Author's Note:

It has been 1 year, 3 months, and five days. Thinking about it, since this book only has 15 chapters, I'm wondering why in the world is this story still so popular?! Why are they still people reading this?!

Is it because of the lack of Japanese BL fantasy novels? (Which also makes me weep because I would stare at the Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death novelupdate and Chrysanthemum Garden page until it updates; I'm so desperate for updates). Or is everyone just thirsty for more BL stories in general?

I'm just a little baffled by my ever-present readership 0.0

...--------...

The study was eerily quiet, save for the rustle of paper being shuffled through as Kyron Rosetta, his father, read the combined report written by Dean Armstrong, the PM (People's Militia) Lieutenant supervising the case, and Henry Volkov. Mr. Volkov had already given his official statement to one of the PM officers, but the one he had given to the Duke was more detailed with his own commentary in between the lines.

Mr. Volkov might be old, but he was a general and a war hero once. His insight into these types of situations was always valuable.

Edward stood in front of his father, ignoring his mother's caustic gaze pointed at his back and his sister's worried and cautious one. Due to the chaotic aftermath of the chase and Xander's unsubtle display of the Royal Crest, both of their families easily found out about their little afternoon 'trip' in one of the middle-class districts.

Xander was immediately taken home once their statements had been taken. Though the prince had wanted to stay behind and help with the proceedings, his mother didn't agree though.

"You have a lot of guts to go racing carriages through the streets--!" she yelled angrily through her son's royal ECoM for everyone at the scene of the crime to hear. And finished with a, "--without me!!" that had several PM officers stumble as they investigated the scene.

All the while, Xander had an exasperated expression on his face, one that was mixed with fondness and amusement. "Mother--" he tried to placate but Queen Marie wouldn't have it.

"And what was this I hear about you sitting on your high horse and letting other people do your work? I can see our dear Eddie's masterpiece from behind you--" She was probably referring to the widespread cover of icicle and frost melting onto the streets and into the alleyway. "--but where's your contribution?"

"Mother," Xander tried once again. "That's not the point--"

"What do you mean 'that's not the point'?!"  she whined, her image on the ECoM shaking. "Finally something exciting happened in this goddess-damn boring city and not only did I miss it, my own kid decided to take a passive route?!" Xander's expression turned helpless, and both him and Edward tried not to sigh as they could hear King Charles trying to calm down his wife. "You better get your ass back to the training ground, Xander Charles Ricardo Lynel Hubert Windsor! Obviously, I haven't trained you well enough in urban combat!!"

So Xander went home to weather his strange punishment from his mother, but both the Queen and King gave Edward permission to use Dr. Ainsley's services, who was currently tending to his brother. She wasn't really willing at first but after another promise of alcohol and the first available body from the morgue, she became the image of professionalism, taking Thomas' vitals and checking his lungs with a serious expression on her face. It was like she hadn't thrown a tantrum, feet stomping and whining included, a few minutes ago.

While the doctor was doing her job, Edward became the liaison between the royal guards, the People's Military officers, and his own men, assembling all relevant information to deduce the goal and reasoning for his brother's abduction. There were a few points that had been made clear during his investigation:

One, Thomas was not the intended target. His involvement was entirely accidental.

Two, according to Mr. Al-Amin's accounts and interactions with Mason Smith, Edward was supposed to be the target instead.

Three, Conrad Hernandez was an unfortunate casualty, if only because his side of the garden, the one he dedicated to the youngest Rosetta full of lavender and herbs, was the least patrolled by their knights.

And lastly, today was supposed to be the day they would execute their schemes. Otherwise, why would they risk discovery by knocking out Mr. Hernandez and having a carriage readied near the estate walls?

Smith had been under their care for more than a month before then; Edward wasn't sure if he was contacted by his employer before or after his acceptance into their ranks, but the eldest son of the Rosetta didn't make an effort to hide his busy schedule. He was always moving from one place to the next, never lingering unless he was attending his classes in the academy or visiting the palace. He had never liked staying in Rosetta Manor for long-- until Thomas had gotten sick.

