Ryoma found it fairly difficult to concentrate on his tasks after his unsuccessful breakfast attempt to connect with his younger brother, but he put it down mostly to the fact that it really was just difficult to sound smart when he read his correspondence with Crown Prince Leo. Their letters were mostly business based, working out when they were going to meet to discuss the terms of the formal end of the war and what kind of things they were going to rule at the end of that, but recently they had both reserved a section at the end of the letter to talk about their families, especially concerning Corrin. Leo knew so much about his little sister from the time they had spent together since that day so many years ago, and Ryoma wasn't too ashamed to say that Leo knew her better than he did. The most recent letter from Leo detailed some of Corrin's favourite books, all the way from when she was barely seven years old to just before she had returned to Hoshido. Ryoma sent back a little about the kinds of foods Corrin had liked when she was much younger, something that had been documented almost in memory of her after she had been kidnapped, and what she liked now, at least what he had seen of it.
'Thank you, Lord Leo, for sharing these memories of my sister with me. I understand that looking back on those times in light of current events must be quite painful, so I thank you all the more for your efforts.
Kind regards,
High Prince Ryoma of Hoshido.'
Ryoma finished his letter with a light sigh, letting the ink dry before folding the papers shut and sealing it with the royal seal of the Dawn Dragon. He remembered all the times he had watched his father and Queen Mikoto seal letters with that very seal, and as always he was still unsure if he was ruling in the way that they would have wished him to. Kagero said there was never any point in fretting over something such as that, because he wouldn't ever be able to ask his parents if he was doing what they wanted, and even if he could, he probably shouldn't because he was his own ruler, not his father nor either of his dead mothers.
He took lunch in his workspace that day because of the sheer amount of work he still had to do, but the mound of tasks had significantly decreased by evening, so he made his way over to the stables, where he knew Hinoka would be, because she spent every evening checking on all the pegasi that she could and grooming them. There were servants to do that kind of work for her, but still she did it, and Ryoma couldn't blame her. He still spent time looking after his sword and training with it every day, and that wasn't even a living creature.
"Hinoka!" He called, doing his best to ignore the frantic bows of two of the stablehands who had noticed him come in.
"Over here, brother!" She called from the very end of one of the rows of pegasi, and he smiled. She would probably ask him to help again until she was done, and only then would she permit herself to take a break to eat with him. Sometimes she stayed in the stables until very late at night, or she went out for a midnight flight on her pegasus.
"Coming!" He called back, making his way over to where her voice had come from. When he found her, she was standing with her back to him, gently brushing the mane of one of the new pegasi that had started training just a few days ago. "How did she do today, Hinoka?"
Hinoka didn't jump or even turn around before she responded, staying fully focused on the task in front of her. "She can still be a little bit jumpy around the male trainees, which is perfectly normal for a girl her age. She'll get used to them in time. She's getting much better at flying at high speeds, too." She continued to brush the pegasus as she spoke. She found her tasks easy and relaxing in such a way that Ryoma almost felt jealous. His own tasks as High Prince, which would be much the same for the rest of his life once he became King, were rather arduous and they took up all of his time with very little left for enjoyable tasks.
"That's good," he said, even though he really knew very little about pegasi and whether this particular pegasus was a good one or not. "I came to ask if you would eat with me this evening."
"Once I'm done with Florea," Hinoka said, predictably. "If you want to help, you could put her gear back in the tack room for me, it doesn't matter where as long as it's all together."
He nodded to his younger sister and put the training equipment back in the tack room, and by the time he got back to her, she was done with the pegasus and was ready to come and eat with him.
Ryoma often ate in private so he could stay away from the members of the Hoshidan court. He'd heard that the Nohrian court was a nightmare, and his own was anything but that, but he valued his privacy and his ability to have conversations with his friends and family without rich members of the court listening in. This privacy had become especially vital directly after the war when he had been involved in many arguments with Corrin about her future and what she would do next. Today was no exception to eating away from prying eyes, and he knew it was something that Hinoka valued as well.
"I spoke to Takumi today," Ryoma started once they had both served themselves. Hinoka looked up from her plate, seemingly surprised. "I saw him out training early this morning and I invited him to breakfast with me."
"I don't think I've spoken to Takumi since Corrin went on her last aid mission," Hinoka admitted, and she looked slightly ashamed as she realised it. "I should ask him how he is, especially since..." She sighed and trailed off, but Ryoma knew what she meant. He hadn't dared approach the conversation with Takumi about taking on a new retainer.
Ryoma just nodded, finishing his mouthful before he responded. "He wasn't exactly pleased to speak with me, and it didn't end well." The only thing it had ended in was Takumi being very frustrated about everything and Ryoma not really wanting to renew any friendship with his brother if he was that rude all the time. If his little brother wanted friends, he should be nice to people before expecting them to be nice in return.
Hinoka laughed lightly. "I fear that's just how Takumi is. I remember when we were little...after Takumi gave up the sword to be an archer, he would beg mother to teach him how to use a bow every single day. She always said that she'd do it when he was a bit older, and maybe he should ask someone else." He remembered that. Mother had always been too busy with her duties as Queen to commit to teaching Takumi as much as he wanted to be taught, but she said that she should wait until he was older before hinting that maybe Yukimura or Reina would be able to do it instead.
"And from there he would go to Reina, who was busy teaching you how to use a lance," he continued for her. He knew how this had ended back then, and he wouldn't be surprised if Takumi was still bitter about it. He seemed to be the type to hold a grudge. "And afterwards he would go to Yukimura, who was very busy trying to organise ninjas to return Corrin to us."
"I remember watching him trying to train himself by watching the soldiers who were being taught properly," Hinoka said. "He spent hours out by the range every day, trying to copy each and every movement."
"I feel ashamed that I never offered him any help," Ryoma admitted. "I saw him there, day after day, but because I thought he hated me for beating him, I didn't want to talk to him."
"I'm ashamed that I kept Reina to myself," Hinoka said. "He surpassed her as an archer long ago now, but it would have meant something at the time." He'd surpassed most of the archers in Hoshido from the moment he'd laid hands on the Fujin Yumi and it had sprung to life without a moment's hesitation, and that had occurred years after Hinoka had finished the beginning of her training in the lance and she had moved on to training with other sky knights.
Ryoma could only nod in agreement. "I fear that I have neglected Takumi for other things that I considered more important at the time," he said, "and now I have realised just how important he is, he has already drifted away."