Interlude 1

It was a warm summer night, and a nice breeze blew in through the opened windows. Emi stacked her last block, examined her tower for a second, then knocked it over. The sound of wooden blocks falling distracted Haruka from his book.

He glanced over at Emi who was on the rug near his chair. "Hmm, did you get tired of the castle already?"

Emi gave him an impatient look. What castle? It was only a boring tower of blocks.

Although Emi enjoyed Haruka's company the most out of all her siblings, she was annoyed with him tonight. He was babysitting her since their parents and Juri had gone off to a party, but instead of taking her to the garden as she wanted, he had taken her to the manor's library. She had been looking forward to crawling around outdoors and trying to spot the cicadas that sounded so loudly, but Haruka had wanted to read instead. Thus, she was stuck playing with building blocks on the library floor as he was lost in his book. She couldn't even enjoy the library because she was currently illiterate! Haruka was so inconsiderate!

"Don't make such a face Emi," he said and laughed at the sight of the scowling baby. Setting aside his novel, he moved to pick Emi up.

"Why don't we take a break for snacks? Would that cheer you up?" he asked teasingly.

Snacks? As long as it's not another one of Juri's creations I might be up for it, Emi thought and relaxed her scowl.

Chuckling, Haruka set her down on the sofa and went to ring the bell to summon a servant. A maid showed up within a minute and Haruka spoke to her at the door while Emi watched from her seat.

Please be mango pudding! M-A-N-G-O! Emi thought excitedly. For now, she was taking a little break from strawberries.

Emi's wish was fulfilled – she got her mango pudding.

Meanwhile, Haruka had gotten a bowl of Japanese custard pudding.

As Emi sat in Haruka's lap quickly scarfing down her pudding, she eyed his dessert. Haruka was eating leisurely, his eyes on his book while he took occasional bites. By the time she finished her pudding, Haruka still had not finished half of his.

He wouldn't mind if I took a bit, would he? Just a little taste! Emi pondered and slowly stuck her spoon out, trying to reach into his bowl while he was distracted.

A flicker of pink moving in the periphery of his vision caused Haruka to look up from his book and catch Emi trying to steal his pudding.

"Emi...you want to try my custard pudding?" he asked playfully.

She bobbed her head enthusiastically.

"Okay, just a few spoonful's, no more or you'll get an upset tummy," he said.

He had heard about the mousse incident and would like to avoid a repeat. Using his spoon to scoop some pudding, he bought it to her lips. She happily clamped down.

I take it back, out of those three, Haruka is the most considerate, Emi thought. It was true Haruka did the most "heavy-lifting" when it came to taking care of her. Unlike Juri and Rido, Haruka did not avoid the undesirable tasks of changing her diapers and calming her down when she threw a tantrum. If one wanted a family-oriented man, Haruka was the ideal man.

As Emi savored the creamy texture of the pudding, Rido walked in. He stopped when he saw Haruka and Emi on the sofa, and considered turning back, but decided to just get his books and leave quickly.

Seeing him, Emi glared – she still had not forgiven him.

Meanwhile, Haruka greeted their older brother with a slight smile. "Onii-sama, good evening."

Rido only nodded curtly in return as he browsed the tall oak bookshelves, searching for the book on economics he wanted to reference for a report.

"How about sitting with me and Emi for a while?" Haruka asked.

"I'm busy," Rido replied tersely.

Haruka sighed inwardly, it had been a while since he and Rido were alone (well, if they ignored Emi's presence), and he wanted to talk and try getting past the barrier Rido had erected between them these past decades. But getting past that barrier was next to impossible, Rido was always so cold he immediately shut down all interactions.

As Haruka wondered what else to say to his brother, he noticed Emi sneaking her spoon into his bowl – for the fifth time. The custard pudding was almost all gone!

"Emi, that's enough," he said gently and tried taking away her spoon. "Didn't we agree on only having a little?"

Too bad Haruka! One thing I learned from my previous life with two younger brothers when it comes to food is that you snooze, you lose! Emi thought, refusing to give up. She held on with a grip of steel, stubbornly staring back at him.

After wrestling with her for almost a minute, Haruka finally confiscated the spoon, and she immediately burst into angry wails.

"You shouldn't have given her any in the first place," Rido said critically, eyeing the baby throwing a sugar-induced fit. He was nearly at the door, about to leave but could not resist throwing that barb.

"What should I do then?" Haruka asked loudly over Emi's wailing, looking to his older brother for guidance.

"Just let her have the rest so she will shut up."

"What if she still wants more?"

