"Are you sure that's a sword?" Rosa asked.

First Hugo, and now her. Were these oafs blind? "Yes! It's a sword!"

We stood together in Rosa's training chambers, the two of us inside a small battle circle and Hugo just off the sidelines. To avoid suspicion, he'd even come in full guard uniform, armor included.

The day after Rosa had first kissed Juan in front of all of us and unlocked her heartblade, Mom had a spare room vacated just for her. To my knowledge, she'd only used it for private tea parties, the occasional casual match, and whatever the cursed hell she did with Juan in their spare time.

And yet, she was still better with a sword than just about anyone I knew, with the exception of our mother. It was said it came to us Margloria's like an innate instinct, but maybe it had missed me altogether.

Now, with her elegant rapier in hand to contrast with my bulky whatever-it-was, the difference between us was more apparent than ever. The perfect child, and the one who would end up ruining our name altogether. Elegance, and embarrassment.

"Alright, sorry, you don't have to look so glum," she conceded. The shame must have shown in my face. "It is a sword, albeit quite an ugly specimen."

"Well, can you show me how to use it?" I sighed.

"What makes you think I know that?" she shot back. "I've never seen a sword like that, let alone used one."

Hugo cleared his throat. "Your Highness, if I may." He stepped forward with his hands behind his back. "I had a short spar against it yesterday. It's a bit slow, but it's very good for blocking forward strikes as well as heavy hits on a short to midrange, a little more than your average sword. It's almost like a cross between a shield and a club, in a way."

In front of her, he sounded like a completely different person, formal and compliant, but I supposed the knowledge had been his all along. Maybe I'd underestimated it.

"Good analysis, Hugo," she smiled, pacing back to the other side of the room.

He nodded his thanks. It was odd seeing him so neutral and conforming after the sad, low states we'd seen each other in.

"So?" I asked her. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I'll go easy on you. For now," she quickly added. "Let me get a feel for it too."

I shrugged, taking position on my own side of the small arena as she moved all the dummies and other loose equipment out of the circle. Hugo remained still as a statue by the wall, underneath a shelf of trophies and a few stuffed animal heads.

"One," She counted, holding her sword parallel to her body with one hand. I firmed my grip in the same position Hugo had taught me. "Two." She winked. "Three. Go!"

Rosa dashed forward, but I was already swinging forward as soon as her feet had left the ground. The collision was clear in my mind's eye; the trajectories were right. Her overconfidence would be the end of her.

And yet, at the last second, her body twisted into a downward spin underneath my sword that ended with a shallow slash across one of my shins before she reappeared next to me.

I looked down, expecting to find pain and blood, but her sword had only gone deep enough to slice through a section of my trousers. Of course.

"These were new!" I yelped, blocking another slash at my chest.

She laughed at my anger, rapier twitching against my heartblade. "Three months isn't new, Miguel."

I needed to get her away, fast, so I opted for the only move that had worked for me so far. My fists suddenly dropped to my belly button, forcing her arms down in tandem, and then I thrusted forward with the blunt end of the blade. True to my awful luck, it never even made contact with her sword.

At the same time, her hand had pushed down on its surface and she'd used the momentum to roll over it. In less than a second, she'd gotten to her feet over the blade and jumped into an arc above me, pushing my sword out of my hands and to the floor. Before I could re-summon it, the cold steel of her rapier touched the side of my neck from behind.

"How long have you had that thing?" she asked in an angering tone. "I expected you to be better."

"Only a few days," I bitterly replied, turning to face her. "I'm sorry I fell in love with a soldier!" My volume rose at the same rate as the sudden fire inside of me. "Truly, my fault. My mistake, I'll just take it all back and get it right with the first duchess I meet!"

"Easy, Miguelito. There's no need to get snappy." That cocky satisfaction had faded from her face altogether. "Is that why you haven't told Mamá?"

"Of course it is. What would she think if I told her I'd kissed a commoner?! A Royal Guard, no less?" I sank onto a bench next to the wall, letting my head drop to my hands. "I... I wouldn't even give her any heirs."

Rosa brought a finger to her chin as her gaze went elsewhere, lost to a memory. "Now, I used to know this girl who knew a witch, and she said—"

Something warm touched my shoulder. I looked up to find Hugo holding it, his comforting gaze pulling mine along with it. "If it comes to it, just follow through with the plan, Miguel. It's fine."

"The plan?" Rosa asked.

"Miguel kisses one of the girls at the ball, summons his heartblade, and then pretends she's the one," Hugo turned to explain to her, "This way, we'll both come out of this alive and well if no one knows we were ever involved."

"But I don't want that anymore!" I clenched my fists. "I want you! You're my true love, not them!" I took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of my nose before taking his hands in mine. "You make me feel better than anyone else, Hugo. Like I don't have to hide anything, or prove anything, or be of worth for anyone else."

