Episode 13

The young boys stare at each other, it was a moment of awkward silence. The one who broke the silence was the red headed one, the youngest.

"Who allowed you to enter the Royal Garden? It is off limits to everyone, except the Emperor and Empress." The boy looked at Gabriel with his cold eyes, yet there was a hint of annoyance and contempt.

When looking at those eyes, Gabriel already feels horrible because of the revelation he recieved a few minutes ago, but having someone look at him as if he was a waste just angered him even more, causing him to comment back to the young child.

"Then why are you here? I don't remember hearing the Emperor is a snot nosed brat with a short temper. And I know you can't be the Empress."

Gabriel looked at the boy with equal annoyance and dislike, not caring if the boy would feel hurt or start crying when an older boy looks at him with a glare.

Gabriel just huffs and turns, he didn't want to waste time on a high and mighty brat. 'Today really isn't my day, why didn't I fake an illness or something.'

"Hey, Wait!"

Hearing the childish voice using a commanding voice to gain his attention back, Gabriel just narrows his eyes even more, and felt like the kid has no manners.

He turns back, but notices a change on the boy's eyes. They weren't as cold. Before the child speak, Gabriel got ahead of him.

"Don't you know any manners, you don't just scream 'Hey Wait!' You should ask for the persons name or wait for him to introduce themselves, yet with that look filled with contempt and disrespect, who would stay to hear you? You should at least apologize for that attitude of yours."

Gabriel started to nag the boy with his hand in the hip and his other moving in a scolding manner. He remembered this was the pose his nanny used on her children when they did something bad.

The boys eyes widen and wonders if this is a new tactic of trying to gain his attention, but soon threw that thought away.

'They wouldn't dare, especially if there's a high chance of angering me." While still looking at the nagging boy, he can only come to one conclusion.

'He doesn't know me.'

At the same time he made that conclusion, Gabriel was close to the end of his nagging.

"Since I'm older, I'll be more forgiving of your attitude".

The young child looks at Gabriel and wondered 'if all that scolding is considered you being forgiving, then I wonder what is your unforgiving one.' The boy didn't speak those words, if he did, he had the feeling he would quickly know the answer to the question.

"Ok, well that's all. Goodbye." After finishing his scolding, Gabriel turns to leave, but the boy stops him again.

"Hey!."

Causing Gabriel to roll his eyes in exasperation. He turns to the boy again. "Hey this, hey that, I have a name you know!".

"Well what is it?"

"Huh?"

"Your name, what is it?"

Hearing the question, Gabriel just noticed he hasn't introduced himself, causing him to facepalm, surprising the boy.

"Ah... seems that I had no right to scold you so much when I forgot the most basic thing, sorry", Gabriel apologizes to the boy with a self mockery smile "Gabriel Envoy, the son of Luke and Ivory Envoy. It's.... a pleasure to meet you?".

'While in truth it wasn't.'

The young boy feels that was why Gabriel paused and even added a question to that last sentence, but he decided to ignore it for now.

"I see. Hey, do you kn-" before he can ask Gabriel if he knew him, Gabriel looks like he was ready to scold him again, which caused him to change his words.

"Gabriel, Do you know who I am?". 'He gives off the same energy my mother would when she was ready to scold me, how fearsome.'

Not knowing the impression he left on the young boy, Gabriel looks at the boy in a tired expression.

"How would I know you if you don't even tell me your name, what? You think I can guess you identity with just your looks?"

'....pretty much.' Hearing Gabriel's answer, he now knows 100 percent that Gabriel doesn't know his identity.

After all, if anyone else saw him, they would automatically tell he is the crown prince, Mihkael Serenity, the son of Hector Eternity. The Eternity last name given to each Emperor and Empress of the empire.

"Calling you, 'you' is actually tiring, are you gonna even bother telling me you name?"

"....Mihk."

"Just that?" The boy nods and Gabriel looks at the boy in confusion.

"What about you last name, your parents?"

The boy stays quite and looks away. Gabriel misinterprets the boys attitude 'does he not have parents? Is he an orphan?'

Gabriel started to make many wild guesses and concluded that the boy was a child who is being abused by relatives since his parents died or something, 'that's why he has such a crooked attitude.'

Not knowing he was fully off the mark, Gabriel let's his guard down and walks toward the boy, and pats his head as if to comfort a crying child.

'..... I think he misunderstood my silence for something dramatic' looking at Gabriel patting his head and smiling down at him with a reassuring smile, he decided to not say anything. 'Should be fine for now.'

"Mihk, don't worry, I'll be here for you. How about you call me big brother Gabriel, for now on I'll treat you as if your my younger brother, ok."

'Older brother get' Mihkael looks up at the happy boy and made a self joke. 'I wonder how he will react when he find out who I really am, would be still pat me so naturally like this?'

Mihkael stares up and his eyes dim at the thought. Gabriel notices but doesn't know why Mihk looks so sad.

