Heine felt the silence fall heavy over all of them. It was like no one wanted to leave the room just yet, as if hoping that an answer to everything would appear out of the silence. Even Eins stood quiet, staring at the door, his usual frown on his face, deep in thought.

Heine sighed and everyone turned to him at once. "It will be alright. Your father has a plan to capture these people."

"Is there nothing we can do, professor?" Bruno said.

"I'm going to explode if I can't help with something!" Licht said.

"It would be good if we at least knew… a way to help Leo." Kai said.

Heine took a deep breath, thinking about it. He still had to talk to Leo himself about his and Viktor's relationship. He hoped he could approach the boy later on today.

The prince couldn't even sleep properly. He would relive his trauma whenever he was alone. Heine's head hurt as he realized the parallels that Leonhard must have drawn up when he caught Viktor and him together that morning.

"Leo thinks we don't care, but of course we do, it's just… what power do we have to do anything?" Bruno asked.

Heine looked up at the princes, looking to him for an answer to a problem which had none.

"Then we must show prince Leonhard how much we care about catching these people." He said.

"How?" Kai asked.

"If the man Leo… visited in the cell is to be believed, the third person may still be related to some noble up in the north. Lies always lead to more lies and plotting for something as great as a war requires financing. A family up north preparing for a war, for whatever reason, will want to increase their defenses." Heine said.

Licht's eyes brightened up. "They'd probably want food too, right?"

Heine nodded. "In case of any issues transporting food from the rest of the country to the border then yes, they'd want to build up a decent stockpile."

"But master… the expense reports don't show any excessive spending on anyone." Bruno held the report tighter. Heine knew, however, from the look on Bruno's face, that he had doubts.

"Did any issues arise with your report? You don't need to answer if you think it can wait for your father to return." Heine said.

Bruno picked up a ledger and handed it to him. "This is a copy of the ledger from the house of Klenfelt." The one with the only adult son.

"What's wrong with it?" Eins asked, coming to stand closer to Heine.

"Nothing." Bruno said.

"Then how is it relevant?" Prince Eins sounded annoyed but as Heine looked at the summaries for each year he could see what Bruno meant.

"It's perfect," Heine said and offered it to Eins when he reached for it.

"So… there's nothing wrong with the Klenfelts?" Licht asked.

"Usually if a ledger is this perfect, it shows an excessive attempt to not draw attention," Eins replied. "No budget this big is ever managed to perfection."

"Perhaps if we show Leo that we'll help him investigate, he'll start getting better?" Kai asked.

"It's worth trying," Heine said. "But we must be careful not to raise false hope. We will help him to every end of our abilities, but we will not promise results."

The siblings all nodded. "When do we tell him?" Bruno asked.

"I'll have Ernst meet with father. I shall inform him of what Leonhard kept from him and that we'll all be helping him investigate to ease his thoughts. Ernst will inform me of father's reply. We'll go from there and proceed as instructed by the king with regards to the sensitive information we'll be handling." Ernst said.

oOoOoOo

Heine approached prince Leonhard's room, seeing two guards at the door. When they opened the door seeing him approach, Heine was confused as they hadn't given Leo a chance to decide on allowing him in or not.

"I told you to get out!" Leo yelled. Once he heard him yelling at the poor maid, Heine understood and quickened his pace.

"Y-your highness please… we just want to make sure you're safe." The young maid said, shaking where she stood, tears in her eyes but defiant to leaving Leonhard alone.

"Get out!" Leo simply repeated, when his eyes landed on Heine, the professor was surprised the boy didn't combust right on the spot. "Especially you!" He practically spat the words out and Heine took a deep breath, looking at the maid.

"Please wait outside for a few minutes miss Lucy." Heine said and the maid bowed at them, going to stand outside.

Once the doors closed Heine turned to Leo who was chuckling as he held his head. "They removed all cords from my room, sharp objects, even my shoe laces. Just what the hell do you people expect me to do?" Leo yelled.

"Your brother Eins is worried about you." Heine insisted as Leo walked away from him, taking deep breaths.

"I am not going to kill myself." Leo said turning to him. "Report that back to brother."

