MyCatGinger

Wolf Manor

Ooh? That's good...

Wolf Manor

@TheMaster99

GHOSTLY SPOOKY PRESENCE SILENTLY JUDGING AND WATCHING US LIKE BIG BROTHER.

I'm awake at 3:30am because I was happily asleep and then the fire nation attacked My meds stopped working and I started sneezing and woke myself up because runny nose what is life

@Auntflavia
I am also insanely jealous of your Sherlock Holmes collection. I remember at some point studying a collection of shorts (Ninth grade maybe?) and it was delightful though my whole class thought he was a horrid bore.
Shun the heretics. Shun.

We are also most definitely one of the better best RPs out there I've seen for a long long time and I'm so honoured, yet again, to be able to jump into it with you wonderful lot. <3 Hugs!

@Jig
I-I...
Félix was going to be Lynn's one true love oh my god you just sank my ship.
Really though. I can't screw romance an NPC because they're an NPC?
Presuming he's any better at romance than showing his non-existent feelings, of course.

EDIT: Aaaaaahhhh I'm so proud of you Flavs! <3 You have done well, comrade!

Wolf Manor

@AuntFlavia

Holmes, I think you've cracked the case!
How did the exam go? I'm so out of the loop, but I know I'm infinitely jealous of @Callthecops! I've got a cat at home myself, but he doesn't quite enjoy playing and would much rather curl up at the foot of my bed and sleep.
Always wanted a dog, though! Lucky @corneredbliss... :c

I'm alive, and I've got nothing bad to report! Well, except my terrible immune system and being sick as a dog, again.
And the most terrifying night of my life last night.
It wasn't a nightmare, but I still woke up at 6 in the morning (usually I'm up by past noon) nauseous and sweating because I couldn't fully get to sleep and had spent the past three hours in a tormenting kind of microsleep.
...I woke up unable to drag my mind out of the dreamworld it had created and even sat up with my head in my hands, but I swear to you, I couldn't for the life of me convince myself that I was me. And I was in my room. In my bed.
Prior to that, I couldn't move my body at all though I could feel the bed underneath me and oh god was it terrifying.
Identity dissociation? I had trouble even trying to convince myself that I was me in reality and not the me stuck in my dreams! <<
It sounds silly now, but that is how I've been going, folks.

Continued well wishes to everyone in a hard place! (COUGH @Jig) I send my love to you all (and hopefully not lots of icky flu germs)!

Also. @Kirah, you need to teach us your ways. Pls. I literally need to learn how to be that proactive to advance anywhere from where I am now.
And @TheMaster99 you're like a ghost oh goodness. << Praise be.

Wolf Manor

I'm still around, wallowing in my summer. :)))))))))) (Send help.)
And hah. Hey, no biggie, @Jig.
Geddit? GEDDIT? Because this time around, we don't have Biggi-

Really though, welcome back and I'm glad everyone's still about, and good luck with the housing situation!

Royally Enchanted [MyCatGinger + Summer]

Roxanne offered the man a reassuring smile, and perhaps in her ignorance and unwillingness to accept the reality of the situation of the kingdom, continued to deny to herself the possibility of a wizard attack to even occur on the castle itself, "I...of course, yes. I do believe there will be no immediate need for you to fight off any magic-wielders. For that, I am thankful, truly. Their kind seem so...so driven by malice, it almost is frightening sometimes. It almost is frightening to try and fathom just what runs through their minds when they so ruthlessly..." she paused here, lingering on the memory of her mother a final time, "...do what they do. Dust bunnies and dirty stockings are a much meeker evil, as I'm sure you know."

His fading smile and look of surprise only made her more curious, and his following words though a little suspicious were not unreasonable. His father seemed like an interesting man indeed. Stubborn to the point of not leaving his home, even if it meant a cure for his illness? A way to prolong his lifespan? She shook her head ever so slightly in quiet disapproval of this strange man's choices.
It is a funny way in which these common folk think. If it was any haughtier a noble, perhaps they would value their own lifespans over their place of burial. But no, in fact. Even nobles have their own worldly pride.
She wondered what kind of man Rivalen's father was. An older gentleman, with dark hair and dark eyes like his son, beginning to gray? A man who once in his prime tended fields and sported sinewy muscle, now reduced to a cripple with a bad temper? Perhaps he was a quiet man? Or was he loud, and easily angered? Was he depressed, and paranoid, like her own father after losing his wife? Roxanne would have to ask what took Rivalen's mother's life at some point in the future, perhaps when she'd get to know the man better. For now, she considered it a wound she did not intentionally want to bring up, and in addition, pour salt into.

