Marken looked over the vial she had given him, considering it for a long moment as Ella spoke. His face was unnaturally calm, and internally, he ran his mind over every possibility. That maid wanted him dead? He swallowed deeply, realizing that she was almost certainly the one who had tried to kill his mother. He had removed his arms from Ella when she pulled away from him, staring blankly at the top of her head and the poison in his hand.

Finally, a thought ran through his head. That 'maid' would pay for this. She tried to use his wife against him, she had tried to make the one he had chosen to love try to kill him, and if she had, he decided it would have almost certainly broken her mind to do so. She wasn't a murderer, not that he knew. Killing wasn't something she would try to do, it wasn't in her blood.

However, there was the matter of Ella's attempted betrayal, to him. He thought long and hard about it, silent the entire time, before coming up with a judgement. She hadn't done it out of malice, she hadn't done it out of hate. She had truly fallen for him, but she wanted to return to her old kingdom... Such a goal, though Marken couldn't agree with the means, was acceptable. And in the end, she couldn't find herself to do it. Instead, she had surrendered to him entirely, waiting for his judgement. It meant that she cared for him more than her own home, what was originally her home anyway. Now, she would live in his kingdom, in his home, in his bed.

"Ella, look at me." He said in a soft tone. He wouldn't grab her, or force her to look straight up at him, but he wouldn't speak again until she had. "I... Cannot agree with the means you needed to return home, very obviously... However, I am not furious at you. I'm shocked, and rather unnerved, to be honest, but I can't bring myself to be angry at you."

"You speak of your will, and you say it's weak. I think the opposite. Your emotions played a part in this too Ella. You care for me, and you didn't want to see me dead. You don't want me to hate you, and you know it. I still love you, I'm just... Shocked right now, by events." He reached down and ran one of his fingers across her cheek, staring down at her.

Even with all that had happened, the biggest thing visible in Markens gaze was was concern. He reached his arms out and pulled Ella into another tight embrace, having no desire to let her go just yet. By now, he'd set the vial of poison onto his bedside table, so that he didn't have to hold the vile thing any longer.

He allowed her to relax fully into his arms, not trying to push her away in the least. Under different circumstances, this might have led to something more drastic than a mere kiss on the cheek, but as it stood, with the revelation still so close, and the social laws that bound them still in place, nothing would come of it, for the moment. Instead, he simply smiled at her when she said that she loved him.

That brought an interesting thought to Markens head. Had they actually said those words, before this night? He considered it for a moment and almost chuckled when he realized that it had taken a confession of trying to kill him for the two of them to admit love for the other. It wasn't that they didn't know it existed, but they were finally addressing the fact that it was there, instead of simply knowing it.

Marken sighed and started to lean back, before pausing for a moment. "What should we do with that poison? I doubt the governess would be pleased to find it on my bedside table..." He made a fair point, and the lack of drawers in the immediate vicinity made it a tad tougher to hide. Of course, it was really just Marken not wanting to remove himself from Ellas embrace. He *could* find a place to hide it, but that would require leaving the bed, something he didn't want to do in the least.

"I'm going to speak to my father about this tomorrow, concoct a story to protect you from the backlash. I think blackmail could work well..." He smiled to her gently when she crawled back into the bed, immediately hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her again, eager to hold her, despite everything that she had told him, the biggest thing he wanted right now was to hold her in his arms.

Eventually though, her yawn made them both realize how tired they were. He spoke later than he probably should have in response to her earlier statement. "And I love you too Ella. Anything less, and I probably would have reacted far worse." He nuzzled his head against hers, leaning back with her still in his arms. "Let's go to bed then. I hope you know I'm not letting you go now, not until I want you to. Can't trust you." Clearly, his last sentence was teasing, the tone very specific to make sure she understood that was the meaning.

He reached one arm over to his blanket to pull it over the two of them, before settling into the bed and laying his head ontop of his pillow, staring over at Ella, before planting a single kiss on her lips. It was soft and quick, but it still showed its intent well enough.

