He smiled and chuckled softly at her reaction to his answer, then kissed her forehead again and backed away. "I'll just get up early and get some of it done. At least I'm making the effort," he added with a shrug, then sketched a bow to Lily with a warm smile. "Until we meet again, Lily darling."
She curtsied with a small laugh, brushing her hair back as she straightened. "Until then." She agreed, giving him a smile that was happy and warm and bright, as she tilted her head. "Goodnight, Rhydar. Try and get some rest?"
He visibly brightened at the sight of her smile as he straightened. He then nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I'll try," he said with a small laugh, "Goodnight, Lily." He dipped his chin in farewell, then turned and headed to his room.
((Skip?))
((Yeah. Maybe we could skip to Rhydar doing his royal duties and whatnot, such as going through piles of papers, and Lily walks in and offers to help? A sort of simple bonding moment?))
((Works for me! Your start or mine?))
((I can start, just gimme a minute))
The giant greenhouse probably wasn't the best place to look over a bunch of papers that his mother had dumped onto him, but it was his favorite place in the palace, and it was the best place for him to think straight. The occasional lady waltzed in and feigned surprise to see him, but he made his busy schedule clear and they let themselves out. Rude maybe, but he didn't need them yapping his ear off while he was trying to read, nor a thousand questions on what he was doing every time he switched papers. It was beyond annoying.
The greenhouse was marvelous in its grandeur, with large trees spiraling up towards the high glass ceiling, equally large purplish leaves from exotic places, tiny fields of low lying flowers, a small pond with ducks and geese playing in the trickling fountain. Stone paths wound through the thick and exotic brush, though some ducking had to be done to get past some vines or leaves or branches. Gardeners weren't allowed to trim anything here, as it would ruin its authenticity. Some people came in here and said it was too cluttered with different sorts of plants. Rhydar came in here and immediately felt the tension roll off his shoulders, the peace taking its place.
He was currently sitting in the middle of one of the larger stone paths, a dark purple leaf the size of his entire body looming over him and protecting him from the glaring sun as he worked. His mother apparently had spies watching his doings in the city and found out about his secret. How did he know this? Well, he was now filling out papers for a charity program supposedly set up by yours truly. At least it was better than a scolding.
Sleep, for once, had actually come to Lily. A dreamless two hours, the most she had been able to manage in what seemed like forever. And as she wandered quietly through the halls of the palace, she found herself wondering if a certain Prince had anything to do with that. She had been happy when she'd fallen asleep, something that, as she looked back on every night in the past year, she realized realized she hadn't felt since she was young. Another thing to thank him for.
It wasn't long before she found herself in the greenhouse, her previous train of though completely derailed at the sight of all the plants around her. A sort of childlike wonder that only showed itself when she was alone made it's way onto her face, as she flitted from plant to plant. The muttered names of each plant, without fail, slipped from her tongue as she did, her eyes bright. The greenhouse topped the gardens when it came to plant variety, that was for sure.
Lily stuck to the pathway as she muttered excitedly, not wanting to get herself lost. She was, in fact, so enthralled with the plants, that she only noticed Rhydar as she was studying the plant bearing the leaf that gave him a reprieve from the sun.
Rhydar ran his hands through his hair as he groaned and threw his head back, already tired of all this work. Sure, it was for a good cause that he genuinely stood behind. But it was so boring as opposed to actually stealing the money. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't expecting visitors, so he didn't notice Lily until he heard the soft padding of her feet on the pathway. "Beats sitting at a desk," he said by greeting, not opening his eyes.
"I bet." Lily said, raising an eyebrow slightly at him, despite his eyes being closed. "So many plants, and it's so peaceful." She returned to looking around at the foliage surrounding the pathway, her smile still very much in place. "What are the papers for?"
He sighed and hunched back over said papers, eyes open again. "Some sort of charity thing my mother set up under my name," he said, "I have to go through it all and sign off on things. Sometimes scratch or change some other things, then wait for the response."
