“Sebastian?” He called hesitantly. “Is … is that for me?”

The poor boy seemed too hesitant to hand over the gift in the presence of Jeremiah and Ronald. But after a moment, he nodded and held out the wrapped box.

He opened the wrappings gently and opened the box. Inside, he found another wooden box. It was painted back, with beautiful golden and green floral designs. He ran his hands over them and found that they were not just painted, they were carved and embedded onto the box. It was beautiful.

He opened the box and gasped softly when a small figure sprang up from the middle of the box. The figure of a human. It had one hand up and another curved right beside its hip, which was slightly pointed to the side. It wore clothes reminiscent of Zahirian belly dancers, in the same colors as the box, black with golden and green embroidery. A long green curtain seemed to fall down from above and spiral tastefully around its figure, not quite touching it but giving the illusion of fluttering alongside it as it spun around on the circular platform it had been placed on.

The soft tune that it was dancing to filled the room. It was the kind of music one would listen to while reading or relaxing. Almost a quiet, soothing sort of humming. It seemed to penetrate into his mind and body. Emilio had not realized how taut and tensed he had been until this soothing music started slowly relaxing his body. He could even feel Jeremiah relaxing further against his side.

“I hope you like it,” Sebastian’s voice brought him back to the present. “I heard you had trouble sleeping. So I made this with some spare wood I had and cast some relaxing music into it.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” he smiled. And then something else registered in his mind. “Wait, you made it?” He asked, his eyes widening.

Sebastian nodded and smiled shyly at him. “Yes, I … I cannot do much for you in this state. And giving you flowers or other gifts does not seem to be of much help to you either. So … I thought I could make this to help you sleep.”

Emilio’s heart warmed. “You did not have to do this…”

“I wanted to.” Even though Sebastian shrugged at that, his voice held a tinge of nervousness.

Emilio ducked his head, hoping the boy did not nice his reddening cheek. “Thank you. That … that means a lot.”

It truly did. Sebastian had nothing to do with him, really. He was not family, he was not an Archmaster fascinated by his power, he was not the Professor who felt guilty about letting him get hurt, he was not his relative, and he was not a healer who had a duty to heal. So, Emilio would never have expected the boy to be so considerate of him after meeting barely twice.

It felt … good. Having someone care for you just because … well, just because they cared. For Emilio. Emilio the person.

Emilio took a deep breath and then looked up, forcefully pushing down the fluttering of his heart as he stared into those beautiful pink eyes.

“Sebastian, thank you,” he said again. “I will cherish this.”

Sebastian’s pink eyes crinkled as he smiled. The night breeze fluttered the curtains open and the soft moonlight encased the boy, his light pink hair almost shining and all Emilio could think was …

Gods, he is beautiful.

Calm down, you traitorous heart.

“I am glad you liked it.”

He sent a soft smile Sebastian’s way and he saw the boy quickly avert his eyes. Much as he tried, Emilio could not stop the fluttering in his stomach. He looked away as well, trying to suppress the warmth he felt rising in him. He knew these feelings would not bode well. No one wanted a defective human like him.

“Here.” Emilio turned his attention back to Sebastian, who was now holding out his hands. “Let me show you something.”

Emilio shook himself out of his thoughts and handed the music box over to him. The boy pressed on the middle of one flower right at the front, and the music changed to a more lively one as well as the dance position of the figure to match it. The figure moved slightly faster to match livelier beats. And immediately, Emilio felt … well, livelier. A bit giddy. He could feel Jeremiah perk up beside him.

“I entered a few different tunes into it so you can change it to whichever you want, depending on your mood.”

The boy held it out back to him and Emilio took it back. “Thank you, truly.”

Sebastian inclined his head with a smile and then stepped back. “Then… I’ll leave you alone now. You probably want to catch up with your family.”

“No, it’s alright…”

Sebastian shook his head. “I should go. Goodnight, Emilio.”

Emilio sighed. “Goodnight, Sebastian.”

With that, the boy left. Emilio stared after him until he disappeared.

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“Hmmmmmm?” Jeremiah’s voice from his side pulled his attention to his little brother, who was now looking at him with a mischievous smile and wiggling eyebrows.

“What?” He said somewhat defensively.

“Are you in loooooooove?” He asked the question in a sing-song voice, dragging the last word out.

Emilio rolled his eyes at his brother’s childishness. “No. He’s a friend.”

“Liar! You were blushing!”

“I was not. He’s a good friend.”

“That’s what they all say, young master.”

Emilio turned his head to see Ronald trying to suppress his smile.

“Okay, no,” he shook his head and sat up straight. “Ronald, stop encouraging Jeremiah.” He reached a hand to take Jeremiah’s ear and twist it slightly. “And you, you are a decade too young to talk about someone’s love affairs.”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! I get it, I get it, brother, Let go!”

