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A bond that started as friends to something even more.

Will we be able to live out our dreams? Will I be able to live a normal life and will I be able to be in love with the person I want to be with? These are the dilemmas the members of the royal bloodline have.

I know that my friend can. But can I be part of his life too?

---

Harry's POV

We are a few minutes away from our home. I am accompanied by a new member of the family. His name is Aurum but I decided to call him Rum. And at the moment he is sleeping. And my, he snores in a funny way.

"Zzzz, Zzzz" as the bear beside me sleeps peacefully. I smiled as I see our destination ahead of us. "Your highness, we will be arriving in a few minutes." The coachman stated. "Alright, I'll be waking Rum up."

I started to poke at his face. 'His face is squishy' I thought to myself as I continue to poke him. "Rum? Rum.. Wakey-wakey." And he started to open his eyes. *Yawn* "What's going on?" as the cub woke up from his slumber.

"We are here." And Rum started to look at the window. "Wow! It's the first time I've been to the city." As we pass through people are starting to gossip and chatter as we pass by. "Why are they acting this way?" as Rum asks me.

"I guess because you are new. That may be why they are being a bit... secretive." As we head towards the drawbridge. As we arrive, the gatekeeper signals the crew to lower the bridge for us to enter.

"Welcome back! Your highness." As the gatekeeper greets me. And when the door opens I left the carriage but I noticed something odd about Aurum. "I-I..." and I grabbed his arm and dragged him out. "There is nothing to be afraid of all right?"

I smiled at him and he nods. "Prince Harry!" as a group of maids and a butler approaches us. "Who is this?" as the butler points towards Rum. "His name is Aurum." "My apologies. I am Nolik. I am the master butler of the royal family."

"I am Aurum. But you can call me Rum." As he smiles towards the ever so serious Nolik "Likewise." As Nolik bows to Rum. "No need to do that. I am just a regular Ursan." As Rum scratches his head in embarrassment. "Nolik." And I looked at where the voice came from.

"Reyna, your highness." As my sister approaches. She is two years younger than me, and her height is right at my shoulder without ears accounted. She at the moment is wearing her tiara and her favorite pink dress. "Big brother!!" as she rushes towards me tackling as we make contact to the ground.

*Thud

And I noticed that Aurum winced in pain. "Aww, come on sis. You got us all dirty." And I helped her up right after I dusted myself. "Who's this?" as she points towards Aurum. "He is Aurum and he is going to stay with us from now on."

"Yay!" as she hops around Aurum. "Aurum?" as she tilts her head. "Y-yeah?" as he smiles nervously at her. "Can you be my big brother too?" as she smiles gently. "Of course." As Reyna launches herself at Rum.

I closed my eyes and expect a thud, but instead I see Aurum lifting up Reyna with both hands. I see both of them grinning. I could even feel myself grinning as well. "Yay! I have a new big brother!" as she gets down from the cub's clutch.

"So I am not your big brother anymore?" and I pretended to be upset. "Of course not! I can have more than one brother too right? And besides..." as she hugs me. "You are the best brother I could ask for."

I patted her in the head as I noticed Rum's face turned a bit sour. 'It must be hard to have your family killed off like that.' I thought to myself. We turned our attention to Rum. He seems to miss his family a lot.

"Rum." As I tap his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze. "Oh what?" as he tries to smile back. "I know it must be hard. I know we can't replace them." As me and sis approached him. "But we want be your family too. Because we care for you." And I motioned sis to come with me to hug the sad bear.

He flinched a little but he started to smile genuinely again as he hugs us back. "Thanks." And we let go. "You're welcome." As I looked at Nolik. "Yes, your Highness?" as he asks what I need. "I want you to prepare a room for Aurum." "Right away, Sire!" and his group left the three of us.

"Oh we better move your stuff too." As I grab the two large gauntlets I found on the carriage. "Woah! What is this thing?" and I saw a flash of light appear before us. "That my lord is a 'Dream Weapon'." As a middle age lion-man wearing a blue robe appears before us.

"Jalkaw. What is a 'Dream Weapon'?" I asked the wizard. "A weapon that actually has the ability to physically and magically mold itself according to the user. That I must say is a unique 'Dream Weapon', may I take a look?" as he looks at Rum.

