Being alone was a new experience for Haru. He'd never been alone. Even when he was asleep, there was always someone right outside his room should he have needed something. Every day, he would wake up and see his family, and even when he had gone to school, he had some friends to keep him company. So, being by himself was really strange for him. He found himself thinking about as much as he did when he was working with technology. Though, the level of enjoyment didn't seem to match.

Really, it was his anger that made the whole experience unbearable. He was frustrated, still taking it out on the pillow. Though, somewhere along the way, he had started hugging the thing, forgetting entirely that he had likened it to the thief. The more time he spent alone, the more he wanted to leave the room. Still, he supposed it was good that he was understanding his emotions a little more, even if it was a hassle. That being said, he lasted about an hour. He later rejoined his family before the day ended and, at that point, he had called Sona.

Though the android gave him an annoying look, he nonetheless came. The teal-haired male always had an attitude when it came to leaving the (h/c) haired girl's side. Still, it wasn't like he would ever tell Haru "no", unless he genuinely thought his actions would harm him or the girl he was supposed to protect. So, despite his grumpy demeanor, Sona went to deliver the information the brunette clearly wanted. Though, the moment he stepped in the room, he then stared at the torn up pillow the male was still hugging.

"Do you think she was lying to you?" the teal-haired male hummed, pulling up video recording from the start of their interaction.

"She doesn't lie. I just don't know about him."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she only went to see him in the first place because she was trying to protect Kazuya. And before you get mad and storm off to commit regicide, it wasn't a physical threat."

"No one should threaten my family and get away with it."

"Right, but believe it or not, your family does not have the most power in the world. Though that's just because the Vethelan royal family has a lot more people at their disposal. Stop making that face. I'll show you the recording."

Haru did his best to retain as much information as possible. It was true that the younger girl had not gone out of interest in the prince. Rather, as she was seated with the regent, she seemed completely distant from the entire thing. He wondered if she was thinking of him. That made him proud, even if there was no way to prove it. Of course, a whole 'nother slew of emotions ravaged him during the rest of it, particularly when the mention of the Lindre flower came into play. She looked like a completely different person.

"I don't understand. It's just a flower."

"I'm not so sure it's 'just a flower'. I picked up a lot of emotional turbulence between when the flower was mentioned and when she came face to face with it. It's just speculation, but it might remind her of something."

Telling the android to rewind the video back to when it was introduced in conversation, the brunette tried to pick up on her cues. Of course, doing that was much, much easier said than done, particularly because Haru had never been talented in that area. Thinking of other people was relatively new for him. Though, perhaps because he had more motivation to try to figure (Y/n) out, he had a slightly higher success rate. He ended up focusing on the one word she had said before she began crying. After all, she didn't cry easily.

"What does 'Ichor' mean?" he questioned to himself, typing away on his tablet, "Just blood? I don't get it."

"Is it possible it was something traumatic for her? Or perhaps a name? Maybe a place?"

"No clue."

The brunette frowned. If he didn't know why she wanted the flower, he couldn't understand her the way he wanted to. Really, Haru just wanted to give her something better than the flower, if only to prove in turn that he was better than the Vethelan prince. Still, he supposed, as long as he knew she treasured the flower, he could always just get it for her. Sighing, he stood up, not liking what he had to do.

Sona, already understanding what his one-track mind was thinking, chose to follow him, leaving the younger girl under the care of Kazuya's bodyguards. Though he never liked pushing off his responsibilities, he figured that, even if he had gone back to her, she would have just sent him with Haru anyway. It was her wish that he did not go rampant in Valiende, so he planned on honoring that wish.

Though Haru was reluctant to sit in a Vethelan carriage, he was more so reluctant to walk. As such, he remained quiet the entire way there, arms crossed over his chest. Even when he left the vehicle, as always, he was in a sour mood. From the decoration of the palace to the servants, he hated it all. He still didn't see the appeal in the country or in the adoration of the royal family. This was also the reason he didn't make an appointment ahead of time. They were just people to him.

