"Alright, here we are," Prince Siegbert announced.

Shiro got down from his saddle and took a good look at the grounds in front of him. He had mixed feelings over the view. On one hand, it was nice to be outside the underground castle and see actual forestry after being confined inside for a few days. On the other hand, the weather was awful, as expected from Nohr by that point, with the gray sky so dark one could easily mistake the morning for the end of the day. There was also the fact that the land looked a bit too barren, though Siegbert claimed that they were working on restoring it to its natural beauty, before years of neglect from King Garon's rule. In retrospect, Shiro was to blame for thinking the Nohrian hunting grounds could compare to the lush grounds that he was used to.

Despite his slight disappointment, he was grateful for Siegbert's invitation and even more thankful that their trip involved just them and their retainers, he couldn't ask for better company. He watched Asugi and Soleil dismount from their own horses and prepare their weapons. Neither Shiro nor Siegbert had a lot of experience with the bow, but they would still try to hunt a few birds that would most likely show up, since according to Siegbert, it was a good season for that.

While Shiro wouldn't mind practicing his bow skills, he did not think that it would be particularly interesting to have two guys flinging their arrows around and most likely failing to catch small animals at all. If they were to practice shooting arrows, maybe a larger target would be a better practice. His sight turned to the forest in front of them.

"Hey, Prince Siegbert, I was thinking..."

"Mhm?"

"Instead of trying to hunt for birds in an open field, why don't we go for something more interesting?"

"Something more interesting?"

"Yeah, how about we go for something bigger and ground bound?" he asked. "Surely there must be some deer by the forest, right?"

"Yes, there are," Siegbert said. "However, there have been reports of wild boars roaming around the forest recently. If we are to hunt there, we need to be careful to not get their attention."

"Yeah, the wild boars here can be pretty vicious," Soleil said. "One time my father's colleague tried to hunt one on her own and had it not been for the king himself to rescue her, she would be a goner."

"That sounds… troublesome," Asugi said, hesitant. "We're just in a group of four. You sure it's okay to go?"

"If we remain cautious, I believe there shouldn't be a problem."

"It'll be fine, you worry too much!" Shiro said. "Lead the way, Prince Siegbert!"

The group headed to the forest and the first thing Shiro noticed was how significantly darker everything became. He had underestimated just how thick the vegetation could get and how difficult could be for the already dim silver light to pass through the treetops. As they headed deeper into the forest, Shiro began to notice how difficult it was to see clearly, to differentiate the shadows of the trees from the shadows of anything else. He cursed in his mind whenever he found himself tightening the grip on his bow every now and then. Judging by Asugi's agitation, with him looking everywhere and holding the hilt of his dagger at any slight unidentified movement, it appeared that he was facing the same vision problems.

Siegbert and Soleil, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine, or as close to fine one could be in a dark forest, with the possibility of encountering a vicious wild animal. They kept a close eye on their surroundings, but were not nearly as jumpy as Shiro or Asugi. Shiro came to the conclusion that he would have to go with the flow and follow the two, instead of trying to actively find anything.

Minutes of walking turned into an hour and Shiro began to wonder if they would actually find anything. It wasn't as if they were experts and came in prepared to track and hunt down deer, but after a long time of only seeing trees and the occasional hare or bird, it would be nice to see just about anything that was bigger than that. Eventually, they came to a halt as Soleil, who walked ahead, extended her arm and placed her index above her lips.

"Guys, I think I see something," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "There's a deer over there."

They looked at where she was pointing and at first Shiro couldn't quite figure it out the shape in between the bushes and trees, but soon he realized that Soleil was telling the truth. That girl had some good eyes, the prince had to admit.

"So how do you want to do this, Prince Siegbert?" Shiro whispered. "Do you want to give the first shot?"

"You may go first."

Of course he would say that. "Alright, I'll finish it in one clean shot," he proclaimed in a whisper. "Watch this."

Shiro adjusted his bow and aimed at the animal as best as he could, trying to remember everything that his aunt tried to teach him. Taking a deep breath, closing one eye, he shot at the deer. Fwooosh! The arrow flew at an impressive speed and the shot would have been even more impressive if it had actually hit the deer.

