The one to respond to him was not Yuki, but her biggest fan who felt like his idol was questioned about credibility, he spoke in a rushed tone, "Onee-chan never lies, and she is very intelligent. She is also good in sword dance and she also teaches me and reads a lot, if she says she did complete it, then she meant it", Aki looked like a small kitten showing his little fangs, his nose flared up a bit and his eyes with a fire of conviction, to him the crown prince was a good person, but if it came to choosing between the two, he would choose his Onee-chan hundred times out of hundred times.... humph!
Yuki saw the child speak for her and felt a warm current run inside her, for both Yuki and Snow after becoming one existence, I was the first time for them to feel it and she decided to cherish it.
She gently caressed her angry kitten of a brother, after he had calmed down, she gave a look to the crown prince, " Aki is still young. I'll apologise in his place as his elder sister, do forgive his impudence", this person was still the prince, no matter the circumstances, it would be better to apologise first, he may have some good feelings towards the child, but Yuki didn't want to get with these imperials, for now, not because of her previous experience, but just cause she wanted to live a laid back life more than anything... but since, this child had already spoken, she would not like him to think that his Onee-chan was not standing on his side and so, she still continued, "I may not be as good as my brother has described me, but I really am done with everything and don't need any help still, I'm grateful to you for that", she was trying to be as humble as possible, her tone was still cold as usual, but that was her character setting, she couldn't do anything about that~
Makarios had been silent since Aki spoke, it seems, he worded it wrong, all he wanted was to stay with him a little longer, how did it become him underestimating his sister all of sudden?
Well, even though he acted to be mature, he was still a child without much experience in interpersonal communication, he was used to talking with the guards and his teachers, but as a crown prince, he couldn't help but have a commanding tone, he wanted to fix this situation, but didn't know where to start...
It was his old habit, the more nervous he was, the stiffer his face became, Aki who saw his angry(?) face, flinched a bit, he had seen this look on that fairy and didn't like it, his body trembled as he reflexively got behind his Onee-chan. Makarios saw him behave like this and felt very gloomy, he seemed to have pushed Aki further away from him.... he really hadn't changed a bit, he was still the 'bad' person.
Without meaning to his power was becoming restless, it was the same feeling he felt back then, he had seen his mother's still and cold body. He didn't like this feeling, he had learned to control his feelings after he found about his powers that had caused a mess that day, but it was more like he just had constructed strong and high walls around him so that, he wouldn't be affected by anything rather than actually controlling them. Now that, he had finally lowered the walls and the result was still the same, the emotions of despair and guilt that he had been suppressing went out of control.
But, he actually hadn't wanted this to happen, but seeing this he finally understood that he was really a frail person, the trauma since that day was eating his heart away... slowly and steadily, he was losing control of his ownself...
….....
It was time for a break.
The Emperor who had been restless about something from the time he send the Duke's children to meet his prince, finally couldn't control it and the moment he was done with some important matters, he walked out of his chambers.
Well, as the Emperor, it didn't suit him to run around, somehow, he wanted to go back in time when he could do whatever he wanted to... his youth, ah~
His gait was still elegant, but fast, very fast!
The guard couldn't keep up with him because he was using his magic on himself to walk faster towards the Duke's official chamber in the palace, he was about to turn when he almost collided with the person coming from the other side.
He side-stepped and paused, the other person immediately apologised, but the Emperor didn't care, he was at fault and seeing who the other person was, his eyes lit up, without saying anything, he pulled the other person with him and rushed towards the Duke's chambers.
The person who was being dragged without notice, had reflexively used magic on himself, he seemed used to it. Finally, when they saw who the person he had almost collided with was, he shook his head and let the other person drag himself, he was used to it. The other person guessed their location and a smile bloomed on their beautiful face.
The Duke was working on a paper about the recent demonic zerg incidents when the door to his room was pushed open with a loud noise, even without looking up, he could guess the culprit.
"Sig, let's go visit those children!!!!", spoke the emperor, he looked more like a child who wanted to get a gaming device or hunt for beetles in the forests, rather than the adult he was supposed to look as.
The Duke had guessed it, it was the Emperor, he looked up to say something to him when his eyes landed on the person standing beside the Emperor with a helpless smile.
The other person ignored the Emperor's outburst and replied in their trademark gentle tone, " It's been a while, Sig-nii-san. I heard about the Duchess, I apologise I couldn't come sooner. My condolences."