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"That's rough, bud."
"The only person I've got left in my family is my older brother, but he sent me away immediately after he took the throne." Luka explained as him and Kilian sat together outside, the h/c haired boy giving his ruined handkerchief a rueful look, "I'm cared for by the butlers and maids, and I do live comfortably, but..."
"You still lost your parents and all but one of your siblings." Kilian finished for him, "And the one family member you have left sent you away."
Luka's eyes welled up with tears again, "Yeah..."
Kilian tried his best to look sympathetic, but the sympathy just wasn't making it to his face. He felt too nauseous from the human interaction.
But, as usual, his grandfather arrived just in time with that water he'd promised Kilian, "Sorry I took so long, Kilian. Here's your— oh, who's this?"
Luka gasped and hid his face, maybe not wanting to be seen crying, while Kilian smiled at his grandfather, "This is Luka, another first grader like myself. Some older kids were bothering him so I stepped in."
"Oh, I see." Alessandro murmured, looking back and forth between the two, "Well, after all that, you two must be hungry. I heard that the food at this event is very nice, would you two like something to eat?"
"Yes!" Luka exclaimed without missing a beat, eyes lighting up, "I would absolutely love food!"
Kilian, on the other hand, looked dismayed.
'Great, another snot nosed brat to deal with...'
He ended up accompanying his Grandfather and Luka to the refreshments table, watching in disbelief as this little six year old boy piled the food up on his plate to the point where Kilian was certain it would fall.
Somehow it didn't, and Luka kept talking and talking and talking until Kilian couldn't even listen anymore.
He eventually just excused himself to go to the bathroom, but went off and retreated to a room instead.
It was a study room, nice and cozy. The couch looked pretty comfy, and Kilian was pretty sleepy...
The boy stared at the couch for a long moment.
"Nah."
He trudged over to the closet and clambered inside, getting comfortable before closing his eyes. He just needed a moment of silence to collect himself, and...
"Mr. Desmond, yourself and my father have been business partners for some time. You've helped our family, and we've helped you in return. But this... this is quite a hefty request."
Kilian jolted awake at the sound of his Aunt's voice, rubbing his eyes blearily as he remembered where he was.
He carefully cracked open the door to the closet, peering out with curious eyes. He was a little alarmed by the sight of his Aunt sitting in the seat across from a tall man, her tone pleasant but her eyes dark.
Kilian guessed that the man with his back facing the closet was Donovan Desmond, and the people around the room were all Donovan's personal bodyguards or whatever.
'Seems like they're in the middle of a chat.' Kilian thought, rubbing his eyes again, 'Man, I slept through the first half.'
"That war between Ostania and Westalis took away my Mother. The very reason our family played an active part during the war was because it took someone we all loved very dearly." y/n continued, brows furrowed, "To suggest this... you're one brave man, Mr. Desmond. But why? I don't understand why you want to end the peace."
"The peace is already fragile as is. At this rate, another war may spark on its own. And what then?" Kilian glanced at Donovan as he began to speak, "Would you really risk the lives of the few people you have left over peace which is already tearing at the seams."
Y/n grimaced, eyes trailing down to the table as she pondered over the older man's words. A moment later, she glanced up and directly at the closet which Kilian was in.
'Damn.' he quickly curled up and pretended to be asleep as he listened to his Aunt get up and approach the closet.
The doors opened and he could feel his Aunt's gaze on him. At first he'd thought she was angry, but felt relief wash over him when she let out a small sigh instead.
"That's my cue to leave. My nephew probably hid in here to escape the hustle and bustle." y/n murmured.
Kilian did his best to look asleep as his Aunt lifted him and held him in her arms, letting his head rest on her shoulder as she turned back to Donovan.
"I won't go starting a war, Mr. Desmond, but believe me. The moment one sparks, I'll do all I can to help. I promise you that." y/n said with a small nod, "I'll be going now."
Kilian felt satisfied by the fact her rescued his Aunt from a situation that was making her antsy, but dreaded the loud noises of the event which were to come.
Y/n covered his ears until they exited the building and hopped into the car, Kilian beginning to doze off as soon as the noises died down.
"Oh? Did he fall asleep?"
"Yeah. I found him in the closet during the meeting with Mr. Desmond." y/n replied, "Speaking of which... he's going on about that again."
Kilian guessed that was destroying the fragile peace.
"I see. Well, I'm in retirement." Alessandro replied as Elena started up the car, "This is your problem. What will you do?"
Y/n hummed quietly, "Achille always promised to help Mr. Desmond should any problems arise, but he was firm in his refusal to start wars, so— ow!"
Kilian guessed his Grandpa pinched y/n.
"I asked what you would do, y/n. Not what would Achille do." the old man said in a gentle tone, "Well?"