"Maybe I should go check on Juan," Rosa quickly decided, moving past us to leave the room. As soon as she'd gone out the door, Hugo's face might as well have aged ten years.

"You don't need me." He sat beside me, though just far enough that our bodies didn't touch. "You have your family, friends, and a whole royal life ahead of you. I can't live with myself being in the way of your happiness."

"I'd rather live whole for a week than hollow for a century. Do you think my parents ever allowed me friends? All I've known my entire life are the girls they bring me. The rest sees me as either a blessing or a curse. I don't want to be either."

"Díos, Miguel, what do you want me to say?" he scoffed. "You're royalty. I am not. There is no other way around this that doesn't involve running away."

"The Grand Ball is tomorrow. Is that the last day we'll be together, then?" I could feel my body shrinking into itself, drawn to the black hole inside of my stomach. "Have you... Have you chosen what career you want? For your future? I need to know what position to move you to."

It was his turn to look away. "No. I don't know."

"I had this dream yesterday," I swallowed, but a smile melted its way to my lips, "that the two of us went together to the ball. We both wore formal suits, and then danced together for the crowd, and none of them—they were all smiling. As happy for us as we were for each other. I wish I could make it true."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to dance," Hugo chuckled under his own sadness.

"Hugo..." My fingers tightened around his soft hand over the bench. "How can we be apart when destiny brought us together?"

"Miguel, stop." His voice had grown cold and detached, tearing a hole through my chest.

"Stop what?"

"The earlier we accept it, the easier it will be. Just stop. No more fantasies. No more what if's. Please. I like you too, but what can we do that doesn't involve breaking a thousand more rules?"

"What about..." I swallowed, "what you said in the forest?"

"My father wanted to talk to me earlier. War with Phinia is imminent, Miguel, no matter how much the Marglorian armies push back. When it comes, I'll be right there." His hands let go of mine to hold his own chest, gaze falling to the floor. "In the front lines."

"If it comes," I replied, trying to meet his eyes nonetheless. "I'll be there. Next to you. I promise."

And he remained withdrawn. "I should be going, Miguel."

Hope wasn't back for long before its light was snuffed out.

"Do you still want to train again later?" he asked.

"No, I... I'll be busy." Training didn't matter. Training had always been nothing more than an excuse.

He stood up, giving me one last glance. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. G-Goodbye."

"Bye."

His absence left the room a vacuum.

Rosa returned to the room a few minutes after Hugo had left, but I'd never moved from that bench. Where would I even go? "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"No," I swallowed. "When you first kissed Juan, did it all make sense to you?"

"Not at first." She moved to sit beside me, leaning her head on mine. "He was always scared of me, and I thought he was a complete wimp. Turns out, that's what we needed. I pushed him out of his shell. He taught me to think twice about things every once in a while. True love can't be wrong."

"Well, tell the Cupid he missed his arrow this time."

"I know what you think, but you can't let go of Hugo so easily." She wrapped her arm around my back and pulled me closer.

"I don't want to." But his face drenched in sadness was all I saw. "And yet I'm starting to think this can't work."

"What would you do to be together? How far would you go?"

"Anything. I just want to spend more time with him. He wants to part ways tomorrow," I sniffed.

"Then it's sure things will work themselves out. I know you, little brother. When you were seven, you wanted to play the piano. Mamá said you couldn't. What did you do?"

The answer took a little while to come out. I'd almost forgotten it. "I practiced behind her back."

"And yet when you played that recital for Abuelo, she couldn't hold back her tears. Mamá makes mistakes too, Miguel. She's not perfect, like I am. If being with Hugo is what makes you happy, then you need to do what you do best. Rebel."

I hugged her as tightly as I could, as briefly as I could. The sooner I let go, the less her stench would attach itself to me.

"What is it you say, when people help you?" She grinned.

"Thank you, Rosa," I sighed with a groan.

Her satisfaction would've bothered me any other day. "Go find your shining knight. I saw him heading downstairs."

With the aid of a handful of guards, and nearly getting myself lost, I found him in the place I certainly should've looked first. When I crossed that forgotten corridor, the door to my secret room was slightly ajar.

I pulled it open to see him sitting inside, gazing at the distant beach.

"Hugo," I said.

When he stared back at me in surprise, his eyes were still wet.

"I know we can't be together after tomorrow," I said, moving towards him with hurried steps, "but we can still have this today, and I'll be damned if I let myself waste it." When I had my back to the sea and my eyes facing his, I leaned down and kissed him, caressing the back of his head to push us together. His words earlier might have lacked it, but the electric jolts his lips gave me were there to meet mine.

Once I stopped to let him stand, it was with my own hope under a leash, dreading the worst, but he'd never stopped looking at me.

Instead, he pulled me in for more. All the worries I'd kept in cages broke out to fly away, untethered and free, leaving me as light as the blue sky.