"Damn!" he cursed under his breath, as he watched the arrow scrape by and hit a tree trunk instead.

The deer panicked as it realized the attempt on its life and ran away, earning a groan from Shiro and a smile of amusement from Siegbert.

"Aww, don't worry, Your Highness," Soleil said. "You did very well for someone who isn't used to our dark forests, you were very close!"

Shiro could feel Asugi holding his laughter from behind him, be it from his failure in landing the shot or at Soleil's attempt at cheering him up. He almost wanted to ask Siegbert if he would like to trade retainers, since Soleil so far was the only one who tried to cheer him up.

"You think it's possible to go after it?" he asked, instead.

"Probably not," Prince Siegbert answered. "But we are likely to find another one nearby."

"Okay," he said, adjusting his bow and arrows over his shoulder. "I hope your aim is better than mine."

"I cannot promise anything."

The prince still had that amused smile, one that Shiro kind of wanted to wipe it off his face by proving he could hit that deer, but also wouldn't mind if it stayed on for a while. Maybe it was because he was usually so serious. It was nice to see him being more open for once. He watched Siegbert walk ahead and guide them through the forest as best as he could, since even he had difficulties seeing the faint hove prints on the soft ground.

They eventually found another one, only for them to lose it again once Siegbert also missed his shot. Soleil tried to console him, Asugi was not crazy enough to show amusement at the prince's failure and Shiro felt oddly sympathetic for him, his sympathy only growing as Siegbert turned his attention to him and gave him an awkward smile. Both of them sucked at archery, that was the plain truth, yet there was something comforting in their silent agreement over that. It almost made him ignore the growing irritation over being in that dark, stuffy forest.

"How about we try one more time and then we go back to the open fields?" Shiro asked. "Next deer we find, we both try shooting at it. Whoever lands the shot, wins."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Siegbert answered.

"Changed your mind, milord?" Asugi asked.

"It isn't as if we came here to specifically bring anything back anyway," he said. "Right, prince?"

"My intention was primarily to show you around, I don't mind if we return from this forest empty handed."

He also did not want to humiliate himself even further in front of the Hoshidan prince, Siegbert was more than grateful that Prince Shiro decided to cut their moment in that forest short. They wandered around for a few minutes and were lucky enough to find another deer in the distance. This time, both of them drew their bows and pointed their arrows at the animal. One last shot. If they hit it, they hit it. If not, they would let it be and return to the open fields.

"Now!"

Shiro shot first and managed to hit the deer on its flank, causing it to sloppily gallop away in a struggle. Due to Siegbert's slight hesitation, he had to try to adjust his aim and stop the deer from running away, so he pulled the string and shot the arrow. It did not find its way to the deer, who managed to get away, leaving trails of blood behind. The poor animal would agonize for a while and Siegbert worried if they should try to follow it and put it out of its misery.

Unfortunately, the arrow found its way into a different animal. Everyone felt their blood freeze as a horrifying screech resonated through the forest, not far away from them. Against all odds, the arrow ended up hitting a wild boar with a trunk as massive as a barrel of wine, now absolutely furious over the attack. Shiro could feel the color draining from his face as he saw the bushes shake frantically, until the wild animal showed, charging at him in fury.

"Shiro, watch out!" Asugi shouted.

Shiro jumped to the side as Asugi threw a dagger at the boar and scraped the side of its head, drawing its attention to him. Soleil immediately drew the sword she brought as a precaution and thrusted at the unhinged animal that charged at her colleague, a swift movement that stabbed the animal very close to the neck, hitting instead its large, massive flank. In a last attempt to struggle against its attackers, the boar violently shook its head, causing Soleil to lose the grip on her sword and knock her over.

Siegbert froze in a panic. Despite the blow, the boar would not go down without a fight. There was no time for Soleil to get up and get away from the animal that was about to stomp her to death.

"Soleil!" Shiro yelled.

Without hesitation, Shiro pulled his bowstring and shot at the boar. A terrifying, guttural screech escaped from the boar as the arrow hit it in the neck. The beast tumbled to the side, giving Soleil enough time to get back on her feet and step back. Asugi then took out another dagger and this time managed to pierce its eye. As the boar stumbled from one side to the other, they stepped back and waited, until it finally collapsed on the floor and stopped breathing.

