You are not to go anywhere near Princess Relena.

That was what Treize had told her.

Yet, Dorothy had her ways with words. A clever girl, she knew exactly how to get what she wants. She knew very well that Treize is not anyone to be rubbed in the wrong way. Though he had told her not to go anywhere near Relena, he did not say that she cannot catch a glimpse of her.

Royal palaces had been stages of dramas and secrets. Men had used secret passages to visit their lovers; women had drilled holes on the walls and floors to spy on their husbands and often than not, friendly enemies. It didn't take long for Dorothy to decipher the paths to Relena's quarters. And on the wall, she found a spy hole.

With her right eye, she peeked into the hole and saw a room that is rather small for a royal princess. There was only a four poster bed and a cosmetic table. On the cosmetic table was a mirror, a brush, and a book. No one was in the room; not yet. Patiently, Dorothy waited. An half hour later, the door was opened.

Footsteps were soft. A young woman in a white nightgown came into her sight. She was about the same age as Dorothy, or perhaps a year younger. Without a doubt, this was Princess Relena. Dorothy nearly gasped. Princess Relena was indeed beautiful. Her white garment matched well with her fair complexion and blue eyes. Dorothy noted her small feet since she wasn't wearing any slippers. Watching her, Dorothy became self-conscious of her own looks. Compared to Relena, Dorothy found herself too tall, too thin, feet too big, and features too strong.

No wonder Treize refused to be anywhere but here!

She watched as Relena brushed her hair out and read her book at the cosmetic table. A knock on the door. Relena looked up and Treize walked in.

"Look at you, going bare feet again," he gently scolded. "You are a princess. I don't think your mother would've approved."

He picked her up from her seat and carried her to bed. He saw her getting under the covers and leaning against the pillows. Seeing that, Dorothy drugged her nails into the wall.

Jealousy flashed across her heart. Since the age of three, Dorothy had a strong crush on her cousin Treize. She had dreamed of marrying him. When her grandfather Duke Demail heard it, he dismissed it as childish dreams. However, her desire to be with Treize grew as time went by. To her disappointment, Treize rather spent time with his close friend Zechs Marquise. Now with Zechs gone, he showered his attention on Relena. Without a doubt, Treize was obsessed with her.

"But I like to leave my feet bare," Relena said. "It feels good."

"No it doesn't," Treize insisted as he sat on her bed. "In the military, all soldiers from corporal to generals are given two pairs of boots, in case if the first pair is broken or wet. You know what happens if you wear shoes that are wet? Gangrene. Then you'd lose your feet." He paused and changed the subject. "I haven't seen you for a few days. Did it scare you?"

She shook her head. "No, it's just a few days. I assume you have been busy."

"We have seen each other everyday since I brought you back here," Treize said. "These few days without seeing you felt like years to me." He took her hand and said, "Now I don't mind that you didn't miss me, but have you missed him?"

"Who?"

"Don't play games with me, you know whom I'm talking about."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do," Treize said, brushing her hair aside.

So there's someone else, Dorothy thought.

"Why are you trying to put me together with him?" Relena questioned, with a tone of frustration. "I told you how he treated me."

"Don't lie to yourself, Relena," Treize said. "You said you like to keep your feet bare. The last time you were with him, were you wearing shoes?"

"No," she replied. "But that's because I lost my shoes."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you lose your shoes?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"If I were him, would you talk about it?"

"No," she looked away.

"He loves you, Relena," Treize said. "Not all men like to show their emotions, or know how to show their love. That boy had a tough upbringing. He's a soldier."

"As are you," Relena said. "You are not like him."

Treize chuckled. "I was born in the nobility. When I was fourteen, I enrolled in a military academy. With my friend Zechs Marquise, we were trained to be soldiers but never to lose the humanity in us. Heero, on the other hand, was trained to be a supersoldier - only to complete his mission without any emotional attachment. It is you who awoken the humanity in him. A supersoldier with a heart - that's what I call a perfect soldier."

"I don't love him," Relena said. "I want a divorce."

"Out of question," Treize said, with his tone turned serious. "It will not happen, ever."

"What difference does it make?" Relena asked. "I don't see him. You can still build the future that you envisioned - a world of peace - regardless if Heero and I were married or not."

"You and Heero are meant to be," Treize insisted. "You will understand his love for you. You'll be together with him, and after that, you'll have a child, or maybe two."

Relena turned away from him and buried her face in the pillows. "A child...how does it happen?"

Treize laughed out loud. "Let me show you."

He unbuckled his sword and pulled the long, thin blade from the scabbard. Relena sat up, wondering what he is going to do next.

"When a man and a woman are together," he said as he demonstrated. "It's like the blade and the sheath. They become one just like I slide this sword into the scabbard. It will hurt, but only once. Then, a child will be formed in your belly. He or she will be part of you and him. By then, you two are forever bonded."

Playing with the sword, he pulled out the shining blade again. Examining it, he went on talking to himself. "I received this sword on my sixteenth birthday. It was a gift from Zechs. It never left my side. My hands have been stained with blood. Yet, this sword remained clean and pure, like you are, Relena."

Suddenly, he threw the sword behind him and the blade penetrated through the wall.

"What's the matter?" Relena asked, surprised by his sudden act.

"No worry," Treize comforted her. "Just a mouse."

On the other side of the wall, Dorothy's hands couldn't stop shaking. The sword nearly pierced her in the eye.

Just a mouse.

No, the mouse is no other than Princess Relena herself.

And she, Dorothy Catalonia, will kill that mouse.