Kenta had followed Saihi into the woods. The prince seemed to know where he was going. 

Kenta wanted to ask Saihi where they were going, but he’d already questioned the prince multiple times today which was already disrespectful enough since the prince was Kenta’s master. 

Kenta remembered from the last time he’d overstepped his boundaries between being friend and the prince’s samurai, that Saihi could only take so much before snapping. To the prince, duty came first before friendship. Kenta supposed it was partially why he respected the prince so much.

However, Kenta soon realized that he didn’t need to ask Saihi to know where they were going. The path through the woods soon came to a familiar wet path littered with growing shrubs. The path narrowed before widening. Kenta stopped walking and squinted at the footprints that were left from whoever had crossed the area before them. To make sure there were no mistakes, he bent to his knees to compare the imprints. 

The footprints belonged to the prince, which meant this was the path the prince had taken when he’d disappeared to go hunting the previous night.

“Your highness,” Kenta tried being more formal. “If this is about the queen’s gift?” Kenta glanced nervously at the thinning woods. Yes, this place was very familiar. “Your highness,” Kenta called out again. “If we keep going like this, we will be in Hikizu village. It’s no longer the capital.” 

Now the prince stopped and looked back. “Really?” he asked, but his tone was sarcastic so Kenta realized that the prince already knew. 

Saihi turned and continued walking without saying another word so Kenta had to scramble after the prince. “Saihi!” Kenta ran to catch up and slid to stand in front of him. “Your highness,” Kenta repeated more calmly, steading his breath. “For your own safety, I forbid you from going further.”

Saihi stopped, but frowned, crossing his arms. “My safety? What’s over there that you find dangerous?” The prince leaned forwards and squinted up at Kenta since the bodyguard was slightly taller. “Do you also know…?” asked the prince.

Kenta stood still, refusing to budge. “Know what?” 

Saihi rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you.” Saihi attempted to push past Kenta’s barrier. 

Kenta held his ground and looked at the prince defiantly. “You’re the only heir to the Kuroba throne and you’re out here in the woods in plain sight. Is this important enough to compromise your safety?” 

Saihi scoffed. “It's as important as that bird of yours.” 

Kenta was forced back in surprise, his neck burning a shade of red. Looking smug, the prince breezed past Kenta without another word.

When the two were soon to break the surface of the forest, Kenta held the prince back and lifted a finger to tell the prince to keep quiet. 

“Are you sure you’re disguised enough that the public wouldn’t recognize you?” Kenta whispered. The prince shrugged Kenta’s hand away. 

“Don’t worry,” the prince adjusted his borrowed garments. “When I was here last night, I introduced myself as you.”

“M,me…?” Kenta shook his head. “Your highness, a lot of things can go wrong with that. Besides, some of the people here know me.” 

Saihi blinked. “Really?” Then after some thought, “but as Merlin, right? Isn’t that what those two girls called you?” 

“Emiko and Odilia? Yes, but-”

“That’s perfect!” interrupted the prince. “I can be Kenjiya Kenta, the samurai, and you are just my friend, Merlin.”

“I’m just not too comfortable…” However, the prince was no longer listening as something beyond the woods had caught the prince’s eye. Saihi pushed past Kenta and ran towards the lake which stood, as Kenta was embarrassed to acknowledge, was beside Odilia's house. 

Kenta closed his eyes and counted to ten before following the prince. He hoped Doctor Kennedy wasn’t home because it would be awkward for their second meeting to be under the impression that they were trespassing his property for whatever reason the prince found important to do so. 

Saihi was waiting by the banks of the small lake where seven red-crowned cranes flocked its waters. Most had fluttered to the opposite side of the lake, but none flew far. Saihi was watching the cranes intensely as if willing for the birds to do something. 

“Your highness,” Kenta said, reaching him. “We’re trespassing.”

“I know,” replied the prince, still watching the cranes. “But it’s okay.” 

Kenta frowned. “How? Did the landowner give you permission?” He imagined with horror how the prince might have introduced himself to Dr. Kennedy by using Kenta’s name as a mask.

“No,” the prince replied, still looking. “However, I know the girls.”

“What girls?”

“The girls who live here.” 

Now Kenta was very confused.

“Who do you think lives here, exactly?” Kenta demanded. 

At Kenta’s harsh tone, the prince glanced back at his samurai and wrung his hands before looking out at the cranes again. “Seven girls. Seven girls like the cranes.”

Kenta sighed. “My prince, how much did you drink last night?”

“Excuse me?” Saihi looked highly offended. “I was sober. I am sober.”

