I would have finished on time if I made my brothers work.

The thought tugged at the back of mind as I worked through dinner, rewriting the proclamation for the third time. I left it for last, knowing it would be the most frustrating and difficult task. There were details that didn't need to be public knowledge, but, at the same time, any gaps would be filled in with rumors.

I was interrupted by a knock at the door. Ivetta's knock. I sighed and glanced at the clock. She knew I was working late. Why was she here?

"Come in."

She smiled at me as she let herself in, taking in the sheets of parchment scattered across the desk. She was carrying a plate of food. That was why she came. Worrying about me unnecessarily, when she was probably tired from three long days in a row and really needed to take care of herself.

I was tired from those three long days, too. Maybe that was why I was stuck on this document.

"I'm guessing you skipped lunch because of the round table, and I know you skipped dinner, so I brought you something," she explained, setting the plate on a clear area of my desk.

"I told you I was working late," I said, setting my quill aside as I resigned myself to accepting her attention.

"You didn't tell me you were giving Clavis and Nokto the day off," she replied, returning my frown.

"They're useless when the foreign princes are here."

She sighed and walked around the desk to me. I turned in my chair to face her, wondering what she was doing.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, lowering herself onto my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.

She just won. I didn't even know if this was an argument, or a conversation, or an intervention, but whatever it was, she won it. I wrapped one arm around her waist, my other hand holding the outside of her thigh to steady her on my lap, smiling involuntarily. "Not at all."

She leaned in and pressed a light kiss on my lips. "What are you working on?"

"An official proclamation," I replied, glancing back at the now unimportant papers on my desk.

"About Leon?"

I studied her curiously. "He told you."

"He told everybody over dinner." She rested her head on my shoulder and snuggled in closer to me. "But he didn't say much. Only that he was a slave, and he was switched for the real Leon at age six."

She wanted to know, and I had to tell her eventually.

"Leon had a heart condition," I started, resting my head on hers. "His mother was afraid of losing her standing in the palace, so she sent one of her knights to find a replacement."

"Did you know?" she asked quietly.

"No. None of us knew. He was locked away in his room for months. Only a select few were allowed in - his mother, the doctor, his nanny. When he was finally let out of his room, we all thought he was different because of his long illness."

"But he was a different boy altogether."

"A slave boy, bought for a single coin when the knight found the Obsidianite slavers beating him to death."

Her fingers curled into my shirt. She was all too familiar with beatings.

"His nanny, his doctor, that knight - they were all found murdered shortly after Leon emerged from his room," I continued.

"What?" she breathed, pulling back to look at me with wide green eyes.

"His mother had them killed so nobody would find out," I said, brushing her silky black hair back from her face. "And then she died of guilt."

"Poor Leon."

She rested her head on my shoulder again, and we sat in silence for a while. Negative topics aside, I was enjoying her warmth in my arms, her soft curves pressed against my body, the scent of lilacs in her hair.

It occurred to me that she was waiting for an explanation as to why I was working late when I let my brothers have the day off.

She had an interesting - and effective - interrogation technique.

"I didn't find out until last year, when he approached me about the ex-slaves. That was how he convinced me, and how he convinced the ex-slaves to listen to him. Everybody in Freedom knows. It's only a matter of time until the rest of Rhodolite finds out. I'm writing an official proclamation to head the rumors off."

"You don't normally have trouble writing these kinds of things," she commented, taking in the state of my desk.

"Impersonating a member of the royal family is treason, punishable by death. I have to officially pardon him and explicitly state that he will retain his standing as a member of the royal family."

"And decide how much to tell," she added. "Mind if I read what you have so far?"

"Go ahead."

I turned the chair to face the desk and scooted closer. She reached out for the plate of food and handed it to me.

"You need to eat something," she instructed, picking up the pages in front of us. I ate the cold food in silence while she scanned the drafts.

"Well, you're better at wording it than I am, but I think I could give you some tips," she finally said, setting the pages down and turning back to me. "The Leon we know isn't responsible for the actions of the original Leon Dompteur's mother," she started, brushing my hair back from my face. "Maybe it is technically treason, but a child can't be held accountable for that. Saying something to that effect, and that you officially pardon Leon of the crime he was forced into, should be enough to legally clear his name, I would think. All you have to say about his origin is that he was a replacement found by the late Leon Dompteur's mother for her dying child. Nobody has to know the rest unless he wants to tell them himself. But it wouldn't be a bad idea to point out some of his good qualities, such as how he distinguished himself on the battlefield on Bloodstained Rose Day, some of the things he's accomplished on behalf of Rhodolite as the leader of the domestic affairs faction, just to remind people of what an asset he is to Rhodolite. And I know your signature is the most important, but if the rest of your brothers signed it, too, that would emphasize the fact that this is a unanimous decision made by the royal family."

