Jean sat at the round table that rested in the center of his kitchen. He had an omelette in front of him that he was absolutely devouring.

Jean's mother stood a couple feet away as she dries her hands with a small rag. "So, you never told me. How's it going so far?"

Jean looks up from his almost clean plate. "How's what going?"

She sets the blue rag down on the sink she just used to wash dishes. "Your promotion, of course!"

Jean shrugs and shoves more egg into his mouth. "It's going good."

His mother sighs and heavily takes a seat beside him. Her eyes were twinkling as she began to mold your face with her imagination. "I bet she's even more beautiful now."

"Who? The princess?" He asks as he shoves the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth. "She's exactly like we saw her last just taller and older."

She shakes her head. "I'm sure there's more that changed. Her voice, her face, her body." She rests her elbow on the table and uses her hands to hold up her face. "I wish I could see what kind of woman she grew up to be."

Jean stares at her blankly. He hadn't noticed much change. Yes, physically you did change here and there but to him, you were still the same loud, persistent kid who would follow him and his friends around.

He stands up and grabs his plate. From the corner of his eye, he catches his mom about to stand up to wash the plate but he stops her. "I can do it, you just take a break."

She nods and sits back down. Jean begins to wash away at his plate with the sponge. "Her birthday parade is tomorrow so you'll see her if you look outside or you know, you can always go visit and see how she looks for yourself." He suggests.

His mother begins to babble. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly impose. I no longer work there so I have no business there."

Jean glares at her. "You're kidding, right? You've worked there for years and they all adore you. The queen always asks about you. They all do."

She smiles as she looks down at her feet. "I would love to see all of them again but it just doesn't feel right. I feel as if I'm intruding."

Jean turns back to the sink and finishes rinsing off the soap from his plate. He knew there was no point in pushing her to do it if she wasn't comfortable with it.

His mom was much more shy and soft spoken compared to her son. He had to learn the hard way that she had anxiety about doing a lot of things. Hence why she had the same job for 15 years and hardly ever leaves the house unless it's to get groceries.

"Maybe you can sketch her for me and bring it home so I can see." She suggests.

Jean laughs harshly as he dries his now clean dish. "I'm not sketching her."

His mother frowns. "Why not?"

After he puts the dish away, he throws his bag over his shoulder and pushes in his chair. "Because that's just weird."

"You've done it before." She reminds him.

Jean's entire face begins to burn and there's a stinging sensation in his cheeks. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She stands up from her seat and points her thumb backwards. "I still have the drawing if you'd like to see it."

He rushes toward the door and throws it open. "Bye!" He slams it shut behind him before she can tease him some more.

He was able to catch the time before he darted out the door like his life depended on it and saw it was 5:39am. His shift didn't start until 6 so he had around 20 minutes to get to the castle.

Since it was a 10 minute walk from his house, he takes his time on his journey there. He had his hands in his pockets as he strode down the empty streets.

He walked past stores who were already beginning to set up and open their doors. He passed the bakery and he could smell the sweet-smelling bread baking bright and early.

He passed the flower shop and waved hello to the florist who was already outside watering all the various flowers outside his shop.

Elida was a friendly place. It was peaceful and everyone pretty much just minded their business. They woke up, went to work or school and then just came home.

Of course, kids played in the streets and teenagers threw their parties whenever their parents were out of town but other than that, there wasn't anything too crazy.

And Jean didn't like that. For some reason, he wanted it to be crazy. He wanted adventure, excitement, something new happening everyday.

But here in Elida, it was the same thing everyday. He didn't want to label his hometown as boring but as someone who craved a more thrilling lifestyle, it sometimes felt that way.

Before he knew it, he was right in front of the castle gates. He sees Connie standing at the gates along with another guard. Well, standing might not be the right word considering he was practically half asleep and leaning against the massive wall.

Connie yawns as he presses a button that opens up the gates. "Morning."

Jean nods to him. "Morning. Slept late?"

Connie nods slowly in response. His eyelids looked heavy as he forcefully tried to keep them up. "That obvious?"

Jean chuckles as he walks past him. Once he's in, he greets everyone he passes by and heads straight to the guard common room where they all clock in and get assigned their tasks for the day.

After confirming he was indeed here, he heads straight to the west wing of the castle where your bedroom resides.

Jean hated that he had to walk all the way to the west wing because it was the furthest from all the important things like the main entrance and cafeteria.

Obviously, it was natural for them to put you in the furthest part of the castle away from all the common rooms visitors tend to be in.

But it was also perfect for you because the sun sets in the west and you had a perfect view of the sunset from your bedroom balcony.

Even though for some reason, you still managed to go climb trees to get that exact view but from a different perspective. He found that so odd but not surprising coming from you.

You were the type of person to do things your own way. If that wasn't obvious already.

Since you normally didn't wake up until 9am, Jean did all his other duties in the meantime. He didn't understand why they made him come in as early as everyone else if his job technically didn't start until you woke up.

He was working three hours more than he should be but hey, more hours, more money. And it wasn't like his job was hard. He had it easy.

As previously mentioned, Elida was quiet and peaceful. The people were kind and friendly. There was never really any crime or violence besides kids stealing or some drunks fighting.

He never actually had to go out and fight or risk his life. It was easy money. Well, it used to be. He wouldn't say it was that easy anymore.

"Jean."

Jean stops in his tracks and spins around. Once his eyes register the queen herself standing in front of him, he quickly bows before her. "Your highness, good morning."

She smiles. "Good morning." She peeks past Jean's body and sees your room in the distance. "I'm assuming you haven't had a change to speak to y/n yet."

He turns back to look at your closed door and then returns back to the queen. "I was just heading over there."

"Well, I won't keep you too long. I just wanted to inform you that we are having a ball in y/n's honor this weekend for her birthday." She explains.

"A ball?" He had no recollection of a ball being ever being mentioned. Did he accidentally space out when it was being discussed?

Queen Solana picks up on Jean's internal conflict and laughs. "Don't worry we just started planning it. Not even y/n knew about it until yesterday evening."

"Ah." Jean relaxes. "I take it she didn't take it well."

"No, she did not but she'll live. She tends to be rather dramatic when she doesn't get her way." She explains.

She places her hand on his bicep and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

She strides away from him, her elegant dress kissing the ground she walks on. "Please check in with Lady Mikasa and make sure all preparations for tomorrow are set."

"Yes, your highness." He says loud enough for her to hear as she walks away from him. He waits for her to turn the corner so he can finally breathe comfortably.

Even though the king and queen have known him since he was a baby, he still felt stiff around them like he had to be extra careful not to say or do anything stupid in front of them.

He continues to walk down the hall until he finally reaches your bedroom. He stretches his limbs while he waits for you to begin your day and just a couple moments later, your bedroom door swings open.

Mikasa appears and gives Jean a relieved look. "Oh good, you're here already. She's driving me crazy."

Jean pokes his head into the room and sees you laying down on your back with your head hanging off of the side of the bed. You looked tired and still half asleep even though you were already fully dressed.

He quickly takes in your room and notices how much it's changed since the last time he saw it years ago. "What's wrong with her?"

Mikasa turns to you. "She didn't sleep at all last night. She also hasn't eaten."

You groan and sit up. "I can't! Stop making it seem like I'm choosing to not sleep or eat."

Mikasa sighs and then turns back to Jean. "Good luck getting her out of bed. I'm going to go get something to eat. She's already dressed and everything."

She exits the room and Jean leans against your door frame with his arms crossed. "You plan on getting up today?" He asks you.

You flip your body around so you're now face down in the silk sheets. "No."

He points a finger up to your bed frame and the canopy curtains that hang from it. "What if that falls on your head while you sleep?"

You pick your head up and look at the curtains above you. You then send a mean look toward in his direction. "Are you even allowed to be in my bedroom?"

He looks down at his feet to double check he is indeed behind the line. "I'm not in it."

You roll your eyes and sit up straight. "You sound like an annoying younger sibling."

Jean smirks. "You would know what one sounds like very well."

You walk past him, bumping into him on purpose. "Very rude of you to be mean to me on my birthday eve."

"Birthday eve?" Jean laughs. "You don't get special treatment until the actual day of your birthday. Not the day before."

You look at him as you walk beside him. "Says who?"

He can't seem to wipe the smile off his face. "Unfortunately, that isn't how things work, Princess."

You continue to walk, your eyes straight ahead. "Maybe for you." You point at the crown that rested on top of your head. It was crooked and falling to the side but hey, at least you were wearing it. "You'd be surprised how many things you can get away with when this is on your head."

Your humor and sarcasm was still in tact and when he looks at you, you look like yourself and completely fine. So why was Mikasa having trouble dealing with you? Why weren't you sleeping or eating?

"So why can't you sleep or eat?" He asks. He figured it was better to just get the answer straight from the source rather than let his mind wander.

You shrug and remain quiet. Jean decides not to push any further. He could tell it's because your mind was being consumed by something and he wondered if it was your birthday ball that the queen mentioned to him earlier.

He expected you to be annoyed or irritated about it but that wasn't the case. You didn't seem irritable at all. You seemed almost sad but like you were trying your hardest to pretend you weren't. There had to be something else that was bothering you.

For some reason, your distant eyes made him feel nostalgic in a way. It reminded him of when you were younger and the face you would make each time your brothers didn't let you play with them.

