(Y/n) already had a goal in mind as she marched directly through the rose garden, Sona trailing right behind her after he'd been powered on again. She was going to go to Orion, seduce him into letting her tag along with his father, and then she was going to ward them away from her home. It didn't really matter to her how much energy or how many resources she had to expend to do that. It just had to be done quickly before anyone discovered something important. On her way to the orange-haired prince, she, by no surprise, ran into his obnoxious knight. Though she did her best to ignore him as maturely as she could (by throwing him nasty glares), he suddenly fell to his knees in front of her.

It was a guilty pleasure watching him on the ground like that, for both her and Sona. That was the only reason she decided on hearing him out, crossing her arms over her chest to get him talking. He rambled on and on about something or other. Truth be told, she wasn't paying close attention. Why would she? Only now, when he clearly needed something from her, did he show her any kind of courtesy. All that she was thinking about was how, even despite the respect he showed, there was still an annoying look in his eyes that was cursing her. He occasionally darted his eyes over at Sona to give him a similar look.

"So, please. Please help," the knight implored, finally becoming silent before he noticed the blank look on her face, "Would it kill you to care about other people's issues? Do you even know how to care about others?"

"Do you even know how to ask a favor?"

Presley shut up. He didn't stop glaring at her, probably thinking of all the little schemes he could pull to get her kicked out of the palace. However, he did shut up. That was the most important thing. At least, it was for her. Maybe it was because of all the constant harping he did on her, but she had come to really dislike his voice, equating it to a fork on glass. It was not an unattractive voice in the conventional sense, but it definitely was to her. Presley lost his chance to be attractive when he chose to stand against her.

"I get the gist of it," the girl sighed, playing mindlessly with one of the royal roses to the male's chagrin, "But I don't see why I should help you. In case you haven't noticed - which I doubt - I don't like you."

"I'm not asking you to kill someone. It's only to give them the opportunity to talk."

"Killing someone would be easier," she muttered, rolling her eyes, "Well, fine. I could do it, but never for free."

"You're doing something for a close friend of yours and you're asking for compensation?"

"Orion's not asking. You are. And last I checked, you have a pretty hefty net worth, so you can definitely spare me something. If you really care about it, that is."

She definitely made him mad with that, testing his loyalty. Though he didn't seem to care much about material things, she did, so only when he offered her a decent prize - money and his silence for three full days of her choosing - did she accept. Much to her disdain, the knight then followed her on her way to see the prince. Sona made sure he was the one right behind the younger girl, an almost petty action. Whenever the knight got too close, the android would stall his steps, forcing him to back down. It was like he was brake-checking him.

Atlas practically jumped to open the door for everyone, beaming at the (h/c) haired girl. He welcomed her inside mostly, paying little to no mind to the others. Orion was not there, confusing her, but the head servant assured her that he would be back soon. In the meantime, he served her all kinds of desserts and drinks, strangely excited for her presence. Maybe he was just a smiley person. She didn't know him all that well yet; not enough to make assumptions on his behavior, in particular.

Just as the male had claimed, the boy returned shortly thereafter, carrying some flowers in his arms. He flinched as he saw (Y/n), but soon gave a bubbly smile, passing off the plants to Atlas, who was quick to place one of them in Sona's hair spontaneously before putting the rest in a vase. He arranged them silently, trying to make them as appealing as possible. Fortunately, because the royal palace's flowers were always top quality, they looked beautiful no matter what. At least, he thought so.

"I'm so glad to see you!" the prince blushed, playing with the cup of tea in front of him, "But if I had known you would come, I would have picked some flowers just for you."

In truth, the older girl was glad. As she observed the male, she noticed he had finally started putting on some weight. Of course, he was still distressingly skinny, but he was getting much better. Affectionately, she held up a forkful of cake, watching as he paused, giving a conflicted look to the food. He must still have been a little averse to eating, but, as long as she encouraged him, hopefully, he would get to a more stable weight. It took him time to work up a bit of courage, but the male finally accepted the treat. He then proceeded to drink two glasses of water very quickly. Atlas snickered.

"I will confess that I didn't come here just to see you," (Y/n) sighed, tapping her fingers impatiently on the table.

"You didn't?" Orion whimpered, looking down shyly.

"No, but I'll admit it was a nice bonus," A smile. "Actually, word has it your father found something on a mountain a pretty far distance from the city."

The prince shrugged. He then darted his eyes over to the window, out at the mountains in the far distance. Why he was staring there, she didn't know, especially since Syraph Mountain wasn't anywhere near the city. It was in the middle of an untouched forest, towering over the sea. There was no way to see it from the city. Moreover, it was supposed to be under a very powerful spell that shielded it from sight. Though, perhaps because its owner left, the magic was fading. Or maybe it had something to do with Cadmus being related to a phoenix. She had no idea. Magic wasn't her forte.

