The following morning as we sat down at the table to eat breakfast I noticed that it was eerily quiet. Mia and Theodore looked confused as to what was going on. While Nina still looked uncomfortable around me.

And Hanna, knowing what had happened, didn't say much of anything as she waited for me to do so. Mia was also there when it happened but I doubt she understands why Nina has that look.

Making up my mind I decided that I needed to apologize. With determination swelling up inside me, I turned to look at her. "Listen, Nina. . ."

"Hey, Arata. . ." I stopped talking as we both happen to speak at the same time. Locking eyes with her for a second, I saw that she quickly turned away. "You go first," she spoke, her voice soft.

"It's just that. . ." I started to say. "What happened yesterday. . . I. . . I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," I spoke, my voice a bit shaky. Dammit, why am I feeling nervous? She's just a kid!!!

"Oh, n-no, you don't have to apologize. . . I-It was my fault," she said looking away from me. "That morning I should've just left once I awoke but. . . I didn't and instead. . . I just clung onto you while you were asleep," she admitted.

So! It wasn't my fault! Woohoo!!! Keeping my excitement to myself I noticed her locking eyes with me, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment. "C-Can we just return to how things used to be?" she added.

"Of course, that's what I want as well," I answered.

At my answer, she showed a smile. "Oh! And also. . ." she continued. "Yesterday, in the afternoon, when I ran away from you. . . I'm sorry about that too," she added, lowering her head slightly.

"I-Its okay, really," I reassured. "I mean it was kind of funny actually, the way you ran away yelling. . . It left me wondering if my face was that ugly," I joked, letting out a small chuckle.

"He," hearing my comment she giggled as well. "Don't worry, you're not ugly," then she took a long hard look at me. "Actually, you're quite. . . Handsome," she spoke as her cheeks turned a shade red. "Uh!!" realizing what she had just said caused her whole face to turn like a tomato.

"R-Really," I replied a bit taken aback due to her words. "W-Well. . . Thanks," was the only thing I said, not knowing how to respond as I turned away.

"I. . . I. . . I mean. . ." she stuttered, having trouble forming a response.

"What's this!?" hearing Creon's voice from the other table made me realize that everyone had heard our conversation. And this, wouldn't turn out well for either of us. "Does my baby girl have her first little crush," He mocked.

"F-Father!!!" she exclaimed as tears tinged her eyes. "I. . . I. . ." she let out with a loud snuffle.

"Aww, come here, baby," Tina, Nina's mother, spoke as she walked close to comfort her. "Don't listen to your stupid father," she said while shooting him a glare. "Come on let's go," after cleaning her tears away with a napkin they both began to walk away.

"So!" Creon continued, turning to me after his wife and daughter were out of the room. "Nina!"

"Don't even," I said, my voice cold as I glared angrily at him. Damn just when we were fixing our problems.

"M-My, what a nasty stare," he said, visibly frightened while clearing his throat. "T-Time to go," he added and quickly made his way out of the room.

Following his exit was an awkward moment of silence. "Well. . ." Leon spoke, breaking that silence by throwing his napkin on the table. "I'm all done," he said while standing up, then turned to me. "You ready to go, Arata?"

"Y-Yeah," I answered a bit embarrassed by the recent turn of events. As Leon began to walk away I followed him while Flare followed behind me.

Exiting the house we hopped on the carriage that was already waiting outside for us. "Thank you, father," I spoke.

"For what?" he asked on purpose, knowing the answer to that question.

"For getting me out of that awkward situation," deciding not to argue with him I just played along.

"Hm," he let out while looking at me intently. "So. . . You and Nina?"

"It's not like that," I replied, letting out a sigh. "And you know that!" I said a bit annoyed by his words. Nina is just a little girl. If anything I would not take advantage of her. That's sick! No sane person would.

"Well, hey, just thought I'd ask," I heard him mumble to himself, catching on to the irritating vibe that I gave off.

Passing the main gate of the Royal Palace, I, as usual, went off by myself. "What's wrong, Arata," Flare spoke up, her high-pitched voice flowing through the air as she walked beside me.

I doubt she'll be able to understand the way I feel but even so, she spoke up just because she's worried about me. I find that sort of nice. "It's just. . ." I started to say, feeling myself calm down as I conversed with Flare.

"Nina, isn't it," she answered. She might be able to understand more than I originally believed. I thought as a smile formed on my face.

"Well, yeah," I admitted. "A problem happened involving our relationship."

"You know, whenever you leave me in her care. I hear her mention your name more than one time throughout the day," she said. "She's really fond of you just like everyone else."

"Everyone else?" I questioned.

"Yeah, sometimes when I'm walking around I can hear Theodore, Mia, and even Hanna say nice things about you," she explained. "It's Always like 'Arata this and Arata that'. Hanna even brags about you being her little brother."

"Is that so?" I let out in wonder. So they all think highly of me. Maybe I shouldn't make this a big deal. I'll just treat Nina the way I always do. Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking it. She's just uncomfortable and can't bring herself to face me after what happened between us. Yeah! That's what it is! Then for her sake, I'll just act like nothing ever happened.

"Except for Ada and Alexander," Flare continued, looking up at me. "Ada never says anything and as for Alexander. . . I think he really hates you."

"You think!?" I said in an exaggerated tone.

"Yup," even though I answered as a joke she replied seriously. "But I don't know why. I mean, I really like spending time with you. So why doesn't he?"

Hearing her words, again, another smile formed on my face as she made me feel like someone special on the inside. "Because he doesn't think like you and me," I answered. "He's just a dumb bully who believes is above everyone else."

"I guess, I kind of get it," Flare replied, not sounding convinced by her own words. "Anyway, just where are we going?"

