Two boys sat down in the crown prince's room, enjoying a nice pot of freshly boiled tea. The porcelain cups were pleasing to the eye and the taste of the aromatic tea was absolutely wonderful. The atmosphere was playful, one of the two smiling while the other gave a blank face, though that wasn't to say he was at all displeased. It was just part of his nature, the part of him that the young prince enjoyed the most.

"How is our angel doing this fine day?" the ravenette prince hummed, beaming as he brought up the little noble girl, "I saw her wandering around the garden earlier. She was so cute that I had one of our painters capture the scene!"

"And I assume that you asking me how she's doing is because when she noticed, she immediately ran away from your grotesque form?"

The two boys stared at one another for a while before bursting out into playful laughter. It was true that they would often clash when speaking about the young marquess, giving one another sny insults and putting the other down. Still, they had been friends since they were born, their mothers on wonderful terms, so it was hard to remain mad at a life-long companion. Yet they could manage it if they truly wanted.

For instance, when they were younger, the enamored crown prince had often stalked around the young marquess - not that he had ceased doing such things. However, when he had reached a point where he commissioned painting after painting of the noble girl, he could no longer keep them all in his room. The girl's adopted brother then discovered upon it by pure chance, and almost fainted from shock. He had requested to take the ones that the prince could not harbor, but he refused.

Due to this, there began a war over who could find the artist that best captured the angel-like qualities of the (h/c) haired girl. In their fighting, the two boys refused to so much as look at one another, and the argument continued over more than six months. However, because of their pure angel who wept at the two's fighting, they soon made up and forgot the issue, both agreeing to admire her together.

"She was a bit shy, I suppose," the ravenette chuckled with adoration, "but she's never not. I was just wondering if I could get away with giving her the gifts I have for her."

"(Y/n)'s alright," the grey-haired male nodded, taking another sip of tea, "She's been really excited about the hunting festival, especially since father gave her a crossbow to use."

"Hm? She's taking part in the hunting this year?"

"Yes, even been practicing riding on the horse with father. She even grabbed onto my shirt the other day and asked me to take her shopping for a hunting outfit. My goodness, it's so cute!"

A jealous look crossed the ravenette's face over thinking he missed picking out a hunting outfit for the angel. At the sight of it, the girl's adopted brother turned his nose up in pride, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling joyfully. He was pleased to be the only one to ever have unconditional access to seeing the younger girl. Even if the ravenette would have been able to request her presence, she could refuse. Meanwhile, she absolutely adored her elder brother more than life itself, clinging to him like a duckling.

"I must have done some horrible things in my past life," the crown prince shivered, looking down at the ground with his fingers intertwined with a frightened expression, "To be so close...yet so far away from such an angel. What did I do?"

"And I must have been the faithful sage of the goddess of beauty!"

"No kidding..."

The ravenette continued to beat himself up, his trembling eyes making the young noble boy chuckle. He had seemingly won that tiny battle they had, proud to be the elder brother of such a fine young lady. The two would have wagered that she was the most sought-after girl their age. Even though they were young, she had won over near everything that had ever set foot next to her. There was once a time where she had encountered the ice-cold duke of West Noborry and proceeded to win his heart by gifting him a handkerchief she'd embroidered herself. Her smile was so bright she blinded him. At least, that was the rumor that went around.

"I get to wake up to her every day, you know. Sometimes, she sleeps with me, too."

"Yes, she must love her older brother," the ravenette snapped, his eyebrow twitching with irritation, "After all, family is incredibly important to her. But one day, she'll get married and have a whole new family. Then you won't be so lucky."

The grey-haired boy's eyes narrowed at the one thing the crown prince never failed to bring up when he was about to lose an argument concerning the (h/c) haired girl. He was petty and quick to use any weaknesses his enemies had. And while he did enjoy it when he was on his side, doing it against him was unforgivable. Even if they were friends, he didn't hold his punches, and if that were the case, he wouldn't hold back either.

"You forget that I'm adopted, Sakane. I'm in no way blood-related to her, so by the laws of the kingdom, I'm allowed to marry her as well."

"But you said it yourself," the crown prince smiled, tilting his head just barely to the side, "(Y/n) absolutely adores you, clinging to you at every chance she gets because you're her beloved older brother. Why would she ever see you in another light?"

An infuriated silence washed over the room, the two glaring at one another with deadly intent. The ravenette clutched onto the box he held with him - a gift for the younger girl - while the grey-haired boy crushed the fine china in his hand. As neither spoke to one another, they were a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, able to explode with rage at any moment. And yet one of them held a smile on his face as though nothing was the issue. Still, the grin was vicious in nature, almost more so than the mature expressionless look the girl's adopted brother had on his face.

That was when a cheerful giggle rang through the two's ears. They turned to look out the window, the ravenette even getting up to see the sight better, his smile turning to one of bliss as opposed to anger. However, the grey-haired boy already knew it was the younger girl, so he sat in place, giving a relaxed expression at the sound of her joy. He attempted to ignore the blatant staring his friend was doing though he did find himself irritated with him for practically slobbering and drooling like a dog.

