Ever since that coincident chat with his mother, Conrad had been a bit restless. It seemed as if he had miraculously gained extra energy that kept him going even after his rigorous training schedule. He wanted to make things right and fast. For the first time in his life, he was thankful that he'd such an expert mother who was able to give him a hint or two regarding what to do. And he must admit those were some pretty good ideas. All he had to do now was work on them quickly and secretly. And that wouldn't be difficult if he was careful. Conrad chose the very next morning to take the action.

First of all, as it neared dawn, he did something completely out of character for him, which earned him a few suspicious stares from his comrades before his will was, unquestionably, honored. He handed all of his chores for the day off to one of his trusted subordinates, including daily security rounds. Everyone in the castle knew that he rarely, if ever, did that. Secondly, according to his mother's advice, he spent part of the early morning, before it was time to wake Yuri, in his own room quietly making origami flowers. He wasn't in any form an expert at it, but wasn't totally horrible at it either. He had learned doing this once during his trip to Japan and had repeatedly practiced it in secret ever since, in his free time, until he gained a somewhat satisfactory level of perfection. He only hoped that Yuri would like them later. He desperately wanted Yuri's forgiveness for his ignorance even if it is a long way in coming.

In all honesty, Conrad had not even given a single thought to discussing about the reschedule after that fateful cancellation of their date. He hadn't felt the necessity of it. He'd dated lots of people in the past. And if he ever told them that they will have to cancel their plans; his past partners, although usually disappointed, they understood. Mostly they'd just shrug it off and tell him to look them up when he's free. While others, more enthusiastic ones, would immediately start setting up plans for the reschedule. He never had to take the initiative in those conditions and so he'd almost always taken it for granted - a felony on his part, which he regretted doing this time. He should have taken into consideration that this time his partner was a lot younger and new to the experience; and that most of his past partners might not really have been interested in him but his royal connections.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he finally finished making the last flower when he realized that he still had to talk to Gwendal to inform him of his plans and change in his duties for the day. He'd already taken the liberty of shedding his duties for the day, he couldn't afford to let Gwendal find out about it from some source other than himself. Furthermore, he also had to arrange for the food they'd need later that day and make sure the room he had specified was ready for his plans as he'd instructed. He'd make the final preparations just before it was time for him to wake Yuri up. Mentally, he drafted his plan for the day so as to avoid any mistakes. Since it was still raining, they still couldn't have a picnic as Yuri had wanted, but Conrad wouldn't be deterred any. He was determined to make this plan work. He was utterly decided that he'd make Yuri very happy one way or another and will keep trying until he succeed.

x-x-x-x

After leaving his room, Conrad's first stop was Gwendal's office, as far as the possibility might be of finding him there, considering the early hour of the day. He was surprised to find his brother in his office rather than in bed, knitting or doing something else or simply snoring. He didn't pondered much over his brother's reasons, his own troubles were enough as it was.

"Gwendal, I'm afraid you'll have to do without Yuri today."

Gwendal raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I plan to borrow him for today. We'll be busy."

"Entire day?" Gwendal sounded disapproving.

"Mostly, yes." Conrad replied with his usual calm.

"Does this have anything to do with him being so depressed yesterday?"

Conrad nodded his head in the affirmative and sighed, "Actually, we made plans for this Friday, a picnic to be exact. Just for the two of us, so that we could spend some quality time together."

Gwendal nodded in understanding, "But it was raining, still is. So you had to cancel."

"Yes, and therein lies the problem", Conrad replied wearily. "I told him that we had to cancel our date due to the rain, and didn't propose a reschedule. He misunderstood it thinking that I hadn't meant it as a simple postponement, but was literally cancelling it due to my lack of interest in
this affair with him."

Gwendal sighed and said, "That logic sounds like his naivety to me. Are you sure you really want to be with him? If a simple misunderstanding such as this could cause such problems..."

Conrad frowned at that and didn't let him finish. "It was a simple misunderstanding that I plan to correct today. It happens with every couple."

