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"Regan has been asking them about it almost nonstop," Aranxia said with an amused smile. "But they won't tell her. I think it's just because she's asking so much. Unfortunately, it means that I don't get to find out either, because then she'll bug me for the information, which still doesn't teach her not to be so persistent."

"Sounds like me," Kaito grinned.

Aranxia smiled softly. "Still, as second in line, she is supposed to be the more responsible and mature of us ... not the other way around."

After all, Regan would be Tinuviel's heir someday, just as Tinuviel was Atalya's.

She led the way through the room with seven doors and led them towards the stairs. "Come, they will all be glad to see you," she smiled warmly.

Aranxia giggled. "Considering that she is ten years my senior?" she quipped as they headed up the stairs.

Kaito chuckled. "Give her time. Trust us, we've seen it before in many of your cousins. She'll settle down."

"If you say so," Aranxia smiled again. She turned to Lin. "So who did you want to see?"

Aranxia smiled to herself, though she did manage not to giggle at Miyuki. It sounded like good news for her uncle! She just hoped it actually would be, she was quite fond of him and she wanted him to be happy.

"Uncle Earendil is probably in his study," she told Lin. "He has been spending his mornings there lately."

"Well, he still goes up the mountain first," Aranxia amended, skipping a bit to keep up with Lin, "but he just goes up before breakfast and then comes back and goes to his study, instead of staying on the mountain for the whole morning."

Perhaps she should have stipulated in the first place.

Aranxia nodded. "Him and Uncle Shea and Uncle Mikhail," she explained. "They're all busy, all the time. But I don't know what they're doing, I think it might have something to do with the letters they all received."

Kaito looked curious. "Now I really really want to know what's up with these letters."

Kaito stared after Miyuki as she ran off. "You actually trust her to follow your directions on her own?" he asked incredulously.

Aranxia giggled. "She has the cat," she reminded Kaito.

Kaito had to admit, that was a good point. Senka knew the castle almost as well as Lin did.

Meanwhile, up in Earendil's study, the three men were planning together, working on a large sheet of paper on Earendil's desk. They were working hard, and had a number of tools on the desk: rulers, protractors, squares ... and every piece was being used time and again as they worked. The door was open to help create a draft, because with three men in the small study it got hot quite quickly.

The men were so wrapped up in their work that they didn't notice the voices in the corridor until all of a sudden Miyuki and Senka were at the door. At Miyuki's exclamation, all three men looked up to see what was going on. Shea and Mikhail stared at Miyuki in wonder, but Earendil's face lit up brightly.

"Miyuki!" he exclaimed, shoving his chair back and coming quickly around the desk to greet her, arms wide. He threw his arms around her and hugged her close. "Look at you!" he beamed. "How you've grown!"

Shea and Mikhail stared at their nephew. He was a father? Why hadn't he said anything?