((new cover from my wonderful fantastic friend lis: -Crankylisiplier go check her out she's got mark and ethan imagines and they're so freaking awesome!))

The next day you woke up excited to not be bothered by Leopold, or even Amy for that matter. You loved her and her positive energy, but you really did need a day to yourself to process it. Accompanied by Ethan, of course. However, you were worried when he still hadn't shown up after you were served breakfast by a different servant. You stopped one of your handmaidens as she came to refill your tea. "Excuse me, Maryana?"

"Yes, My Lady?"

"Do you know where Ethan is?"

She seemed slightly confused at your question, but answered you nonetheless. "He was ordered bedrest from the court physician, My Lady."

You were disappointed, but knew that this is what was best for him to heal. "Good. Would you mind accompanying me today, Maryana?"

"I would be honored, Princess Y/N."

With a small smile, you took another sip of your tea before standing up. "Good, I will get dressed, you can fetch me from my room. I think I'd like a tour of the grounds today."

"Yes, My Lady." The small brunette girl nodded, excitement clear in her voice as she started clearing your dishes.

Back in your room, you chose a pale red dress to wear today, lightweight and casual, and of course flats since you planned on walking a great distance. A knock on your door startled you as you were combing your hair. "My Lady?" A familiar voice flowed through the air.

"Ethan!" You exclaimed, rushing to open the door.

He was dressed in his normal servant's outfit, and his chipper facade was having a hard time staying up as he bowed to you, pain flashing​ across his face at the action. "I thought the doctor told you bedrest!" You immediately began chastising him. "What on God's green Earth are you doing up here?"

"It is my duty to serve you everyday while you are residing in this castle, My Lady." He wheezed, obviously trying not to show how much he was hurting.

"My Lady?" Another voice came from the hallway, and you turned to see Maryana standing politely in the hall.

"Hello, Maryana." You said kindly to the young girl before turning back to Ethan, your tone becoming stern. "Go back to your quarters, Ethan. That's an order."

Ethan's lips formed a thin line before cracking into a forced smile. "Yes, My Lady."

A want to grab his arm and hug him and apologize for being so harsh flowed through your fingertips, but you retained your cool composure in front of the other servant, watching with satisfaction as he retreated back down the halls. Your attention went back to Maryana, who was still standing awkwardly in the hallway. "Let me finish brushing my hair and we will start."

Your day with Maryana was a pleasant one, she was a good listener and explained what she could to the best of her ability. She was a bright young lady, probably only a couple of years your junior. Curiosity shone in her eyes whenever you would tell stories from your past or from books you've read. When you asked her if she knew how to read, she explained that Amy was trying to teach her but since she's been going to Fischbach so often, they haven't had a lesson in a while.

"Come to my room tonight, I'll teach you." You offered, and her eyes started filling with tears as she cast herself at your feet, kissing your fingers.

"Thank you thank you thank you My Lady Y/N." She cried. "You are too kind."

"Please, it's my pleasure." You said sheepishly, helping her back up and reaching into your pocket for your handkerchief to dry her tears. Then you realized that you had given it to Ethan, and wiped at her tears with the sleeves of your dress.

So then every night for the next few days, Maryana would come to your bedroom after the servants finished cleaning up dinner and you would teach her how to read, starting with your favorite fairytales from when you were a kid, the ones you would always read to Rachel. It was nearly two weeks after your arrival that you saw Ethan again, he was at your door in the morning, with almost no pain left in his body. His smile almost seemed genuine as he told you good morning.

"It is a good morning, Ethan." You smiled brightly, shutting your bedroom door behind you.

"And why is that, My Lady?" He cocked his head to the side.

"You're feeling better, Amy is returning from Fischbach today, and I believe the Young Prince is out on a hunting trip with his father." A skip was in your step as you walked to the balcony where you'd taken to having breakfast every morning to watch the last few minutes of sunrise. Today was going to be a good day, you could feel it in your bones.