Seeing as no logic could persuade his stubborn brother otherwise, Gwendal admitted his defeat. "I'm not sure taking him out in such a heavy rain is a good idea. You might both end up getting sick and he's exceptionally..." Gwendal hesitated for a second, mentally picturing a slight, cute, black-colored, drowned kitten dripping wet due to the hard rain. "...vulnerable." Slight pink dusting his cheeks didn't went unnoticed by Conrad.

Conrad smiled at how his brother was looking out for both his and Yuri's welfare. Furthermore, that last comment was very true. "No need to worry about that Gwendal. My plans don't involve leaving the castle." He assured his sometimes troublesome and overreacting older half-brother.

"Doesn't sound like much of a date to me then, but I hope whatever you planed succeed." Then, looking out of his window at the rising sun to slowly waking castle to the pile of documents sitting innocently at his desk, he added, "Now, get going if you're to do whatever you're up to and leave me alone so that I could get some work done before breakfast."

Sighing at his brother's antiques, Conrad answered his previous comment, "I'm hoping Yuri won't feel that way when I show everything to him, but thank you for the blessing."

With that he began marching out of the room but stopped abruptly as he reached the door. "Ah! And I've handed over my duties for the day to one of my trusted men. There'll be no problems from him, I'm sure."

Gwendal just nodded in acknowledgement.

"And I plan on fixing up the old war room in the east wing." That gain the other man's attention.

"That room hasn't been used in years."

Conrad nodded, "I know. That's why, I had the maids go on a major cleaning spree after dinner last night to get it ready for me. They promised that the room would be spotless for my use."

Gwendal, who'd already returned to his desk and was pouring over the documents, nodded and replied, "Make sure no one get hurt there. Some beams might've been damaged with time."

"Don't worry that has been taken care of. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish a few things before it's time to wake Yuri."

Conrad was about to leave when a messenger pigeon tapped at one of the large windows, drawing the two men's attention. Gwendal got up to take the message while Conrad watched. After a few minutes silence, during which Gwendal read the message with a frown on his forehead, Conrad asked, "What is that?"

Sighing, Gwendal rubbed his temples, "Looks like Waltorana, having somehow heard about the switching ceremony, is planning to drop by for a visit sometime this week." Looking up at Conrad, he added, "I don't need to tell you what sort of problems he usually bring with him, do I, especially this time?"

Conrad shook his head, "No. I don't suppose he's happy to hear that Yuri had tricked Wolfram in a switching ceremony?"

"No. And he'll be even more furious if he learns that you and Yuri-Heika are dating. You know, I've expecting this sooner or later."

"I promise Gwendal I'll make Yuri understand that we'll have to be discreet during his visit."

"No", Gwendal said in a commanding voice. "You will not be just discreet. You both will return to your appropriate positions as was before the switching ceremony."

Conrad sighed, "He's going to learn soon enough. Wouldn't it be better to just come clean with him and tell him ourselves?"

"He'd never approve of the relationship."

"Well, you'll never convince Yuri to keep it secret, not for long, I'm sure. I understand your concerns Gwendal but whether I agree with them or not, I doubt that you'll be able to get Yuri to go along with the concept of hiding our relationship. Also, have you given it a thought that if he's coming here so soon and suddenly; then that, perhaps, means that he already knows about it?" Seeing Gwendal's raised brow, he continued, "I know it's barely been a week yet and it's not exactly been publicly announced, but unfortunately we weren't exactly discreet at the restaurant either. Someone may have told him what happened. And maybe, he's coming here to verify if it's true."

Gwendal sighed, "Yes, I have thought of that possibility as well."

"I think if we don't come clean about it now, it will only anger him more when he learns about it later. That is, if he don't already know about it."

"Fine, I'll make sure to have the guest room ready and alert the staff that he could be here any day now. In the meantime, didn't you say something about plans? If you don't hurry it'll be past the time for breakfast."

