"Lelouch! Hold still," Clovis scolded.

"This is taking too long. Hurry up, or I am going to leave," Lelouch impatiently replied.

"You agreed to sit today for this portrait."

"I never would have agreed if I had known it would take you all day to paint one picture," Lelouch complained. "Can't I have a break?"

"You move too much already! Just sit still so I can finish this. Then you can go do whatever it is that you want to do."

"Anything but sit here," Lelouch pouted, but he moved to sit the way Clovis had originally posed him.

A bird landed in the tree directly outside the grand window and began tending its nest. Lelouch watched the bird intently and wished that he could fly, free in the skies.

Clovis furrowed his brow. Something felt wrong. He realized that the room was strangely silent, the first time it had been so all day, so he looked around his painting to get another look at Lelouch. To his surprise, the small boy hadn't moved, and he paid no attention to Clovis either. Clovis mused to himself that Lelouch's eyes had a distant, dreamy look to them.

Clovis returned to his painting and smiled. Lelouch could be such a troublesome child. In his painting, Lelouch's jacket needed more shading. As he carefully applied the purples, a memory popped into his mind.

I must have been nine, Clovis thought. Yes, nine seemed about right. On that particular day, he had been painting a portrait of his elder brother Schneizel. The two princes had decided to take a short break for lunch before returning to finish the project. When they returned, a very tiny Lelouch sat in the floor, his clothes splattered with every color of paint. In one hand Lelouch held Clovis's paint palette, and in the other he held a paint brush, which he was using to very carefully paint the carpet. His small tongue was barely visible, and his brow was deeply furrowed in a show of great concentration.

"My painting!" Clovis had howled, rushing over to examine how much damage the youngest prince had caused. Much to his relief, the painting was untouched, but he was still angry with Lelouch for interrupting and making such a mess. Turning to the little prince, he demanded his paint brush. "Look at the mess you've made! Why can't you just stay out of the way?" Clovis complained as he jerked the stolen items from Lelouch's hands, causing the youngest prince to cry. "Just go away!" Clovis yelled, but Lelouch didn't budge.

Schneizel approached with a wet cloth. "There is no need to yell at him, Clovis. He's just a baby." He knelt down next to Lelouch, careful to avoid the wet paint in the carpet, and gently cleaned Lelouch's face and hands before taking him to get a fresh outfit.

In the present moment, Clovis shook his head and the last of the memory faded away. "What a troublesome pair," he mumbled as he continued his painting.