He recalls always wanting to speak up and defend you or somehow convince his friends to let you play but he wasn't nearly as confident and outspoken as he is now. That happened with time.

Even now there's nothing he could do about how you feel. He wasn't sure what was upsetting you but he knew it probably had to do something with your parents and there's nothing he could do about that.

He opens his mouth to attempt to say a joke of some sort to cheer you up somehow but you're already entering the library for class. "See you later."

He stops you. "Wait."

You turn to him, confusion written on your face. He quickly tries to come up with an excuse as to why he stopped you but he didn't even know why he did it himself. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

You shake your head. "Armin always has blueberry muffins with him if I change my mind. I'm sure he'll give me one."

"Oh. Okay." Jean says, slowly stepping away. He hated himself for being so awkward. He wasn't good at comforting people especially people he never really got along with to begin with.

You stare at him cautiously as he gets further away. "Okay...bye."

He stood there as you disappear behind the now closed door. This was the first time he has had to drop you off at class since Mikasa always did.

He takes a seat nearby on the window he sat on yesterday as he waited for you to get out of class. He takes out the book and stares at it.

He couldn't believe he had to go through the process of reading Romeo and Juliet again. He had considered pretending to read it so he wouldn't actually have to but he wasn't sure if the opportunity would come up where you or even your parents might ask about the book and he honestly couldn't remember a single part about it besides the fact that they both die at the end.

He remembers reading it back when he used to go to school with the princes. During this time, all five of you still shared one classroom and one teacher.

You were around the age of 12 while he and Kai were 14, Ambrose 15 and Elijah 16.

"That was the worst book I've ever read." Jean remembers you saying once the group reached the end of it. You slammed the book shut in front of you.

"Why do you say that?" Your teacher at the time asked. You speak loudly and confidently for a girl who just turned 12. "Because they died at the end. What was the whole point?"

Elijah gently closes the book in front of him. "They rather have died than live without eachother. That's the point. They were in love."

You gagged. "If love makes you that stupid, I never wanna be in love."

Ambrose laughed. "You're already stupid. Love excluded."

You spun around quickly in your seat to face him. All four of the boys laughed. Jean didn't even realize he was laughing too until you mean mugged him.

After that, all of you were spilt into separate classes with separate teachers after it was clear you and your brothers weren't on the same learning frequency.

No one could keep up with Elijah and how quickly he took in information so he was the first to advance ahead.

Then from there Ambrose was taken into another room and so were you, leaving Kai and Jean together.

He couldn't recall how he had felt about the book the first time reading it. He just remembered not being able to relate to wanting to end your life over a girl.

He didn't think his opinion had changed much. After he read the book the first time years ago, he had come to love a girl he dated in high school but if love meant dying for someone, he most definitely didn't love her.

He had strong feelings for her but love? He wasn't sure if that's what it was. Not if love is what Shakespeare claims it to be.

He reads a few pages, temporarily getting distracted and looking out the window here and there.

Before he knows it, an hour has passed. The door suddenly opens and out comes you and Armin. Armin seems like he's getting on to you because his face is as serious as he can make it. "It's been two weeks."

"I know but I'm telling you I did it! I just lost it!" You shout. "You can't seriously make me do it all over again."

Armin crosses his arms. "You lost it, huh? Okay, give me a summary of everything you wrote."

Jean can see you twitch from where he sits as you try to recover quickly. "Right now?" You ask, a strangled attempt to stall while you come up with something.

"Right now." Armin replies cooly. Your hands rest at your sides and Jean can see them ball up into fists as you grow irritated. "I don't remember!"

"Then you didn't do it." Armin shakes his head.

You groan loudly and look around as if searching for something to help back up your horribly obvious lie and your eyes unfortunately lock with Jean's.

He feels his heart stop for a second. You point a finger right at him causing Armin to also look in his direction. "Jean saw me do it! Right Jean?!"

Okay, now it was 100% a lie. From what he overheard so far is that Armin assigned you some kind of assignment two weeks ago and you claimed to have done it but it got lost.

Recalling the past couple days, he never saw you doing anything of the sort but then again, he wasn't your bodyguard two weeks ago so who knows.

He closes the book in front of him and turns his body to sit properly and straight ahead. Armin stares at him, his brilliant blue eyes watching Jean intently for any evidence of a lie about to be spewed out.

Armin normally had kind, round eyes. Right now they were anything but the sort. They were narrowed and sharp and were subliminally warning him not to lie on your behalf.

But Armin's eyes didn't compare to yours. Yours were frantic and threatening at the same time. He felt he could feel your pupils burn holes into his skin. Play along or you're dead was written all over your face.

"Uh, yeah. I saw her do it." Jean answers. "She even made me look for it everywhere but we couldn't find it. Someone must've thought it was trash and threw it away."

You turn to Armin with your hands on your hips and your chin held high. "Told ya."

Armin stares at Jean for a while longer. "What kind of assignment was it then?"

You step back to stand a few steps behind Armin and you wave your hands in the air to capture Jean'a attention. When you successfully do, you pinch your fingers together like you're holding a pencil and write imaginary words into the air.

"An essay?" Jean wonders aloud. You shoot a thumbs up behind your teacher's back. "Ah, yes I remember now. It was an essay."

Armin turns around to look at you and you smile innocently at him. "See? This is all just one big misunderstanding! I did all the work."

Armin sighs, not fully convinced but no longer having the energy to bother arguing with you. Then suddenly, his eyes grow in size and a chilling smile crosses his lips. "You promise?"

Your smile fades and you cringe into yourself. "I.."

"Thought so." Armin concludes. He takes a paper out of the folder he holds in his arms and hands it to you. "Try not to lose this one."

You slouch and snatch the paper from him. "Fine."

He smiles as he walks past you. He heads toward the direction Jean is in and before he passes him up he says, "You don't have to lie for her. She'll take advantage of it and you'll only get in trouble along with her, just a heads up."

Jean laughs nervously. "Sorry about that."

When he's gone, you crumple up the paper and throw it in a trash can nearby. For even more dramatics, you kick the tin can. "Ugh!"

"I tried to help but you busted yourself with the promise part." Jean says.

You take a deep breath. "I don't ever break promises. He knows that too. He manipulated me into telling the truth."

This was something Jean always knew. It was common knowledge. Everyone knew if the princess said she was going to do something, she would. She was a woman of her word. Her promises were sacred.

But she also knew how to get around it. You knew how to twist your words to avoiding promising certain things if you truly didn't want to do.

Jean points to the trash can. "You aren't going to do the assignment?"

You scoff and start to walk down the hall. "Why should I? I don't even need to know half of this stuff. It isn't going to help me in any way."

Jean opens his mouth to respond but you cut him off before he can even get the chance. "Instead of teaching me about things that don't matter, I should be getting taught important things that can help me out in the real world."

"Yeah, like what?" He asks.

"Things I need to know! Like... like sex!" You shout.

Jean begins to choke on his own spit and starts to violently cough. "Sex?!"

You groan and rub at your temples. "Ugh, never mind. Just forget I said that."

How the hell can I just forget something like that?

"I'm going to go take a nap or something. I don't feel good." You say avoiding eye contact with him now.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

You nod. "Yeah, my head just hurts. Probably because I didn't sleep. I'm sure a nap will help."

Jean had this weird sensation in the pit of his stomach like his gut was trying to say something but he lets it go. You were going to sleep after all and that's what you needed.

"Okay. Don't oversleep. Lunch is at 12 and you still have your other classes." He reminds you.

With your back facing him and getting further and further from him with each step you take, you wave a hand dismissively in the air. "Yeah, yeah."

Since he had some free time and wasn't hungry yet, Jean enjoyed the next hour just relaxing or talking to his friends on duty.

12 comes faster than he even realizes. He waves goodbye to two of the guards he was speaking to and begins to head in the direction of the cafeteria.

He debated on going to your room to check up on you or wake you up but he decides on you being grown enough to know how to set your own alarm clock.

Plus, you usually spent this time with Kai so he'd most likely beat Jean over there anyway. So, he leaves it be.

"Hey." Kai approaches Jean as he rubs his eyes, clearly indicating he just woke up. "Have you seen my sister?"

Speaking of.

"She's taking a nap. She wasn't feeling good." Jean explains.

He continues to walk but Kai comes to an abrupt stop. "Y/n doesn't feel good? The girl with literal healing powers?" He whispers that last part.

Jean felt like someone just slapped his across the face. How could he be so stupid? He didn't even think of it that way. "Well, that's what she said."

Kai shakes his head. "She's lying." He begins to walk again and so does Jean. "If she ever says something hurts or she doesn't feel good, it's bull."

Jean jogs a little to catch up to Kai. "Well what about her...you know." He clumsily waves over over his crotch area. "Her lady problems."

"She can take away any kind of pain." Kai rolls his eyes. "She probably just wanted to get away from you."

Jean's mouth drops open but he quickly closes it. "But Mikasa said she hasn't ate or slept."

Kai turns to him, his eyebrows bunched together. "At all?"

Jean shakes his head in response and Kai sighs. "She didn't eat at dinner yesterday either. She's probably still upset over what happened."

"What do you mean?" Jean asks. They were inching closer and closer to the cafeteria and he wanted to squeeze as much information out of Kai as he could before he sat down for lunch.

"You know that ball they're having this weekend for her birthday?" Kai asks. "They're making her choose a prince to marry by the end of the night or else they will choose one for her at midnight."

