PSY: We're so out of canon now, this might as well be an AU.

The sunset was already midway through by the time he found a balance of sorts. The first day of classes at the royal palace was well and truly over, but there were more important things than missing a day or two of school. After all, tutors could be hired and tests arranged with the help of his family. It wasn't a conduct befitting his station, but Nicol Ascart believed it couldn't be helped since he was needed elsewhere.

Katarina-sama's slow breathing made for a rhythmical, albeit subtle beat for him. Her head resting on his thighs as the tears clinging to his garments slowly dried after the lady ceased crying. The position was mildly uncomfortable, given the way her hairpin dug slightly on his skin but Nicol paid it no mind. He would not dare disturb her peace, however fleeting it was, and would simply endure the mild discomfort to the best of his abilities.

Sophia was way easier to take care of, in contrast. She occupied his other side, just as fast asleep as the daughter of the Claes, with a hand clinging to the small of said lady's neck.

They were so peaceful like this, but it was bound to last very little.

It was impossible for Katarina-sama to escape her anguish just with a bit of sleep. Even the Ascart sibling's company seemed only part way effective in giving Katarina-sama something resembling consolation.

Nicol wanted to do something, anything really, but there was very little he could do at the moment. So he did not hesitate to serve as the catalyst to Katarina-sama's emotions. He was there, silently and stoically taking in every last bit of her sadness. If the only thing he could do was let her cry herself to sleep on his shoulder, then he would not fail to do so.

Besides, it was simple enough that someone as socially inept as Nicol could do it. The worst part was probably the boredom once he was the only one still conscious, but if that was the case he had no right to complain.

After all, how could boredom hope to compare to Katarina-sama's immense feeling of loss? It was unsightly to think he would harbor these feelings. So he concentrated in caressing the girls' heads to the rhythm of their breathings. As well as ignoring the small pain on his right leg.

Boredom, after all, was the illness of the privileged. If he had the time to…

Huh. Strange. Where did that come from?

Nicol sighed. He was thinking in circles again.

Just because it was easy in theory, didn't mean taking in Katarina-sama's emotions was an easy task. It was draining, almost like he had been working out the whole day. He felt so tired it actually helped cope with the position he was left sitting with. But on the other hand, it made his mind wander all the easier since his body naturally relaxed more and more as he spent time stuck in the same position.

"Nicol-sama."

"Ah, thank you."

Anne-san brought to his eye level a cup of tea, which Nicol took a sip from and returned to the maid.

She nodded and deposited it back on the small table in front of him. Letting his mind clear a bit without waking the girls up with unnecessary movements.

It was a small thing, all things considered. But Nicol inwardly thanked his lucky stars that the woman was so attentive, even if it was beyond her responsibilities. Katarina-sama truly was blessed with wonderful people all around.

Hopefully, with these wonderful people surrounding her it would be possible to―.

"Anne-san? A moment, please." One of the butlers opened the door of the room slightly ajar and called for the maid.

The man looked a bit troubled, if by "a bit" one meant that he looked like he had hit his small toe with a table and then the flower vase had fallen on it a second later. Which, if Nicol was also being optimistic, meant there was some small problem in the house.

The maid looked at the noble for a moment before excusing herself, leaving Nicol alone with the two ladies resting on his thighs.

He immediately felt uncomfortable. Anne-san gave him some semblance of purpose, of doing the right thing since the servants entering the room would only spare a glance at him before getting confirmation from the maid that everything was alright.

But alone? The distinct feeling that he shouldn't be so carelessly close to Katarina-sama started nagging at the back of his mind like a buzzing mosquito. But at the same time, he couldn't get up without waking Katarina-sama up, and he didn't want to do that either.

Those were excruciating moments of uncertainty. The young Ascart could do nothing but stoically wait for Anne-san to get back so he could put his worries to rest. It wasn't very productive of him, but he couldn't help it. After all, there was a non-zero chance that someone would barge into the room and get the wrong idea. Which, if Nicol was being honest, haunted him like the ghost of the damned.

It was good then, that Anne-san took relatively little time to come back.