"With a friend of mine," I answered already catching a glimpse of her figure in the distance.

As we neared, she must have heard us approach since she quickly turned her head my way. "Arata!!!" realizing who I was Asia began to make her way to me. "You're here! You're finally here!" she said, her voice full of excitement. Does this girl really have no other friends?

"Huh?" she let out, noticing Flare looking up at her with a curious gaze. "AHHH!" seeing the cute small wolf beside me she let out a high-pitched yell as her cheeks turned red. Her yell was so loud and painful that I had to cover my ears. "It's so cute!!" she said picking her up and hugging her tightly in her arms. "Is this little puppy yours!?"

She's bigger than a puppy and has markings that wrap around her body and people still mistake her for a dog. "Yup, and she's not a puppy, she's a wolf," I said for who knows how many times now. "Her name is Flare, treat her nicely if you don't want her to hate you," I told her as I noticed Asia squeezing her a bit too tightly.

"Wow!! A wolf!?" she exclaimed loosening her grip on Flare. "Where did you find her?"

"Up in Canavar," I answered.

"Eh?" hearing my answer she stood still as all her thoughts and words shut off. "Canavar!" she said, snapping back to reality. "You went to Canavar!? The place full of monsters!?"

"Yeah," I said as if it were a simple matter. Oh yeah, Asia doesn't know of my trip to Canavar. Then I shouldn't have brought it up to begin with.

"You totally have to tell me all about it!!" she said. Yup, I shouldn't have brought it up at all. I thought, letting out a sigh of defeat. I guess I have no choice now.

"Alright," I spoke, deciding it was easier to just comply than argue. Asia is still a growing girl so I'd rather not tell her anything violently graphic. A few funny stories should be enough to satisfy her, I've got lots of those. "But first. . . We train."

Hearing my condition she let out a sigh. "Fine!" and so, we spend some time training our magic together until she ran out of mana. We then spend the remainder of our time talking about my adventures in Canavar. I didn't tell her anything serious. In fact, I just told her funny stories that happened. She found it all interesting as she was happily listening to me as I spoke.

-----

Later that night I found myself wandering around the mansion after having finished dinner. I didn't wander around without reason I was actually looking for someone. Yup, it's Nina.

I tried going to her room but she wasn't there. In our afternoon tutoring session, I noticed her trying to ignore me but I was still able to feel her gaze on me several times.

Walking into the living room I found Creon sitting down next to his wife and Theodore, but not Nina. "Hey," I called out to them. "Do you guys know where Nina is?" I asked.

"For what?" the first one to ask was Tina, the woman who Nina resembled. Her green eyes locked on me intensively.

"J-Just want to sort out our problems," I answered, feeling a bit nervous due to her harsh stare.

"Hm," letting out a low hum she closed her eyes, thinking something over. "Alright," looking at me once again, more softly this time. "She said she wanted to get some air and went outside," she finally answered. "Just be careful with what you say, she's really sensitive right now."

"Got it. . . And thank you," I replied, lowering my head slightly.

Seeing my actions a chuckle escaped her lips. "Just go already," she told me, not in a bad way since she seemed happy about it.

Making my way out to the backyard I saw her. Sitting down under a tree with her knees tucked tightly in her arms while staring up at the night sky.

Nina's Perspective

What is wrong with me? The same thought ran through my mind once again as it did many other times. Ever since that day, I haven't been able to approach him.

He probably thinks I hate him. It's just. . . I felt my cheeks grow red at the thought of him. No! No! I thought quickly shaking my head in denial my gaze landing on the big bright moon.

"The moon looks quite beautiful tonight, doesn't it?" hearing his voice come from behind me made my body shake slightly out of nervousness.

"Arata!?" I exclaimed, quickly looking back just to make sure it wasn't my imagination. At the sight of him, my eyes quickly focused on the ground beneath him. "W-What are you doing?"

"I just. . . Want to talk," he answered, walking closer. "I noticed you avoiding me recently. . ." he began to say while sitting down beside me. ". . . And it sort of bothers me. I mean, we've always been good friends and I wouldn't want that relationship to be ruined just because of a silly mistake."

Looking at him now I thought back to when we first met. Ever since we moved into this house, it was Alexander who basically ruled over us. His mean words and harsh glares always made me regret moving into this house. My only source of comfort was Theodore and my parents.

But then came Arata, a calm boy who seemed more mature than all of us, even most adults. When Alexader began tormenting him, to my surprise, he just sat there quietly. Not bothered by his verbal abuse while he just looked at Alexander as if he were some spoiled child.

Once Arata beat him in a duel I learned that he was really skilled in magic as well as the sword. Which made me wonder if I could do the same but I quickly realized that I wasn't able to. After that, Alexanders' abuse ended and I was finally able to enjoy living in this house.

What's more, I became close friends with Arata as well as his sisters. Since then I've been happy with the life I've been living.

"Like you, I want us to return back to how we used to be," he said turning his head to look at me. Resisting the urge to look away I took in his image and the first thing I noticed was that he looked a bit sad.

"Yes, you're right," I finally spoke. "I'm sorry that I've been avoiding you but if I want things to go back to normal I know I need to play my part," I told him, forcing a smile.

Showing a small smile he stood up and outstretched his hand. "Starting right now let's just forget everything that happened, okay."

Slowly reaching up I took his hand. As soon as I did he pulled me up from the ground and shook it, his grip firm while mine wobbled. "Okay," I replied.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way, how about we head inside?" he said. Giving him only a nod in response we then made our way back to the house.

Looking at his back while he walked I wondered if. . . I could really look at him the way I used to.