"She's with him again," Sakane soon noted, frowning deeply as he watched a boy with chestnut hair be dragged by the young girl, "I feel like she likes him better than me now. It's...annoying."

"Yeah...she has him around all day at the manor, too. I don't get it. I thought she'd be over him by now."

"Like picking up a stray dog. At first, it's interesting and exciting, but after a while, it's a burden. Yet she's still playing with him. It's been months now. Doesn't your father have anything to say about this? Why would he let a slave be the playmate of his beloved only daughter? And why would it be a boy of all things?!"

The grey-haired boy sighed and stood up, walking over to the balcony to see the (h/c) haired girl cheerfully pick flowers. Normally, the guards would have stopped anyone from picking flowers from the royal estate, even if they were a duke. But if it was her, it was alright. She was too cute to scold. With two pigtails held by red polka-dotted ribbons and a plush bunny in her arms, if anyone could find it within them to tell her off, they'd probably lose sleep over her heartbroken face.

Despite that, however, it didn't stop her brother from being mad at her. He cared too much for her to see her hurt, and he would do anything to keep her out of its way. So the sight of the slave boy holding a basket of flowers she picked bothered him more than it ought to have. Glaring at the boy below, he began gritting his teeth as his presence was promptly noticed. The brunette looked up at him and the crown prince and began smirking as if rubbing in the fact that he could remain with her the longest.

"I'm gonna kill him," Sakane claimed, moving his finger across his neck to warn the brunette of what was to come.

However, the boy only gave what appeared to be a chuckle and placed his arms around the younger girl. He gave a puppy dog look as though he was pathetic, digging into her empathy to get her to pat his head and pay attention to him. As she comforted her, he looked back up and grinned wider, prompting both males to want him dead. Even though they competed amongst themselves, when they were posed with that threat, they couldn't help but form an unexpected alliance.

"Seriously," the girl's brother growled, "A wolf in sheep's clothing, and she has no idea. He just wants to sink his teeth into the little lamb in front of him."

"So, what do we do? She's sure as heck not gonna listen to me. But I don't imagine you'd be able to scold her to her face."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure something out."

. . .

The festival was grand, elaborate, and a way for the country to showboat their power and wealth to foreign regions. As such, the crown prince had been scolded by his mother when he tried to get away with simple attire. It was a fight for over two hours, the boy attempting to wiggle out of his mother's grasp. Only when she stated he should look good for the (h/c) haired girl did he finally calm down and reluctantly accept the layers of clothing he wore, including additional jewelry and gold.

However, when he found the girl's brother had the same idea, he scoffed and turned his head up at him, making the boy smirk in victory. Yet the small victory soon turned to defeat as his adopted sister began carting around her playmate, introducing him to the hunting booths and different things that could be done during that time of celebration. He eagerly followed behind her, throwing a hateful glance back at the two boys left in their dust. The two gave him an equally rage-filled expression, but it only fueled his pride.

It did not last long, the second prince soon arriving at the scene and the noble girl running off to meet him. Both the crown prince and her adopted brother snickered at the abandoned look the slave boy gave. Truthfully, they were a little scared that she would ignore him and focus on her playmate instead, but it was universally known of her deep attachment to the second prince, so they were pleased to see her give him the same cold shoulder when the ravenette's younger brother entered. They continued to snicker at him moping over to them, likely to question why it was the usually attentive master he had was pretending like he didn't exist.

"You know, Noboru," the crown prince chuckled, holding his hand over his mouth with amusement as he did his best to kick the dog while he was down, "I just remembered that you promised to marry your sister to me when we come of age."

"I don't remember saying that," the grey-haired boy scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "I said that, should I - the more capable of us - die, you should take her in. I said nothing about marriage or coming of age."

"Maybe you should just die then. But that's wasn't my point. Well, don't you think (Y/n) would want to marry me? After all, I am the next emperor of this land. Much better than a worthless slave."

"You say that," the brunette humphed, wrinkling his nose in discontent, "but I asked my mistress the other day if she'd marry you or the young "master", and she said she would rather marry the second prince."

The three of the boys looked over one another at the (h/c) haired girl, watching at the way she fawned over the small being. He was dressed in a rather feminine outfit, but he didn't seem to care one way or the other, too young to think about fashion. The boy kicked around his feet in joy as the noble girl cooed at him, his mother, the empress, holding him affectionately. It seemed he had not only attracted her but many other noble ladies as well. The boys all scoffed, not thinking the child to be impressive.

"Would you like to hold him, Lady Suzuki?" the empress asked quietly, the small girl nodded up and down excitedly.

"Yes, please! I'll be careful!"

Maids set up a comfortable resting spot for the young marquess, instructing her on how to properly hold the baby boy. Her cheeks glowed red as she held him, the three boys sulking at the sight. They couldn't believe that a drooling baby was more interesting to her than them. Thinking deeply on it, Noboru came to a conclusion, placing his hand on the ravenette's shoulder and giving him a sharp look.

