back where he found it.

"Don't think I will."

Sona remained quiet, probably irritated with her stubbornness. Nonetheless, he didn't press her, even with her scrapes. Honestly, he probably assessed the small cuts and matched them to their most probable origin. That was how he also knew to leave the issue alone, going right back to staring at the flower on her nightstand. He didn't have any other plans than monitoring it like it was some sort of animal rather than a harmless plant.

Past that, even when Haru woke up, everything was relatively normal. She spent time with him in his room, the both of them playing games or sitting side by side while doing their work. He seemed satisfied with that, blissfully unaware that she had met another male unsupervised and was unaccounted for a total of twenty-ish minutes. Instead, he bathed in his own affection for her, nuzzling her or pressing his forehead to different parts of her body. She would have responded with petting his hair or calling his name; both things he loved.

Even if he was dragged away to another country composed of religious fanatics and stuck-up "nobles", he didn't matter all that much. After all, he had his father and his brother, and even (Y/n) was showing him a little more affection than usual. She even called him "freak". Of course, if anyone else had called him that, he would have ruined their entire family, but, when she was saying it in that sarcastic tone of hers, it was very pleasant. It was like a pet name for him, and he liked it very, very much. And the best thing about it? She was all his.