Haru was frozen stiff. Like a possum playing dead, he attempted not to move, if only so he could disappear from sight. Though he was a friend, the fourth prince posed a threat he never thought he would have to confront. So, when he saw Rei in front of him, he thought of the past. The blonde raised a brow at the brunette, pondering just what he was doing, but he knew as well as anyone that the Akahito heir was stranger than most.

"I was not told you were here," the blonde hummed, placing his hand on his hip, "Shouldn't you have texted?"

The brunette continued to play dead, staying still in his tracks and darting his eyes nervously from Rei to Akari. He had a decent reason for not wanting to open his mouth around them. Besides his inability to lie and his compulsive way of speaking without a filter, he had a habit of taking things. In particular, with the two in front of him, what he had stolen was not a thing, but a one Miss Shiratori.

Two years ago, before Haru had taken her for himself, among others, Rei and Akari kidnapped her. They didn't particularly have a plan for who would eventually be able to have her for themselves, making it easy for Haru, who had ownership of the house they stayed in, to steal her. The only issue was that his friends knew nothing about what he had done or that she was with him. And though it was clear they hadn't run into the younger girl, if they found out, it wouldn't be good. At least, he knew it wouldn't be good for him. He didn't know how it would play out for her.

"I see you're the same as always."

"It's nice to see you though!" Akari beamed, giving a tight hug to the male, "I missed you. And is this your android?"

Sona gave a befuddled glance to the brunette, who tensed up. The teal-haired male decided on taking the lead. Though he was terrible at lying, at least he could if the situation called for it. Haru would just blabber about how (Y/n) was at the embassy, a result neither of them wanted to see. Nervously, the brunette tugged on the android's sleeve, pushing him in front. And though Sona was woefully underprepared to handle the two people in front of him, it was his responsibility to keep the younger girl safe.

"Yes, I am. I'm a special model designed just for him. You must be Akari Otsu, the son of Cecilia Otsu and Katsuro Yori. I've had the pleasure of meeting your mother."

"Really? I bet she asked you to model for her."

"She did! And, you are the fourth prince of Vethela, Rei...What should I call you?"

"Refer to me as 'your highness'. Just because your creator is my friend doesn't mean you are, too."

"Understood, your highness. We were just about to go have lunch. Would you like to join us?"

Akari's eyes began shining as he peeked out from behind his playmate. He was trying to figure out exactly what an android would eat, ultimately landing upon nuts and bolts comprising a meal. Rei must have realized what a stupid thought he was having, hitting the male upside the head. The younger of the two then chuckled and apologized, not affected whatsoever by the hit. If it were Haru, the prince still would have hit him for having a dumb thought, but the brunette would have responded in equal aggression. Ultimately, they would be duking it out until both were exhausted.

"Might as well catch up," Rei shrugged, "but I'm not eating in the embassy. Follow me."

Haru darted his eyes over to the teal-haired male, trying to alert him of the dangers of that. After all, the (h/c) haired girl was currently in the palace. They didn't know exactly where she was or what she was doing, but they did know she was there. If they were going to the dining room, they had a high chance of running into her on the way. As they began walking with the royal pain in the ass, the brunette very aggressively started calling the younger girl. As per usual, she didn't pick up, prompting him to call numerous more times until the blonde noticed.

"Who on earth are you trying to call? Everyone knows you don't have any friends except us."

"I...have Shota," the brunette mumbled very quietly, continuing to ring the girl.

"Are you fighting? He usually picks up right away. Unless it's me, anyway."

"Unfortunately, they did have a disagreement about a week or two ago," Sona chuckled, interjecting before Haru spilled all his secrets, "He was suddenly called by Shota. I heard them arguing about...nuts! Yes, nuts!"

Rei snickered, to which Akari gently smiled at. Shota had long since been made fun of by the blonde for his nut allergy. Haru was often very blunt about it, meaning well by showing concern, but often sending the redhead spiraling in anger and shame. As a result, the lie was believable, the blonde turning a blind eye to Haru continuing to call. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the phone was supposed to ring louder and louder every time he had to redial, she never ended up picking up.