"I'm happy that My Lady is so happy." Ethan's smile turned into a real one that reached his eyes as he opened the door for you.

You thanked him as you walked through, then sat down as he began pouring tea out for you. "Yes, I think today we'll go to that river you told me about the day I arrived. If you're feeling up to it, of course."

"If My Lady wishes to go, I would be happy to oblige. I will get your horse ready once you finished eating."

"How about I don't ride Milaana this time?"

"Of course, My Lady."

After breakfast, you changed into a set of riding clothes then walked the path down to the stables that was slowly becoming familiar. Approaching the wooden barn, you saw Ethan finishing tacking up a golden mare with deep brown eyes. "She's beautiful." You reached up to stroke her nose, she when whinnied slightly, but let you do so.

"This is Ophelia." He introduced you, handing you the reins to the gorgeous mare.

"What horse will you be riding, Ethan?"

"The horses aren't for servants to ride, I'll be walking alongside you."

You frowned as he helped you up onto the horse. "That's not fair, I can walk too."

"My Lady, please, I do this every other day."

"Well, why were you on a horse when Amy and I went out?"

"The Young Prince Leopold insisted his horse be exercised, so an exception was made." He explained as you two began a slow gait into the forest trail away from the castle.

"Do you enjoy serving the royal family?"

"My Lady, I can't freely express my opinions on subjects such as that."

"Of course, I'm sorry." You sighed, opting to look at the leaves above you as they got denser the further you went into the forest. How tightly the servants were held on a leash bothered you, everyone should be able to express their feelings without being worried about punishment. This unspoken rule even extended to you, you were sure there would be serious a repurcussions if you told anybody about how much you despised the idea of marrying a little kid. The queen would probably see it as downright treason, and you were in their kingdom, meaning your parents held no sway over the laws here. For the first time since your arrival, you truly felt worried for your own wellbeing. But, nothing would happen as long as you were compliant with their wishes. That thought didn't seem much better to you.

"My Lady?"

"Yes, Ethan?" You snapped your attention back down to the kind man walking alongside your horse obediantly.

He looked up at you with such heart-wrenching blue eyes that your nerves of your previous thoghts dissapated as soon as he made eye contact with you. "Permission to ask you a question?"

"You never have to ask my permission to speak or ask me questions."

"Well, My Lady, I couldn't help but wonder, uhm. No, I'm sorry, I can't ask you this, it is too far out of line."

"Ethan, please, I want to listen to what you have say."

"Forgive me, My Lady Y/N, but I couldn't help but notice. Uhm, I'm sorry. Are you happy?"

You were taken aback by this question at first, not sure of the answer yourself. Ethan seemed to notice your hesitation and began profusely apologizing, to which you stopped him with a hand. "Honestly, I think I'm only happy when I'm with you like this. Or the few moments I've spent with Amy. Or when I'm teaching Maryana." You reached up to grab one of the leaves that were already starting to change colors. "Yeah, I think I'm happy, sometimes."

Ethan seemed lost in thought as well as you gathered more leaves as they fell near you. You weren't sure what you were planning on doing with them, but their many colors fascinated you, so you held as many a you could in your hands and the folds of your long dress. Secretly, you had one leg folded up on the saddle, ready to straddle it in case you were about to fall off again from sidesaddling. God, you just wanted your riding pants from back home.

Actually, there were a lot of things you wanted from back home. Your bed, clothes, hairbrush, Katya, Rachel, your parents, everything. You missed everything about your old life. You didn't even realize you were crying until Ethan's voice floated back up to your ears.

"My Lady, we're almost there."

His voice brought you back to the present, and you furiously wiped at the streaks running down your cheeks, hoping that he couldn't see from his angle. Peering ahead of you, you could only see more forest, but noticed that the trees had gotten even thicker and the leaf cover was blocking out most of the sun, providing wonderful shade above you.