"Sure." And I am shocked to see that he lifts a weapon bigger than his thighs without apparent effort. "Ahh. It's an earth elemental weapon." And we were surprised to hear what he has to say about his weapon.

"This weapon will eventually accept you as its owner. If " and he started to look serious. "You can show courage towards the face of adversary and fear." And I am surprised about the owner's reply. "I can't be brave. All I did was stand there."

And the lion lowered himself to meet Rum eye to eye. "My dear Ursan. You can only be brave if you are afraid." And the lion stood back up. "It's nice meeting you. Aurum." And he disappears before us.

"How did he know my name?" as Rum can't seem to ingest what the wizard said. "He is the royal family's mage. He casts barriers to protect the city from... harm." As I remembered about the nightmare hoard.

"He must be a really powerful wizard huh?" "Umm, big bro? What's this?" and we turned towards Reyna. Seeing a wooden box she is carrying. "Let's get these to my room and you can find out."

"Yay!" and we went towards the royal bedrooms. "There are three rooms. Left, Middle and right." As she pointed at 3 colored doors. "Mine is the rosy white one, while brothers' is the blue one." And she points at the left door. "This yellow one's for you."

I opened the door to see Nolik waiting for us. "You are here!" as the wolf-man bows at us. "This is where you are staying Master Rum." "Thanks Nolik" as Rum smiles at Nolik earning him a nervous smile.

The room has two verandas, one walk-in closet and a few shelves for him to place any valuable objects or books on. The room seems to be at the colors of blue at the roof and yellow everywhere else. And lastly a bed is stationed at the middle of the room.

"Y-Y-You're Welc-c-come." As he takes his leave. "Wow. That's the first time I've seen stone face nervous." As I compliment Rum's charming skills. "It's nothing." And I can tell that Reyna was excited to see the contents of the box.

"What is this?" as she hands the box to Aurum. "It's a fiddle." And he brought out a fiddle. "Can you play for us?" I asked him. "Better get comfortable." Me and sis sat at the bed and the bear breathed as he starts to play the fiddle.

The opening notes were calming and the song keeps on staying at that direction. I feel at peace but for some reason. Sad. As the song continues Reyna started to cry. And I see that the bear is getting emotional as well.

At the last few seconds he was slower than usual. The note got lower and softer until silence. "That's all." And we clapped after that performance. "That was wonderful. Who taught you how to play?"

"My Grandfather." And he placed the fiddle back to the box. "Can you play that some other time?" as I am surprised at who said it. "M-mom!" and we gathered around the queen. She has a light brown shade for her fur and her long hair is white as snow. And she is wearing a teal dress and silver lacings with rose-like jewelry.

"Hi. Who is this? My children." "That would be Aurum. He is a survivor of the village raid." And she looks at Rum. "Hello there young cub. I am Queen Spafera. It's nice to meet a handsome Ursan." I see Rum blush again, either because he is embarrassed or flattered to be complimented by my mother.

"T-th-thank you. Your Highness." he started to look like he is going to die from embarrassment. "Oh mom! Is Dad here yet?" Reyna spoke up, cuddling mom. "He is coming a little later. But first how about we go to the gardens?" and sis nods.

"Come with us." and the queen and princess stood up. "Ok."

The gardens are not the typical shrubbery. No. We have a lot of trees that has vines covering them and tons of flowers. I can see blue, white and many more. Also it is the best place to take a nap. Sometimes you can see a few beastmen lying down in the soft green grass. We do not mind of course, because everyone helped in making this garden. Even the royal family has to do a bit of work in the garden. Some say it might have been a forest.

"Mommy?" as the young bunny tugs my mom's dress. "Yes?" as she smiles down at her daughter. "When is our gardening day?". "Tommorow. And Aurum?" as she turn towards us. "Yes?" "You want to help out?" "Sure! I would love that!" and I see someone from a distance.

"Dad's here, dad's here!" as she hops along with mom. I usually don't feel comfortable with dad. He has always been the narrow-minded type, keeps giving me suggestions introducing "friends" that I know they are just like me, forced to live a façade to meet your parent's expectations.

