Kazuki had been called to the special infirmary for a word with Rei. While he didn't understand the basis of their meeting, he figured it had something to do with (Y/n). That being said, if that was the case, he didn't know why Ichiro was invited as well. Perhaps the younger male didn't view the bluenette as a threat, but that was unlikely. After all, Rei had always been overprotective about anything he loved, never letting anyone near it regardless of who they were.

He had always been like that. When they were given toys or clothes, he refused to share, and the moment he couldn't find them, he went on a rampage, blaming people for stealing them. The blonde wouldn't rest until he got them back, and it appeared that attitude had followed him from his childhood to his newly started adulthood. A young man as it were, one could never tell if he was going to be mature or childish, but perhaps that was the charm he possessed. It certainly never made things boring.

The older male opened the doors to the special infirmary, surprised that there were no guards or servants. Rather, there was only the head royal doctor holding an ominous appearing clipboard that seemed to promise bad things. Taking in a deep breath, the male directed his gaze to the empty vat in the center of the room. More memories came back from the sight, but they were not necessarily good ones.

Orion was often very sick, unable to fight off disease or physical injuries. It was a relief that he didn't have hemophilia, but he seemed to be inflicted with worse things. The orange-haired boy had been susceptible to unheard-of things. Scientists all around the world wanted to get a hold of him, but as a prime member of the royal family, it was prohibited to take him off of the castle grounds. As such, they recruited promising members of the medical boards across the world to look at him, but few were kept on as royal doctors.

For fear of her sons inflicting the same thing their cousin had, the brothers' mother had the doctors look at them as well. There were all sorts of tests from a select group of doctors that were let on about the family's blessing and curse. It was hardly an exact art, so the males had to do strange things. The most common thing was taking pills with special beverages to go along with them, but they were also placed in milk and herbal baths where the doctors monitored their hearts. Clearly, they didn't find what their cousin possessed, but nothing was as it seemed.

Nonetheless, the countless amount of hours they spent in the special infirmary made the boys avoid the area. They loathed it with all of their being because being there meant blood was going to be drawn, shocks were going to be sent through their body, and even more. Kazuki couldn't help but shiver when he had received word Rei wanted to meet him there. It was even more frightening that he heard (Y/n) had tests done as well. He couldn't have imagined he would put her in that pain but considering his theories about her, it might have been for the best.

"I'd like to make this quick," the younger male sighed, a serious look in his eyes, "I have a free day tomorrow and I'd like to have my energy up so I can spend it with my cupcake."

"Why don't I join you?"

"Shut it," Rei snapped, "You two have been stealing her from me and I'm done playing nice with you. I saw her first, I loved her first, I had her first!"

"Yes," the older male agreed, placing one of his hands on his hip and looking to the side dismissively, "past tense. She's bored of you and scared of you, and if I were to believe the servant's idle chatter, she rejected your last proposal. I can clearly offer her more."

The younger male seethed in absolute anger. He couldn't believe that after everything he had done to secure his and her future, anyone could come along and try to steal her. Becoming king had done nothing to preserve her for himself, and even the prospect of marrying her didn't deter either of his brothers. Then again, she had blown him off and said she was uncertain who she truly loved.

"S-She's just confused! She's still in a fragile state of mind. Once she recovers, she'll come running back to me. A-Anyway, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. We just got back the results from her tests."

"Your majesty," the head royal doctor bowed, beginning to speak at the waving motion the blonde made, "It has been clear that the lady has been firmly abused by separate powers at play. Through blood-testing and severe monitoring, we have determined the causes in percentages."

That was news to Kazuki. It must have been a relatively new discovery within the royal doctors. Before, they knew little of what caused the males' powers or how they affected others, but they had somehow managed to figure some crucial piece to it out. It was welcome news, especially as the blonde had worried about (Y/n)'s potential. He firmly believed it could harm her, but he didn't imagine that it would be him hurting her the most.

"The presence of effects are clearly present, and if the lady wasn't separated when she was, she would have been in danger of a lethal consequence. According to the chart, which we believe to have a 0.7% margin of error, in order of least to greatest, the causes are his royal majesty first and foremost at 1.06% with great restrain on his abilities, I might add. The second, his highness Ichiro at 14.82% with not so much restraint."

"W-Wait..."

