Co-written with miss mika namariya. We own nothing!
The Duchy of La'Morei was large and prosperous, and the Takarada family was practically as old as the monarchy itself. When Lory was born, it was assumed that he would spend his life like the many Dukes of La'Morei before him: managing the region's pink sapphire mines and quietly living a peaceful life of idyllic solitude within the walls of the Takarada estate.
But Lory had other ideas. Keeping to himself was not in his nature. Instead, as a young man, Duke Takarada had gone to the capital and taken up residence at court, shocking the nobility and palace bureaucrats with his reform suggestions and liberal ideas about equality and love. Lory's outlandish style of dress only served to reinforce the rumor swirling through court that he had fallen down a mine shaft as a child and permanently damaged his brain. But King Kuu, who back then was only a young crown prince, liked the Duke immediately. Lory was older by a handful of years— enough to be a mentor figure, but not so much older that the two couldn't also be friends. When Kuu ascended to the throne, Lory was his chief councilor and trusted advisor. Together they worked to make the kingdom a better, happier place to improve the lives of the people they served. When Kuu found his True Love and married Queen Julienna, Duke Takarada was his best man. And when the couple welcomed their son, the crown prince Kuon, Lory was there. According to tradition royalty was supposed to have fairy godparents, but it had been ages since anyone could remember one showing up to a christening. Instead, at Prince Kuon's christening, it had been Lory standing beside their Majesties, proudly holding the squalling new prince in his arms.
Growing up with the Duke as his godfather had been a unique experience for Kuon. Duke Takarada had a kind of prescient sixth sense. He was impossible to surprise. Lory was always at least one step ahead. Kuon thought it was as though the Duke understood something about the laws of the universe that everyone else did not, and used that secret knowledge to his advantage. When the young prince said as much to his godfather one day, Lory laughed.
"It takes no special skill to see what's right under your nose, Highness," the Duke had said airily. "You just need to remember to look down."
Kuon had narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Infuriatingly, Lory had winked at him. "Don't worry about it," the Duke said. "You'll understand when you're older."
"Or you could stop being a cryptic old goat and just tell me now," Kuon had pointed out.
Lory laughed again. It was more of a cackle than a laugh. "Where's the fun in that?"
One day Duke Takarada suddenly announced his decision to retire from life at court. The country was peaceful and prosperous, King Kuu was wise and just, and by and large the people were content. Lory claimed he'd had enough of court intrigue, that he was ready to move to the countryside and live a quiet life of seclusion.
Nobody who knew the Duke believed it for a second. When Lory announced the founding of the LME Academy several weeks later, his friends were only astonished that it had taken the Duke that long.
"So you've founded a school, then?" Kuon asked his godfather.
"Of a sort," the Duke replied.
"What are you going to teach?"
"Whatever it is my students wish to learn," Lory said loftily, waving a graceful hand through the air. Knowing that further inquiry would be useless, Kuon had sighed, rolled his eyes, and moved on to another topic of conversation.
Kuon had been half-convinced that LME Academy didn't even exist. It wouldn't have surprised the prince to learn that the mysterious institution was nothing more than Lory's private menagerie or the name of his theater troupe. What little Kuon had gleaned from Kyoko about her training left the prince with more questions than answers. After the mysterious health juice, Kuon resolved to corner Lory and wring some answers out of the frustrating man on the next possible occasion.
When Duke Takarada next arrived at the palace, he was accompanied by a tall, dark-haired stranger. That by itself was not particularly noteworthy— the Duke always had at least one unusual companion. On one particularly memorable occasion, Lory had arrived at the palace at three in the morning, accompanied by a traveling theater company, three young page boys, two camels, and eight wandering minstrels. But when Kuon learned that the Duke's companion, whom Lory referred to as 'the Archive', was also an LME Academy graduate, the Prince was determined to know more about the newcomer.
As was the rest of the palace. The Archive's piercing shining dark hair, blue-grey eyes, and icy demeanor quickly became the talk of the castle, setting hearts aflame amongst nobles and servants alike. And Kyoko did not seem immune to their charms either, Kuon noticed with more than a hint of jealousy. The Prince couldn't help but notice that since the Archive's arrival, Kyoko actually began to take her lunch breaks, summoning the trio of palace guards that replaced her and disappearing down the halls before Kuon could figure out how to ask her to eat lunch with him. She always returned on time, positively beaming, a glowing smile on her face and her cheeks pink with happiness. Kuon wasn't aware there was someone besides Sir Hoppington who could make Kyoko smile like that.