As they entered the palace, Haru and Sona felt their worries becoming stronger. In fact, as they sat down, waiting for their meal to be served, the brunette was unable to focus on the conversation. And though this wasn't particularly out of the ordinary for the Akahito heir, the blonde was dissatisfied with his attitude. He began to glare at the brunette, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table.

"I heard your business is going well," he huffed, taking a sip of tea, "Have you considered collaborating with others? I know you've dabbled with EvoMech. I'm sure you got an earful from Shota about that, too. But, you know, my brother could work great with you."

"What?"

"Are you seriously not listening to me? My brother. Working with you. He wants to come up with a new car so people get more excited about eco-friendly vehicles. You'd be good at that."

Haru frowned. In truth, he wasn't interested in cars or anything like that. They were boring to him and he didn't like sitting in them to begin with. He would have rather spent his time working on newer android models or weapons or even devices straight out of sci-fi. However, Rei was a bit of a bro-con. He adored his elder brother more than anyone else ever since he was a kid. But with (Y/n) being in the vicinity, the brunette didn't particularly want to piss him off even more. When Rei was mad, he was wildly unpredictable, aside from the easily expected violence he liked to employ.

"Um...maybe," the brunette sweated, relieved to see that food arrived.

"Zuki's been working a lot lately, but that's only because the city wanted to buy a bunch of buses from him. Even though he's swamped, he promised to come up and visit me for the coronation. Will you be there for it? I can give you a nice seat."

"But Orion is still alive!" Haru yelled aggressively, Sona attempting to calm him down as best as he could.

"Barely. We're trying everything we can, okay? But, even if he doesn't die, he still won't be healthy enough to rule. Besides, he never received the proper education for the future king. I did."

"Do you seriously want to be king?"

Rei gave an odd look. In truth, his older brother, Ichiro, was living his life to the fullest. He didn't have any responsibilities except for the ones he chose to take, such as his studio. And, for Rei, he probably would have been happy just traveling the world for the rest of his life. Even if he didn't have a job, he could easily live off of the money given to him as a royal prince. If not, his father wouldn't mind whatsoever giving him as much money as he wanted. Akari had his own fortune, too, so opulence wasn't a factor in becoming king. In the end, he never responded, forcing the brunette to speak up instead.

"I like Orion," he mumbled randomly, "He's very dumb, but at least he's cute. Like Bastien."

"No one in the world would have the guts to say something like that about us."

"That's what makes him such a good friend," Akari added, remembering all the times the brunette kept their friends humbled.

"But also a good target to be punched. Yamato certainly thought so. I'm actually surprised you're still alive without him, but I guess that's what your android is for now."

Haru nodded. Rei kept asking questions about how he had been doing or what he was up to, or even inquiring about Bastien. The blonde held a lot of grudges against the small toddler, mainly because he kept touching things that weren't his. As a result, he quite disliked the child, but, in general, he didn't like kids. Maybe it was because they were about as arrogant as he was. It might have also been because his elder brother loved them, so, obviously, he had a great rivalry with any child in his brother's vicinity. Either way, their meal and subsequent conversation continued until it became dark.

Sona immediately went to find the (h/c) haired girl to alert her of the situation while the brunette returned to the embassy. It didn't take long to figure out where she was, mainly because the servants were all gossiping about her visit to the prince. The android expected to be stopped at the door by Presley, but, oddly enough, he didn't say a word. Rather, he all but encouraged the android to remove (Y/n) from the premises, even smiling a bit. Still, Sona wasn't so sure he liked the knight.

Inside, Orion put on a very focused face, attempting to fold paper. Though the girl had taught him how the previous day, he was still struggling. At many times, he would rip the paper or accidentally make a wrong fold and take a while to comprehend how to work back from his mistake. However, the older girl was very patient with him, even positioning his hands in the right way. When she would do that, the boy would flare up and stutter, shyly gazing away. Sona didn't understand the response. He looked almost afraid of her, but he kept letting her touch him?

"Oh, there you are," the (h/c) haired girl hummed, taking her hands away from the prince to his great concern, "I guess you're here to take me back. Haru's probably bored all alone."

