OMGG. I AM SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR THIS LONG! AHHH, I bet all of you guys hate me now. ;m; With school stuff and all these things I have to prepare for, my life's been so busy! I haven't even had time to dream!

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'THE PRINCESS IS MISSING'?!" Kaito yelled, abruptly bolting from his seat.

Len simply gave him a steely glare with a tight-lipped grimace.

"C-calm down, Sir Kaito. Let Len finish what he was saying." Paula said timidly, gently tugging at his sleeve.

"How can I 'calm down', when the sovereign of this country is missing?!" Kaito fumed, yanking his arm away from Paula's grasp.

"Look here, Sir Prissy-pants," Len hissed through his teeth. "You're not the only man who cares for Rin. Now, I advise you to remain calm until things are sorted out."

"Hold your tongue!" Barked Kaito, his sapphire eyes glittering with rage. "How dare a peasant like you, say that to me! Know your place."

This infuriated Len, his steely gaze amplifying itself a hundredfold. But he remained silent, with a tightly clenched fist to restrain himself from doing anything rash.

However, Kaito wasn't finished. "And you aren't even in the position to 'advise' me to do anything, commoner. I say we gather the Imperial Army and search the ends of the kingdom and further to find Princess Rin!"

"No, Sir Kaito, please calm down, we must listen to Le-" Paul desperately tried to reason with Kaito, but it was all in vain.

"Why are none of you with me? The Princess could be in great danger, and all of you are just sitting back and 'waiting until things settle down'?! Well, I will certainly not allow the Princess to be harmed!" Kaito snarled as he whipped around, ready to march out the door.

That was it. Len couldn't tolerate any of this anymore. The boiling whirlwind of anger deep within him overtook Len, causing him to be blinded by his rage. Without even thinking clearly, Len's hands shot out and grabbed Kaito by the cravat.

He brought Kaito's face merely inches from his own. Len's aquamarine eyes were like molten rock, intensely boring into Kaito's own eyes.

When Len opened his mouth to speak, he could barely recognize his own voice. His voice was a low growl.

"Listen here. I care about Rin just as much as you care for her. But you know why I'm not letting my emotions take over me? Because with one false, rash move, we could easily let the Princess fall into even greater danger. This needs to be done calmly, logically, precisely. Just impulsively jumping into things could ruin everything."

With that, Len released his grip on Kaito's cravat, causing Kaito to stumble backwards. Clearly, fazed by Len's words, Kaito slowly blinked as he regained his composure.

"And don't go thinking that just because you're a pampered rich boy, that places you above me. Haven't you heard the saying, 'All's fair in love and war.'?" Len wryly added as he gave a side-glance at Kaito, a dry chuckle escaping his lips upon seeing Kaito so daunted.

ONCE AGAIN, I AM SO SORRY. This isn't even a proper chapter, I know! But I just felt that I should give you guys this much, before you throw bricks at me or something. ;u; I honestly do not know if I can even continue to develop more stories and write anymore with high school stuff to do and preparing for my future. But I will try my best to crank out some stuff for you guys~ Please continue to read, review, and favorite this story and others to come!