All of the sudden, his sporadic and often full timetable was trashed to accompany his easily lonely and clingy little brother. For a week and a half, he would leave classes just as they ended (sometimes along with Xander) and stay next to his bedside until dinner or any other appointments he couldn't avoid or push back. At the very least, he would always stay with Thomas for a few hours to help soothe his fever and his aching body, and Smith probably saw that as an opportunity.

It was only a lucky coincidence that Edward had left earlier than expected today. In order to avoid the attention of some unsavory people, only a few people knew he left the manor in order to pick up Xander and the Royal Family's own personal doctor and therefore, his departure ruined Smith's planned just as it began.

As for who was the mastermind behind this whole fiasco? Edward had a few ideas...

After reading through Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Volkov's report, his father set them aside and picked up Edward's comprehensive statement, which was bigger than the two previous ones combined. The older man read through it quickly and thoroughly, before commenting solemnly, "It's unlike you to be so careless."

Edward restrained a flinch at the subtle admonish, lowering his head in a chastised manner. "It's my mistake, father. I should have been more careful."

"Yes," Kyron agreed as he lowered the large stack of paper down onto his desk, closing his eyes briefly. His expression was as cold as his son's, clear of anger or disappointment, but his voice was stern and severe. "The nature of the investigation aside, even if their power is steadily declining, they still held the title of Marquis. Therefore, they have more means to perform unsavory acts in the dark."

The eldest son usually blank face held a grimace. "I know, Father."

"And yet, you still underestimated them," the older man pointed out as he opened his eyes, displaying his own intimidating ice-blue orbs. "And in turn, you endangered yourself and the people around you."

Lowering his head, Edward had no viable excuse he could give. After all, he never thought that the McGowan Family would be desperate enough to hire someone to kidnap him. What little he had gained from his previous investigations over their underhanded business wasn't enough to implicate them of anything just yet. "I... didn't find anything conclusive."

"You haven't," his father allowed, crossing his worn fingers together. "But you need to take into account of Marquis McGowan's personality. He's paranoid by nature and even if you find something small, he will react to it. Combined with his detail-oriented character, there is rarely anything that slips past his control. He runs a tight ship on his businesses, which makes it difficult for us to incriminate him in anything-- if we can find anything to incriminate him with."

As Kyron then reached for some paper and a feather pen, probably to make his report to the King about his family's side of the scenario, Edward's cold eyes darkened. The McGowan family had always been shady even before he was born but no one was able to properly connect them with any criminal activities. Even now, their investigations over the attempted kidnapping had come to a dead end. The two men they had captured were recruited by two different people that they were unable to identify and Mason Smith, who seemed to be more intimate with their employer, had disappeared. He was hired previously by the McGowans before but that wouldn't be enough to suggest their involvement. "I... see. I'll make note of that, Father."

"See that you do."

"I'm sorry, but Father, don't you think it's rather farfetched that Marquis McGowan would risk his own status and reputation to kidnap Brother, an heir of the Prime Minister, a Duke's son, and also someone who has close ties to the Royal Family? Marquis McGowan may be paranoid but by no means is he suicidal!" All of the sudden, Katherine gave her own opinion of the matter, her darker blue eyes turning into a sharp sapphire. "Either he is quite confident in the help he has hired or he is confident in his abilities to weather the scrutiny towards his family!"

Edward turned around and looked at his sister in surprise while Kyron paused in mid-writing.

Katherine sat in one of their father's office chairs with a grace and dignity befitting of her social status. Her hands were placed in her lap, holding a lacy, embroidered fan that matched her intricate mauve dress. She would often use it to hide her mouth but the accessory was rather needless since his sister could adjust her expression even better than their mother.