Jean felt his heart drop to his stomach. No wonder you wanted to be alone. "Damn."

Kai looks straight ahead again. "Yup." He sighs. "I'll talk to her later and try to cheer her up."

Jean frowns. "Later? Why not now?"

"It's better to give her space when she gets like this." Kai admits. "It can get ugly when you try to force her to talk about things when she doesn't want to."

Jean felt uneasy. You were his obligation to look after and he had no idea where you were right now. The fact that you were off somewhere in an upset mood didn't make him feel better either.

"Does she get like this often?" Jean asks. He rarely ever saw you mad or sad. Not since you were kids. Everytime he saw you now you were always smiling and laughing.

Kai doesn't even need to think about his answer, it comes out of his mouth almost automatically. "Not at all. It's very rare but it happens. She's human. You just don't see it often because she isn't the type to say when something is hurting her. She'll smile and say she's fine when she's far from it."

"But why? She's always been so blunt. You would think she would be ruthless when it came to saying how she felt." Jean wonders aloud.

Kai shrugs. "She's weird that way. She doesn't like to worry people or bother them. She wants everyone to be happy even when she's not."

He then yawns and waves his hand in the air just like you did either. "Don't worry too much about it. I'll deal with it. I'm sure being her therapist isn't in your job description, right?"

He cracks a joke to lighten the mood and to help Jean relax but Jean can tell that Kai himself is worried on the inside and is doing exactly what his sister does, acting like everything is fine.

The two stop in front of the doors that lead to the cafeteria. "Well do you atleast know where she would be right now? Knowing where she is at all times is in job description, sadly."

Kai thinks for a moment as he scratches the side of his head. "I might know where she's at. There's a couple places I can look but if what you're saying is true and she's not eating or sleeping then she's feeling pretty bad right now. And there's one place she only goes too when she wants to be absolutely alone." 

"Really? Where?" Jean raises an eyebrow.

Kai smacks his lips and turns to face Jean. "I'm not telling you."

"What? Why not?!" Jean asks, his voice slightly louder now.

Kai matches his energy. "Because it's her secret hiding spot! It wouldn't be a secret if everyone knew about it, would it?"

"How the hell do you know about it then if it's such a secret?" Jean snaps.

"Because she told me. Me and Mikasa. We're the only people who know where it is." Kai says calmly, slightly entertained by Jean's growing frustration. He smiles smugly which bothers Jean even more.

He pulls at his hair and groans loudly. "Can't you just tell me?!" He absolutely hated not knowing things.

Kai laughs. "Hell no. She'd kill me if I did."

Jean refused to give up. "I need to know in case of emergencies."

Kai sets his hand on Jean's shoulder and leans forward to look him in the eye. "You ask her then. If she trusts you, she'll tell you. I love you but there's no way I'm getting bitched at by my sister for you."

Jean dusts the prince's hand off his shoulder. "You're really no help, you know that?"

"Hey, I'll help you with anything else except that. She doesn't trust a lot of people and it took forever for her to trust me so I'm not messing it up." Kai admits.

Jean lets out a deep sigh. "Fine. Actually, there is something you can maybe help me with."

"Shoot." Kai says as he crosses his arms and leans up against the wall casually.

The stinging sensation in his cheeks from earlier has returned and he looks away to avoid Kai catching his face grow red. "About the princess.."

Kai grins. "Yeah?"

His tongue felt like it grew three times in size. His mouth growing dry along with it. "If someone wanted to cheer her up somehow.. how would they go about doing that?"

"Someone is you, right?" The prince asks.

"What?! No, no, no. It's for someone else that wanted to know but was too scared to ask." Jean begins to stutter.

Kai snorts. "Yeah, okay." He then turns toward the window and strokes his chin. "Hm, I usually just make her laugh. It's easy because she thinks everything is funny."

Jean looks down at the ground. "Make her laugh." He didn't see himself being able to achieve that. What he could see was him making a pathetic attempt at a joke and you staring at him like he's an absolute moron. He could practically feel the humiliation already.

Kai kicks his body off the wall to stand up again. "Hey. Don't stress yourself about it. She'll get over it. She never stays upset too long."

"Yeah but I'm the one who has to deal with her in the mean time." Jean complains.

The prince thinks for a moment. "Mm, get her something for her birthday or something."

Now it was Jean's turn to put all his body weight against the wall, his head tilted up to the ceiling. "Like what?"

"I was gonna get her these paints she wanted but you can get it for her instead." Kai suggests.

"Paint?" Jean asks as he moves out of the way to let someone enter the cafeteria. He was wasting his lunch break but he didn't even mind it.

Kai reaches into his pocket and takes out a crumpled piece of paper. "Yeah, she has these phases she goes through where she tries new hobbies and right now she's all about painting so she's been asking for these specific kind of paints."

He holds out the smushed paper for Jean to take and he does. He unfolds it and sees the words Opal Luminescent Paint written in neat handwriting.

"Opal Luminescent Paint? That's the most expensive paint out there and it's extremely hard to find." Jean points out.

"Is it?" Kai asks. "I was going to get it for her birthday but since you're an artist yourself maybe you'll be able to get her the actual good stuff. Plus, you can actually leave to go find it. I can't."

Jean blushes. "I wouldn't say artist."

Kai rolls his eyes. "Please, I've seen your drawings, remember? Don't try to act humble now."

Jean quickly attempts to take the conversation off him and back on to you. "I don't want to take your gift idea."

Kai picks at one of the curls coming out of his scalp. "Relax. I can think of a couple other things she's been wanting. There's some seeds she has been wanting to plant. It's some herb that supposedly helps with insomnia."

Jean messes with buttons of his uniform. "I can try to see if i can find the paint. I think I know where I can look. You sure no one else is gonna get her it?"

The prince shakes his head. "My parents are giving her the parade, Mikasa has had her gift ready for months now before y/n even spoke about paint so I know it's not that and I know what my brothers got her. Hm, who else? Oh, Hitch made her a dress. I saw her working on it earlier. It's red."

"Red?" Jean asks, taken aback. "No way, you probably saw wrong."

Kai shrugs lazily. "Maybe but I'm pretty sure I saw red."

He yawns for probably the fifth time since their conversation started. "Anyways, the paint idea is all yours. You can take credit for it too, I don't care."

He then twists his body around to face the opposite direction of the cafeteria. "I'm going to go find her and cheer her up so she doesn't stress you out too much anymore." He laughs. "See you later, okay?"

Jean waves goodbye to his friend and turns around to push past the cafeteria doors. He barely sets one foot in when he hears his name already being called.

"Kirstein!" Connie stands up from one of the tables. "You came just in time."

Confused but curious, Jean approaches the table. The seats were filled by Connie, Marco and Eren.

Once he sees Marco and Eren, who sit right across eachother, place a firm elbow on the surface in front of them, it all makes sense.

"Marco thinks he can beat Eren at arm wrestling." Connie explains as he watches intently.

Jean laughs. "Don't hurt yourself." He passes them as he begins to make his way to the kitchen to grab his food.

"Who was he talking to?" Jean can hear Marco ask behind him. Eren scoffs and slams Marco's hand down on the table. "Definitely you."

Once he's inside the kitchen, Jean greets Niccolo who already has his plate set out for him. The blonde smiles and hands him the meal. "I'm surprised you're late, you're usually always the first one in line."

Jean sighs and takes the plate. "I was a little busy."

A sinister grin grows on Niccolo's pale skin. "I forgot you got a big boy promotion."

Jean loved bragging about his new promotion and raise. At first. Now the more people talked about it, the more irritated he got for some reason.

"Speaking of, where's the princess? She usually eats at this time too with Kai." Niccolo realizes as he looks up at the clock plastered on the wall.

Jean looks down at his plate. "Kai went to go get her. She should be here soon."

Niccolo dusts his hands off on his apron. "I better finish working on her cake then for tomorrow. She'll want to see it."

He walks over to one of the many large ovens and pulls out several pink cakes that still needed to be decorated and dressed.

"They're pink." First a red dress and now pink cakes? Did he miss something?

Niccolo laughs. "Just the inside, they'll be purple on the outside. It's strawberry cake, her favorite."

Jean stares at the fresh baked cakes in front of him. "Strawberry cake is her favorite?"

Niccolo frowns like Jean said the most absurd thing. "Yeah, you didn't know that? I thought everyone did."

Jean practically drops his tray as he loses feeling his hands. "Oh right, no I knew that. It's just been a long day. My mind is all over the place."

He actually didn't know. How did he not know that?

Once his conversation with Nic comes to a long awaited end, Jean leaves him be to finish preparing the cake.

When Jean returns to the table, he practically drops his tray on the surface as well as his body into the chair beside Marco.

Eren snorts. "Someone is having a bad day."

Connie elbows the boy beside him. "He's having lady problems."

"Shut up." Jean hisses. He ignores the two and picks at his food but he honestly barely had any appetite at all.

"You're the only person ever to not get along with the princess. She quite literally gets along with everyone." Eren laughs.

Jean clenched his knuckles, his grip around his fork tightening. "It's not that we don't get along. She just..."

"Hates you." Connie grins.

Marco clears his throat. "Why don't you get her something for her birthday? I'm not saying she's materialistic but it would make her day I'm sure."

Jean shoves more food in his mouth. "It wouldn't even make a difference. You know how many gifts she's gonna get tomorrow? I already know about one of them and it's not even her birthday yet."