Rido paused and looked at Emi, he could imagine her screaming her lungs out for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, his bedchambers were still close enough to her nursery so that he would be bothered if she wailed all night. He got annoyed, remembering how their parents and Juri were happily away and did not have to deal with this screaming demonic baby.

Finally, he replied, "I don't know, try bouncing her on your knee or something. If nothing works, crush up some sleeping pills and slip them in her milk."

Hearing Rido's words, Emi immediately stopped wailing and looked at him with her eyes wide as saucers. Sometimes she forgot she was living with a future baby-killer. Although she had not understood every single word he had said, she did understand "sleeping pill" and "milk" and could put two and two together.

Haruka chuckled, wondering how Rido could sound so serious when he was joking. He commented, "Well, Emi has calmed down now. Maybe she finally acknowledged the authority of her older brothers and decided to be a good baby."

Rido snorted. "She's never a good baby."

Haruka smiled, it was true that Emi was somewhat naughty. He placed the now abnormally quiet and well-behaved Emi on the rug. She crawled over to her blocks and started stacking them again, deciding to continue practicing her hand-eye coordination.

"Unlike me, you were always good at calming Juri when she threw tantrums as a kid," Haruka said nostalgically. "Seeing Emi just now reminded me of Juri doing the same back then."

Rido was silent for a while, before responding, "You can't compare them. Juri was cute even when she cried, whereas this one howls like a demon."

Emi looked up from her blocks, offended. Wow, when Juri throws a tantrum, she's cute, but when I do it, I'm demon spawn?

"I don't know... Remember the time when Juri was still a toddler and father and mother took us to the lakeside villa where we played with toy boats? Juri threw a pretty bad tantrum then."

A hint of nostalgia appeared in Rido's eyes when he recognized what incident Haruka referred to. They had all been children back then...

[Flashback – Start]

It was a beautiful spring day, and Hiroshi and Kyoko sat on a picnic blanket, under the shade of trees, chatting while keeping an eye on their children playing nearby. Rido, their ten-year-old son was with Haruka, their six-year-old son by the lake's edge. Meanwhile Juri, their 2-year-old was toddling around the grass trying to catch the bubbles her nanny was blowing. Their bodyguards were stationed discreetly out of sight, but ready to respond at the first whiff of danger.

Hiroshi had taken a week off from his responsibilities as king, deciding to bring his family to their lakeside villa. It had been a while since he last spent family time with them, and he enjoyed getting away from the messy world of politics. He wanted to relax, do some fishing and take his sons out on the rowboat.

Today there were doing a picnic by the lake. As they were vampires and sunburned easily, they had gone out later in the day when the sun was less intense. The sun was now on the horizon, the sky a collage of blue and orange. Kyoko decided it was time to eat the meal the servants had packed and called her children.

The boys ran back, their hair messy and their shorts dirty, streaked with bits of mud. Kyoko tried to tidy Rido's hair, but he pulled away and said he could do it himself. Sighing lightly at his display of independence, she busied herself tidying Haruka's hair instead. The nanny carried Juri over, and Hiroshi took her in his arms.

"How's my little princess? Are you hungry?" he asked her with a smile.

"Juri hungry!" she replied and giggled. She was in a phase where she referred to herself in third person, something her parents found endearing.

Two servants came over to set up the folding picnic table and the cutlery. The Kurans had a big lunch of salad, cold meats, sandwiches, lemonade, and tea, finishing with a dessert of Castella cake. However, Juri had gotten tired of sitting through their long meal and decided to toddle off with her plate of cake.

"Juri, come back and sit down!" Kyoko called, but her toddler kept moving away.

"Let her move, its good for children to exercise," Hiroshi said.

Kyoko turned to shoot him an annoyed look, when it came to their daughter, he always got to play the good doting parent while she was stuck being the bad parent that said 'no'. Sometimes she wished he was a bit stricter with Juri like he was with their sons.

At the sound of Juri's crying, she turned her head back. Not surprisingly, Juri had tripped and fallen onto the grass. Kyoko sighed, having predicted this since her daughter was clumsy, even for a toddler. She hurried over and lifted Juri to her feet and started trying to comfort her.

"Hush now, it's alright," she crooned.

"Juri's cake!" Juri wailed, pointing to the slice of cake on the grass.

Unfortunately, their chef had only made enough cake for five people, and Juri had dropped her portion.

"That's why I told you to sit down. Now you don't have dessert," Kyoko admonished the crying toddler, which only made Juri cry even louder.

Frowning, Kyoko tried her best to stay calm and gentle. "Honey, you can have more cake when we return to the villa."

