"You know, James, sometimes you have to just let go..."

"Let go of what...."

"I don't know.... It can be anything & everything...."

.

.

.

"James, no matter how old you are, we are still your parents, remember..."

"I know mom... I know..."

.

.

.

"You are an Idiot you know that..."

"I know...."

"But still you are my big bro..."

Honk...! Honk...!

"No....."

.

.

.

"No...."

James woke up with a shout as his hoarse voice echoed through the large room. His breathing was erratic, eyes were teary, body was sweaty. Just like he was used to... It was not a new scene for him. But something was different about this dream.

He lay down once again and covered his eyes with his hands and calmed his breath down. These dreams or nightmares were getting too real, and what about letting go? He was not holding anything to let go.

When he was in Esvet, he didn't experience any nightmares, but when he was here, it came back. Why...? What changed...? There were only questions, but no answers.

James got up from the bed and went towards the balcony, which was directly overlooking the enormous garden. As he opened the door, the cold air brushed past his skin and made him realised who he was. He was Leonhart, not James, about whom he had no memories of. Looking at the garden, where beautiful flowers of various colors were blooming, his anxiety eased a little.

Knock! Knock!

And soon a knock on the door was heard and the same maid whom he met at the very beginning entered the room with a bowl of water and a towel. She placed the bowl on the table and gesture James, who was looking at him to wash his face and he followed suit. He washed his face, and then the bath was prepared. James took the bath as he was already used to this treatment and came out wearing the fresh clothes prepared for him.

"Milord..."

"Yes..."

"The crown-prince and princess have arrived."

"Princess..." asked James in confusion. He had only learned that the guy titled moron was coming. There was no mention of the princess. And just how long did he even sleep?

"Yes... She is also here."

"How come I didn't of this...?"

"Noone in the duchy knew about this. She just showed with him."

"Ok..." If no one knew about this, then he was not the only person who was in dark.

Saying the words, James once again moved to the balcony. Somehow, he enjoyed standing there, the cold air brushing past his skin and the beautiful scenery in front of him helped him think clearly, as his mind was clouded by all the thoughts after the nightmare. His anxiety calmed down a little, but he was in no mood to talk to anyone. He was somewhat irritated. He just couldn't stop thinking about what his father meant by letting go...?

"Lord..." seeing Leonhart's movements, Sophia asked again.

"What is it..." said James without averting his gaze from the garden. His voice sounded really cold without his knowledge, which startled the maid a little as she was slowly getting used to his timid personality and his tone contradicted her expectation.

"About the breakfast..."

"Bring it here."

"I...Can't..."

"What do you mean by you can't...?" said James, turning around and facing Sophia. His facial expression was nothing but calm, which was scary, cause he would always appear calm before doing something chaotic.

"I mean... The duke has ordered you to come to the breakfast."

"Ooh..." James had no choice but to go, otherwise he would have to deal with another mess and today was not the day to do something like that.

"Yes..."

"Let's go then..."

With that, the maid and Leonhart left the room and made their way towards the hall where the breakfast was served.

***

Wilhelm was just sitting beside the Duke, who sat at the head seat as it was his house, and no one could dare to tell him who was more powerful here. For him, this crown-prince was nothing but a puny boy who had no idea of what he was doing. Heinrich was not pleased after knowing that this moron was coming, but agreed to accept him as a guest and it paid off the price as he also brought the princess.

Adeline sat opposite side of the table facing the crown-prince and the seat beside her was empty but the food was served. Facing the empty seat sat the princess and beside the empty chair sat the duchess. Both the siblings were puzzled as to who was going to sit there.

And soon the wait was over as Leonhart entered the room carrying a not so happy expression on his face. Anyone could tell that he was not in a good mood. Seeing him, Wilhelm's face turned from a happy one to a sour one within a minute, which didn't go unnoticed by Adeline, who carried an irritated expression but was now happy. He was the only one present who could take action on that man titled moron without thinking about consequences.