As she spoke, she ran her fingers lightly and repetitively through my hair, her breath hot on my face as her soft voice easily cut through all the problems I'd been having, her body warm against mine. I found my attention split between her green eyes, focused on the path her fingers took, and her full, pink lips in motion. It was really a wonder that I let her finish before I set my plate down and kissed her, cupping her face in my hand to keep her from pulling away. Not that she made any attempt to do so.

"You are quite skilled at this," I murmured.

"I just know how to tell people what they want to hear," she replied, smiling brightly at me and completely misconstruing what I was complimenting. "And I also know that you don't have to finish this tonight. The princes are having a party in Yves' favorite kitchen. Why don't you join them?"

"What about you?" I asked, stroking her cheek with my thumb.

"I've had a long day of telling people what they want to hear, and I'm going to bed." She leaned in and kissed me again. "But you have been cooped up in here all day, and you should go unwind with your brothers." She pushed off from my chest and stood up. "So, goodnight, and have fun."

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked, grabbing her hand and yanking her back to me. I kissed her before she was fully secure on my lap, hooking one hand firmly around her waist as her soft lips molded to mine, grabbing her thigh and pulling her toward me as her lips easily parted at the touch of my tongue. She rested her hands on my shoulders and pressed her soft curves against me, digging her fingers into my jacket as I rubbed slowly up and down her thigh. A soft moan escaped her throat as she accepted kiss after kiss. My brothers were the furthest thing from my mind.

Until the door flew open.

"Hey, Chev - oh."

We turned in unison to the doorway, where Clavis and Nokto stood frozen with wide eyes. Ivetta buried her face in my shoulder, pulling her knees up to make herself smaller as she tucked herself tightly against me. I tightened my grip on her and glared at the intruders.

"Now that's a kiss," Nokto commented, his mouth hanging open.

"Have you seen enough?" I asked, making my voice as cold and hard as possible.

Clavis' golden eyes flickered from Ivetta to me. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. "Plenty. We'll just leave you to it," he said, backing out of the room and pulling the door shut.

Ivetta let out a sigh of relief and nuzzled into my chest. I looked down at her, curled up in a ball in my arms, and had to chuckle.

"You are too easily embarrassed."

"Well, I like this part of our relationship to be private," she said, her voice muffled by my shirt.

I placed a light kiss on top of her head and loosened my arms around her. "Agreed. Aren't your guards outside?"

"I guess not," she said, looking up at me shyly. "They must have assumed we'd go back to our room together. I didn't think to tell them to wait for me."

"Then let's go," I said, prompting her to sit up and rather reluctantly leave my embrace.

"Chevalier, I really am tired, and I really think you should go join your brothers in the kitchen," she said as I stood and took her hand in mine. "It won't hurt anything for me to walk back by myself."

"Would you rather I carry you?" I asked, leading her to the door.

She sighed. "Honestly, if there wasn't a chance of us running into anybody, yes."

I chuckled again and led her out into the hallway, where we immediately ran into another of my brothers.

"What were you doing?" Luke asked as he approached us, smiling his wide, boyish smile.

"Get the plate on my desk and lock up. I'll be down to the kitchen in a few minutes," I said coolly, leading Ivetta past him.

"Why?" Luke asked, genuinely surprised.

She was tired, and she wanted to go to bed. But he didn't need an explanation, and I didn't give him one. Neither did Ivetta.

Theresa wouldn't let us off so easily. She was waiting in our room, her green eyes dancing as we walked in together.

"Theresa," Ivetta exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your maid, remember?" Theresa asked, smiling as she looked at our intertwined hands. "And I thought you were coming back alone."

Ivetta looked up at me questioningly but didn't say anything. It was my choice to stay or leave. Theresa was drawing her a bath, based on the water running in the bathroom, and Ivetta was going to bed immediately after that. I was tired, too, but a quick drink and dessert while she was in the bath didn't sound bad.

"Lock the door when you're done here," I instructed Theresa. "I'll be back later."

Ivetta smiled up at me. "Stay as long as you like. I'll be fine."

I would have liked to give her another kiss, but I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She wasn't up for any teasing from Theresa. I released her hand and left for the kitchen.

"Chev, what are you doing here?" Clavis asked when I walked into the kitchen.

"I told you he was coming," Luke said. "Although I have no idea why."

"That should be obvious," I replied coolly, pouring myself a drink from whatever Jin had open on the counter.

"What he means is, why are you here, and not with Ivetta?" Jin asked with amusement.

"She's tired." I took a drink. "And so am I. When is that going to be done, Yves?"

He was stirring something in a pot on the stove, and he glanced at the lit oven. "The chocolate cake will be a few more minutes, but it needs to cool before I frost it. Chocolate chip cookies are up next."