Connie frowns. "Already? From who?"

Jean takes a sip of his sweet tea before answering. "Hitch made her a dress. A red one."

Connie dramatically spits out his drink, the liquid spraying toward Eren's direction. "Red?!"

Eren groans and wipes at his face. "Hey! Watch it, dumbass!"

"I don't ever think seen her in red." Marco realizes. He looks up at the ceiling as he tries to jog his memory.

The fact that he was picturing every dress he's ever seen you in in his mind made Jean's skin start to itch.

Connie grabs at a napkin and dabs at the mess he made. "She never wears red. I wonder why she's switching it up."

Eren shrugs. "Maybe she wanted to do something different for her birthday."

His nonchalant face turns into a sneaky smile. "Or maybe she likes someone."

Connie's eyes shoot open. "You think so?"

Jean scoffs. "Don't get too excited. It's not like it's you."

Connie's thin eyebrows meet in the center. "Well, it's definitely not you."

It was Eren's turn to spit out his drink now. He cackles with laughter. "You got that right."

Man, they really knew how to get under his skin. It seemed like everyone was just trying to annoy him today. "Just shut up already. Who cares if her stupid dress is red."

Eren ignores him and turns back to the other three men at the table. Connie taps on his chin. "I wonder if it's one of the princes they introduced to her."

"No way." Eren shakes his head. "Mikasa said she wasn't interested in any of them."

"Mikasa?" Jean asks. "Since when are you on a first name basis with Lady Mikasa?"

"Then it has to be someone here." Connie points out, completely stealing the spotlight from Jean's question. "She doesn't go anywhere."

Jean's hands began to twitch as he fought the urge to turn them into fists. "There's no way."

Connie turns to him. "Could be. She flirts with a lot of us."

"That doesn't mean anything." Jean snaps. Why was he being so defensive? He normally didn't care if people talked about you like this. He was already used to his friends lusting over you privately since they couldn't publicly.

Did his conversation with Kai somehow cause him to see you in a different light?

Eren turns straight ahead to face Jean, his emerald eyes piercing into his lighter green eyes. "You like her or something? Why are you getting pissy about it?"

"Shut up." Jean says through gritted teeth.

Connie wipes his mouth with his sleeve. "It's okay if you do. I mean, we all had crushes on her at some point."

Eren snickers. "Marco still does."

The brunette who was just peacefully eating his food and minding his business, jumps in his seat. "No I don't!"

Eren and Marco go back and front on whether what Eren said was true or not while Connie who sits beside Eren turns to Jean.

"Maybe she secretly has a crush on you and that's why she treats you different than everyone else." Connie grins.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Ackerman appears behind Connie and Eren and aggressively smacks both of his hands down on each of their shoulders.

Both Connie and Eren jump and the entire table goes dead silent. Jean could quite literally hear Connie gulp.

"Lunch time is almost over and you men are too busy gossiping that you're going to end up throwing good food away." Ackerman warns.

"N-no sir." Connie stutters right before him and Eren begin to profusely shove their food into their mouths.

Even after Ackerman leaves, the two boys practically lick their plates clean in fear of him returning and they're still not done.

"Man, you really are the only person who doesn't get along with her." Marco says. Jean turns to him and sees him pointing over to the direction of the cafeteria doors.

By the doors stood you and Kai who just arrived to the cafeteria just seconds ago. You were currently speaking to the lieutenant and whatever you were saying to him had the usually serious man smiling and...was he...laughing?

Jean rubbed frantically at his eyes and blinked repeatedly. Was he seeing this correctly? How was it possible you somehow managed to get along with even Ackerman?

Ackerman never smiled. Never laughed. He was as serious as it gets and it was a known fact he hated everyone because he made it known.

Yet here he was, in the bright lights of the cafeteria, filling up the room with the sound of his laughter. Out of the 3 years he has worked here, Jean has never heard Ackerman laugh, not even once.

And it wasn't like he was faking it just because you were the princess and he worked for you, no. This smile was genuine. His face looked more youthful as his eyes also gained life to them.

Connie and Eren, with their mouths filled to the max with food, turn their heads around to see where Marco points to.

Connie swallows head and laughs loudly. "She even gets along with Ackerman! Damn Kirstein."

Jean takes a deep breath and stands up from his table, his tray in hand. "Whatever."

After he dumps the leftover contents of his tray and sets it down where the used trays go, Jean begins to walk toward the door avoiding eye contact with his friends who were still lingering by the table.

"Kirstein." A voice calls.

A figure standing just a few feet past the cafeteria doors in the same spot Jean was standing in earlier with Kai, waits patiently for Jean to come closer.

When he does, he sees it Ackerman who stands there, his arms crossed. Jean stands straight in front of him once he comes to realize who it is. "Yes sir."

"I hope you're being cautious with what you're doing and not getting the wrong idea." Ackerman states.

Jean stands a bit straighter. "I'm sorry?"

Ackerman takes a deep breath, irritated he has to explain himself. "You have a big responsibility right now. Whether you keep this promotion after her birthday is completely up to you and the king and queen but right now, it's yours."

"I'm aware." Jean says. He tries his best to hide his bitterness lingering in his words. "I'm doing the best I can."

"I never said you weren't." Ackerman clarifies. "I'm just warning you to not cross any lines, any boundaries. You get to spend a lot of time with the princess now. Sometimes even alone."

He steps closer to Jean and Jean teases up when he does. "Remember your place."

He leaves just as quick as the words slipped his tongue. The venom in his harsh words still lingering in the air and intoxicating Jean's lungs.

He felt hot all the sudden. The room felt a million times smaller. Or was it him that felt smaller now?

Jean wanted to tell Ackerman there wasn't anything to worry about. Atleast not from him. He didn't have worry about Jean crossing any lines because he wasn't even at the line to begin with.

He turns to look over to your direction and sees you smiling as you stand by his friends and your brother.

He pays attention to their faces as you speak to them. They were smiling just as much as you were and he can hear their laughter from all the way over here.

He rolls his eyes bitterly.

She can't be THAT funny.

You truly did get along with everyone but him.

"Hey!" Marco jogs over to him. "You okay?"

Jean sighs deeply. "Yeah, just stressed."

Marco gives him a weary look that slowly transformed into a smile. "You got this! If anyone could handle the responsibility, it's you. I mean, this is what you wanted right? To get promoted early on and move up the ladder quick?"

Jean focuses on the sound of his shoes clicking against the floor besides Marco's equally as loud footsteps. "Yeah."

Then suddenly, he stops and Marco stops along with him once he realizes. "What?"

Jean stares at him for a second. "Do you actually have a crush on the princess?"

A shade of pink spreads across Marco's cheeks. He looks away bashfully. "It's not a crush. I just think she's pretty."

"Well, you should be careful. Ackerman is keeping a close eye on all of us to make sure we aren't overstepping any boundaries." Jean warns.

He could hear the heat in his own voice. He sounded almost...angry. But why?

"Oh." Marco laughs awkwardly. "It's okay. I wouldn't try anything with her. I get too nervous around her anyway."

Jean points back to the cafeteria they just left from. "I should probably head back since the princess is there."

Marco smiles. "Right, okay. See you later then."

The tension between the two was overwhelming but both of them acted oblivious to it as they smiled at eachother.

Jean returned back to the cafeteria and all the guards had left now to go back to their duties. But this didn't mean the cafeteria was silent now.

He could hear laughter coming from the kitchen and from the window in the wall that separates the kitchen and cafeteria, Jean can see you sitting up on the counter, the kitchen staff surrounding you.

You were picking at a bowl of purple icing everytime Niccolo turned away causing everyone to choke on their laughter each time he almost caught you.

You were clearly in a much better mood now. It was like nothing ever happened. Like you weren't complaining just a while ago that you didn't feel good.

Kai was right, you were lying. Or maybe you were being honest and you just took the pain away as easily as it surfaced.

Another thing Kai was right about was cheering you up. He stood beside you, his elbow leaning on the counter you were currently perched on top of. He laughed along with everyone else, secretly proud of himself for successfully getting you out of your funk.

For some reason, Jean didn't bother stepping foot into the kitchen even though everyone else was in there. He knew he would just feel out of place if he did.

So, he waited in the cafeteria. He took a seat at the table and just waited for you.

He instantly regretted this when he noticed a whole hour passes and he's just been sitting here the whole time.

You stumble out the kitchen doors as you run away from Niccolo who finally caught you once he realized the amount of icing in his bowl kept getting smaller and smaller each time he looked away.

You giggle and you try to wipe any evidence from your mouth and hands. You rush over to the cafeteria doors in attempt to make a quick exit. You completely run past Jean wouldn't even noticing he's been sitting there.

"Hey!" He shouts. "Where are you going now?"

You freeze and spin around. You then let out a sigh of relief when you see it's Jean and not Niccolo. Your hand comes to meet your chest, hovering over your heart. "You scared me."

"Sorry." Jean grumbles as he stands back up.

You raise up your hand. "I'm going to go water my plants. You don't have to get up." A smirk graces your face. "You've been sitting there a while, you look comfortable."

She knew I was out here waiting this whole time and still took her time? And then had the audacity to tease him about it?

Before his mind comes up with a clever response back, you already disappear out of his sight.

He takes in a deep breath in attempt to calm himself down. He truly didn't know how Mikasa did this on the daily. For years now too.

Maybe she had some kind of patience Jean just lacked.