"Nicol-sama, Katarina-sama has visitors." Huh? Who would come to see her after Keith-san's trial? Should he be worried? Should he leave? Or perhaps…

"I see, should I wake her up?" Nicol had a rough idea of who they could be, so he kept calm and tried to hide his discomfort at the idea of having to meet more people.

"Yes, please. I'll let your friends in." Aha! So he was indeed correct. Well, that changed things.

"Katarina-sama." Nicol shook the brunette a bit "You have visitors."

The lady stirred awake, and groggily sat back up.

Nicol shook Sophia with utmost gentleness to wake her up as well, though she was a lot easier than Katarina-sama, so he was in time to see the double doors swing open.

They were Mary-sama, Maria-san, and Alan-sama. Followed by a blonde woman Nicol did not recognize but was unmistakably the light mage's family.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to see you all here." Nicol placed a hand on his chest, genuinely glad to see the people he was thinking about come so readily and quickly to see Katarina-sama. A bit of a smile naturally popping on his face without warning.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

"Whu?!"

Unfortunately, he didn't get the answer he was expecting. Instead, Mary-sama, being a heartbeat into his greeting, slapped both Alan-sama and Maria-san on the face, forcing them to pull back and cover their eyes and nose in pain and shock. Leaving the older lady and Nicol himself utterly confused at her actions.

Nicol turned to silently ask for an explanation to Anne-san to the side of the door. But the woman had her eyes completely shut and was not moving at all while this went on. Meanwhile, Maria-san's relative pulled the younger blonde back as if to make distance away from the brunette that had suddenly assaulted her and the prince. Mary-sama herself was panting and clasping her hands to her chest, just below the collarbone.

"Dangerous…" She let out between pants "So utterly devastating…"

...Did Nicol do something wrong?

"Have you gone insane?!" Sophia for her part, bounced off the couch and rushed to her friends in a fit of anger.

She gave a good look at Maria-san being tended to by her relative before deciding to go to Alan-sama and take one of his hands on her own.

"Are you alright?! Did you get seriously hurt?" She gave Mary-sama the evil eye, but the brunette was focused on getting back her bearings. Sophia gave her full attention back to the prince.

…

Oi.

Nicol took a deep breath and forced the sudden burst of vitality down his stomach. These days had been too stressful, so of course he wasn't in the best of moods. But flaring up so suddenly was too much, especially to someone like Alan-sama.

"G-Greetings to you too, Nicol-sama." Maria-san's hands stopped glowing as she blinked several times and finally greeted Nicol back. She smiled with that demure expression of hers and bowed as per the customs "Ah. This is my mother, Teresa Campbell. Mom, this is Nicol Ascart-sama. And that's Katarina Claes-sama."

Her mother? She looked so young, though.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ascart-sama." The woman bowed in spite of her obvious apprehension. Nicol stood up and bowed as well.

"The pleasure is mine, Teresa-san. I cannot help but understand where Maria-san's excellence comes from seeing you now."

The room came to a halt, making Nicol painfully aware of his surroundings once more.

He looked at Mary-sama and Katarina-sama holding hands in what should have been a heartwarming moment. But now the two brunettes were staring at Nicol like he was some strange animal popping from between some bushes. Alan-sama and Sophia too stopped doing whatever they were on and stared at Nicol with mouths agape.

...Was it something he said?

"Huh…"

"Whomst've are you?!" Mary-sama stood completely straight, pointing a finger at Nicol's face like she had just figured out he was a real person.

"E-Eh? What could Mary-sama be talking about?"

"What do you mean 'Mary-sama'?!" Now it was Alan-sama's turn to be baffled "Did the DUMB get you as well, Nicol?!"

N-Nicol?! Surely, even if they were close friends, it was a bit too much to be so informally referred to by the prince like that!

No, wait. Wasn't that just normal? After all, they did know each other for a long while. And Alan-sama had never been one for customs and formalities.

"...Dumb?"

"Guys, guys, guys!" Katarina-sama waved her arms above her head while standing up, getting everyone's attention in the process "Time out! This is too much, too sudden! Shouldn't you all be in class? I appreciate you coming here, but…"

"Katarina-sama! This is of utmost importance, attending the Academy could not compare in contrast!" Mary-sama beamed at her, making Katarina-sama make a difficult expression. The lady of the house looked away from Mary-sama first.