"Your father definitely sounds a strange man, Rivalen."
Sighing deeply, genuinely for once, she looked the man right in the eye. It wasn't like she was blaming him for how his father was, but finding nobody else to convey her disapproval to, she decided it would be him. "Are you absolutely sure? Perhaps you should write to him and...ask how he feels about it, personally. You never know; he just might appreciate the invitation, whenever it occurs. If ever it occurs, of course."

She shrugged her shoulders and sipped more of the tea, continuing to listen attentively as Rivalen spoke. She couldn't help but smile when he mentioned he had written to his father, the very first thing. He definitely looked like a family man, despite that silver tongue of his. It was quite apparent he really did care for his father all that much. Being royalty, Roxanne did love her own father, but perhaps was never forced into a situation where a bond like that would develop between father and daughter. Sure, her mother had passed away as well, but there was never a shortage of servants, never a shortage of caretakers to step up and fulfill those roles. It almost made her feel a little jealous, a little hollow inside, that she couldn't ever fathom that kind of fatherly bond.
"He sounds a strange man, but a man who has raised a good son. I wonder if you picked up your roguish charm and silver tongue from him, or your mother, Rivalen..."
She spoke the words as more of a rhetorical statement to herself than a genuine question to Rivalen. Although she did flatter him, it was flattery on genuine bases. He really did have a roguish charm about him that continued to catch the princess off guard. Every time he smiled at her with ease. Every time he confidently spoke up. The honesty and simplicity behind his character was apparent, and a trait she figured she'd quite come to appreciate, despite his sense of humour and gusto. Admitting to such a thing made her laugh again, her cheeks a carefree hue of pink yet again.
"Your father certainly wasn't the only one surprised when you acquired that position, let me tell you, Rivalen."

"Ah! A man who would love to read!" the teacup, now empty, placed on the saucer resting in the platter, she clapped her hands together delightedly, her eyes glistening in a way that was characteristic of them whenever she was excited. "If there's one good thing that will come from you being my personal attendant, it would mean that there would be a lot to read, indeed. I realise that perhaps literature was difficult to come by in your village of... Oldpine, was it? But here, most definitely, I want to extend our library to you, as a welcoming gift for becoming a part of the castle of the ruling family of Miroin. I'm quite impressed, really. I didn't expect a boy who worked in the fields his whole life to be able to read, but power to you, Rivalen. It is an amazing thing, is it not?"
Realising she was gushing, she bit her lip and nervously laughed it off, slowly rising to her feet and gracefully making her way, past him, to her desk, where she searched for some books among the mess of them. Some of them required her to bend down and reach for them, as there were small piles to either side of the desk, until about four rather thick-looking books, some of them with intact spines and some not, rested safely cradled in her arms.
The romance novel was left, quite strategically, untouched on her desk. Though unfortunately, it was in such a way that it was apparent that it was the very same novel she had been currently reading.

She turned to Rivalen again with a mischievous grin, "I'm sure for someone who comes from a village, really, all this would be magical. Just wait until you see the library. You might just fall in love with it, like I have...it's a beautiful, beautiful set of archives. Since I am free for the next..." her glance fell to the window, noting the clock with the large hand pointing at the notches for 8 and the small hand pointing a little under the notches for 2. 2:40pm.
"...err. For the next hour and twenty minutes, I think I'll go down to the library and make the exchange of these books for some more. I would very much like if you did accompany me, Rivalen. You could start by holding either the door - or these heavy books - for me, if such a thing interested you, at this very point in time. Of course, if you have other plans..."
She looked him over where he was on the stool, and couldn't help but smirk wider.
Something about him told her that he would be quite the interesting reading companion.

Royally Enchanted [MyCatGinger + Summer]

"Quite mysterious, if you ask me..." the princess smirked and retorted under her breath, only just loud enough for him to hear, though she popped the piece of bread into her mouth and chewed it surprisingly slowly, more focused on what the man had to say than the food in front of her. Her eyes held his as he continued about his childhood, and his working in the fields. Dipping some of the bread in the hearty meat stew served alongside the bread, her eyebrow quirked only when he crossed his arms, a gesture she took to be defensive, though she credited that to his more reserved personality than anything else. She nodded as he continued, only trying to imagine the difficulties and hardships of living in a little village as opposed to the life of royalty she had always known. Though she couldn't exactly pinpoint just how much they had to work on a daily basis, she could conjure up a vague idea, and that made her shudder.
Perhaps she was a little spoilt after all.