"Oh! I almost forgot. Thank you, but we have our own plans and so Yuri and I won't be attending the meals with everyone else today." With that Conrad bowed and left.

x-x-x-x

After he finished with Gwendal, he reminded the maids to fix all the food they would need for the day. Then, he went to check and recheck and confirm that everything was set up perfectly and ready to go. Once he was certain of every minor detail, he went back to his own room to collect the origami flowers and then went to wake Yuri up. Conrad walked into Yuri's room and
for a moment or two just watched Yuri sleep, enjoying the rare privilege. After a few minutes, he gently shook the boy.

Yuri yawned and stretched like an adorable kitten, trying to sit up. Conrad smiled, amused at the way his Yuri was still half asleep and disoriented. Conrad took advantage of that and swooped down to kiss the unsuspecting boy.

That woke Yuri instantly. He blinked, touching his lips that were still tingling, and looked stunned up at Conrad. Suddenly, a bunch of flowers appeared right under his nose. He was shocked to see the origami flowers being handed to him. Yuri noticed that they were really beautiful and perfectly made. They were even scented. He couldn't help but marvel.

"I'm sorry they're not real. It's still raining very hard, so I couldn't get any as most of the flowers in the garden are damaged. But I spent all morning trying to make them perfect." With that, Conrad waited nervously for Yuri's judgment.

Yuri's eyes went wide at hearing that. "Y-You made these?"

"I know their probably not the greatest in the world, but I wanted something to say that 'I'm sorry'."

Yuri looked at the origami flowers, then at Conrad and asked, "You're sorry? For what?"

Conrad answered, feeling thoroughly guilty. "I'm sorry for not understanding your feelings better. I never meant to hurt you." Conrad sat on the bed and taking the boy's hands in his own, said, "I meant every word I said to you in the restaurant Yuri. I love you!"

Yuri blushed deeply.

"I didn't understand what got you upset before but...I..." Mustering his much needed courage, he looked into Yuri's eyes earnestly and cupped one of his cheeks very lovingly in the palm of his hand before continuing, "Well, I'm not very good at these things. So, you'll have to forgive me Yuri. When I said that our date had to be cancelled, I didn't mean permanently. What I meant was that it needed to be rescheduled. I didn't say it out loud because to me it seemed logical. Since it was raining, we'd just cancel our date and try on another day. I never realized that you were depressed because you misunderstood it all. Never doubt that I am serious about you."

"But you were avoiding me." Yuri sounded miserable.

Conrad berated himself mentally for his lack of courage to talk to him earlier. Trying to be as sincere as he can, he replied, "No Yuri. I wasn't avoiding you. I just thought that you needed some time alone. I was just giving you some space. I just assumed things. It was one of my many
mistakes. Could you forgive me for that?"

He was truly sincere in his request, so Yuri, too, accepted the apology and nodded sincerely. "Yes. You're forgiven. After all, you're Conrad. I can't remain angry with you for long." With that, Yuri flashed a shy smile of his to his new-found love, which was returned by one of the warm ones of Conrad's own.

"But you're right to be upset with me Yuri." Conrad said. "I never thought about us doing something else in the mean time to make up for the lost date. But it's a mistake that I plan to correct now." Conrad flashed a mysterious smile.

Yuri frowned, although he was truly intrigued and excited at this new mysterious proposal, "What do you mean? You said it is still raining."

Conrad smiled and gave the boy a quick kiss before saying, "Get dressed and I'll show you." Then, he walked outside the door and shut it behind him, impressed with the way things started.

Yuri blinked, confused, as Conrad shut the door. Then, he looked down at the origami flowers still lying in the grip of his hand and smiled. He was touched. He'd have to find something to place them in later. He gently placed them on the table for the time being and then hurriedly got dressed, wondering what Conrad had planned. His entire being was brimming from excitement. As soon as he got dressed, Yuri ran over and opening the door stepped outside.

