"Shougo!" Sena Nagisa rushed into the dining hall, her long exquisite hair flowing behind her.

Her oldest son, Shougo, looked up not too surprised that his young mother was running towards him, waving an epistle in her hand. His parents were usually as excited about something every day. Her husband, the king, followed behind her at a slower pace with a smug look across his bright features and hands in his pockets. Shougo pushed away his bowl of soup and stood to greet his mother. When she finally reached him, she threw herself into his long arms and against his chest.

"Oh, Shougo! We must celebrate!" She exclaimed, swinging herself and, by extension, the prince around in a wide circle.

Shougo laughed at his mother's glee.

"Of course, Mother," he said, holding her still, "But for what occasion are we celebrating?"

"This!" She said, holding the letter up to his face, "we just received word for Terraemotus!"

At the mention of the rocky nation, Shougo's expression dropped. He pulled away from his jolly mother and father and looked out toward the ocean with his lower lip in between his teeth.

Did his younger brother accept this proposal? That was a shocker for Shougo. He had been to Terraemotus when he was very young child. The stony country was bland and dry, the food was terrible, and the people were uptight and senseless. Shougo had entertained sending Izumi on this brief holiday to the worst vacation on their planet to save face with their new ally… and have his brother back where he can see him. Shougo knew that plan was risky, but he was a selfish man. And he had practically raised Izumi.

He was not prepared to let his brother go.

His mother continued gushing as her husband caught up to them and rested a hand on her shoulder. Shougo fixed his grimace and turned around to his parents.

"They've chosen a date for the wedding!"

She beamed up to her equally excited husband, whose eyes were glazed over with romantic images of his son's wedding. Shougo stared at them, aghast.

"We set sail for Terraemotus within three days! My son is going to wed the heir!" The king yelled.

The guards and servants throughout the castle electrified at the announcement and began running about to begin the necessary preparations. Three days' notice of journey was not unheard of for the carefree couple. The king turned back to his son, who had practiced a neutral expression while plotting how to avoid this trip.

Or kidnap Izumi, either way.

The tall Shougo stayed frozen to his spot with a more aggressive expression contorting his features. Queen Nagisa felt her son's forehead and after waving her hands in front of his dead-set eyes to no avail, moved towards her husband in fear.

"Shougo? Honey? Are you all right?" She asked, voice trembling under the murderous gaze of her older son.

"Fuck no," he spat and turned away from his awestruck parents to scream out.

"FUCK NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"A week?" Izumi's voice was a lot weaker than he liked it to be.

He sounded so unsure and scared.

Sagara Rei nodded, understandingly, and watched as the blonde prince picked at his food. He had begun to take his meals in his chambers. Rei would've been worried at this alteration of routine had he not ran into a disoriented Izumi escaping from Ryouma's chambers a few mornings ago with visible love marks.

Rei smirked. Young love was a strange phenomenon. He himself has never been in love so the logic of Izumi's antics eluded him, but he was sure nothing was truly amiss.

Especially when Ryouma seemed amused the first meal Izumi opted out.. and then the next.. and then the next. The dark-haired boy just sat by himself each meal, chewing absentmindedly on his meal, and returned to his morning briefings. The piles of papers and books were much higher than before when Sena Izumi would sit across the large table. Sagara Rei himself underestimated how Ryouma had held back his neuroticism in front of the blonde. At least anyone could see the prince's hair over the heaps of documents when the blonde ate with him.

Now, the servers circumvented the mountain to even access the prince.

Rei did not necessarily take offense to this behavior. The Ichijou prince had given Rei his blessing to accelerate the nuptials and sealed the letter to the House of Sena. When he read that he'd be wedding Izumi within the month, he glanced up to his adviser with a knowing look. He had made his personal adjustments to some details and then handed the letter back to Rei.

"Well, a week after your family arrives," Rei clarified.

"My family?" Izumi yelped.

"Yes, they will arrive in an approximately few weeks."

"Oh.."

"You and His Highness will be wed then, and your family will sign the contracts and treaties for our alliance, as discussed."

Sena Izumi did not reply. Only his blushing cheeks gave away his stoic demeanor.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Rei said lowly, and Izumi bit his lip.