He let go and huffed. “No more talk about this anymore, okay? Especially not in front of Father. Understood?”

He stared the two of them down until the two nodded in agreement. Emilio sighed softly and sat back before he frowned, something that had been circling his mind until now coming to the forefront now that everything was quiet.

“What about … mother?”

He felt Jeremiah tensing beside her and saw Ronald’s face donning the same forlorn expression he usually did when talking about the Baroness. They were both quiet, exchanging uneasy glances.

“Well?” He urged. He was sure whatever it was, he could handle it.

“I… went to inform her.” Ronald started. “I mentioned you were sparring and got badly injured by your opponent. But … she said she did not want to see you and to leave her alone.”

Emilio stared at him for a long moment before scoffing. “Come on, Ronald. There is no way that whatever she said was that mild.”

Ronald seemed to have some reservations about telling him the whole thing. But Jeremiah did not. He squirmed beside him, mumbling softly. Emilio would not have heard what he was saying had it not been for how close they were to each other at that moment.

“She said she had no desire to see the failure … that if you can’t win, why did she bring you into the world in the first place? Why are you alive? She was angry that … that you lost. And she told us to never bring news of you unless it’s something ‘good’.”

Okay, he could see why Ronald was hesitating. His mother had never hesitated in speaking harsh words to either him or Jeremiah but here… here she was questioning his entire existence. Their last interaction must have really hit her hard. His heart squeezed painfully. He did not know why he still had some expectations from her, why he still hoped to have his old mother back. It was clear that it was a vain hope. He really wished he could squash that little child inside of him as easily as his mother squashed his hopes and expectations.

“Brother?” Jeremiah called softly beside him.

It was then that Emilio realized that he had been staring at nothing in particular in a trance. He jerked slightly before composing himself. With a shaky exhale, he turned his attention to Jeremiah with a slightly forced smile.

“I’m fine, Jeremiah. This is nothing new. I was expecting it.”

“Brother…” The boy was looking up at him with teary, concerned eyes.

“Stop worrying about me, brat. I am fine!” He ruffled the boy’s hair. He ignored the boy’s attempt at continuing the conversation and, instead, turned to Ronald, starting to speak about what was happening in the estate, how the duties he left behind were being handled, and what important developments did he have to look out for.

It was then that he knew that most of the High Society knew about his newfound powers due to their children sending news back home. Of course, the news did not take long to turn into stories and food for gossip mills, getting more and more vague and exaggerated as they went. Apparently, he was now upending the entire ground and trees around him, and controlling flocks of Magical Beasts and Creatures as well as the very nature. He had to chuckle softly at that. The High Society would never leave behind the habit of gossip mongering, would it?

It was as they were conversing that there was a knock on the door. Emilio turned his head to see Balsea standing at the doorway with a smile.

“I brought food!” He said as he held up both hands, a package in each. “And some of those books you wanted too, Emilio!”

The fae quickly stepped inside, putting down one of the packages on the nightstand and then holding out the other.

“I brought food for all of us! Let’s eat!”

They made quick work of the food between the four of them. Balsea did not eat much and Emilio did not insist much either after the first few times.

His father returned as they were finishing up. When asked, he replied that he already ate with Aunt Ayesha and the Archmaster, who had said he had already made arrangements for Jeremiah. He must have had Balsea informed somehow to bring more food.

Now that they had a visit, it was time to leave. There was only one problem. Jeremiah did not want to leave. He clung to Emilio, shaking his head petulantly as he refused to get up.

“I don’t want to go! I want to stay with brother!”

Emilio could not remember when - or if - Jeremiah had thrown a tantrum like this.

He sighed and looked up at his father. “Let him stay, Father. He can go back tomorrow or the day after. It would be a good opportunity for him to see the Academy too. The Portal will take him right back to the Barony. You can leave Ronald behind if you’re worried. He can take care of Jeremiah and ensure he returns home safely.”

Baron Edmund turned his stern frown towards Emilio. “You spoil him too much, He has lessons tomorrow!”

“Father, please! I’ll do extra work later! Please let me stay!”

Jeremiah’s wide, puppy eyes would tug at anyone’s heartstrings. The little rascal was starting to learn to use that to his advantage, wasn’t he?

Emilio looked at his father. “Father, it’s fine if he misses one day. Let him stay. He can even go to the classes and see how it’s done here. It’s just one day.”

“Yes, just one day, Father!” Jeremiah parrotted him. “Please!”

After some more convincing, Edmund finally allowed Jeremiah to stay. The boy whooped and turned to Emilio with the biggest grin. He smiled softly and ruffled his hair.

They both tucked in about half an hour after Edmund left. Emilio fell asleep with Jeremiah snuggled up beside him, the soft tune of the music box echoing in the room and lulling him into a restful sleep.