Ophelia slowed to a stop at Ethan's command in front of some particularly close-together tree trunks. "Ophelia can't go any further, I'm afraid you'll have to go on foot from here, My Lady."

"That's fine. Will she be alright out here?" You asked as Ethan's hand gripped your waist firmly to help you down off the back of the goledn creature.

She was already grazing at the luscious grass as Ethan tied the reins around a low branch. "She'll have plenty of grass to keep her busy. Right, girl?" He patted her side, and Ophelia seemed to snort back in agreement.

"Alright. See you later, Ophelia." You stroked her hair that was slightly damp from her sweat before turning back to Ethan for him to lead you.

"Come, My Lady." He gestured for you to follow him as he squeezed himself between the two trees.

You followed suit, picking up the ends of your dress to avoid getting it caught on anything as you tread through the opening. Ethan was waiting for you on the other side, next to a trail that you could tell hadn't been trodden on for a few days. Probably not since before Ethan was confined to bedrest.

"Who got the horses water while you were resting?" You asked, carefully stepping around the pebbles that lay sparsely on the ground.

"There's other servants, the Queen just prefers giving me the duties the others would orefer not to do."

"So nobody wanted to be my personal butler?" You inferred from his statement, more amused than anything else.

"Not be speaking too brashly, but everyone kind of expected you to be stuck-up and awful." Ethan explained, and at your off-put look, he immediately began blabbering and trying to apologize. "Which you are definitely not, My Lady, you're probably the best royal I've had the pleasure of serving and I absolutely love every second I get to spend in Your Gracious Prescense. And you are kind, wise, beautiful, and intelligent beyond your years. Honestly, all the others truly missed out on this wonderful experience-"

"Ethan," you had to put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and to keep yourself from keeling over with laughter.

"My Lady?"

With a few giggles still peeping out every few syllables, you waved off his confused features. "I am truly overjoyed that you don't think I'm stuck-up and awful. In fact, I think it's quite fateful that you got this assignment, because I enjoy every moment I get to spend in your precense as well."

"My Lady..." Ethan seemed to be at a loss for words.

You quickly realized the implications of the words you just exchanged with each other, and quickly tried to find soemthign to change the topic with. The brown-haired boy accompanying you beat you to it, gesturing to something in the distance. "There's the river, we're nearly there, My Lady Y/N!"

"Well then what are we waiting for?" You couldn't contain your excitement, bunching up your skirrts in your hands to start sprinting at full speed in the direction of the riverbank at the edge of your vision.

"My Lady! I'm supposed to accompany you for your safety!"

You called back to him over your shoulder, "Hurry up then! I might get in mortal danger in the five seconds you can't see me!"

"Please don't joke about that!" He souded slightly winded as he spoke, and you could tell that he had started running to keep up with you.

As the ground thumped beneath your feet, you felt an adrenaline rush through your veins that you hadn't felt in a while. The cool air hitting your nose and infiltrating your lungs brought a refreshed feeling throughout your entire body. You slowed to a brisk walk as the riverbank and accompanying creek came closer. The soud of the water swishing over the rocks was relaxing, and the smile on your face got wider as you slipped off your shoes.

"My Lady!" Ethan exclaimed as he joined you on the bank. He didn't seem to be that out of breath, but there was still some panic in his voice as he spoke. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great, Ethan!" You looked around at the scenery in awe. "This place is, breathtaking."

"I enjoy spending what time I can out here. And the water is good perk-up on a hot summer's day." He explained, looking further downstream at a deer on the other side of the creek in the brush.

You continued exploring, holding up your skirts to start feeling your way up a rock promontory. Still on the adrenaline rush, you were about halfway up when Ethan seemed to notice that you had disappeared from his side.

"My Lady!" Your companion kicked off his shoes to follow you up. "That's much too dangerous for you!"

"You'd be surprised how much rock climbing I did in my kingdom, Ethan." You laughed at his concern that you'd never done anything in your life. "I think you'd be surpirsed I'm quite competent at many things."

