Rei can not halt another quick glance at himself as he once more hears that, despite his - albeit minor – effort, he apparently still appears girlish in the young woman's eyes. [i]'I can not see it, and for the life of me I can not understand feeling jealous of my looks. . . .Though I suppose I am not the best judge of such things. Beauty and attractiveness in the physical sense. . .Or any sense really, is not something I understand all that well. Never had use of it. . . .'[/i] Looking back up he watches the two nobles finish their word exchange before beginning their ride and with a soft sigh he motions Silver into action. She follows along almost reluctantly, her only drive to say near the prince whom she hopes will give her a little attention.

The ride is a quiet one. Rei's head rotates this way and that like that of a raptor on the hunt, scaring most people away when they spot his piercing stare. Those who stay are either too busy to  flee or are to enthralled with the ones ahead of him to be particularly bothered by his presence. He does note that this time through town more people stop to stare and the hum of the gossip is more geared towards the hopeful than the disapproving. He swears he hears many of them call the girl by name and follow it with the word “cleansing”. He doesn't really get it, and none of it is threatening so he brushes it off with a shrug.

One ear remains on the prince and princess at all times, their conversation stuff that, for the most part, either goes over his head, or simply of no consequence to the assassin turned bodyguard. However, after a while, the talk turned tot he late brother and he can not help but pay a little bit more attention. His eyes actually stop on the two on occasion and a deep seated confusion sets up inside that small body. He gets the basic idea of what this meeting and time together with the woman is all about, as it is something he's had a bit of experience with over the years. Meetings like this are a good opportunities for an assassin since the two involved are so absent inside their own heads that taking them out is a snap.

However one thing he'd always noticed was a tit for tat exchange involving selling ones self and likewise doing one's best to buy what the other was selling. Politeness, showing off one's virtues, and pouring compliments on the other. He's not quite sure what all of that achieves however it was always the same and always just as false as what he sees before him. [i]'With this however, I do not see any of the fawning on her part. At least, not directed at the prince. It is as if he is not here, like she is seeing some shadow and every time she sees who she is looking at she falls from a daydream into a disappointing reality. I do not think that this meeting is like the others. . .But I may be wrong. I should ask later'[/i]

Alessandro himself looked not at all like one trying to sell himself and Rei can feel his own heckles come up at the tenseness of his ward. He does not act on his transferred irritation though and instead simply holds a little tighter to his dagger, and gesture that has brought him comfort over the years. The ride is blissfully short and though it stuck to a highly populated area Rei manages to come out fairly calm at the end of it all.

He hops of his mount before the other two, his gaze sweeping the yard quickly before shucking off his riding clothes and handing them off to a servant, sliding up to a spot behind the prince that blocks him mostly from the young lady's view. He's not sure if he needs to keep tot he shadows once again now that they are back but he's decided not to take any chances. He stalks along behind the two of them as they make their way back up to the palace and once they part ways Rei moves in closer. Taking up the spot he's become accustom to when escorting the price around the palace grounds he looks up at the man after the goodbye.

As their eyes meet Rei's narrow and he wonders vaguely at all the strain that the youth seems to be under. [i]'Nothing about his life is something I have encountered directly before. Everything is a little off. I know he is not exactly unique in his circumstance, however the way this is playing out is different from all I have seen before, and he. . . .'[/i] Rei does not know what to make of the man, looking back at him with his near blank curious stare. He falls into line as the prince moves off towards the tower, holding his tongue and following at a “respectful” distance until at last they enter the stone edifice.

He closes the door quietly behind them and makes to follow the prince all the way up. However the prince has other plans and instead plops down right on the stairs, his true self once more shining through true and clear. Rei pauses a couple steps down, suddenly awash in a torrent of confusion. He has to agree, the woman is not one any should seek to spend their life with, but killing oneself? He's not the insufferable one here and removing himself would rob the world of an interesting person. His brows furrow, his eyes narrowing in confusion. Moving so he is one step down from the prince he crouches panther like before the distraught young man and stares at his bowed head.

“I do not think removing yourself from the world is the answer Alessandro. Besides robbing me of the prize agreed upon between us I think that removing an unquestionably good person from the world does no one any favors, especially the one who dies.” He shakes his head slowly, his tone and eyes completely serious as he continues, his head tilting to the right. “The better solution in this instance would be to remove the bad element from the problem. In this case the woman who is causing grief to not only yourself but I do believe your younger sibling, thus also removing the guaranteed damage she would inflict on this land and the people in it along with the ruling bodies.” He blinks slowly, his head tilting to the other side. Then, as if offering to go buy a bolt of cloth he states, “I could always kill her for you.”