Kenta shook his head. “But you’re wrong, Saihi. This is where Odilia lives…” Kenta wasn’t exactly sure what else to say, but what he’d said was enough for the prince to abandon the cranes at the lake and for him to run up the rest of the path to the house with the red bricks. 

When Kenta had caught up, the door had already been opened by the butler, Karis.

Saihi demanded to see the master of the house. 

“Merlin?” Karis noticed Kenta walking up behind the prince. 

“Hello,” Kenta gave a polite greeting. “May we speak with the doctor?”

“Wait here.” The old butler disappeared. 

Moments later, the door opened back even wider to reveal Doctor Kennedy at the archway. 

“So it is, Merlin,” the doctor raised a thick, red brow. “What brings you here? Where's my daughter? I was expecting her yesterday…” Then he slowly turned to look at the prince. “And who might this be…?”

“I’m Kenta, Merlin’s friend, kind sir,” said Saihi. “I apologize if I am blunt, but who might your daughters be? Do you have seven?”

“Seven!?” Doctor Kennedy shook his head. “No, I only have one daughter…” he turned towards the real Kenta. “Where’s Odilia?” 

“We have not spoken since the Prince’s birthday banquet.”

Saihi pushed up front. “Odilia?” he questioned. 

“Yes,” Doctor Kennedy frowned. “Is there a problem?”

“Is Odilia your daughter, sir?” questioned Saihi. 

Kenta folded his arms to keep himself from doing anything rash that would anger the prince. 

“Yes, she’s my daughter-” the doctor stopped and looked at the real Kenta before turning back to the prince. “Who are you to ask me these questions?” 

“May we come in?” asked Saihi. “I know it’s rude to intrude, but I believe I have lots to say.” 

The doctor seemed not to know if he should trust Saihi and looked back at Kenta as if to silently ask the boy if this other young man was trustworthy. Kenta gave a curt nod and then Doctor Kennedy invited them in.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sirens. What you saw are sirens,” said the doctor. “I suggest you never go down to that lake again, young man.” 

“What makes you so sure of what you saw?” demanded the prince.

The three of them were sitting in a square room decorated with couches, a coffee table, and a furnace that remained cold due to the spring weather. Karis, the butler, had laid out tea on the table between them. The doctor sat on an armchair across the black couch where Kenta and the prince sat side-by-side. Kenta felt his behind slowly sink into the plush cushions.

“Sir, everything you have told me points to the women you saw being ghosts,” said Doctor Kennedy. “Surely they were sirens.”

“I find it odd that a doctor would believe in the supernatural.” 

“There is much more evidence pointing to those girls being of some supernatural hallucination rather than intruders at night claiming my home,” argued the doctor. “And this town is small. There are few girls that fit the description and age that you have given. If you ask the other townsfolk, they will say the same.”

Kenta looked at the prince. “Did you by chance… touch any of the girls?”

“What do you mean by that?” Saihi bristled. 

“I just want to know if you’ve made physical contact. It would help us understand and believe you since spirits such as ghosts, or particularly Sirens, cannot actually tough you.”

“Those women and I did not make physical contact,” said Saihi. “In fact, I find it hard to believe they were sirens because they feared me and avoided making any contact.”

The doctor folded his hands. “Well, before I bought this house, I was informed that the estate belonging to the former village chief used to stand here. The house was destroyed in an accident that killed seven girls who were there at the time,” said he. “If what you said is true, and those girls who you met told you that they lived here, I bet if not sirens, you saw a different form of spirits.”

Kenta listened to all this trying to keep an open mind. So the prince had dragged him here because he’d spotted girls out by the lake the previous night. Nothing new. He pursed his lips and stood.

“Doctor, I am so sorry for our intrusion. I believe my friend here would agree that it is time the both of us leave you be.” Kenta glared at Saihi, willing him to listen for once and stand. Luckily, Saihi got up without protest and bowed politely at the doctor before heading towards the door. 

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Saihi. 

When the two were almost a ways off, the doctor came chasing right behind them. 

“Wait!” called the doctor, but he was only looking at the prince. 

Saihi turned, waiting.

The doctor stopped, and suddenly, as if he’d forgotten why he’d run after them, the kind smile he’d worn in the previous exchange slipped right off. Kenta noticed that the unnerving golden-eyed stare was something both he and Odilia shared. 

The doctor seemed to realize the looming silence that grew between them all. However, the smile did not return when he said, “Please, don’t let me find you at the lake again.” 

Kenta knew the doctor to be kind, but he couldn’t tell if those words were a warning or a threat.