Fortunately for Crow, it seemed that Albin had been right when he’d said that Udolf’s lesson would be short. When he got back to his room, the tutor just had him work on copying a few lines from some poems in a book, so he could refine his written characters more. The viceroy found the task dull—especially since he’d already written a full letter before and had done fine with that—but he kept his mouth shut nonetheless. As long as his father was considering giving him a day off soon, he didn’t want to do anything to upset him or change his mind. If that meant putting up with his dull teacher for another afternoon, then so be it.

As the day turned to evening, Udolf dismissed him to go to supper. Crow got up from the table and yawned, still tired from his poor sleep and the long day he’d already had. He wished he had time to take a nap, but at this point, getting any more rest would mean missing a meal, and that wasn’t a sacrifice he was willing to make. So, accepting the fact that he was just going to have to wait until night to sleep again, he turned to head to the Great Hall with Preston.

“Lockton.”

Crow groaned inwardly as Udolf’s voice caught his ear before he could reach for the door handle. Why did everyone seem to want something from him today? Glancing back over his shoulder, he forced a polite smile, “Yes?”

“I just wanted to make sure you know,” the tutor said without looking up as he gathered his supplies. “His Majesty will be conducting most of your studies in the coming weeks.” Shouldering his bag, he met the viceroy’s gaze sternly. “It’s a bit out of order, since you still need to learn a few more basics such as math and history, but the king insisted on starting your lessons in foreign culture as soon as possible.”

“Alright,” Crow blinked. His father had already told him this during the afternoon meeting. Of course, he supposed there was no way for his tutor to know that, so he didn’t bother pointing it out. Instead, he just dipped his head, “Thank you for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome,” Udolf nodded, seeming pleased with his student’s newfound agreeableness.

Crow smiled to himself. As long as he didn’t give the tutor another reason to get mad at him, he had high hopes that his father would let him rest soon. Feeling pleased, he turned back to the door and headed into the hallway with Preston, eager to fill his stomach before bed. He had been expecting a quick trip to the Great Hall, but unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was determined to speak with him today.

Just as he was about to reach the doors to the dining chamber, he stopped as yet another voice called his name. With a sigh, he turned around, only to see two women he didn’t know hurrying over from the hall he’d just walked down. He eyed them curiously, wondering what they wanted with him, until he recalled Wayne’s sister Mercia. If his guess was right, he had a feeling he knew exactly why these two were chasing him down now.

“Can I help you?” he asked, feigning ignorance though he kept a wary distance from them.

“Um, yes, well…” the girl on the left stammered, glancing at her friend for help.

“We were hoping you might have some time to talk,” the girl on the right said. She offered him a coy smile. “We’d like to get to know you better.”

Crow shifted his weight, glancing subtly toward the Great Hall. He’d been hoping to catch up with Penelope during supper, since he’d missed her at breakfast, but he couldn’t think of a way to shake these two women without drawing attention to his closeness to the knight. After all, if he turned down their offer and was seen with a different woman, they were naturally going to assume he was interested in her. So, unable to think of a way out, he forced a smile. “I’d like that,” he lied.

“Great,” the girl on the right grinned. “My name is Edith, and this is Sarah. We’re—”

“There you are!”

Crow turned around at the sound of a new voice and quirked a brow in surprise as he saw Naida storming toward him with a frustrated expression. His sister let out a huff and caught hold of his arm, giving him a tug. “Don’t tell me you forgot about our plan to get supper this evening.”

“Oh, right,” the viceroy casted her a lopsided smile, quickly catching on to what the princess was doing. He glanced at the other girls, who now had confused looks on their faces, and shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to talk another time. Sorry.”

“Oh, um, it’s fine,” Sarah frowned. She wavered for a moment and then bowed to Naida, “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” the princess waved her hand and shot Crow another annoyed look. “This fool is the one who should have known better.” She gave his arm another tug, dragging him along with her as she made her way into the Great Hall. “Come on, let’s eat.”

“O-Okay,” Crow stumbled slightly to get his feet underneath him as he followed after her.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the other women, Naida turned on him with narrowed eyes, “What was that?”

“What was what?” Crow met her gaze bemusedly.

“Why are you talking to other [i]women[/i]?” his sister crossed her arms.

“Am I not allowed to?” Crow snorted.

“Well, no… but you know they’re trying to get you to court them, right? I thought you said you didn’t want to court anyone.”

“I did, but I couldn’t just turn them down for no reason,” he justified. “That would have been rude.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I came to rescue you before Penelope saw you with them.”

[i]There it is,[/i] Crow bit back a smirk. “[i]That’s[/i] what this is about?” he rolled his eyes at her. “When I said I wasn’t interested in courting, I meant that I don’t want to court [i]anyone[/i].”

“I know,” Naida casted him a cheeky grin. “But I think you’re going to come around when you spend enough time with her. Just you wait. She’s perfect for you.”

“You’re ridiculous,” he laughed.

“I’m [i]right[/i],” she nudged him good humoredly. “Now come on, I saw an empty table over this way.”

“Fine,” Crow followed after her as she led him through the crowd, eager to sit down and eat his supper.