Kazuki trembled at the realization of what that meant. He couldn't have been responsible for the overwhelming gap in the effects on the (h/c) haired girl. After all, whereas he had attempted to watch himself and his voice, Ichiro had intentionally inflicted her, using it to his benefit to draw her to him. Rei, he could understand, as he could always be controlled. However, the older male would have never guessed he was responsible for harming (Y/n). It made him shiver in fear. What else was he going to do to her?

"I thought the same as you," Rei hummed, "and I was fully prepared to beat your ass for endangering her life....but the thing is...you're only at 16.2%."

"What? T-Then who? Who's responsible? There's two-thirds left."

"That would be his royal highness Orion at 67.9%."

The blonde once more narrowed his eyes, in disbelief about the conclusions of the test. Even if it was true that the orange-haired male was somehow involved in everything, it had been months since she had seen him last. It shouldn't have still been affecting her or having such a large percentage of her affliction. However, when he saw Rei's serious gaze, there was clearly something else going on.

"Is he a ghost?" Kazuki asked sarcastically, "How can he be affecting her when he's dead?"

"See, the moment we received the results back from (Y/n)'s test here at the castle, I decided it wasn't enough. I wanted to see who used what at the start and end of her stay with you."

"You wouldn't have seen a need to draw her blood before she came back."

"She went to a hospital in Takou when she and Ichi collapsed. They took her blood. I just asked for it back and had tests done. These results reflect that blood. The results I had her do just recently give us back a more equal distribution between you and Ichi."

The doctor continued to list off the percentages. Whereas Rei had 1.06% in the first test, in the second, he had 4.69%. Then Ichiro went from 14.82% to 48.3% and Kazuki went from 16.2% to 47.01%. While the two had significantly higher percentages than Rei, it was still troubling to see that Orion had such a high effect on her. They didn't understand why or how, but it must have been the key to something.

"I'm willing to overlook this confusing situation for the time being as we don't understand what made (Y/n) fragile in the first place. Truth be told, the possibility that she became frail because of the overuse of your abilities is likely about the same chance as her becoming like that due to the sudden absence of Orion's."

"Yes, that makes sense," the older male mused, placing his fingers to his chin as he became deep in thought, "but shouldn't Ichi know this, too?"

Scoffing, Rei didn't bother to answer his question. Clearly, the bluenette wouldn't have cared about the state the younger girl was in as long as it guaranteed she was getting closer to him. He had made it abundantly clear he was going to use what he had in order to gain an advantage over the other two. Telling him that he may not have been the cause would have only inspired him to continue using his ability on her, putting her life in danger in the process. His presence in the meeting would have set them back, plain and simple.

"I see. Well, did you find out if she's getting better?"

"Physically, yes. She's been getting much better and straying away from the effects of you two. Mentally, however, she hasn't shown much progress. I've managed to get her to open up to a friend or two, but she still is quite scared of outsiders or even servants. Isolation won't do her well. Thus, I wanted to take her to the beach tomorrow."

The older male blushed at the thought of the younger girl in a swimsuit. She would have been so pure, splashing around. In fact, ever since he had pushed a guard into the ocean far below the castle, he had wanted to visit the beach with her. The thought of her offering him towels or the two of them lounging on the sand together was so tempting. Perhaps there was some way he could persuade Rei into letting him tag along. After all, it was him that had just stated that isolation wouldn't do her well.

"That sounds wonderful. In that case, why don't you invite her ladies-in-waiting? And the gardeners as well. She's fond of them. Cooks would also be a necessity. No doubt she would love to enjoy fresh sweets."

"I-I was thinking that the two of us should have alone time," Rei stuttered, knowing his brother was pulling him into a trap.

"But she needs to be surrounded by people again so she can open up. If she does it in a manner that provides her fun and joy in a non-threatening place, it will be much more natural for her, don't you think?"

"W-Well, perhaps another day would suit her reintroduction to society better. After all - "

"No, no, the sooner, the better."

"I-I really think t-that - "

"Rei, my dear baby brother," Kazuki cooed in a threatening manner, "I'll be going with (Y/n) and you will not stop me, hm? So let's make it a wonderful day for her."

