The morning sun bathed the Idun District in its warm hue. Gold flecked off the ocean. There was a pink tint to the lavender sky. Yellow clouds streaked across the firmaments as if a paintbrush wielded by a gifted artist left them there.

Light bounced off the glass buildings, setting the city on fire. The lush greens of the vegetation, which did not turn colors as the Summer Continent was too warm to have a proper autumn, complimented the otherwise crystal environment. The navy blue manor by the ocean overlooked every piece, it in all its grander being the final piece to a beautiful scene.

Yet it wasn't the beauty that had the young lord's attention. What occupied the twenty-one-year-old Shion Kaito's mind was the histories and mysteries of Artemis laid out before him on his mahogany desk. His midnight blue eyes scanned every word, taking it all in. How customs were birthed, where cultures originated – such things fascinated him.

"Spending your day in the library again, are you?" asked an older woman with white hair cut to the nape of her neck as she entered the study, books lining the walls from floor to ceiling. Kaito did not look up from the tome he intently studied. "I declare, my son, you have read every book in this study at least thrice."

"Yet there's always something new to learn with each read." Kaito ran his fingers across the page as if feeling the ink. He looked up at the woman. "I don't believe you can blame me for having an insatiable curiosity, Mother."

"If I shouldn't blame you for your mind's never-ending hunger," Lady Shion began, "then you mustn't blame me for my impatience. You truly are your father's son, a scholar through and through. So was your grandfather. You Shion men care far too much for knowledge and not enough for romance."

"Please, don't start, Mother," Kaito begged, but it was too late.

"I am nearing forty years old, and you have yet to give me a daughter," Lady Shion said. "Never mind I still want grandchildren one day, but we shan't put the cart before the horse."

"I just had a birthday," Kaito reminded her, eyebrow raised as he chose to entertain her with a mischievous smile. "Forgive me for not having a bride already picked out."

"Had you gone to the balls at the Cinderella academies, you would have already decided on a bride." Lady Shion sighed. "Don't you desire to have a wife?"

"Of course, I do," Kaito replied. He gently closed the book and set it aside. "I desire to have a wife I adore and to be the mother of my children. However, now is not the time to be thinking of such things."

"Why, does my son fear women?"

"I fear the rebellion."

Lady Shion frowned. Not this again. "Those are merely rumors. You recall we have had no instances in this district."

"Yes, but for how long?" Kaito ran his fingers through his hair as he stood from the desk. "Rumors or not, a rebellion will arise if we cannot contain it before its birth. All it takes is one spark to start a fire."

"Yes," Lady Shion agreed, "but even the biggest fires can be put out."

"Not without first causing damage."

"As if this fire is a real threat." Lady Shion waved a hand in the air. "You will not put out any fires with books, my son."

"That doesn't mean answers won't lie within these pages." Dragging his fingers against the spines of the books, Kaito added, "Those who don't know their past are bound to repeat it. These rebellions have happened before. Is there any reason to not believe the tactics used to end them in the past will be effective in the present?"

"My son is not a warrior."

"I could be if I tried."

"You are your father's only heir, goddess rest his soul. Without you, your dreadful cousin will be the one to receive the inheritance. I will not stand for it."

Kaito fought a smirk. "I don't know why you never liked Akaito. He's not the worst person you could possibly meet."

"Nor is he the best." Exhaling loudly, Lady Shion said, "Anyone can see we have too very different opinions of what you need to do for now."

"You don't say?" It was obvious to Lady Shion that Kaito only intended to humor his mother. They had this discussion many times, and they would likely have it many more. In a way of sorts, these conversations had become a type of joke between mother and son.

Yet instead of accepting the humor, a frown remained on Lady Shion's face. "I know you won't be so easily persuaded, no matter how oft I press you on the matter." The corners of Kaito's lips fell. "That is why I have come to make a compromise with you."

With a sigh, Kaito plopped back down into the big office chair. "And what compromise is that, Mother?"

Lady Shion smiled. "You remember your father's old friend, Opera Tonio?"

"The master of the Cinderella Academy in the Diane District?"

"The very one."

"What about him?"

"Master Tonio also worries about the . . . unrest the rumors may bring." Lady Shion began examining her nails, but when she realized what she was doing, she snapped her head upwards and looked Kaito in the eyes. "He wants a man as well-studied as you helping him seek out potential rebels."

Drumming his fingers on the desk, Kaito asked, "And what I need to do for you to be okay with your allowing me to travel halfway across Artemis?"

"I want you to find a wife while you're there," Lady Shion answered. "Kaito, my love, you will be surrounded by dozens of beautiful, eligible women who will bring blessings to our home and to your life. I don't doubt that there will be one there to steal your heart. If you help prevent the fire you so fear, also search out that Cinderella. Bring her home. Give me a daughter."

"And if I find no one?"

"You will find someone," Lady Shion insisted. "Your father didn't happen to stumble upon me one day. He actively went to Cinderella balls every chance he could for seven years before he found me, young and inexperienced in the way of womanhood."

Kaito had to resist the urge to sigh. "Yet you think it won't take me seven years?"

"Just bring someone home, and I shall judge her value," Lady Shion replied. "I want only the best for my son."

With that logic, Kaito thought, it doesn't matter if I find a wife. I just need to bring a woman home for Mother to evaluate. At the least, all I will need to find is a friend willing to come home with me under the guise of a potential bride.

"You strike a hard bargain," Kaito said, "but you have a deal, Mother."

Lady Shion narrowed her eyes and called out, "You agreed a little too quickly. What are you planning?"

"Nothing," Kaito insisted. "I achieve nothing by staying home with you. I suppose I might as well do as you expect of me, right?"

Not entirely believing her son, Lady Shion simply asked, "When will you arrive to the academy?"

Kaito immediately answered, "In time for the next ball."