Orion was like a newborn. He didn't know exactly where he was going; he just wanted to walk. He walked everywhere. Whether across the hallway or just to grab his own water, he walked, even running sometimes. And though the latter was always a failure due to his lack of energy, he was still filled with great excitement. Presley and Atlas helped them where they could, but, often, he would wait patiently for the (h/c) haired girl to come just to practice with her. Of course, it wasn't so simple.

Echal and Vethela were still at odds about what had happened to Haru. The former refused to forgive the royal family, more so increasing resentment against them in other countries. The latter, on the other hand, attempted to do anything they could, but they were the ones at a disadvantage. That made it a bit difficult for her to go anywhere near the orange-haired boy, especially since she was more worried about Haru. Then again, she did still come occasionally, so Orion was happy.

"I can go so far now!" he boasted, showing off his ability, "I had Atlas time me, too. I can go from this wall to that wall in just a minute and four seconds."

"I'm proud of you, but you look exhausted already."

"No! No, I can do more. I want to walk as much as I can. Watch!"

She understood his motivations. After being bedridden pretty much his entire life, he suddenly learned to walk and do things on his own. It might have also been that he was being praised for those firsts. With concern, she watched him, wondering when he was going to collapse. He kept going from one wall to the next, only to repeat it. All the while, his legs trembled, threatening to give out from under him. He had said he was sore from walking, if only because he never really used his legs before, but the sudden exercise also had some drawbacks. For instance, Orion was now losing weight at an even more dramatic pace.

For the time being, she let him be. He just looked so happy, a stark comparison to the past. Sooner or later, he began huffing and panting, throwing himself on his bed. And though he was taking a break from the walking, he gawked down at his feet and moved them from side to side. A sny smile was on his lips, too, like he was a mermaid that had just gained the appendages. With pride, he tried to extend his own excitement to her, the girl giving him a small grin of approval. That sent him even more over the moon.

"Eat," she said simply, shoving a spoonful of soup in front of him.

Surprisingly, the boy ate. He didn't eat as much as she hoped, as per usual, but he did eat without complaint. The reward of walking seemed to do the trick of encouraging him. When he finished, she noted that he had eaten about one and a half times more than he usually ate. Though he looked a little sick to have eaten that much, he perked up as she asked him about the birds. Atlas moved forward, bringing two baskets full of the animals.

"His highness has been making these nonstop since you've come here last," he grinned, picking up his favorite of the birds, "In total, he's made 260."

"My hands hurt at first, but it doesn't hurt anymore. I think my wish is coming true!"

"Your wish?" the older girl questioned, reaching out for one of the birds only to be surprised at the quality.

"You said if I made a thousand, my wish will come true. I can walk now, so it's definitely working! Isn't it amazing?"

For Orion, hope was probably the best medicine for him. While he had people that could tell him they loved him, and he had access to all the best doctors and treatments, giving him hope was like giving him a placebo. Whether or not it actually had an effect on his body, it affected his mind, and, as a result, the hope he gained gave his body the motivation to repair itself. Even the smile on his face spoke wonders to how he was actually getting along.

"You should make more. I'm pretty impressed."

"Really?"

The male was a bit taken aback by those words. The tips of his ears turned pink, the boy fumbling with his fingers. He didn't seem to know what to do with the compliment except to remain stunned. Atlas, of course, tried to gesture to him to continue with the conversation, but it was out of his control. At that point, he was too immersed in the compliment to think of anything else. Orion was a bit simple-minded that way.

"Let's take a walk," Atlas suggested, giving a nervous chuckle as he gently shook the prince to get his attention, "Miss Shiratori has never been to the labyrinth. Would you like to show her around?"

The boy didn't really say anything. His eyes just lit up and he darted out of his bed, putting on a shawl to keep himself warm. The reaction obviously meant he was interested, and, as he continued gathering warm things for himself, Atlas did the same. He handed the older girl a scarf, asking her if she needed anything more than that. And while she declined, the back of her mind worried about the temperature causing an unneeded outburst of violence in her. Still, she figured with Sona, the likelihood of anything going wrong would be lowered.

The teal-haired male met her at the entrance of the maze as she instructed. Orion had been pushed outside on his wheelchair, if only to preserve his energy. Even as he got up, walking with (Y/n)'s arm as support, Atlas pushed it at a distance, just in case he needed it. And while the prince was having a difficult time at first, grabbing tightly onto the girl's arm, he gained a bit more confidence the more he walked. Not long after they started, he was almost skipping, gazing around in awe.