The group still hesitated to approach the fallen boar and try to retrieve their weapons from its body, as they feared it would suddenly rise and charge at them. Siegbert cautiously approached the animal and retrieved the sword, the boar did not show any signs of pain. With shaky hands, he returned the sword to Soleil, doing the same for Asugi's knife and Shiro's arrow. They all collectively let out a sigh of relief over the passed danger.

"That was…" Siegbert hesitated. "Soleil, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lord Siegbert!" Soliel said, chipper as ever. "See? No bleeding or scratches!"

"No bruises as well?"

"Hang on, let me check."

Shiro's jaw dropped as he saw what Soleil meant with that. Without showing even the slightest of hesitation, she prepared to take off her shirt and was about to roll it up her head, showing just the slightest amount of her belly, before Siegbert immediately grabbed her arms and forced her to stop.

"Soleil, no," he said. "We've already talked about this."

"I, uh..." she said, looking at their guests. "Sorry, force of habit."

"What kind of habit is that?!" Shiro thought. He then glanced at Asugi, who looked equally as shocked. His retainer than shook his head and asked:

"Anyway, what are we going to do with the boar?"

"We could try to bring it back, but..." Siegbert said. "I don't know how I would be able to face father and Queen Hinoka and tell them what has transpired for us to get it."

"Hey, why don't we leave it here?" Soleil asked. "It will get eaten up by vultures eventually anyway."

"That's... grim, but you're not wrong," Shiro said. "Let's get back to the castle."

They exited the forest in complete silence and returned to where they had stationed their horses. Their trip back to the castle was quiet for most of the time, with only Soleil and Asugi exchanging small talk every once in a while. Shiro kept glancing over his shoulder, to where the Nohrian prince was, riding with his head hanging low, an expression of regret on his face. Shiro did not understand why he looked so defeated, the fact that they were returning all in one piece should have been something to be proud of. He almost regretted not insisting that they bring the boar back to the castle and have it be served as dinner, but that would probably be too much trouble for the four of them to carry the heavy body.

The group entered through the back of the castle and headed to the stables to leave their horses there. As soon as the horses were installed in their respective stables, Siegbert asked if Shiro could stay so he could speak with him. Noticing that her lord wanted to have that conversation in private, she motioned for Asugi to follow her and the two retainers left. Shiro already had an idea of what he wanted to talk about, if the need for that conversation to happen away from a possible passerby in the castle was any indication.

"Prince Shiro, I want to apologize for today," he said.

"You mean the sudden boar hunt?"

"Yes, that."

"What are you apologizing for?" Shiro asked. "The boar came out of nowhere and attacked us. I think we should be grateful that we are all okay, don't you think?"

"It only attacked us because of my careless aim," Prince Siegbert insisted. "I have put all of us in grave danger."

"Your aim sure was off, but..." Shiro sighed as he saw the man get anxious. "Prince, whose idea was to go into the forest and hunt larger animals? Mine or yours?"

He gave a cheeky smile as Prince Siegbert hesitated and took his time to think of the obvious answer that both of them knew.

"It was yours."

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. "So, I apologize for that dumb idea."

"You simply suggested we should go into the forest, I could have said no and not indulge it."

"And Asugi asked if everything would be alright and I insisted that we go."

"Well..."

"Prince, I understand that you feel guilty for saying yes and missing your mark, but I'm not accepting an apology for something that was not entirely your fault. It was not just your decision and to think it was would be pretty selfish of your part."

"I… see."

There was a genuine relief in his voice that only made Shiro's smile widen. He thought that he was beginning to understand the Nohrian prince little by little. Prince Siegbert was sweet and overly polite, but also to the detriment of his peace of mind if he thought he was making Shiro even slightly upset. That concern for his well-being felt genuine, sincere. Shiro was used to superficial politeness and caring for him due to obligation from other people, he liked to think that he knew when someone was being genuine. Prince Siegbert was showing to be a much different person than what he thought he would be before coming to Nohr.

