Princess Hisui was not having a good day. First she had spilled her tea, and then her father had been called on important business, ruining their morning they usual spent together. And finally her teacher had decided that they were going to learn all the laws of the kingdom.

Her child level of patience had finally had enough. She decided to head down to the lower levels, where the storage rooms were located. It was rather easy sneaking past the guards, they probably didn't expect a child to try and sneak past them.

Once she was down there, she did what she usually did, choosing a random storage room and hiding out in there. She had been in there for a while, mentally grumbling about how bad her day was going, when a loud bang suddenly echoed down the hallway.

'What was that?' She wondered, slowly opening the door to peek out into the hallway. Before she could venture out of the room, she heard the sound of soldiers running down the hall.

'I can't let them find me down here!' She thought panickedly. Her father would be upset and disappointed is he found out she was hiding out down here, and her teacher would give her even more homework.

So she quickly shut the door, and hid behind a box. After a minute or two she heard the door open. She held her breath, surprised by the sudden entrance.

'I didn't even hear them!' She thought, thinking it was the soldiers. But instead of searching the room, the newcomer closed the door, making sure to shut it as quietly as possible. Hisui stayed in her hiding place, just in case it was one of the soldiers.

A moment later the sound of voices came down the hallway, it was the guards, talking about the noise she had earlier. As their voices faded, she slowly came out of her hiding place, looking at the person hiding in the room with her.

She honestly couldn't see much of the person, they were hidden by a dark cloak, covering almost their entire body. All she could see was that they wore sandals on their feet. Mustering her courage, she put her hands on her hips and gave the figure her most impressive glare, though it honestly wasn't that impressive.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, trying to imitate the voice her father sometimes used when reprimanding someone. Faster than she could blink, the figure whirled around, reaching out to her with a hand. It froze less than an inch from her face, close enough for her to see gleaming claws in place of nails. She looked into the eyes of the thirty something man, his gaze dangerous and deadly, like a predator's. She swallowed nervously, realizing that she had made a huge mistake. This was obviously an intruder, and if they had managed to sneak past all of the guards protecting the castle, than he was very, very dangerous.

Suddenly the stranger retracted his hand, reaching up and scratching the back of his head. It was a strange sight to see, his hood jumping up and down and revealing flashes of pink hair. His next movement was just as strange, bowing at his waist with his hands to his sides. It took a moment for Hisui to realize that he was apologizing.

"Um... It's okay?" She sort of asked, this situation was rather hard to understand. The man straightened, grinning in relief.

Now that her heart wasn't pounding in her chest, she had the chance to examine him better. She could barely see anything about him honestly. He seemed to be in his thirties, and underneath his cloak he wore a pair of black pants and a shirt with only one sleeve that covered his right arm. A black strip of cloth wrapped around his neck, hiding it from view. She couldn't see his hair except earlier when he had lifted his hood. All she could see was his cheerful expression, as well as a scar that cut across his right jaw. It was a pretty noticeable scar too, as it was long enough to almost reach his eye. An interesting thing she noticed was that his right hand had a glove on it while his left hand was bare.

Suddenly the man blinked, as if remembering something, before reaching into a pocket into his cloak. Hisui stiffened in worry, just because he had apologized for almost… doing whatever it was he was about to do, it didn't mean that he wasn't dangerous.

She blinked in surprise as he pulled out a notebook, and a rather plain one at that. The man nodded in satisfaction before reaching into the pocket again. Slowly, a frown came over his face as he failed to find whatever he was looking for. He quickly began searching the rest of his pockets, patting them down as he searched for whatever it was he needed.

'Um… do you need help?" Hisui asked hesitantly. It was her job as the princess of Fiore to help people, even if it was someone as strange as this man was. The stranger just shook his head, continuing his search.

'He hasn't said anything this entire time,' She suddenly realized. Before she could ask why, the man's eyes suddenly flashed in accomplishment. Whipping a pen out of his pocket, he held it up as if it was the greatest treasure in Fiore. Suddenly plopping down on the floor, he flipped open the notebook and quickly wrote something down. After a moment he showed it to her. Despite how fast he had written the message, it was surprisingly neat. The message wasn't what she was expecting though.

I always manage to lose that thing. He wrote, and honestly, Hisui could sympathize.

"Sometimes I lose my tiara, and I have to find it before my father finds out or he'll be disappointed in me," She admitted before remembering her earlier question. "Why are you writing instead of talking?"

The man raised his hand to his mouth before flinging it outward, as if expelling something, then he shook his head. It took a moment for Hisui to understand what he meant.

"You can't talk?" She asked hesitantly. The stranger smiled, clapping his hands and giving her a thumbs up. She blushed slightly as she translated his motions.

'Congrats, you got it!'

"Thank you," She said politely. The man smiled before writing something in his notebook.

So what's your name? She blinked in surprise as she realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet, or even found out what his name was.

"My name is Hisui," She said, expecting him to realize who she was and start bowing. She honestly didn't like all of the attention, she just wanted to be treated normally. To her surprise he simply nodded.