The golden-haired prince knew why he was being thanked. He may have been avoiding Ryouma with skill, but he was not exempt from the anxiety felt throughout the castle and even his own staff over the past few days. The debts were a continuous conversation between him and the High councilmembers, who make a point to visit him each day. The mooching was tiring, especially in Etrusci, which Izumi had been picking up well.

But still.

"You should consider dining with His Highness again. The chatter among the nobles has spread internationally."

"You don't seem perturbed by the gossip," Izumi said.

Rei shrugged. "Any unease will be extinguished by the nuptials. If you'd openly talk to Prince Ichijou, I'm sure you'd have less guests than your current method."

Izumi spooned some porridge into his mouth, again refusing to respond.

"The covert correspondence," Rei continued, and Sena Izumi's second spoon wavered. Rei smirked.

A few moments of silence passed before Sagara Rei excused himself from the prince's chambers. Izumi's chief guard nodded to Rei as he closed the wooden door beyond the advisor and stood at the entrance. Sagara Rei had learned the young man's name. Nao. And he was also aware of Ryouma's annoyed expressions towards the soldier.

Then a guard appeared beside him, passed him some papers wordlessly, and vanished. He shuffled some judicial and investigative documents in his hand and, as he set down the corridor to his own suite, he couldn't help but smile at the two young princes.

They both had obviously fallen for each other and did not know how to handle the situation with grace, opting instead to avoid each other in their various ways. He had known about their torrid make-out session the night of the welcoming celebration. Well, that's what the council had been calling it in lieu of an official arrival ceremony, and with the wedding plans set into full motion, another ball would be out of the question.

Sagara Rei created a habit of having servants report arbitrary happenings around the castle and kingdom to him. It was his duty to keep informed as Ryouma was gaining his bearings as king. And when multiple guards let slip that the two princes, who left the party quite abruptly, were found pressed between a wall and column in a lover's embrace, Rei had felt a happiness and pride that he hadn't ever experience. He was excited for Ryouma courting his soon-to-be spouse. The young man seemed happy and with that attention on Izumi, he did not stress too much over his duties and studies. He had stumbled upon a healthier groove, taking on a bigger workload. Yet Ryouma's step was a bit lighter and his voice a big more confident.

The High councilmembers and nobles were less aware of the two young men's intimate idiosyncrasies. If they were, they wouldn't pay as much attention to the debt collectors and lobbyists stalking around Terraemotus. Sagara Rei had stopped holding their audience himself when he discovered their worries were over the two princes eating separately.

Although Izumi opted for a more bashful approach and avoided Ryouma at all costs, the raven obviously relished in the scarce moments they shared locking eyes from across the court yard or slipping notes between servants. There was one young servant seen running across the castle a few times a day with parchment claiming he was running the king's errands to every passerby.

The boy obviously had no idea that the contents of the letters were angst and lust-ridden conversations between two infatuated and inexperienced young men too afraid to approach each other in the flesh for fear they may exploded from all the new sensations of love.

Sagara Rei had expected this to happen. Ryouma was obviously taken by Izumi when they had first met, and although Izumi had expressed ill-feelings towards Ryouma, he still appeared at the Terraemotus capital harbor not too long after the council's choice. The acceptance was Izumi's decision, Rei knew, and that decision was motivated in part by his own budding feelings. Of course, neither of the young recognized that then. But even familial obligations wouldn't motivate his strange behavior. Rei knew that much.

What Sagara Rei couldn't begin to predict was his own journey, though. He had never really developed feelings of longing or desire for anyone. He was a studious and anti-social boy in his country, and him being a prodigy did not lend itself well to related to those his age. When he had left his native land for Terraemotus around twenty years ago, he did not feel missed. He was mostly too absorbed in his books and studies to notice the admirers of his shiny purple mane or sharp features back then. He had never felt himself asexual or aromantic; he just felt that maybe he would never feel the pangs of missing a lover when they were gone or the joys of having a family. Maybe that aspect of so many lives was not meant for him. Maybe his life would be a dedication to the crown and to his work as a politician. Maybe there was no other purpose for him. The thought didn't scare him as much as sadden him.

But then, he rationalized, one can't miss what one had never had. Right?