[Edited]

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After everyone had been sent out of the dining hall and given permission to perform whatever activities, the only ones who were left sitting at the long table were all members of the Aono family: Luntian, Adam, Matilda and Loraine.

"We are so proud of you, my son." Adam said, patting the young prince on his shoulder. A bright smile crept up his face which irritated Loraine even more. Luntian had gone to live in Grona more than ten years ago in order to get a chance at becoming late king Silvio's successor. She had hoped her parents would finally show her some affection after he was gone, but none of that ever happened. And now she was showed just how much they loved him.

"Yes, we knew you could do it. We're a little sad we couldn't attend your coronation though." Matilda said, grinning genuinely as she completely ignored her daughter's presence. The green-eyed prince felt so warm inside after being showered by all the comments. "I told you not to worry about that. We'll be all living together soon anyway. Right, dear sister?"

"Actually, Loraine will be staying in Rota." The older woman retorted before Loraine could even say anything. Her expression went from bright to gloomy very quickly at the mention of her own daughter's name. Luntian wasn't too pleased to hear what he did: "Pardon? That's the first I hear of this."

"That's right. Loraine still has very important things to take care of in Rota, so she will continue living there for the time being." Their father said strictly, never looking at the blonde girl, not even once. What he told wasn't necessarily a lie, but it wasn't completely true either. The only thing tying Loraine to the Rota kingdom was the contest she was participating in. And that was only in order to make her parents proud of her.

"Do you mean the princess contest? She can quit that since now she's princess of Grona anyway." Luntian suggested, looking over at his younger sister in attempt to lock eyes with her. She was staring at her own lap, so it was impossible. The prince truly wished for Loraine to stay with him; He had missed her so much.

But he didn't know the love for his sibling wasn't reciprocated. "Look, it's obvious you guys don't want me here with you, so stop pretending to be nice. I have no intention of living with you all." Loraine finally snapped, glaring at each blond for a good amount of seconds.

"See? We don't need her here with us." Matilda clapped her hands together, grinning as if she had just said something a parent should be proud of. The young prince got irritated by her statement and slammed his hands against the table, standing up. "'We don't need her here with us'?! I hope you are joking, mother!"

"Loraine is my dear little sister, and more importantly, a part of our family! Do not treat her like some outcast!" The green eyed young man exclaimed, surprising both his parents slightly. He looked over to the youngest, well aware that Matilda's statement had hurt Loraine. The female was putting up a 'strong' act and only smirked confidently, hiding her shattering heart behind it. "'Dear little sister' my ass!"

"And guess what? I don't need you two with me either. I'm perfectly fine on my own." Loraine stood up from her chair as well, glaring at Adam and his wife who sat across him. "You insolent-... How dare you talk like that to us! We are your parents!"

"Now you decide to be my parents? You might be blood-related to me, but you never did anything parents would to me!" The blonde girl laughed, holding back her tears by yelling. "Even rocks kept me better company than you ever did or ever will!"

Her parents gasped in disbelief, mumbling that they hadn't raised such a rude brat. That just drove Loraine's mind insane. She had enough of this 'family talk' and started to head for the door, only to be stopped by her older brother: "Loraine, wait-..."

"Don't touch me!" The blonde girl gritted her teeth, quickly slapping Luntian's hand off of her wrist. She hurried out of the dining hall and slammed the door as soon as she was outside it. Being too mad to even look where she was going, Loraine bumped into none other than her boyfriend.

Myron was worried for the girl and had waited for her outside the large room all this time. He ended up hearing the parts of their conversation where they started yelling at each other.

Loraine looked up and couldn't help but break into tears at the sight of the white haired boy's concerned expression. She started hitting her fists against his chest softly, crying uncontrollably as she let everything out into words and tears. "Myron! W-Why do they h-hate me so much? I-I just-... I just w-want them t-to like me!"

It broke the boy's heart to see the usually bossy Loraine in this state, and made it even harder for him to be honest about his feelings. But what he could at least do for now was to try to comfort the crying girl, wrapping his arms around her and whispering sweet words to her.

* * *

"Rouen, Rouen! Did you know,..." Yuma exclaimed as soon as he and Kai had reached the palace's garden area. The blue haired boy sprinted towards the one eyed knight, tackling him into a hug before ranting about how brave Kai was.