Sometimes he even introduces me to a few girls that I am forced to be close with. But I am glad though that I met them. I was able to make them feel better about what will happen and wish for only the best. They are nice but I don't seem to have any intimate feelings for them.

I think because I am too young. And usually mom and dad have fights because of this.

FLASHBACK

"What are you doing!? Making pre-engagement proposals to children! Harry is too young and why can't he have a bit of freedom for once!" Mom's voice yelled.

"I am doing this for the sake of the kingdom! Why should we let him be aloof and be free while he has responsibilities to take care of? He is a member of the royal family!"

"Lauan! They are just children! Why can't you wait for them to be of age before you and your friends start forcing them to dates! I am fine if they get to meet each other, but THIS IS TOO FAR!"

The entire time I was listening, I sat there thinking. "Why can't I have a bit of peace for once?" and to my surprise Reyna entered my room. "Brother?" as she approach me teary eyed. "Is mom and dad ok?" and I hug her tightly. "They just have a misunderstanding. It happens sometimes." And I continue to pat her head. "Brother. Can I sleep here tonight?" "Of course, my dearest Reyna."

END OF FLASHBACK

That was one month ago. I wonder if they ever even notice me listen to their fights. "Hello Reyna, Rum, Fera." And he looks at me and it feels like I pissed him off "Harry." And he left us silently.

'What's wrong with him?' I wondered. "Time for dinner!" Reyna called us. I waved at her to say we will be there. "I guess we better get going." Rum said while we walk towards the castle.

A few hours later.

I am waiting for Rum under the biggest tree in the garden. It actually has a ladder that leads to the top of it. At spring it has a lot of flowers ranging from pink to violet. This tree is called the Rainbow's Child because of its ability to have multiple flowers of different colors.

"Hi." As I see the bear walking towards me. "Come with me. I want to show you something." And I lead him to the ladder that leads to the top. After a while we managed to sit on the topmost branches of the tree.

"Ahhh. What a view!" as we see the entire kingdom and mountain from the horizon. "So what do you want to talk about Harry?" I wanted to talk to him about something. "Rum. What is your dream?" as I ask him.

"My dream huh?" as he places his index finger right at his chin. "I would like to go around the world. Rather I want to be an adventurer." And he takes a deep breath. "See. I am always curious on what lies beyond these boarders. I want to learn different cultures, music and rather I want to meet a lot of people."

And I felt my heart skipped a beat as he looked at me. "And when I'm done I want to build an inn where I can serve people and play my fiddle as much as I please." And he ends his answer.

"It sound's wonderful." And I looked down. "See I wanted just one thing." And I breathed deeply. "I want to be in a place where I can be who I am, and I can be who I want to become. That's my dream. But.."

Aurum asked why I can't live my dream. "Because I am a part of the royal family. I have duties, responsibilities and all that." I started to cry. "I-I just want to be a normal person. I never wanted to be a prince to begin with." And I felt a hand pat my shoulder.

"R-rum?" I stammered. "How about we run away together?" as I look at his eyes. I see not just compassion but there is hope as well. Those brown eyes when you look at them. You feel like you can count on him.

"Are you crazy!?" as I continue to try and look away from him. "You can't just sit around here and wait. You have to do something about it. But someday..." and he pulled me closer to give me a hug. "We can make our dreams come true."

What am I doing? I am crying but instead of sadness I feel happiness instead. "W-why are you crying?" as he started to be worried for me. I show my face and said "Let's do it." And I hugged him back.

"Brother Rum! Brother Rum!" I hear sis calling. "I'm here!" and she rushes to meet us at the top of the tree. "Wow it's beautiful tonight." As she marvels at the view. "It sure is." And I saw a shooting star. "I wish... our dreams could come true."

"Oh we better get down." As I start to stand up, the two nodded and followed me down. "Brother Rum?" as she calls Rum's attention. "Yes?" and she motioned him to kneel in order for her to whisper to him. And he nods.

"Meet you there!" and she went back to the castle. "What did she asked you to do?" as we walk side to side slowly. "She asked you to play a lullaby for her did she?" and I placed my hand at my forehead.

"Yup." And I apologized for my sister's behavior but instead he laughs. "I am actually glad I get to play for my friends and family." And I laugh alongside him. 'I guess running away with him is going to be the best thing that's going to happen to me after all.'