Conrad held out his hand. Yuri was surprised at the gesture and a bit embarrassed but took it nevertheless. He couldn't believe it. Conrad was really going to walk around holding his hand inside the castle.

Much to Yuri's disappointment that he masked, as soon as he completed that thought, Conrad pulled away. But he was surprised again when Conrad said, "Here let me put this blindfold on."

'Now, this is turning into a game. A game that could become dangerous any second.' Yuri thought.

"What? But why?"

Yuri could almost hear the mischief in his voice as Conrad replied. 'What? Mischief? Conrad?' somehow the two didn't seem to go together, but yet he was sure that's what he was hearing in Conrad's voice when he said, "Because what I have planned is a surprise for you."

Now, Yuri was even more excited especially since Conrad took his hand again and squeezed it. His imagination was fueled now. 'What could be the surprise?'

It seemed to Yuri like they had been walking forever. He could hear the sound of rain as they walked outside. He wondered what the guards and anyone else thought if they saw them. When they finally stopped, Yuri wondered if that meant they'd arrived to wherever there were going to. He felt only a little droplets of the rain fall onto him as they were walking, so he knew they were still somewhere within the castle.

Conrad took his hand out of Yuri's and said, "Don't move I'll be right back."

It seemed like forever to Yuri; when, in reality, in was only a couple of minutes. He was relieved when he felt Conrad gently push him into a room and he heard the door close behind him. It felt nice in the other's presence.

"Close your eyes." Conrad said. Then, he took the blindfold off. "Okay, now open them."Yuri slowly opened his eyes and was shocked at what he found.

The room had a couple of fluffy comfortable-looking blankets laid out on the floor along with a picnic basket on it, and several pillows to sit on, on both sides of the said blanket. There was also a fire dancing in the fireplace and several candles lit all around the room. The curtains were open slightly, showing only a slightly drizzling rain in contrast to the yesterday's fierce downpour. Yuri was speechless.

"I realize that this isn't what you had in mind but..."

Yuri shook his head, "No, it wasn't."

Conrad couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, though you wouldn't know that by looking at him. He had hoped this would make Yuri happy, but he had yet again failed.

Although most people couldn't notice anything filtering through Conrad's poker face, but this time when Yuri turned, he was able to tell that Conrad was saddened. Maybe, he thought he didn't like his efforts. Without wasting any time, Yuri smiled and said earnestly, "No, it isn't what I had in mind but I love it anyway. It's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, simply because you put so much of your efforts into making it possible. Thank you and I love you."

Conrad was so stunned by this heartfelt declaration that he spoke what came to his mind without thinking, "What? You mean you're not disappointed?" Both looked at each other like dumbfounded for a moment and then burst out laughing.

Gaining a hold of himself, Yuri smiled brightly, "How could I be disappointed? The man I love wanted to make me happy that he went through all the trouble of making me origami flowers and a romantic indoor picnic." Having said that, he leaned up to kiss Conrad thoroughly and asked, "What could be better than that? I'm the happiest man alive right now."

Conrad smiled at that. He was glad that he did this right and Yuri was pleased with all he'd done. As unsure as he might have been of this plan at the beginning, he was glad that, ultimately, he'd followed his mother's suggestions. She'd given him a lot of hints and he was glad that he thoroughly followed through them all. Well, some of them, actually. Needless to say, he'd never attempt most of those...*cough*...suggestions this early in their relationship. Even though he had been known to do things like those with his past dates, he wouldn't try anything on Yuri...yet. He knew that Yuri was different; restless, nervous and very fidgety when it come those private pastimes, not to mention his insecurity towards homosexual relationships. Yes, he'll have to be really patient before they could cross that particular bridge of their relationship together. As for now, Conrad was absolutely fine and at peace while waiting for that right time to come, even if it was particularly hard on him sometimes. He'd just enjoy this slowly blooming relationship with Yuri and treasure every moment of it. After all, Yuri was special in more ways than Conrad had ever truly realized before and he was, for the first time in his life, in love...in true, unrestrainable love. Besides, the anticipation and thrill in waiting has its own exhilaration and he'd heard that the fruit yielded out of patient waiting is, often, sweet. Conrad couldn't help but smile slyly at the thought. Yes, he can and will wait, and when they both are ready, he'll give Yuri an experience of his life. Of course, he had no intentions of accepting his mother's latest wish and let her be there to watch.

x-x-x-x

'Uncle is coming...' Wolfram felt morose.

