"Do you… actually, like me?"

Raphael confronted Little Jean, who gazed at him with his doe eyes. Little Jean said nothing, but he stretched his hands and tried to touch Raphael's cheek. 

Raphael crouched and asked, "What do you want, Jean? You haven't answered my question."

Little Jean put his palms on Raphael's cheeks and then kissed his forehead.

Chu.

Raphael was stunned as he could feel the small but plump lips touched his forehead. He was speechless and continue staring at Little Jean, who smiled at him.

"Little Jean loves Angel!" 

Raphael's heart skipped for a second. He didn't expect the innocent confession from a little kid could have such a big impact on him. Raphael, who had been taught to be careful since the moment he has self-consciousness, actually had a moment when he didn't want to be careful.

And that moment was now. He didn't want to be careful around Little Jean. 

"Jean, you don't understand what does it mean when you said that," Raphael said. 

"Un… Jean understand, Big brother!" Little Jean nodded few times and continued, "When you love someone, you want to stay around him for a long time. When you love someone, you want to live with him. And when you're in love, your heart will beat faster if he is around you."

"Angel, you're the one who taught me what love is!" Little Jean said. 

[Pupa: Ding! Raphael De Argent's Fatemeter increases to 25%.]

[Ah, as expected, hehe~]

[Pupa: Lies. You said that you like your Big brother the most. You're playing with their hearts.]

[Sshh… I like both. This is supposed to be a harem otome game, Pupa. Stop trying to make me feel bad!]

[I suppose so. You're still lying nonetheless.]

Raphael still zipped his mouth, and for a good while, there was a long silence between them before Raphael chuckled, "Yes, yes, I am the one who taught you about love…." 

"I was just surprised of myself…." Raphael said.

"Surprised?" Little Jean tilted his head. 

"No, it's nothing," Raphael took a deep breath and then touched Little Jean's forehead with his index finger. A gentle light covered Jean's forehead.

In a matter of a second, a gentle light surrounded Little Jean and Raphael, engulfing them in a warm and gentle caress of the holy light. 

"Angel, what is this?" 

"It's just my gift for you," Raphael replied. "I'm not sure about my heart. But you should realize that it's illegal to be so cute and innocent like this. My heart can't handle it."

"Little Jean, both of us, I don't think we understand what love truly is… at least not now," Raphael said. He caressed Little Jean's cheek and then kissed his forehead, "But when we are older and more experienced, I can finally say that I love you. So do you. You may truly understand what love is after you've truly experienced it."

Little Jean stared at Raphael, full of confusion as he didn't understand what the Angel was saying. 

However, Raphael didn't want to press Little Jean. Both of them were still young, four and seven years old. There was a lot of time for them to cultivate their feelings. 

In the end, they were just kids who still knew nothing. 

**

Raphael and Little Jean strolled to the center of the Maze garden. 

Raphael lifted Jean up and sat him on the edge of the fountain, and then he asked, "Jean, do you want to see a magic trick?"

"Magic trick?"

Raphael patted Little Jean's head and then pointed at the fountain behind him, "Look at the fountain and watch."

Raphael touched the water on the fountain with his finger, and the water suddenly turned colorful, from pink like Jean's hair, white like milk, crystal clear, to jet black like his Big brother's hair. 

"UWAAA!" Little Jean clapped his hands as he watched the water show of colorful water. "Angel is so amazing! Jean wants to see more!"

Raphael chuckled and flicked his fingers, and a small rainbow appeared on top of the fountain, and Jean was awed to an instant. 

[Pupa, is Raphael the only one who has magic here? I assume that his magic is holy magic, right?]

[Pupa: Every noble has magic. Your Big brother has water magic that allows him to manipulate water into a weapon.]

[Ohhh, like Katara, I see. How about me? I've always wanted to be like Azula, you know. That crazy hoe who's just so powerful and somewhat hot at the same time.]

[Pupa: You don't have any common magic, nor special magic like Raphael's holy magic. But you are a hoe—.]

[Ish, you're pointing the obvious!]

[Pupa: I'm not done yet. I mean, you have hoe magic.]

[Huh?]

[Pupa: Since you're a natural hoe, you're now blessed with Hoe magic. Apparently, it makes you very likable to the male leads. It also makes you very horny when you finally hit maturity. This skill will be helpful in the future, right?]

[I mean, yeah? But I don't need that skill. I'm already so tempting and delicious to look at, nyehehehe.]

[Pupa:… please refrain from saying that, at least not now. You're still four years old. You're creeping me out.]

Raphael knew that he had holy magic since long ago. He could control nature and deem as the most powerful magic in the universe.

But it had a weakness, and that weakness was….

Raphael stared at Little Jean, who was still awed by the small magic trick. 

Raphael grinned and said nothing. He continued watching the water show on the fountain with Little Jean. 

**

Meanwhile, Archduke Maximillien and Emperor Argent III were sitting in the Duke's office. The atmosphere was tense as they were glaring at each other. 

Maximillien had ripped many pages from the engagement contract between Little Jean and Raphael. Because he deemed it ridiculous, especially for Little Jean's side. 

Maximillien continued reading the contract and then ripped another. Emperor Argent's lips twitched as he felt it was ridiculous for Archduke Maximillien to disagree on the contract. 

Because it was literally a regular contract, Emperor Argent wouldn't be stupid enough to give an obviously disadvantageous contract for Little Jean. It would raise suspicion on Archduke Maximillien's side.

"That's the tenth page that you ripped," Emperor Argent mentioned with contempt in his voice. But Archduke Maximillien didn't seem to care. He kept reading and ripped the eleventh page from the contract. 

"How many times you'll keep ripping the contract? It's a regular contract that people use for child engagement."

"And it's not to my liking," Maximillien replied. "I don't want my little brother to be disadvantaged in this engagement that is bound to fail."

"Bound to fail? You doubt my son that much?" Emperor Argent scoffed, "You doubt the next saint of the Empire, you know that, right?"

"This is just a preemptive effort of mine. I want Little Jean to be separated from the Second prince on a good note. I don't want him to have any regret in the future."

"Regret? I don't think they will be separated. They're meant for each other," Emperor Argent defended his son. "In fact, I think it's you who looks too worried for Jean. That kid is your adopted brother. He has no blood relation with you."

"Doesn't matter. He's still part of my duchy."

"Just that? Or you have something else with your adopted brother?" Emperor Argent's scrutinizing gaze made Maximillien stopped reading for a second.

Archduke Maximillien shook his head and continued reading, "it's just your imagination, Your Majesty."