"Is there any way I could convince him to let me tag along?"

"What? I don't...even know how you could begin to...Only the Sun God Sect can - "

"What if I'm just really interested in the sect? If I want to learn?"

"Really?" the prince blushed, only to continue to shy away as his hesitance came rushing back to him, "I could teach you, if you want. But, I'm sorry. You could try asking..."

Halfway into his sentence, the male trailed off, his eyes becoming somewhat unfocused. He forgot he was even talking, let alone holding a cup of tea. Jumping in fear as he heard the cup crash onto the ground, he looked around for an explanation. That was when he flushed, biting down on his lip and bouncing his leg up and down nervously. He had little idea what was going on, but he didn't have a great feeling about the atmosphere. Rather, he had the striking urge to run away, not that he tried. After all, (Y/n) was there.

"Ask who?"

"I'm sorry. I don't...remember what we were talking about."

Well, that was another indication that Orion was like her. Their memory worked weird, and, in the face of stress, they kind of self deleted any thoughts. Normally, it wouldn't have had much impact, but it was worth noting. He also looked very concerned at the fact he couldn't remember, as if it had never happened before. She could believe that, considering he had grown up sheltered in the palace. Of course, it did make her a bit irritated that he hadn't gone through what she had, but there wasn't any benefit in getting worked up.

"Here, follow me."

There was no use talking to him if he was just going to forget everything. Rather than that, it was better to take him to where he was forced to keep up with the conversation. Though she didn't know where Cadmus liked to frequent within the palace, she did know that he had his own room. Trying her chances, she was pleasantly surprised to find the man packing inside. As she coughed, alerting him of his guests, he turned around like a scared chipmunk, his posture as straight as a board. His eyes went from her to Presley to Sona for a good chunk of time before he finally noticed Orion. The man then went down on his knees.

"Your majesty," he greeted, staying completely still.

"Sorry for the sudden visit," (Y/n) started, giving her best smile, "I just had a request is all. Would you be willing to hear me out?"

The man gave a small expression of distress. He looked worried, but he didn't say a word for a very awkward amount of time. As he stayed there, bowing on the floor, she had no choice but to look towards Orion. The boy was not looking at his father. He was, instead, doing his best to hide behind her, clinging onto her sleeve and trembling. As Presley reached out to touch him, likely trying to get him to respond, he only flinched and scooted a bit closer to the older girl, as if she was his shield.

"You have to give him permission," the coral-haired knight mumbled, an almost silent groan coming from the younger male's lips.

"Then...you can...stop."

Cadmus paused before he listened to the male's words, pink coloring his ears. Though he did not get up from the floor, he did look up at everyone. He looked a little confused, as though he didn't understand the sudden popularity. Presley, he understood. The knight, if he hadn't been so close with the second prince, would have sought to become a paladin. In the conversations they had, the coral-haired male was very enthusiastic to speak to him. To some extent, he understood Orion as well. But (Y/n)'s presence was very strange to him. He felt a bit uncomfortable with her around, let alone the machine that acted as her guard.

Of course, he had heard of her. It was hard not to know her with the amount of people telling him about her. Though details were often mixed, he knew that she was an assertive individual. He sweated at the thought. Moreover, she was the object of affection for the crown prince, a fact that was hard to hide. Satoru had told him about how important a first love was. The man lectured him on that particular subject. He said Cadmus was clueless, mostly, but that there was a lot of importance in a crush, he realized.

"If I can help," Cadmus started, placing his hand on the back of his neck as his eyes darted away, "I would love to try."

"I'm glad to hear that," the girl grinned, placing her hands together, "because I am desperately interested in joining you in exploring that new 'shrine' you found. What do you say?"

The man flinched, clenching his fists a bit. That was quite the request coming from someone he had never met before. He found it a bit difficult to speak right away and decline the favor. Obviously, the expedition was only for higher ranked paragons of the Sun God Sect, and the girl in front of him was obviously not one. So, it went without saying that she should not be allowed to "tag along". Still, telling someone "no" was a lot easier than it sounded. He struggled a bit to find the best words to use.

"How did you learn of - "

"Oh, Verona told me, so I figured - "

(Y/n) found herself silenced by Presley, who very quickly and harshly placed his hand over her mouth. She was equally as quick to slap his hand away, at which the coral-haired man motioned over to the Oracle. Cadmus jumped a bit, moving his body a bit closer to the ground. He did not look up to meet her eyes. Rather, it looked like he was zoning out, his chest heaving a bit more than usual. She tried to turn to Orion for an explanation, but he also stared at the man with bewilderment.