Y/n sighed quietly, brushing some of Kilian's hair out of his face, "I... I just want to keep my family safe. If that means discarding our agreement with Mr. Desmond, then so be it."
"Hm." Alessandro reached out and pat his little grandson on the head, "That's more like it."
Kilian had fallen asleep.
✄ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Why are you here?"
Kilian gave Luka a wary look as the boy awkwardly stood beside him, rolling from his heels to his toes.
Kilian had been trying to eat lunch, waiting for Anya and Becky to retrieve their own, when the blond boy showed up and tugged on his sleeve, asking for him to come with him in a hushed voice.
"Ahem... a former royal chef has visited the school today. I heard that the pastries he makes will make you instantly smarter, and that those who eat them have all become Imperial Scholars." Luka explained quietly, "I happen to know that chef, as he used to cook my family's meals I was even born. He left for a while, but came back to cook on each of myself and my brothers' birthdays. He saved us a small selection of pastries today, so..."
"I'm not a fan of sweets." Kilian said flatly.
"That's a lie." Luka called bs, "You were eyeing that strawberry shortcake at the Imperial Scholar Mixer, were you not?"
"I-I... I prefer Pastel de Belém!"
"Ah, how lucky, he made some."
Kilian groaned as Luka tugged him off the seat by the hand, "Come now, quickly! He can only keep them for a while!"
The h/c haired boy hardly had time to collect his lunch before he hurried off with Luka, leaving Anya and Becky to stare at where he'd once been in confusion.
Luka led Kilian through the kitchens, the two of them going unnoticed by all the chefs, before they arrived in another part of the kitchen where only one man stood.
"Mr. Vincent!" Luka exclaimed after closing the door behind him and Kilian, "I'm ready to choose! And I brought my friend along with me! He's the one who helped me at the Imperial Scholar Mixer."
"Ah, so you are a friend of the little Prince?" the chef inquired then gave Kilian a smile, "It's very nice to meet you, young man."
"Likewise." Kilian replied with a grimace.
"Here, I must be going soon, so please make your selection." the chef hummed, "If you'd like, you can box them all up and share them with your friends."
"Can we box them up?" Kilian inquired, more so to Luka than to Chef Vincent, "I'm sure Becky and Anya would like some. I also want to pit my other classmates against one another in a fight to the death over these."
"Mm, I like your thinking." Luka said with a grin before beaming at the chef, "Please box them for us!"
After Luka said goodbye to the chef, him and Kilian headed out to go find Kilian's classmates. There were thirteen pastries in total, and they each agreed to take three.
Kilian chose the Strawberry Tart, Strawberry Shortcake, and his Aunt's favorite pastry. He'd rather make his own pastel de belém.
Luka chose three of his own and they were left with seven. It was Luka's idea to give them to Kilian's classmates, since he didn't seem to like any of his own.
"Why'd you share this stuff with me anyways?" Kilian questioned as the two of them walked together.
"You're my rival, that's why! It didn't feel fair for me to have a sudden boost of intelligence. I'd rather beat you fair and square!" Luka declared.
Kilian squinted, 'Eugh...'
Luka's cheeks went pink and he looked down with a small pout, "That... and I wanted to repay you for helping me at the Imperial Scholar Mixer. I really appreciated what you did for me, and I wanted to take this opportunity to— Uh..." the boy looked away, "Request that we become friends. O-Only if you want to."
Kilian stared at Luka for a long moment.
"You don't have many friends, do you?"
"I'm afraid so."
Kilian let out a huff, "Well, can't say I'm the best type of friend you could ever have," he knew he was going to regret this, "But sure, let's be friends.
Luka looked back at him with bright eyes, a look of joy upon his face, "You mean it? You really mean it???"
"Yeah, sure."
"That's...!" Luka paused before trying to look fierce, "That's good. But don't forget that we're rivals!"
"Okay."
"RAAAAAWRRRRR!!!"
Both little boy jumped at the sound of a roar from nearby, finding Becky, Damian, Emile, Ewen, and George all hawking at Anya while she let out a fierce roar.
"... your classmate is rather weird." Luka stated.
"Very much so." Kilian sighed.
Kilian ended up returning home with the three pastries of his choice, offering them to Y/n and Yuri with a, "For you."
Y/n was delighted.
Yuri suspected the pastry of being poisoned.
Kilian simply spent the evening enjoying his strawberry tart while doing his homework.
The sugar hit pretty late, and he ended up falling asleep while he was doing his work. He was half asleep and y/n came in and tucked him into bed.
Kilian wasn't 100% conscious as y/n sat at his bedside, simply humming quietly as she held his hand in hers.
She seemed troubled by something.
Kilian wanted to help!
But... he was feeling a little sleepy.
Tomorrow, then.
He'd cheer her up tomorrow.
(Cruise time✨)
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