.

Jylan sighed, then muttered something under his breath. "Sure, my prince," he replied, but his voice spoke otherwise. 

"Idiot," Sebastian whispered as Jylan led him to a ladder. The ladder reached up to a small flat, similar to a quarter of a second floor but with only one room.

The prince had never seen a house styled with something like this. His mouth nearly fell open, and his eyes shined with interest. "It looks… nice," he said, and he turned to Jylan in curiosity.

"It's my loft," Jylan told him proudly. "I built it myself!" 

The two of them climbed up, Jylan going first, and then gazed among the area. Sebastian's interest quickly subsided as he noticed the cobwebs and dust around.

There lay first a worn mattress with two thick, small blankets spread over it. A bag stuffed with feathers and cotton was meant to be makeshift for a pillow.

Then came a scraggly corner filled with cleaning supplies. There were rakes, brooms, mops, dusters, buckets – all kinds of junk with the purpose of cleaning. Even an odd little circular bot on wheels that had scrabble-grabble arms! "How do you manage to gather so much… gunk… all for one corner?!" Sebastian had remarked, turning up his nose at the objects and facing away. Jylan had shrugged, though a poke of a smirk nudged at his mouth. Ah, the butler was enjoying this. 

Then there was a wardrobe. It was the cleanest and freshest part of all the items in this loft, with freshly red-painted wood and intricate designs. The knobs were two hearts with gold paint carefully splotched around a glass jewel. Handpainted. 

The wardrobe was worth much more than any of the dirt-cheap trash in the loft, to the point where it was something Sebastian would expect to find in the palace. 

"Did you steal this? It doesn't seem to be yours." Sebastian said, stepping forward to run a finger over the gold paint, which had long lost its shine and was now a faded mustard yellow. His fingers fell to the handle, and he gripped it tightly. 

"Wait, don't -" Jylan said, but it was too late. Sebastian opened the door to the wardrobe, and a bunch of love dolls tumbled out. 

"Why did you do that?!" Jylan said. His voice faltered as he bent to pick them up. Sebastian stared in horror at what had tumbled out. 

Jylan was now blushing furiously, his hands quivering as he finished gathering them all in his arms and Sebastian out of the way. Then he threw all the dolls back into the wardrobe, slamming the door. He made sure to lock the wardrobe this time, pulling out a shining silver key and twisting it home under the golden handle. 

Before he closed it, though, Sebastian had seen numbers on each of them - 1, 2, 3, all the way up to 7. What happened after seven? 

"Butler, what's-" Sebastian tried, and then stopped in his tracks. 

Jylan was crying.

"Jy -" Sebastian pursed his lips and held out a hand, but he wasn't sure what to say. His vocal cords had failed him, and miserably at that. 

"My prince," Jylan muttered, sniffling. "I would appreciate it if you gave me some privacy."

Phrased politely, but it wasn't a question.