The first face James saw was Elizabeth's, who was as beautiful as before, but he was not in any mood to appreciate the beauty, so he quickly took his designated seat and sat down. Then the man named Wilhelm came into view. He was fairly handsome, with black eyes like his sister and reddish hair. He had a well-built body, but his incredulous expression gave away his charm.

So the breakfast finally began, and everyone started eating their share of food, saying nothing until the Duke broke the silence.

"So, Lady Elizabeth, how was your trip...?" asked Heinrich with a genuine smile on his face, completely disregarding Wilhelm's existence.

"It was fairly normal." replied Elizabeth with an equal smile on her face.

"You didn't face any issues, right?"

"No Lord, we didn't. I am quite impressed by the roads of your realm."

'How the fuck she can be impressed by those bumpy roads...?' James thought to himself as these medieval roads were nothing but bumpy and getting a backache was a complementary offer for the people travelling on it.

"Really... It all thanks to the hard-working people who are working day and night to fix the roads."

"Yes... they are less bumpy."

James was now sure that she would die of a heart attack if she saw the road build out of Asphalt. If these roads were less bumpy now, then how was the situation before ?

"Yes... Yes..." said Wilhelm with a fake smile plastered on his face. He was trying to get into the conversation but could not as they didn't even think about adding him and the conversation continued.

Soon, their talk turned into an entire discussion as the Duchess and Adeline also joined the conversation except Leonhart, who continued eating, adding nothing. The crown-prince also tried to join the conversation couple of times but failed, still he got accepted in the end. The group talked about many things from the Emperor-empresses' health to the condition of the castle to every little thing like how much salt she liked or what color of dresses to many things..

James finished his food and got up from his seat and tried to move towards the exit as he was not a fan of hearing hour long conversations, but his steps halted when he heard the Duke calling Leonhart's name.

"Leon...?"

"... Yes. " Said James, turning around. He had the same calm expression from before. But he was not calm.

"Why don't you show Lady Elizabeth around the castle...? It's been so long since she visited this duchy. Right...?" said the duke with a soft smile on his face.

"I..."

"Yes... Why not...? I would love to." Replied the princess with the same smiling expression as before.

"Yes... Sure." James had no choice left but to become a tour guide of a place about which he knew nothing about. Even if he objected, the duke would force him anyway, so there was no point in dwindling over this.

And then both of them left for a travel expedition throughout the duchy. It was huge, really huge, and James had literally no idea from where to begin. So they walked a little and soon reached the magnificent garden. Leonhart was walking a bit ahead, and the princess was just behind him. She could feel that he was not in a good mood, as his expression was changing constantly.

"Leon...?"

"Yes..."

"Are you not feeling well...?" asked Elizabeth in a concerned tone.

"No... I am fine. I am just a bit preoccupied." said James with a faint smile, but a glint of grief could be seen in his eyes. He was perfectly fine physically but was not mentally. Whenever he would get a nightmare, his brain would get stuck in a loop of endless thoughts about that throughout the day. He couldn't even focus on anything and would stay irritated.

No matter how he tried to distract himself, this constant barrage of images just wouldn't stop. Same moments would replay inside his mind thousand of times like a broken TV. He couldn't even sleep properly.

"Oh. It's just you look sad... Has something happened...?" She could see the look in his eyes. He was not just distracted, but was also in pain and he was trying to hide it.

"I... I am not sad."

"You can't hide it, Leon..."

"Really... "

"Yes..."

"Am I that easy to read...?"

"Your eyes gave away everything..." His deep blue eyes, which resembled the color of the vast ocean, were always filled with exhilaration. He was one of the very few she had met who lived their life, however they wanted with no care about the world. But now his eyes were filled with sadness, as if he was suffering inside.

"Yes..." said James with a genuine smile. He was surprised at first as to how she was able to figure out, but remembering the days when he met her at the palace, he was also able to find out about her sadness, just by looking at her eyes, which gave away everything.

"Tell me then..."

"It's a kind of long story..."

"So..."