"Hey, Rodric, uh, I have something to tell you."

Lucas and his brother sat in the family palanquin, on their ride home from the ball. The massive structure had six robotic legs for movement, but on the inside it was just like one of the old carriages from his mother's time. He played with the ends of one of the purple cushions, deciding on the best way to tell his brother about the woman.

"What?" His brother side-eyed him, no doubt wondering what nonsense would come out of his dumb brother's mouth. Well, it's about time I prove him wrong, Lucas thought.

"I met this woman at the ball. She told me she had a message for you. To meet her at the next ball, and talk about the 'job'. Whatever that is." Lucas awaited his brother's reaction, silently hoping it was all just a giant prank, and his brother had not in fact hired an assassin.

"Oh, so you met Thousand."

"Wait, is that her name?" Lucas couldn't help but interject.

"Of course not. It's her work name."

"Oh." He looked away, feeling even dumber than before. Thousand was such an odd name to have, of course it was a code. Still, it was nice to call her something other than 'miss lady'.

"Tell her I'm currently too busy to deal with the affair. You go in my stead." His brother blinked at Lucas' shocked expression, as if that was a perfectly normal thing to ask. "What? You look like me. It'll be easy."

Easy to do what?

Lucas hoped with all his might that he was not participating in a murder. Although he wouldn't put it past Noemia, his brother was better than that – or so he hoped.

"Don't worry, you won't have to do anything that doesn't align with our values," his brother said in a deadpan tone. Lucas internally groaned. Would everyone stop being so vague?

A few seconds slipped by, and Lucas looked out the window. The next ball would be at Noemia's mother's mansion, back in the city. They were almost there – the rolling hills were giving way to forest.

"All right, so I'm assuming no murder?" he dared to ask.

"Of course not. We're honorable people, not savages." He frowned, as if it was outrageous to even say such a thing. Oh, come on. It was a genuine question.

They spent the rest of the ride home in a smothering silence, Lucas already mentally preparing himself for the party, three weeks from then, on Sunday – and maybe figuring out the enigma that was Thousand.

~

"Step right up, everyone! Mark will have your coats, won't you, Mark dear?" a shrill, sugary-sour voice said, from beyond their palanquin – Aunt Gladys, Noemia's mother.

It had been three weeks since the brothers' tense conversation, and the day had finally arrived. Lucas was already dreading having to talk to his family again – and simultaneously counting the seconds until his meeting with Thousand.

He stepped out of the vehicle. "Aunt Gladys! How have you been?" he exclaimed, as if he hadn't seen her three weeks ago.

If Noemia was a snake, Gladys was a peacock. Her ridiculous, multicolored gown even resembled the bird, what with its feathered tail she was desperately trying to get into fashion.

But what she lacked in her daughter's cunning, she made up for in influence – Gladys was the center of court gossip, even years past what should've been her prime. She'd flirt with any man that so much as blinked in her direction, and had been caught in countless scandals with royalty and commoners alike. Stars, her getting pregnant with Noemia had been a scandal back in the day, or so his brother had said.

"Good, good," she preened. "Do come in, Noemia's been telling me all about your recent endeavors." She winked shamelessly, and Lucas tried not to gawk at her. What is she, fifty? I'm barely twenty-one!

They followed her into the lavish mansion, and he nearly winced at the horrible taste – it had been some time since he'd been here last. Clashing colors, odds-and-ends furniture and obviously fake gemstones 'decorated' every inch of the hall, and he knew the rest of the house wasn't much better off.

On the outside, of course, he loved it. "Did you do something different with the flowers here?" he asked. "Because they are so pretty."

"Oh, thank you, thank..."

"Mother, are the guests here? You could've warned me, don't you think?" Noemia's sugary voice sounded from the hallway, polite as ever.

Seconds later, his cousin stood before him. What the–?

Noemia had dyed the left side of her hair a vibrant blood-red. She stood with an eyebrow raised, as if daring him to question the change. He decided it was probably safest not to comment on it.

"Hello, Noemia." His brother spoke first, evidently making the same decision. "It's a fine evening for a ball. The weather's been good lately."

"Yes, it has." Noemia side-eyed her mother, narrowing her eyes. "I go by Andromeda now, since it's what they call me in school." Gladys looked furious, although she was still smiling.

"Don't pay attention to her, please, everyone. This is just a phase, and I'm sure Noemia will make a fine queen someday," she said through gritted teeth, still holding her smile.