He wouldn't mind spending more time with him during the rest of his stay in Castle Krakenburg.

"Now let's put all of this behind us, yeah?"

"Ah, Prince Shiro, Siegbert, what a coincidence to meet you here."

Shiro's mood soured as the owner of the voice approached them, sporting a more casual outfit instead of the embellished, royal garb he usually wore when greeting him. It did nothing to dissipate the image of the stern tyrant that he had of King Xander, it only caused him even more distaste for seeing him there. He felt blood rising to his ears. He wanted to wipe that forced smile off of his face with his fist, but he instead just forced himself to give back the same uncomfortable smile of acknowledgement.

"Good afternoon, father," Prince Siegbert said. "We have just arrived from the hunting grounds."

"Oh, that is good to hear," King Xander said. "Have you caught any good game?"

"There weren't many birds today, nor were they big enough for us to land good shots."

"That is unfortunate..."

Seeing the king and his son standing side by side, it made Shiro want to pull Siegbert away from his father as far away as possible. Maybe it was due to the lingering relief of escaping near death, but he was starting to like the guy, he could see them becoming good friends. He did not want to be reminded of his association with that man.

"We still had a good time, though," Shiro said. "Even if we didn't catch anything, your son is very good with the bow. With some refinement of his skills, he could become an excellent archer."

He received a mortified look from the prince. He would apologize for teasing him later, right now he just enjoyed how easy it was to get a reaction out of him without him blurting it out to other people.

"It pleases me to know that you had a good time," King Xander said. "Speaking of refining skills, Siegbert, I have some unfortunate news."

"You won't be able to attend our sparring session tomorrow," he said. "Have I guessed it right?"

"Yes, I am so sorry, son."

"It's alright, I understand that you have been busy lately," he smiled. "We can schedule it for next week."

"Of course, I look forward to it."

The two princes excused themselves and left the stables. Once they were out of his sight and earshot, Siegbert let out a disappointed sight and ran his fingers through his neatly combed golden hair, messing it up in a way that Shiro was not used to seeing.

"So I take it that this isn't the first time he cancels his training with you?" Shiro asked.

"It has been weeks since we got to practice together," he answered. "Or simply spend time together for more than a few minutes."

"He seems like a busy man."

"Lately he has been busier."

"Well… if you want, we can train together," Shiro said. "Maybe we could practice some archery and actually get good at it."

"I wanted to dig a hole in the ground when you mentioned me being good with the bow," Siegbert sighed. "Now my father will have false expectations over what I'm capable of."

"Come on, it was just a joke. Don't take it so seriously."

"I have a hard time seeing what's funny about it."

"Okay, so it was not a good joke, sorry," Shiro said. "But I do mean it when I say I'd like for us to train together again."

"Really?"

"You're a good fighter, Prince Siegbert. I would like to test your skills when you are actually battle ready, not just passing by," he said.

"I appreciate it, but… hmm..."

They stopped walking and Shiro just watched the prince in front of him twist his mouth in a thoughtful gesture. "What is it?" he asked.

"Prince Shiro, I suppose you are free tomorrow, yes?"

"I have no plans for tomorrow, no," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you would like to spend the day tomorrow visiting Windmire city," Prince Siegbert said.

"Really?" Shiro asked, surprised. "Isn't your schedule busy for this kind of trip?"

"In theory, yes, but..." he said. "Let's just say I am not canceling my schedule, I am just substituting what it is in it."

"I like the way you think, prince," Shiro said with a toothy grin.

As they approached the east wing of the castle, Siegbert turned to Shiro and announced that he still had lessons to attend to very soon, but that he would make sure to make the necessary preparations for their trip tomorrow. They said their goodbyes for now and went their separate ways.

As the evening approached, Shiro decided to take a walk through the artificially constructed gardens of the castle. He was rather impressed by how much greenery and flowers the gardens displayed, since he doubted any sunlight could find its way there. He remembered Prince Leo commenting how a couple of months after King Xander ascended the throne, the garden became a small project for the Nohrian dark magicians to try to reconstruct from its state of decay and try to make it grow into a beautiful, green area without any sun. By the way he talked about the technicalities and research, he seemed very proud of it and now Shiro understood why. To see a vibrant and beautiful garden grow with magic alone was nothing short of impressive.

