A Letter of Protest from the Second Prince

"Your Highness, His Majesty the Emperor has sent you a letter..." Jenorio reported, holding out a pale-yellow envelope decorated with intricate patterns.

"Open it and see what our emperor has to say to me." Lorist was busy. Jenorio was his third disciple and had his full trust, so he could leave such matters to him.

It was afternoon tea, and Lorist lay on a thick reed mat in a garden pavilion. His two youngest sons, Jedbins and Rollin North, were climbing all over him. The boys had been born close together: one was Princess Sylvia's little darling, the other the beloved son of his concubine Daisy. Both were over two and nearly three, plump and at their most active, adorable, and mischievous. They treated Lorist like a giant toy that moved, gleefully climbing up and tumbling down again.

Lorist lay still with a miserable expression so he wouldn't upset them. Every so often, he had to separate the two when their play threatened to turn into a scuffle. Afternoon tea was supposed to be a leisurely time for his family to gather, eat pastries, drink tea, and let him play with his children. But while chatting, Princess Sylvia and the others had suddenly heard that the shopping street in the noble district had received a new batch of autumn dresses. Why wait? The five spendthrifts dumped the children on Lorist and rushed off to shop, leaving him on nanny duty...

Fortunately, the older children had lessons with their tutors after tea. That left only these two energetic little ones—and Andbel, the troublemaker sulking in a horse stance nearby. He was supposed to have two more literacy lessons, but he had slipped away the moment his tutor's attention wandered. Then he had taken a bamboo pole to poke a small hornet's