𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰.

ᴀʟʟᴇɢʀᴇᴛᴛᴏ ♢ - 𝑬𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓î𝒄𝒊

"Of course, sire."

I nodded, and Natsume got up from his seat, looking both thankful and confused as I held up 1 finger on my left hand, and a 5 and 2 on my right, indicating 1, and 7.

I mouthed the numbers '177' and 'celsius', giving him a wink, as he nodded, leaving the room.

"So, Leo, basically, here's the problem,"

As usual, the King tuned our all the other knights seated in that room, and looked at me, and only me.

It was a bit overwhelming at first, but it was a privilege, and an honour, of being the King's favoured knight.

Feeling a bit of sorrow for the other knights, listening intently sat Leo, in that same seat he had been in since the first declaration of him being proclaimed captain of the King's personal cavalry force.

The King gave him the details of the people he would be meeting at the Fîn quarters, and what to say, and what to do, what not to do there.

The most notable names were; the crown prince Aoba, his best friend, Tenshouin, who had apparently held more power than you would think, and Fîn's cavalry captain, Sakuma.

He could practically imagine them in his head from the King's description, they all seemed pretty snobbish except the prince.

Getting a bit too comfortable with his current seating position and elbow on the table, Leo sleepily opened his big mouth and asked,

"Hey, Your Majesty?

If you know so much about these important people, why can't you go and meet them yourself?"

His eyes widened, before he chuckled, and spoke.

"You were always more straightforward than the others.

Well, that's exactly what the King of that horrid country expects from me, going myself.

So, to prove him wrong, I wanted to send someone else, someone I know, someone I trust."

So it was a personal dispute between the two childish kings.

"Of course, you can bring someone else as well- someone you, trust."

As soon as he said that, I lit up, immediately knowing who I wanted to take.

"I actually wanted to assign a certain someone for the job of meeting the prince, but it seems he's already occupied."

The King said in a light tone, holding his hands together as I blankly stared at him.

All the other knights in the room hopefully stared at the brown haired man in front of them as he continued,

"I mean Sakasaki.

No need to look so confused, my dear."

He spoke, raising his hand forward as he ruffled the Knight's bright orange hair, a confused Natsume walking into the room receiving the death glares scattered around.

He placed the saucer and cup down, pouring the hot liquid to the brim of the delicate porcelain cup.

His Majesty was always very particular about his tea sets, and had a different one for each day of the week. If you mess it up, you're as good as fired in this castle.

Natsume had never actually sifted tea before- but he had watched the older do so many a times when the King was in his particularly temperful days, spending hours sulking in his unnecessarily enormous office.

And to Leo's surprise, he carried it out perfectly.

Perhaps even better than Leo himself, and he would've been a tiny bit jealous if not for the proudness of a big brother overcoming him, and he might even have clapped if he didn't realize the certain circumstances they were in at that moment.

However, something that relieved his dopamine was, surprisingly- the King himself.

He cried out in surprise, and happiness at the perfectly mixed tea he has just obtained, and Natsume's ears grew as red as his hair, a few of the knights even laughing as the King savoured a sip, before exclaiming;

"Why, this is delicious.

You ought to be something in my kitchen. My personal tea maker, or something of the sort."

He chuckled, getting up, before turning on a serious face.

"Leo and Sakasaki, I'd like to speak with you two privately."