Hey, guys. Just so you know I added some stuff to the previous chapter. Nothing big, just something Urban pointed out and some more sentences. Also, I'm not taking out the finished tag, since these are writting exercises and I'm writing as though each chapter can be the ending if necessary.

So... Have some backstory before I forget.

To a young Keith Claes, Nicol Ascart was the scariest-looking boy he had ever met in his short life. With his dark, wide-open eyes that transfixed the younger Claes' whole being and made him incredibly uncomfortable from the lack of blinking and the unfocused stare in the older boy's vision.

It was almost as if the young Nicol was possessed. Forever locked staring into the abyss while the adults did the customary presentations and couldn't get more than a word out of the child.

Though soon enough Keith began suspecting the boy was acting like this on purpose. He would catch the older boy closing his eyes hard when he thought nobody was looking, and his features would change ever so slightly while he pretended nothing around him was bothering him. It still concerned the younger Claes how someone could make themselves so unsettling to the point even the adults tried dancing around his odd behavior.

It was a good thing, perhaps, his sister was such an oddball. Since their parents had experience handling weird behaviors.

In retrospective, he should have known better than to simply be wary of the boy.

"Nicol-sama! I know you love this kind of pastry, so please try it out!" Keith's beloved sister found herself enjoying herself a lot around the older boy, to the point the albino younger Ascart would sometimes make excuses to give the two of them some private time.

Keith didn't like it, nor the way the boy feigned aloofness around Katarina to get more attention from her.

It was so obvious only someone as dense as his dearest sister wouldn't notice, but Keith had Sophia to deal with before being capable of interrupting these outrageous scenes.

"No way. I don't want your sweets, what if they are poisoned?" Nicol had been quick to start talking, faced with none other than Katarina Claes herself. It didn't even take the second meeting before he began acting aggressive towards her.

And the worst part was it worked. Keith tried to pull it off too, but he only made Katarina cry. The young boy didn't understand how Nicol did it, and it bothered him a lot.

"No, it's not?! Here. Aaaaaahhh…" That time, his sister would go so far as to only take a small bite of the piece of cake. Only a small part! When she would gulp down entire pieces in a single bite! How come she was being so mindful around Nicol?! "There! If it's poisoned then we're both going to die!"

"Fine! I get it, just stop already."

Keith's only consolation was that their relationship didn't really advance beyond that. Katarina was still engaged to prince Gerald, and the new conquests she made kept her busy enough Keith only really suffered when Sophia left Nicol and her alone, though eventually the older boy stopped attending with his sister. And would excuse himself whenever the Claes siblings visited.

Maybe his parents talked to him about Katarina's engagement? It would make sense, but that didn't deter his sister. Who had obviously grown fond of the black haired boy already.

Fine. It wasn't ideal, but it was a situation Keith could work with.

"Mother, please be discerning!" Ok, maybe he had underestimated the older child of the Ascart a bit.

"Keith, please." The Claes matriarch touched her forehead, as if she was thinking already about Katarina "I don't think there is a problem with Katarina and Nicol getting close."

"Didn't you see how he treats her?! Aren't you worried about her?" The boy insisted. No matter how much their mother disapproved of Katarina's antics. She still loved her child dearly and Keith wanted to seize that feeling to further his agenda.

"You know, you are right." His mother sighed, standing up and leaving her seat for a moment "I will speak to Nicol about this."

Feeling vindicated, Keith followed his mother along the Ascart's state. They found Nicol in the library, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of books as if they were his fort and domain. He looked up, and Keith knew the older boy was bothered by their presence.

"Nicol, do you have a minute?" The Claes matriarch spoke softly and slowly, giving the boy time to stand up and give her his full attention.

"Yes, Claes-sama?"

"In the future, I would like you to not manhandle my little Katarina like you did before." The temperature dropped with every word. Doubly so when the woman left the sentence hanging to give it emphasis "If you must, please take her from the hair. Hair she has plenty, but hurting her skin is no good. Beauty and youth are things that disappear all too easily. Please have this in mind."

...What?

"I… I see…" Even Nicol didn't really know what to do. It was one of those times Keith and Nicol were on the same page, and although the younger Claes didn't like it. He still found himself taking his mom away to dispel the awkwardness in the room.

"What was that about?!"

"I handled it." His mom returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.

"You gave him permission to hurt Nee-san!"

"Keith, relax." A hand was placed on his cheek. His mom looked as calm as the sea while talking "I know for a fact Nicol would never really hurt Katarina, he is… Soft. Too soft, in fact… If anything, I fear Katarina would unwittingly hurt him. I am told he is not particularly suited for even handling a sword at his age, so Katarina would probably clean the floor with him in an instant."

That… Wasn't the kind of reassurance Keith wanted. But his mother's serious glance told him enough to convince him. She was right, Nicol had never actually hurt his dearest sister.

...And Katarina did have a tendency to be reckless and rowdy.

Alright, fine. That didn't work. But Keith wouldn't give up! No matter if Katarina had a bunch of other suitors and one formal engagement. He would not let his guard down!

Maybe Keith could make his suspicion reach prince Gerald's ears?

"Ah, Claes. Don't you have a home on your own? How come you're here again?" Nicol would say with a scoff, the practiced sarcasm sliding right off his tongue as easily as it went over Katarina's head "Whatever, I'll tell Sophia."

So he would say, but whenever they did interact there would be a room ready for them and hot drinks already waiting for them. Sophia would let her excitement overcome her from time to time and Nicol would be there to ask a servant to clean the cup she or Katarina spilled, or there would conveniently be something for Keith to do when the two girls entered their own world.

