Rivalen grimaced at Roxanne’s scathing words about his kind. Again, he found himself wishing that he could defend the witches and wizards she so deeply loathed, and again he was frustrated that he could do nothing but nod in false agreement. He hated to lie about his own people like this. Despite common belief, most sorcerers were peaceful, and there were very few who would even dream of killing someone… But he doubted the princess would be so willing to listen to the truth after losing her mother to one such unlikely wizard. Hopefully the rest of the kingdom won’t be so difficult to persuade when Father takes over as king, Rivalen thought longingly.

Roxanne also didn’t seem impressed with his description of the loyal farmer who would rather die than leave the land his family was raised on. In retrospect, Rivalen supposed a person like that would sound strange to a princess who knew nothing of the hardships in the peasant villages. She didn’t understand what it meant to even own a piece of property as a commoner. To own and live in a house, no matter what size, for one’s entire life was a highly respectable feat in small villages like Oldpine, so Rivalen’s tall tale would have gone over well with a peasant. It seemed, however, that the princess wouldn’t be so easily convinced.

“Since you insist, I suppose I can tell my father about your invitation the next time I write him a letter,” Rivalen shrugged. “Though I doubt his answer will change. He’s hard set in his ways and doesn’t change his mind often.” He lowered his head in a bow. “No matter what his answer is, I do appreciate your concern, My Lady, and I believe my father will, too.” He hesitated. Actually, Morold would likely find the princess’s concern more ironic than anything else. She had unwittingly invited her father’s enemy into their home! He could almost hear his father’s laughter…

Rivalen looked up when Roxanne spoke again, her next words catching him by surprise. She thinks I’m charming? He flushed red, once again distracted from his plans by the strange flutter in his stomach. How was it that her simple, offhanded compliments affected him so? His own father’s praise never gave him the same feeling of accomplishment, yet the princess’s flattery had just left him completely tongue tied. The color in his cheeks deepened when he realized he was smiling stupidly as well. He quickly laughed in a weak attempt to cover up his blunder and looked down at the floor, “My mother passed when I was still young, so I don’t have many memories of her, but I don’t think my father has a charming bone in his body. At least…” At least, he hasn’t been in a good humor once since Mother’s death, he finished silently. He wondered how Morold used to act when his mother was still alive. Had he been a smooth talker such as everyone accused Rivalen to be? Had he been charming or playful at any point in his life? No matter how much he racked his brain, Rivalen couldn’t remember what his father used to be like before he changed.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to dwell on the thought, though, because Roxanne went on to talk about literature with an infectious glee. Rivalen soon found himself smiling again at her enthusiasm for reading and her excitement for meeting a literate peasant. She was quite right about literacy being uncommon among commoners. In fact, in a village like Oldpine it was nearly impossible to find someone who could read a single word—apart from the sorcerers, that is. With their spell books and scrolls, literacy was a necessity among wizards. Rivalen had been taught by Morold to read the vernacular of Miroin as well as the ancient language of the druids, which all spells were written and recited in. Luckily, the king’s men had yet to make the connection between literacy and sorcery, but just to be safe…

“Ironically, I was actually taught to read by a wizard,” Rivalen said, following Roxanne with his eyes as she got up from the bed and walked to her desk. “I had a friend who used magic, though I was unaware of it at the time, and he taught me how to read and write during our breaks from work. Unfortunately, he revealed his true colors later on and was executed, but I managed to procure at least some useful information before the knights had their way with him. I even shared my literacy with my father so we could communicate if anything happened that might separate us, and it’s definitely come in handy since I moved into the castle.” He fell quiet again as he watched the princess gather the books on her desk and pick them up—though he noticed that she missed one. The books she carried now were all large and bulky, so perhaps she didn’t have room for the last one? Or, judging by the haphazard bookmark shoved between the pages, maybe she just wasn’t finished reading it yet.

“My Lady, I can do better than that,” Rivalen smirked at Roxanne’s suggestion. He got up from the stool and stepped over to the princess, trying to ignore how quickly his heart startled beating when the distance closed between them. It was strange how his nervousness made itself apparent in the most inconvenient moments. He wondered if it would fade with time, or if he would always feel that foreign excitement when he was around Roxanne. Somehow, he couldn’t say which he preferred.

Standing in front of her now, Rivalen was struck again by Roxanne’s beauty. He had seen plenty of pretty peasant girls back in Old Pine and the surrounding villages, but they all carried a sort of ruggedness that the princess lacked. It might have been the fact that she was born into nobility or that she was educated or that she had never need to put in a hard day’s work of physical labor or perhaps even all of these things, but there was just something feminine about her that made her more beautiful. And she thinks I’m charming. The thought sent a shiver of pleasure up his spine.

“Allow me,” Rivalen said, taking the books from Roxanne. Carefully balancing them in one arm—it would have been so much easier just to use magic—he stepped over to the door and pulled it open with his free hand, holding it aside for the princess to walk through first while casting her a wry grin, “After you, Your Highness.”