He takes his time walking to the greenhouse. He wasn't in any rush to get there. In fact, he was dreading it. He knew he would just have to wait outside and you'd purposely take your time again.

When he gets there finally, he just takes a seat on a nearby bench that faces directly to the greenhouse in front of him.

Since the walls were obviously glass, he can see inside. He sees you filling up your watering can with the water falling from the water fountain.

He didn't mean to stare but it was like he couldn't look away. You looked so at peace. It was the most serene he's ever seen you be. So calm.

He watched as you poured water from the can over all the plants and when the wind stopped blowing and the outside world fell silent for just a brief moment, he could hear you humming a song.

"Enjoying the view?"

Jean jumps up from the bench, his heart pounding out of his chest. Ambrose stands there and grins at the startled man in front of him. "Did I scare you?"

Jean rolls his eyes and sits back down. "I was zoned out."

"Mmhm." Ambrose hums as he takes a seat beside Jean. "Be careful what you subconsciously stare at while you're zoned out. Don't want people getting the wrong idea."

Jean groans and sets his face in his palms. "Why does everyone keep saying stuff like that?"

Ambrose laughs. "I was just messing with you but if other people are saying that too maybe you do got a problem, Kirstein."

He sighs and sits up as straight as he can, his back popping when he does. "At least you're getting paid to stare at my sister. Most people do it for free."

Jean scoffs. "Tell me about it. They act like they've never seen a girl before."

"You used to be the exact same way." Ambrose howls with laughter. "You would stare at her like she was the best thing you've ever seen when we were kids."

Jean smacks his lips. "Yeah right."

Ambrose turns away smugly. "If you say so but I distinctly remember. Sometimes we'd have to call your name over and over until you snapped out of your trace."

"I'm telling you I just zone out and she just happens to be in the way." Jean defends.

Ambrose smirks. "Okay."

The two grow quiet when they both decide to drop the subject. Or so Jean thought it was dropped.

"You know you can't be with her right?" Ambrose says suddenly.

Jean turns to him. "What?"

Ambrose does the same and looks directly into Jean's eyes. His usual charming aura transforming into a more darker shade. "My sister. You can't be with her."

Jean knits his eyebrows together in confusion. "I know that."

"She's a pain in my ass and annoying as hell but she's my little sister and I have to look out for her." Ambrose begins to explain.

"But I'm not even doing-" Jean starts.

Ambrose cuts him off to continue where he left off. "She's pretty dumb. She trusts too easy and only ever sees the good in people. She's easily influenced."

Was he just gonna sit here and bash you or did this conversation actually have a purpose?

"I've had the honor of knowing you almost my whole life. So I know you're a pretty persuasive guy. You have the ability to always make things work out for you somehow." Ambrose says. He was looking at you again now.

"What are you trying to say?" Jean asks. The question was rhetorical because he clearly knew what Ambrose was trying to imply.

Without turning his head from you, Ambrose only flickers his eyes over to Jean, side eyeing him. "I think you already know."

Jean shoots up from his seat and towers over Ambrose who remains calmly seated. "What the hell kind of person do you think I am?! You seriously think I'd take advantage of her like that?"

He was pissed. He was practically shaking with rage. The fact that Ambrose stared up at him completely unfazed pissed him off even more.

"I didn't say any of that." He responds swiftly. "But by all means, if the shoe fits."

Jean steps forward to grab Ambrose by his collar and lift him up to face him but he quickly remembers who he is.

Ambrose smirks. He knew he was untouchable.

Jean just stood over him, fuming. The sound of the greenhouse door opening recalls his attention back to where it was originally.

"What the hell are you two yelling about?" You ask, shutting the door behind you.

Ambrose finally stands up and comes face to face with Jean. A lot of people weren't his height since he had an insane growth spurt but Ambrose was up there along with him just maybe two inches off. "I wasn't yelling." He says.

He then smiles. "That was all Jean."

He disappears like a villain in the night leaving both you and Jean standing there. Jean holding himself back on the inside from chasing behind your brother and beating him down and you standing there completely lost.

"What was that about? Were you two fighting?" You ask, hidden excitement in your voice.

Jean shuts his eyes to help ease his frustration and opens them up again. He keeps them up at the sky rather than at you. "No, he's just stupid."

You snort. "We finally can agree on something."

You start walking away to carry on with the rest of your day and Jean follows several feet behind you.

You turn around while still walking and look down at his feet and then back up at him. "Why are you walking so far away from me?"

"Would you prefer if I walked right beside you?" He asks. He tried to say it as nicely as possible but it ended up sounding rude since he was still irritated.

Your eyes flinch as you're taken aback by the sudden attitude. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." He grunts as he looks away from you, his eyes desperately searching for something to distract himself with.

You turn your head forward again and continue walking. "I'm not sick, you know? You don't have to treat me like I'm contagious or something."

His eyes meet the back of your head. He didn't need to see your face to know you were offended. He could hear it in your voice. "I don't think that. I just- I'm just keeping my distance respectfully."

"Okay." You respond simply.

Just like that, the conversation comes to an end. You walk several steps ahead of him while he follows behind. There were no other words exchanged between the two of you.

When they make it to field below, you skip down the steps and down the hill where you meet Sasha for your archery classes.

Jean stays on the elevated ground. He walks further down the wall until he reaches an open window and he sets his elbow down to rest his head.

He felt bad for snapping at you. He knew it made you feel some type of way because not only did your tone change but so did your entire presence.

Not that your mood stayed too long, he could see you jumping around and dancing with Sasha down below as if nothing happened.

Jean was starting to get whiplash from you. Every time he thought you were upset, he would look at you a few seconds later and you'd be completely fine, having the time of your life.

Kai was right. You weren't the type to show something was bothering you. Even when there was something eating at the back of your mind, you hid it well with a smile and by making the people around you laugh.

He never noticed that about you until now. Turns out you're more complex than he originally thought.

He was used to believing you were just a shallow princess who loved attention and had a snippy attitude.

"How's it going so far?"

Jean turns his neck and sees Elijah behind him. He immediately stands up straight. "Eli. I mean-Prince Elijah."

Man, these princes sure come out of nowhere. And always when he was in the middle of thinking about you. It was almost like they knew.

Eli laughs and joins Jean by the railing. "You don't have to call me that. Not when it's just us anyway."

"Right, sorry." Jean says, relaxing a little.

Jean always respected Elijah and looked up to him. He looked up to all the boys actually. He wanted to be smart like Elijah, confident like Ambrose and as cool and carefree as Kai.

But with Elijah it was different. Jean always saw him like a wiser, older brother. It was a different kind of respect and admiration.

Elijah sets his elbows down beside Jean and looks out the window too. "So?"

Jean completely forgot the original question. "Oh! Uh, sorry. It's, um, it's going good."

Eli laughs. "You don't have to lie. She's my sister, I know how much of a handful she can be."

Jean cringes. "It's not that she's a lot. She's just, I don't know. I'll get the hang of it eventually. I always do."

"You came at a very awkward time in her life. She's not in the best situation at the moment." Elijah defends.

Jean turns away and returns to watching you. You have your bow in your hand and you look like your begging Hange for something. Most likely asking if you can try to shoot a target while riding your horse.

"She kinder than all of us." Elijah breaks the silence. "Kinder than me, Ambrose and Kai combined."

Jean didn't even realize he was making a face that caused his nose to scrunch up until Eli laughs. "I know what you're thinking but trust me, she's a better person than any of us."

A small butterfly lands on Elijah's left knuckle and he smiles. "She always thinks about everyone else first. And you know, I never understood why. I mean, we didn't always treat her the best."

The butterfly flies away and Elijah watches as it does. "Our parents shoved her in a room her entire childhood and when they finally let her out, we would always just turn her away."

He chuckles softly as he looks down at his shoes. "It's honestly enough to be someone's villian origin story."

He then lets out a deep breath. "Yet, she's still kind to everyone regardless. That's how I know she's a better person than me because there's no way I'd be as giving and caring as she is after everything." He laughs as he spews out his honest truth.

Jean kept his eyes on you in the distance. He knew you were nice to everyone else but to him you weren't. He always just figured that was the real side of you.

Elijah stares at him as if reading him like a book. "She still hasn't warmed up to you yet, huh?"

Jean scoffs. "Nope."

"She will eventually. It's just bad timing. She has a lot going on right now. Plus, you two didn't really end on good terms." Elijah says.

Jean groans. "I understand we didn't but shouldn't I be the one who hates her? She's the reason I had to leave."

"You don't seriously think she didn't get the shitty end of the stick too, do you?" Elijah asks. "There's a reason she has so much aggression toward you."

"Okay." Jean clears his throat. "Tell me."

The prince takes a deep breath and exhales through his nose. "After the incident and after you left, things got pretty heated between her and my parents."

Jean could feel his heartbeat speed up rapidly. He always wondered what happened after he left that night. He'd stay up thinking about it for several nights.

Now, he was finally going to find out.

"They were screaming at her more than I've ever heard them scream before. They were going to make her stay in room again but she refused." Elijah goes in to explain.

Jean's quick paced heart stops before it drops to the pit of his stomach. He already wasn't liking the sound of this.

"She screamed and cried that she couldn't take it anymore and that it wasn't her fault you caught her." Elijah says.

"And they just argued right back that she shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. It was a pretty brutal night. Everyone was crying. I mean all of us. It was really gross." He continues.