"But these rocks are very slippery from the water and algae that grows along them-"

As he was explaining his worries, you noticed him start to wobble, and you rushed back down to grab his arm as he slipped off the edge. You were able to hold him up for a slplit second before his imbalance and the lack of grip you had on the rocks brought both of you off the side. The tumble through the air was a short one before you splashed down into the shallow stream, something soft underneath you. Realizing that you had probbaly landed on Ethan, the poor boy, you turned around trying to frantically find him.

Two arms picked you up out of the current bridal style and you recognized them to belong to Ethan. He was only about thigh-deep as he waded with you to shore, and you clung onto his neck, not wanting to fall again. After gently setting you down on the grass by the riverside, he laid down dramatically beside you, face-down in the dirt that had been warmed by the sun's rays.

"Are you alright, My Lady?" He asked, still concerned for your well-being after he took the brunt of the fall.

"I'm fine, Ethan, just a little damp. Are you okay? I landed on top of you on those rocks, and your injury from Milaana-" Your worried tangent was cut off by Ethan's cold fingers wrapping around your hand comfortingly.

"All is well, Lady Y/N."

After breathing a sigh of relief, you both broke out into unconstrained laughter at the situation that just happened. You were in stitches on the soft grass beside Ethan, not caring how ridiculous the two of you would look to passerby, both of you soaking wet and now rolling yourselves around in dirt while cackling uncotrollably. That would surely be a sight.

Ethan's laugh was such a blessing to your ears as you started to sober up from your laughing fit, but he was still going. You were still grinning to yourself as you listened to his cute laughs and took in the bright smile across his lips that crinkled the skin beside his eyes and on his forehead. In your heart you were wishing that this moment would never end.

But it did, and the boy with you had stopped laughing, looking up at you with a grin very similar to your own. His hand was still cradling yours, and you realized you didn't mind, that this felt natural. In fact, it was the first thing that had felt right for you in a long time.

Ethan seemed to become aware of your hands again as well, and quickly tried to yank it away, stand up, and become formal again. "My Lady, I am so sorry about that, I was very improper-"

You stood up as well, cutting Ethan off with a tight hug. He didn't know what to do at first, but hesitantly wrapped his arms around your waist, holding your wet form to his own. You released him slightly to get a good look at his face, brushing a few of the wet strands of his hair off of his forehead.

"Please, stop apologizing, Ethan."

"But, My Lady-"

With a deep sigh, you took a step back from him, immediately feeling empty again, but you steeled your feelings against this. "If I do not make you happy, Ethan, then I will gladly forget this ever happened, and will recommend you be switched with Maryana, with my glowing recommendations towards you, of course. If I do, then please, let me. Because you are the only thing that makes me happy right now, and I can't bear the thought of living out the rest of my days in that castle without you beside me."

Ethan seemed to contemplate your words for a moment, then took a tentative step closer to you, reaching a hand out towards you. You let his fingers gently tuck a peice of your soaking hair behind your ear, and come to rest on your cheek. Giving him a small nod, he closed that last space between you two, lips brushing against yours. The kiss was sweet, and you locked your mouths together again, your own fingers getting tangled up in his brunette locks. His hands were gently on your waist, as if you could break like glass under his touch. You pressed yourself further into Ethan to assure him that you weren't that fragile, and he kissed back rougher.

Finally, you needed to pull back for air, but still kept yourself touching him. "Thank you." You whispered, resting your forehead on his.

"For what, My Lady?" His warm breath washed over your face as he spoke quietly.

"Letting yourself be happy. You deserve it."

His warm prescence left you for a moemnt, and you opened your eys worriedly to see him sitting back on the grass. You settled in beside him on the soft green grass, taking notice of his melancholy look. "Ethan?" You said his name, taking his hand in yours.

"There's something I need to tell you, My Lady."

"You can call me Y/N when it's the two of us."