He'd heard from Gwendal of Waltorna's sudden visit. The news depressed him more than he already was recently. His uncle would be angry and upset, not only with him but also with Yuri. He can perfectly imagine how livid his uncle will be when he learns of his marriage to Murata. That is to say if he doesn't already know. He can already hear his uncle's lectures and disappointing, insulting words ringing in his head.

'What the hell did you think you were doing?' Waltorna would say. 'Do you not understand the dangers of walking into strange things? What if the ceremony hadn't been held at Shinou's temple but somewhere else unfamiliar or with some intentions other than breaking your engagement? You could've died. Is that what you want?' *Brief pause* 'Is this the carelessness that I've instilled into you through my teachings, Wolfram? Not only that, you even lost your royal engagement. Very nice way of paying me back for my efforts.' *Sigh* 'Wolfram, you disappointed me.'

Wolfram sighed. He knew what the truth was. His uncle was more interested in establishing a connection with the royal family than his own good. He wasn't saying that his uncle didn't care for him. It's just that he knew the order of preference in his uncle's mind. And although those preferences didn't match with his own feelings, Wolfram couldn't do anything about it.

But his uncle wasn't the only one who always considered his feelings out. Yuri was also one of them. And currently he was also the one occupying the largest portion of his thoughts.

He had truly loved him and wanted nothing more than having his feelings returned by him. But Yuri had fought him every step of the way. A part of him still felt betrayed by Yuri, even though he knew that whatever Anissina said earlier was bitter but absolutely right.

Had Yuri come to him and told him himself that he loved Conrad rather than him and wanted out of their never-really-real-engagement, he'd just have been furious and never allowed Yuri to have his way. As much as it hurt to admit it, he couldn't deny that in that circumstance, he would've, undoubtedly and consciously, acted selfish and totally ignored his at-that-time-fiancé's pleas. Thinking about it now, a part of him wished that, somehow, he become the type of person Yuri could have been open and honest with. Then perhaps they wouldn't be in this mess. Unfortunately for him, Yuri only found that in Conrad. It seems all he ever got from him was fear.

When Conrad had left on his seemingly betrayal journey, he'd seen that look in Yuri's eyes. That look full of utter hurt and longing. And then, when he'd returned and his honor, position and privilege was restored unconditionally, he'd seen that look again then. The love and devotion Yuri had for Conrad was unmistakable. He had tried to deny it several times, try to reason it all away. But the truth was always right there, staring at him in the face.

'Well, at least the one I love is happy.' Wolfram reasoned mentally.

But he faltered towards the end when suddenly, last night's confrontation with Yuri filled his erratic wayward thoughts. The raven haired boy had looked genuinely unhappy by the look he carried on his face. And he hadn't even so much as looked in Conrad's general direction. It was a stark contrast to the goofy grin and steely glances that he'd, so often, caught him stealing from Conrad countless times earlier and had been forced to witness all damned week. And now, suddenly, it was like they were only two confused strangers.

~Flashback~

Wolfram had had enough. Even if he was angry with Yuri earlier, his anger had mostly vented off now. Plus, he'd been checking on the two love-birds ever since helping them to get together. What his spying mission yielded was, of course, an unpleasant scene to him. For some reason, instead of coming closer to each other, they seemed to be drifting further apart. This, after his noble sacrifice, was not acceptable to Wolfram at any cost.

So, immediately after the dinner, during which Yuri had mostly picked at his food instead of eating anything, Wolfram decided to confront him.

So, he dragged him to his painting room and said huffily, "All right wimp, out with it."