"Ah, like I said, your father did sound a strange man. Though I would appreciate dearly should you put in the offer." she gave Rivaled a satisfied smile, before catching herself sounding far more eager than she should have, "...that is, if I even am able to request that, and father knows you that well!" she slapped on the end, to appear less yielding more than anything else.

The red colour of his face at her casually tossed compliment made her smirk over at him in response, even making her stifle a little chuckle. Oh, how Rivalen did so make her laugh! His reactions, though unexpected, were priceless. And though she knew she should have dropped the topic, she left him a final, conclusive statement.
"It must be your proud mother, then, who raised such a charming young man for a son."

"Being so close to a wizard and they didn't manage to successfully execute you? Yet another feat of many I'm coming to hear about." she tossed her head back at the remark, shaking it disdainfully especially at hearing how this wizard ended up going rogue.
To be expected, of course.
"...I'm glad you were able to learn to read and write from him, though, and able to pass it on to your father. They are priceless skills in this day and age, but I don't know if they're worth the danger that you would have put yourself int-"
Was she actually...worrying about him?

She found her own face heating up when the distance between them was closed, her green eyes never leaving his as he got off the stool and walked towards her, and once he was so close, they refused to focus on his dark brown orbs again. They frantically darted wherever, and she subconsciously cradled the books closer to her chest, though let up when he reached to take them from her. And then, only then, when the books were out of her hands and balanced in the crook of his arm, did she dare to look up at him again.

He stood so close, his warmth was almost tangible.
Or maybe, it had been before as well. Did she not realise it then?
It lingered for a fleeting moment, her heartbeat kicking again in such an alien way.
It almost reminded her of...
No.
She wrote it off as some innate response of the human body, especially when near somebody of the opposite gender. And she continued to write it off to herself with flushed cheeks as just that as the man, skill as he did possess, took her books in one arm and held the door open with the other in a way that made it seem almost effortless. Roxanne however knew the books and door both were heavier than they looked, and couldn't help but stand for just a second, in her thoughts, to admire Rivalen's innovativeness, his consideration and his raw ability.

She didn't realise she was standing there, blankly smiling in the general direction of the doorway until he spoke again for her to pass, which snapped her back into place though evidently dazed for a couple of lingering seconds longer, "Ah! Ah, yes, Rivalen. V-very good, yes."
Coughing a little under her breath and straightening out the non-existent creases that had so suddenly appeared on the skirt of the blue gown, she stepped to the doorway herself, offering him a well-deserved bow of her head in gratitude before stepping past the doors and into the corridor again. Perhaps she didn't realise she was ever so subtly biting her bottom lip when she flashed him a half-smile without fully turning her face.
"Clever, knocking two birds with one stone, Rivalen. I'm impressed. If this eagerness does continue, something tells me it will be a wonderful relationship we shall share, as princess and personal attendant."
She caught herself, and before sounding any more haughty:
"Err. What I mean to say is. Thank you. Yes, thank you very much."

The walk to the library might have been long, but to Roxanne it passed like a breeze. She didn't remember the exact contents of what conversation she had with Rivalen, though she did remember the excited skip in her own step as she did speak to him, ever curious to learn more, though he disclosed only a little at a time. Their exchanges seemed fortunately natural. Unforced in most ways, though pauses did come between them in which she'd bite her lip again and try to think of something new to say, something new to ask, and sometimes just let the quiet moments drag on.
It was quieter naturally around the kingdom at this hour, though anyone who spotted them had settled into a customary bow to her - and more surprisingly Rivalen too - and a respectful smile. News of him being her personal attendant must have spread fast in the past few hours if numbers fell from practically everyone and their dog asking about his purpose to the occasional one, or odd glance accompanied by silence.

Thankfully, Rivalen and one increasingly giddy Roxanne arrived at the room on the bottom floor with the tall, tall double doors that stretched up high, decorated with intricate carvings and even precious-metal-work and old semiprecious stones embedded into the door in some places. The handles were decorated oddly like knockers, little lion heads where they came out of the door from. They almost begged Roxanne to take them, and turn them downward.

With a little pause for dramatic effect and a grin just as infectious as before, she threw open the doors to the library.
The room seemed like something out of another world.
The windows had arched tops and were tall as well, with the ceiling of the library climbing even higher than Roxanne's room's.
Among the glass panes were some sections done in stained glass through which the afternoon sunlight poured, creating beautiful kaleidoscopic patterns on the rugs spread under the only open area dedicated to tables and chairs. The rest of the room was filled with shelves upon shelves of literature, and a ladder to navigate to the very tops of some of the shelves. The books sat dusty in some places, freshly replaced in some, and two or three people could be found at one of the six large tables present, poring over literature of their choice. They appeared to be older men and women, though.