"Move," the male growled, showing great aggression to the guard who, of course, would not budge, "What? Want money?"

Obviously displeased by the mention of bribery, the guards held to their convictions. It was their honored duty to protect the crown prince of Vethela. To insinuate that the Akahito heir could buy them off was beyond insulting. They sneered at him, displeased at his very presence. Everyone in the palace knew of his father's efforts, but it seemed, thanks to his petulant child, those efforts would not bear fruit. At least, that was their wish. Sona could sense that much based on their glares alone.

Though, despite their power, nothing good would come from the royal family insulting the Akahito family. That was one of the reasons they were pushed off instead of given a flat out "no". In much the same way, though his behavior was childish, to ignore Haru Akahito was to incite war. As a result, Presley stepped out of the room to deal with the brunette, trying to remain as calm as possible. Though, when Haru was continually looking down on the guard and the royal family as a whole, it was infuriating, to say the least.

"I'm telling you to shut up and move. Can't you understand that?"

"If you would like to see his highness, you may go through the proper procedures. Just because you are an Akahito does not mean that you are entitled to - "

"Shut up. Move. Two things."

The coral-haired man clenched his fists, wondering how anyone had the patience to deal with him. He then thought of how the regent was able to deal with him. He, like many, had heard the brunette had completely demolished the embassy. Supposedly, Mica buried the incident, allowing Kazuya to simply replace everything in the building. However, contrary to how it worked in Echal, where money was king, nothing could replace the possessions of the royal family. The embassy was part of those possessions, making the brunette's offense that much greater.

"Um," a gentle voice sounded, revealing the prince peeking out from the door, "Excuse me."

The guards were quick to get on their knees in front of the boy, Presley included. Though, as the coral-haired man looked up, as expected, Haru refused to bow. Thankfully, Orion was not offended, but it certainly didn't excuse the disrespect. The knights remained kneeling as the orange-haired male observed the brunette. It took him a while to register who he was. After all, the last time they came face to face, he had only been staring at the (h/c) haired girl. In fact, it didn't register to him at all that he had been there.

Rather, Orion remembered him from a long, long time ago. Regardless of the intention, Kazuya had come to the palace more than a decade prior, at which point he had brought Haru. Though the orange-haired male was too sick to play with him, he knew that his cousins did. Well, "play" was a strong word. In fact, probably because both of them had such stubborn personalities, both he and Orion's third cousin, Rei, tried to tear one another limb from limb. It took a while, but they recognized one another as friends sooner or later. That was due to the influence of Rei's playmate though.

"It's Haru, right?" the prince smiled, extending his hand in a greeting.

The brunette took one look at his hand before using all of his strength to slap it away from him. At once, tears were brought to the boy's eyes, the smaller male stumbling back a bit and holding his hand. He turned away in fear, giving a whimper at the stinging sensation he was feeling. At the same time, he cowered under Haru's gaze, never having felt so scared before. He began to shake, uncertain of what he had done wrong.

At once, the royal guards moved to place their spears to the brunette's neck. Presley stood in between the two, sword drawn as well. He knew Haru was petulant, but to be so bold to hit a royal family member was just foolish. It didn't matter if he was an Akahito. There was no getting out of a harsh sentence for such insolence. At least, it wasn't possible without a royal family member's interference. Though, when the orange-haired male was universally loved and adored by his family (with the exception of one), that didn't seem like a possibility.

"Sona," the brunette growled, giving the android orders to protect him.

"Do you have any idea how kind his highness has been to you?! How could you be so...so cruel?!"

Irritated beyond belief, the knight held his weapon firm, trying to comfort the prince at the same time. Fortunately, Atlas, who came to check on the commotion from inside the room, was able to calm Orion down. That left the knight able to better focus on the Akahito child as well as the weapon behind him. Even if Haru thought of Sona as a human, Presley thought differently. Sona was an android placed by Miss Shiratori's side, no doubt with the intention of protecting her from others. That meant he likely had either the capacity for weapons or to use weapons, possibly both.

