It was a summer day, hot but not overwhelmingly so and lacking even a single cloud in the beautiful, azure blue sky.

"What's wrong, Lukas?"

A much younger looking Sarian said, as he appeared standing over a five year old Lukas. The older brother's shadow blocked out the hot, summer sun, standing calmly over where Lukas lay on the grass.

"N-nothing," Lukas said with a huff, crossing his forearms over his face.

"Then why are you crying?" Sarian asked, but without even the slightest hint of teasing in his voice.

"I'm no-"

"Lukas."

"...Adlet didn't let me play with everyone again today," Lukas muttered quietly, wiping the slowly increasing tears away from the corners of his eyes.

"Hmmm," was all Sarian said in reply, as he sat down cross legged on the grass next to Lukas. Neither boy seemed to care much about sitting on the ground, despite the extravagant, richly coloured clothes they wore.

"Why's he so mean!" Lukas finally cried out, letting his tears fall freely now. "He's always doing this, and he doesn't care! Everyone else is always playing together and doing fun things, but they won't let me join! And Mother and Father don't help either, they just tell him to let me play, but then he just does it again anyways!"

Sarian sat quietly, with his arms folded and eyes closed, letting his youngest brother cry his frustrations out. When it seemed like Lukas had stopped, he answered slowly, and quietly.

"Why do you think he does it?"

"Because he hates me," Lukas sniffed, sitting upright to match his older brother.

Sarian actually cracked a small smile at that.

"I'm quite sure he doesn't hate you."

"Then why does he do this!" Lukas yelled back in protest.

Sarian looked at him, the older brother's emerald green eyes searching his face for... something, though Lukas didn't know what. Lukas shrunk back a bit, embarrassed at his outburst, and instantly unsure of himself.

"Adlet has his own troubles to deal with, Lukas," Sarian said calmly. "He doesn't always deal with them in the right ways, but he's trying his best. I hope you can learn to forgive him as well, someday."

Lukas pouted, leaning forwards on his knees and letting his blond hair cover his eyes so he didn't have to look at his brother... and so his brother couldn't see his eyes, too.

"I just want to play with everyone else," Lukas muttered, looking every bit the dejected child he was.

"What about Arabelle?" Sarian asked back.

"She's so boring!" Lukas said in a huff, forgetting himself and flopping onto his back in the grass again, no longer crying but still rubbing the red from his eyes. "She's so little, and she doesn't do anything!"

Sarian laughed then, a deep, hearty laugh that seemed as bright as the summer day around them. It was a rare thing to hear that laugh, and not the polite chuckle and smile he restrained himself to in front of others. But here, in the empty courtyard of their manor, with neither their parents around nor the servants, or even any of their other brothers, Sarian let himself laugh fully.

"Yes, I suppose that is true. Three year olds don't tend to do much which would be interesting to you now, do they?"

Lukas huffed, splaying his arms out to the sides and staring up at the sky. A moment later, he watched Sarian lean back and lay down next to him, just close enough that Lukas' arm was almost touching his elbow.

"Do you feel lonely, little brother?" Sarian asked, also staring up at the sky. His dirty blond hair, so similar yet so different to Lukas' pale, platinum blond, splayed out around his head like a mane, glinting in the midday sun.

"...No," Lukas sniffed, sounding unconvinced by even his own words.

"You have six brothers and a little sister, nearly a hundred servants in the manor, Mother and Father... and yet still feel alone," Sarian said, also completely unconvinced by Lukas' answer. Oddly enough, Lukas could see that Sarian was still smiling lightly, as a light summer breeze tousled his hair. "But not one friend your own age, hm?"

Lukas looked away from his brother, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a slight huff.

"I relate more than you know, littlest brother," Sarian said, reaching out and ruffling Lukas' pale hair, smiling all the while. "There are six years between me and Adlet, the next oldest brother, you know? There was no one my age in the manor growing up for me as well."

Lukas looked back over sheepishly, blue eyes sparkling.

"Really?"

"Really," Sarian said back, giving him another smile. "Do you want to know what I did to help?"

"Yes, please!"