It took the orphan some time to realize that two more people were with Rouen: Two certain princess candidates. One of them he had grown to like very much already. "Lady Lily, I wanna go take a walk!" The child was quick to rush over to the silver haired female who was just as flustered as she was endeared.

"I-I'm sorry, Yuma, but I-I can't go around the village a-alone..." Liliana said sheepishly, putting it that way because an eight-year old boy like Yuma would most probably not understand why she was afraid of venturing around town on her own. Especially if she was going to accompany a child. "But why?~ I really wanted to go with you..."

"Do you not like me, Lady Lily? I-Is it because I always say your name the w-wrong way?..." The orphan slowly started stuttering after his lips curled into a pout. Liliana was quite sure she had almost made the poor boy cry, so she quickly tried to remedy for her actions by hugging him. "N-No, of course I like you! It's just-..."

A moment of silence accompanied the group of five as the silver haired female tried to come up with something. Fotula allowed a sigh to escape her lips before speaking. "Why don't you go with Sir Rouen? He can guard you both, right?" The ravenette turned around to face the man with the eyepatch as if asking for his permission.

"Yes! Rouen can come with us!" Yuma's mood immediately brightened as he began pulling Liliana by her arm, attempting to make her stand up. The shy female was a little uncertain, but it didn't sound like such a bad idea. "W-What about you, Fotula?"

"I'm too tired to look after a troublesome kid." The purple eyed girl retorted, not minding the orphan's complaints after she had basically implied that he was an annoying handful. Liliana looked over at Rouen a little insecurely. "I-Is it really alright with you, S-Sir Rouen?"

"Yes, of course." The one-eyed man replied, a kind smile plastered on his face. Yuma got even louder and more excited upon hearing the knight's response. And so, Liliana took the blue haired child's hand and walked side by side with Rouen, soon disappearing from Fotula's and Kai's sights. Even though the silver haired female was afraid to touch or be touched by adult men, she felt completely alright when holding Yuma's small hand in her own.

The two were left sitting alone on a bench in silence until the dark skinned male decided to speak up: "Why did you do that?" He didn't bother looking at the ravenette when he posed his question, nor did the girl give him a glance.

"For her own sake." Fotula replied simply, not revealing too much. She didn't want everyone knowing about Liliana's fears and insecurities, even if Kai seemed to be a trustworthy person. The wind was the only thing that could be heard after that.

"Are you in love with Sir Rouen?" Kai's eyes flew wide at the sudden question. A chuckle left his mouth in order to cover for his slight surprise. The dark skinned man scratched the back of his head before replying. "That was blunt. Do you really expect me to answer you?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Fotula stated monotonously. Even though both of them were slightly introverted, they managed to hold a conversation just fine and without hesitating much. "I still don't know what to consider as 'love'. But I do feel strongly about Rouen."

"What about you, you like Liliana, don't you?" The brunet made the effort to spare a short glimpse for the ravenette and ended up watching how she stared up at the slightly cloudy sky. "Yes. I really do."

"Mind telling me what brought up this topic?" Kai questioned, moving his gaze somewhere else again. Listening to people's voices, gentle ones like Fotula's, Rouen's and even yours put the knight at ease. "I don't know... I guess I thought a fellow homosexual like you could understand me. Even if it's just a little."

"Do you ever think about the fact that if Sir Rouen decides to spend his life with you, he won't be able to be part of a 'normal' family?" The purple eyed female spoke, a hint of sadness audible in her voice. "He won't be able to have children and with Rota's current rules he won't even be able to marry you."

"I do have similar thoughts, but I don't think about it as deeply as you seem to do." Kai answered, placing his hands behind his head as he intertwined his fingers together. There had never been anyone who tried to understand him, let alone someone who talked about this personal topic with him.

"You know, I have two older siblings and because of that I'm not obligated to get married or have children, but Liliana is the eldest and carries the responsibility as her family's successor." Fotula said, a small smile forming on her face even if it wasn't one of happiness. "I get where you're coming from."

"Doesn't it make you feel a little... sad?"