"...yes. Of late, the taxation my father has set in place seems outrageous, even to me." she affirmed when he looked away from her, the details of the former classes still fresh in the forefront of her mind and making her wince at the thought that they would have to, at this rate, increase the amount even more. It was obvious the commoners were struggling to keep afloat in a situation like this. It was much more heartbreaking to see someone genuinely admit to it, though, face-to-face. She could not help but feel sorry for the young gentleman, and even more so when he mentioned his father's waning health.
She continued listening to him for the most part, having finished off the bread and quietly still downing the last spoonfuls of stew. She spoke again only when the last of it had disappeared down her throat and the empty plate and bowl were left on the platter, though there was still a bowl of fresh, sweetened cream and a tiny plate of cut fruits remaining on the platter.

Her eyes widened at the mention of his true intentions, and she was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. Relieved because she knew that this man had intentions beyond genuinely wanting the best for her, which she could have sworn on any other day came off as beyond just a tiny bit odd, dare she say 'creepy'. Disappointed because although she knew this was creepy indeed, it was almost a bit flattering to have someone so devoted to her - and the kingdom - but mostly her wellbeing, so much that they would take up the job just to be at her side. She shook her head and directed her thoughts to whether she should tell her father or not, weighing the pros and cons against each other. There seemed to be nothing particularly compelling about telling her father that, and she presumed he would already have arranged for the payment with Rivalen so everything was settled anyway, so after a rather dramatic sigh, she spoke again, "I suppose I won't tell father, then. Though something tells me I will not have to, as it stands. It does not particularly benefit my situation, or yours. All that will end up happening is you getting sent back, and me not benefitting in the slightest, apart from acquiring a personal attendant I'm more naturally comfortable with. After all..."
She smirked as she said her next words, eyes glittering with curiosity and wonder as she held his gaze, "It's not everyday you meet a witch slayer, mm? Dare I say, I'm quite curious to see just what this trick of yours to killing them is."

"Though I do feel for you, and your father, Rivalen." she nodded, "It must have been a hard life, especially with your mother passing away when she did."
Her suspicions of this man's hard-work ethic confirmed by his former occupation made clear to her, she couldn't help but feel satisfied with herself and her deduction that he was indeed a hard worker. The ridges and overall hardness of his hands were still an exciting, lingering feeling in the back of her mind. For a fleeting moment, she lingered on the thought of a younger him working out on the fields, in the warm spring sunlight...
What do you think you're doing?!
She scolded herself internally.

"If it is an ailment that cannot be cured by the people of the village..." she pondered on the thought, wondering if such a thing would even be advisable or proper for someone in her status and standing to do, "...perhaps once you are more settled in, and have proven you can hold your place as my personal attendant...err. Perhaps we can arrange for a doctor higher up to tend to your father, here at the castle perhaps - I'm sure we can find a spare room for the doctor to see him - and see if they could so much as restore some vigour to him, as to continue living a more normal life, if not tending to the fields as he used to."
She tucked into the fruits and sweet cream now, relishing the taste as it travelled down her tongue. It was these people, these workers in the fields, that made farming of such quality produce possible. In a way, she couldn't help but respect them.
"If you are gone, is there someone there to take care of your father? I recall you mentioning you had no siblings, so...you must worry about him, hm? You'll notice in your chambers, if you haven't already of course, there is a pot of ink and a quill present. You should find some paper in one of the drawers, as well. I'm sure you wish to write to your father frequently."
And she couldn't help but laugh a little here, "He must be so proud, his son getting a position like this, after all..."

Finally finishing whatever was on the platter, save a cup of tea that was getting the slightest bit cold, she took that up in the very end, green eyes curious as ever as they looked back over him, "Did you enjoy tending to the fields? I've told you of my interests, but I have no idea of your own. Perhaps...hm. Once I finish this tea, I wish to go to the castle library. If you are a man of literature, I'm sure you would like to escort me there. I have to return some volumes, actually, and take out some more."
She shot a nervous glance at the romance novel sitting unsuspectingly on her desk and almost choked on the tea she was sipping. It was herbal and fresh and laced with ginger, the kind that stung when taken down the wrong way, and made her cough a tiny, quiet, suppressed cough, "...err. Though...yes. What would your interests be, Rivalen? I must say, I'd like to know how you'd be spending your free-time, when not tending to your princess, of course..."