He wondered if that little experiment could extend to the barren and difficult lands. The idea was to, should the project succeed, extend it and try to make Nohr's agricultural business flourish. He hoped that was the case, it would be much easier for Hoshido if Nohr could be self-sufficient in that regard.

There was another reason why he wanted to visit the gardens that evening and it had to do with his aunt, who really could use his company as a way to escape her estranged sister. He watched Hinoka graze her fingers over a bright blue flower and give out a long sigh.

"Thank you for being here, Shiro," she said. "I know this won't last long, but I'm happy that we get to spend some time together."

"We barely got to talk since we got here, so yeah, I'm happy too."

"How has your time here been so far?"

"It has been… way less tortuous than I thought it would be," he admitted. "I guess that spending time with Prince Siegbert has helped."

"Well, I did not expect that answer," Hinoka said, turning away from the flower. "So King Xander's son has passed through your rigorous standards?"

"You make it seem like I have high standards for friendship."

"You arrived in Nohr ready to dismiss anyone who crossed your way."

"Oh, come on! It's not like that!" Shiro said. "I just… did not expect to find decent people here, that's all."

"I'm glad that you are wrong then, because I'm not sure we would be able to survive this trip if that were the case," she chuckled.

"But the moment you got your chance to avoid Corrin, you took it."

"Don't… don't say it like that. That's not what this is."

"Noooo, of course not."

"Don't use that voice with me."

"Okay, I'll stop," he said. "So you are not avoiding Corrin?"

"I am taking a break," she said. "I'll get back to her eventually."

They walked in silence for a few seconds, each admiring the flowers that caught their attention the most, before Shiro stopped and turned to Hinoka.

"Auntie, I know that it's important to keep relations with them, that I can understand," he said. "But why do you treat Corrin so gently? Why do you indulge her?"

"Because it is important to-"

"I know, but the way you spend time with her, the time you spend writing her letters when we are back home..." he continued. "I'm sorry if this is me speaking out of turn again, but I can't see it as just keeping a political alliance. The way you speak with King Xander, Prince Leo? Yeah, I can understand, but Corrin..."

"Shiro, that is enough," she said, sternly. "I understand your concerns, but I don't want to have this conversation now. You will respect this wish."

"I… oh, fine, whatever."

Hinoka clicked her tongue in annoyance and decided to focus on the path ahead of them, with Shiro realizing that her steps were growing faster. It was for the best to change the topic as soon as possible, or else she wouldn't slow down.

"So yeah, Prince Siegbert," he blurted out. "Great guy, we're going out to town tomorrow."

That certainly got her to slow down, stop even. Hinoka turned to him with a surprised look in her bright brown eyes and let out a confused "huh".

"He invited me," he said. "I thought that it would be nice to get to know the city better."

"That's really kind of his part," she said, only to later give out a teasing smile. "I hope I can find time to talk with him and ask him what kind of spell he used to make you open up so quickly."

"You don't even need to ask, just spend time with him that you'll see."

"I'll take your word for it."

As they continued their stroll, they met Dwyer along the way, along with a confused Setsuna.

"Ah, milady," she smiled. "I was looking for you. Dinner's going to be served."

"Ah, yes, thank you Setsuna," she said, only to then turn to Dwyer. "Where did you find her, butler?"

"Stuck inside one of the kitchen cabinets," Dwyer said. "She told me that she was going to look for you, so I decided to bring her here."

"Setsuna, how in the world do you get stuck inside a cabinet?"

"I was just checking around to see what they were going to serve for dinner and… I dunno," she said. "Dwyer was very kind to get me out of there and bring me here."

"Just never go near the kitchen again, okay?" Dwyer said. "Or anything where you can get stuck in."

"Now that's a challenge for her," Hinoka murmured.

"What was that, milady?"

"Nothing, let's head back. Come on, Shiro, Setsuna," she said, turning to Dwyer. "Thank you very much for your assistance."

"Think nothing of it, Your Majesty."

Their small moment of respite was over, it was time to return.