Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except for OC's

Like Melting Snow

Explaining the situation proved to be quite difficult, especially when Jii came in. The three of them were then subsequently thrown out of the office despite their series of apologies.

"Hmmm, I guess my recipe did not live up to his majesty's high expectations," Natsuki said with a crestfallen expression.

"I don't think that was the problem…" Otoya said with a sheepish smile.

Natsuki looked at him in surprise. "Huh? Then what was it?"

Haruka's shoulders sagged in defeat. She couldn't believe how careless she was and on her first day of work.

"Cheer up, Nanami," Otoya said. "It's going to be alright. I know he acts cold and detached most of the time, but he's actually a lot more kind once you get to know him. We'll probably just have to do some extra chores for a few weeks."

Haruka could only smile weakly and thanked both of them for their help before she excused herself to her room.

Though they offered to walk her, Haruka insisted she would be fine. As she walked down the hall, Otoya and Natsuki exchanged worried glances with one another.

Despite Otoya's attempt to cheer her up, Haruka couldn't help but feel completely crestfallen.

She desperately needed to pay off her debt so she could get back to helping her grandmother who was struggling financially. That's why she came to the capital in the first place.

Her grandmother's health had started to decline recently and was admitted to a medical center in a larger town. The medical bills were far higher than what they could afford. Luckily, the center gave her a couple months before she had to start paying her fees so Haruka took it upon herself to search for a higher paying job at the capital.

But now that she had to also pay off her debt to the prince, she wasn't sure if she would be able to pay the medical fees in time. A twinge of resentment bubbled up within her but she quickly forced it down. The last thing she needed was to create more problems between her and the prince.

However, the thought of not being able to help her grandmother in her time of need broke Haruka's heart. She bit the edge of her lip. If only she wasn't so naive and clumsy. If only she were more confident in her abilities...

Haruka slapped her cheeks. Now wasn't the time to be negative.

She needed to stay strong for her grandmother, especially in her time of need. Paying off her medical bills depended on her and she would see it through till the end. Even if the payment would be delayed, she would work her absolute hardest to pay off her debts as quickly as possible.

She had to keep doing her best. She couldn't get discouraged after one mistake. She has to keep pressing forward, just like always.

Too bad it was easier said than done. It always is.

The next day proves to be no less difficult.

Haruka let out a sigh for the umpteenth time that morning.

She must have been standing outside the door to Masato's office for the past twenty minutes or so.

After what happened the other day, Haruka wasn't sure how to act. She had been trying to get a hold of her emotions and had even gotten up an hour early to try and gather her thoughts.

Best to just get things over with. There was no use continuing to stand outside the door like this.

Haruka hesitantly lifted a hand and gently rapped her knuckles against the door.

There was no answer, causing Haruka's heart to drop. She tried knocking several more times but still didn't get a response. Maybe he really didn't want to see her.

Maybe she really didn't belong here after all…

"What are you doing?"

Haruka nearly jumped upon hearing the voice and whirled around to see a tall, young man in knight's armor and a blue uniform with a symbol that looked like a bird's talon. His face was rather chiseled, which was outlined by spiky, yet well kept dark hair. His gaze was sharp and cold, yet it felt as if they could bore a hole right through her.

"I-I was just…" Haruka stammered, quickly shifting her eyes away to avoid eye contact.

The man narrowed his eyes before letting out an exasperated sigh. "His Highness is not in his office at the moment."

Haruka looked up at him in surprise. "Eh?"

"There's a meeting currently in session so he won't be back till later."

"O-Oh, I see. Thank you," Haruka said with a grateful bow.

The man grunted in mild annoyance before he turned and continued down the hall, his knight's cape fluttering behind him with each stride.

Haruka let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. While the exchange was brief, Haruka couldn't help but feel incredibly on edge. Like she had nearly escaped from certain death. Well, she supposed that was exaggerating but considering how stern the man was, it was rather tense.

However, it seemed as if she wouldn't be able to talk to the prince until later. Though she supposed it was for the best as still felt reluctant to confront him.

Haruka bit the inside of her cheek. So much for her initial plan.

"Haruka!"

Haruka whirled around to see Tomochika rushing over to her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! You got up so early I wasn't able to tell you that we're supposed to help prepare for the Guardian Patrol's return."

"...Guardian Patrol?" Haruka repeated quizzically.

"Ah, I guess you wouldn't know since you've only been here for a couple days. The Guardian Patrol is a select group of knights that goes out every month to travel to a different town or village in the kingdom. They hunt down any Guardians that have been causing trouble in the area so the people can rest easy. They're usually gone from three to four weeks so we don't get to see them that often."

"Huh…"

"You've must have heard or seen how bad the Guardian attacks have been these past few years. Which is why the King issued the patrol to try and combat them two years ago," Tomochika explained as she glanced up towards the ceiling.