"Well, I definitely see why she hates me, now." Jean sighs, his vision returning to the view ahead of him.

Elijah laughs. "I don't think she hates you. She just, uh, holds a grunge against you, kinda. I mean, you two never spoke or saw each other after that. You never apologized."

"I didn't think she'd care that much if we never saw each other again." Jean admits. He truly didn't.

Elijah shakes his head gently as he recalls his memory. There was pure disappointment of his face. "Everyone would treat her like she was some sort of deadly disease. Rumors had spread that she was contagious and that's why she was never able to leave her room."

"Our parents never denied any of it because they couldn't say the truth. Or more like they didn't want to. So, they stuck with the sickness excuse." He sighs.

"Then, one day when she was old enough to learn to hide you know what, she magically was recovered from this life long disease and was cured." He pauses for a moment. "And yet they still avoided her."

Jean gets a flashback from just a few minutes ago. You walking ahead of him.

"I'm not sick, you know? You don't have to treat me like I'm contagious or something."

Shit. That's what she meant by that.

Elijah looks up at the sky. "Even her own brothers wanted nothing to do with her. People are practically drawn to her now but she had to work for that. It took a while for people to actually start seeing her for who she is."

Barely moving his head, he looks at his childhood friend beside him. "You and your mom were the only people who treated her kindly."

Jean leans back. "Me? I barely ever spoke to her."

"Every time you would call her by her name, her eyes would light up like stars in the night sky. You treated her like a human." He turns away again. "I think she always held some sort of attachment to you because of that."

He held a small coin between his fingertips and tapped it against the rail. "You may not have talked to her much but whenever you did, you treated her well. It may have been nothing to you, but it meant everything to her."

He spins the coin and watches intently as it turns and turns rapidly. "You don't remember, do you?"

Jean hesitates. "Remember what?"

"Every time we pushed her away. You would pick her up off the ground. You always did it when we weren't looking but I always noticed. You were the only one who showed her compassion. Even if it was secretly." The coin finally loses momentum and lands on the tails side up.

Jean had brief memory of that. Truthfully, he tried his hardest to forget about it by shoving it deep down inside.

"It was little things that meant a lot to her. Little things like you just calling her by her name while everyone else called her princess, never really acknowledging her as a person but only for what she was." Elijah states.

Her name..

He briefly recalls all the times he's called you princess and all the times you've asked him to stop. He never understood why until now.

Jean covers his face with his hands. "I'm such an idiot."

Elijah laughs through his nose. "Don't beat yourself up over it. We all treated her bad back then. There's no way we can turn time around and do it differently. We were young, dumb kids who didn't know any better. Only thing you can do now is make up for it."

The two both stare straight ahead toward your direction. You extend your bow and close your eyes. With your eyes shut, you release the arrow and it hits perfectly in the center.

"And how do we go about doing that?" Jean asks.

"Treat her how we should've from the start." Elijah says. He said the words so casually and effortlessly like they were nothing but they struck a cord deep inside Jean.

Elijah leaves Jean be and heads down the steps, onto the plush grass. He walks over to you and you jump up and down when you see him.

"Did you see that?! I hit it with my eyes closed!" You squeal. Elijah smiles and pats you on the head. "I saw. Good job, little one."

The praise causes your eyes to light up and your smile to stretch ear to ear. He could tell the compliment meant a lot to you.

Mikasa also joins the group now and Jean just watches from the distance. He can see Mikasa leading you back to the castle for dinner, Elijah following.

This means it's already 4pm and dinner is being served. Well, at least for the royal family. Dinner for workers was usually a bit after.

After he himself eats dinner, Jean cleans himself up in the restroom and prepares himself for the rest of his day.

He had been staring at every clock he passed by today as if it somehow would help time go faster but it only seemed to make it worse. The hands on the clock taunting him as they moved at a sluggish pace.

He walked down the halls in search for you but as always, you were never to be found.

He looked in the dining hall but there was only the kitchen staff picking up what remained from the royal family's dinner.

He looked at the field and saw Sasha and Hange already gone for the day and the horses back in their stables along with the archery equipment that was put properly back into place.

He even went back to the greenhouse on the off chance you returned back there since your peaceful time was interrupted by Jean yelling at your brother.

But again, you were no where to be found.

He did luckily see someone else that was as close to you as the real thing gets.

"Lady Mikasa!" Jean calls. He speed walks over to her before he loses her.

She turns around and Jean notices her carrying a laundry basket full of clean, folded dresses. The smell of fresh smelling laundry detergent filled his nostrils as he approached closer. "Yes?"

He freezes there for a moment. Mikasa has these piercing, intense eyes that everytime she looked at you, it felt like she was reading your mind and finding out all your deepest secrets. "Uh, the princess. Do you happen to know where she's at?"

Mikasa blinks. "Isn't that your job to know that at all times?"

He presses his lips together. "Isn't it yours too?"

She switches the basket to rest on her other hip. "Yeah and I know where she is. Do you?"

Now Jean knew why you and Mikasa got along so well. You both had smart ass attitudes.

"Can't you just tell me where she is?" He pleads. He felt like pulling his hair out.

Mikasa turns away and starts to walk away from him. "Practice room."

He sighs with relief. "Thanks."

He takes off running toward that direction since it was in the complete opposite side of the castle he was currently in.

Out of breath, he finally reaches the practice room. With his hands on his knees, he catches his breath and awaits his heart's rhythm to return back to its usual pace.

Once he recollects himself, he pushes gently at one of the large doors that led into the practice room. Right when it opens up just a smidge, he hears the sound of a piano playing.

* play Claire De Lune here it's on the playlist which btw here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00v6lylGHWJd24D2EwSlZD?si=dUqOzjvmQreQBRBDMrS3Dw *

When he opens the door all the way, he finally finds you. Mikasa was right.

You were also the mystery piano player and he found himself being surprised at how beautifully you played. Not that he should be because he briefly recalls his own mother giving you lessons everyday.

He's sure you heard the door open but yet you didn't bother to look that way or even stop playing. It was like you were in your own little world.

It was like you were somewhere else even though your body was completely present. Your fingers moved swiftly and your eyes followed.

"Claire De Lune." Jean speaks finally. "I love that song."

You don't take your eyes away from the keys underneath your fingertips. "I know. Your mom told me before. She said it was the only song that could put you to sleep when you were little."

He smiles and glides his hand across the shiny black piano's surface. "You play it well."

You softly raise up a shoulder while your fingers still dance along to the keys. "All the lessons paid off, I guess. Your mom was a good teacher."

Your eyes finally meet his. "Do you know how to play?"

As he looks into your eyes, he tries to read them. You seemed fine, sounded fine, looked fine. But for some reason, he just couldn't shake this feeling.

Your eyes weren't as youthful as they usually were. You still were the loud, restless girl he knows but the shine in your eyes was no longer present.

"I used to. I'm not quite sure if I still remember how to." He admits as he steps a bit closer to the bench.

You scoot over and gesture over to the spot beside you with a tilt of your head. "Let's find out."

He hesitates for a moment. You did scoot over to the side to give him space but it wasn't much. He knew if he took this seat beside you, he'd be shoulder to shoulder with you.

He quickly turns around to double check he closed the door behind him and silently prayed no one would walk in and get the wrong idea.

He then sits down beside you and his shoulder barely grazes yours, your bare skin touching the tough fabric of his uniform. When he's seated beside you, you move your fingertips from the keys to allow him to finish off the song where you left off.

For a moment, his long fingers freeze awkwardly over the keys. He knew exactly where to put them but for some reason it was like he forgot how to move them.

The fact that you were watching him made it even worse. In all honestly, he hadn't played the piano in years. Not since he used to come to the castle everyday so he had completely forgotten.

Relying on his distinct memory, he attempts to play the song as he reads the music notes above.

It was a terrible attempt. He knew he was doing something wrong because it didn't sound like the song at all except for some awkward parts where he just happened to press the right key on accident.

You shake your head beside him. "Come over here."

Before he can process the words coming out of your mouth, you grab his hand and move it to the very end of the piano.

"You're on the wrong side, Kirstein." You say setting his hand down. With your fingers, your guide his to the right key. "Try now."

He felt frozen. No, not frozen. He actually felt energized for some reason.

He had been in an awkward funk all day. He had spent it anxious, overthinking and stressed.

But for some reason, just now, it felt like the weight he carried on his sluggish shoulders had been lifted. He felt light and relaxed. He felt strong and healthy.

And all from your touch. Did you some how... No, he wasn't hurt or wounded. What could you have possibly healed?

Maybe it was just your touch itself. Your hands were a bit cold and much more soft compared to his. Maybe your cold touch woke up his body somehow.

He tries again, his fingers now on the right side of the piano. It's still a bit off, his movements hesitate and wobbly.

But it was much better.

You swat his hands away. "Watch me." You play the song and it goes back to its angelic tune. It was pretty embarrassing how yours shined in comparison to his strangled attempt.

Jean was a naturally competitive person. He hated when people were better at something than he was. He also hated when he wasn't good at something in general.

Jean carefully watches your fingers and tries to memorize the movements. "I got it."

You move your hands away and allow him to prove himself. He does much better this time but you finally catch his reoccurring mistake.

Goosebumps crawl up his arm and tickle his spine when your hand wraps around his wrist, your fingers glide over his knuckles and meet his fingers. "Loosen up, your hands are too stiff."

