Crow sighed when Penelope said they would probably have to put some distance between them once they returned to the castle. Right now, parting from her was the last thing he wanted to do. He had just given up everything he was familiar and comfortable with to start a new life as a nobleman in the inner kingdom. More than anything, he wanted the knight by his side to help him adjust to it all, but he knew they couldn’t do that without risking having someone figure out that they were together. He didn’t want to ruin her name amongst the other nobles while he still had a poor reputation. While he didn’t care if the people in the castle liked him or not, he wanted to ensure that she would still have good standing whenever they chose to go public about their relationship.

As Penelope went on to joke that they could be acquaintances for a while, Crow smirked amusedly. “I guess we’ll just have to try to remember how we used to act around each other two years ago, huh?” he nudged her blithely. Thinking back on it, it was almost comical to try and return to the way they’d interacted before they’d gotten together. Even back then, they had gotten along well enough that he had fallen for her mere days after they had begun their travels. It was hard to imagine staying acquaintances or even friends with her when a romantic relationship just felt so much more natural.

[i]And we’ll have to keep distance between us on top of it all,[/i] he added to himself with a disappointed exhale. [i]It’s a good thing Naida offered to help me settle in, otherwise this would all be miserable.[/i] Suddenly, his eyes widened as he was struck by an idea.

“Maybe we won’t have to completely avoid each other though,” he started slowly, turning back to Penelope with an eager grin. “You’re friends with my sister, right? She offered to spend time with me while I’m adjusting to noble life. If you stay close to her whenever you’re not on guard duty in the castle, we’ll probably wind up near each other through her. It wouldn’t even look very suspicious since you two are already close.” He blinked as something else came to him. “Although… not many people know that Naida and I share blood, so I suppose [i]we[/i] might look strange spending so much time together.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Oh gods, that’s an unpleasant thought.”