"The Prince wants to meet you," Kyoko said one day to her friend as they finished lunch together.
"He said that?"
"Not exactly. But he keeps asking me about you," Kyoko added, watching Kanae's reaction. It had struck the bodyguard that the Prince seemed a bit down recently. Maybe if he met Kanae, they could become friends. It'd be good for him, Kyoko thought, nodding to herself with satisfaction.
"I'll pass," Kanae said, already pulling over a large tome from the stack in front of her.
"But—"
"I'm sure we'll meet eventually. I'm rather busy at the moment," Kanae said, gesturing to the books that were stacked on nearly every square inch of the desk. The Archive looked meaningfully out the window. "Don't you have to be getting back?"
"You're right!" Kyoko waved, then did a silent backflip around the corner before vanishing down the hall towards Prince Kuon's chambers.
Kanae settled back into her books. She flipped through the pages at her usual speed, ignoring the hushed whispers that came from a few other library patrons. Kanae's speed-reading ability was impressive, but what Lory had liked even more was her perfect memory. Every word, sentence, and page of everything Kanae had ever laid eyes on was stored precisely in her brain. All the written information in the world would not have been enough to overwhelm her capacity to remember, and Lory had many, many uses for someone who could be, as Kanae was, a walking encyclopedia of all kinds of knowledge. Kanae didn't particularly care for her nickname, but she had to admit that at least the Archive was accurate.
Kanae was right— eventually, she and the Prince did meet. Lory and the Archive were returning from a short trip outside the capital and happened across Kuon in one of the large council chambers between meetings. It was the one time he could say that Kyoko was a less than perfect bodyguard. One moment, he had been nodding to Lory's assistant and trying to conceal his surprise that his rival for Kyoko's affection was a woman; then next, Kyoko was dropping out of the ceiling, screaming at the top of her lungs like a war cry, "MOOOOOKOOOOO I MISSED YOU!"
He could not, for the life of him, fathom why—or how—the girl dodged Kyoko's hug.
Kuon was pouting. Ever since the Archive's arrival, Kyoko had been having lunch with her instead of him. She still somehow knew whether or not he actually ate (her astral assistants were as astute as always), but she was never there. Between that and her method of guarding, he barely saw her anymore. He stared moodily at Sir Hoppington through the tank glass, wishing he could have any of the gusto with which the frog was devouring the bugs Kyoko had caught him. He poked at his own lunch. It was the same quality as always, but it just did not taste as good without Kyoko sitting across from him, glaring at him until he ate. Or, when he did eat, planning with her what to add next to Sir Hoppington's home. So far, he had a makeshift tree house (complete with a series of mushroom spiral steps and a slide Kyoko had whittled herself), plenty of little spaces to hide (all of which looked like fairy homes), his own (creepily accurate) Prince Kuon doll on a tiny throne — complete with a mossy seat for the knight at the prince's right hand — and a beautiful little pond. Kuon often found himself wishing he could shrink down and swim in it. Kyoko kept it so clean, yet the plant life in it thrived.
Sir Hoppington blinked at him, swallowing a fly. "Ribbit?"
"No, she's not here today, either," he sighed.
"Rib-rib."
"She's with her friend." He took a bite of his sandwich.
The frog puffed up indignantly.
"She's allowed to have other friends," he chided.
"Ribbit." Now the frog was pouting, too. Great. It was a pout-fest. What a pair they made, the prince and the frog, both pouting over the same woman. After a few moments, the greener of the pair perked up. "Ribbit-rib rib-rooob ribbit?"
Kuon dropped his sandwich in awe. "You're a genius."
This time, the knight puffed up with pride (and maybe the large moth he had just eaten).
The next day, Kanae received a formal invitation to dine with the prince and his bodyguard (and their frog). Given the nature of the court, she was not one to refuse — especially not when Kyoko pitched it with her terrifying salesperson face. Kanae would do most things to make Kyoko stop doing that. Fortunately, Kyoko only made Kanae bend to her will on rare occasions. Lunch with the prince was one of those times.