I pulled myself up onto the counter and took another drink.

"'She's tired.' A likely story," Silvio said sarcastically.

"A true story," Nokto retorted. "She wasn't saying no in his office, that's for sure."

"You need to learn how to knock," I said dryly.

"Her guards were gone, and we thought she was, too," Clavis argued. "How were we supposed to know you were getting hot and heavy in there?"

"Whoa, whoa, you just said they were kissing. Nobody said anything about hot and heavy," Leon interjected, leaning forward intently with a broad grin.

"She was sitting on his lap, and she was moaning," Nokto said, his crimson eyes darkening at his brief recounting. "And then she just cuddled all up to him and - I need another drink. Don't we have anything colder?"

I chuckled. "If that affects you so much, I have to question the validity of all your tales of romantic trysts."

"You threatened her life five times when she first started working here, and she acts like that around you?" Nokto asked angrily, his cheeks flushing.

How did he know that?

"Hey, Nokto, calm down," Jin urged him. "Here, straight from the cold cellar."

Nokto snatched the bottle from Jin's hand, wrenched the cork off, took a long swig, and then closed his eyes, holding the bottle to his forehead.

Leon whistled. "Thought you were over that crush on Ivetta."

"Not by a long shot," Clavis said, looking pityingly at Nokto.

"Wait, King Highness threatened to kill her five times?" Luke asked, his green eyes wide with shock.

Nobody else seemed surprised. It must have come up when everybody was present except Luke.

"Not in so many words," I replied, taking another drink.

"Why on earth would you do that?" Luke exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.

"There was an informant in the palace. She was the first maid who didn't run away from me on sight," I replied evenly.

"That would come across as suspicious," Gilbert concurred.

"So, you didn't really mean any of it," Leon said dubiously.

"What purpose would killing her have served?" I asked.

"And all those questions you asked her, all those conversations you started - you were investigating her," Clavis summarized.

They got this from her. Why would she tell them this?

"No. I ruled her out as a suspect by her third day here. The questions were because she was interesting. Although I have to wonder why we are discussing this."

"She was telling us about who left bad first impressions," Yves volunteered, removing the cake from the oven and replacing it with the tray of cookies. "You, Jin, Nokto, and Silvio all made the list."

Now this made sense.

"Not Gilbert?" Luke asked.

Gilbert chuckled. "Why does everyone assume the worst of me?" he asked innocently, wearing his usual charming smile.

"I wonder," Licht said dryly.

"Hey, Chev, did Ivetta ever tell you what happened with Gilbert that first night of the goodnight gala?" Clavis asked, his golden eyes glittering with amusement.

"Some of it, yes," I replied, locking eyes with Gilbert. "She gave me a brief summary of what was discussed, but she wouldn't say anything more about the physical interaction than she slapped him."

Leon laughed. "Good for her. Now, before Chevalier and Gilbert kill each other, how about we change the topic to Jin and his secret crush?"

Nokto looked up at that, his face back to its normal shade.

Jin groaned. "Not this again."

"Here, have another glass," Nokto said slyly, topping off Jin's drink.

"I'm not telling you because there's nothing to tell," Jin said firmly.

"Hey, Chev, Ivetta was hinting about some girl Jin is crazy about," Clavis said. "You wouldn't happen to know who it is, would you?"

"I do," I replied, taking another drink.

"Jin has a secret crush?" Luke asked.

Silvio rolled his eyes. "This is what you get for missing dinner."

"Well, Arianna was a little overwhelmed by all of you at breakfast, so we had a quiet, romantic dinner in the gardens." Luke's green eyes were dancing. "After she said yes."

If he was expecting fanfare, he was disappointed. There were smiles and chuckles, and a groan from Silvio, but nobody was surprised.

"You all knew?" Luke asked, wide-eyed.

"You told us you were going to propose," Leon pointed out. "Were you really expecting her to turn you down?"

"Well, no, but none of you knew that she said yes," Luke said, his shoulders drooping.

"Ivetta told us," Licht said blandly.

"And she was really excited," Yves added, removing an aromatic chocolate cake from the oven. "It sounds like she hit it off with Arianna, too."

"Well, we asked Chev, now it's your turn. Why are you here, Luke?" Clavis asked him, grinning.

"He's taking it slow, remember?" Nokto pointed out, taking another swig from the bottle in his hand. "Because King Highness said so," he added sarcastically.

"Wait, hold on, since when is Chevalier giving relationship advice? Why didn't you come to me, your oldest and wisest brother?" Jin asked.

"You're not married," Luke pointed out. "And he did not tell me to take it slow. I asked him why he and Ivetta waited, and if he thought it was worth it, and then Arianna and I talked about it and made our own decision."