Ethan squeezed your hand as he continued to look across the creek at the vast nothing. "Y/N, there's something I need to tell you."

"I'll always listen, Ethan." You assured him, and he looked over at you with a strange bittersweet expression.

"I haven't always been a servant boy. I used to be someone who had servants."

"What do you mean?"

"My father is the King of Gizmonia. My mother is his dead wife, the First Queen of Gizmonia. She died during childbirth, bringing me into the world. My father was devastated, so my sister practically raised me. Amy was, and is, all that I have left of my mother. According to my father, she's the spitting image of her. Everything was okay for a while, with just Father, Amy, and I, until he met her. The Second Queen of Gizmonia." His voice changed from the wistful tone of reminiscing in his childhood to a much harsher one when the current Queen was brought up.

"She married him, and in his weak state managed to convince him that I was planning on overthrowing and killing him. I was only seven. He cast me out of the palace and sent me to the groundskeeper to be raised as a servant in the castle. Then, they had their own son and she was absolutely determined to have him take the throne as the sole heir to Gizmonia. That's probbaly why she's forcing marriage on him at such an early age, to secure the crown. And she's marrying Amy off as soon as possible to make sure there's nobody left to show me kindness. And the worst of it is that now she's got you involved in this whole mess. I'm truly sorry, Y/N."

You chewed on your lip in thought, trying to process the load of inforation Ethan had just told you. Everything he had suffered thorugh alone, every grievance he had against this queen you were starting to accept as the embodiment of evil on this Earth. "Does Leopold know, about all of this?" Was the only thing you could manage to say.

"To a certain degree. He understands that Amy and I are siblings, and that he and Amy are siblings. He's a smart kid, I'm sure he's figured out that I'm related to him. After all, we both look like our Father." Ethan laughed sourly, looking back over at you deep in thought. "I'm sorry for throwing this all at you-"

"What have I said about apologizing, Ethan?" You pursed your lips, and he broke into a genuine smile.

"Of course, my bad."

"So, Amy's your sister, and she knows it?"

"Yes."

"That explains why she's so kind to you. And also seems to have a hidden dislike for the Queen."

He chuckled at your observation. "Yes."

"And this explains why you and Leopold get along so well. He looks at you with these shining eyes, I can tell he loves you. Whether he realizes you're his big brother or not. And I admire you, Ethan. You've had to watch this kid take everything that should have been yours, your title, your riches, your family. And yet, you do not have a single ounce of resentment or enmity towards him." You squeezed Ethan's hand between both of your smaller ones, staring lovingly into his color-shifting eyes. "You are absolutely the best human I know, Ethan."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Ethan shook his head, leaning over to peck your cheek. "If you haven't heard, I'm currently in a scandal with my kid half-brother's fiancee mere months before their wedding."

"Oh really?" You kissed him once, then once more. "Guess you aren't so perfect, after all."

"Well, neither are you, My Lady." He smirked, pressing his lips to your again.

A grumbling from both of your stomachs broke the tender moment, and you started laughing again. "Maybe we should head back for lunch? And a change of clothes?"

"I agree." Your companion stood and offered you a hand up, which you gladly accepted, then held tight to it as he strated back towards the forest.

Ophelia was still waiting patiently where you had left her, although the grass around her was noticeably more scarce than before. She seemed to have grazed a radius around her that was at its' limits, and she huffed at you two returning.

"Alright, alright, we'll get some hay in you, Ophelia." Ethan shook his head at her 'compalints', bending down to offer you a handstool up.

After you had swung your leg over the saddle, Ethan started untying the reins, preparing to walk beside you again. "No way in hell." You shook your head furiously. "You are riding on this horse with me."

"My Lady-" Your stern look had him relenting. "Very well, Y/N."

Holding fast to the reins, you scooted forward to allow him to hop up behind you, seated snugly against your back. "You might want to hold on, Ethan." You told him before clicking your tongue to encourage Ophelia to start up through the forest again.

