More often than not, there were instances when you and Judar shared the same classes overseen by the members of Al-Thamen if Ithnan was not around. From etiquette to Magic lessons, these were the topics you had to suffer, being taught by these awful men.

To your utter delight, today was unlike the days passed. Early in the morning, you were informed that you are free for the rest of the day.

It was strange to have free time and not know what to do. So you spent a good minute trying to come up with something new.

Before Al-Thamen decided to make you share Judar's lessons, you would either spend your time with the three Princes when they're free from their duties or play with Magic Tools that you could get your hands on.

For once, you didn't want to spend another minute on research. You wanted one thing today, which is to have fun.

So with that in mind, you set off to find Judar. Knowing him, he'd be either by the roof again or the kitchen...

Despite your thoughts, you found yourself in front of the Palace garden, to be exact... in front of the peach trees.

There, as expected, Judar sat, with a glance, you could see how bored he was. With a blank stare, he took a bite from the peach on his hand.

"Judar!" you started so he flinched when he saw you appearing out of nowhere. "Quick, come with me!"

"Where to?"

"Outside the palace!"

He gave you a bored look, "There's nothing to see outside here, if you want to see something interesting, we have to go further."

You nodded solemnly, "Alright... where's your recommendation, sir Tour Guide?"

His eyes lit up as an idea came to his mind, "Do you want to meet the stupid king?"

"The stupid king? Who?"

Judar took your hand, intertwining his onto yours. "You'll see!"

You and Judar arrived at a small island far from the Kou Empire as he said but it didn't take you too long to arrive there because... Magi perks.

From a distance, Judar pointed out who the stupid king was among the three men who were having a feast or breakfast, whichever counts. Contrary to what you had in mind, he was a few years older than you, judging from his youthful appearance.

This is him? You thought disappointedly.

"It's too early to be disappointed, (First Name)!" Judar sang. Without wasting another moment, he made his way, flying towards the gathered men.

He seemed to be happy, meeting and talking to the stupid king. You weren't pleased as he basically left you all alone.

Before you could make your well-thought appearance (of scolding Judar right in front of the crowd), countless and large ice shards formed in the air. Immediately, you recognized those as Judar's Ice Magic.

The stupid king took the sword out of its scabbard, preparing to intercept the Ice Magic. The pink-haired young man took a fighting stance next to the stupid king while the other white-haired young man readied out his rope darts.

You couldn't hear well but it seemed that they were having a heated argument. You couldn't tell at first because your friend, Judar was smiling from ear to ear.

Too confused and surprised at what was going on, there was nothing you could do when Judar released the Ice Shards from the air—

When you snapped out of your thoughts, you saw the damage done. This peaceful part of the city turned into ruin at once. Thankfully, there seemed to be no casualties aside from the three who had scratches here and there.

Enjoying the disaster, Judar sent shards after shards everywhere— that is until you appeared in front of him.

"Judar, stop." Your tone left no room for argument and despite himself, he stopped as you asked.

"What is it, (First Name)? I'm having fun here!"

"Hold. My. Hand. Right. Now." You ordered as you offered your hand to him.

He clicked his tongue but he did as you asked. You led him far away from the stupid king, away from earshot and sight.

"Your wand?"

"What?"

"Give me your wand." Your glare was enough to shut him up. Without another word, he gave you his wand.

Thankfully, you found a peach tree and you took a fruit, handing it to Judar. "Eat this and stay put."

You made your way back to the three men who watched all that unfold, not believing their eyes.

Judar being stopped from wreaking havoc? That wasn't a usual sight.

"Greetings," you started, performing the Kou Empire salute. "I apologize for our Magi's actions. We bear no ill intent to your kingdom, stupid king."

"What did you say?" the white-haired young man was vexed at your words, he seemed ready to pounce if you annoy him further.

"Ah, right... that's not your name... of course," you realized. "I'm (First Name), a Magician from the Kou Empire. I apologize but I don't know you all."

When they heard that you were from the Kou Empire, not from Al-Thamen, they seemed to loosen up a bit. Letting out a sigh, the three men introduced themselves to you, the stupid king's name was Sinbad, the white-haired man was Ja'far, and the pink-haired man was Masrur.

The tension seemed to lessen but you weren't taking your chances. "Time well spent seeing I met an angel like you," you mostly said to Ja'far. He seemed annoyed or embarrassed, noting his reddened cheeks. "But we shall be taking our leave at once. Again, I apologize but if you want help with the repairs, do contact our Banker."

You let out a long sigh upon arriving at the gates of the Kou Empire. Judar was trailing meekly behind you, you returned his wand once you had him promised that you two will be going back home right away.

You knew Judar enjoyed conflicts seeing Al-Thamen made him cause strife everywhere they wanted. But that was never your cup of tea and Judar knew this.

"(First Name)?" he called you quietly.

"What?" you snapped.

"Are you still angry?"

You turned to glare at him, "What do you think?"

"I don't understand why you're angry over this," he was getting frustrated by the second.

"You said, you'll let me meet the stupid king not cause war!"

He stared at you for a moment, "Are you being serious right now?"

"Should I not be?"

"Fine, my mistake," he relented, taking your hand, rubbing on your palm in circles. "I'm sorry."

You shot him a look, "You know how to apologize? I'm surprised."

"Don't be mean."

"Don't cause havoc."

He stayed silent at that.

"That's what I thought—" That's when the smell of burnt registered on you almost too late.

When Prince Kouen suddenly seized your hand, "(First Name), Judar, come with me." He ordered.

