"Boys, where are you? Alex, it's almost time for us to return home." His mother, Cecelia called out to them, which was followed by his father, Elijah, "Darling, why don't we suggest to the others to move our meeting to the garden? That way we can keep an eye on them without any worry." His parents were close friends with the Grand Duke and his wife as well as the royal couple, having gone to school together. This was how Alexis, Darcel and Lucius became friends, through their parents.
"Hmm, I suppose that would work. Boys, especially you Alexis, make sure you don't cause trouble here. I don't want to see you tatters again." After hearing their footsteps disappear, Lucius grabbed Alexis by the arm, "Lex what are you going to do? If your mother finds out that your clothes are a mess again..."
"Relax Lu, she won't find out." Alexis patted his friend's shoulder, only to catch Darcel's uneasy eyes. "Well... As long as I tidy up my clothes, everything will be alright."
"..."
"You're supposed to agree with me!" Lucius and Darcel looked at each other before patting Alexis on the shoulder instead, "Your mother is..."
"She has quite a temper." Darcel finished off the sentence, eliciting a panicked look from Lucius, "Darc! You can't say that. That is very rude." Darcel averted his eyes from Lucius, commenting, "Well she is. At least in my eyes."
"Geh. I really am going to get in trouble, won't I?" Alexis looked down at his ruffled clothes, a result of running and moving freely in the garden. "Lex, we should get down before she finds us."
Currently, they were up in a tree, sitting on the thick branches. Alexis quickly nodded to his friend's suggestion, preparing to jump down. "Wait! Lex!" But Lucius's warning was too late, Alexis had already landed on the ground. "My my Alex, what are you doing here?"
Alexis's body froze after recognising the voice, slowly lifting his head to his mother's smiling face. Even though a fan was covering her mouth, he could still tell her facial expression. "Mo-mother! How lovely to see you here." He tried to stand up without awkwardness but it simply made it more obvious. "Lucius, Darcel. Are you up there too?"
"Ye-yes..." Lucius managed to mumble out a reply before both of them jumped down as well. "My, how lovely it is to see young boys climbing up trees, especially when they are from noble houses." She snapped her fan closed before surrounding them with her wind magic. She quickly straightened out their clothing before lecturing them, "Boys, I know you are still young and curious, but you must remember etiquette. Alexis, I will have a talk with you later. Darcel, while I am not your parents, I hope you do not become influenced by Alexis's recklessness. And Lucius, you are the crown prince. What if people found out their prince likes to climb trees and act like an unruly child?"
"Mother! Please don't blame them. I convinced them to escape from the drawing-room earlier, it is not their fault." Alexis raised his arm to protect them, stepping forward to take the responsibility. "Lex! No that's not true. We both agreed to follow you." Darcel nodded in agreement with Lucius's objection.
"Stop trying to take responsibility for everything! We're your friends too. We promised to be together forever right?" Lucius grabbed onto his arm whereas Darcel tugged on his sleeve, "You won't leave us right?"
Alexis softened his eyes, feeling a little wrong, "Of course not! You are my precious friends! Why would I leave you?"
"..."
"Darling, you must reply to them even if you think they are adorable," Elijah spoke in a hushed voice behind his wife, bringing over the other parents. "Oh, I know that." She gave a light glare to her husband.
"Lia, why don't we drop this? The boys just got their elemental examination. Shouldn't we celebrate it instead?" Adelaide Angetré, the current queen, spoke up to ease her friend. "I don't see the reason as to why not." Felix Leroux agreed with her, beginning to order the servants. Audrey Leroux was already starting to sit down with Adolphe, the king, chatting with him happily about how well their children get along. "Lia, come sit down. We have your favourite schesa cake here too."
"..." Cecelia quickly darted her eyes to the cake before returning back to the children. "Stop trying to tempt me with that. It's not going to work." Alexis saw an opportunity, lightly pulling her sleeve, "Mother I would like to try that cake. Is it your favourite?" He tried his best to appeal to her, causing a ripple effect.
Darcel shyly walked up to his mother, "Esteemed Mother, I too would like to try the new dessert you have." Lucius opting for some tea instead, "Royal Father, don't you think this tea would go particularly well with the Archduchess's cake?" Cecelia was surrounded by the children's antics, causing a burst of light laughter from everyone, "Give up Darling. They haven't done anything bad. Just a little mischief here and there." Elijah gently coaxed his wife, escorting her to her seat and signalling the children to follow.
They saw his signal, detaching themselves from their parents, following Elijah further into the centre of the garden. Elijah led them just a few meters away from the rest of the group, huddling them closer together. "Boys, now I won't repeat what my wife has just said since I'm sure you're sick of hearing it constantly from us. All I want you to know is that I hope you will try your best in learning magic and training with the sword." Alexis groaned, the thought of having to study and training didn't exactly sound pleasing to him. "And because I know that you are still young, I won't restrict your little adventures. Just make sure you are safe."
He paused before giving them a group hug, "I want you to know that while we are strict on you guys, we still care for you. After all, you are our children." He gently ruffled each of their heads after letting them go. "Now, why don't you bring Ciel and Violet over? We're about to start your celebration soon." The three of them nodded before running into the castle. Elijah watched them before returning to the table. "Eli, you do know you are being quite soft with them right?" Adolphe teased.
"What can I do? They're too adorable and they depend on each other so much already." Elijah took a sip of the tea, "This truly would go well with the schesa cake. Darling, did you manage to have a sip of it yet?" Cecelia shook her head before giving it a try, marvelling at how it complimented her favourite cake so well.
"I have a feeling that we wouldn't be able to separate them in the future." Audrey chimed in, taking a small bite of the wynsta and gurchik macaroon. "Mmm~ Marvelous!"
"You should really try the other flavours they have. I think it'll satisfy your sweet tooth very well." Adelaide placed a few more macaroons onto her plate, while Felix refilled her teacup with some more tyvantra tea. "Oh, you're spoiling me too much. Shouldn't we focus on how Darcel and Lucius are very protective and clingy towards your son, Alexis?" She directed the question to Cecelia who was in the middle of finishing the schesa cake.
"Ahum, I don't see the problem with that. In fact, Adele, wasn't it you the other day who suggested placing them in a secret engagement?" Cecelia tossed the question to her friend, who was enjoying the conversation on the sidelines. "My, Cece, whatever do you mean? I simply want my son to be happy. Although it is a shame that Lucius couldn't have Alexis to himself."
"No, my son deserves to be with Alexis, not Lucius. Can't you see how he's willing to open up more for Alexis to notice him?" Audrey quickly shattered the idea that Alexis should only be engaged to Lucius, by directing the conversation onto her son. "Why don't we just let them be? I'm sure sometime in the future they would come to us proposing an engagement between the three of them anyways." Felix simply spoke as a matter of fact.
"NO!" All three ladies raise a clear objection, "My son Alex deserves the best. Why should he have to choose between Lucius and Darcel? What if he introduced to us a different person?" Cecelia hurriedly grabbed another slice of schesa cake before taking another bite. "Darling, do you really think that Lucius and Darcel would allow for that to happen?" Elijah shot down his wife's counterargument with another, "Eli! You're supposed to defend me here!"
Their conversation continued in the garden, only stopping when the children returned. Although, in hushed voices, they continued to discuss their children's futures afterwards.