She, too, was a bit surprised. Though she did know that the labyrinth was only for the highest ranked Vethelan nobles and royalty, she hadn't expected it to be so beautiful. The walls of the labyrinth itself were well-kept, trimmed to near perfection with small flowers budding in-between the leaves. They were silver in color, always in a bundle of at least five or six. And though far more sparse than the green hue of the leaves, they brought a mystical element to the place. The light snow resting on top of the walls also added to its charm, sparkling ever so slightly as light hit it.

Orion very enthusiastically began telling her all about the flowers. Apparently, the hedges bloomed different flowers year round. In winter, the bluish flowers would appear, but, in other seasons, there would be yellowish orange ones, light pinkish purple ones, or pale white flowers. He enthused how much he liked the ones they were able to see then. Though, he said that because it was special to see them with her. His cheeks turned light pink as he hugged her arm a bit tighter, wanting to be as close as possible.

While she was immersed in the landscape and plants all around them, Orion couldn't stop admiring her. She was very strong, he noticed. And though his definition of "strong" was a bit warped, considering he could barely stand, he couldn't help but attribute the word to her. Even the way she walked was filled with confidence. Not only that, but every time the prince stumbled or found it a bit hard to take a step, she would support him with just one arm. His heart fluttered every time, almost enough to make him do it on purpose. It was probably best that he didn't, however, and he knew that well, so he kept on doing his best.

"I'm a little surprised we're not lost yet," the (h/c) haired girl hummed, looking left and right curiously.

"Don't be silly. Only important people are let in here. What would happen if they got lost? It might look easy to get lost in, but it's not at all. I promise."

He said that with great pride but a concerned look on his face suddenly appeared. Putting his free hand to his lips, he thought about what it would be like to get lost in the labyrinth. It seemed almost romantic. They would be all alone and probably cuddling together to keep warm. And there would be nothing but time to talk about whatever they wanted. If there was one thing he never had enough of, it was time, and time with (Y/n) was becoming rarer and rarer. The male squeezed a little tighter on her, giving a wistful frown. He wished he had lied.

The orange-haired male turned as she then questioned what was to their left. He became a bit closed off, darting his eyes away. The center of the labyrinth was the only place on castle grounds he wasn't allowed to go. It wasn't a hard rule, but, for some reason, his mother warned him against it. He didn't know why either. She just kept telling him he should never go there. And though it didn't limit the scope of the things he could do in the maze, he nonetheless felt a bit regretful about it, not to mention curious. After all, his cousins could go in there with no problem.

"That's the center," Atlas answered, "It's off-limits to anyone outside the royal family, except for a spring festival we have. But...if you won't tell, I won't."

A mischievous grin spread on the older girl's face. Nothing sounded better to her than breaking the rules. Besides, Verona had told her to be on the lookout for secrets. She figured an area only the royals could enter had a surplus of them. As a result, she moved to enter the prohibited area, only for Orion to try and hold her back. And though she was much stronger than him, she did stop, tilting her head at him. All the while, he held onto her for dear life, averting his eyes as though he was already in trouble.

"I'm not supposed to go in there," he admitted shyly, "So, if you go in there, I can't. So...stay with me?"

"I'll be quick. Just one little look and I'll - "

"I said no!"

As soon as he shouted, the prince recoiled. He didn't mean to raise his voice, obviously, but it came out nonetheless. Quickly, he looked down at his feet, hiding his shaking eyes. Once again, he was on the verge of crying, inherently weak to sudden and turbulent emotions. But she began embarrassing him by squeezing his cheeks. He began holding his breath, if only to keep himself mad, but she continued playing around with him expressionlessly. That was probably what made him even angrier, the boy swatting her away and shaking his head.

"Stop that!" he huffed, whining at her, "I don't want you to - "

"Of course you do. You're an open book, you know. If I touch you here, you tense up. And if I touch you here, you quit struggling."

Orion flared red, trying to deny her accusations. However, as she moved to test them out, he was rendered shocked. All of a sudden, as she began touching his cheeks, he became very rigid, just as she said. Then, as she affectionately pet his hair, he stopped trying to move her away from him, also what she had predicted. Filled with shame, an unknown emotion washed over his heart and the male began stuttering. It took a few seconds for anything to come out, all the while the red color on his cheeks started spreading to his ears.

"You can't just - "

"Oh, and, if I touch you here, you stop talking" the girl paused, moving to rub the boy's ear, only for him to squeak and lose strength in his legs before she caught him, "No, I was wrong. It's more like an off switch. Helpful, though."