It was just then when you realized that the majority of the Palace buildings— especially where Prince Hakuyuu, Prince Hakuren, and Prince Hakuryuu often hang around, were burned into nothing.

As the two of you fell silent at the chaos going on, the fire was gone and perhaps, everything was over but the whole palace was still in disarray as several workers tried to put off the fire and so on.

"It was a rebellion..." Prince Kouen explained shortly. "Right now, they want all of us at the throne room."

When your company made it into the throne room, you noticed that everyone was there except the Emperor himself, Prince Hakuyuu, and Prince Hakuren.

You and Judar shared a look before you went to Hakuryuu who was uncharacteristically too quiet. "Hakuryuu? What happened—?"

Before you could further ask, the Empress stood in front of the Emperor's seat, holding a document in her hands, but before she took a read, she announced, "My husband... His Imperial Majesty Hakutoku passed away along with my sons... Prince Hakuyuu and Prince Hakuren..." She then seemed to stop her speech as tears fell from her eyes.

You looked at her at one good moment, why did you have the feeling that she was faking her tears?

But wait— what was it that she said? Prince Hakuyuu and Prince Hakuren are gone?

Connecting the dots, the revolt must have cost their lives but you didn't understand why Hakuryuu wasn't crying, instead, he glared at his mother, the Empress like if he could have his way, he would have killed her right there. How could a young boy give her that look?

There, it was announced that the pig— Koutoku would take the throne instead of Hakuryuu. Everything else was a blur to you...

It was just the other day when Prince Hakuyuu was scolding you for playing around with Judar, while Prince Hakuren gave you a smile for messing with the said Magi.

Yet, what was this? Things were not making sense, suddenly; you fell on your knees, losing strength. As if on cue, your head was splitting— your sight was unstable, everything seemed to be shaking— it didn't take long before darkness greeted you.

"Judar!" you called upon finally finding him, sitting on the roof. "So this is where you've been!"

He was quiet; none of his usual brash was present as he hugged his knees. "Get lost, (First Name)."

"Rude, I'll let that slide," you gave him a look but he didn't see as he didn't even bother sparing you a glance. "What are you up to?"

"None of your business."

As if on cue, the creepy old man Markkio a.k.a. the Banker was a distance away. You squinted to lip-read, "High Priest!" he seemed to say, that or "aye feast", the latter didn't make sense, so you took it as the former.

Connecting the lines, you, therefore, concluded that it was the Emperor summoning Judar for another audience. "That pig again?"

Judar made a noise as if to say a "yes".

"Is this your attempt to hide? You suck."

"Am not hiding."

You offered your hand, "Sure, come with me. That annoying sun is getting me," as you fan yourself with your other hand.

For once, he did as you asked. It didn't take the two of you long before you arrived at your intended destination: one of the castle's attics.

Judar didn't know what to expect as to where you were leading him. When you pulled him towards the attic, he was about to protest why you wanted to go to a dusty place. He had never been there – he didn't even know that such an attic exists. But the scenery before him silenced him.

He could only imagine the dark corners and daunting décor you most likely had yet when he came to stop at the attic, it was the exact opposite.

Stepping inside, he observed that the room was basking in natural sunlight, even though there was only one small window at the corner of the attic. And contrary to the hot weather outside, the attic remained cool, he soon realized that it was due to Magic— your Magic. The place seemed cozy as there were pillows onto the carpet, and books everywhere.

"This is... my secret research lab," you tried to explain. "No one is allowed to go inside here without my permission."

True to your words, it seemed that the place wouldn't welcome anyone as he could see the barrier surrounding it, the rukh making noise by his presence.

He remained silent, staring at the new sight.

Geez, did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? You thought, quite unnerved by the fact that he was quiet, usually, he'd be complaining by now.

"Point is, no one will find us here."

You took a seat among the pile of pillows, pulling Judar with you. He sat motionless, now staring blankly at nowhere.

Without warning, you seized his hand, interlacing your fingers with one another.

"(First Name)— what are you—?"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt your Magoi flowing to him. "This way, you can get inside my lab without me accompanying you."

"Is that so..." He mumbled. The thought of telling you how easy it would be to infiltrate this place even without your help crossed his mind, but he thought against it seeing he was not in the mood for teasing you.

When you tried to pull your hand away, he firmly squeezed it, unwilling to release his grip.

You looked at him with probing eyes, "Can you tell me what happened?"

He let go of the grip he had on you and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

With that, you shut your mouth— but that didn't stop you from looking at him, eyes concerned and full of wonder.

But he stood his ground, his silence unwavering. This caused you to let out a sigh, deciding to give up. "Alright, then do you want to play with me?"

He shook his head lazily as he lay down on the pile of pillows. Well, alright.

So instead of copying his suit, you went on ahead and started today's work: reading.

When you were a distance away, reading away from your research books— for one good moment, everything stayed quiet.

"(First Name)..." Judar mumbled quietly. "Come."

His usual arrogance was gone; all that greeted you were his emotionless expression and his blank gaze.

As if testing the waters, you walked quietly towards him, sitting in front of him.

He seized hold of your hand, "Sit next to me." He said and then pulled you to sit right next to him.

You remained quiet as you watched him. Soon, he rubbed circles on the back of your hand. "Judar?"

"I heard that this is how you cheer someone up when they're sad."

You resisted the urge to argue that you weren't even sad. But instead, you said, "Then, shouldn't I be the one doing it for you?"

"I'm not sad, (First Name)."

"...Of course, you're not."