Royally Enchanted [MyCatGinger + Summer]

"I-" Roxanne began, only biting her lip to keep herself from interrupting Rivalen as he spoke, and his own nervousness, infectious as it was, made her fumble for her own words. With her cheeks growing ever pinker at the extremely awkward thought of one extremely awkward situation, she found herself holding her breath. So much that she brought a hand to her lips to try and hide even part of her expression from him, and couldn't help but laugh - quite awkwardly still - at his little slip-up. "O-of course! Yes...yes, that's what you meant. Of course!"
She kept herself from shaking her head, eyes travelling down to where he stood in a deep bow. Her fingers, previously hanging idle at her side clenched the fabric of the skirt of her gown and fiddled with it a little as she cleared her own throat, assuming a more dominant tone to the best of her ability before continuing, "I...I understood what you had meant, Rivalen. You...you are forgiven. Rise, now."

...though that didn't particularly serve to lighten the tension in the room at that moment. And it wouldn't, either, even as she continued to speak. "Well, I...I prepared this list for you. Rather, this list for the new personal attendant, when I new they were arriving. I realise you will have memorised the daily routine soon enough, though I would like for you to have it. I insist."
She held out her hand and the scroll to him, though it was small, compared especially to the more formal scrolls that messengers brought to the kingdom from others. The schedule was never intended to be more than a guideline, and she had thought that she could pass it into the hands of a woman, rather the woman who would grow to become her friend more than just her personal attendant, and that the size of the sheet of paper did not matter.
Unfortunately, in this situation, it very well may have been life or death.
Giving the rolled up sheet to Rivalen would mean their hands would definitely touch at some point. The paper was too thin for her to grab one end and him to grab one end and successfully make the transfer that way because it would fall to the floor and-
She paused.
It was not like she cared or anything, up until that point. The paper never seemed like an issue, it really didn't. She considered taking him for his word for a second and actually not giving it to him. But then it would have gone to waste, and Roxanne hated that she'd spent even a fraction of her time and effort on something like that, and then for it to have to go to waste.

"H...here." she spluttered, hoping that it would be done quickly and without much fuss, and that the fear only stayed within her own mind. Of course, Rivalen wouldn't have been thinking about a thousand and one things. The very idea for a peasant to even do so was hilarious at best.
Or maybe he knows, and he just wants it to happen, and-
She grit her teeth to settle her paranoia. In a way, it made her almost like her father. Perhaps paranoia wasn't something induced at his wife's death, but the case was more one where his inner paranoia was amplified. And genetically passed down to his daughter. Brandon usually was much better at hiding it, and sometimes Roxanne believed he didn't so much as feel a thing.

She had intended on the action to be as swift as humanly possible, though knew that fumbling with the scroll like that would make her drop it, and she did not want to seem like the absolute ditz of a stubborn brat Rivalen had taken her for naturally. She reached out with the scroll gripped tightly enough in her hand, lifting it to his and placing it in his, fortunately, open one. She thanked her stars he wasn't as nervous and hadn't balled his hands into fists just yet.
Her slender fingers brushed against his palm as she did so, and it made her flinch and her grip on the paper tighten, though she swore to herself she'd let go.
And she did, thankfully, hurriedly enough, taking her trembling hand back and holding it with the other, to her chest. She could tell even an action so small as that left her cheeks flushed, and she tried to focus her gaze anywhere but the young man with the deep brown eyes standing before her. They moved to the tall walls, where paintings hung high, not unlike the ones in the hallways. Some of them were stories of old wars won, and some of them were Victorian beauties of the current day and age, women in their fineries, enjoying occasions like tea in lavish gowns, or banquets and masked dancers. Some of them stood in the arms of suitors, or lovers Roxanne had always made them out to be. Some of the paintings were particularly daring, scantily clad women in the styles of foreign artisans, laying on sofas and mattresses.
...nothing happened to improve the state her cheeks were in as her thoughts drifted to the texture of his hand.

Rough.
She lingered on the thought. It was completely unlike that of any man who had taken her hand to kiss the back of it in greeting, because even so, they were all too soft. No, this was a man's hand with ridges accredited to honest, hard work. But of course, he was a commoner, and it was completely likely that he spent his days out on the fields doing hard work to even get by. Oldpine very likely might have also had the knights ravage it to take tax from the inhabitants. She winced at the thought of the poor people being forced to pay up whatever little they might have earned, though she, from her former Accountings classes, knew there was just no other way.