"About that..."

"What? Don't tell me he found some other girl to keep him company."

Though she joked, knowing there wasn't even the slightest possibility of him finding someone else, Sona continued to give a distressed expression. As a result, a thump in her heart sounded, followed by her quick movements out of the chair. She raised a brow at the android, all but demanding he tell her he was pulling her leg. However, he merely remained silent, prompting her to develop a silent ire. Without sparing another glance to anyone, she sprinted out of the room back to Haru to see the situation for herself.

Sona tried to reason with her, trying to tell her he just needed to speak to her in private, but it didn't stop her. Rather, he remained there in shock as Orion reached out for the girl. Apologetic that he made her storm out without a proper farewell, the teal-haired male turned to explain the situation. However, he was shocked to his core at the look the prince gave him. With teary eyes, he was gripping onto his blanket and furrowing his brows. He looked resentful, directing a large amount of anger to the android. Even when he left, he stared at where he once was, biting down on his lip.

"Don't do that, your highness," Presley sighed, pinching on the royal's cheeks to release his grip on himself, "Look what you've done to your precious self."

The knight began to clean up the small bite with salve, the boy wincing and attempting to push him away. Though, even if it hurt, he was intent on ensuring the wound would not become infected. As he put away the medical supplies, he turned to the prince, attempting to soothe his heart next. Orion pouting was somewhat unusual, especially since he always did what he thought was best for others. That meant the situation needed to be dealt with delicately, so as not to make him burst into tears.

"She was teaching me," the prince sniffled, angrily throwing the folded paper to the ground, "So, why did he have to come and ruin it for me? That's not fair!"

"I'm...sorry that happened to you. But Miss Shiratori would have had to return sooner or later."

"But I want her to stay. Can't we just give her a room in the palace? It would be so much nicer than the embassy, and she could eat meals the royal chefs made, and she could teach me things all day. Can you tell uncle?"

"I...can, but you must understand she is a guest of President Akahito. Therefore, she must stay with President Akahito. If we were to invite her to stay in the palace, other countries may think Echal gets special treatment."

"But I want her to get special treatment! She's been so kind to me. M-Mister Haru, too. So - "

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. And, in the first place, she may decide whether she wants to visit you or not. Her staying in the palace would not change that."

Despite his best efforts to let the prince down easy, Orion pushed him away and retreated under his covers to burst into tears. The knight attempted to cheer him up by offering his favorite foods or even some more flowers to decorate his room. This did not phase the boy at all. Rather, he demanded the coral-haired male leave, continuing to cry in both frustration and sadness. Even when Presley left, closing the door behind him, he continued to weep. The emotions within him were stirred up past what he had ever experienced, leaving a negative impact on his weak heart.

In order to ensure he would not suffer a heart attack from the heightened levels of stress, the male forcibly stopped crying. Though tears kept streaming down his face, he took in heavy breaths, glancing around the room. He wanted a solution. The prince wanted to spend more time with the (h/c) haired girl and have her closer to him. Yet Presley was right. She could always decide whether she wanted to spend time with him. Orion wasn't naive. He knew that she would get bored of continuing to babysit a bedridden corpse. Just folding paper was bound to get dull for her, so, eventually, she would probably stop coming.

Perhaps it would be different if he could walk or be able to do more intense activities, or even go outside the palace walls. But his illness was not going to go away simply because he wanted it to. If that were true, it would have vanished years ago. As a result, he was forced to think of ways to coerce her into coming. Unfortunately, Orion wasn't particularly intelligent. At least, he wasn't at the level of (Y/n) or Haru, meaning his own capabilities were limited, especially when it came to thinking outside of the box.

The sun even began to set as he continued thinking, leading a great frustration to well up in his heart. The orange-haired male then began weeping again, looking to the gift the girl had given him. He began to hug the sunflowers, holding them close to his body despite the sneezes they incurred. In his frustration, the added burden of the allergies only increased his agitation, prompting him to crush them.

