Crow kept his gaze fixed straight ahead as he walked with Preston through the castle halls. It had become clear to him now that his nightmares seemed to have begun recurring again. Just like when he had been younger, that meant he was going to have to start compensating for the turmoil he felt inside. As such, he pointedly avoided making eye contact with the guards they passed and kept his head up to put on a façade that nothing was wrong. He refused to admit any weakness to the other people in the palace.

Unfortunately, Preston, oblivious as he was, didn’t seem to catch on to the fact that the viceroy was trying to keep his night terrors a secret. For a while, he said nothing as they walked, but after some time, the questions he was holding onto seemed to boil over. He turned to Crow with a curious yet wary gaze, keeping on his toes in case the viceroy snapped at him again. “Are you going to tell me why you’ve started screaming at night?” the attendant asked, subtly putting some distance between them as if he was afraid of getting swung at.

Crow shot him a warning look, “I told you before, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Still?” Preston frowned. “That was yesterday. You still won’t tell me today?”

“I’d rather not tell you at all,” Crow muttered, shoving his hands defensively in his trouser pockets. “Why do you want to know so badly anyway?”

“Because I’m your attendant,” Preston answered, seeming upset. “If something is wrong, I need to help you. It’s my duty.”

“Well, there’s nothing you could do even if I told you, so you might as well drop it,” Crow averted his gaze.

Preston stared at him for a moment longer before he looked away as well. He appeared to finally be learning whose will was stronger between the two of them, which was something the viceroy was thankful for. He was getting tired of fighting with the servant over the subject. After all, what he’d said was true: There was nothing the attendant, or anyone for that matter, could do. It was a battle he was going to have to fight alone, just like he had before.

When the two arrived at the Great Hall, Crow performed a quick sweep of the room, not expecting to see anyone he knew so late in the morning. However, he was surprise to find that Penelope was still here, sitting alone at a nearby table. He blinked, wondering if she had waited for him to see how he was doing. The thought made him shift his weight. He didn’t want to discuss what had happened earlier. All he wanted was to force a bit of food into his roiling stomach and get started on his fighting lesson with John.

However, blatantly sitting at a different table would have looked just as bad. He knew her well enough to expect that she would just worry more if he did something so out of character, so in the end, he took a steeling breath and headed over to join her.