"T-Thanks."

"Also, Maria-san here needs a favor."

"Mary-sama!"

"Maria-chan?!" Katarina-sama perked up, though it was nowhere near her usual cheerfulness. It was progress, at least "Of course! Whatever you need! We can probably get it for you! Right, Anne?!"

"Of course, Katarina-sama." Anne-san nodded without missing a beat.

"See? Come, come! Sit with me, tell me what's wrong." As she said that, Nicol made room for Maria-san to be led to the couch.

He was just glad to see how immediate her friends' presence impacted her mood, though he feared their absence would be just as quick to change it back.

"So, Nicol-sama." It was then when he felt a cold chill run through his spine as Mary-sama asked for his attention "Mind explaining what you were doing alone with Katarina-sama?"

"I am here too!" Sophia chimed in, cheeks puffed in annoyance. Nicol couldn't help but find it too cute to ignore, though he did his best to ignore Alan-sama's expression mirroring his own.

"I was merely keeping Katarina-sama company." Silence reigned again once he said that outloud.

"Time!" Katarina-sama raised her arms again "I just realized it! Who are you, and what did you do to Nicol-sama?!"

"As expected of miss dumbass." Alan-sama scoffed.

"What do you mean? I'm the same as always." Nicol defended himself.

"You're too demure!" Katarina-sama exclaimed while Maria-san assured her mother this was normal "Where did the usual Nicol-sama go?! Why are you suddenly so in-character?!"

Now Nicol scoffed without thinking.

"I'm not some NPC following a script, what are you talking about?"

"See? That's the usual Nicol-sama." Mary-sama nodded "You can't fool us. Something's very wrong with you today."

"Could it be the DM?" Maria-san chimed in "Though it doesn't seem to be affecting him in the same way as Gerald-sama."

"Gerald-sama is afflicted with something?!" Nicol couldn't help being shocked at the news. Everyone looked at him funny again.

"Okay, that's enough." Mary-sama planted her feet firmly on the ground, facing Nicol with a cold expression "Nicol Ascart. You'll tell me why you are behaving so funny, and I want an honest and convincing explanation. Am I clear?"

"I-I don't know what to tell you…"

"Don't lie! I'm going to get mad, y'know?" Mary-sama pushed her finger to Nicol's chest. Poking him several times while speaking "You uncort scoundrel, with your bad attitude would never become so charming just overnight. So you better tell me why you suddenly turned a new leaf, or so help me Maria I'll beat the answer out of you."

Something inside Nicol snapped, the pokes becoming annoying and painful until his stress boiled over.

"Oh, well excuse me for trying to be nice. You're right, I should just tell Claes exactly how messed up her brother's situation is and pretend to be encouraging. My bad, I completely missed that was the right thing to do. But worry not, Hunt. I will correct my mistake now." Hachiman snapped back at her. Words oozing from his mouth like a waterfall after his annoyance simply bursted through the invisible wall forcing his ego back like some pissed off juggernaut.

Hunt, for her part, looked thoroughly smug through his tirade.

"Oh, thank goodness." Alan sighed "He's fine, after all."

"Nye, nye, nye, nye." Hachiman mocking-mimicked Alan's words "You lot just want to see me pissed off, that's what's happening."

Hunt released a long breath as well, shaking her head in the process.

"Nicol-sama doesn't even begin to understand how stressful it's been today." She commented, letting her shoulders fall as if an unseen burden had been lifted from her.

"Speaking of which." Alan clapped his hands "We need to talk."

Though it was serious, it took a bit for their antics to give room for the actual discussion. And therefore it distracted Hachiman enough that he didn't really pay attention to a certain fool drilling holes in his person with her eyes for the extension of their little meeting. He didn't even get to think too much about his behavior before the current situation was explained to him, so all in all it was a minor concern at the moment.

After all, so what if Claes was silent through it all? It wasn't as if the moron would understand it at all anyway, so it was to be expected. Right?