The only young lady of the Rosetta household had her mother's beauty but her brother's and father's cold elegance, a combination which made her one of the most sought out noble ladies in the city. Unlike her brother, she seemed much more approachable, if only because she inherited her mother's gem-blue eyes and not her father's glacial ones, therefore she was quite more intimate with the affairs of many noble families. Gossip had always been her main weapon and while her type of information network was not always as thorough as her brother's, rarely was it not useful.

Their father narrowed his cold eyes and considered his daughter's statement. "What would you suggest then, Katherine?"

In response, Katherine tapped her fan against her bottom lip, a calculative gleam shading her beautiful, gem-like eyes. "Both Brother and Father are not wrong; currently, out of all the likely candidates to have planned for my brother's abduction, Marquis McGowan is the only one with a desperate enough motive."

The Rosetta's have plenty of enemies and Katherine had always made sure to pay special attention to those who had wished for her family's downfall. Regardless, barely anyone among their adversaries would be brave enough to scheme against them, much less her brother.

Edward was rather special amongst his peers if only because of the nature of his relationship with the Royal Family. Suffice to say, they treat her brother like their second son.

While her eldest brother was always under the humble impression that he relied on the Royal Family's kindness too much, the King, the Queen, and especially the Crown Prince thought otherwise. Those constant dinner invitations that Xander often mentioned every other day were obviously more than just a courtesy offer! The rest of their family were never given such an opportunity, only Edward! Not that Katherine was jealous or anything like that; she had been to one of those dinners once and once was already too many.

Queen Marie acted nothing like a noble lady should and her husband always indulged her in chaos. By the end of the night, Katherine was barely able to leave the palace without food on her clothes and pieces of meat in her hair. But despite Her Highness' boisterous personality, the worst thing she had to suffer during that dinner was Xander's non-subtle moon eyes at her brother, and Edward was none the wiser of the Crown Prince's apparent affections.

It was the worse case of 'third-party syndrome' she ever had the pleasure to experience.

Of course, there was no way she was going to be the one to resolve anything between the two. Frankly, it was the Crown Prince's problem if he couldn't clarify his intentions towards her brother. Furthermore, that leech of a Prince was the one hogging Edward, not the other way around! She was her brother's cute little sister and yet she could not spend any time with him alone because Xander kept acting like her brother's second shadow!

Many young noblemen and ladies were deceived into thinking that the Prime Minister's son was the one that wouldn't leave His Highness alone but it was actually the opposite! The Crown Prince they all admired and looked up to was actually a puppy that had imprinted on her brother.

In other words, blood was sure to rain if anything happened to her brother under the Royal Family's nose. There was not a single person on this continent that would dare go against Marie Windsor, a first-tier magician and the most powerful swordswoman in the country. And while Charles Windsor and their son didn't have the same might as the Queen, it would be a mistake to consider them as weak or easy to bully.

Therefore, only the foolish would try to kidnap her brother, and Marquis McGowan was not the type of person that did foolish things. If he was, then his not-quite-legal businesses would be out of business long ago.

"But?" Edward encouraged, curious about his sister's insight.

"Well, there is a chance that a third party is involved. One that is using the Marquis' own fortune to fund their schemes." Both son and father went quiet out of contemplation, though Edward had a feeling he knew where his sister was going with this conversation. Katherine kept the top of her frilly fan near the bottom of her lip, her eyes as hard and cold as diamonds. "If I recall correctly, isn't Thomas associated with Marquis McGowan's son and heir?"

Both Kyron and Edward stiffened while Lady Anais Rosetta sneered. His mother's hair was a golden wheat color, darker than her husband and her children's locks, but her eyes were the same sapphire gem as Katherine. There wasn't a part of her body that wasn't covered in embroidered cloth, fine threads, and dazzling jewels. Her make-up was heavily done but tasteful with dark reds and browns in contrast with her daughter's natural and thin foundation.

