When Penelope said that his father probably wouldn’t admit they were related, Crow nodded in agreement. He doubted Albin wanted anyone else to know he was his son, especially as he recalled what the king had said about his appearance ‘making things more difficult.’ It seemed that while his father had been intending to offer him the job as viceroy from the start, he hadn’t planned on publicly accepting the thief as his son. While something about that didn’t particularly sit well with him, he supposed he could understand why Albin would be so hesitant. After all, he didn’t have the best reputation in Brerra, and there would surely be nobles who would be upset to find out that their ruler had sired the most infamous thief in the kingdom.

However, in the same way, he wasn’t necessarily keen to tell anyone that he was the bastard son of the king either. While his father didn’t seem to be the terrible man his mother had made him out to be, he still wasn’t sure where they stood with each other. He preferred to work out their relationship in private rather than have the public eye following their every action towards each other. It was better that the people who knew about them remained small in number.

“You’re probably right,” Crow shrugged when Penelope said that his father would probably wait to tell anyone about their relationship until after he’d become accomplished as an ambassador. “I just can’t help but wonder how long it’s going to stay a secret; you know? I’ve only been here for one full day, and there are already a few people who either found out or seem to be suspicious.” He rounded a corner in the corridor, offhandedly noticing that he was getting better at navigating the halls of the castle without help.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine though,” he sighed. “My father seems to know what he’s doing, so it can’t be that bad if word spreads early.”

After a while, they reached his room, and Crow held the door for Penelope again before following her into the bed chamber. Right away he saw that the servants had indeed prepared another lavish supper for him, as the table on the left side of the room was covered in fresh platters. The thief made a beeline towards it, enticed by the delicious aroma of cooked meats and vegetables. His stomach growled again as he pulled out a chair to sit in and grabbed a plate to fill. “I could get used to this,” he said with a grin, gesturing for Penelope to join him at the small feast before focusing on piling his plate with another venison dish he’d spotted.