"Woah!" Ethan yelped, immediately snaking his arms tightly around your waist.

His closeness brought warmth to your cold face, and you smiled yourself, slowing the mare back down to savor this moment for as long as possible. Because, you knew that as soon as you got near the castle again, Ethan would have to dismount, and go back to being your polite, proper, personal butler. Only a servant, and nothing else.

"Y/N." He said after you two had been riding for a while, and you could feel his chest rumble against your back as he spoke quietly. "We're about a mile from the castle, I think I should get off, to be safe."

You twisted your face around as best you could to give him one last peck on the cheek. "Very well, Ethan."

He slid down off the saddle, resuming the same distance he had from you when you two had embarked that morning, perhaps with even more. As you two neared the stables, you could see the stable hands chattering excitedly. They were teenage boys of no more than 14 or 15, and you'd already heard of their affinity for Princess Amy, for which you couldn't blame them, she was definitely beautiful and so very kind.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked them, ruffling the hair of one teasingly.

"Princess Amy has returned from Fischbach!" The boy shoved Ethan's hand off of his head, then noticed the fact that both of your clothes were still wet. "What happened to you two?"

"Oscar! Treat the Elegant Lady Y/N with more respect." The older boy chastised him, pinching his ear in a gesture that reminded you of Katya and Rachel.

You had to stifle your laughter as Oscar was forced to apologize to you. "You're fine, Oscar. I just took a little bit of a tumble into the creek, and Ethan kindly helped me out."

The young boy mumbled a thank you to you for your kindness as Ethan helped you back off Ophelia. You lingered for a moment too long in Ethan's embrace and awkwarrdly backed away from him as someone yelling your name neared you. Your head whipped around to see Amy's holden hair bouncing behind her in the wind as she raced down the path to you.

"Amy, you're back!" You proclaimed excitedly as she threw herself at you, hugging you tightly to her.

"Y/N! Oh my!" She let go of you to inspect your dress and damp hair. "You're soking wet! And freezing! Come, we need to get you dried off and in some fresh, warm clothes."

"Goodbye, boys." With a wave to Ethan and the stable boys, you followed Amy back up the hill to the castle.

"So, may I ask why Ethan was also soaking wet?" Amy asked quietly once you two were in your bedroom.

You were changing behind a privacy curtain, and tried to figure out how much to tell Amy. Sure, even if she was Ethan's sister, she still could be aginst you betraying your fiancee, her other brother. So you decided to go with the same lie you told Oscar. "I slipped and fell into a creek while out on a ride today. Ethan helped me out."

"He really is quite kind, isn't he?" She seemed to accept your story, and you breathed a sigh of relief as you slipped a dress over your head.

When you walked back out, you were greeted with the same melancholy look you'd seen on Ethan earlier. "Amy, is everything alright?"

"Just, thinking about my brothers."

You feigned confusion at her pluralization of brother, and she let out a short, breathy laugh, sitting cross-legged on your bed. Sitting beside her, you gestured for the blonde to continue on. "Ethan's my brother. It's a really long story, but the Queen in power isn't our mother, and she's been trying her best to get rid of us. Something about wanting her son to be in power and not us. So she made Ethan a servant, and is getting me out of the castle via marriage."

"Wow, I'm so sorry, Amy." You hugged the other girl, and she squeezed you back.

"I'm sorry you got tossed up in this mess too, Y/N."

With a shake of your head, you let go of her to take both of her hands in yours. "You and Ethan really are siblings, huh? He said the same thing to me when he told me about your situations."

"He must really trust you, Y/N." Amy smiled at you. "That's something he doesn't have a lot left of anymore."

You could only nod at her statement, chewing on your lips in thought again. "So, lunch?" Your friend perked up again, standing up to pull you off the bed.

"Sure." You slipped on a pair of shoes before following her out towards the dining room.

((woah wtf almost 20k reads these are exploding and im confused why do y'all like my shit))