“Your highness,” One servant quietly got Hironori’s attention. The young prince was neck deep in the heated water and a warm towel was resting over his eyes. She wasn’t sure if had been asleep, but after he had cleaned off and settled to relax, she couldn’t help but debate that was the case. A soft, questioning hum answered her question, and she cleared her throat lightly. “My apologies for disturbing you. I just wanted to let you know that it is getting fairly late. I wouldn’t want the water getting too cold for you.” Her gaze stayed on the towels in her hand as she spoke. 

There was a moment of silence as the servant waited for a response or a command to leave. Instead, the water splashed a little as Hiro stretched his arms over his head and removed the towel off his face. “I suppose you’re right.” A yawn escaped before he could continue. “I should probably head to bed. I’m sure everyone else is asleep now.” He stood and climbed out of the bath. The servant quickly handed him his towel before looking away from him. It was obvious that few of the younger servants had been infatuated by the prince, but most occasions he paid no mind to them, unless he was in a good mood and decided to be flirtatious. He toweled off and thanked her for the robe. He was left to his own devices and walked his way to his room. 

He decided to take the long way to his room. It was quiet, save for the few night servants shuffling about. He realized it was pretty quiet all the time around the large home. There were dozens of people who occupied the place and yet it always seemed pretty empty. He passed his father’s dojo, peeking inside just because. There was no real value to it for him, but there were occasions that he thought maybe just maybe he could appeal to his father and at least attempt to try out his interests...Of course those thoughts faded and he continued on his way. Hironori walked along, stopping by his personal study. Another small yawn escaped him but he shuffled inside in order to clean up a bit more. The books were stacked and pushed into place and he reorganized a few more things. Eventually, he wandered to his own room, looking over at Akito’s door before continuing. Unlike his betrothed, he comfortably fell asleep on his lush bed.

Morning seemed to come way too soon and Hiro buried himself deeper under the covers as the sun shined. He could have sworn the servants moved his bed and angled him directly in the sun. He didn’t want to get up and face the world today. His first day had already been hectic. The second day would probably be less interesting. As he mentioned to Akito before, they could do anything they wanted in the palace- and yet there was nothing to do. He sighed and stayed hidden, only debating to get up when his stomach growled. He could already sense the monotonous conversation at breakfast. [i]”How did you sleep?” “Was there anything you wanted to try doing today?”[/i]

Farther down, a servant had already knocked on Akito’s door in order to get him ready and awake for the day. In fact, they had done so thirty minutes before even bothering to get Hironori up. All were well aware of Hiro’s tendencies to sleep in, so they decided to give him only a few extra minutes- but of course, not enough to be late for breakfast.