Juri stomped her foot angrily and wailed, "No! Cake!"

Rido who had been observing them spoke up. "Juri can have my cake, mother."

Kyoko smiled slightly, Rido was such a dependable older brother. However, she didn't think him giving up his share was fair.

"Good job Rido," Hiroshi praised him. "We don't want our princess to cry."

Haruka had already started on his cake but decided to follow his brother's example and also offer up his portion. He wanted to be praised by their father too and was rewarded with a pat to his head.

Seeing she now had more cake than before, Juri stopped wailing and brightened up. Kyoko sighed, she supposed it was easier for her and Hiroshi this way. She carried her back and Juri started happily eating her cakes, with Kyoko stroking her back, telling her to eat slower.

While Juri was eating, Haruka decided to show their parents the ship he had built. Since they were often busy with their responsibilities as king and queen of the vampire world, it was mostly the nannies and the governess that took care of him and his siblings. That made their family vacations more precious, and Haruka had looked forward to the trip eagerly. When he and Rido had found out they would be going to the lakeside villa, they had started building their toy ships in advance.

During their free time after lessons, they would go to the sheds where the gardener would help them with woodworking and painting their ships. Haruka had worked hard on his pirate sloop, though it was not as impressive as his older brother's 3-masted navy frigate. However, he was happy with the result, and had been happy with the process too, since Rido had also helped him.

In recent years, Rido had become increasingly busy with his studies and his other obligations as heir to the throne, and had less time to play with him, so Haruka was glad they got to spend more time together. Being stuck with only his toddler sister and the nannies for company was not exactly the most exciting for a six-year-old.

He walked over to his father, who was focused on Juri who sat on his lap. Kyoko sat beside him, busy feeding Juri her cake.

"Father, I have something to show you," Haruka said shyly.

Hiroshi looked up and Haruka presented his ship. Hiroshi took it and turned it in his hands, examining it for half a minute.

"It's very nice, son," he said with a smile and patted Haruka on the shoulder.

"Would you like to see how it floats on water?" Haruka asked, hoping his father would come with him and Rido to the lake.

"Maybe later, I-"

"Boat!" Juri exclaimed loudly, interrupting them.

She had finished her cake and had looked up to see her father holding a ship with red sails. Twisting a little in her father's lap, she moved to take the interesting new toy in her small hands.

"No Juri!" Haruka protested and tried to take it back. "Rido onii-sama and I are going to the lake now!"

However, Juri held on tightly, refusing to let go.

"Let Juri hold it for a while, she is just curious," Hiroshi stepped in.

Haruka bit his lip but did as his father said.

"We can play cards for now, Haruka," Rido suggested.

Taking one last look at his ship, Haruka returned to his seat beside Rido on the large picnic blanket. Kyoko moved over to join them as Hiroshi entertained Juri with the ship. For a while Haruka was too busy with the game of Old Maid to think about his sloop.

However, halfway into the game, he heard Juri's happy cries in the distance and looked up to discover she had left the picnic blanket. She was running around holding his ship like it was an airplane instead! Fearing a repeat of the cake incident, Haruka sprang up and ran after her, hoping to retrieve his ship.

Unfortunately, seeing her older brother coming after her only made Juri run faster. Before long, what he had feared would happen happened – Juri tripped over a rock and fell on her face. The ship went sailing out of her hands and through the air, landing several feet away with a cracking sound. Haruka hurried to his ship while his parents and brother hurried to the now crying Juri.

Picking it up, he saw that the mast was broken, like a snapped twig. He turned to glare at his sister who was sobbing but seeing her tears did not abate his anger.

"This is all your fault Juri! I told you not to take my ship!" he yelled, causing Juri to cry even harder.

"Haruka!" Hiroshi barked. "Be mature! She's only a toddler, and it's your fault for chasing her!"

Kyoko looked up from trying to comfort Juri to frown at her husband, who had apparently forgotten that their second son was a young child too. She saw Haruka's lips tremble and tears welling in his eyes. Before his tears started falling, he turned and fled into the woods.

"Haruka, darling!" she called, wanting to go after him.

"Let him be if he wants to sulk," Hiroshi snapped.

Kyoko glared daggers at him. Sometimes she wanted to strangle her husband for how insensitive he was. Although she worried about all her children, Haruka concerned her a bit more than the others. She worried that he fell through the cracks sometimes as the middle child. Rido was the oldest and heir to the throne, while Juri was the baby and only girl, so they always had attention on them. In contrast, her quiet and mild Haruka was often left in the shadows. While she would like to spend more time with him, her duties as queen often left her too busy and tired to do so.