Yuri, confused due to the sudden dragging of his body throughout the castle to the paint studio at the farthest end, blinked, "O-Out with what?"

"Whatever the hell it is that's wrong with you!"

Yuri looked at him for a long time, studying him, before speaking cautiously, "Why are you asking that? There's nothing wrong with me. Besides, I thought that you were angry with me."

Wolfram fumed. "Of course I was angry with you. In the light of all that you've done, you wouldn't even give me the right to be angry?" Yuri winced.

"N-No. That's not what I meant. I just meant that I understand how difficult it must be for you."

"No, you don't understand anything. You never will." Wolfram was losing control.

Silence.

Wolfram looking at Yuri's sober expression modulated his voice so as not to make the other boy feel worse. "Look, Yuri."

Startled by the sudden shift in the tone, the young king complied.

"Look, don't feel bad. I know it wasn't your fault that you fell for my brother instead of me. Who wouldn't, after all, he's such a nice man - gentle and caring and I..."

"No", Yuri interrupted. "Don't even complete that sentence." Yuri went on to hold Wolfram's hand and looking into his eyes said earnestly, "You are a wonderful person, Wolfram. Anyone who knows you knows. Even I had thought of you as bratty and violent initially but the time spent with you showed me how wrong I was. Anyone to have you with them would be very lucky. This engagement, accidental as it may be, made me realize this much. I am forever indebted to it. But Wolfram, I-I am sorry. I..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

After a moment of silence, he continued, "You were right though. It was wrong of me to corner you as I have. I should've come and talked to you instead of deceiving you. Please forgive me."

Wolfram was touched by these heart-felt words.

"You know", Wolfram said after a moment. "I've always felt that our engagement might not succeed." Yuri looked surprised. "Maybe that's why I've always forced you around so much. So, that I do not lose any chance at, somehow, proving myself wrong."

"I've been with you long enough to know what you want." Then, leaning forward towards Yuri, Wolfram said in a conspiring voice, "I think Conrad is a perfect catch. Otherwise, I would've never agreed to help you, even after I was chained to that pervert Murata. He's not really bad, if you come to know him once."

Yuri was speechless but nodded regardless.

"Y-You m-mean you forgive me?" Yuri asked.

Wolfram snickered, "Yes, that just about sums it all up." It was the most wonderful voice Yuri heard coming out of Wolfram.

"I-I...T-Thank you."

Wolfram burst into laughter. "Really, you're just too much." Then in a serious voice, "I hope nothing will change between us."

Yuri couldn't believe his ears. Wolfram forgave him and even wanted to be friends with him.

"You know you just took the words out of my mouth." Yuri said. "I had also wanted to be friends with you again. It would've sucked to lose you in this entire game." Suddenly, Yuri got serious. "I thought I actually lost you. I don't want that. You're too good a friend."

"Hey, now, quit that winning, wimp. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. And nothing will change between us, ok. I'm not a wimp like you." Wolfram said haughtily as if he didn't care, but his slightly watery eyes belied him.

Yuri flashed his goofy smile saying, "You mean nothing other than you getting married."

Wolfram huffed, "Really, don't be so giddy. You'll be a married man soon too, if I have my way." Yuri's smile faltered. "To my brother, of course. Maybe I should trick you into it as well."

When Yuri still remained sober, Wolfram decided to take a shot at doing what he actually came here to do.

"Yuri, tell me what's wrong between you and Conrad?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yuri mumbled.

"Don't lie to me!" Wolfram flared. "I had to watch your sickening puppy dog eyes, practically drooling all over Conrad all week long. And suddenly now, it's like someone just kidnapped Ao and you're all alone in the world. You've barely eaten anything all day. I'm telling you, Yuri, I went through so much, not just so you two can act as morons. I want results. That's the least you could give me for my sacrifice. Now, out with it. What's wrong?"

Yuri sighed, sitting down in a chair, said, "I don't think Conrad loves me."

Wolfram thought he heard wrong. How could this come now?