Noemia – Andromeda? – merely laughed it off. Lucas wondered what in the world was going on. Were they fighting about something? The hair, the name – was it some form of rebellion?

Gladys, he knew well, had one ambition – for her daughter to become queen. She'd enrolled her in the world's most prestigious university, the Seclusion, in hopes that she'd meet the prince and marry him. And, as far as he knew, Noemia also had her eyes set on the throne – so what had changed? He didn't have anything resembling an answer.

He was almost left behind by squabbling mother and daughter, scratching his hair and wondering what he'd gotten himself into. But before he could go off to find Thousand, he heard Noemia whisper in his ear:

"You're doing that job for Rodric, right? Making yourself useful for once, huh."

He whipped around, shocked, only to see that she'd gone right back to arguing with her mother, as if nothing had changed. How long had she known? Was it all some sort of plan?

Well, it couldn't hurt to just talk to Thousand again. After all, Rodric had said that there was no murder involved – which is always a plus, right?

Besides... he'd really like to stop being the 'lesser brother'.

He could keep on pretending it didn't hurt to live with this kind of family. Just putting on mask after mask, lie after lie – or he could actually do something for once and stand up for himself. Prove them all wrong.

Now, if only he could actually find Thousand–

"Hey, idiot! Watch where you're– oh, it's you."

Lucas turned around. His cousin Azure's voice was always distinct in his head – like a bubbling, strawberry soda pop that could explode in your face at any moment – and he smiled.

Felicity's younger sister was his only friend – though he doubted she even saw him in that light. She was about nineteen or so, with long, heavy, brown waist-length hair that she tugged on constantly.

"What are you smiling about? It's another fancy party. I can't believe they made me go again!" she groaned, leaning on the wall and rolling her teal eyes.

In truth, Azure was banned permanently from most of their family mansions. It was no secret that Lucas' parents absolutely loathed her, and most of their friends and allies weren't too keen on inviting her either. Some days, he was convinced the Riel family would rather forget she existed.

But Gladys, for some reason, tolerated her – and that earned her a spot in a select few balls. You could never predict if she'd show up or not, but if she did, Lucas was guaranteed a few hours of genuine, real conversation. Even if most of it was yelling.

"You have bags under your eyes again... Have you even been sleeping?" Lucas opened with the familiar phrase – it was practically routine, at this point.

"Sleep is for the weak!" Azure retorted, crossing her arms. "I have better things to do." Lucas merely chuckled in response.

"Have you seen Aunt Gladys' latest monstrosity?" he whispered.

"She looks like a clown!" she replied – and soon they were back in their familiar conversation pattern.

It was really refreshing, Lucas thought, to talk to someone that could actually say things the way they were, and not hidden under a myriad of euphemisms and vague compliments. Soon, he'd almost forgotten all about Thousand–

"Thousand!" he yelled, covering his mouth.

"What was that?" Azure frowned.

"I just remembered I have to meet Thou- a... girl. She's working for my brother, and..." He trailed off, seeing Azure had turned away, her fists clenched.

"Right, of course. Playing right into Gladys' hands." She scoffed. "I should've known. You may not look the part sometimes, but deep down, you're one of them."

"What?" He tried to place his hand on her shoulder. "I'm... I'm just doing what he told me to do. Is that so wrong?" His voice came out squeakier than he expected – was he actually getting emotional over this?

"No, you're not. You're just being manipulated! Don't you see?" Azure's tone had long risen above a whisper, and was now drawing attention around the room. "All they want to do is control you! They don't explain anything, and the next thing you know, you're neck deep in some plot to depose the king of somewhere-or-other!"

She was full-on yelling now. Lucas hated when she got like this – it was like seeing the only person that might care about him swept away in a cloud of rage.

He knew her words weren't true, though. His family might be cunning and ambitious, and his brother might seem distant, but they're family. They come first.

Finding Thousand came first.

"Zuzu, darling, don't make a scene or you're going straight home."

"That's what I want, Lissy. And stop calling me Zuzu!"

"Quit calling me Lissy then. And don't talk to Lucas. That will ruin his reputation, and he might have some use yet."

His fighting cousins' voices drifted in and out of his ears. In truth, he wasn't listening to any of it – because a hand had once again fallen on his shoulder.

And, before even turning to check, he already knew who it was.