'Could it be... did he have an older sibling and they died too!?' And the misunderstanding continues piling up.

Before Gabriel can pity the boy anymore, Mihkael turns to a bench, hidden away from prying eyes, "let's sit down, I'm tired from all the standing."

When Gabriel heard Mihkael, he nods and they begin walking, Gabriel thought of something and then grabs Mihkael's hand, surprising him.

"....why?"

"Hmm? Ah! I thought maybe you'd feel better if we hold hands, I remember just today I held hands with an older brother type kid and felt protected and safe."

Seeing as Gabriel decided to accept him as his younger brother, Gabriel opened up to Mihkael and became attached.

"Oh... but maybe you wouldn't feel that assured with someone like me as an older brother, huh."

When Gabriel thought of it, he might be the worst choice of an older brother, he heard because of his blood, he can't use magic, 'I'm weaker than normal people and may never be able to protect people who I care for.'

Looking at Gabriel's self-loathing and mockery on his face, Mihkael notices that the boy doesn't have much self esteem.

'Now that I think about it, didn't he come running here with tears just barely holding in.'

Feeling Gabriel's hand loosening its grip, Mihkael tightly holds his hand, and doesn't let go. Gabriel looks at him in surprise, but Mihkael had his head turn to the side, hiding his expression. "I never said that. Big Brother Gabriel is quick to jump conclusions huh."

"Oh... haha ok, I'm glad I have such an adorable younger brother like Mihk". Gabriel laughs at Mihkael's show of manliness, but he bets if he can see Mihkael's face, he would see a blush in those baby fat cheeks and the boy furrowing his eyebrows to hide his embarrassment.

And he was right, that was exactly Mihkael's expression. Both boys arrive in the bench and before Mihkael can sit on his own, Gabriel bends a bit and puts his hands bellow Mihkael's arms and lifts him up to sit and then sits down next to him.

Mihkael really felt that he experience new things today, but didn't actually hate it, while thinking that, he feels a hand start patting his head again, and looks up at Gabriel.

When Gabriel notices Mihkael staring at him, he turns to look down at him with a full blooming smile.

"Yes?"

".... No, Nothing." Mihkael allows the older boy to pat his head, they stay like that for a while, until he asks "why were you crying?"

"Crying!? I- I wasn't crying!" Gabriel became flustered and tried to defend himself or something.

"But you were."

"No I was not, I was just barely crying!"

"So you admit that you were at least close to crying."

"!!!" Gabriel looks at this boy and wonders how this kid can be so smart.

"So anyway, why were you in such a depressing mood."

"Do kids your age even know the word depressing?".

"Do kids your own age know that word?"

Mihkael ask the question back, causing Gabriel to shut his mouth, because even he knows that their might not be, his tutors told him that vocabulary is for 14-15 year range.

"Stop changing the topic, or what? Even when you want me to call you big brother Gabriel, it was just a joke to you? Do I actually not deserve your trust?"

Mihkael looks down as if he was saddened at the thought, causing Gabriel to be consumed by guilt and quickly deny it.

"No! I would never take you as a joke. I'll tell you so please don't be sad."

Gabriel pats Mihkael in the back and tries to reassure him, unbeknownst to him, Mihkael had a sly smile and hid it before he notices. He turns to Gabriel.

"Ok then tell me."

".... why do I feel as if I was tricked?"

"Its just your imagination." Mihkael cut his words and hurriedly urges him on to explain already.

"Haahhh~ fine, fine. But it's a long explanation. I don't think we ha-".

Mihkael takes out a communication crystal and whispers into it, hearing some type of confirmation, he puts away the crystal and turns to Gabriel.

"Now we have extra time, so continue."

"..." Gabriel wanted to ask but decided against it.

"... ok then. Then I'll start from the beginning."

After saying that, he starts to explain a bit of his family situation, then about being out for the first time, how he saw a different side of his parents, their friends and their friends kids. He told him about the argument between Jonathan and the Nora guy, and then how he switched targets to him and finally told him something that was always on his mind, but was always awkward and scared to ask.

Mihkael stays still and listens to everything, his eyes growing colder and colder, until the point were he heard that Jonathan gave a knuckle sandwich to the Nora guy and they started to brawl in the middle of the party. Mihkael smirked and let out a snort, but Gabriel didn't notice.

"And while they faught, I ended up walking away in a daze, then just ran as far away as I can from that place, and bang! Here I am, meeting with a short tempered kid who I now how a sworn brotherhood with."

"Sworn brotherhood?"

"Yeah. Like you know, we may not be related by blood, but now that I and you accept each others as brothers, then blood isn't important, we are brothers till the day we die, I will have your back and when your older, you will have mine."

When Gabriel tries to explain sword brothers and stuff, he tries to remember what he read in a book once, since this was the first time he ever initiated a brotherhood with someone.

Mihkael quietly listens to Gabriel's explanation and thinks about it.