Soft, too soft for his own good. So caring and diligent in the small things that in spite of his apprehension, Keith couldn't come to hate Nicol Ascart. He had felt less welcome in his own house when he was first adopted, than any time in the Ascart manor with this problematic boy with a perpetually frowning face.

What a wonderfully unpleasant person. He kind of reminded Keith of prince Alan, if only superficially. Their personalities clashed so much with his beloved sister so much, they circled back to almost fitting in together. Making the two boys the ones that got along better with Katarina, at least in Keith's eyes.

Nicol especially, felt a bit like an older brother dealing with his bratty little sister with a sour mood but a patience only reserved for family. It didn't surprise him when the rowdy prince ended up getting close with the black haired boy, though it did surprise him Nicol still played hard to get even with a fellow boy.

Keith didn't get it, and since he didn't get it he couldn't help wonder.

In the end, he couldn't come to approve of Nicol's closeness to his dear sister either.

"Hmmm…" Mary Hunt was beautiful. This much Keith would openly, if uncomfortably, admit. However, there was something really scary about her whenever she was greeted with the sight of Nicol and Katarina flirting in front of her.

"Mary-sama?" Still, this was new. They all enrolled in the academy together, so Katarina's clique was usually seen together sans Maria Campbell, who was more often with them during student council duties.

And in all that time, Keith had never seen the lady show such sadistic glee before.

To elaborate, Nicol and prince Gerald were sparring. The prince effortlessly made the older boy submit, but allowed him some breathing room to continue bullying him.

They all knew the prince was like this. Even Keith had been under the prince's shadow whenever he decided to show off his plethora of talents to his fiance.

Except in magic, because only Maria Campbell would be able to compete with Keith in that department, and that was solely because of the rareness of her element.

It wasn't a talent he could boast about, though. Since he wielded such great power, even the prince learned to tune his ego down a bit around Keith.

It was too much responsibility, and Keith was aware he would never really get used to it. But that was his weight to carry.

"What could Mary-sama look so happy for?" Sophia was quick to pick up on the fact that her brother was being looked down on, and reacted with the same spark anyone present would have in Katarina's stead.

"Oh, nothing! It's just so good to see the boy get busy, isn't it?" The lady of the Hunt dodged the forced politeness cleanly. To the point Keith suspected she let her evil side show because she had a proper response to Sophia already "Though Nicol-sama is a bit lacking."

"Oh? Perhaps it's just that Nii-sama is too good natured for something as barbaric as sword wielding? Haven't Mary-sama thought about that~?"

Nevermind that Katarina was a passionate swordswoman. Both girls wordlessly chose to ignore the fact, just the same way the boys made an effort of not looking at Mary's choice of wear too much.

Speaking of which, Katarina took another dummy sword and jumped to deflect the prince's last swing with one of her own. Protecting the older Ascart from a nasty hit in the process.

Keith had to admit, she was good at it. And there was always something really satisfying about seeing the blond prince's confused face whenever something didn't go his way.

Alan would know, anyone could ask him if they were curious.

"Nice, clean strike." Said prince went oblivious to the ladies fighting, as he was savouring his brother's stunned face to bother paying attention.

He made a point of clapping and encouraging Katarina, while prince Gerald reined in his emotions.

With everyone distracted with the prince's antics, another contender seized the opportunity to get Katarina's attention.

"That was wonderful, Katarina-sama!" Campbell-san's excitment brought the older Claes out of her Alan-fuelled excitement. Keith had to admit the blonde had a way with words, and her manners were top notch. So much so, Keith almost considered her the most dangerous rival of them all.

Almost.

Because no matter her light element, Maria Campbell would never come close to rivaling the Ascart's…

Hmmm?

Eh?

What? What? What?

Keith was seeing right, right? The moment his sister engaged in her usual antics with Campbell, Nicol Ascart blushed slightly and made himself scarce from the girls.

What is this? What… What was happening?

Why was he running away? There was no barbed comment about the prince, no roll of his eyes as Katarina did her thing or any sarcasm about her short attention span. He just sort of…

Did he feel bothered by Campbell? No, Keith had seen the older boy bothered basically every time they had met. That was not it. He was like a completely different person now. What was happening?

"Eh… Ah… Gerald-sama." The black haired troublemaker had completely transformed right in front of Keith's eyes. His most fearsome rival was now a shy, troubled maiden-hearted teen that didn't know how to approach the prince "Your… Err, your movements were good. Amazing. Yeah. Would you mind showing me how you did it?"

What was happening? What was this? Was Keith seeing things? Did he drink something foul?

It was almost as if… As if he was trying to get the prince's attention off of the fact his fiancee was flirting with someone in front of him.

…

"Actually!" Keith almost jumped in between the two girls. Not physically, he would never do that, but imposed himself in such a way he made himself the center of attention for a moment "Nee-san's movements were amazing! Why don't you show us how you did it?!"

"Eh? It was nothing special really." His beloved sister said in spite of obviously falling for it in an instant "But if Keith insists! Pay close attention!"

Katarina went to the court again, separating herself from Campbell on her own.

Keith sighed his stress away. Nevermind Nicol was now glaring at him, at least Campbell did not seize this opportunity right under their noses.

Keith pointedly ignored Mary Hunt's silent approval while he pretended to pay attention to his sister.

He was surrounded by rivals, after all. He should better keep his senses sharp to deter them from getting closer to his beloved sister.

And the strongest contender was letting his chance slip, for some reason.