"Good night." He found himself falling asleep very quickly now, growing tired from the political turmoil that was soon to strike. His father would likely never trust Ella after this, not that he truly cared. Marken found himself believing her side of the story, more or less. At the very least, he believed she honestly had a good reason for it. When it came down to it, loyalty to ones kingdom was one of the few things that all kings agreed upon.

When it came down to trusting her, Marken found himself at a crossroads. He wanted to put his faith in her, completely and utterly, but that had almost gotten him killed. Only the fact that Ella was truly in love with him had saved his life, anything less would have been the end of the young prince. Another thing to consider, though, was the fact that in the end, she HAD admitted to him what was going on, had betrayed her king in the end for him.

He decided that her future actions could decide her trustworthiness. If she proved worthy of it, Marken would trust her completely again, with his life and and secrets. And if she broke it, in one way or another, than it would be decided. Even if he loved her, that didn't necessarily mean he would trust her actions, given her past. With this decision made, Marken wrapped his left arm around Ellas back, as she curled up against him, his right coming up to stroke her hair idly as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

He slept very comfortably with Ella in his arms, something that he imagined would never end, despite his governesses wishes. When it came down to it, he ruled his own life, not her. Besides, she'd already tried to reveal the information to his parents. He doubted his father truly cared, and his mother seemed to be more amused by it than anything. That first love feeling, where one would want to simply be close to their partner, for no better reason than to be with them.

He found himself waking up shortly after Ella, shaking his head lightly as she reburied his head in his chest. Her form was against his, held tight by his arm keeping her close. It was definitely comfortable and warm, and he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Looking up, he noticed the governess and sighed. "Are you going to be there every morning to make sure I don't try anything with Ella until we're legally married?" He sounded annoyed, growing very tired of her actions, doing her best to keep them separated. While her intentions were good, he hoped, it was starting to go too far. When she was waiting at his bed glaring at his soon to be wife, that's when he would draw the line.

All the while, he was stroking Ella's hair with one hand, his other rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He'd still just woken up, though it was growing old very fast to have what should be a nice beginning to a day stymied by that woman's efforts.

He turned his head as Ella kissed him on the cheek, their lips briefly meeting. They broke apart just as quickly, Marken pulling her closer to him as well. "I love you too." He sounded as though the night before hadn't happened at all, letting out a small frown as she pulled away from his embrace. Still, they did need to separate at some point, though he hoped such cuddling could be done again, for longer than just a few minutes before getting out of bed. He wanted to repeat the experience of the couch they shared, or when Marken first discovered his mothers poisoning.

Watching Ella finally blow up to Victoria, he let out a small chuckle as she stomped away, not stepping in for her defense in the least. No, he completely supported his Ella's actions, especially if the woman was going to take it upon herself to insult his wife. That wouldn't be something he was going to deal with, in the least.

"I think she had that coming. I would've done it if you didn't, I'm not going to tolerate someone insulting you so blatantly." He sat up and pulled her into a tight hug. "Let's get dressed, we need to go to breakfast, don't we? They'll think we're doing things we're not supposed to be if we stay in here too long." He stretched out and let out a great yawn, as his muscles tensed and relaxed from his night of sleep.

He'd wait until Ella was in her own room, before switching out of his bed clothes into the outfit Victoria had brought. Clearly she was embarrassed by his actions the morning before, though Marken didn't really think it was such a bad thing. It was only his chest, afterall, he hadn't exposed anything incredibly private to her. Once they were both dressed and ready to face the day, after Marken had retrieved the vial of poison to show his father when he spoke to him about the maids actions, he would give Ella the passionate kiss that had started to become a tradition of sorts for them, their 'good morning' kiss.

He thought about the question she asked him, even as he held her body close to his. "I think it might be a good idea. He'd likely see you as more guilty, if you tried to hide away. He follows the philosophy that the innocent have nothing to hide."

