Louise never expected the bond he and Prince Eli formed. It was never calculated by him. It should've been purely professional: Serving the prince all his needs, protecting him, and staying by his side to do so. It was all an obligation set by his job as an appointed first aid to Prince Eli. If the King himself hadn't ordered him to be so, he would've declined it first hand. Alas, the king had ordered him to aid Prince Eli. Worse, once one is appointed as the first aid to a noble, especially royalty, you can no longer escape from it.

Because of these circumstances, he had already viewed it all as a responsibility he was forced to do by the authority of the king. Prince Eli would only be a task for him to serve and protect.

"More?" The voice which spoke was soft and high pitched. The voice of a toddler.

Louise turned back to Prince Eli, only four years of age, and yet already taken by the tea which most children would deem tasteless.

"I'm afraid too much tea will be bad for you My Prince." When he had first met Prince Eli, the child was only a week old. With him himself too young to take care of a newborn, he was trained by a midwife on how to care for children, from infancy to toddler years. And she had warned him; "A child mustn't drink more than one glass of anything but water or medicine if need be. It could harm them."

Thankfully, Prince Eli had always been a complying child, even at infancy. There were barely any cries that it was surprising when he did start to bawl. And Louise had always felt guilty when changing the child's diaper... it was as if he had invaded very serious privacy.

True to form, when Louise had denied him a second cup of tea, there was no pout or complaint to his word. Prince Eli merely set the cup back down onto the table.

Louise mentally ran over the daily schedule; Prince Eli is to be awakened at ten every morning. A shower must be given for a minimum of thirty minutes and is to then be guided to the dining room to eat breakfast with Prince Elias and Avery. After breakfast is study time with Mr. Reinhardt from one to three o'clock. After studies are free time in which Prince Eli uses to be read to by him before he is to attend lunch. After lunch, prince Eli must attend menial classes - such as dance, learning mannerisms, and behaviorism. After such, is tea time for an hour, and now it is almost nine PM; bedtime.

His life was all about caring for Prince Eli and soon, after a few years, he grew to enjoy such a task, until finally, he grew to love his charge as well. Prince Eli had always been independent, but now he is independent enough that Louise can have some free time, to live some parts of his days in which they don't include Prince Eli.

"Ugh," Louise raised a brow from his place by the kitchen stove at the sight of a tired Miranda. She came into the palace's kitchen with a tray balanced upon one hand, where a few empty champagne bottles are ready to be refilled. "When I was told that today would be a special day in which I could have time to myself - Away from the princess! My free day is taken up by serving over eight dozen guests."

This was the day of the first princess's coming of age.

"As much as I would like to hear you complain, you mustn't get so lax to do so," Louise stated.

Miranda's lips pursed and parted to say, "I know. Any updates?"

Louise shook his head. "We only know that he has made it into the palace."

"Of course, anyone with an amount of skill could get past the palace's gates."

That is true. The royal palace has a unique system of guarding. The front gates surrounding the palace in a square has four gates, each on one side. Two guards are made to stand by those entrances, but they are not the actual guards of the palace. Their main task is to monitor who enters and goes from the palace grounds, although they do have good military training under their belt. However, anyone that is skilled, even at an amateur level, can get past them and the gates. This is so whoever may have decided to infiltrate, to give them a sense of confusion and paranoia at the initial easy entrance, or some may let their guards down. It works to the actual guard's advantage and is easily captured if they come near the palace building inside the gates, or on rare cases, manage to get in. The guards, a group of elites in the form of fighting and assassination - more commonly addressed as the "Shadows", are situated within every corner and blind spot the palace may have, and so it is highly improbable for anyone to escape unnoticed. Or as a matter of fact, escape at all.

With Miranda gone back to serving the guests, the tea for his prince is ready and he heads out to be back by his side. He see's his prince chatting with Duke Garter's son and it ends when he comes into hearing range. He was curious to know what their conversation pertained, but it was none of his business in the end. He understood the need for privacy, and his prince was an obviously private person.

Louise showed no signs of tenseness nor inclination that there may be something wrong. The intruder was in the palace, most likely already caught. However, Louise has no way to find out such details and so keeps the chance of the intruder still roaming around and potentially targeting his prince in his mind. As he follows his prince and the duke's son as they head to the Princess, he feels the pinprick sensation of instinct - which tells him to move aside, away from danger - instinct polished by his training. He grabs ahold of his prince and the dukes son and pushes them aside with him.

His blood runs cold. A feeling of primal protection, which he had never felt before, settled in his gut as he sees the spear embedded within the space his prince had stood. If he was a second too late...- he saw red.

Without a second thought, he went after the attacker by following the trajectory of which the spear was thrown from the second-floor balcony. With his lightweight, the distance was closed instantly and there he was, faced by a silhouette already held down. With a small dagger held to his throat by two of the Shadows members completely covered to leave their identities secret, the man had no chance to escape.

"You catch the intruder after he attacks?" His tone held a real threat to the Shadows.

They were unfazed, however, already used to the feeling of hostility. "All in the palace are capable of protecting those defenseless by themselves. With the thoughts and orders from the king, we waited to see who the target was." The voice was clearly male, spoken neutrally and without tone, leaving it unable to verify an estimate of age.

Louise's hands twitch to hurt the other in turn but suppressed his hostility once he hears it was the King's orders. The king took chance with a person's life, his prince's life, to merely find who was targeted. His anger grew exponentially, but he understood where he stood against the king. With great reluctance, he let's go of the matter and returns back to his prince.

The next day, after the ceremony, Louise is informed of the intruder's identity: Harold Gloss, a man from the town of Chirin which is under the Kingdom's protection.

However, the advances in question, even with torture slowly escalating, were becoming the same as with Felix Carter.

Harold Gloss has gone mute.