She snuck a glance at Rivalen again. He was handsome still, up close like that. She felt her thoughts wavering. She wanted to reach out, touch his hand again. The feeling was so foreign to her, and she wanted to trace every last crease, down his knuckles, just to have an idea of what life outside the castle would be like. Sure, the women's hands were similar (she'd especially come to find when she'd bathe), but there was still a delicateness about them that Rivalen's hands lacked. Something masculine about his hands, that even the hands of the growing Quentin's hands lacked.
The touch of a man. Rough, and hardened by the world. The capable, hard-working hands of a man.
She bit her lip, internally cursing at herself for letting such a small detail have her this flustered, bringing her hands to either side of her again and, to not prolong the moment any longer than her thoughts always going back to thoughts of this man's origins, and his work, and oddly enough whether he really had killed three wizards or not, and if that was his active occupation.

She moved over to the bed, hanging at the top left post for a second with her back to the man before gathering the skirts of her gown and sitting herself down before the tray, a hand reaching for a piece of spiced bread. In the same motion of breaking off a tiny morsel, she made eye-contact with him again. And then broke it. And then told herself to maintain it, and returned her eyes to him, "That would be all, Rivalen. Thank you. Though since I am at leisure now, I...you may pull up a stool." she gestured to the two dainty-looking stools at the foot of her bed, probably used for visitors like the doctor and whatnot, "...I still know nothing about you, save what you told me earlier. Did you find your room without much trouble? What did you do, before this? You...you're still young, but not young enough to not have had an occupation. I find myself increasingly curious about the mysterious man whom I have to refer to as my 'personal attendant' henceforth.

Contents of the scroll.

The Princess's Schedule

6:00 am: Waking

7:00 am: Breakfast

7:30 am - 9:30 am: Courtroom dealings

9:30 am - 12:00 pm Leisure time

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Afternoon classes

2:00 pm Dinner

2:00 pm onwards: Leisure time

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Evening classes

7:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Supper

Notes:

• Sundays warrant church from 8:00 am to 11:00 am.
• After supper, on each alternating day, the personal attendant must attend to the princess's bath.
• Officials and messengers visit court in the mornings, during 'courtroom dealings' time. This may take over 'leisure time' if a particularly serious matter arises.
• In the case of a banquet in the evening, evening classes are scheduled one hour early; end at 5:00 pm, and the personal attendant must assist the princess from the hour the classes end to the time of the banquet.
• Tea is expected to be served liberally throughout the princess's day.

Royally Enchanted [MyCatGinger + Summer]

The princess was left alone to her thoughts as she glided over to her desk, books strewn across its surface and some even in piles on the floor around it, and began to sort through them to try and jog her memory. She couldn't help but splutter as she repeated Rivalen's words to herself under her breath, "Spoiled brat?! Lord, that one is definitely a strange one. Or...is that really what the common people perceive us as?"
She lingered on the thought. Nobody before Rivalen had had the guts to own up to such a thought to her personally before, even if it had crossed their minds. They were all meek, the personal attendants she had before. Even the individuals stationed as guards and people of service throughout the castle wouldn't so much as dare to say such a thing to any of the royals. It might very well mean they would lose the tongue with which they said it.

Pushing one particularly worn book aside, Roxanne happened upon one of the books that looked as if she had written in them herself recently, and turned the cover over to look inside. Sentences of elegant, curving script in rigorously practised straight lines adorned the thin pages within, and she gazed upon them, with the thought suddenly clicking in her mind.
Her next class happened to be something she absolutely loathed.

And as if the universe had picked up on her sudden realisation, there was a knock at her door and the gruff voice of an obviously older gentleman. "Your Highness, it is time for your tutoring in Accounting."
Roxanne couldn't help but sigh, rolling her eyes incredibly dramatically. If there was one thing she absolutely despised, it was working with numbers. Especially numbers of this state, where she would be taught about how to budget, and her mathematical proficiency, or rather lack of, would make itself very, very apparent.

With a willful stare at a volume on the left of her desk, the latest book she had been reading being a particularly racy romance novel with a haphazard slip of blank paper stuffed between the pages in desperate replacement for a proper bookmark, she tore her gaze away and sulked as she slowly trudged to the doors of her chamber.

