After a few days you never heard anything else about that rumor, so you figured that was all it was, a rumor. Just something that had been made up by the maids who always wanted to enjoy fun stories. With all that fuss gone and over with, there was something else that came up. Your parents had been formally invited to the palace. The invitation specifically said that you were to attend too. However, your parents said that no one really cared about you coming and you had only been invited because the people at the palace were being nice.

It was obvious they were lying though. Your parents were always very gullible, especially when rumors were involved. They probably thought the prince had actually fallen in love and was searching for the mysterious girl. Based on how they were primping up your stepsister more than they usually do, you assumed they were going to do something stupid like try to trick Prince Koumei into thinking Mei was (Name). You didn't really care though because you happened to have more important plans with Yosuke during the time in which your family would be at the palace. Finally, you had time to go somewhere with him.

<< Koumei's POV >>

I've had every noble with the name (Name) come to the palace, whether it be a first name, middle name, last name, or even a nickname, and there aren't a lot of (Name)s. That person could be a very strong asset to the Kou Empire's goals. Not everyone can read scholarly scrolls like the one she read.

Tonight the last (Name) would be coming. I didn't know what I was going to do if this one wasn't the girl from before. Perhaps just give up, it wasn't incredibly important to find her anyways.

When I heard that she arrived I went to greet my guests. I approached the group of three, but went in a direction more towards the younger girl. "You must be (Name)."

She didn't reply for a second and seemed not to realize I had said something to her until the older woman gave a subtle cough. "Ah! Yes, I'm (N-Name)."

From this (Name)'s voice I could tell right away that she was definitely not the girl I had met before. I lost all interest in this family now. Unfortunately, I still needed to show them hospitality since I had personally invited them. So, I lead them to the dining hall where we had dinner and small talk.

"So, why did you wish to see our daughter, M-... (Name)?" Mr. (Last N.) seemed to finally get to the point.

"I did not." They seemed surprised by my answer.

"Then why did you even call us here?!"

"I'm just looking for a certain (Name), your daughter isn't her. I thought she might be, that's why I invited you here." They looked upset but didn't say anything else.

After they had left I had called out a servant who served at my guest's mansion. I had always been suspicious of the (Last N.) family and it wasn't the first time they had lied, it was definitely not the first time. So, I had already prepared before hand for their lying schemes. After the dinner service my suspicions peaked as I had quite the premonition they had been lying about something.

When the servant entered she was clueless as to why she had been called here, so I proceeded to question her. "That girl who was with Lord (Last N.) is her name actually (Name)?"

"Huh? That girl wasn't (Name), she was (Name)'s stepsister, Mei."

"Do you know why they would bring that Mei when I specifically ordered them to bring their daughter, (Name)?"

"It's not surprising. They don't even think of (Name) as their daughter. They treat her like a servant."

"Then, why would they say that Mei girl's name was (Name). What would they gain from that?"

"Maybe they heard that rumor." She said jokingly, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands." I-I mean, I don't know."

"Are you referring to that rumor about me falling in love with (Name)? What about it?" That rumor had been floating around, but my intentions were definitely not for love but for the Kou Empire.

She nodded her head, "well, maybe the master and mistress believed it enough to think that they could trick you into falling in love with Mei. They tend to read about romance things where fluff like that happens."

"I see." I sighed, "you may go now."

<< Your POV >>

You ended up staying the night at Yosuke's house. However, you wished the night had been more eventful, rather than just cuddling up to his chest. Of course that was still nice! Now, as you walked back to the mansion, you clutched onto Yosuke's arm hoping to keep warm from the brisk morning breeze.

After reaching the mansion you both went your separate ways to complete your separate duties. However, you decided to risk a detour into the kitchen so you could warm up by the kitchen stove.

Before you could even warm your hands the head maid came with a list of chores that your parents assigned to you. After just glancing at the list you could tell their little trip to the palace had not gone as they had planned. You didn't know if you should be happy or sad. After all, with their disappointment comes your suffering.

You looked down at the list again beginning to organize your work. Although it was cold out you decided to do your outdoor chores first just so you could stay inside when the scorching hot sun rose to it's peak. Most of your jobs didn't have a certain time for completion, however there were a couple that had a strict daily schedule.

A few hours into your work you heard someone calling your name. Every time you heard your name being called you would cringe for a second, always assuming it was one of your parents or your sister. This time though, you realized it was a voice different from your immediate assumptions. You turned your head to the voice. Running towards you was a maid you had worked with previously, although you couldn't remember her name. You reasoned that your parents must have sent you more work using her as their messenger.

When the maid reached you she bent over to catch her breath. Once she recovered from running about she looked up at you.

"(Name)! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"What's the matter?"

"There's someone, from the palace, looking for you."

"Someone from the palace? Why do they need me?"

"They didn't tell me, they just told me to find you."

"Ah, well I still have work to do. I don't really have time to deal with some person from the palace's needs." It was probably some drunk soldier, that had surprisingly happened before.

"He says it's important, comes directly from the prince!"

For a second you almost complied, but then you remembered that you had told Yosuke you would lay low until the prince found the other (Name). That involved staying clear of any visitors from the prince. "Please, what important royal matters would involve me?"

"(Name), why are you being so stubborn? What if it's a chance for you to go to the palace?!"

"You're the one being stubborn, can't you just except that refuse to go."

"(Name)! If you don't come with me I'm going to nag you all day and irritate you and make all your work harder!"

"Okay Okay, fine!" You concluded that maybe you could word your way out of this if you talked to the person from the palace.

The maid jogged through onlookers and fellow servants with you running behind until you arrived at some man who seemed to be a servant of the palace. You walked up to him while he gave the maid who had brought you there some money, before she ran off in another direction, doing who knows what. That must have been why she was so persistent.

"Are you (Name) (Last N.)?"

"Yes. What is it that you need?"

"It's been requested of you to come to the palace in order to discuss, with the second prince, important arrangements in regards to the Kou military."

"Does the second prince normally attend to these affairs?"

"This was a request from the second prince himself."

"I would like to know what these important arrangements are before I head off to the palace. I am not exactly enticed by the idea of being clueless."

"You can figure out the details at the palace." Before you could even resist the man grabbed your hand and practically tossed you into a carriage. Then you were already headed to the very distant palace. You sat back and figured this situation wouldn't get any better if you jumped out of the carriage. It would probably be easiest to resolve this situation with the prince rather than his pushy servant.

<< Koumei's POV >>

I was just leaving another war council, during which I had lost track of time. I was surprised that I had been in it for nearly ten hours when I had intended to be in there for only one hour. Normally my loss of time wasn't that drastic. Now, as I was headed back to the solitude of my room one of my servants ran up to me.

"Prince Koumei, Lady (Name) arrived 6 hours ago."

That's right, I had Miss (Name) escorted over here. I had completely forgotten that I had invited her. Something like that shouldn't normally be forgotten, especially after all the searching I had already went through to find, hopefully, her.

I waved the servant away and headed to the main reception room where guests were always escorted. As I walked into the room I nearly dropped the fan I had in my hands. On a chair sat a very beautiful lady who was immersing herself in a scroll that had been provided in the room. She had been so distracted by her reading it took a while for her to notice me in the room. After a few moments she looked up, realizing my presence. Her eyes stared into mine as she jumped up from her seat.

"Prince Koumei." The familiar voice filled the room. Hearing it gave me the same feeling I had felt the first time I heard it on that cloudy night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I ended up rewriting most of this chapter because I hated the original so much, it felt like everything was rushed and I completely ruined Koumei's personality in it. This time I only slightly did. I feel much better with this one... HUZZAH!