"If we're getting rid of one of my family's slaves, you gotta get rid of your brother."

The brunette tilted his head curiously at the sound of that. He had known that the two in front of him harbored strong feelings of animosity for him, but he didn't know they were so envious they would try to take him out of the picture. At that, he chuckled, a dark look crossing his face. He was very much amused, making the other two turn up their noses at him.

"Am I that much of a threat to you?" he snickered, placing his hands coyly behind him, "You really are scared that she likes me better, aren't you? But I guess that's okay. After all, I'm my mistress's favorite. She said so herself."

"She said no such thing!" Noboru huffed, stomping his foot down in irritation.

"Don't be silly. I heard it with my own ears. She made me promise to never leave her and swore that she would always be by my side. My mistress clothes and feeds me and spends her allowance money on taking care of me. Are you saying she's lying?"

"Please," the crown prince huffed, narrowing his eyes as he assessed the relatively pretty boy in front of him, "you're just a doll she's fond of right now, but she'll get tired of you. And when she does, you'll be nothing more than a slave again."

"Yeah?"

The brunette possessed a dark tone as he drew out the question, his eyes dead and violent. He posed a challenge to the two before him, all but promising that he would be the one that lasted the longest. To that, the other two glared at him, the grey-haired boy pulling his sword from his hip and pointing it to him, threatening him to back off before he was put in his place. However, he did no such thing, ignoring his young master's warning and scoffing.

"You're very confident in yourself for an ant," Sakane growled, "Your words don't mean anything to me though. You're just barking as loud as you can, hoping to damage my eardrums. And don't get me wrong, it's annoying, but that's about all it is. You can't beat me."

"Fine. Let's put it to the test. All the ladies get a broach. To give to the person they love the most, right? I bet my mistress will give it to me!"

"You're not even competing in the hunt," Noboru chuckled, pointing to the older gentlemen of the nobility who were competing, "I don't think you've thought this through. Only nobles can participate. So her giving you the broach means nothing."

"That's what makes it all the more true then, doesn't it? Because it means she doesn't care as long as it's me!"

"I-I-I've been waiting for the angel to put her broach on me all year!" the ravenette shivered, pointing his finger at the boys in front of him, "I'm not going to lose to you two!"

Huffing, the three crossed their arms over their chests and turned their noses up at one another, refusing to look at them. It was after that did a horn sound, signifying the start of the broach picking process. Noble ladies, young or old, all lined up to look at the craftsmanship of all the best jewelers in the country. So, as the (h/c) haired girl scampered over to look at them all, the higher-ranking ladies getting the first pick. As a marquess, she didn't wait too long, letting her have practically the first pick of jewelry.

The boys watched eagerly as she looked up and down the line, trying to see if she would pick something out that would suit them. However, her curious eyes only led her to one in particular, one that they attempted to peek at. They then tensed as she looked around quickly, presumably for who she wanted to gift it to. Blushing, the crown prince stuck out his chest, attempting to get her to look at him. Similarly, her adopted brother attempted to make direct eye contact. On the other hand, the slave boy just stood still, his calculating eyes looking at the ground in anticipation.

"It's my eye color," the grey-haired boy bragged.

"Well, it compliments my hair," Sakane hummed, the final boy remaining silent.

The girl's eyes suddenly lit up, finding the person she wanted to gift it to, and immediately, she ran towards the horses. With a shy gaze, she offered the broach up to the man readying his horse for the hunt ahead of him. The man, her father, gave a loving smile and kneeled down to her, encouraging her to pin it to his suit jacket. When she did so, he swept her up and gave her a loving kiss on the cheek, setting her down on the horse before he joined her, carefully ensuring she was balanced in front of him.

"W-Well, if it's her father...," the crown prince murmured, attempting to make an excuse.

"Of course," Noboru hummed, kicking at the ground, "Our father is a generous man. He took me in and nurtured me. It's only natural she loves her father..."

"Forget this," the slave boy hissed, storming away with frustration.

The two remaining boys looked at one another with blank gazes. They didn't bother going after him, hoping he would die in the forest. Maybe that way he would have stopped rambling about nonsense. All that cocky attitude and all it gave him was a heavy defeat. The girl didn't think of him when she picked out the broach nor did she want to give it to him in the first place. It was insulting to think he believed he was on the same level as them.

"Ant."

"Dog."

The young slave boy was furious. He truly believed with all of his heart that his mistress would have openly favored him, but he was mistaken and his pride was wounded. She had saved him from a life of abuse and starvation, and he loved her for that, but he didn't want to share such precious attention. Tears built up within his eyes as he thought of how many people surrounded her. Why couldn't it just be them two? Did he need to be stronger?

Whatever the answer, the boy resolved himself to becoming the most prominent person in the girl's life. He just had to grow into a man better than she could ever imagine. Resolving himself to developing himself as a person for the sake of the (h/c) haired girl's hand, he screamed as loud as he could in the forest, birds being scared off of the branches. He wasn't going to lose. She was his mistress.