Alessandro woke early the next day, the sunlight filtering through a crack in the window and his loyal servant already pulling back the curtains and chattering about the nightly events and the mornings gossip. A good, cold drink was handed to him as he groggily sat up in his bed and a beaming smile offered to him by the ruddy cheeked youth who was in his chambers, he was now talking about Rei and what the various other servants thought of him. Slowly supping from his cup he slipped from his sheets and left his servant to change them, neither he nor his boy bothered by the nudity he left on show. It was as usual for Alessandro to be naked about this man as it was his own wet nurse and likewise the boy had been here long enough to not react even when a certain morning problem made it hard to ignore him. There had even been talk of the poor boy having feelings for the Prince which the Prince had waved away as nothing but insolent rubbish before his parents had caught wind of it and seen fit to exercise their right to lop off his head. 

He helped Alessandro into his robe with that same lovesick grin before fastening and serving him his morning breakfast. Fresh bread, egg and fruit were served with thick cuts of cheese and ham. The boy purposely ignoring the folded fabric as Alessandro grew curious and peeled back a corner. The fresh scent wafted into his room and it was his turn to smile, it was not hard to see why he was considered handsome when he smiled fori t was as warm as a summers day, his eyes reflecting like a summer sky. "I do so enjoy the smell of lily of the valley." He uttered with good humour in his tone that caused his boy to blush. "I wonder who would know that outside these four walls though...not even my sister is aware of my floral preference." The boy stammered a reason but Alessandro only nodded, "A lovely present, thank you." The boy uttered something about wishing he could have got something more for him for his birthday but Alessandro handed him some berries and his cheese -as oft he did as he was not too fond of cheese- and told him it was okay, it was perhaps the best gift he'd received.

Standing he fetched a clean sheet of parchment and carefully folded it in two, there after he lifted the white bell shaped flowers onto the paper, close to the crease. Slipping them into one of the thick tomes he really ought to -but never could find the effort to- read, this was a trick he'd learned from his sister whose various history texts were filled with assorted meadow and garden flowers pressed flat and dried to forever preserve their beauty. Returning to his meal he ran through his morning tasks that needed to be done and with a sigh glanced to the wig. It was of course real human hair, while most were made of dog or horse hair if worn at all, his father had decided it was not befitting a prince to wear such a low grade garment and was certain his friends and rivals would easily see through such a farce. So with pay offs to local barbers and some eager young lower nobles wives dark locks were cut and sewn into what certainly was a gorgeous wig. The black locks hung naturally with a slight curl, not as pronounced as his sisters which were plumped and pinned every morning but enough to make him look more a member of the family as his father so wished it. 

"I had better put that on last." He uttered, stretching after another goblet of fresh water flavored with lemon and lime slices. The day was going to be warm, even the sun so early felt warm on his back and so their morning routine began. His helper ran a bath for him and helped him scrub and clean, including washing his golden locks until they gleamed. Helping him then to dry, dress and brush his hair where a soft compliment was always given by way of look upon the young boys face. Doubtful he even knew he was doing it but the boy whenever he brushed his hair before the mirror such as he did now had this look of wonder and jealousy, no other in the kingdom regarded his locks as something to be envious of and none seemed to see the beauty that he did, it was one of the many reasons he kept him. That and he never asked about the scars, something that while not a secret was somewhat of a sour subject this early in the morning. "So tell me about Rei."