She tilted her head, looking back down at him. "Do you…want any help?" She asked, already moving closer and sitting down across from him. Folding her legs, she rested her arms on her knees as she waited for an answer. She might not be able to help much, but she was willing to try, at least, if he wanted her help.
He didn't answer her verbally, but he did pick up a small stack of papers and rifled through it, checking that he was picking up the right things, then handed it to her. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a second opinion on this entire thing. Mother has pretty much set up a fundraising program that collects donations from the people and funnels it to the poor or homeless. I'm not sure how she plans on getting people to donate money, though."
She nodded, setting the papers in her lap and reading over the top paper as she pulled her hair out of the way, into a quick and messy bun, before picking the papers back up. "As in you don't know what she has planned, or you don't know if she has anything planned at all?" She asked, flipping through the papers methodically.
"Yes," he said, shooting a small smile her way as he went back to his stack of papers. "Getting people to help the lesser-off is difficult, even with me backing it up. I believe I've stated this before, but I don't exactly have the most benevolent reputation in my kingdom—or any kingdom, for that matter." He scrunched his nose when he read about a proposed tax on the people that would be filtered to the charity in order to have a guaranteed income.
A small crease appeared between her brows, the product of her focus on reading. She hummed thoughtfully, glancing up from the papers for a moment. "You could always try fixing that, if you were really looking for the backing of more people." She said, the innocent look on her face making it obvious she didn't mean anything insulting by that. "But what about…donation boxes at popular shops? And occasional events, to gather positive interest?"
He sat back, thinking it through. "Y'know, that's not a half-bad idea," he mused, grabbing the notepad he had set aside to scribble something down, then paused. "I was thinking riding lessons for little kids—free, mind you, so that the parents are more inclined to donate—but then I remembered that I might not exactly be the best teacher." He scratched the back of his head as he thought of something else. "Or I could just hire actual teachers."
"Oh, that sounds like a great idea." She said, nodding as she went back to reading. "You might want to see if you can get volunteer teachers first. It builds a sense of community, if that makes any sense, and then you don't have to worry about going over some sort of funding budget, either."
He smiled and wrote that down, glad that Lily had shown up when she did. "Thanks," he said as he wrote, then set the notebook off to the side and went back to the papers. Some of the proposed ideas were good, but others were more greedy than benevolent. He scratched those as soon as possible. He found one that he really liked. It was similar to that of what they discussed, but for up-and-coming jewelers to represent their prince's well-known love for jewelry.
She sorted each paper into one of three stacks she'd made as she finished reading them, occasionally brushing her hair back from her face as it decided to fall loose. Every once in a while, her nose would scrunch up alongside her entire face, making it obvious she'd read an idea she absolutely didn't like, before dropping it into the 'nope' pile.
((I love 'nope' piles. It gives you an excuse to say NOPE repeatedly))
Right after Rhydar sighed off on one idea, his signature both loopy and messy, he sighed and cracked his neck, then rolled his shoulders and shifted. "Uhhh, this is so tiring," he complained. "And my hand hurts from writing my name so much. Why couldn't mother spell my name the shorter way?" he whined, cracking his knuckles next.
((Very firmly "N O P E"))
Lily huffed a laugh, looking up from another paper. "Maybe because it sounds fancier. More formal or something?" She offered, almost teasingly, with a half smile. "You should get a stamp signature, that way you can just-" She mimed stamping one of the papers, shaking her head.
"Pfffft." He scrunched his nose playfully, sticking his tongue out at her. "I don't appreciate the teasing," he said, though it was quite clear he was enjoying it and her company. He flipped through a few papers, recognizing the name and scoffing as he put all of them in his own 'nope' pile. The dude was a greedy bastard. There was no way in Hell that Rhydar would make a deal with him.
"And yet, you haven't told me to stop." She said with a laugh, this one full, instead of the usual small huff of air. She took a moment to straighten up her piles before continuing, her nose scrunched in concentration this time. "Did you have any more ideas?"