"Well," Sarian said, turning to again stare off at the endless sky above them, this time with a wistful expression on his face. "I made friends with one of the servants that was close to my age."

Lukas stared at him, mouth agape.

"But Father and Mother say that's bad!"

"Because of what happened with me as a child!" Sarian said, laughing deeply at the expression on his little brother's face. "That rule wasn't around when I was your age, you know."

Lukas shut his mouth, leaning in patiently, eyes and ears open wide in anticipation of the story.

"She was a few years older than I was at the time," Sarian began, still looking skywards, as if he could see his own memories in that infinite expanse above them. "I was just a few years older than you are now, and every bit as frustrated at things. Her name was Mina, and she was the daughter of our old head servant at the time. We met one day near the kitchens, while I was wandering through the manor randomly, and she was carrying a sack of vegetables from the storerooms for supper. I hadn't seen someone my own age in days at the point, and the last ones I had seen were but another group of nobility at a gathering... one of those terrible tea parties Father and Mother are going to make you start attending soon enough. I asked her if she wanted to come play with me in the courtyard, and she wouldn't even look at me. Kept muttering something about "young master" and "sir" and "sorry" and bowing over and over... it was absurd, really."

"You hadn't seen her before?" Lukas asked, shifting his way around until the top of his head rested comfortably against Sarian's arm.

"No, no... it was the first time I had wandered around in the basements, near the kitchens. I had never had the chance to cross paths with her or the other kitchen staff before."

"So what happened?" Lukas asked insistently.

"Well, she told me that she could not leave the kitchens until the supper had been made."

"Oh... so you didn't end up playing?"

Lukas couldn't see Sarian's face, but he somehow knew his brother was smiling.

"No, I helped her take the bags to the kitchen, then snuck her outside to play anyways."

"She left her job in the kitchens?!"

"She didn't have much choice once I said it was an order from the heir of the house!" Sarian laughed, shaking Lukas' head with the movements. "We snuck out into the courtyard, into the back, where you can't see from the windows. She was nervous like a man covered in honey in a bear den... shaking half the time, barely able to speak to me... but we played games until the sun set that night. And by the end of it, I had even convinced her to call me by my name!"

Lukas sat quietly, pondering why his brother thought being called by his own name was of such importance.

"I went to see Mina almost every chance I got, after that. She slowly got comfortable around me, and we became best friends for a long, long time... or at least it felt like it at the time."

"Can I meet her someday?" Lukas asked, rolling his head back to look at his older brother.

The smile Sarian wore didn't fade or change, but Lukas thought that, despite his smile, Sarian seemed sad in that moment.

"Well, that's just the thing, isn't it?" Sarian said, still staring wistfully at the sky.

"What is?"

"It took years, but eventually, we got caught. Mother and Father found out, and they were... less than pleased."

"What happened?" Lukas asked, caught somewhere between curiosity and concern.

"Mina and her whole family were expelled from the manor, and I have not seen or heard wind of her since."

Lukas sunk down lower, pressing a little tighter in towards Sarian for comfort.

"I thought this was supposed to be a happy story?" Lukas sniffed.

"It was the happiest of stories," Sarian said back, and Lukas knew beyond all doubt that he was smiling. "That's why it was so sad when it ended."

Lukas didn't know what to say.

"I suppose all that I was trying to say with this..." Sarian continued. "Is that someday, somehow, you'll make a friend your own age. I don't know when or how, but it will happen. And when it does, it shall be a beautiful thing... something that you hold dear for the rest of your life, no matter how many years pass."

"I don't wanna make a friend if I'm just gonna lose them..." Lukas muttered.

"Going to," Sarian corrected habitually, before twisting slightly to look down at his brother. "And why not?"

"Because it's sad."

"So is being alone," Sarian said pointedly. Lukas again found himself unable to answer.

"Besides..." Sarian continued. "Have you heard the saying about candles, Lukas?"

"Candles?"

"They say that a candle that burns half as long, shines twice as bright."

"...That's dumb."

Sarian laughed again, turning his attention back towards the sky.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that one, Lukas."

And with a gentle pat on the head from Sarian, the two brothers fell into silence on the grass, looking up together at that endless blue sky above.