Joesph strode through the ornate halls of the royal palace, seeking the princess. It was nearly time for the round table meeting, and he did not wish the kingdom of Gabriel to be late. But he was close to being lost in the massive palace, as Joesph had only visited once or twice, and in the previous times there was someone who guided him where he needed to be.

He was a soldier, not a politician. There was really no need for him to report to the royals personally, a messenger was sent when there was something worthwhile to inform the leadership of. With the state that the hierarchy of late, Joesph conveniently had excuses during gatherings or royal parties he was invited to. Besides, those were filled with drama after pressure for the princess to marry seemed to have pushed her past her breaking point. Consequently, this also meant Joesph had little to no contact with Princess Ani.

And judging from the suitors and servants that Joesph had talked to, he wasn't in any hurry to spend more time in her presence than was needed.

After a while; a maid took pity on him as she had seen Joesph walk around in circles, and led him straight to the dressing room the princess was in. He knocked gently on the door, loud enough to get the princess's attention.

"Princess Ani? This is Joesph, one of your knights. I feel it would be best if your highness left now, it would not be wise to be late for an event of this nature. You wouldn't want to offend the other kingdoms."

The phrase that the queen had apparently muttered absently only brought more worry to Ephraim. She was thinking of revenge again... He sighed. She really seemed to be more consumed by it all the time. The crown atop her head was proof of that, as was her altered façade and now the thoughts that she let slip. He tried to refocus on what she had said after that.

"I know this is important, but please don't let yourself overdo it. People tend to betray themselves more when the strings are too taut, you know?" He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it in what was meant to be a calming gesture.

"So you have made your decision?" The king was actually quite surprised that he had not been informed previously. He supposed that the message must have gotten lost somewhere, perhaps. Either way, this did seem like a bit of an problem, since he had just dismissed the knight, and who knew where he was at this point. Once they were off duty, even the great warriors of the kingdom had lives outside of the castle. Calling him back would take time hat he didn't know that they had.

"Are you sure you want Argus? He has been doing quite a bit lately, I doubt that he even has time to sleep anymore. As impressive as he is, he is not a machine, and he has been busy almost nonstop with preparations as far as I can tell." This much was also true, he knew that the knight was in charge of many operations regarding the military, and with the recent increase in martial activity and border security measures, he couldn't imagine that the man had very much - if any - time to himself anymore.