---

Accounting was just as laborious as it always was, making Roxanne incredibly grateful it wasn't a class she took everyday. Her classes were spread out throughout the week, dabbling in different topics as to keep her attention, especially important seeing as four hours of her day would be spent taking classes alone. She did not particularly care for the subject, not so much because it was the numbers she had to deal with, but that Accounting itself was nothing but demoralising. The situations and simulations presented to her did not usually involve the kingdom of Miroin itself, as to test the young lady's reactions for future circumstances that might await her, but somehow, and in some way, the conversation always directed back to Miroin's current, failing state. Her tutor, an older gentleman perhaps in his mid-50s and the advisor to the king concerning finances, would always bring up his personal opinion on the kingdom's 'state of ruin', and pray that times would get better. For his age, he was partial to spending some minutes of class-time simply mulling over the state of the castle, as if always trying to find some way, some impossible loop-hole through which its stance could be strengthened.
Time and time again, he turned up no answer, and sulked through the rest of teaching the young princess. She detested his demeanour though knew he meant well, from the heart.
...which was difficult to say about just all of her tutors. Her tutor on public speaking, one of the more uppity women Roxanne was forced to deal with, seemed to have her own sadistic fun of recounting all the possible ways in which the princess might fail miserably, rather than motivate her by presenting situations in which she might shine.

---

The chiming of the clock as the hour settled on two startled the old man, as it usually did, and made Roxanne smirk a little at his disorientation. He furrowed his brow, pushed his tiny spectacles up further on his nose and coughed to clear his throat as he stood up, bowing comfortably to the princess who remained sat at her desk before gathering his belongings, two or three of his own books and some loose pieces of paper, his pen and ink-jar and moving to make his departure. "Farewell, Your Highness. I would advise looking into those problems for a while longer, if you have the time, of course."
"I will if I'm able. Goodbye, Marcus, sir."

The man hobbled to the doors, trying to keep all his belongings in check, turned the handle and made his way out, nearly bumping into the young man with the dark hair carrying the expensive-looking platter laden with edibles, and almost tripping, and tripping the boy in his surprise. "Oh, terribly sorry." he grunted, adjusting his arms to be able to carry the books and the inkpot with ease. He was shorter than Rivalen, and in his haste to find somewhere to put the items down, did not so much look the boy in the eyes for even a second. Though perhaps it was fortunate that he didn't, or else he would have been held up at the door itself, interrogating him as to his motives for the princess. As if the platter he held did not make it clear enough...

"Come in." a tired-sounding voice feebly came through the doors, signalling for Rivalen to enter.

The princess sat at her desk, her head in her hands and eyes intently focused on the material before her. The mixture of handwriting and occasional scribbling showed that her tutor and her had both written on the particular sheet, and it evidently strained her to so much as look at the sheet. It detailed the kingdom's expenses, and the income, and the numbers put down did not look in their favour. At this rate, they would have to tax the people of the kingdom higher, and Roxanne knew that was not a particularly clever move, seeing as there were already a few shows of protest against the rise in taxes, by the people. Of course, they were silenced with haste.
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the large window that stood a little ways from where her desk was, bathing the right half of her figure, hunched over the desk, in a soft, white glow. She almost seemed fatigued.
...but of course, two hours of something like Accounting would not end easily.

"Mm...m?" she grunted, finally looking up with tired eyes finding Rivalen, and her blinking twice before her eyes travelled down from the man's face to the platter and lit up at the sight of something to eat. It was reviving, to say the least.
"Ah, Rivalen." she spoke up, stronger and louder now, and surprised with herself for remembering the man's name. Though she fumbled with it for the initial five or so seconds of seeing him again, post intensive mathematics, it finally did come to her and she was proud. "Dinner, is it? Thank goodness, I thought I might just face an untimely death, with all due thanks to starvation and particularly exhausting classes."
She chuckled at her own joke before gesturing him closer, "Come."
She hesitated for just a second with a lazy thought crossing her mind, though she dismissed it with a tiny sigh, "...and close the door behind you. The kingdom is ever noisy throughout the day, and I have important things to tell you."