* * *

Catherine went to her room after having received a disappointing answer from Aaron. After all, he declined a proposal she considered to be rather good. The red-head's monkey-like Pokémon approached her once she sat at her desk, making sure there were no mistakes in the letter she had written before.

Catherine always felt at ease when being around her Pokémon, so she often ends up talking to them, voicing even the craziest ideas that lied in the back of her mind. She petted the purple creature which now found itself on her shoulder. "I really hoped Aaron would have joined us..."

"Oh well, that just means we'll have to do things the harsh way." The crystal blue haired female shrugged, getting up from her chair and out of her room, her normal-type Pokémon still on her shoulder. "Let's go check on our maid-friend for now.~ The guard told us she woke up, so we better hurry up."

Just like Catherine had said to the purple creature, the two of them soon found themselves in the canteen where the mentioned guard stood as if he were hypnotized. He wasn't the only one outside the cell: Her steel-psychic Pokémon was there as well.

And just like the man had informed her and only her, the maid who was being held captive was awake and quite well. The red haired advisor turned to the guard and stroked his cheek seemingly lovingly: "You did a great job.~ Now get out of here and warn the prince."

The man nodded, staring at her with those dead eyes as if he were soulless before he left the two females alone. Catherine smirked and turned her attention to the younger who sat behind the bars. "Now to you."

"Why did you drug our guests drinks?" She asked strictly, reaching inside the cell with her arm as she grabbed the orange haired girl by her collar, pulling her so close that her body collided with the metal. "I-I swear I can't remember doing such a thing! P-Please believe me, Miss Catherine!"

"I know you can't remember!" Catherine exclaimed, soon erupting in loud, evil laughter which at first confused and even intimidated the temporary prisoner. The red-head needed a few moments to recover before she continued in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, I believe you."

"R-Really? T-Thank you so much! I knew you were kind!" The maid wearing glasses stuttered, her face slowly brightening up after the royal advisor had raised her hopes. Little did the poor girl know what was yet to come. "Of course, but you'll have to do me a favor if you want me to convince the prince that you weren't guilty.~"

"Yes, I'll do anything!" The orange haired female said desperately. It was understandable, since no one would like to spend the rest of their lives in prison because of a crime they never committed. Or at least thought they didn't commit.

Catherine's lips curled into a smirk at the sight of the maid's expressions and reactions. The red-head released the girl from her grip and used her now free hand in order to snap her fingers, making the large blue-green Pokémon behind her emit an odd noise. It's red eyes started glowing again and in the very same moment the eyes of the maid lost their sparkle. Now they looked like those of the guard who was sent to get the prince.

"Listen very carefully, glasses-girl.~ When the prince asks you for your motives, you will simply answer: 'I did it because I felt like it, your highness. Because I wanted to protect you from those disrespectful Rota knights.' Is that clear?" Catherine said slowly, glaring at the prisoner as if she were her prey. The orange haired maid nodded slowly and replied with a monotonous 'Yes, Ma'am.'

"I just love when people are cooperative.~" The royal advisor grinned at her purple Pokémon who also seemed to be proud. She then quickly went to grab a big, beige blanket before approaching her other, larger Pokémon. "You'll stay here and wait for my return."

After saying that, she swung the blanket she just took over the steel-psychic type creature which stopped floating. The advisor couldn't retreat her Pokémon back into it's Old ball or else the special effect on the maid wouldn't remain. It would also be troublesome if the prince were to find this blue-green bell-like Pokémon, so the simplest thing to do was hiding it.

"Our work here is done.~" Catherine hummed, leaving the canteen with her monkey-like Pokémon on her shoulder. On the way back to her room, she crossed paths with the guard and prince Luntian who were coincidentally headed for the place she just left in order to question the temporary prisoner.

The purple creature on the advisor's shoulder climbed into her arms, helping herself with her odd tail. Catherine once again cuddled her beloved Pokémon. "Toying with people's minds is really fun, isn't it? Just you wait... she will be next soon."

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A/N: I actually feel really sorry for Loraine and Fotula^^

And it's also very amusing to read your comments, especially the ones concerning Catherine xD

Matilda Aono:

Adam Aono:

Liliana Kranjćar:

Fotula _______:

Thank you for Reading!