"Miss Shiratori...P-Please. We're being watched."

The (h/c) haired girl looked lazily over to Sona and Atlas. The former stared holes into the prince whereas the latter attempted to pretend he wasn't watching, if only to save his ward the shame. And while she wasn't particularly affected by having an audience, Orion did not seem to enjoy being so easily molded by her. She chuckled a bit at that, only continuing to toy with him. His embarrassed face was too good to stop anyway.

"If you don't like it, either I go into the center alone and leave you alone. Or, I kidnap you again and drag you in there where no one can see you."

Orion made an even better conflicted face than a shy face, she thought. He clearly didn't want to be separated, clinging onto her, but, at the same time, his goody-two-shoes nature prevented him from going inside. He didn't want to break the rules. Though, she didn't understand that when he, as the crown prince, was the rules. No one outranked him. All the same, if he was going to continue thinking, it would take forever. The prince gave another cute noise as she made the decision for him. Picking him up and slinging him over her shoulder, she turned back to Atlas with a sadistic smile.

"I'm kidnapping him again, 'kay?"

"No, you mustn't. Please don't take the prince away," the head servant feigned, wiping a fake tear from his eye and grabbing at where his heart was, "And definitely don't go behind the willow where no one can see your crimes!"

Sona was at a loss. He didn't understand the sarcasm and he certainly didn't get why the ravenette was holding him back from going after the two. After all, to his knowledge, Atlas was also a servant of the prince. As (Y/n)'s "servant", he thought they would be on the same page, following after them. Despite that, Atlas insisted they stand watch at the entrance. He managed to trick the android into just that, claiming that they would be protecting her from getting in trouble with the guards. And, while they waited, he struck up a conversation with the android, getting on the subject of animals, of all things.

At the same time, the older girl had managed to effectively kidnap the Vethelan prince for the second time. As she sat him down behind the one tree in the vicinity, he began to panic, crying that he would make someone angry. However, she held him against his will, making it impossible for him to escape. It wasn't as if he could outrun her anyway, so he gave up eventually, laying down next to her and sniffling.

"Relax," she snickered, pinching at his cheeks again, "No one will know."

"But I still did something I wasn't supposed to. Now I'm a bad child."

"Oh, Orion. I'll make you an even worse child, if you want."

Although she was still skeptical of who and what he was, there was no denying that he was very tempting. If she was not so attached to Haru, no doubt she would have snatched up the prince for herself immediately. After all, he was about the most innocent thing she had ever encountered, sheltered from just about everything, including people like her. She had threatened Presley that she would corrupt him, and while it was a bluff, looking at him then, that was all she wanted to do. Among other things, she wanted to make him break the rules and do things he wasn't supposed to.

Trying to distract herself from the tempting thought, she began scanning the area for secrets. Oddly enough, the center wasn't decorated like the rest of the labyrinth. There were no fountains or statues. Rather, the only things there was the tree that they were hiding behind and the somewhat large pond in front of them. Aside from that, there were wildflowers scattered around, but that was about it. It was relatively untouched by people, too, left to grow on its own. In that regard, it was very different from the rest of the castle, where flaws, even in small flowers, were removed immediately.

The aura was about the same as the rest of the castle grounds except for one thing. Instead of the earthy feeling the rest of the country had, instead, that select area felt different. She couldn't attribute it to another element. It seemed to be something else. Either way, there was clearly something up with the area, but she couldn't tell just what it was yet. So, for the time being, she moved to gaze down at the prince, who flinched as they made eye contact before he softened. Just that one look told her she could do whatever she wanted to him. He wouldn't complain or resist either. He was in deep. She sighed.

"Um," he paused, moving to grab gently onto her shirt and tugging on it lightly to get her attention, "Everyone says that our countries are on bad terms with each other right now. Uncle is stressed and Mister Haru got hurt really badly. It makes me really sad. I just want everyone to get along again."

"I don't know if that's possible. Even before we came here, you know we weren't the best of allies."

"But...if we keep fighting, then more people will get hurt."

"War was inevitable, too. Kazuya had a mission. He wants to save the children in Umayena and Vethela wants to keep the country for its resources and tributes. Unless your country cedes on that, then there'll be war."

Orion didn't know a lot about politics. Unlike everyone else in the royal family, he didn't receive proper education. He did his best to read, but he could only learn so much on his own. Besides, he wasn't very gifted when it came to intelligence. The prince just understood that peace required a very precarious balance between countries. Now that the balance had shifted, he wasn't sure what would happen. He also knew that, if war broke out, the (h/c) haired girl would go back to Echal. The boy curled up a bit.