Your palm lays directly on his hand now and your fingers lay on his. You use yours as a guide and the song becomes harmonious once again.

Once he gets the hang of it, you let go again and he is completely on key all on his own. You smile as you watch him go.

He smiles too. He watched as his fingers moved elegantly across the keys as if it was muscle memory. "You're lucky I haven't played in years or I'd be a way better piano player than you, Princess."

"Don't call me that." You say flatly.

He looks at you and frowns, his fingers still playing the rest of the song. "Why not? Aren't you the princess?"

He tries to read your expression but he can't tell if you're embarrassed or angry. It sorta looked like a mixture of both.

He then remembers what Elijah told him earlier.

Your eyebrows were knit together but your eyes were looking away like you didn't wanna make eye contact. "Yeah but you don't have to call me that." You offer.

He keeps playing as he keeps up with the conversation, proud of himself for being able to effortlessly do both at the same time. "I thought only people you're close to call you that. Like your family and Mikasa."

You turn away from him and just watch his hands continue to play. "It just feels weird because you used to call me by my name all the time."

"That was back then." Jean clarifies. "When we were kids. I work for you guys now. It's different."

You surprisingly don't argue anything back. You just keep your eyes down on the keys below.

"Besides, we were never even close. I didn't even know your birthday was coming up until your mom mentioned it to me." Jean spills.

You turn to him. Now he wasn't stuck between wondering whether you were embarrassed or angry. He knew for a fact you were angry now because it was clear as day. "April 7th." You say.

Jean's fingers freeze. The piano makes an awful loud noise as the melodious song ceases suddenly. It feels like his entire body does as well. He tried to say something but his brain couldn't form any words.

"That's your birthday. Right?" You ask, your voice echos around the room.

He still was speechless. Never did he ever think you knew his birthday. Not now or even back then. He never recalled even mentioning it to you.

So that means you remembered from when you were kids. Even after all those years of not seeing or speaking to eachother, you still remembered.

You scoff and get up. Jean just now realized that neither one of you was playing the piano anymore so the room was painfully quiet.

He can hear your heels click against the floors as you exit the door. "Prin-" He stops himself before he makes the situation worse.

Shit. No wonder she hates me.

Jean took a moment to sit there alone on the bench to bask in his own disappointment in himself.

He was learning a lot of things he didn't know today and it was all hitting him pretty hard all at once. He felt like he didn't even have time to properly process all the information because more kept coming in.

He felt like an idiot. That was the perfect word for how he felt. An idiot.

It seemed no matter how much he tried to maintain a healthy balance to keep the peace with everyone, he only made matters worse with you.

It seemed like he was only going backwards when it came to understanding you. Each time he felt like he had it figured out, something happened to knock him on his ass and humble him quickly.

It frustrated him that it was taking this long to be successful at his new job. He needed to be perfect. Needed to have it down like the back of his hand.

He wanted to be as good at it as Mikasa was. The way she was calmly walking down the halls doing her own tasks all while still knowing exactly where you were.

He knew Mikasa must've struggled with it at first too and that she only got better at it throughout the years and with experience but he was far too impatient for that. He didn't want to wait years. He wanted to be the best right now.

So, he tried to figure out where you were without asking anyone for help. He didn't run around either.

He just calmly looked at one of the large clocks and tried to remember where you would be at this time. It was currently 5:48pm and if he recalled correctly, you usually were in the tailoring room around this time with Hitch.

He begins to make his way over toward that direction, silently praying that's exactly where you were since he was so confident in his answer.

He stands by the door avoiding peaking through the small window to cheat and see if you're there. He waits for a few moments, his foot tapping anxiously as he waits for the door to swing open.

And a couple minutes later, it does.

Yes! He cheers internally.

"Before you go!" Hitch calls before you step out the door. She grabs a long, rectangular box wrapped in a bow from a closet nearby.

The blonde hands you the gift and beams. "Happy birthday! I know it's tomorrow but I worked my ass off all day and night so I could have it ready before so you can wear it tomorrow."

You take the box from her. "Hitch, there's no way you did all this in one day. You didn't have to do that, you're probably exhausted."

She shrugs and grins giddily. "It was nothing. I can do tailoring with my eyes closed." She brags.

Hitch then looks up at the boy standing beside the door and her eyes twinkle. "Oh. Hi Jean."

You were in the middle of unwrapping the bow from the box when you hear Hitch sing his name.

Jean nods. "Hey Hitch." He looks back at you, curious to what's in the box when he catches you staring right back at him. It was like you were waiting for a certain kind of response.

Hitch steps closer to him. "How are you liking your new job?"

Jean rubs the back of his neck. "It's something. The pay is good though."

"I bet it's a lot of work. I hardly see you around anymore." She pouts. "The princess is lucky she gets you all to herself."

He chuckles awkwardly. "Lucky isn't the word I'd use."

Jean has known Hitch for a while. They both attended the same high school and although he hardly ever spoke to her, he knew her well.

Back then, she dated a friend of his, Marlowe, who went to the police academy after graduating. They had dated for two years until they spilt up senior year.

After that, Hitch became friendly. Too friendly. It was like she was angry Marlowe was leaving that she made it her mission to flirt with all his friends and everyone in general just to get him mad.

She attempted to flirt with him on multiple occasions at parties and such and if he was being honest, if he wasn't friends with Marlowe, he would've flirted back. Hitch was a pretty girl who had a down for anything kind of personality.

She became more flirtatious once they began working together but he never really took her serious since she flirted with all the other guards too. You and her were alike on that part.

The only difference was you would never actually go through with any of it and Hitch would.

Although Jean had grown accustomed to Hitch's loose personality, today was a bit different. Usually, she was more lowkey with it but right now it was like she didn't care who saw or heard.

Jean turns away from her for a moment to see if you're still watching but you were already unwrapping your gift.

You lift the cover and a stunning red fabric is revealed. You gently caress your hand over it. "Wow." You say along with a shaky breath.

Hitch squeals. "Isn't it gorgeous?! You're gonna look amazing in it. Take it out the box!"

"It's red." Jean realizes. He had to blink a couple times to see if he truly saw the color correctly. Kai was right.

For as long as he could remember, he's only ever seen you in different shades of purple. Plum, lavender, lilac, eggplant, mauve, indigo, etc. That was your color.

You finally look at him again. "Is that bad?"

He flinches for a spilt second, slight panic bubbling inside him. "No, it's just..I've always seen you in purple."

You gently lift up just the upper half of the dress and examine it. "Red is pretty too."

"It is." He agrees. "Red is actually my favorite color."

You place the dress back in the box and close it shut. "Is it?"

Jean could detect attitude in your voice. Probably still from earlier when he stupidly admitted he didn't remember your birthday and you utterly embarrassed him by saying his off the top of your head.

It was even more humiliating to think about you even knowing his favorite color too. He knew yours but so did everyone else. To be honest, if it wasn't completely obvious, he probably wouldn't even know.

"Try it on!" Hitch claps. You shake your head and hold the box underneath your arm. "Tomorrow. You can help me put it on. Mikasa hates tying my corsets because she's too strong and gets scared she'll crack my ribs."

Mikasa appears a few moments later with an ice cream cone in her hand. You turn around and your eyes immediately meet the cone. "As promised." The raven haired girl says.

You practically take off her arm along with the ice cream cone. Mikasa turns to Jean and Hitch who stare at you in horror. "I told her if she ate dinner, I'd get her her favorite ice cream."

You lick ice cream off your lips. "Mm, let's go." You link your arm with Mikasa who attempts to grab the large box from you but you yank it away. "I got it."

"Thanks for the present Hitch. I love it!" You call as you begin to walk away. Jean prepares himself to follow but Hitch grabs him before he can even take a step. "Have you eaten already? Let's go grab something, I'm starving."

Both you and Mikasa stop abruptly. Simultaneously, you both turn your heads to look back as if waiting to hear Jean's answer.

Jean could feel his shirt begin to stick to his body as he grew a sweat. He had three women staring right into his soul, waiting for answer. He felt like he was being tested somehow.

Jean chuckles nervously and rubs at the back of his neck. "I actually ate already but thanks."

Hitch frowns. "Then just join me."

Jean turns back to you and Mikasa who just stare at him blankly. Faces cold and unapproachable. "I don't think I can." He admits.

Hitch turns to you and bats her eyes. "You don't mind right, Princess?"

You shrug and lick at your ice cream. "I don't care."

For some reason, Jean feels a small pang in his heart. He knew you didn't care about what he did but hearing it felt brutal.

You and Mikasa begin to walk away again and Jean catches Mikasa whispering something in your ear.

Jean had never felt more confused in his entire life. He didn't know what the hell was happening right now. He was damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

You claim you don't care but why did he feel like he was making the wrong choice? Like you and Mikasa were silently judging him?

"I'm sorry Hitch but I need to talk to Mikasa and the princess about the plan for tomorrow." He quickly lies. "Next time though, okay?"

Before she can even respond, he takes off running to catch up to you two. He can feel Hitch glaring at him as he does.

He rushes over to you and Mikasa and stands on the other side of you. You don't even look in his direction but Mikasa does. She laughs.

Your arm still linked with Mikasa's, you stop walking and pull hard on her arm making her stop too. "The sun is setting. Let's go outside for a bit."

Mikasa nods and walks beside you down the steps. She sits down on the top of the hill and you join her, releasing your arm from hers.