"Don't worry mother, I'll talk to him," Rido said and ran after his younger brother.

Kyoko sighed, hoping Rido can cheer Haruka up. Haruka did look up to his older brother after all.

Under the cover of the trees, Haruka wiped away tears with the back of his hands. He knew he should not cry in public, especially as a pureblood and as a male. However, he was just too angry with Juri and their father.

"Haruka!"

He heard his brother calling him and wondered if he should stay hidden. However, he shivered and looked around, finally realizing how dark and chilly it had gotten. Although he knew he should not be scared as a powerful pureblood, the twisted shadows of the trees and the sounds of the wilderness unnerved him.

"Rido onii-sama!" He responded, letting himself be found.

Within a minute, Rido located him and Haruka was glad to see him.

"Don't cry anymore, father only yelled because he was worried about Juri," Rido said.

"I'm not crying," Haruka sniffled.

"Then let's go back, they're probably worried," Rido tried persuading him, while handing him a handkerchief.

Haruka took the hankie and wiped at his tear-stained face. "But I'm still mad! My ship is broken after all that work."

"How about we build another one when we go home? You can play with mine for the remaining days here," Rido offered.

Hearing that, Haruka cheered up and his frustrations faded. He knew Rido had worked hard on his frigate and was attached to it, despite how he tried to pretend otherwise. This only showed how much Rido cared about him, a thought that made him forget his unhappiness.

Haruka smiled widely. "Thank you for giving me your ship Rido onii-sama! I'll treasure it!"

Rido opened his mouth but closed it again, deciding to keep quiet. He had not meant to permanently give his ship away, only to lend it, but seeing Haruka happy again, he decided to go along with the misunderstanding.

"Well, I'm getting too old to play with toys anyway," he finally said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Haruka threw himself at Rido and hugged him. After detaching himself from Haruka who was now staring at him with open admiration, Rido led him out of the woods and safely back to their waiting parents.

[Flashback - End]

"Even to this day, father really indulges Juri, and now Emi too. He clearly favors his daughters," Haruka said with a slight chuckle.

"Well...he isn't the only one that indulges Juri. It turns out none of the men in this family are good at refusing her," Rido commented with a tad of irony.

"Juri was the youngest and the only girl back then, so she was bound to be well-loved," Haruka said.

"Perhaps too well-loved," Rido replied with some bitterness.

For a few seconds, Haruka was stung by his words and pondered how to defend himself. But he knew he could not, and that he could only try and make amends.

"I still have that ship you gave me..." he said and stood up, walking closer to Rido. He stopped before him and looked into the other's eyes. Onii-sama... can we go back to the way we were?"

Rido held his gaze in silence for a while.

Emi sensed the tension and looked over from the table where Haruka had left his bowl of pudding and the spoons. While those two were distracted, she had gotten up and sneaked over. Hoisting herself up and standing on tiptoes, she managed to grab the bowl and her pink spoon. She ate slowly as she watched the two men.

Seems intense over there, she thought and waited eagerly for Rido's response.

Finally, Rido spoke. "I had forgotten about that long ago. That wooden ship has probably rotted by now and won't ever sail again... like how some things broken can never be fixed."

With that, he turned and left.

Emi looked at Haruka, and saw him visibly crestfallen, like a suitor who had been rejected. She decided to behave herself and not make his night worse. Crawling over with one hand for support while the other clutched the pudding bowl, she went up to him and tugged his pant leg.

He looked down to see Emi staring up at him. Forcing himself to smile, he bent and lifted her up. She held the bowl out to him, and he saw with amusement that there was exactly one spoonful of pudding left. Somehow, she had gotten to the rest of it when he had turned away for a short while.

"Are you trying to comfort me Emi?" he asked gently and took the bowl from her.

She only burped in response.

A/N: Thanks for all the favs and comments (in English and other languages)! :)

I originally planned to include this as a bonus scene in the previous chapter, but it got too long so I did an interlude chapter instead. Through this chapter I want to give some idea of the 3 older siblings' past.

At Cnidri – Hino never explained if vampires take longer than humans to grow up, but we do know vampire pregnancies last longer. I'm writing based on my headcannon that vampire children take longer to mature, and that 1 vampire year is roughly equal to 1.5 human years.

Anyway, for those curious, a large part of this story takes place when Emi is a child, I won't do a huge time skip because she gets up to a lot of shenanigans only kids can get away with (shenanigans that changes the fates of the characters), lol.