Penelope returned his smile and gave a small nod as she rose up to her feet to leave. "Thanks. Good luck with your lessons." The knight hung back for a moment as she let Crow leave first before heading out of the Great Hall as well. She walked quietly down the corridor and headed down the stairs as she made her way to the front gates. As she reach them, she relieved the guard that had been positioned there earlier and took her position on the right side of the gates. 

Looking over to her left, she watched as a new guard stepped over to relieve the old one and frowned as she realized it was none other than William. The older knight narrowed his gaze at her but remained silent as the guard from before took his leave. For a brief moment, Penelope hoped that the male knight would just keep his mouth shut and just focus on his guard shift. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. 

"So, care to start explaining anything?" William growled as soon as they were left alone.

"I have nothing to explain." Penelope responded, returning his glare. The female knight held her head a little higher, refusing to let William see any weakness. She was quite nervous about his questioning but showing that would only encourage him to pry further. So, the knight forced herself to hold his gaze and restrained herself from shuffling her feet. 

"Don't try to act innocent, Vermillion. I know you have something to do with that cur rising to viceroy so out with it." William demanded. 

"William don't tell me you purposely took this shift just so you could badger me about your assumptions." Penelope sighed. 

"Don't change the topic." He warned her threateningly and smirked arrogantly. "I want answers and I'm not afraid to start spreading the word about your little romance. I'm certain your father wouldn't be pleased to hear about it."

Penelope rolled her eyes. The knight wished she could say he was right about them still being together, after all there wasn't much he could do about it now that Crow was viceroy, but for the sake of keeping their heads down, she knew that she couldn't. "You're ridiculous." she growled. "First off, what good would spreading rumors like that do you now? That thief you loath so much is a noble now. The most punishment I'd get is a couple disapproving stares and a maybe a lecture from my father. If they even believe you."

She smirked at William and crossed her arms over her chest. "Aside from that, I hear you're the reason this happened in the first place. If anything, it's [i]your[/i] loud mouth that got him the job."

William seemed slightly caught off guard and eyed her warily. "What the hell do you mean?"

"You were the one that told the king about his ability to pick up languages. If he hadn't known about that, then he would have likely never even offered him the position." Penelope pointed out. It was difficult to say how true her words were. After all, the king did claim that he was also doing it to repay Crow for the past but that hardly matter at the moment. If she could convince William he was at fault, it'd likely make the male knight back down from saying anything more.

She met his gaze challengingly as she notice the male knight waver. "So, if you decide ratting on me is the way to go, I suggest you reconsider. Otherwise I'll return the favor."

"I was merely reporting to my superior. I had no idea-" William began defensively. 

"Do you really think that'll matter? There are a lot of angry people, William, and I'm sure you'd lose quite a bit of respect amongst them." Penelope shrugged. 

William clenched his jaw frustratedly before turning away from her to focus on his surroundings. "This is ridiculous." he grumbled.

Penelope gave a pleased smirk as the older knight seemed to realize that he was backed into a corner. With no further protest from him, she focused back on her shift. The two fell into a tense silence for the rest of the night, both trying to ignore the other's presence in order to get through the shift as peacefully as possible.