Of course, out of the realization that they were given to him by the girl he so longed to see, he winced and began straightening the petals back out, apologizing to the poor thing. If she had come back to see them in such a poor state, she might have become mad at him. Fearful of that, he sobbed a bit more, begging the flowers to go back to how they were. (He didn't notice them eerily doing just that). That was when an idea struck.

If he had ruined the precious gift from her, she would have been so angry that she wouldn't have come back. However, remembering what he eavesdropped earlier that day, it would have an opposite result if someone else were to do the same thing. Darting his eyes to the sun, he moved to grab a mirror, positioning it just right. The angle it was placed at amplified the sun's rays to start a fire on the sunflowers. They burst into flames before he hurriedly shoved them in his trash can and snuffed them out by dumping the water in the vase onto it, hearing it shatter. The male was regretful to see the precious gift burned to a crisp, but, hopefully, she would bring him something else.

Before he went to sleep, he took careful measures to hide the trash can, knowing his attendants emptied it every morning. Then, all that was left for him to do was wait for her to come. Atlas helped in that regard, particularly because the prince refused to eat any of his meals. When the (h/c) haired girl arrived, he had to stifle his excited smile, instead, beginning to cry. He put on a face of shame and averted his eyes, leading to her curiosity.

She placed her hand delicately on his forehead, no doubt trying to ascertain how he was being affected by his illness. Orion almost dropped the act entirely at the feeling of her cool hands, giving a soft gasp of comfort. As she parted from him, he let tears slip from his eyes, further entrancing her. Ever since he was born, his tears made anyone pay absolute attention to him. In fact, on more occasions than not, he was given everything he wanted. It was made all the more impactful since he rarely ever shed tears.

"I'm so sorry," he sniffled, clenching onto his blanket, "You gave me such beautiful flowers, but now..."

The older girl glanced into the boy's trashcan to see the flowers burnt to char. She narrowed her eyes, having a sneaking suspicion as to who would have done such a thing. The orange-haired boy then began to weep even more, prompting her heart to drop at the sight. Though she disliked how his tears could influence her so much, she knew Orion would never try to take advantage of that. Or, rather, that was what she thought.

"Who did this?"

"I-I did," he stuttered and averted his eyes, making her extremely skeptical.

"I don't believe that for a second. Try again."

"No, it really was me! I'm so sorry, Miss Shiratori..."

"You wouldn't hurt a fly. And I know that's why you're trying to protect them, but you're too kind for your own good. Won't you tell me who did it?"

The girl leaned a bit closer to the male, towering over him. His lip quivered and his vision became dizzy, the male too affected by her very being. So deeply entranced by her, he wanted to spill all of his secrets and deepest desires. And while those desires didn't amount to much, limited to becoming healthy and perhaps visiting an amusement park, he nonetheless felt compelled to leak them to her. Whimpering, he all but lost it as she put her hand on his cheek, becoming unbearably hot at her proximity.

"T-That's...but I don't want..." he stuttered, flaring up further as she stared into his eyes softly, "I don't want anyone to get in...trouble. S-So, can you get mad at me, instead?"

"You're cute," the girl chuckled, brushing his hair up from his forehead and placing a kiss there, "but I want a name from you."

With that kiss, (Y/n) was using her powers at the risk of bewitching the boy just to get an answer out of him. He knew her curiosity rivaled his own, the both of them willing to do just about anything to sate it. That was why he was so sure she would push him to tell the truth. He was just making sure he looked like an angel all the while. That made her actions all the more ironic, particularly because he would have told her without the spell. He blushed further and bit down on his lip with shame.

"I-It...was Presley," he confessed, moving to place his hands on the one of hers caressing his cheek, "but he was only doing it for my own good! I swear he didn't do it to insult you! He just - "

"Does it make him that mad for me to visit you and bring you gifts? So much so he had to burn one?"

"Miss Shiratori, please forgive him. B-Be mad at me, instead, okay? I-I'm also at fault. I didn't stop him!"

"Is that why you didn't eat today?" A flinch. "Well, whether your damn knight likes it or not, I'm going to make sure you eat something. Every. Single. Day."

Perfect.