"Thanks for that, by the way," Silvio said begrudgingly, his sea-blue eyes catching mine.

"Hey, Yves, is that cake ready yet? It smells delicious," Leon said.

"It has to cool before I put the frosting on top," Yves said firmly, stirring the pot of frosting again.

"Does not. Frost it and dish it up," Leon replied.

Yves sighed dramatically. "This is wrong, this is so wrong," he muttered, pouring the chocolate frosting onto the hot cake.

"So, Chev, you think it was worth waiting?" Clavis asked.

"Yes," I replied, draining my glass and skimming it along the counter to Jin for a refill.

"Why?" Nokto asked incredulously.

I gave him a pointed look. "Wouldn't you?"

He flushed again and took another pull from the bottle.

"It's Theresa, isn't it?" Yves suddenly asked, glancing sideways at Jin as he cut the cake into slices.

Jin's burgundy eyes widened.

"Theresa? Really? The same Theresa who used to clean Leon's office, and who now works as Ivetta's maid?" Clavis pressed him, his smile widening.

"I hate you guys," Jin muttered, draining his glass in a single gulp.

"If you really don't like her, you won't mind me setting her up with Nokto, right, Jin?" Clavis asked.

Nokto was still scowling at the floor.

"Shut up," Jin grumbled.

Leon was laughing heartily. "I don't know why I didn't see it. You're always flirting with her, but you've never even made a move on her."

"Hey, Jin, care to describe her for Nokto?" Clavis teased.

"Not a chance," Jin said firmly.

"What about your crush, Yves?" Gilbert asked.

The knife in Yves' hand froze. His blue eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed red.

Nokto looked up and smirked. "Evie, have you met someone?" he asked teasingly.

Yves turned to Gilbert with a hard glare. "Don't say another word."

"Ooh, someone from Obsidian, hm?" Clavis teased. "Hiding his crush in another country. Who knew little Yves was so clever?"

"She's just - oh, what's the use," Yves moaned, dropping a slice of cake on a plate and stuffing a forkful in his mouth. Licht took over plating slices of cake and passing them around to the rest of us.

"She's engaged," Gilbert finished for Yves.

"And a homewrecker, too! This keeps getting better and better," Nokto continued.

"Chevalier, what happened to you being a good influence on us?" Leon asked jokingly.

"Good influence? Are we forgetting the five death threats he made on Ivetta's life?" Jin asked.

"She did," Keith ventured from his corner of the room. "What?" he asked, squirming uncomfortably when everybody turned to look at him.

"He has a point," Silvio agreed. "She had to think about it before she could answer the question, and she was kissing Chevalier in his office."

Nokto took a bite of cake and immediately chased it down with another drink.

It was unusual for Nokto to get drunk, but he was well on his way there. I hadn't realized his feelings for Ivetta were so strong. Even Clavis, who would normally take full advantage of this weakness for his own amusement, was actively steering the conversation away from anything referencing my physical relationship with Ivetta.

I almost felt sorry for Nokto.

Almost.

Ivetta's guards were outside the door when I arrived. She must have sent Theresa to get them. The one time I gave her a break from the constant guard presence, and she chose to reinstate them for my peace of mind.

I dismissed them and let myself in, smiling as I looked over at the bed. The smile quickly faded into a frown. She was asleep, but the sheets were twisted around her from tossing and turning. Nightmares, for the first time since we got married. While I was indulging in drinks and desserts, she was up here having nightmares. I went to the bed and leaned over her, mentally fuming at myself for not being here for her, and then breathed out a sigh of relief when I noted her face was smooth and relaxed. It had been just under an hour since I left her, and her guards hadn't notified me of any problems. The nightmares were brief and much less severe than I had seen them before.

I took my pajamas to the bathroom and changed. The scent of lilacs hung heavy in the air from her bath, mixing with the alcohol in my system to remind me of my drowsiness. I returned to the bedroom and propped my sword up next to my side of the bed. She hadn't moved, still deep asleep. I carefully eased myself under the sheets, trying not to disturb her.

"Mm...Chevalier?" she mumbled, stirring as I slid into place beside her.

"Go back to sleep, little dove," I said softly.

"I missed you," she mumbled, cuddling up beside me.

I brushed her hair back from her face, trailing a finger lightly down her cheek as I rested mine on the pillow next to her. "Likewise."

She rested her head on my chest with a contented sigh. "Did you have fun?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"You're falling asleep, Ivetta."

"Mm...you're so warm..." she mumbled, pressing into my side and reaching her hand across my chest to clutch at my shoulder.

I kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Ivetta."

She didn't respond, already asleep, her hand falling limp on my chest. I smiled and slid my arm underneath her to bring her closer. She sighed and nuzzled into me, her fingers curling into my shirt just briefly before they fell limp again.

This was well worth the wait.