It was a beautiful and peaceful day in the Kingdom of Brodia. You were recently appointed as Prince Alcryst's royal attendant by King Morion a week ago. You needed the job as your family was struggling a little financially due to your older brother's gambling addiction. So far, your job has been relatively easy as Prince Alcryst mostly just keeps to himself thankfully.

As you went down to the training grounds to announce his training time was over, an arrow flew by your head. You could hear the air screaming next to your ear as it barely missed you by an inch.

"Are you okay?!" Alcryst immediately set down his bow and jogged over to you, seeing the shocked look on your face.

It had been your fault as you shouldn't have walked out on the training grounds without paying attention. You could feel your heart beating rapidly in your chest as if he hadn't missed, you would have lost your head.

"Oh, yes, I am alright." You tried to convince him, but not a moment later, your knees buckled as you came to terms of your near dead experience. "I just... need a moment."

"I am so, so, sorry!" Alcryst bowed his head down to the ground. "Someone as worthless as me almost took your life! Please, forgive me!"

Of course, Alcryst was apologizing for something that was not his fault. The second prince of Brodia was famously known for that quality of his personality. You had seen it the first day you served him as he apologized not knowing you were to be his royal attendant.

"Prince Alcryst... it is quite alright." You grunted as you forced yourself to stand up, your knees still feeling wobbly. "Please, stand up, you are not supposed to be bowing to someone below your station."

Alcryst reluctantly stood up, his eyes downcasted as he had the look of a guilty person. "But still, this is all my fault."

A sigh escaped your lips as you had enough with his self-deprecation. There was only enough you could take in one day. You grabbed him by the shoulder and led him over to the benches, out of sight of the rest of the people. You had heard whispers throughout the castle of how much they constantly compared him to Prince Diamant.

"Prince Alcryst, it was my fault. I should have been paying attention to where I was going in the first place. It was foolish of me for wandering in without looking up from my papers."

"But-"

"No buts!" You held your finger in front of his face, giving him a minor glare. "You need to work on apologizing only when it is necessary. If you keep doing it for every minor thing, then people will start to stop taking you seriously over time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand." He nodded his head, finally looking you in the eye. It was a start somewhere to help him with his crippling self-worth.

You looked behind you and to the sides, not seeing anyone over hearing the two of you. The nobles and the royal court used any piece of information to insult Alcryst. But you couldn't understand why as it was not like Alcryst was trying to grasp the throne for himself.

"Prince Alcryst, please tell me, why do you not defend yourself from the talk of the people?"

He paused, looking at you in genuine confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... Why don't you try and disprove the others that you are just as worthy as Prince Diamant? In my personal opinion, you are just as skilled as your older brother, Prince Alcryst."

Alcryst felt his head was about to explode. You thought of him in such high regards? Him? For a moment, he thought you were pulling his leg, but knew you were serious from the look in your eyes.

"My brother is THE Brodian prince, (y/n). I am just a replacement should anything happen to Diamant. That is why I am called the second prince. The second of everything, compared to Diamant."

You couldn't believe his way of thinking. Sure, you were the second born, just like Alcryst, but you had never thought that way when comparing yourself to your older brother. How draining it would be to think you were the replacement child should anything happen to the first born. In a way, you could understand Alcryst in his twisted way of thinking.

You tapped your foot as you thought about what made the two princes different from each other. In the week that you had come to learn about Alcryst, you had seen many things that even impressed you a little.

"Think about this, you are skilled in areas that Prince Diamant cannot compare to your own talents. Just the other day during your music lessons when you played the violin, I thought you had been playing the instrument for years! Do you know how shocked I was when I found out you had only been playing the instrument for three months?"

"Y-You heard me playing?" His face grew warm as he did not think anyone else but his music teacher had heard him play.

"Not only that, your dance lessons the other day showed me you are a skilled dancer!"

"Please, stop, no more."

Alcryst could feel his entire face becoming warm from the unexpected compliments given to him. He was used to others criticizing how he could never compare to Diamant. But then you came along and had been noticing everything about him in the week you have been his attendant. In a way, it warmed his heart to hear him being not compared to his older brother for once.

You sensed he was becoming embarrassed and stopped your praising. "I truly mean it, Prince Alcryst. Take pride in yourself instead of listening to those comparing you to Prince Diamant. A prince of Brodia should take pride in his talents!"

"Okay, I get it!" Alcryst spoke up, his poor heart unable to take anymore hearing you speak. "I can see you have been watching me closely, (y/n)." He shifted on his feet, giving you a small smile instead of the gloomy face you usually saw him wear. "I swear to you, here and now, that I will do my utmost to see the better qualities in me. I can not guarantee the change will happen right away, but for you, I will do my best as a prince of Brodia."

Now, this was the improvement you were seeing. It would be a slow up hill battle, but you were willing to see through it to the end. The day Alcryst saw worth in himself that you could see.

"Excellent. Now that your training time is over, would you like to have a tea break?"

"Gladly." Alcryst said as he walked next to you side by side. His face was still warm as he knew it would take a while before his emotions would settle down. "Would you join me for tea, (y/n)? O-Only if you want to, of course."

"Of course, I will join you for tea." You nodded your head as you turned your face to hide your blush as well. At least this was the beginning of some improvement between the two of you are just more than prince and attendant.