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Sometimes there were those strange occurrences in which one was unlucky yet at the same time lucky. Hakuryuu had gotten sick and had to stay in bed for a few weeks – and silently cried about the things he left in the forest –, during those weeks his father had to go to the battlefield again. Therefore, Hakuryuu, now that he was well again, hadn't had to attend any war councils. Finally he could go into the forest again. All he had to do now was to wait until his fighting lesson was over and his free time began. Gyokuen, his mother, would be occupied with Hakuei, his older sister, for the rest of the day, so no one would search form him. And if one of the soldiers would see him, he could tell them that he was about to make a short walk or better said a ride, since he decided to take the horse. He would ride to the forest and from the glade of the forest to the palace he would carry his things – a chest filled with clothes, makeup and jewelry. And since he took the horse he was able to transport more things to the place at once. It was just a question of time until his father was back at home and drags him to one boring council to the next and even though Hakutoku hadn't had said anything about Hakuryuu's remaining dresses, makeup, jewelry and so on didn't mean that the man forgot about them.

After taking a bath Hakuryuu packed all necessities for his little journey into the forest. This time he also took a raincoat with him and a lamp. He definitely didn't want to get sick again. Any further delay of his "rescue mission" was not allowed!

On his way to the horse stables he passed several servants and soldiers. Some of them gave him an interrogative look, but no one asked where he was going or what he was up to. Others probably were too busy with their own work as to pay attention to him, which was better for him, since those people would not remember seeing him. The others could report him to his mother, on the other hand they may not do so since there was no sign of him doing something strange or forbidden, so they would only tell the empress about him when the empress asked them. Maybe he would serve as the gossip of the day for some of the servants. How often had he heard others speaking ill of him? How often had he even heard others gossiping about his father, brothers, sister and mother? How often had he heard people making up things between his older sister Hakuei and their cousin Kouen? How often did those people think no one heard them? He heard them all! He just never said anything about it. It wouldn't change anything anyway. And it was nothing new to him that people, probably even his own family, thought badly about him. He was weak, stupid, useless and strange, he was nothing like his brothers. Hakuren and Hakuyuu were everything he was not! They were perfect. He had no place in an empire like Kou in which only military strength was important. He was not fitting their norms, so he was worth nothing. He struggled for years with this realization and he still did, but it was a fact he knew and tried to accept. As long as he stayed in the shadows, he could more or less live a nice and quiet life.

When Hakuryuu reached the room in which he had left his things a few weeks ago, he looked around in search of his clothes. He had left them on the ground, but they weren't there anymore. Instead of his dresses there was a chest. Curious as he was, he put his bag and the chest he had brought at the ground, he inspected the unknown chest. It was nothing special, made out of wood, no engravings and a lock, which was not closed. Therefore, Hakuryuu could open it, if he wanted to. He wanted and so he did open it.

To his surprise all the things he had left behind where inside. Neatly folded.

Before his head could came to the conclusion that this meant that someone had been here, someone appeared behind Hakuryuu.

"Did your mother not taught you not to sift through other people's belongings?"

Hakuryuu was startled so much that he jumped up, turned around and stumbled backwards what caused him to fall over the chest. His landing on the wooden ground was far from pleasant. Of course the strange laughed at Hakuryuu. Great! Now Hakuryuu only wanted to curl up and die! Why was there never a hole to sink into when needed? What a cruel world.

Someone once said that attack was the best form of defense. Consequently, Hakuryuu jumped up onto his feet again: "I am not sifting through other people's belonging, since those things inside are mine! Who are you anyway? You know that is rude to scare someone and then not even apologize! I got hurt because of you!"

"Eh? How is it my fault that you're a scaredy-cat? If you hadn't done something bad, you wouldn't have been scared by me at all! The chest is mine and you opened it without asking! And the things inside are also mine, because I found them!", the strange shouted back.

He had leaned against the doorframe, of course he didn't do so while he was laughing about Hakuryuu, but now he had taken a few step away from the door – closer to Hakuryuu – one foot in front, his hands clenched into a fist and his posture tensed. He was ready to fight Hakuryuu!

Hakuryuu did the same! He would not lose to such an insolent brat!
"Just because you found them doesn't make them yours! They are mine!", claimed the blue eyed prince forcibly.
"Do you have any proof that they are yours?"

With a cheeky smile on his face the stranger crossed his arms. He probably thought he had won this argument, but he was wrong!

"Well, they fit me and I look great in them!", Hakuryuu states as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and enough as solid proof. Just like the stranger he had crossed his arms and smiled cheekily.
"Huh? What kind of stupid reason is that? You have no proof that those clothes belong to you!", stated the still unknown person and pointed at Hakuryuu.