She sat up, grabbing a piece of paper she had written things down on earlier, perhaps the day before or that very morning, in anticipation for the personal attendant to be decided by the day's end, or the next day. It was decided much faster than she had initially assumed, but it was decided nonetheless.
"...I've got something for you here. Since you are my personal attendant, after all, it had occurred to me that, to wait on me in the most efficient fashion, you would have to know how I was placed throughout the day."
She squinted at the list before continuing, "I've made a little list if it's particularly difficult for you to remember, but seeing as you managed to have my dinner here on time, I don't think that will be too much of a problem. Thank you."

She offered the man a smile, leaning back in the elegantly crafted chair as she turned it sideways slightly to address him, "Err...you can put that down on my bed for now, thank you, Rivalen. I'd much rather you look at this just for the moment. My days in the castle are not as complicated as...someone who'd called me a spoiled brat" her tone grew sour here, and she shook her head, clearly finding the taste of the words quite unappealing, "...would assume them to be. I rise at 6 on the clock, every morning, so breakfast would be best served by 7. The rest of my mornings after breakfast are spent with my father and my brother. It is in that time we are most able to discuss the affairs of the kingdom, and usually by half-past nine, we disband to spend our following free-time as we please. Midday is when my afternoon classes begin, and usually they end at two on the clock, like today. Dinner is served at 2 for that very reason. You...would not be able to believe the appetite one acquires after sitting through such long lectures, haha."
She stopped to smirk at the man, flinching a little when she realised she probably was overwhelming him with information as of the moment. Though she had no intention of stopping just yet.
"Following that, I have two more hours of time of my own leisure, where you perhaps most likely will find me reading as opposed to out on the fields during the mornings, and by 4 on the clock it is time for my second set of classes for the day. These end at 6, and supper is served at 7, and usually ends by half-past 8. Usually, following this, I retire to my chambers and..."
She paused, unsure how to address the following issue, "...err. Usually, after supper, every other day...I request an elaborate bath. Though...um. I don't believe I'm quite sure how we...will tend to that."

Good lord, nobody said this would be this difficult!

Her next words came out in an almost-mumble, rushing by with her cheeks the palest hue of pink, "...Sunday mornings are spent at the church, which is quite close, seeing as it is the building that hosts the gracious clock - and bell - tower. Most mornings are when any officials who request to speak to father, Brandon or I make their appearance. Life in the castle is...fairly mechanical. Scheduled. Like a clock itself."

Wolf Manor

@Jig

Oh goodness! :c That sounds awful. I send my love, too, and hope everything ends up going smoothly in Amsterdam. It sounds frightening and wonderful but mostly frightening aaaaahhhh. x.x
We're getting by, yep! Just some busy schedules, but we're definitely getting by.
Don't you fret.

...though I wanted to inquire what the circumstances would be like, if I really was the Nigerian prince you've been looking for your whole life. You know, the one with the freakishly large sum of money. The one who wants to marry a "good, nice, lovely" woman whom I can share my wealth with.
May I still email you then?
Really though, I don't think I'll have any need. I don't want to bug you, and I've already got my eyes on every other person I send those delicious emails to.

@AuntFlavia

Congratulations! :D
...err. I think. I'm not sure. Is it a happy occasion? <<
But I'm happy for you nonetheless! It'll be fab!
Nothing to worry about here, of course.

How has everyone else been? Busy busy busy?

Royally Enchanted [MyCatGinger + Summer]

"Mm?" Roxanne, mid-ascent, was surprised to hear the man at her side speak. She had expected him to remain quiet, and let her wallow in her despair for at least until he knew her better. After all, he was a man, and by nature she had expected him to be practical and limit all his interactions, wherever unnecessary, to lighthearted jest that would keep the atmosphere between the two bright. She most certainly did not expect to hear him comment on her own explanation of her plight.
Though when she heard his first words, it seemed like he was just repeating to her the inevitability of her situation, in a way that made her roll her eyes, subtly as ever. Admitting her situation wasn't the hardest thing she had done. It was approaching it. The world could say "I know" to her concerning her situation and that would not help her grief in the slightest. In fact, it would only aggravate it.

His following words surprised her further. When she had expected him to stop, and only blankly state her situation to her, he continued. And he continued with actual advice.
Hold onto them as long as I can...?
His laugh was refreshing, and she found herself at ease immediately, and with the duo reaching the top of the stairs and her panting softly for breath (she never did get fully accustomed to running up and down them everyday), it was a welcome feeling. It made her hold her head a little higher in her continuing her walk, "Oh, I've heard it said to me a million times over."
The words that followed were, admittedly, pretty motivating. To enjoy what she could in the present.
Perhaps she had been doing the opposite. Spending too many days worrying about what the future may hold and not enough days doing just what she loved: Visiting the archives and reading, reading about everything she loved, from medicine to past wars and ancient cultures and traditions, to the taming and domestication of different animals, to the different types of food in the world documented.
Perhaps it had left her sulking longer than she should have been.