"This..." Roxanne turned proudly back to Rivalen, and though it was as unladylike as ever, she couldn't resist the urge to toss her head back and put a hand on her hip as she assessed the inside of the library, "...is the library. Isn't it just grand? Oh, you simply must tell me your favourite kind of literature, to start with! Or...no, we should return these. We probably should, but I'd like to know, just the same!"

Rivalen stood aside, allowing Roxanne to pass through the open doorway before him. He dipped his head in a subtle, yet elegant bow as she showered him with praises of his proficiency at his job. “Thank you, Your Highness,” he said with a smile. “I find it an honor to serve you in any way that I can.” He shut the door behind them, carefully balancing the stack of books in his arm so they wouldn’t tumble to the ground, and followed a few paces behind the princess.

Walking down the stairs was a surprising challenge for him. Not only did he have to continue balancing the novels, he also had to avoid stepping on the long train of Roxanne’s royal dress as she stepped in front of him. He adjusted his hold on the books as he tried to see his feet. It was a task that was easier said than done. He only narrowly avoided the shimmering fabric multiple times as it seemed to slither underneath him. He was just glad the princess couldn’t see him struggling behind her.

When they finally reached the bottom of the staircase, Rivalen was relieved. He sauntered up next to Roxanne so he wouldn’t be in the path of her enormous dress any longer and so they could talk more personably. Their subjects of conversation were light, but he was careful to guard his tongue, lest he slip up and reveal something to her that he wouldn’t be able to take back.

As interesting as the princess was to chat with, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was being cautious enough. Her affable personality made him feel like he was catching up with an old friend rather than getting to know a member of the royal family. It could be dangerous if he continued to let himself get so close to her, but how could he not, when he had been assigned to be her personal attendant? Surely it would be suspicious if he remained closed off to the woman he was to serve. He let out his breath in a soft exhale. He couldn’t, because of his father’s mission, but he had to for the sake of keeping his cover. It was quite a dilemma.

With his insides knotted in turmoil, Rivalen attempted to distract himself by examining the artwork on the walls. This corridor was different than the one Alain had guided him through earlier that day, and as such, this corridor had an entirely different display of paintings and tapestries. He was drawn by a particularly detailed piece of art that depicted a battle between the cavalries of two armies. Men in crimson armor raised lances against men in silver and black. At the forefront of the painting was a knight on a gray stallion that was reared up on its hind legs. The animal’s muscles rippled powerfully, seeming to move against the canvas, while the knight’s right arm cocked back, ready to thrust his lance into the chest of a man in silver.

The caption read: BATTLE OF GLORIOUS CONQUESTS 1848

Rivalen strode a bit closer to the wall to get a better look as he and Roxanne passed the painting by. Whoever the artist was, he had done an amazing job. Every soldier had a unique face, and every horse had different colors in its hair. He pondered if the man at the front had been modeled after a real person, or if the artist had simply made him up too. Either way, the exquisite detailing almost convinced him that he was looking at an actual war.

Eventually, they reached a set of tall doors that reached up towards the ceiling that Rivalen assumed was the long-awaited library the princess had been raving about. He moved to open the doors for her, but in her excitement, Roxanne got to the lion headed knobs before he could. She grinned at him in that infectious way of hers before opening the doors to reveal a room more luxurious than anything the warlock had ever seen before.

The domed ceiling soared over his head, sloping down into glittering stained glass windows. Every visible surface was ornamented. Even the linings of the book cases were gilded in gold plating. The sight was simultaneously breathtaking and heart wrenching to Rivalen as he reveled in the library’s majesty and thought of the poor peasants of his home town.

“Grand is an understatement,” he breathed, craning his neck to gaze up at the stained glass. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” His dark brown eyes roved slowly over the room, from the windows, to the book cases, to the few people sitting at tables that were dwarfed by their surroundings, and finally back to Roxanne. “I can see why you enjoy spending your time here, My Lady.”

At her question, he paused to think of a suitable answer. Like many of the other things the princess asked him about, this subject was immersed in magic. He had learned to read so he would be able to understand spell books and ancient texts. It wasn’t exactly a hobby suited for the common man.

Rivalen approached a nearby shelf of books, studying the eloquent bindings of the spines. Colored patterns decorated the leather that so carefully held the pages together. Every item in the library was a work of art in itself. He passively speculated at the amount of money that sat collecting dust in this room of the castle alone.

Not wishing to dwell on such depressing thoughts while Roxanne held him in her expectant stare, Rivalen set down the stack of novels he was carrying on a table and slid a particularly beautiful book out from the shelf. He opened it and gingerly thumbed through the delicate pages, enjoying the oaky smell that wafted from the paper. After a moment, he turned back to the waiting princess. “I’d have to say I prefer tales of adventure and heroism above all else,” he mused. Though he had never actually read such stories before, the idea was appealing to him.

Carefully closing the book, he replaced it on the shelf and picked up the princess’s novels once more, walking with her to return them. “I see you’re drawn to tales of romance,” he noted, reading the cover of the book on the top of the pile in his arms. “Are there any other genres you fancy?”