The younger male sighed in defeat, knowing even if he attempted to dodge the blonde, he would have found a way to get to them. Placing guards around him wouldn't work either as he would simply tell the (h/c) haired girl Rei had suggested it. After that, he wouldn't have been able to shake him off. Kazuki was going no matter what. He only hoped Ichiro wouldn't pop up, but somehow, he knew he was bound to anyway.

After the blonde made it clear that he would be going with them and crashing Rei's free day, he swiftly made his exit with a cheerful hum. Kazuki had figured that the younger girl was likely gone from his room at that point. He would have preferred if she had stayed with him until he finished with his painting, but the fact he was able to paint at all was proof of her incredible aura. With her drawing circles on his thighs, he could do anything and relax in even the tensest of situations.

The unfinished painting was resting on its easel, calling for the blonde to sit down and complete it. Truth be told, he would have, but if he did, then (Y/n) might not have laid back down on him while he finished it. Thus, he was determined to save it for another time, hoping he could once again indulge in the affection she had to offer. He blushed at the thought, caressing the painted fabric.

Meanwhile, however, as he admired the fruits of his labor with her helpful presence to thank, Rei checked up on the preparations for the next day. Clearly, he would have to inform a good number of servants to accompany him and the younger girl to the beach. If Kazuki were the only one there, clearly there would have been a great fight for her attention. It firmly appeared as though the older male was forcing him into making her rejoin society and have healthy conversations with other people.

It irked the blonde that his older brother valued her well-being so much for her to the point where he would threaten him to provide her with much-needed care. It should have been Rei's responsibility to look after her, and in fact, he had been doing that for far longer than he had. He hugged her when she was sad and tucked her under the blankets when she was cold. The male had even cooked for her regardless if his duties as king got in the way or not. Just because he had more time to spend didn't mean he could intrude on what he prized.

Huffing, Rei rolled his eyes, storming through the hallways with a foul attitude. Servants chuckled at the sight, a lot of them finding great joy in betting on the different princes' moods and progress with the (h/c) haired girl. Indeed, she had quickly come to be identified as the most powerful person in the castle. After all, she controlled two princes and a king at her whim, and while she didn't take advantage of it, she certainly could.

Serving her had come to be an honor, and she was especially generous. Whenever she was clearly happy with the service, she would often offer a small bonus of the money Rei showered her with. Even if she herself sought to reward them or not, if she had a smile on her face, the blonde would reward them happily. Of course, there was always the possibility that she could be displeased with service and Rei would punish them, but it was rarely the case. Unless they went out of their way to make her upset, he spared them for her sake.

As such, when many were told that the princes and (Y/n) would be going to the beach and they were in need of some servants, everyone lined up for a chance to join. The job description promised both fun and a nice bonus, perhaps more if they had managed to befriend the (h/c) haired girl. Many were eager to meet with her, having not had the opportunity beforehand while others wanted to help reintroduce her to society and to her future subjects as well.

The blonde figured that inviting the younger girl's parents would have also been a good idea, considering the more familiar faces she saw, the better. She could always run and hide if she wanted, but going outside in public was on Rei's mind. Of course, he would have preferred waiting much longer, but it couldn't be helped. They would have to go to the royal family's private beach as the press was still hounding at his doors, practically foaming at the mouth to get an interview with her.

His face lighting up, the male began to change his destination. He had wanted to go create the menu for the next day, but he had a guest that he needed to tend to. After all, after having to go the effort to ensure (Y/n) never got wind about the rumors he created about her, he needed to be taught a lesson. That reporter had gone too far under the guise of a loving subject, and he was being held in the prison until Rei figured out what to do with him.

While the male was still uncertain of what he wanted to do to him, there was nothing wrong with simply saying hello. That being said, the moment the male stepped down into the private jail, he found his prisoner gargling in his own blood. He had been killed. Rei normally would have been furious for someone stealing his kill, but the man deserved it. Truth be told, the only thing the blonde hoped was that he suffered. Still, the mess needed to be cleaned up and the culprit found.

Of course, the search didn't take long at all. The killer was collapsed on the floor, holding a bloodied pipe in his hand, likely torn away from the bars of the cell. His hair was soaked in blood, its normal light color turned scarlet in appearance. There was no trace of silvery-blue remaining, just pure red, likely what he saw when he slit the reporter's throat. Clearly, the royal family was not one to make an enemy of.