"But Umayena has always been where we got our jewels. It's tradition."

"Yes, but if it's a tradition that hurts people, it shouldn't be one at all."

"It doesn't!" Orion objected, sitting up with a nervous look on his face, "We use the jewels for love, not to harm people. All of us. We find the most beautiful ones to give to our beloved just like the sun god gave them to Ezdia! That way, we can impress the one we love."

"And that's all well and fine, but the source of those gems is the issue."

The boy quieted down at that. He must have had at least some minor understanding of how the jewels were even produced. The issue was that the country didn't even make money off the gems. Umayena worked their people to death to get them, and, in the end, those people weren't paid. Instead, to keep a global superpower on their side, they gave a large percentage of the gems to Vethela. It was bribery, among other things like slavery.

What baffled her, on the other hand, was how they practiced gem gifting in the first place. Though she would classify the royal family as human (with the strange exception of Orion, and perhaps his father), they nonetheless had so many ritualistic similarities with her own kind. Their males did the same thing. There were only two differences. The first was that the Vethelan royal family, regardless of gender, presented gems to their spouses. The second was that, unlike her kind, the gems were not passed down from father to son. It was probably because the royal family had more access to jewels. Still, it made her think.

"Then, if we didn't take their gems, would our countries still be friends?"

"It's not just the gems. It's their entire country. Do you know how many people in that country live in comfort? Worse still, do you know how many people have rights? Seven. The only people with rights belong to the ruling family."

"But Umayena has always been close with us."

"You can't please everyone, Orion. Besides, your great uncle is in charge of it now. It's up to him to make the decision. Either he chooses to go to war with us or he chooses to go to war with Umayena."

The prince sighed. There was no argument he could make that she couldn't refute. She knew far more about politics than he did, so he simply took her word for it. All he wanted was for things to go back to how they were, but she was right. In the first place, the past, where he thought everyone was happy and at peace, was really just as bad as it was then. He just didn't realize exactly how corrupt Umayena actually was until someone pointed it out to him. And, if Haru had never come to Vethela, things would have continued like that. It was an unsettling thought.

(Y/n) closed her eyes, giving a sigh. She really might have been going back to Echal sooner than expected. As she thought deeply, she felt something on her nose. Though she at first anticipated it being Orion, it was not. Instead, as she realized it wasn't, she flinched and grabbed at the being before realizing what it was. If she had applied any more strength, she could have potentially killed it.

Standing not more than a pinkie finger's length, the blue-skinned creature struggled in her grasp before she released it. It then made a pouty face before speaking. She couldn't understand it and could barely hear its voice, but it didn't appear to be talking to her. Rather, it called others, all of the sprites beginning to play with her hair. Angrily, she swatted them away, but they still seemed quite attached. Different shades of green and blue began to surround her, all of them very curious about her, in particular.

She had never actually encountered the creatures before, considering how rare they were, but she knew of them. It wasn't too surprising they were there. In fact, they probably called the pond behind her home. And with the ample space and lack of people that came to the area, they likely thrived. No doubt, if their presence was exposed, they would be exploited. After all, they were the only creatures that could grant wishes alongside the equally rare nymphs. However, unlike the nymphs, sprites were capable of much more.

Still, they were notoriously picky. They only really granted wishes to those belonging to the aether element. That was also the reason they were swarming her. They probably wanted her to make a wish of some sort, but she didn't see the point in it. It wasn't as if she could wish to be invulnerable and she already had all the wealth she could possibly want. Aside from that, there wasn't much she wanted, so she continued to swat them away. Still, the green and blue creatures kept getting close to her, even braiding her hair.

Curious as to what Orion thought, she was baffled to see he hadn't reacted to them at all. Or, more accurately, he hadn't noticed them. Even as she placed one right in front of him, he only reached out to hold her hand, thinking that was what she wanted. Curious, one of the sprites stood on top of the orange-haired male, and, in the process, glowed a bright red. The thing then nodded and darted back over to her, turning a green color once again. She didn't know what that meant. Did they recognize the prince as an aether elemental or not?

In the end, she never did get her answer. She and Orion left the labyrinth soon after, leaving some very disappointed sprites behind. It was getting harder and harder to tell what the orange-haired boy was. And just when she thought she would never get clarification on the matter, as they returned to the prince's room, Presley came in with some long-awaited news.

"Your highness!" he all but cried, hugging the boy tightly, "Sir Cadmus is finally returning!"