First of all: Thank you for your review Aafje1998. It made me very happy.

Second: Thanks to everyone who favorites my story or follows it.

Third: Thanks to everyone who is reading my story.

Fourth: Hakuyuu will stay alive for a few more chapters. I want to describe him, his family and their situation a little bit more. And I hope you can enjoy the way I write Hakuyuu and Hakuren, since those two are the main characters of this fanfiction - surprising, I know ...

On another note: I am very proud of myself, because this chapter is relatively long. It is hard to write in s different language, especially longer texts. I know, I need to describe more and use more synonyms and I hope that I will get better each chapter.

The day after awakening was the strangest day in his life until now. Yesterday, he hadn't been able to talk or to move. It got better over the course of the day at least his moving ability. He had fallen asleep and woke up only a few minutes later, just to fall asleep again. Somehow this was more exhausting than doing something. Well, who had thought that sleeping or better falling asleep was more exhausting than moving around, working or exercising? Hakuyuu hadn't thought so. When he woke up this morning he was able to say a few words. His voice was quiet and somewhat scratchy. His body, on the other hand, did not feel stiff anymore and he was able to freely move around – as long as he stayed in bed, but that was something he only learned later on. While he felt sick, weak and more dead than alive yesterday, he felt pretty normal today. Although his feeling for hunger did not return yet. On the other hand, it was not odd that he wasn't hungry – or better said felt hungry – shortly after awakening. Normally he would wake up, go to the bathroom, dress up for the day and then eat something – which meant that he had to go to the bathroom again and brush his teeth, but he had no problem with going to the bathroom twice – and then start his day. Today, he did nothing besides waking up, so there were a few things left to do before he could start his day in bed. And he really needed to go to the bathroom anyway. Since he was alone and therefore did not have someone to help him to get out of bed and safety into the bathroom, he decided to try it on his own. He did feel well enough, so why should he not be able to leave his bed? The plan went well until Hakuyuu's feet ought to hold him. They failed him!
The pain he felt when he hit the floor caused him to curse and to squall. Of course this was not unnoticed and two nurses entered the room.
As soon as he was sitting on his bed again the older nurse lectured him. Hakuyuu knew her. At least he knew that he knew her. He only did not know her name, even though she was already working in the palace when he was born and even before that. She had been there when his mother had given birth to him. Still he did not know her name. To be honest he never had cared about that.
The second nurse stood a few steps behind the older woman and seemed not to know what to do or were to look at. Poor thing. She probably only had taken care of the soldiers or servants until now. Just a few nurses were allowed to aid the physicians when they treated members of the royal family. And only selected physicians were allowed to treat the royal family. The other were there for the servants, soldiers, other member of the palace and the guests.

After being scolded he told both women that he just wanted to go to the bathroom. Fortunately, his wish was granted. Unfortunately, he was not able to go alone and the older woman, her name was Ms. Liu – the younger woman called her Ms. Liu – refused to leave him alone. At least not when he wanted to wash himself since he couldn't stand on his own, even a bath itself was not allowed as long as no one was around to watch him. At that point Hakuyuu wasn't sure whether his father and mother were behind this, because they were worried about him, or the doctor who was in charge of him.
The crown prince had never liked it when other people saw him naked or interfered in his privacy or independency, even when it was for his own good. Already as a child he tried to dress himself without the help of others pretty soon, so he did not need to undress in front of the servants or others. Now the servants only helped him with the clothes for special events since those were not easy to put on.
When bathing Hakuyuu really did not need anyone else around. He was capable of washing himself pretty well and he wanted and needed some privacy and time to relax as well. Hakuyuu liked taking a bath. He liked the smell of the soap and the feeling of being clean. The thought that during the month he had been asleep someone undressed and washed him without his consent, without him being aware of it made him feel highly uncomfortable. Of course, everyone meant well and it was necessary, but it still left him with a feeling of uneasiness.

Discussing with Ms. Liu was useless, so he gave up. He had went to the toilet – without being watched – and now he wanted to take a bath which he was only permitted to do, if one of the nurses were with him to ensure his safety. As if he would drown. He was grown up man!

The bath took longer than usual. Maybe because he hadn't had taken one on his own for a month. The feeling of the warm water on his skin was great. The bath water or the soap or both – it wasn't important anyway – smelled like lavender. Ms. Liu was with him while the younger nurse – Hakuyuu had not asked for her name or paid attention to Ms. Liu calling the other woman by name – was ordered to tidy up the prince's room. Hakuyuu didn't know why, since he was a very neat person and as far as he remembered his room wasn't messy or dirty when he left it just a short while ago.

After Hakuyuu took his bath, dressed up and went into bed again both nurses left. Before that Ms. Liu told Hakuyuu not to leave his bed without someone being at his side to help him and she told him – it sounded more like an order – to eat his breakfast. His feeling of hunger was not back yet. Still he should try to eat at least a little bit. He wanted to get better soon and join his father on the battlefield. He had wasted one whole month with sleeping, so there was a lot to catch up on.
A knock on the door draw Hakuyuu's attention to it. Before he could say something Hakuren already had opened the door and entered. A big smile on his face.
"Good morning, big brother! How are you?"
Cheerful and loud as ever.
"I am fine. More or less … How are you?"
More emotions wouldn't kill Hakuyuu.
"Better than you", answered Hakuren while sitting down on a nearby chair ignoring his brothers annoyed look and him roll his eyes.
"I expected that."
It would have been strange if Hakuren were worse than Hakuyuu. Hakuyuu was the one who just escaped death not his younger brother. One the other hand, who knew what had happened in the Empire, on the battlefield or in general to other people while the crown prince had played "Sleeping Beauty"?