"I see."

"In any case, since his Highness is busy, I figured you'd need something to do while you wait."

Haruka nodded with an awkward smile. She supposed there was nothing she could do about it.

Tomochika lifted an eyebrow and grinned. "What's with that face? Are you already getting tired of me?"

"What? No! That's not-!"

"I'm just kidding," Tomochika giggled as Haruka pouted. "In any case, we should really prepare for their return before someone like old man Jii-san comes to yell at us for standing around."

"R-Right…" Haruka said as she followed after the redhead down the hall.

It was almost the afternoon when Haruka, Tomochika and the other workers finished with their preparations. The horse stables were cleaned and restocked with fresh bales of hay and water. The patrol's quarters were tidied up and the bedsheets were replaced with clean ones.

Haruka was in charge of helping sweep and tidy up the entryway that lead to the palace and the stables with Tomochika. Once she had swept the foliage that had fallen, she let out a sigh and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. She then looked over towards the palace. Was the meeting still going on? Was the prince still busy?

Haruka frowned and shook her head.

"Oh! Here they come now!" Tomochika said excitedly, pointing to the front gate.

Haruka turned to see a couple of the palace guards walk over and open up the gate, allowing several armored men on horses and a couple of cargo wagons through.

All the knights wore crimson uniforms over their armor with a wing-like pattern on the front. Some wore helmets while others did not which caused a couple of questions to pop up in Haruka's head. Wasn't it dangerous to not wear helmets?

"You did pretty good on your first patrol," One of the knights, seemingly the captain, commented to a younger knight beside him. "Keep it up and you might become an honorary knight someday soon."

"Really?!" the younger knight said, his blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "All right!"

"First, you may want to bring down that enthusiasm, Kurusu," another knight with glasses commented. "Or else you'll just end up dead in a ditch somewhere because you were too reckless."

The younger knight shot the other a heated glare. "Shut up! Who asked you?!"

"Both of you cut it out," The captain ordered. "That is not how proper knights should behave."

"Sorry, Captain Hyuuga…" The young knight replied sullenly as the other huffed in acknowledgement.

The captain let out a sigh before one of the guards came over to his side and gave him a firm salute.

"Sir, his Highness is currently holding an important meeting so your report will be delayed until it is done. You may wait inside if you wish."

Hyuuga nodded before he turned back to his squad. "Those who have something to report will wait inside with me. The rest of you may return to the shared quarters until further notice!"

Haruka had to admit that the patrol did seem impressive. They all had to be very capable if they were dispatched to combat Guardians. The thought made her frown.

"Hey you!"

Haruka snapped out of her thoughts and glanced over to see the young, blonde knight jog over to her.

Before she could respond, he dumped his heavy equipment into her arms, nearly causing Haruka to fall over from the weight.

"Hey!" Tomochika cried.

"Make sure those get cleaned and polished for tomorrow," The boy said with a grin.

"Who do you think you are?!" Tomochika seethed as the knight gave her a confused look.

Hyuuya then promptly came over and smacked him over the head.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?!" The young knight cried.

"The maids are not responsible for the knights' equipment," The captain replied gruffly.

"Huh? They aren't?"

Hyuuga let out an exasperated sigh before he turned to Haruka and quickly took the heavy load from her before dumping it into the young knight's arms.

"What are you-?!"

"Knights do not dump their burdens on others. I expect the entire patrol's equipment to be spotless before tomorrow," Hyuuga said before he walked towards the palace's doors.

Several other knights chuckled and patted the boy on the back, wishing him luck before handing him their equipment.

The boy cursed under his breath as parts of the armor slipped out of his arms.

"I suggest you get started, Kurusu," The bespectacled knight commented as he dropped his equipment in front of him.

"Shut up!"

Tomochika let out an exasperated sigh before taking Haruka by the shoulders and leading her away.

Haruka couldn't help but giggle sheepishly.

Not too long after Haruka and Tomochika returned from outside, one of the other maids came to inform Tomochika that they had to prepare the meal. Tomochika bid Haruka an apology but considering it was her job, Haruka couldn't complain.

Now alone once more, Haruka decided to head back to Masato's office and see if she could tidy up a bit before he got back.

She twitched.

That's right. In all of the excitement, she had forgotten she still needed to talk to the prince about the incident.

Haruka let out a deep sigh before she brushed several strands of hair behind her ear.

"What's with the long face, little lamb?"

Haruka flinched and whirled around to see a tall, young man with long, golden-orange hair leaning against the wall. He wore a yellow uniform over knight's armor with a beak-like symbol on the front. A playful smirk settled comfortably on his face as he rested a long, iron spear on his shoulder.

She's certainly been meeting a lot of interesting people today.