Blinking in surprise before going red, he screamed, "Are you stupid? I've seen the way the two of you have looked at each other. Both before and after our engagement was broken. Then again, all week long, I've seen the two of you together. Trust me, it was sickeningly sweet the way you two were practically all over each other. I am truly convinced what you're saying is baseless."

Yuri blushed, "We weren't that bad."

Wolfram simply huffed, "So, why did you now produce this stupid idea out of your royal head?"

Yuri squirmed uncomfortable, of all the people to be explaining his love-life problems, he'd ranked Wolfram right at the bottom. Even if Wolfram seemingly have forgiven him, he knew Wolfram still had some resentment issues over the whole switching ceremony thing.

Wolfram, tired of Yuri's silence, prodded, "WELL?"

Yuri sighed and finally yielded, "After Conrad brought me back from the restaurant last week, he suggested that we go on a real date and that I could chose what to do. I suggested a picnic. We were supposed to go today but it's raining."

"That's it? That's your reason? You're upset because you didn't get to go on your date today?" Wolfram asked incredulously.

Yuri slumped and shook his head, "No, that's not it. You see this morning Conrad told me that he was canceling our date due to the rain."

"You're upset because you were forced to postpone your date?"

Yuri looked up with a scowl, "You want to know or not?"

"Ah! Sorry. Please continue." Wolfram had the decency to blush.

Yuri continued, "You don't understand, he never said postponed. He said 'cancelled'. He never said a word one about doing something else in the mean time or about rescheduling. Maybe, maybe he doesn't want to spent time with me. Maybe he was just humoring me back then. Maybe still is." Yuri's face showed misery.

'Oh! So, that's the problem.' Wolfram so much wanted to go kill his brother now. He'd warned him about making Yuri unhappy. But really even Yuri could've shown some common sense, he thought. He would never say it, of course.

Instead Wolfram tried to calm Yuri down and said, "Look, tomorrow I'll talk to him. My brother's an idiot. Especially when it comes to revealing his feelings. I'm sure he just had other things on his mind and, therefore, failed to discuss when you could reschedule." 'Though he couldn't have much on his mind other than you, I'm sure', Wolfram added mentally. "But I'm absolutely positive that he never meant the cancellation in the same way as you're thinking. Trust me."

"You think so."

"Absolutely. Come on Yuri, you couldn't really be serious with that doubt now, can you? Don't you know him enough to know that he's not the kind of person to play with people's emotions. If he'd really not wanted you, he would've said so straight away, not pretend to like you."

That gave Yuri some insight. "But I'm the king, so..."

"So, what? You being a king or not doesn't matter mush to him, especially when it come to love-affairs. Not only him Yuri, but everyone in my family. Even though we're born and raised in the court, we don't play with people's emotions. Our mother raised us very well. I'm hurt that you even considered something like that."

"NO, I didn't mean it ..." But Wolfram stopped him by placing his hand over his mouth and effectively shutting it. "Think about it Yuri." he said and then released him.

Yuri was lost in thought for a long moment but then gave a slight smile and thanked his new best friend for that much needed reassurance and insight, "Thanks Wolfram." And then he hugged him.

~End Flashback~

Wolfram stared out the window of his art room. He was slightly amused at the scene playing below. Yuri was stumbling along with Conrad, who was leading a blindfolded Yuri to somewhere.

"I guess they worked things out." He smirked alone.

Just as he was turning to leave, the noise of carriage wheels rattling against the cobblestone reached his ears. He turned back to look out the window again and spotted a fine carriage approaching the entrance. Quickly, he looked towards the spot where Yuri and Conrad had been earlier but to no avail. They'd long since left the corridor.

Taking a breath of relief, he faced the innocent carriage once again. With a troubled expression on his face, he watched as the vehicle entered the main courtyard and came to a stop in front of the main entrance. Not long after, it's door was opened and a well polished boot of the person sitting inside came into view.

"Looks like uncle arrived already."