Once the meal was over and the table was cleared, the twin princes settled in the adjacent parlour to have their tea. Somnus glanced at his brother's barely concealed satisfied expression as he bustled about to prepare the tea, dropping and mixing the proper amount of tea leaves from his own canister, for the two of them.

"Was there something you needed from me for you to insist on this breakfast together?" He idly asked as he set the pot down on the table, waiting for the tea to steep.

His brother only gave him a thoughtful look as he tapped the armrest of his seat.

"Is it wrong for a younger brother to have breakfast together with his only family in this estate?"

Somnus rolled his eyes at that. "Really, what do you need from me?"

"Please give me extra fifteen gold for my allowance this month."

"Why?"

"I heard a merchant with a royal writ will stop by the estate and I don't want to look like a pauper of a prince when I have less in my wallet for something I want to buy."

Somnus only stared at him before shaking his head in disbelief. "Sure, I'll give you fifteen gold, with an additional twenty. You plan to buy some high end runestones, don't you?"

Letum smiled widely at that. "It's really nice to have a big brother like you who is generous and has a deep understanding for their sibling's needs."

"I already promised you your additional allowance, no need to butter me up."

Letum watched his brother pour the tea carefully into the porcelain cups, the sweet scent of the drink reaching his nose.

"Is it hard to study those extra administration lessons as the eldest prince?" He finally asked. 

"A little, but it's not unbearable." Somnus assured him. "It is preparation after all for once we go back."

"Can we even…?"

Somnus gave his brother a stern look upon hearing those words.

"Yes, I believe we can. I heard our father was removed from his seat and our eldest brother replaced him some years ago. They're probably ironing out the details of our return home."

"What kind of discussion takes this long, though?"

Somnus pursed his lips as he tapped the table to get his brother's attention.

"Father was thorough in his goodwill to the kingdom, and it's probably hard on our brother to find a loophole in it. Have some faith in them."

Letum started to smile at that, though a little bitter. "The only one I have faith in is you, Somnus."

He did manage to convince the Governess to let him handle the finances of the estate as part of his actual training instead of relying on theoretical situations. Political hostages like them normally don't have that much leeway, but Somnus used the superstition connected to their birth to get to do his own way.

×××

Somnus heaved a deep sigh after he had set aside his final workbook for the day.

"What's wrong, Somnus? That's quite a sigh." Eury said as she idly scanned his earlier workbooks.

"Are Letum's lessons going well with you, Lady Eury? As talented and gifted as he is, surely he gave you some problem with his overconfidence?"

"Hmm? It's actually the opposite, little prince. Prince Letum is burdened and overwhelmed by your achievements. Even if you are not gifted with a deep well of ether to perform strong seifons, your understanding of it and your continuous tweaking of the laws involved to make up for your handicap is borderline genius."

Somnus chuckled as he leaned back on his seat. "Borderline genius, huh. I guess compared to my brother…"

"Seriously, you two…" Eury said, exasperated.

"Ah, I heard from Letum that a merchant favoured by the royal family is coming here? Why is that? Do we have some problems in acquisition in the estate that I'm not privy to?"

"It's nothing serious. I requested from the King to at least provide some levity to the people working here so he sent the merchant and a few others."

Somnus stared at her, marvelling at the fact that she could easily influence King Glaucus to provide those things for them.

"Are you…perhaps a favoured mistress…?"

"Shut your mouth, little one."

"Yes, ma'am."

Somnus stood up to stretch, making a satisfied sound when he finally relieved his stiff back and shoulders. Looking out of the window of his study room, he saw the familiar black wings flying about, avoiding the seifon attacks coming from the closest training ground to his location.

He smiled proudly, knowing that his brother is the one having a lesson with that black-winged heron, who was said to be from a fallen noble house in the Empire tasked to look after the twin princes as steward.

Seeing that he also has the qualities to be a teacher for the princes with his exceptional skills in wielding seifon, the Governess appointed him to the position instead of requesting from the King.

"Ah, isn't it about time for Peiren to visit as well to check on us?" Somnus said, turning to Eury.

"Who do you think handpicked the merchants coming here in the first place?"

Somnus nodded at that, pursing his lips to prevent any snarky comments from coming out of his mouth.