"Haru Akahito, under the authority of myself, Count Presley Alvaric, king's guard and head of staff at Valiende, I hereby arrest you for the crime of harming his royal highness, the crown prince of Vethela. Submit yourself to a search for weapons. And disable your robot."

"Android!" the brunette shouted, becoming aggressive at the term.

"I recommend you calm yourself before I have the guards pin you to the ground."

"Don't you dare threaten me!"

"Disable your robot."

"Android! He's an android, you son of a bitch!"

"Do as he says," Sona mumbled, giving a strict stare.

"Why should I?! I made you more than capable of taking care of some stupid knights! What are they going to do with these sticks?!"

"I'm more concerned about the aftermath. You would become an international criminal. Stand down and let Kazuya handle it."

"Stand down?! How dare you take their side!"

"Should I call (Y/n)?"

Haru paused, knowing better than to keep arguing against the android. He was fully willing to call the girl, if need be, and the brunette knew that well. After their fight the day prior, he wasn't prepared to show her such an ugly side to him again. She would be disappointed, looking at him with that judging expression. Who knew when he would be able to make it up to her again? He took in a sharp breath, clenching his fists with the frustration of being told what to do. The male hated it.

"I don't have any weapons on me," the brunette admitted, gritting his teeth.

"Disable the robot," Presley repeated for the third time, finding more and more reasons to despise the male.

"He's not a - "

"I'll do it myself," Sona interrupted, reaching for the back of his neck.

At this, the male began to tear up. If telling him what to do wasn't enough, they were trying to hurt his friend. Since Haru trusted the teal-haired male enough to protect (Y/n), it said enough about his trust in the android. Besides, Sona was his pride. Though he wasn't the first of his kind, he was definitely the most advanced, improving as each day went by. To see someone force him to shut down a conscious individual so close to him was infuriating. He began to glare at the royal guard, wanting nothing more than to kill him. Haru meant it, too. And from where he was sitting, there wasn't anything worse he could be punished with.

"You need to calm down while I'm...sleeping. Until you see me again, just imagine that (Y/n) will hear every word. Do your best to keep your composure. If you do a good job, I'm sure she'll reward you with a date or something."

The brunette's eyes softened, the male looking up in guilt at the android. He obeyed for the time being, but found himself flinching as Sona sat down against the wall and shut himself off. It was a complicated process, requiring a lot of internal software to go through multiple checks. The request was then sent to Haru's tablet. The male looked with shame at his wrist, gawking back up at the knight. He wanted him to admit he was wrong for taking the situation to an extreme. However, Presley did not budge. As a result, with a teary pout, the male clicked on his tablet, forcing Sona to shut down.

"I'll take that, too," the royal knight snapped, extending his hand for the thing, "Can't have you calling in more robots."

"They're not - " A pause as he thought of the younger girl. "Fine."

Presley took the tablet, searching the brunette for anything else that might be dangerous. When he determined it was fine, he motioned for the knights to take him into custody. And though it was hardly a place for an Akahito, the brunette was placed in a prison. Though there was no one else within the cell, he was still seething in anger at the common treatment. The male waited there for a while, refusing to make eye contact with the guards. It was just as well. They wanted nothing to do with him either.

Haru didn't know how long he was forced to stay in the cell and he definitely didn't understand why. Harming a royal on its own was a felony, but, within Vethela, where a single royal was precious enough to wage war over, it was almost a sure thing to be executed. The level of harm was definitely taken into play as well as one's social standing, but whether one was killed socially or otherwise all depended on their use to the royal family. Fortunately, the brunette was not someone the royal family could just easily punish. Even keeping him locked up was a risky play.

Still, as the brunette and Sona had claimed, contrary to the entire nation and beyond, no matter how much they prided themselves on their royals, they were only mortal.