"You said it yourself, when you first came to dinner, that you wanted to die. You wished you had died." Heine's voice cracked and he cleared his throat as Leo flinched, looking at him when Heine almost lost control of his emotions. "We just want you to be safe, Leo."

Leo took a deep breath, blinking away emotion as if wanting to force himself to remain angry rather than become sad.

"I don't." He said simply and sat down on the edge of the bed. "And I really can't… can't speak to you right now, professor." He said softly.

"Leo, I'm sorry you had to find your father and me like that." Heine said and Leo dropped his head lower, gripping the edge of the bed hard enough that his knuckles began to turn white. Heine prepared to let himself get kicked out, but instead, Leo spoke with as calm a voice as possible while trying to contain his discomfort.

"Since when?" Leo asked.

"…Your father and I have been friends since a year after he became king." He said softly.

"That's not what I mean."

"That's as long as I've cared for him."

"Then, my mother?"

"We were just friends… he had a duty to his country and I just wanted to support him in anything that I thought would make him happy." Heine said. "I know very well that as a man… and a Kvel on top of that… that nothing could come from loving Viktor in that way." He chuckled looking down at the floor. "Even in some bizarre world where two men could be together, I would still be a lowlife Kvel with bad blood that could never stand beside a king." He said and reminiscing in brief memories he looked back up at Leo who just listened. "When your father married your mother, I wished them well. Your father wanted to appoint me as an advisor officially, but while I could support him, I couldn't stay beside him. So, I left to teach."

"So, when mother died you decided to run back here?" Leo pushed but Heine smiled.

"Your father had to do a lot of persuading to even get me over here to teach you. It had been three years after your mother passed away before I came to teach you and your brothers. I had closed my heart to having anything more than a friendship with Viktor out of respect for your mother and out of respect for all of you." Leo flinched at that, guilt appearing in his features.

"So why did you come?" He mumbled.

"I wanted to help you all become good candidates for the crown." Heine said simply.

"Liar, you came just for father." Leo said. "Since when have you been doing those things with him!" He snapped.

Heine stared at him for a long time. "Leo…"

"Answer me." The dark tone in Leo's voice made Heine pause. He sighed.

"Some time after you returned." He said and damnit he realized how bad that sounded. "It… we were both very close by then, when you returned to us we were both so relieved but hurt that we couldn't help you. Your father kissed me and… these walls I had built crumbled as if I'd built them from dry sand." He said simply. "I'm sorry if what you caught us doing brought back horrible memories but… there's a difference."

"So, it's fine to do those things to someone just because you care for them?" Leo hissed. "Hold them down and make them beg to stop and hurt them all for your own twisted satisfaction?!" He yelled. "Threaten them, bite them, scratch them and humiliate them?!"

Heine felt each word hit him in the gut and tried to reach for him. Leo grabbed his wrists. Surprised, when Heine blinked, he'd been pulled by Leo onto his bed and Leo was on top, looking down at him with disgust, anger, and hurt.

"Is that what you're saying? Maybe because I care for you and respect you I can do those things to you too?!" He hissed, gripping onto his shirt with shaky hands and Heine looked up at him calmly.

"No, Leo. What happened to you was not the same." He said gently. "When Viktor and I are together… there's no pain, there's no hurt, there's no humiliation, no tears…" He said, reaching up to caress the prince's face, wiping away the tears forming.

"How is it different when you're being used the same way?!" Leo insisted, shaking Heine, not understanding.

"Because coming together like that is not about aggression, power, or dominance." Heine insisted. Leo seemed to look into his memories before letting him go.

Heine stood and straightened his clothes.

"When you grow up, and find someone you want to be with, you'll want to be with them intimately. You will not want them to hurt, you'll want them to feel good things, along with you." He said. "And when you're both loving each other, it'll be an experience of closeness that you won't experience with anyone else." Heine said, to try and make sure that Leo understood.

Leo just remained seated on the bed, staring at the covers. "What if my body wants something else?" Leo asked softly.