Their mother had less control of her expressions in comparison to her daughter, though the only thing she couldn't hide was her feelings of disgust and distaste. Therefore, once Thomas was mentioned in the conversation, Anais' face contorted and in order to prevent the people in the room to see such an ugly appearance, she shielded the lower part of her face with a magenta fan. "Of course that little scoundrel is involved! I thought it was too quiet lately-- but to think the rat would try to harm my son!"

"Mother, let's not make any assumptions," Katherine intercepted before they could be treated with another one of Lady Anais' 'the bastard child is a curse on this household' lecture, unaware of the strange and unusual expression on her brother's face. "But we do need to keep an eye on him and investigate his recent interactions with McGowan--"

"Thomas, he-- he has nothing to do with this," Edward blurted out clumsily and the whole room went quiet. Katherine stared at her brother with wide, shocked eyes, startled by his outburst while his mother had a similar expression but more indignant. The eldest son couldn't even begin to imagine the look on his father's face at his sudden defense for the youngest, but he instead turned towards his sister and reasoned, "Thomas hasn't interacted with McGowan in months and he has been sick for the past week; where would he find the time to make such an elaborate scheme?"

After realizing that her brother was making a serious statement, Katherine furrowed her brow together. "Isn't he faking it, Edward?" she countered, her sapphire-blue eyes striking against the eldest sibling's ice-blue orbs. "It's too much of a coincidence for him to be sick while a plan for your abduction was being made."

"It is a coincidence, regardless," Edward argued, looking at his sister calmly but determined in his stance on the matter. "Dr. Ainsley confirmed his condition to be serious and is working on a diagnosis."

Katherine narrowed her eyes, still unconvinced by their little brother's uninvolvement. Usually, if anything untoward happened to her brother, Thomas was always involved: either as the plotter or as the accomplice. And if the youngest was unrelated to the situation, he would butt in and make everything worse! "We should still investigate."

Edward frowned in response. "There's nothing to investigate. May I remind you that Thomas was taken by the kidnappers as a casualty. He would never plan something that would put himself at risk." At least, the old Thomas wouldn't. This new Thomas, the current Thomas, the one he had interacted with for weeks, lacked the maliciousness (and energy) to plan such an elaborate scheme.

His sister began to tap her fan in the palm of her hand, a sign of impatience and frustration even if her expression was carefully unreadable. Rarely would they argue or disagree with each other; their relationship is good even if their own interests didn't coincide with each other. While Katherine preferred the social aspect of nobility, Edward was enamored with the dutiful part of being a noble. She liked dresses and fashion; he was more partial to armor and weaponry. Their social circle rarely crossed and they never ended up meeting in the same place unless it was arranged beforehand. Of course, even if they didn't understand each other's hobbies, they still support each other's pastime nonetheless.

The only thing they had in common was their family and their hair color; the former was always something they were reluctant to address. But now that they were on the topic, it was hard to reconcile and let go.

Their little brother Thomas had always been a subject of frustration and misery. They could never talk about him without feeling uncomfortable or aggrieved, and though Edward's perspective about the youngest had changed, the usual tension in the air whenever the Second Young Lord was mentioned hadn't.

Just as Katherine was about to rise up and push (because, though she was low-keyed about it, her competitive spirit and stubbornness was as bad as her brother's, if not more vindictive), their father stopped any further arguments with a strict, "Enough."

Immediately, the two siblings fell quiet and turned their eyes away from each other. Instead, they looked directly at their father whose emotionless face held a bit of stiffness. It wasn't a surprise to both of them that their father had decided to intervene— Kyron didn't like to be reminded of his youngest's existence. He avoided anything in concern towards Thomas as if the child was a bad omen.

Edward and Katherine took one last glance at each other; their discussion was obviously not finished but they wouldn't quarrel in front of their parents any longer. Not only did their mother look unsightly, but their father suddenly seemed brittle and worn out.

With his eyes lowered, Kyron heaved out a sigh. "It was a long day and I'm sure both of you are tired." An obvious dismissal but their father wouldn't force