The boots of Rexir Lu Minami echoed through the halls of the Minami residence. He strode with purpose, not even stopping to give the usual greetings to the maids and butlers whose families had served his for generations.

No, he had a purpose, one that must be addressed if he was to participate in his father’s war game charade.

Leresa followed behind meekly, not wanting to draw Rexir’s attention for once. She had never seen him this upset before, and the stark contrast from his usual, laid-back attitude made her afraid.

Are you still with me? Rexir asked mentally, feeling her discomfort and fear through their mental connection.

He stopped in his tracks and placed a hand on her face. Sorry about that. I forget that my emotions aren’t my own anymore. Maybe that’s why Leo is so soft-spoken and ever rarely shows any spark of passion.

Leresa giggled, and pushed her face into Rexir’s palm. “No, I think he was always like that. Don’t you dare adopt that persona as well, I want to know exactly how you feel, even if I don’t understand why.”

Rexir brushed his long hair out of his face, and gave her the most radiant smile he could manage, despite being a smoldering mess on the inside.

Leresa gave him a soft smile, and leaned in for a small, chaste peck on the lips. “Whatever happens, I’ll always be by your side. I promise.”

Warmth welled up in Rexir’s heart, and he resumed his walk, stopping at a pair of scarlet double doors. He steadied his breathing for a moment, before letting out a grunt and kicking the doors in, creating a gust of wind that swept papers off the desk inside.

“Well that was rude.” Rexir’s father, Scarlet Emperor Luong Minami frowned as he stared at his fallen documents.

His gaze travelled back up to Rexir, with a frown. “Don’t just stand there, help me pick them up, at least. Do you know how busy I’ve been the past three days?”

Rexir grunted in begrudging acceptance, and knelt next to his father. Together, the two picked up and organized everything. Only after that was through did Rexir stand at attention in front of his father once more.

Emperor Minami sighed and put down his pen, looking directly into his son’s eyes. “What do you want?”

The emperor motioned for Leresa to come join them, since she had been waiting outside the door for the whole prior sequence of events. She bowed to the emperor, then glanced over at Rexir nervously.

“Princess Leresa, it’s good to see you again so soon.” She smiled and bowed slightly to the emperor, but her eyes found themselves on Rexir’s figure once more.

The emperor followed her gaze, and also looked his son in the eyes. “Rexir, you know I love you and want the best for you, but you need to remember that I hate being interrupted when I’m officially working. Please tell me that you have a good reason for being here.”

Rexir motioned Leresa forward as his aide, vaguely aware of the sensation she was feeling as her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

Emperor Minami acknowledged her, then turned to look his son in the eyes, even while Leresa would orate for him.

“Father, why did you do it?” The question made the older Minami raise an eyebrow, and soon he strummed his fingers on the red table.

“I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about, Rexir. If you wanted an excuse to spend time with me, or a reason to try and drag me from the throne, making a false accusation is beneath you.”

Rexir rolled his eyes, and tossed something onto the desk. Emperor Minami looked it over once, and his face frowned. “Where did you get that?”

Leresa peeked out from behind Rexir, and her eyes widened. “An emperor’s seal!? But-” Rexir put a hand on her shoulder to calm the Silver Princess, and returned his gaze towards his father.

“Are you aware of what happened last night?” Emperor Minami rolled his eyes, and gestured to the paperwork on his desk. “What do you think I’m dealing with right now? A giant demon flashes into existence, witnessed by thousands in the city, and then disappears into thin air? The crater is still there from it’s impact, you know?”

Rexir waited until his father had stopped before pointing to the medallion. It was a gold emblem, with a seven petaled leaf emblazoned on it, with each petal’s tip pointing into thin, sword-like structures. "I found that on the remains of the body that the Witch of Fate, Eina, had used to summon the beast. Please, tell me father, why does a corpse have a token that you use to control minds with? You supplied that body to Eina, didn’t you?”

Leresa gasped as the last words left her mouth, and she looked on at the Emperor expectantly. Emperor Minami sighed, and rested his head in his hands. “This is why I wanted you to succeed me as the Emperor. You have such a focus on everything going on around you, that nothing escapes your notice.”

There was a brief silence, and Rexir touched Leresa’s cheek. That apparently was enough to restart her from being frozen, and she shook her head in shock. “What!? Oh, sorry.”

She cleared her throat, and began speaking what Rexir thought, “Don’t dodge the question. I’ll ask you again: what were you planning?”

Again, the emperor sighed, answering, “I thought it might be better for the empire if the people in the slums were able to claim insurance, and build better houses. Of course, there would probably be those who lost their lives, but such is a small price to pay for the improvement of the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of people.”

Rexir responded with a silent sigh of his own, and rolled his eyes. “Ok, as long as it didn’t go through, then everything is still alright. I could make a scene about you fueling the mental disorder of that moon elf, but I don’t care about her that much to be honest.” Rexir made to leave, but an unseen force bound his body in place.

“I’m not done with you yet.” Emperor Minami said. “You’ll be staying until you answer my questions. How did the beast disappear last night? I know that you know, my son.”

Rexir’s heartbeat sped up in pace as he tried to break free of his father’s bonds. “Tell me, or I’ll set up a farce to keep you in the city, for good.”

His eyes widened, and a grin stretched across his face. “Y-you can meet them.” Leresa said, her voice getting caught in her throat. “Only, it will be under the premise of a battle. Let’s make a wager. Gather the strongest people you can, and pit them against the three that made the beast vanish. If they can take out your forces, you’ll let me go fully free, no restrictions placed on me, no followers, or secret tracking, or tracing spells.”

Leresa gulped, noticing that Rexir only told his father that they made it disappear, not that they fought and killed it. The emperor set down his gaze, and rolled a pen around in his fingers.

After thinking like this for several minutes, he said, “Fine.” He put down the pen, and Rexir collapsed to the floor, drenched in sweat.

The former crown prince got up, bowed, and subsequently stormed out of the room, kicking the door and breaking it off one of the top hinges.

“Sorry you had to see that, dear.” He turned to Leresa and shook his head apologetically. “My son can be quite hard headed sometimes.” He smiled, the same sweet smile that Leresa remembered.

“So hard headed, in fact, that he can’t accept that his father is just worried about him and who he is spending time around unless he’s playing the villain.”