Cadmus suddenly found it all the more difficult to bring up the word "no". Nervously, he pondered what he could do. Maybe he could wait for her to ask again before shaking his head to decline her request. No, that wouldn't work. He wouldn't even have the strength to do that. And, even if he did, would he really go unpunished for that? Choking up, he found he lost the chance to say anything, making him glance back up pathetically, eyes locked onto Orion. The boy glanced back, shifting his weight to hide more of him behind the girl, but, still, the man looked towards him. He didn't understand what the man was trying to communicate to him.

"Were you interested in going, your highness?" Presley mumbled, "Because I doubt you'd want Miss Shiratori to go by herself."

"Well...," A pause, the prince leaning his head onto the girl's shoulder, "I want to...but...we're not allowed to."

The man on the floor began to gaze at Orion in protest. He tried deeply to say anything, but nothing came out. No matter the vocal arrangement he attempted to create, no sound escaped, except for, perhaps, a whimper of some sorts. Sona began to pick something about him, specifically, his mental state of being, but ultimately decided to say nothing. Frustrated at his inability to speak, Cadmus began to get choked up again, only for someone to finally understand what he was trying to convey. And though he was far from satisfied that it was (Y/n) that picked up his intentions, he was still happy.

"Are you saying that we can?" An enthusiastic nod followed. "As long as Orion wants to go, too?" Another eager nod came. "Great! When should we meet to go?"

Cadmus paused again, dejected, before the girl held up her hand and pointed to it. The man took the hint, holding up a three with a shy smile, insinuating they had three hours to pack. She set out to do so immediately, Sona trailing behind her like always. Orion, on the other hand, left a bit slower behind Presley's lead, casting a few glances to the man. Up until the prince left, completely out of sight, the man refused to make eye contact with him. And then the boy took off running.

"At least he wasn't crying," Satoru sighed, stepping into the room with his arms crossed, "He's usually crying."

"But...I did better?"

"I'd say you made a lot of improvement. I'm proud of you, Bambi."

Gently, the older man smiled, prompting the orange-haired man to give a bashful grin as well. Satoru then asked if he wanted a reward, holding up his hand clearly. It took Cadmus a bit, but he did accept, prompting the dirty-blonde-haired man to slowly lower his hand onto his head. He then carefully rubbed his head, watching as the man got exponentially more and more shy from it. If it were anyone else, Satoru would have happily taken the moment to escalate the rubbing, hold him in a headlock, and do it until he got sick, but he didn't. The entire time, he was slow and methodical about it.

"You should come. C-Can you come? Uh, please?"

"That would defeat the purpose. Besides, you need to do it on your own. You and him. One on one. Bond over all the old rocks you find, hm?"

"But! But what if it's not just us? If there's someone else there - The girl...The girl he likes is coming and she won't - I mean, she won't let him..."

"I'm gonna touch you, okay?" the older man mumbled affectionately, placing his hands gently on the Oracle's cheeks, leaning his forehead onto his, "I have spent a lot of time around Miss Shiratori. She is not Verona," A flinch. "Shh. Hey. She's not Meridian either. You can say her name. Try it?"

"No, I - "

"Please. Try it."

"But what if - "

"If you say it, how about I give you that new book I got? I'll even lend you my notes. I know those make you laugh. Her name is (Y/n). Try it."

"Mm," the younger male grumbled, nervously moving to place his hands on Satoru's, "...(Y/n)."

"See? Nothing happened. She may not be the kind of sweet Orion is, but she obviously cares very much about him. (Y/n) is nothing like Meridian or Verona."

"But we didn't think they were until it was too late! And...And then..."

"Don't cry, Bambi. You're okay."

Satoru spent a bit of time comforting the man. He even had him sit down on the bed just to give him a bit more stability. Of course, it was a bit surprising when the more muscular man flopped onto his lap, but he didn't complain. If it helped, it helped. Chuckling slightly, the older man avoided touching him, only starting to pet him again when the man mumbled that he would like him to. 

"Actually, she's the one that got your son to talk, to walk, even to eat. Don't you think that's incredible? Would either one of them have done that?"

"...No."

"She took him halfway across the world just so he could visit an amusement park. Would they have done that?"

"No."

"I'm not asking you to talk to her. You can ignore her, if you want. I'm sure she'll do the same to you."

"But you said she was important to Orion. Because of first love. That I had to treat her special."

"Well, let's put a pin in that. Right now, you have one goal. Can you do it?"

Cadmus grabbed the blanket and hid under it. He made no attempt to get off of Satoru, practically gluing him to the bed, but he was hiding. The man probably had no faith in himself when it came to that particular goal. He had been trying for years, but both of them knew that there was an obstacle to obtaining it. After all, as they deeply, painfully knew, Orion was not just his son. So Satoru sat there until the man was better, at which point the former helped pack everything up, giving words of encouragement as he watched everyone leave palace grounds. He remained. He always remained.