Jean cautiously chooses to sit on the other side near Mikasa instead of by you to avoid getting yet another lecture on boundaries today.

But even though he was pleasing everyone else, he was still hurting you. You watch him walk around to sit far from you and by Mikasa and you roll your eyes.

He truly couldn't win. Someone was bound to get pissed no matter what decision he made. Keep his distance from you, make everyone happy. Get closer to you to make you happy, piss everyone off.

Your annoyed expression didn't last long as it melted once your eyes met the pink sky in front of you.

"It looks pretty today." Mikasa notes. You nod in agreement, completely mesmerized.

"Hey! There you guys are. What'cha eating?" Kai appears, he squats down to be face to face with you.

"Ice cream." You smile. You hold it up proudly for him to see.

"Nice." He smiles before snatching the ice cream from your hand. He takes off running down the hill, the ice cream cone bobbing along with him as he holds it.

"Hey!" You scream and chase after him. You rush down the hill, stumbling a little and causing Mikasa and Jean both to laugh.

Jean sighs and brings his palms face down behind him so he can lean back. "I don't know how do you do it."

Mikasa turns. "What? Y/n?"

Jean nods while raking his hand through his hair. "I can feel the gray hairs start to grow from my scalp."

Mikasa laughs. When she's done, her eyes return to you as you run around a tree in circles in a foolish attempt to catch your brother who was much faster than you.

"It's a lot of running after her but I don't mind it." She starts to explain. She pauses for second. A soft smile graces her lips. "She's the most amazing person I've ever met."

Jean frowns and points his thumb at you to make sure Mikasa is talking about the same person he's talking about. "Her?"

She sighs. "She's my bestfriend but she wasn't always."

Jean stares at her, blinking slowly as he tries to somehow mentally put the pieces together. Mikasa notices his intrigue and continues.

"When we first met, it was a bit awkward." She laughs. "She was so attached to your mom that she refused to have anyone else look after her. I think she had abandonment issues at the time. Perhaps she still does."

Jean politely waits for Mikasa to keep going with her story and she does. He was grateful for her taking the time to explain even a little bit of you to him. At this point, anything helped. "I tried my best to get her to feel comfortable or safe around me but it took a while."

She cringes into herself. "She's not.. the best with emotions or feelings. They're kinda foreign to her."

Jean scoffs. "No kidding."

Mikasa lifts up a hand. "Don't get me wrong. She's a loving person. She just..can't quite put the love into words so she does it with actions."

She looks down at the grass underneath her. "Kinda perfect that they gave the power of healing to a girl whose love language is touch and acts of service."

Jean turns to look at you. Kai was holding the cone over his head so that it was out of your reach. You yank harshly on his hair causing his arms to drop and the cone to fall to the floor.

"Way to go, idiot!" Kai yells.

"Me?! You dropped it! It wasn't even yours in the first place!" Mikasa and Jean hear you scream from a distance.

Kai bends down to grab the smushed cone with melted ice cream gushing out of it. "Since you want it so bad, here."

Your face twists with horror and disgust when you see all the dirt and blades of grass stuck to it now. You could even see some small bugs that didn't hesitate to attack the melted dessert. "Get that away from me."

Kai begins to chase you now, yielding the monstrosity of the ice cream as a weapon. You squeal and scream with laughter as you try to outrun him.

Mikasa and Jean just watch with amusement. He couldn't deny the energy was contagious and he couldn't help but smile.

"Do you wanna know how I found out about her power?" Mikasa speaks, calling Jean's attention back to her.

Jean turns to her but she keeps her eyes straight ahead. Jean could've swore he saw her eyes gain a curtain of shine. "My parents died and I became very sad. Actually, sad is an understatement. I was depressed."

Jean felt his mouth go dry. He had no idea what to respond. He didn't even know Mikasa had lost her parents.

"I would come to work and try my hardest to be strong and do my job. I was miserable but I refused to show it by distracting myself." Her eyes were down on the ground now.

Her face was slightly turned away like she was embarrassed to get all emotional in front of Jean or just in general.

"And somehow she noticed." She says clearing her throat. She turns her head forward again so her eyes meet your still restless, moving body.

"She had never once touched me before because as you know, she isn't allowed to touch anyone." She continues. "But one time, when her and I were completely alone, she placed her hand right on my heart."

She copies the movement by placing her hand on her chest, just above her heart. "And I cried and cried like a baby for hours." She laughs sadly as she admits it out loud.

Her hand moves from her chest and comes down to rest beside her. "But after I was done crying, the pain stopped. I didn't feel sad or empty anymore. I felt...free."

Jean turns away from Mikasa, his mind going a million miles per hour. He sees the two of you finally stopped running and now lay on the grass, staring up at the sky as you try to catch your breath.

"She helped me when she didn't even have to. She owed me nothing. She noticed I was sad and took it all away from me without saying a single word." Mikasa explains. She lays a hand over Jean's heart causing him to tease up a little. "Just with a touch."

Mikasa's hand pulls away and she turns to look at you again. Jean keeps his eyes on Mikasa. "So.. she can take away mental pain as well as physical." He realizes.

She smiles wide, her eyes still straight ahead. "She's incredible, isn't she?"

It was an odd feeling. He was able to talk so freely with someone about something he had to keep a secret for years. He had so many questions. So many theories.

"That's one word." He admits.

Mikasa snickers and rolls her eyes. "She'll get better to be around. You just got to remember she's been alone her whole life. She's not used to new people. She'll warm up to you."

She plucks a small golden flower from the ground and twists it around between her thumb and index. "And when she does, you'll be lucky to realize how beautifully she can love someone."

It's quiet for a moment. Jean not really knowing what to say and Mikasa waiting for his response.

She plucks one of the petals from the yellow flower and turns to Jean. "I was in love with her."

For a moment there, it felt like she was playing a game of she loves me, she loves me not.

Jean snaps his head toward Mikasa so quickly that he gets a small cramp in his neck from the force. "What?"

She smiles bashfully and plucks another petal.

she loves me not

"After she healed me, I fell in love with her. Her mind, her personality, her heart. That's why it's not so bad chasing her around because I would forever if i could." Mikasa admits.

Jean felt stunned. He knew gay people existed but it wasn't something that was widely accepted in these times. So for someone to admit something like this caught him off guard. "Do...do you still?"

He can feel his heart beat faster as he grows nervous. He has no idea if he maybe pushed too far by asking that but he feels immediate relief when she giggles.

"No I don't." She admits as she plucks another petal.  She loves me. "I love her with my entire heart but I'm not in love with her anymore."

She spins the flower around again. It was missing three petals now. "I was 18 and alone. I took this job because they offered me a room to stay in and I obviously needed the money since my parents died."

She shrugs wearily. "I didn't have anyone."

"And she was there." Jean adds.

"And she was there." Mikasa smiles at him.

He looks at the flower still in between her fingertips and then back at her. "When did you realize you weren't in love with her anymore?"

Her smiles fades and her glazed eyes turn away from him and return back to the plucked flower. She tugs on another one of the petals, stripping it away from the rest. "When I realized she can never be with me."

She loves me not.

Jean can feel his heart twinge with pain. Why? Why was he feeling this aching sensation? Was it because he felt sorry for Mikasa or was it because he understood first hand?

She takes a deep breath. "Plus, I fell in love with someone else." Another petal pulled by her fingertips.

She loves me.

Jean frowns. "Who?"

"Doesn't matter. I brought this up because I know from first hand experience what it looks like to be in love with her." She answers.

Jean stares at her, not really understanding what she's trying to insinuate. She stares back at him, her eyes practically glaring into his soul.

"I also know how painful it feels to realize no matter how deeply you care for and adore her.." She tears another petal off the flower while still staring directly at Jean. "You can never have her."

She loves me not.

"I mean, unless you're a prince which neither you or I happen to be one." She says as she stares at the naked flower that held one last gold petal.

It finally clicks to Jean what Mikasa was trying to get at. She was trying to warn him. He furrows his brows. "I don't love her."

Mikasa turns away from the flower and her eyes meet Jean's. They were cold and serious as she narrowed them at him.

"What?" He asks, the back of his neck starting to sweat.

She rips the final petal and tosses the stem behind her. She holds up the petal and then places it in his palm and squeezes his fist shut. "Nothing."

She stands up and stares down at him. "Goodnight and good luck tomorrow. You're gonna need it."

Her hands cup around her mouth. "Y/n! Let's go."

Jean turns and sees you jump up and kick Kai who still remains laid out on the grass before you take off running again.

You rush up the hill and stretch exaggeratedly. Something Jean just knows you got from Kai because he was notorious for making unnecessarily loud noises. "I'm exhausted."

"That's what happens when you run around in circles like a crazy person. Come on." Mikasa says, adjusting your crown that was hanging on to your head for dear life.

You grab the box that contained your dress off the ground and your eyes meet Jean's when you bend down to get it. "Night."

He stands up from the ground. "Goodnight Princess."

You stare at him and shake your head before walking away from him. "You don't listen."

He opens his mouth to say something, his hand even comes up to stop you but he decides to let you go instead. He knew he would only make matters worse somehow. Today was a perfect example of that.

He watches as you and Mikasa walk away from him and head toward your room. He tried to wrap his mind around everything Mikasa told him but it was too much. He felt like his head was going to explode.

Jean looks down at his closed fist and loosens his fingers so he can look at his palm. The delicate golden petal rested there.

She loves me.

♚