"Rivalen..." she started, approaching the large, ornate double-doors that led into her personal chambers. She turned the handle on one of them gingerly, pushing it open and hanging in the doorframe, gazing up at the man with a tiny laugh of her own and a respectful look about her eyes. And in that moment, she did realise that perhaps he did mean the best for her after all. Maybe one piece of consolation was not going to make him a saint in her eyes, but it was definitely a better place to start than nowhere to show her that he perhaps genuinely did care.
The case could be, however, that he still was using that silver tongue of his to gain her trust before daring to be daring with her when in her chambers with her, in private, over the ruse of some simple task as serving her breakfast.
Worry less.
Though, taking his words properly to heart for the first time since she met the man, and trying to look past the silver tongue he possessed, she accepted them.
And she respected him greatly for the effort he made, too. Her emotions manifested in the smile she gave him. Pleased, and for once, lacking doubts about him.
"Rivalen, that was wonderful. I thank you very much for your efforts. I...perhaps I will try that. To worry less about what's to come, and instead, hold onto these fleeting moments I have now. Thank you, very much."
She paused herself, gaze moving from the gentleman to the interior of her room. She still had to prepare for her afternoon classes, which would take about two hours, at the very least. And then it would immediately be time for the next meal of the day, the last one before supper, the grandest of the meals and served usually for all three of the family together with entertainment, in the evening as the clock would chime 7.

"I'm afraid I have to take my leave of you, after all, Rivalen." she bit her lip. There was something she'd wanted to say, but she let it slide, even if just for the moment. "I believe, as my new personal attendant, the first task I assign to you will be an easy one. I will be finished with these classes in about two hours. And when I am finished, it will be time for dinner. At..." she thought for just a moment, "Two on the clock."
Little did she know that commoners were not familiar with the system of a clock and of timekeeping beyond morning, noon and night. Blissfully ignorantly, she automatically assumed that the entire world knew how a clock worked. The church most certainly did, and that was enough to convince her that by default everyone else did too.
"I would appreciate my meal brought to my room then. Thank you."

She stood tall and gave the man a dismissive nod, preparing to disappear into the room behind her. Through the crack of the door, plenty could be seen already. It was a room definitely fit for a princess with fineries lining nearly every square inch of the walls, and the floors. The bed was massive, and the ceilings high. There were wardrobes and a large desk piled with books, some of which had spines that almost fell apart with wear and tear. Books that were very old, and presumably the princess' own reading material sneaked in from the archives.

"It has been a pleasure, Rivalen." she stopped, smiling to herself as she stared blankly into the room. At the bed, at the desk, anywhere to avert her gaze from his eyes.
He was young, and handsome of his own accord, which only made the situation more difficult. Perhaps if he was just a boy, it would have been so much easier.
Though it could have been worse: It could have been a lecherous old man who had come to snap up the position, and her father had hired just because he claimed he had 'killed three wizards'.
She breathed a subtle sigh of relief, thanking the Lord in that very moment.

The thought that she would grow quite close to this man, by necessity if nothing else, over the next while was a thought that resurfaced and made her insides tingle with an unfamiliar feeling. Was it coyness? Was it embarrassment? Was it an innate modesty, that finally spoke up against such an obvious taboo?

"I hope to see you when I am finished."
She paused again.
"Perhaps you are not as...bad as I had previously written you to mind to be. Perhaps this relationship might actually work. Perhaps you are not the lecher I had initially taken you for. However, it only has been brief. I cannot place my full trust in you yet, of course. The truth will be as the truth will be. If your intentions are pure, I shall see it. And if your intentions are not, I shall see it. Unfortunately, for the latter, it may be a little too late."
Her thoughts drifted to all the possible dangerous scenarios and she shook her head to rid herself of them.
"Until then, Rivalen. The castle is yours to explore. If you so choose to set down your few belongings, you may find a guard - they will be dressed as Alain was - to guide you to the personal attendant's quarters. Maria's quarters."
And with one last dismissive nod, and an "I bid you farewell, if only for the moment.", she disappeared behind the door, letting it click in place behind her in her absence.