"Asher..." the young master called out as the Crown Prince sat on his bed with wide eyes.

"Pier...? Wha-"

Hmmph

He groaned as the young master kissed him. Asher immediately took the lead as he grabbed the young master's waist and pulled him up.

Pier's long, slender, and seductive legs went on each side of Asher's body as he sat on the Crown Prince's lap.

"Pier..." he breathed in hard as Pier held his face and the two shared a passionate make-out.

"Asher, my Asher," Pier called out and Asher got more excited at the display of possession for him.

"Hnnngh... Asher" Pier moaned as Asher's hands went down behind his back and squeezed his bottom.

Asher continued to kiss the young master fervently. His tongue was asking for entrance into Pier's mouth. The latter gladly opened it and the two shared a more passionate kiss.

A string of saliva was made when they departed from each other.

"Do you want me?" Pier asked the Crown Prince. Asher looked at the blue, icy eyes of the young master. They were so clear and vibrant that he felt his heartbeat get faster while looking at them.

"Do you want me, Asher?" Pier asked as he started to trail kisses from Asher's forehead until his earlobe.

Asher groaned at the pleasure he was feeling. Pier's kisses were feathery and it tickled him whenever the young master's rosy lips landed on his skin.

Pier bit on the prince's ears as he started to grind his body on top of Asher. The action causing the Crown Prince to groan at Pier's heated body moving on top of him.

"Pier... Pier, I want you..." Asher breathed as pleasure rose up his body.

He breathed hard and fast at the movements.

"Pier..."

"Asher, never again will I go back to you."

Asher's eyes opened instantly at Pier's words.

"What... what was that?" He said in between deep breaths.

The Crown Prince's chambers, located beside Pier's designated building was silent. Asher listened to his beating heart as he clenched his chest.

'What was that?!' He thought as sweat ran down his exposed chest. His robe was slightly opened because of his constant turning in his sleep.

The Crown Prince rose in his bet as he sat on the edge. His pacing heart did not help one bit at the confusion he had.

The young master's warm and slender body

The young master's sweet and luscious lips

The young master's pressuring weight on his

All of those things were so vivid in his mind. Asher fully got up from the bed and started walking towards the bathroom attached to his room.

He had so many things running in his mind every time he took a step.

When he reached the bathroom, he looked at the mirror attached to the sidewall and viewed his reflection.

His reddish hair was out of place and sweat was still evident on his forehead. Asher gulped.

The dream he just had was playing itself again in his mind.

"No... No, that's not right..." He said as he clenched his hands into fists.

'What's not right, Asher?' One side of his consciousness asked.

What was not right?

Did Asher not like the thought of being with the young master?

It was pretty common back when King Henry was still a prince, and the previous kings had many concubines to add. Some of those are males.

Relationships between males were common before King Henry abolished the law of concubinage. That's when noblemen were forced to marry females because of the issue of having an heir for the family.

Was it wrong for Asher?

What was he so confused about?

"No, it's not right for me to think of such things! I have Elena!" Asher said as he looked at himself in the mirror.

He was convincing himself that what he had dreamed of was not right. It was not right for him to imagine something as explicit like that with Pier, with his childhood friend.

Asher fixed his robe first then his disheveled hair. The memories of Pier's fingers running through his reddish hair kept on replaying in his memories but he chose to ignore it.

His heart now was beating slower but he was also disgusted.

He was not disgusted with Pier, not with Elena, not with anyone but himself.

'How dare I think of such things with Pier,' Asher thought as he went back in his room and opened the window to let the cold winter winds through and take his mind off of things.

The wind blew inside as a minimal amount of snow also went inside his chambers, but he did not mind.

Asher turned to look at the entirety of the boundary.

'These are the people that will serve me soon,' He thought until one phrase came up in his mind.

'Your Highness, think of yourself as a doting father. You want to give your child the best,' Pier's soft and comforting voice was heard in his ears.

'No, I will be the one serving them, right, Pier?' He asked himself as he thought of the young master who had a bored and disinterested expression as he talked about the qualities of becoming a good king.

Asher was learning something from Pier. He liked that thought.

"I'm sorry too," Even though he liked having Pier teach him things now, he was still feeling guilty because of all he did back in the past.

"What do I need to gain back our relationship, young master?" He whispered at the wind.

He does not know what Pier wanted for them to be acquainted again.

Wealth? The Belmiunde Household has wealth comparable to the royal family

Power? They can instantly take over a noble household within a single day.

Fame? The House of Masters has been talked about by everyone, even across other kingdoms and empires.

Asher was unsure. What could he do?

He could not bear the thought of having Pier ignore him for all eternity.

He had already realized Pier was an important person for him along with Raphael.

'Asher, do you want me?' But his thoughts were constantly disrupted by the dream he had.