Heine kneeled by his side so he could look into Leo's eyes without having the boy lift his head up. All he could see was disgust and self-loathing in those eyes. "The body and the mind are two different things, Leo." He said.

The look didn't leave Leo's eyes and Heine prayed someday Leo could process what was done and understand that he was not to blame.

"Finding and killing that third man will not ease your pain."

"Maybe it will…" Leo whispered. Heine reached out to hold his hand and was not rejected.

"Just like knowing that the man that hurt you the most is dead, has not eased it either."

Leo let out a breath, gripping Heine's hand tightly in return.

-KNOCK- -KNOCK-

Both looked up at the door, which was opened to allow the royal doctor to come in.

Heine stood and moved to the side. "You know where to find me should you need me, your highness." He gave a slight bow and Leo nodded. Heine turned around to leave, nodding to the doctor as he passed, the maid following and sitting in the corner quietly.

It didn't go unnoticed by Heine, that the doctor had been holding a fresh bottle of Laudanum on his way in.

oOoOoOo

Leo regretted calling the doctor now. He would have liked to spend more time with Heine than with the doctor and the poor maid he'd yelled at. Miss Lucy now looked unphased, sewing away in the corner to get some work done while keeping watch over him.

"Your highness, forgive me I didn't know you were with the royal tutor." He said and gave a polite bow. "You called for me?" He asked. Leo nodded.

"I had a headache… and my whole body ached… but I think I'll be better on my own. I apologise for calling you, but you can go." He said, waving him out.

"If I may your highness, you look dreadfully pale. Are you sleeping well?" He asked. Leo chuckled without humour and shrugged. "Allow me to prepare your tonic, your highness. Your lack of sleep could be the cause of your headaches." He said, reaching for the Laudanum sitting on his nightstand. "Looks like you're almost out prince Leonhard, luckily I brought a new bottle for you."

Leo watched him pour some brandy in a small cup, mix it with honey and finish it off with a few drops of the medicine. When he realized it was for him he shook his head.

"No, father doesn't allow us to drink alcohol." Leo said with a frown.

"This will make the medicine go down easier. You'll see." The doctor offered him the cup and Leo took it.

"I'm not sure I like how it makes me feel." He said, remembering the last time he took the medicine. It was so bitter, he didn't even take the full dose.

"I assure you that this is the best treatment for your lack of sleep. Why, it's a wonder medication, useful in many other instances too!" He praised the medicine and encouraged him to take it. Leo did feel exhausted. It would be nice to sleep and rest now that he had nothing to focus on.

He tried a gulp and groaned, forcing himself to swallow the sweet, but still unpleasant medicine. That and the alcohol made his throat burn and threw him into a coughing fit for a good few seconds.

"It's better to take it all in one go." The doctor smiled. Leo grimaced staring at the cup before bracing himself and throwing the rest down in one swig. "You should lie down to rest now."

As Leo got into bed and lay his head back onto the pillow, he began to quickly feel very drowsy. The warmth of the brandy in his stomach wasn't unpleasant, but something didn't feel right. He couldn't quite figure out why. Before he could put his finger on it, he dozed off to sleep at ten in the morning.

oOoOoOo

Lucy sighed as prince Leonhard fell asleep. She prayed her highness would have a good rest. Her mother always used to say that sleep was sometimes the best remedy.

"Thank you, doctor." She said as the doctor made his way out.

"I'm merely doing my job." He said with a smile.

"Oh, that accent, are you from the north?" She asked. The doctor froze and the forced smile on his face made her confused, but she didn't show it.

"Ah, yes, I thought I'd gotten rid of that accent by now." He chuckled and she laughed softly along with him. "Have a good day, I am available at any time should the prince need me again."

"Thank you, I will call for you should his highness request it." She went back to her needle, pretending not to notice the couple of seconds too long that the doctor stared at her before he finally decided to leave.

Once he was gone, she put down her work and walked over to prince Leonhard's side to check on him. He seemed to be in a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. Something didn't seem right.

Or had she imagined it? The doctor's strange behaviour? Should she mention something? She turned to return to her chair, keeping an eye on the prince's breathing from time to time, unable to shake that feeling she had.