Hakuren and Hakuyuu looked very much alike, but their personality were very much different. Both had short black hair, blue eyes, a mole on the right side of their chin and their thin eyebrows were split at the end. The only optical difference were their features, Hakuren's features were softer than Hakuyuu's. Well, and Hakuyuu was taller.
Non optical differences existed en masse in regards to their personality. Hakuyuu was the head person, Hakuren the emotional one. Hakuren was almost always cheerful and optimistic, Hakuyuu was stern, realistic with a tendency to overthink things and therewith losing sight of what was in front of him and thereby turning pessimistic. Hakuyuu loved studying and was alright with all the paper work, Hakuren loved to hone his fighting skills and be outside, running around – he needed a lot of exercises to feel alive and well, sitting around for studying or work was pure hell for him. Hakuren was a talkative person, Hakuyuu was a silent person. Those were just a few differences between the brothers, but those differences also made them a good team. They knew each other well and therefore completed and could help and learn from each other.

Besides the two princes there were also two princesses. Hakuei, the older princess, was only a little bit younger than her brothers and she set herself the goal of fighting besides them on the battlefield. She was a good fighter, but her father did not let her enter the army. However, Hakuei never had been quitter and hence Hakutoku had to deal with her demand on a daily basis when he was home. One day he would probably give in – there was no reason to not take a good fighter with him.
The second princess so much younger than her older siblings and was relatively often sidelined by her own family. Hakuren and Hakuyuu were away from home often as well as their father. Hakuei was busy with training or studies. Gyokuen, the empress and therefor the mother of the four and Hakutoku's wife, had a bad relationship with her youngest child. During her pregnancy she was not happy and more than once said that she did not want to have the child. After giving birth she even refused to feed the child and now she barely interacted with her daughter. No one knew what was wrong or how to help. Most of them thought it might be because of her losing her fourth child, the child born before the second princess, the one who was kidnapped and never heard of. The empress herself never said what the matter was and if someone brought the subject to her lost child she shut herself away. She had loved and still loved her third son so much and lost him so tragically. Presumably, she still had hope that he would return to her side one day, that he was fine and just got lost on his way home, that he missed her as much as she missed him, that he remembered her as much as she remembers him.

"Man, I am so happy that you are fine again. You looked more dead than alive just yesterday. And I cannot even tell you how happy mother and father are and how horrible the last month was. No one knew what was wrong with you and no one knew what to do."
It must really have been a tough time for Hakuyuu's family.
"Do you know or have a clue what had happened?"
A question Hakuyuu was trying to answer for himself since he woke up, but he hasn't find an answer yet.
"I am happy to be fine again as well. And I know that I looked and still look terrible. Where is mother right now? Honestly, I expected her to be here before everyone else."
"Oh, well, mother stayed with you the whole day and night since you woke up. Father brought her to bed this morning, when you were still asleep. I guess, as soon as she wakes up, she will run to your side and hold your hand and maybe feed you. Never thought that my big brother is still such a child."
Suddenly Hakuren started laughing.
"She kissed you so much yesterday and called you her baby. And she hold your hand the whole time and stroke through your hair. 'Don't worry, my dear, mommy is here. You are save' she said all the time. Father could stop her to get one of your old stuffed animals in the nick of time. Wonder why she didn't try to do that before. But man that was second-hand emberessment at its finest!"
Hakuren tried to imitate his mother's voice but failed which made it even funnier at least for him.
"Please tell me that it was only you and our parents who had witnessed this", craved Hakuyuu and one could pity him if one were not like Hakuren, who was very amused about the situation. Teasing his brother was a great hobby – a hobby which involved a lot of effort since Hakuyuu was not so easy to tease. Well, Hakuyuu was easy to tease, but he was very good at hiding his emotions.
"No, sorry, a few nurses and physicians were there as well until father sent them away."
After hearing that Hakuyuu wanted nothing more than to disappear and never reappear again!
"Oh, by the way, 'my dear' was the most harmless mother called you. I never thought that a person is able to create so many pet names. But rest assured they were all embarrassing!"
Hakuren just had stopped laughing only to start again. Someone seemed to have a death wish. A wish Hakuyuu would be happy to fulfill.
"Why I am not surprised."
Because he knew his mother and he could understand her and her reaction, which does not change the fact that he indeed felt embarrassed and wished she wouldn't have done what she did.
The crown prince buried his face in his hands. Life was so cruel! What crime had he committed to be punished like this? He had been a good boy! He was polite to others, he followed the words of his parents and instructors, he respected the elders, shared with others and helped those in need of help. So, why was he punished like this? If Hakuyuu had believed in a god he probably would wonder if said god was testing him. However, Hakuyuu did not believe in a god.
"Because she is our mother and loves us?"
"I know that. I am happy to know that she is not afraid of showing her love for us. It is just, you know, I am a grown up man, I do not need my mother to treat me like a baby. She could have showered me with affection after everyone had left."
"Well, that's life."

To get away from the talk about what happened yesterday and therewith to get away from more embarrassment – Hakuren would tell him more anyway – Hakuyuu asked his brother, if he knew what had happened. Why had Hakuyuu slept for so long?
"As I said before, no one knew what was wrong with you and no one knew what to do. Consequently, I don't know what had happened or how or why. No one knows. Father said that you were suddenly gone, when one of the soldiers were looking for you to switch places –you had guarding duties or something like that – and after they were not able to find you in the fort they searched the surrounding area and finally found you in a forest near a lake. According to father you seemed unharmed. You were cold and pale and you barely had a pulse."
"And why was I there?"
"How should I know? Maybe you walked there? Maybe you were kidnapped? Actually, we thought you could answer that question."
Hakuyuu could not.

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