"Gideon, come up here and help me!"

"Huh?" Asher turned his head to look at the voice he heard while he was pondering over his thoughts.

He searched through the entire town square until he spotted a figure running towards the center.

"Pier?" He asked himself as he watched the young master who had his winter clothes on and a fuzzy-looking black fur coat overlapping his winter clothes run across the piles of snow.

It was already about morning and they will depart back to the capital in a few hours.

"What is he doing?" He observed the young master.

"Gideon, come here!" Pier called again and soon after, another person came out from the young master's building wearing his armor on but he had a little scarf around his neck to keep him from the cold.

Gideon was speaking to the young master but Asher could not hear their conversation because of the distance from them.

Pier's voice was just exceptionally loud when he called for his knight.

Asher continued to observe the two. Pier was pulling on his knight's hand as they walked together in the snow.

The Crown Prince's eyebrows furrowed at how close the two looked.

"Are knights supposed to be that close with their masters?" He asked himself as he saw Gideon was simply being led by Pier until they reached the middle of the town square where the amount of snow was the thickest.

"Pier immediately got acquainted and became friendly with his knight... haaa," he sighed as his eyes watched Pier's face.

The young master had a smile on his face as he pulled on his knight's hands and they both laid in the snow.

---

It was Pier who laid in the snow but Gideon was just standing beside his young master.

"Y-Young Master, please stand up. You'll get cold from laying on the snow!" Gideon worried over Pier who was making a snow angel with his arms flapping around like a penguin.

Pier pouted as he turned to look at his knight who was fretting over him like a parent.

"Oh come on, Gi-di-yon" he pronounced Gideon's name childishly.

"We only get to enjoy this sometime," He said as he continued to flail his arms around in the snow.

Gideon only nervously watched his young master play around the snow. He wanted Pier to stop because he looked so frail while playing but he also knew how good Pier was at handling his own body and safety.

After a few minutes of making a snow angel, Pier then decided on the next thing he wanted to do.

"Let's make a snowman!" He happily said as he started to pile the thick layers of snow into the imitation of a round ball.

The knight sweatdropped as he watched the young master pile the snow on top of each other.

"Young master-"

"Instead of calling me out like that you could just help me do this so we can finish faster, you know," Pier said and Gideon only nodded his head at the young master.

What can he do? The adorable young master was acting childlike for once.

Pier had been dealing with adult stuff too much for the previous weeks. He was attending gatherings, dealing with people, and solving crimes, he was not able to even have the time for himself.

Should a seventeen-year-old noble handle those things? Gideon thought otherwise.

He sighed again as he proceeded to help the young master in building the oddly shaped snowman he started.

---

Asher watched from a distance as the two individuals build something in the middle of the town square.

Asher did not like the sight.

He did not like the sight of Pier being that carefree with someone else

He wanted Pier to be like that with him too.

To see Pier smile, to be carefree with him like back when they were kids.

But he did not know what to do.

What could he possibly do for the young master who was once deemed as the worst but was now refracting light like a diamond in a pile of copper coins?

He felt like the Pier he's seeing right now could achieve anything he wants if he desires to.

Pier looks so far from Asher.

He clenched his fist as he watched the knight and his young master enjoy playing outside. He had once played with Pier in the snow too.

It was until the young master tripped on a rock under the snow while carrying a pile of snow in his hands.

Oof!

Pier grunted as he lost his balance. He closed his eyes as he was ready to hit his head first in the snow. However, Gideon was quick to react.

"Young master!" Gideon immediately reacted to the young master's grunting and he caught him with his hands.

Pier slowly opened his eyes, as he did not feel the cold snow hitting his face.

"Huh?" He mumbled as he came face to face with Gideon's freckled face.

Gideon gulped as he watched Pier stare at him. Their positions were pretty awkward.

"A-Are you okay... young- AH!" He screamed when Pier threw some snow on the knight's face.

The young master laughed. He was overjoyed with Gideon's reaction.

"HAHAHA! You should've seen your face!" Pier laughed again. Gideon could do nothing but sigh at the young master's childish reactions.

"Haaah, please be careful, young master" Gideon said. He felt like he was babysitting Pier but he did not mind it.

Asher's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the two individuals.

He was displeased with the knight's careless actions towards the young master.

No one can easily touch Pier. He was a noble comparable to a royal and it is everyone's knowledge not to do so.

'Why am I angry in the first place?' Asher asked himself as he proceeded to close the windows after taking one last look at the young master's smiling face.

Asher had many realizations.

Out of the two, he hurt Pier more.

Pier might have bothered him constantly before but now that the young master was avoiding him, he was the one who was constantly looking for Pier.

"I'll make sure we're acquainted once more even before the celebration of my birth date passes," Asher said as he turned around and headed inside his room to prepare for their departure from the boundary back to the Capital.