"U-Um…" Haruka stammered, slightly bewildered from the man's sudden appearance.

The man chuckled as he walked over to her. "I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you new?"

Haruka nodded, still wondering who this person was. From the looks of it, he seemed to be part of the knights. Though his uniform was different from the Guardian Patrol and the other knight she had bumped into earlier.

"My name is Haruka Nanami," Haruka introduced herself as the man rested his spear against the wall.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, little lamb."

Before Haruka could respond, the young man took her hand and lifted it up to his lips. "Ren Jinguji."

Haruka's face went completely red as she felt as if steam was erupting from the top of her head.

"Since you're new, why don't I show you around?" Ren said with a flirtatious smile, as he drew closer to her.

Haruka sucks in her lips and balls her hand up into a fist at her side, her nails digging into her palm.

"Cut it out, Jinguji,"

Both Haruka and Ren looked over to see Masato walking over to them. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, glaring cold daggers at the other man.

"Don't you have your duties to attend to?" Masato asked coldly.

Ren immediately backed off of Haruka and faced the blue-haired prince with a smirk.

"No need to be so stiff. I was only offering to show this lovely young lady around since she's new."

"There's no need for that," Masato stated firmly, putting himself between Haruka and Ren. "I already took the liberty of doing that myself the other day."

"Oh is that so? And what may I ask, makes this young lady so special that the mighty prince would go out of his way to show her around, hm?"

"She's my attendant, end of discussion," Masato replied with a little edge to his voice.

Haruka glanced from one to the other nervously, worried that a fight might break out any moment.

However, Ren merely chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Sheesh, you're so serious."

His comment caused Masato to unconsciously tighten his jaw as Ren glanced over at Haruka.

"I'll see you later, little lamb," He added with a wink before he picked his spear off the wall and walked off down the hall.

Masato let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his temples, trying to regain his composure.

Haruka stared at him in surprise. She then quickly turned away and bit the inside of her cheek. She hadn't expected to see him, not in this situation at least. And now that he was here, she wasn't quite sure how to act.

She had rehearsed what she would say to him that morning. But all the words seemed to have disappeared in her flustered state.

Say something! Haruka chided herself but to no avail.

"Are you okay?"

Haruka's head shot up in surprise to see Masato looking at her with a serious expression.

"Um… what?"

Haruka mentally smacked herself.

"Jinguji is a notorious flirt. He didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable, did he?" Masato asked.

Haruka blinked. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn his gaze was… softer? Was he actually worried about her?

She shook her head.

"N-No, I'm fine. He was very nice."

Masato hummed pensively before the two fell into awkward silence.

"W-What are you doing here?" Haruka asked, desperate to try and ease the tense atmosphere. "Weren't you in a meeting?

"It ended not too long ago," Masato replied. "But it dragged on longer than I expected. I figured you'd be wandering around the palace so I came looking for you."

That caught Haruka's attention. He could have sent a servant to go fetch her but he came looking for her himself.

She thought back to what Otoya said the other day. Maybe he really was kind.

"Am… I that predictable?"

Masato looked at her in surprised before he let out an embarrassed cough. "I didn't mean it like that."

Haruka couldn't fight the smile spreading across her face. Yesterday's incident came back to mind and her smile quickly dropped.

"Oh…about yesterday…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Masato cut in.

"Shinomiya and Ittoki explained the situation to me earlier. Don't worry about it, accidents happen. After a night's rest, I was perfectly fine."

Maybe… maybe Otoya was right about him. A little bit of skepticism still hung in the back of her mind though. She still wasn't sure what to think of him. He dragged her off the street to come work for him, a bit too forcefully if she may add. However, he does seem to have an awkward caring side to him that he doesn't know how to express very well. But for all she knew, it could all be an act.

For the time being, she supposed all she could do was watch. It couldn't hurt to just observe for a while longer, could it?

"I'm glad you're doing alright. But I am sorry it happened in the first place," Haruka said.

The edges of Masato's mouth turned ever so slightly upward. "It should be noted that Shinomiya's cooking never turns out well."

"Right..." Haruka mentally noted never to trust Natsuki with preparing anything from now on.

Masato glanced out the window, taking note on how high the sun hung in the sky.

"It's about time for lunch. Care to join me?"

"Huh?" Haruka said, taken aback. Once she regains her focus, she quickly waves her hands in front of her. "Oh no, I couldn't! I don't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense," Masato replied. "Besides it would be nice to have real company during meals."

Haruka was hesitant at first but after some thought, figured that this could be a good opportunity to be able to get to know her employer better. See for herself what kind of person Masato Hijirikawa is or at least some sort of a better understanding.

With her mission set in her mind, Haruka smiled warmly and bowed. "Well, if you insist, I suppose it would be nice. Thank you so much!"