Emerald, that's a nice name. He wrote. Hisui bowed slightly, secretly glad that he hadn't done the same to her. She didn't like it when the soldiers or her teacher bowed, it made her feel like she was above her. This man didn't seem to think that way, making her happy.

"What's your name?" She asked politely. His reaction was interesting, he gained a blank look, like he couldn't think of the answer.

"You don't know you own name?" She asked incredulously. She had heard of people with insomnia, but not someone who had only forgot his name. The man huffed silently, slightly indignant.

Of course I know my name. It's… He paused again, thinking for a few moments. Suddenly he snapped his fingers, going back to his notebook.

It's Aki. He wrote, smiling proudly.

"Are you sure? Aki, as in Fall the season?" Hisui asked dubiously. He pouted slightly, making him seem like a kid. She raised her hands placatingly.

"Alright, alright. Your name is Aki. Now Aki, why are you here?" She asked. Aki shrugged, as if it wasn't that important.

A friend of mine had to drop me off, the problem was that the only place he could drop me off is here. He explained, as if it made total sense.

"In all of Fiore, the only place he could drop you off was the castle's basement?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. Aki shrugged again.

He's strange like that. Was all he said. Hisui thought about arguing, but she gave up on the idea. Aki was still a mystery to her, but she was pretty sure that he wouldn't talk unless he wanted to. Her attention was drawn to the man scribbling on his notebook again.

Now tell me, what is a fair maiden like you doing in a place like this? He asked, making her blush at the compliment.

"I… wanted to be alone with my thoughts," She admitted. Aki tilted her head in confusion.

Is something wrong? He asked gently. At least that was how Hisui felt it sounded like.

"I'm just tired of my life. Of not being able to see my father, of having to follow hundreds of rules I don't even know about, and being expected to always be perfect," She explained sadly. Aki nodded in understanding, patting her head as well as he could with the tiara on. She smiled at his touch, it was nice to be treated as if she wasn't someone so important.

I don't know much about rules and expectations, but I know what it's like to not see your father. My father left a long time ago, when I was just a child. I was sad at first, I searched for him for days, hoping he was just playing a joke on me. Over time though, I realized that he truly was gone, and that he wasn't coming back. While his disappearance made me sad, it also allowed me to meet many friends and people I even considered family.

Hisui stared at what he had written before staring at him.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked in a small voice. What he had written was so personal, she didn't understand why he was sharing it with her, a total stranger. He seemed to know what she was thinking, because he smiled gently.

An elder's job is to pass on his knowledge to the next generation, so that they don't make the same mistakes he does. What I want you to know, is that even if you aren't able to see your father often enough, you can still be happy with those around you.

"But they always bow to me and treat me like they don't deserve to talk to me!" She exclaimed. Aki gave her a serious look

Then show them that they shouldn't bow, and that they are equal to you. They should be your friends, not your followers. Even if they still choose to treat you the same, remember that they know that if they ever have any problems, they'll come to you.

"Are you sure that's what will happen?" Hisui asked hesitantly. It was hard to imagine that all of her subjects would do something like that, they always seemed to be concerned that they were doing something wrong when they interacted with her. Aki seemed absolutely certain though, flashing her a grin and a thumbs up. She smiled back at him, bowing slightly.

"Thank you for your advice Aki, I really appreciate it," She said. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, uncomfortable with the attention.

It's no problem. He wrote before grinning mischievously. Now how about we sneak out of here?

Hisui grinned, his enthusiasm rubbing off on her.

"Let's go,"

-A Little Later-

It had been almost as easy to sneak out of the basement as it had been to sneak in. Aki had made a noise to distract the guards before ducking into a room with Hisui. After the soldiers had run past, the two had made their way back to the main floor. They continued on until they reached an open window, where Aki stopped.

"What's wrong?" Hisui asked. Someone could come at any moment, and she didn't have an excuse for what her new friend was doing here. Aki glanced at the window before turning back to her.

I need to head out. He explained.

"What, why?" She exclaimed. She had just met the man but she enjoyed talking with him, and now he had to leave. He seemed to understand why she was upset though because he patted her head reassuringly.

The longer I stay here, the higher the chances that I'll be caught. Also, I need to take care of some things that can't wait. Don't worry though, I'll visit you when I can.

"Promise?" She asked hopefully. She would love the chance to talk with him again. Aki flashed a blinding smile before quickly climbing out the window. She ran to the windowsill to see him leave but he had already disappeared.

"There you are princess!" A voice came from behind her. Turning, she saw her tutor, looking slightly out of breath.

"I was worried that you had accidently missed your study time," He said. Inwardly, Hisui sighed, he knew that she had skipped class but he was trying to be nice about it. Remembering Aki's words though, she bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry teacher, I was thinking of skipping studying the laws of Fiore. I promise that I won't do it again," She apologized sincerely. Her tutor seems stunned by her words, unable to say anything for a moment. Finally he recovered, clearing his throat.

"Thank you for the apology your Highness, and I'm glad that you won't skip any more classes," He said before motioning toward the library. "Let's begin your studying now."

Hisui nodded, following her teacher. Mentally, she thanked Aki.

'You were right after all, things are already starting to be better,' She thought happily.