Valentine had walked around the room nervously. First month of her eighteenth birthday and she’s already had a man in her room. God… it felt like a dream. While the man was showering or bathing or whatever, she was curled up in bed, screaming her heart out into her pillow out of pure happiness of finally having someone who somewhat understood her as a person rather than as some sort of higher being like most people would regard her being.
She then stood up from the bed and grabbed a drink before she started undressing herself to get into more… comfortable clothes. However, she couldn’t quite find the clothes she was looking for… and the dress she had on earlier was one that was easy to undress but was hard to get on again. This… this was bad. If Korren was to walk out, he would definitely see her half-naked.
Korren had finished up, his hair still slightly damp as he slipped his tunic back on, greaves following. They weren’t necessarily armored, just had a few patches of leather for any kind of nimble “combat” that would present itself.
He took a while looking at himself in the mirror, squinting like he was trying to figure out what was really happening.
Perhaps it was a little over a while. The water had stopped draining a moment ago, and no sound was audible from where he stood. It was eerily quiet, but that seemed inviting for Korr and his large array of extremely loud thoughts.
Finally he turned for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob before he thought better of it, and knocked instead.
“Give me a moment!” The princess shouted not so loudly back at the door, thankful that the soldier hadn’t just opened it and came out. She finally found the clothes she was looking for in the closet—well, the deeper parts of it that was. It was just a nice looking shirt with a similar linen white color as her dress from earlier but minus that whole excessiveness of the dress.
“You can come back in now,” she spoke out loud to the door, sitting at the edge of the bed while waiting for him.
Korren nodded, despite the fact that the princess couldn’t see him yet. He slowly pushed through the door, ruffling his own hair as he offered the princess a light smile.
“Thank you… for that,” he replied, lightly blushing at the conversation they had beforehand.
“Heh? Oh no no, thank you for that,” she laughed nervously as she spoke. Of course, it was weird to have someone besides her own family inside her room for the first time, let alone someone she had invited in herself.
“Would you like something to drink?” She had asked, moving herself slightly to the side of the bed as if about to stand up.
Korren walked around to stand before her, brushing out his tunic slightly then flicking his eyes up to her. His smile seemed calmer than before, and his voice clearly demonstrated his ease.
“Yes, I’d love one,” he replied, nodding lightly. He watched as she repositioned, clasping his arms behind his back and standing further upright.
“Also— if you don’t mind me asking— why haven’t you done this before?” he began, titling his head. “If you were… fed up with this life, why did it take you so long to search for someone like me?”
She stood up from the bed and sighed, walking over to the table by the wall to make some tea for the two of them.
“I wasn’t allowed out of palace grounds until I was fully eighteen. That was what my father said… he didn’t want me to find or fall for someone until I was a true grownup,” she mentioned as she took the tea cups to Korren. She sat back down on the edge of the bed, handing him the cup of tea.
“And I was lucky enough to have met you…”
“Lucky is certainly a word for it,” he said pointedly, mumbling a small “thank you” as she handed him the tea. He stayed standing, although his movements were nothing awkward or forced. He looked quite comfortable here, and even more so as he glanced back up to Valentine.
“Of course, I’m glad I was the one… ‘chosen,’ or whatever you’d call it.”
“Yes, chosen would be the right word…” she said softly, sipping her tea and sighing softly. “Listen, Korren…” she let out quietly before she muttered something under her breath and shook her head. “N-Nevermind…” it would seem like she’s just muttered something inappropriate again. This time, she seemed to know just how inappropriate or… ‘unroyal’ it was.
Korren squinted slightly, sipping his tea as he stood stagnant. Although Valentine’s words has piqued his interest, and he furrowed his brow.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” he replied, after taking a diminutive sip of his tea. “But I’m curious now. What were you going to say?”
“I just… uhm…” she looked up at him, specifically staring straight into his eyes as her own started to shake a bit. “I-It’s not good to say it, you know…? Some things are best left unknown until a later date, yeah…?” She swallowed quickly, genuinely nervous. Because she’s never been with any male other than those within her family with the exclusion of Vincent and his officers, she’s been quite a curious and needy individual without herself even knowing it.
Korren couldn’t help but stifle light laughter, simply just nodding.
“A-Alright,” he replied. “Guess I’ll have to wait, then?”
And whether he learned the contents of her speech tomorrow or three weeks from now, he could wait. While he was a curious individual, he was also a patient one.
“In the meantime— not to sound dull or anything— but I’d like to get to know you. Rumors aren’t the most… accurate way to learn about the royal family.”
(Ack— I forgot— Sorry ;-;)
“Mm… I suppose it isn’t,” she smiled and turned back to him with a giddy smile.
“What would you like know about me?” She asked, unsure where to start with explaining herself. There are a lot of things about her, not a lot of which people knew about.
(no problem! i kinda didn’t wanna bump cuz i didn’t wanna seem pushy, so don’t worry about it at all—)
“I guess it is a little difficult to pick a topic out of nowhere, hm?” he asked, words cut short by him taking another sip of tea. “Maybe… well… I guess since we already brushed over the topic— what would you be doing if you didn’t have any ties to the royal family? If you had complete freedom, so to speak.”
“If I had complete freedom? I’d probably be at a florist somewhere, working day and night, taking care of flowers or something… I know, not the greatest of ideas but it is what I know I want to do,” she mentioned, sighing softly as she looked down at her own dress. “It would save me so much sanity if I was able to do that and not go on royal workings as a ‘representative’ of my father or mother…” she mentioned with a sad smile. “Next?”
Korren nodded, leaning up against one of Valentine’s bed posts.
“I see. And call me a softie, but working with flowers sounds… nice. A really peaceful kind of job in comparison to being a knight.”
He pried his eyes from his cup of tea, glancing over to where the princess sat.
“Hmm… let me think. Do your parents let you do anything outside of your royal duties? Like, hobbies, or the like?”
“Uhm… not as much as I would want but… at least I get to do things I like from time to time so that’s definitely nice!” She laughed ruefully, although her face showed signs of mild sadness. Clearly she didn’t have enough time or the chance to do what she wanted…
“Is that so?” he mumbled, mouth curving back into a smile. “That’s.. nice. For the most part.”
His voice grew slightly raspy before he cleared his throat, then took the last sip of his tea and began to cradle the cup in a worn hand.
“What do you usually do?” With his free hand, he brushed the hair from his eyes to little avail— the damp strands falling back the second he stopped. He didn’t seem to mind, though, with the majority of his attention locked on the princess.
“Uhm… usually I would paint or work on the garden behind the castle…” she answered, clearly nervous after seeing his form this close.
“H-How about you… what do you usually do on your free time away from training?”
“It really depends on how much time off I’m allowed,” Korr replied, nodding slowly. “If it’s only for a couple hours or so, I usually watch the traveling bards in the courtyard. If it’s for a longer time then…”
He tapped his finger on the porcelain cup, eyes flitting around for a moment as he thought.
“Then I’d probably add to my cartography collection. I make maps of nearby places; it gives me a good excuse to travel.”
“That’s a nice way to spend your time, actually,” she commented as she finally finished her cup of tea. She sighed softly as the silence settled in. “More questions? Or… topic of discussion? Honestly, anything to keep me company right now would be extremely appreciated…”
“Well…,” he said, setting his empty tea cup down on a nearby bedside table. He took a step forward, tilting his head to the side and offering the princess a hand.
“Would your parents allow us a walk through the courtyard?” Korren asked, eyes lively as he smiled down at the woman. His attention flicked to the window for a moment before settling back on her. “It’s always a lovely sight this time of day.”
