Ugh. I suck at this. I forgot to update again yesterday, so maybe Tuesday isn't the best choice. Thinking about updating Sundays. More notes at the bottom.

Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as he thought it was. Yuuri hadn't been king for a week, and already there had been complaints about a teenager taking over the post as king, but, after talking to and confiding in Benz about his worries, Yuuri felt better about it. He hoped to have been quick to disprove the rumors that the new king of Lunis was a wimp by taking down the traitor of a Prime Minister as quickly as he could.

He remembered the moment clearly. He had called the Minister to him, and he had come, if disgruntledly. "James Orson," he had said once the man had walked into the room, and the minister alerted in a moment, bowing deeply. Yuuri knew that these were only formalities, of course, and he had never truly held Orson's loyalties. "You are stripped of your titles and arrested for treason against the crown."

James Orson straightened up. "I feared this moment would come." You can arrest me if you want, Your Majesty, but just know that my master knows. He knows everything, and won't have for my arrest."

Orson had quickly pulled two knives from his belt, hidden in the folds of his robes, and charged Yuuri. Guards fled into the room, surrounding the former Prime Minister, and restricting his arms behind him and escorting him out of the room, where he would be officially sentenced and condemned to prison for the rest of his days.

Benz had not wanted to make a large deal of Orson's arrest, and the senate and nobles had agreed to keep the true nature of the traitor's arrest under wraps. They instead claimed that Orson had fallen ill and resigned to move away to a small village in the northeast. Phichit had snickered at the false location of Orson's new home, as nobody had been allowed to live there due to the close proximity to the prison where Orson would be contained.

Yuuri was glad that most of the downgrading rumors of him had dissipated after Orson's arrest, and had gained more respect among the officials of his own kingdom. Shortly after Orson had been in front of a judge, a new Prime Minister was elected in the form of Alain Leroy.

Alain had been elected onto the Senate about ten years ago, and had chosen not to run again after his five-year term was up, claiming to want to take care of his toddler son and wife. He had remained popular amongst the people, however, as he worked alongside his wife.

Alain's wife, Nathalie, was a wealthy woman who owned a popular clothing shop with her husband in the largest village in the kingdom, the same one surrounding the castle. She had branched out a few years ago to the smaller villages in the forests surrounding the ring-shaped island, but as a result, her and her family had become well known throughout the kingdom.

Alain and Nathalie were both very intelligent and knew it full well. However, Yuuri found quickly that their son, Jean-Jacques, nicknamed JJ, even at age thirteen, was insufferable. The young boy had quickly taken to his father's power and popularity, and fed off it like a newborn.

On trips to the castle, he paraded around like he owned the place. The child showed no respect for anyone other than Yuuri, and did not realize his relationship with Phichit. Yuuri had given Phichit special permission to not bow or give formalities when the two were interacting. However, JJ had tattled to his father, who had shared this with Benz, who then reprimanded his son, despite Yuri's protesting.

Despite the bickering between father and son, the conflict had included Phichit snapping at Benz, and Benz snapping at Phichit. Dao had eventually come in and grabbed both of their ears to pull them away privately. Leaving Yuuri to his own thoughts, he went to his room and changed into civilian style clothes and roamed the village.

He stared longingly at the children racing along the cobblestone pathways, full of energy, with their siblings and family. A pang echoed in his head, and he tore his eyes away. He separated himself away from everyone else, gazing through windows in shops with pretty woman with packages in their arms, some leading along children, or holding hands with other people.

A group of drunk men stumbled out of a bar, the owner chasing them out with a broom and chuckling quietly to himself when two collided and landed on the ground. The stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing and toasted each other with the remains of their drinks. Another drunk man with hazel eyes giggled as he stumbled up to Yuuri. The man dropped his drink to pick up a red rose on the ground to offer it to Yuuri. He took the rose from the man, smile amusedly, and watched the man walk away, swaying slightly.

He took a long look at the rose. It was very red, almost crimson, he noticed. These red roses only grew in Solis; the roses in Lunis were a darker color due to them being modified to grow without the sun. He looked around at shops around him, but did not see any florists that seemed out of the ordinary enough to import red roses from Solis. He looked down at the rose again, and smiled. He hoped it was a good omen, but didn't know what else to think of the crimson flower. Bright colors in the darkest of places.

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