I do not own Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine/The Royal Tutor.

...

"Leo-nii, do you want to enter the Military Academy?"

Heine halted his activity upon hearing the words spoken by the fifth prince. It was expressed in a low tone, only enough for the other person to hear, but since it was considerably noiseless inside the room save for a few soft sounds of paper rustling and pen scribbling, the royal tutor unintentionally got an earful of it.

He hadn't planned to eavesdrop, nor did he had a purpose of discreetly attending to their conversation, howbeit, the teacher's instinct inside of him told him to listen at the preceding talk because their chosen topic was still a bit delicate and unstable due to the previous incident.

In defiance of having the rumors cleared and the misconceptions corrected, the effect of it left a big impact to the impressions of the people towards the princes. The gossips would eventually die, but the consequences that came with it might remain to the heedful minds of the citizen. So to speak, if the fifth prince was legitimately intending to pursue a course at the Military Academy, it was only natural for Heine to guide and counsel him.

The other party, which happened to be the fourth prince, was tight-lipped at first. Perhaps he was rationalizing the query and was being pensive to answer it. Or, in Heine's unbiased inspection, he might only be too absorbed at his work to give his brother a response.

"Leo-nii! Hey!" Prince Licht called, confirming Heine's thoughts of the fourth prince not paying attention.

"What is it, Licht?"

"Geez!"

Heine finished checking the fourth paper and set it atop the piles of completed work. He began to read the next one as he strained his ears to get wind of the exchange.

It was an afternoon past their regular lesson and it served as a resting time for the five of them including the tutor, himself. But nowadays, it became a routine that they stayed at the room to carry out whatever they desired to. In his case, he proceeded to check and mark the papers subsequential to their earlier exam.

On the other note, the second prince was unwinding at the spot near the enormous window. The third prince situated himself at one of the study desk in the corner of the room. He was engaged on his paperworks and effectively disregarded his surroundings. While the remaining younger princes, Prince Leonhard and Prince Licht, either forgot or voluntarily ignored the tutor's presence as they sat side by side at the chaise lounge in front of him.

The fourth prince was writing something on his journal and the fifth prince had his eyes fixated on some books. Heine didn't intend to pry or to judge, but he noticed that their proximity was too close for comfort. Or, contrary to his discernment, the two might be finding comfort at each other's warmth. Prince Licht was slightly leaning against the other as they took care of their respective deeds.

In retrospect, the tutor had always viewed the relationship of the two as something peculiar. Sometimes, they were too intimate that it almost went beyond brotherly affection. To be more specific and precise, Prince Licht was always acting clingy toward his older brother and it seemed as though his attachment was only exclusive for Prince Leonhard. At any circumstance, he seemed to have regularly made an idea of establishing even the slightest point of contact with his brother. Be it on his arm, or his shoulder, or even at his side, Prince Licht was constantly in touched with Prince Leonhard.

"I'm asking you if you want to enter the Military Academy," Heine heard the fifth prince said once more as he leisurely flipped a page of the book that was currently in his possession.

"Military Academy?"

"Yeah, now that our brother's names had been cleared, they lifted our ban from entering the academy and made it possible for us to enlist."

In Heine's peripheral, he could see how the fourth prince faced his brother as he gave his full attention.

"Oh, you're right," he paused. "Yeah, I think I want to."

The fifth prince also abandoned his byplay as he dropped his book at the table close to where the tutor had placed the stack of test papers.

"Really? I thought you wouldn't want to. Why?"

Heine suspended his work to check if his eyes were only deceiving him or Prince Licht was really facing Prince Leonhard completely as he leaned his head closer that they were a few centimeters from touching. When he confirmed that they were, in fact, in that position, he raised one of his brow and contemplated whether or not to intrude at them. Nevertheless, he decided not to poke his nose into the princes' business and resumed to his task and present venture.

"Well, I want to display my physical prowess."

"But Leo-nii, the classes in Military Academy are not entirely physical activities, they also have a lot of strategical and planning that you have to study, not only that-"

"Of course I know that, idiot. Still, I want to experience it."

There was an abundant pause as Prince Licht sighed before speaking again. "But Leo-nii, there are people who would want to come near you, how would you take that?"

At this point, Heine had already concluded that the fifth prince was being overprotective of his older brother and that in reality, he was against him entering the academy. He might be actually giving him a warning or perhaps even scaring him, but the fourth prince's oblivious and dense nature was deterring him from getting his point across.

"What do you mean how? I'll just deal with them fine."

"No, you don't understand, Leo-nii. There are a lot of hungry eyes outside the palace, someone like you would be an easy target. If we enlist, we won't be in the same class and I won't be able to protect you."

"Huh? Who needs the protection of who? I don't understand what you're saying."

Heine set another completed paper and placed it on the finished pile. He arranged his materials and compiled everything as he prepared his leave, but only after he peeked at the two who, by now, were whispering at each other's ears, the remaining distance disappearing conclusively. He couldn't hear what they were saying, he could only imagine what Prince Licht was feeding to his brother's mind based on how flushed the latter's face was.

The royal tutor grabbed his belongings and stood from his seat to proceed to the door, not bothering to let the princes know as he wouldn't want to interrupt whatever they were doing. It was their own personal affair and as a commoner, Heine didn't have the right to simply barge in. In the first place, his reason for listening to the conversation was merely because he aimed to attend to their problems as his intentions were purely professional and polished.

However, when he was just about to exit the room, the last thing he heard caused him to have second thought and to consider being inquisitive to the two.

"Hey, Leo-nii, if you sleep in my room tonight and let me kiss you, maybe I'll tell you."

...

I'm accepting all forms of reaction from calm and normal to bloody and trashy, just send me a review if you have some. Thanks a lot for checking it out!