The two knights made quick work of saddling their horse. Penelope felt a bit pressured to do so with the way the young stable boy was eying them with nervousness. Naida had refused the boy's help since she preferred to saddle her own horse so the knight guessed he was likely afraid he'd get in trouble for just standing back to let the princess do her own work. Luckily he had nothing to worry about and the two friends were on their way to Bellmare. 

The two chatted about various things on the ride there. Penelope told Naida more about her plans to try and convince the king to end the war peacefully. Naida reacted supportively of course and that gave the knight more hope. Naida might not have been next in line for the throne but surely her opinion did carry some type of weight, both in her own family and with other nobles. The knight definitely thought her friend to be a rather powerful ally. Aside from that, Naida also spoke more on how things had been at the castle during her absence, making it clear to Penelope she had missed her and Olivia's company. 

Eventually the two crossed over the bridge and made their way into Bellmare, which made Penelope grin. The city hadn't changed a bit from it's luxurious manors and lively streets filled with both nobles and their servants. Best of all was how quickly her own family's manor came into view. Since her uncle was a baron, they had a large plot of land with four distinct buildings. There was the main house where most of her family resigned. It was large and well taken care of with beautiful decor at the front. To the right of it was the stables and to the left, was the servant's quarters. Away from the main house, there was another home, much smaller in size but still well kept. It was her home, the one she had shared with her father and Layth in her childhood. 

Nowadays, it was really just hers. Layth had moved into the main house since he was being groomed to take over Edward's position and her father was rarely home to begin with. Though no one ever directly gave her ownership, the knight felt like it had pretty much fallen under her sole care over recent years. 

The two rode over to the stable and dismounted their horses, allowing for the young stable boy to take them while they began to make their way towards her home. However, the two didn't get very far before the sound of rushing footsteps caught their attention. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, Penelope blinked in surprise as Letitia came hurrying towards them. 

"Penelope Vermillion! How dare you try to just sneak in here without even coming to tell me hello first!" Letitia scolded as she threw her arms around the knight as soon as she reached her. 

Penelope blushed and gave a small laugh as she returned the older woman's embrace. "I'm sorry, Letitia. I swear I was going to find you once me and Naida got settled in."

Letitia gave her a firm squeeze before letting her go and smiled at the two as she stepped back. "I'm just teasing dear. And Naida, it's good to see you again." she said in a more formal tone as she dipped her head. 

"Good to see you too, Letitia." Naida said with a smirk. 

"Oh! You two must be starving. Come on, come on. We just finished serving your family their breakfast but we just got our own. I'm sure there's enough to spare if you don't mind not eating all fancy." Letitia quickly offered. 

Having woken up far before breakfast was served the two women nodded their heads, eagerly accepting the invitation. The older woman lead the way into the servant's quarters and the two followed without hesitation. 

---

Breakfast went rather smoothly. Most of the servants weren't too surprised to have the two knights join them. Penelope occasionally chatted with her family's servants, knowing most of them rather well aside from a couple new faces who eyed her with uncertainty. Luckily Letitia warm attitude seemed to rub off and they relaxed once more so the morning went by rather quickly. 

Around midday was when the knight decided she better gather her things to leave. Letitia tried to convince her to stay longer but Penelope didn't want to force Naida to stay at her home for so long. Her friend had barely gotten out of the castle and Penelope was rather sure she wanted to wander around the city a bit before they made their return. She didn't want to take away anymore time from that than she already had. So while Naida got the horses ready, Penelope headed into her home to collect a few of her items accompanied by Letitia, who wanted to spend as much time as she could with the female knight.

"I just hope you won't get in trouble for hanging around me for so long. If Krea gives you any problems, be sure to tell me when I visit again. I'll figure out someway to make her see reason." Penelope said as she gave the older woman a concerned look. 

"Oh please dear I can handle her and that bratty daughter of her's just fine." Letitia assured with a confident smirk. "Besides, I've got Miriam and Daisy covering for me right now. I'll be fine. What I'm more interested in is what you've been up to. Are you back to get married? I heard your father planning something about that when he visited a few months back. Did Gavin return too?"

"Oh.. No actually I'm here to try and get the king to end the war... Gavin and I aren't actually courting anymore." Penelope admitted, scratching the back of her head as she paused from packing her clothing.

"What?!" Letitia gawked. "What happened? Gavin was such a nice boy."

The knight looked over at her and smirked amusedly. "I can't believe that bit of information is your priority."

"You know I don't care for politics, Penelope. Now out with it, what happened?" Letitia studied her closely. "Who broke it off?"

"I did." Penelope admitted shuffling her feet. "It's complicated but I just didn't feel for him in that way. We're still friends though."

"Uh huh..." Letitia's lips spread slowly into a mischievous smirk. "You found someone else didn't you?"

Penelope blinked, a bit caught off guard by the quick and somewhat accurate guess. "No." she lied.

Letitia laughed. "Don't lie to me Penelope, I know you far too well." she stated, making the knight blush. "So who is this new gentleman in your life huh?"

The knight hesitated to answer and shuffled her feet again as she shifted her gaze back to the clothing she was packing. "I-I can't say...It's complicated like I said." She found it surprisingly difficult to lie further to Letitia, especially when she trusted the woman so much.

There was a brief silence before Letitia spoke up quietly. "You're not packing to.. run off.. are you?"

The servant caught her off guard again and she whirled to look over at Letitia who was studying her with a worried expression. It hit the knight that Letitia probably had some knowledge about her parent's past. It was ironic to think that at one point, the servant wouldn't have been too far off in her guess. Penelope smiled at her and stepped over to the older woman to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No, I'm not. I'm just grabbing a few things for my stay at the castle, I assure you." she said honestly.

Penelope paused and shifted her gaze away as she felt her cheeks grow a bit warm once again. "It's just complicated because my father hasn't approved of it quite yet and I don't want word getting around."

"You really care for this mystery man, huh?" Letitia asked crossing her arms. 

The knight smiled as she thought of Crow and nodded her head firmly. "I love him."

Lettia let out a whistle. "Well, I better get to meet this man. Especially since he seems to have captured you quite fully." she smirked in amusement. 

"When I get the chance, I'll introduce you, I promise." Penelope chuckled. She paused and gave a concerned expression. "But uh... Letitia can you—"

"Don't worry. I've got no one to go telling." the servant assured with a warm smile. 

"Thank you." Penelope said with relief. She turned and finished packing up her things, switching the subject of discussion. The knight soon finished and headed out of her home to meet up with Naida again as the two prepared to leave.