"This is a totally valid reason! No one would keep things they look ugly in, less even buy them in the first place! By the way, where is your proof that the chest is yours, huh?"
Again Hakuryuu copied the other one's pose.

"I have a key to the chest. As you can see there is a lock and a lock can only be opened with the right key! And since I am the one who has the key, the chest is mine!"
"You could have stolen the key, just like you took my clothes", Hakuryuu calmly stated, "How about you use that key and lock the chest to prove that you really are in possession of the right one. However, it won't change the fact that this will prove nothing. You already admitted that those things inside are not yours, since you only found them. They are mine and I am here to get them back, so return them!"

"Alright, then you have to put on the clothes inside!"

This argument got ridiculous!

"You're not only a thief, but also a pervert!"
"I am not a pervert!"
"You are!"
"I am not!"
"You are, otherwise you wouldn't want me to change!"
"You're just afraid that your lie is exposed! I never said you have to change in front of me! You're the liar and pervert!"

Both teenager stared angrily at each other for a while until Hakuryuu agreed. They would not get anywhere with this conservation and as soon as he had his clothes on, the other one could not take them away again.

So, he took his things out of the chest and then told the other one to first prove that he had the key. It wasn't surprising that he could not, because conveniently he hadn't had the key with him. Well, Hakuryuu didn't mind. The chest was not his problem and he got his things back, so whether the chest was stolen or not, was not important. Still, the other one insisted that he had to put one of the dresses on. At first Hakuryuu tried to argue that since the other one hadn't proven to be the owner of the chest he hadn't had to prove that the clothes were his. But after another dispute that leaded to nowhere he gave up. Now that he knew that someone else lived here or nearby, he needed a different hiding place. As soon as he left more of his stuff here the stranger would claim it for himself and that was not the goal. Why couldn't he be lucky for once? The only place where no one would search for clothes and makeup – besides maybe some thieves – was the royal tomb. Not quite a nice place for a hideout. Maybe he could hide his stuff in the forest, just at a different place. The forest was not small, so there must be another place for him.

"At least turn around while I am changing, pervert!", Hakuryuu ordered.

The stranger had refused to leave the room, because Hakuryuu theoretically could run away. Something he could do anyway, but it was harder to do with someone in your way.

"Alright, alright."
Without any further delay the other turned around and Hakuryuu started to change his clothes. Both of them wanted to be done with it, ignoring the fact that they could have had it easier, if they weren't acting so childish. Of course, none of them wanted to admit this and preferred to blame the other one.

After Hakuryuu put on his dress he allowed the still nameless person to turn around again and take a look. He felt highly uncomfortable with being examines like this and the creepy smile in the other one's face did not make it any better.

"What?", Hakuryuu snapped at black haired stranger.

"Nothing. But you were right, they really do fit and look good on you."
"Well, then I will take my leave now! Bye!"
"Hey, not so fast …"
"I am not having another dispute about whether those clothes belong to me or not. You were to able to proof your point and you will not accept any of my proofs, so let it be, pervert!", Hakuryuu interrupted the other.
"Stop calling me a pervert. First of all I have name and second I am not the guy in a dress!"

"How does wearing a dress classify one as a pervert? By the way, you're wearing makeup!"
"That's something different!"
"Is not! I am done with those stupid disputes! Do whatever you want, but do it without me!"

He had better, more important things to do then to have one argument after the other with a rude idiot.

Unfortunately, the other one didn't let him go so easily.

"You're such a rude, brat!"
Hakuryuu stayed silent.

"I am the magnificent magician Judar! You must be an idiot to not know me!", Judar bragged, while still being ignored.

He must be the idiot for not know who Hakuryuu was. It was common knowledge that the names of the sons of Ren Hakutoku, the emperor of the great Kou Empire, all started with "Haku". And it was known that Hakutoku had three sons. Further, all four children of the emperor looked pretty much alike. So, even if Judar had never heard of Hakuryuu, which wasn't surprising actually, he should know Hakuren and Hakuyuu and know how those two look like. Everything else was just putting one and one together!

Despite Hakuryuu not reacting to Judar's attempts to start a conversation, the latter gave not up and followed the prince through the forest. It was hard to keep the tears at bay. Hakuryuu always had been someone who easily started to cry, he had already stated to snivel a bit. Fortunately, Judar hadn't realized it yet or didn't care about it.

When he reached his horse Judar looked somewhat sad.

"You're leaving? When will you be back? You know, you can leave your stuff here. I won't take it. Hey, say something! Don't be a crybaby."
"I am not coming back and less will I leave my stuff here. I do not trust you at all!", blubbered Hakuryuu out which surprised Judar, but he stayed silent on it.

And with that Hakuryuu took his leave. He had another hideout in mind, one he had thought of before the forest. It was not that great, but better than nothing.

Judar did not follow him, rather he did not move from his spot at the glade.