"Then we will be bound from now on and forever?"

"Umm, that is kinda worded strangely, but yeah?"

"You won't ever betray me, aren't just with me because of my status, and will always treat me the same, even if you know fully who I am?"

Mihkael makes a rapid shot of terms and Gabriel only looks at him in pure confusion.

"??? Um yeah?"

"You swear it!?"

"!! Yea-yeah!? I swear. Aren't your questions and meaning a bit too strange? I mean, why would I treat you any differently? You know who I am and I know who you are right?".

Seeing the confusion fill Gabriel's face, Mihkael felt a sense of guilt, for hiding the whole truth from him. He knows that he can't keep the truth for long, so when he was debating whether to tell him or not, he felt Gabriel hand patting him again, he turns to him in surprise.

"From what I can tell, there is something your not telling me, but you know, we know each other less than a day, but I can see you are straightforward and kind kid, so if there's something your hiding, I can wait. Don't force yourself to tell me ok."

Gabriel just smiled while looking ahead, he didn't mind what Mihk might be hiding, he accepted him as his friend, his first friend even, and now they even have a deeper bond as brothers, so he doesn't care what he hides, as long as it won't effect their friendship that they just made.

Mihkael never met someone like Gabriel, someone who is so innocent in their need for friends, who opens up the moment he feels a connection to someone, he doesn't judge and he just wants to make a connection, even when he knows the other person is still hiding something, 'he trust that I would tell him one day'.

'I don't think it was this easy to make such a lifelong friend, I bet if he meets the other two, they will get attached to this innocent person who doesn't want to make connections because of wealth, but because of pure friendship.'

"No, you trust me a lot, so I should give you the same amount. Big brother Gabriel, I only gave you my nickname, my actually full name i-" before he could finish, the communication crystal started to shine, interrupting Mihkael, an irk mark appeared in the side of his face and he asks of a moment and quickly answers it.

Gabriel watches on as Mihkael argues with the other person but in the end has to agree and end their discussion.

"Looks like our time is up, the birthday celebration is commencing, I have to go."

"Oh! Now that I think about it, you really are a 5 year old child, I bet your relatives are planning to use you to get close to the crown prince, humph! How despicable."

Gabriel frowns at the thought of his young friend being used to just climb the social ladder, even when he may be abused by such family members.

Mihkael can see that the misunderstanding of Gabriel will cause a lot of trouble in the future, so he needed to tell him quick.

"And I don't just feel bad for you, I feel that the crown prince is just being treated as an object for the adults own greed, I don't know how much he must be suffering because the only people who gets close to him aren't really there for him, but because of his title. He must have long created a barrier around him, distrusting and using a cold front to protect himself."

When Gabriel began to talk, Mihkael felt something hard to describe, his eyes were growing a bit moist, his hands shaking, but Gabriel hasn't noticed and just held Mihkael's hand.

"We should go now, let's go together, I'll make sure to protect you from your relatives ok? How about I ask my parents to adopt you? I won't be able to use magic, but if we have at least one relative that does, I bet my parents will think about it. But don't worry! I'm not saying I want you adopted because of status, but let's just use that to convince them ok?"

Gabriel didn't want Mihk to think he was just using him.

"Haha!" Mihkael started to laugh at Gabriel's panicking expression, he looked up at him and finally had an expression a kid his age should have.

"Thank you Big brother."

"!! Uh.. um yeah.." Gabriel thought he saw an angel descend from heaven, he isn't saying Mihkael was ugly in the beginning, no he was far from ugly, but it was that his first meeting, he thought he just say a moving doll, there was no light in his eyes, as if their was no need for emotions.

Yet now... he looked like a living being, the life in his eyes giving him a more ethereal beauty.

They reach the entrance to the hall, but before they entered, Mihkael stops Gabriel and starts to use his communication crystal again. He always spoke in a hushed tone, that Gabriel couldn't hear the conversation, but decided not to eavesdrop either.

"Big brother Gabriel, carry me." Mihkael turns to Gabriel and reaches his arms out, ready to be carried.

"Huh? Oh! Are you tired?" Mihkael just nods his head. Gabriel doesn't really think much about it and lifts him up, carrying him to the door.

"Oh wait a sec, I'm gonna open the doors."

"Don't worry, someone is going to open it for us."

Confused with how confident he sounded, Gabriel wanted to ask him how he would know that. But before he can, two royal knights opened the doors for them.

Gabriel's eyes widened in surprise, wondering why royal knights would personally open doors for a bunch of noble kids.

"Just walk in. We shouldn't make them wait."

Gabriel snapped back to reality and decided to just walk forward after taking a big gulp. When taking even more steps in, he can see a path created just for them, the nobles watching them enter, each one filled with puzzlement and shock.

The crown prince was being carried in, he leans on the boy as if he was comfortable with him. What's even more, it was the child that everyone know about, the one with mixed blood.

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