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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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