Releasing Ella, Marken stretched out his arms, before tucking the vial safely away into a pocket. He'd seen her frown, and had the same reaction to the thing himself. However, it was necessary to completely prove the maids guilt, and he would not allow such a woman to escape justice. She'd tried to use Ella against him, had tried to kill his mother, there were places in the world for people like her. The realm of the living was not one of them.

"So, shall we go to breakfast? With luck, we'll find my father there and we can get this whole business over with." He gave her a reassuring smile, though was very worried himself about how his father might react. Given his rather... Violent history, he couldn't see something like this ending well for any involved.

When he noticed Victoria as they walked down the halls, Marken made a point of it to pull Ella closer to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, instead of holding it so formally. It was very obvious, as days continued to pass, that the prince was not someone who truly believed in social laws and etiquette that would force him to be less intimate with his fiance. If he wanted to hold her close to him, than no one would tell him otherwise, and it certainly wouldn't be his Governess who couldn't believe the fact that he dared marry below his class.

He sat at the table with Ella, glad as well that Glenn hadn't shown up yet. He wanted to finish his breakfast atleast, before they discussed such unpleasant topics. Instead of the normal trays with food ready to be deposited onto a plate, there were instead large omelets on different trays, of different types. Marken selected one that obviously held ham and cheese within, each one sliced open in the center for the diner to be able to determine what their meal would contain.

It was rare that they served things like this, since it outlined a single portion size, something that would vary from day to day. However, it was a nice change of pace, and he enjoyed the egg and ham omelet, that also had tiny chunks of potato cooked in as well, hidden in the thick yellow cheese.

He ate and drank from a glass of apple juice, nervously waiting for his father to arrive. "Just... Let me talk to him, unless he asks you anything. I don't think he'd want my attempted killer to try and explain the situation." He reached over and grabbed her hand, clutching it dearly for a moment, before returning to his meal.

He sighed and took her hand again. "I know you didn't Ella, which is why I'm so comfortable with it now. If I truly thought that you had ill intent for me, then I wouldn't be trusting you this much already." He gave what he thought was a reassuring smile, even as he heard his father coming down the hall. Looking over, he noticed his mother missing from breakfast, but didn't think much of it. He'd already seen her well, or resting to the point of recovery, the day before, so he doubted anything bad had happened over the course of the night. Especially given his fathers rather neutral look, and the lack of guards with him. Though the palace security had been increased, so that even the dining hall had the occasional guard roaming, Glenn had clearly decided that wandering with a paladin at all times was a bit dramatic.

Deciding to wait until Glenn had finished his own breakfast, he instead made smalltalk with the man as he consumed the last of his omelette, waiting for his wife to do the same. It wasn't right to discuss such a personal matter in the dining hall, they had many private room where such matters could be talked about. Soon enough, he finished his own food with the occasional sentence coming from his mouth. "Father, I have something to talk to you about. It concerns both Ella and Mother. I'd like to talk about it in private..."

The man seemed confused for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Very well, we can talk in your sitting room. I'm sure it can hold the two of us comfortably..." Marken shook his head.

"Three, Ella will be joining us, it involves her directly." Another sigh, and then a nod.

"Very well, lead on." He sounded much less enthusiastic than the first time Ella had met the man, starting to reveal his true colors now. Regardless, Marken led them both to his sitting room, sitting down, deciding to refrain from pouring a glass of wine. Outside the room, a guard had been posted as well, very recently infact. He found that a tad strange, but took no mind of it, given the recent past. Instead, he thought of where to begin.

"This will be hard to explain but..." He decided to omit the fact that Ella had considered killing him at all. From what he knew of his father, he'd call the guard from outside in to kill his fiance before his eyes. He would decide to say that she was blackmailed by the maid, for having lived in the country for more than educational purposes, and had given her the poison to kill him, but had instead turned to him with it immediately. It made her look much better in the end. "I know who's behind my mothers poisoning. She tried to blackmail Ella into killing me." He let the information sink in, waiting for a reaction before continuing.