"You'll really like him!" she promised, her arm linked through Kanae's as they walked through the halls up to the prince's chambers. "He's a very dedicated worker, always trying to find ways to improve the kingdom. Plus, he reads a lot — nothing on you, of course, but you'll actually be able to have an intelligent conversation with him," (the lack of which was Kanae's gripe about most people at court). "Plus, he gets along so well with Sir Hoppington!"
"I still can't believe you got him to knight a frog."
"He didn't do it for me, he did it because of Sir Hoppington's noble actions in protecting the garden's fairies," Kyoko replied, totally serious.
Kanae groaned internally. She knew exactly why the prince had invited her to lunch. It had nothing to do with her abilities and everything to do with the girl hanging off of her arm (Of course she knew. It was her job to know things, especially things that others — Kyoko, for instance — did not notice.). The girl in question was still talking up the prince, clearly hoping to make her be his friend. The Archive took a deep breath to steady herself. Kyoko was about as much friendship as she could handle, thank you. She did not need to add pining princes to that list.
All too soon, Kyoko was knocking on the prince's door. One of her fellow guards opened it, then stepped out to let the ladies in. Kyoko was more than enough protection for the prince, even when she was eating. Kanae took in the scene and desperately wanted to laugh. Sir Hoppington was sitting on a little cushion on the table, snacking on a bowl of something she was not going to investigate. The table also had three plates of unfairly delicious-looking food. The prince sat next to the frog, but stood up when they entered, as any gentleman would.
"Thank you for joining me," he said after they had exchanged formalities. "Please, have a seat."
Kanae took her seat across from the prince. Kyoko insisted on getting her chair for her. She allowed this, if only to watch the prince's slight shift in expressions. Maybe this lunch would be some fun, after all.
"Ribbit?" Sir Hoppington blinked up at the newcomer.
"Ah, excuse me! Sir Hoppington, this is Kanae, the Archive. Moko, this is Sir Hoppington."
"Charmed."
"Ribbit."
Kyoko beamed. "Now that everyone's acquainted, let's eat!"
Kuon had to admit that even with the Archive's presence, food tasted better with Kyoko around. "So, how did you two meet?" he asked, taking a bite of his food under Kyoko's insistent glare.
"We were roommates at the academy." Kanae was working away at her food very efficiently. It really had been too long since she'd had her best friend's cooking.
"And our friendship blossomed from there!" Kyoko added rapturously. Sir Hoppington shot out his tongue to try to eat some of the sparkles coming off of her. He missed, but one of her assistants put a fly on his tongue instead.
"What did you study at the academy? I've heard a lot about it, but I admit my knowledge of the institute is lacking." Given that it's something Duke Takarada came up with, that's understandable.
"Everything, pretty much. Mostly the academic sections, though I received basics in the more hands-on studies as well."
Well, that was helpful. "Did you have a specialty?"
"Knowledge."
"Moko is amazing!" Kyoko said, putting down her food so she could talk with her hands. "She read every book in the library at the academy, so she knows everything the Duke had to teach! He had to come up with special new courses just for her." She gave a dreamy little sigh that made Kuon's heart twinge.
Kanae fought the urge to elbow her best friend. "Please, I can't go hand-to-hand with you in combat."
"But you know so many poisons that you would never need to — not that I could ever fight you, Moko!" Kyoko tried to lean over and give her a hug, which Kanae expertly dodged. "You're so mean," she pouted.
Give me her hugs! I'll take them! Kuon bit back.
"Ribbit!"
"Of course, Sir Hoppington, I'm sorry!" Kyoko picked him up and gave him a quick cuddle before setting him back on his cushion.
Kuon was not jealous of a frog. (Kuon was totally jealous of a frog.)
"I never took to the practical part of cooking the way you did, though," Kanae said, and took an appreciative bite.
"Nonsense! Moko's cooking is delicious."
"We literally had a chef judge the class who said yours was the best, but sure." She rolled her eyes.
"Ribbit!"
Kyoko pursed her lips. "Sir Hoppington, catching bugs doesn't count as cooking."
"Still, I agree. Your food is good," Kuon said, trying to rejoin the conversation. "Even I like it."
"Then eat." Kyoko looked pointedly at his mostly-full plate. Kanae held in a laugh.
Kuon grumbled, but did as he was bid.