Aeliana was back in the library with Leon on the opposite side of her. He was flipping through his book while she did the work given by him. It’s been more than a week since his first day teaching her imperial language. Neither of them talked unless it was necessary.

Aeliana did try multiple times but all she got in return is an icy glare. The only time he would respond to her other than questions about the language is when she tries to call him ‘brother’.

She always got the same reply: "Don’t call me that.”

‘Hmph! So boring~ I’m tired of doing these questions..’ 

She leaned against her arm as she lazily moved her pen around on the paper.

“Are you tired?” 

“Huh?” 

Aeliana lifted her head up at her brother. He was looking at her. She quickly sat upright and shook her head,

“No, I’m okay!”

She held a cheering stance, her arms by her sides lightly pumping upwards. Leon stared at her and said nothing, turning back to his book once more. Aeliana deflated, sinking back down, leaning against her arm.

Her body felt too tired to sit upright. Today was a sluggish day for her. As she continued writing in the same exact position, she heard a book slamming shut. Lazily, she moved her eyes up, finding Leon staring down at her.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

She smiled brightly at his words and nodded, “Okay!”

Aeliana cleaned her things swiftly and bowed, “Thank you for today!”

She didn’t wait for him to answer since she knew he would always ignore her, so she left the library after thanking him. She put her things inside her room and headed outside. The servants were still worried for her when they saw her walking around outside.

Aeliana tried to appease their worries by greeting and chatting with them before reaching the destination she had in mind. She was back in the garden meant for her mother. Ever since she saw the painting of her mother, she wanted to be closer to her in a way so, she had been lingering around her mother’s garden.

As always it was kept nicely, no wilted flowers seen. Aeliana liked the garden, it brought comfort to her in ways she didn’t know why. It just felt right to be there.

Sometimes she would pretend it was because her mother was watching over her and bathing her in warm love through the sunlight. Though she knew it was her wishful thinking. She sat down on a bench and relaxed her body and mind.

The leaves shook from the wind breeze. Aeliana closed her eyes, feeling the breeze brushing through her hair. She didn’t know when but when she opened her eyes, the sun had already begun to set.

“...How long was I sleeping?” she muttered to herself as she yawned.

“A few hours.” a voice spoke beside her.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes before turning to the person who had spoken to her. Leon had his legs crossed and an open book in his hand. He didn’t look at her as he spoke.

“Sleeping so carelessly.” he scoffed, flipping to the next page.

“What are you doing here?” she questioned, baffled at the fact he was sitting beside her.

Then she realised her head was leaning against his shoulder. She moved away at the speed of light, laughing awkwardly,

“Haha! Sorry for sleeping haha..” 

‘God did I step on a landmine while I was asleep?’

‘Can’t even sleep in peace…’

While Aeliana was sobbing in her heart, Leon glanced at her and sighed. He got up from the bench and walked away.

If it was someone else, they would take note of how rude it was but Aeliana was rejoicing. That reason was that he hadn’t scolded her and even looked at her properly in the eye!

‘Today must be a good day~’ she sang in her mind, smiling.

***

‘I take it back’

Aeliana was walking through the hallways to let her food digest when she accidentally bumped into her second brother, Claud.

He scorned at her, disgusted by her touch and snapped, “Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry brother—”

“If you’re sorry, why aren’t you kneeling?” he cut her off.

‘You all really like to cut me off huh.’

She stared at him in disbelief. He scrunched his nose with distaste, “Who said you can look at me?”

Aeliana diverted her gaze away. He snickered before walking away.

Under his breath, he muttered just loud enough for her to hear, “I can’t believe mum had to die for you.”

Aeliana didn’t speak until footsteps faded. Silently, she showed the bird towards the direction Claud had gone, spitting out curses in as many languages as she knew in her mind.

Out of the four, Claud was the one who openly showed his hatred and would also bully her constantly. She thought he stopped because he hadn’t been going out of his way to torment her.

Unfortunately for her, she just had to bump into the worst one out of the rest. She could admit Leon and Marius weren’t as bad as Claud. Before she had her memories, Claud’s words would always pull her down until she would cry herself to sleep.

Now she just felt anger and irritation.

“Darius is the only decent one..” she murmured to herself, shaking her head.

She walked into her room and found Marius sitting on the couch with his arms folded. Aeliana took in a deep breath, she didn’t feel like seeing anyone right now.

“Brother Marius, why are you here?” she asked, heading over to the couch.

Marius had his eyes wide open for a brief moment before glaring. He got up from the couch and pointed at her.

‘Is he here to pick a fight? I’m so tired of this’

“Stop taking Darius away from me!!” Marius angrily shouted, stomping his right foot on the carpet.

“What?” Aeliana blurted out.

Did she have her ears clogged?

She lightly dug her ear to check but it was clean. Marius puffed his cheeks and stomped once more,

“Darius doesn’t want to play with me because of you!” 

“...”

‘Hey buddy, why are you so jealous?’