James sat down on that chair for some time but eventually got up and made his way towards his room. There was no point in thinking about what good or bad he did with Wilhelm, as it was purely his fault for provoking him. Still, he felt a little bad about the whole situation. He was a 26-year-old who had faced many similar situations in life but still got angry over a petty matter.

But it was a strange that how all of them got scared? He wanted to appear cold only to that moron, not to those two girls. Was Leonhart that intimidating? Well, there was no point in pondering over spilled milk, so he threw the topic to back of his head.

And the day came to an end, and soon the night showed its colors. Throughout the day, James also did nothing, as he had nothing else to do besides wasting time. He ate lunch, came back to his room, lay down on his bed contemplating over Nighangel of how he could have done it better if he had thought about it from a different angle. Also, it was pointless to think cause there was no way for him to even implement. So after some time he gave up on it but the thoughts of the nightmare never left.

Soon the dinner time arrived and Sophia came to get him. He sat down and ate dinner quietly. Wilhelm also ate quietly without even looking in his direction. He occasionally answered some questions asked by the duke, but apart from that, did nothing significant.

And the dinner was done, and James was once again inside the room, wasting his time. He tried to sleep think those thoughts would go away after a good rest, but sleep was nowhere to be seen. He spent 30 minutes just lying on the bed, but nothing happened. His brain was sharp as ever.

So he got up and drank some water and opened the door to the balcony from where the beautiful garden and the magnificent clear starry sky were visible. From a very young age, he had a hobby of stargazing and whenever he got the chance, he would try it. And his father also liked his hobby, so they had done quite a few tours to various places at night.

Seeing the sky, which was filled with little stars, a small smile appeared on his face as it reminded him of his father, who supported him in everything. He believed in him more than anyone else. He always gave him a push in everything he ever tried, from riding a bicycle to going on his first ever date. In every endeavour he took on, his father was always behind him, watching. But one day, he was not there anymore. There was no one watching him. There was no one to give him that push. There was no one to tell him he could do it, and it was all a matter of time.

So with no one's watch, Jams tried, cried, smiled and lived on. He became someone whom many people looked up to, but there was only one person whom he ever looked up and it was his dad. The man who sacrificed everything to let his son walk, run and even fly.

"I miss you, dad..." said James as a tiny tear escaped his left eye. He really missed those moments when he would laugh, argue and even fight. Those moments really were precious.

Wiping his tears, James moved away from the balcony and made his way towards the outside of this enormous mansion. Coming outside, he soon found a place which was only illuminated by a fair amount of moonlight. He carefully scanned his surrounding for any sort of bugs or anything as he was planning to sit there.

Having found nothing to worry, James happily sat down before lying down on the bare grass. It was his favourite position to rest and look at the beauty of the night sky. No matter how many times he looked at it, it never got old. It was surreal. He had seen the moon and the stars for like millions of times, but always wanted to see them again.

Seeing the clear starry sky always helped his distressed heart to calm down, and today was also one of those days. His anxiety and derailed thoughts soothed a little. Today was not a new moon day as the moon was still shining, but it was not at its brightest, so most of the stars were visible. And now James missed his telescope. He had one of those Celestron class telescopes, which were not too costly but were also not cheap for normal people to afford, but he bought it just for his hobby.

The cold air, brushing past his skin, the sounds of buzzing insects, calm atmosphere and the starry sky. It was perfect for James to rest his too tired mind a little.

"It's beautiful, isn't it...?"

"Yes..." replied James involuntarily but soon realised that it was not him who asked and there was someone else standing beside him. So he hastened his head to look in the direction of the voice and found a beautiful girl with black hair wearing a beautiful nightgown. A blue shawl was wrapped around just above her waist.

It was Elizabeth who was here to find out as to why was Leon outside at this time. He was not a person who would gaze at stars or appreciate their beauty. So she made her way to the garden where Leon was.

"Wha.. t are you doing here...?" asked James with a confused face sitting up. He was not expecting anyone at this hour, but the princess appeared out of thin air and how did he not hear her footsteps?

"I just came to check on you..."

"Why..."

"What... Why...? Am I not allowed to...?" asked Elizabeth, sitting down on to the grass beside Leonhart.

"No... I mean..."

"Tell me, Leon, what are you doing here...?"

"I was just looking at the stars..." replied James, looking at the stars with a little smile.

"Oh..." replied the princess, also looking at the sky.

And soon silence fell between them as no one spoke anything. Eli kept looking at the stars but soon lay down on the grass and, following her, Leon also did the same. The sparkling sky was indeed beautiful, but the princess had something else in mind. She had known Leonhart for 20 years by now and had never seen him doing something like this. His recent behaviors were also not matching his character. He was stargazing, appreciating beauty of arts, not fighting even provoked. Things were not adding up and she could feel something different about him.

But the biggest thing of all was why he looked so sad. Even now she could see his smile was fake, as if he was trying to hide something.

"So..." James tried to say something as to break the silence but was cut off by Elizabeth's words.

"Your story... You promised you would tell me..."

"Oh... That..."

"Yes..."

"It's a long story..."

"I didn't say I would get bored..."

"Still..." James was hesitant about telling her as he also had no idea about what to tell her. He couldn't just blurt out everything. It would fry her brain from overthinking.

"Don't worry... I won't say anything." she genuinely wanted to know why Leonhart was sad as he had heard her story with no complaints and it was her duty to lend an ear. It's the least she could do.

"It's not about you saying anything. It's just... I don't even know where to start..."

"Start from the very beginning..."

"..." James just smiled, saying nothing. He couldn't understand why she was so eager to hear his tale, but also felt a bit warm inside as someone in a very long time wanted to hear his story.

"It's just... I..." thousand of things were replaying inside his mind. He always wanted to tell his sufferings, pain to someone, but now when someone came to hear, no words came out. HIs throat was getting dry and eyes were getting teary. As his brain processed his story from the very beginning, from the very day when he looked at his family, to the very last day when he saw them for the last time.

Their smiles, their laughs, their voices. Everything danced before James's eyes and he was stuck in the moment of time. The people whom he never appreciated, the people who sacrificed their everything for him. The people who were his parents, his sister.

"Was... I a good son...?" It was the only line that escaped his mouth. He cried, spent days with no food, tried to kill himself... But would it be what they have wanted him to do...? They always told him to live his life however he wanted, to live a life that he would always remember, but he was stuck at the same point, in those eternal loops of memories. Never took a step forward, never even tried to begin something new again... would they be happy by seeing him now...?

Hearing his strange words, Elizabeth shifted her attention to Leon's face, who looked a bit too handsome compared to before. Nothing changed, but he looked different. His words were different, carried a distinct meaning.

"All I ever wanted... was someone to tell me... it's ok to cry... It's ok to feel sad. But nobody ever did, no one told me it's ok. They told me it was my fault that they are dead & why I even survived...? I should have died with them. I just needed someone to hug me... but nobody ever did. They threw me away." said James, facing the sky as a smile appeared on his teary face.

"..." Elizabeth couldn't understand what he was talking about but didn't ask questions and he continued.

"But it was not their fault... I was hopeless... I still am hopeless. Can't even talk to anyone properly. Can't even do a handshake or talk. I don't even know why I am telling you this... It's funny, you know." James did not know why he was telling her all this, but his emotions got the best of him.

James moved his right hand to cover his eyes as tears started flowing down from his eyes and soon he started sobbing, just like before. He wanted no one to see him in this state, but whenever his sentiments got out of control, there was always someone there.

"Leon..."