Crow studied Penelope curiously when she seemed to hesitate at his suggestion. After everything she had just told him about her home, he would have thought she’d jump at the chance to go there with him. Instead, she almost looked nervous. He wondered if it was because of the “unpleasant” family members she had mentioned to him before. Did her fear of running into them outweigh her desire to show him her house? It seemed strange, but then again, he didn’t know her aunt or cousin at all. Perhaps they were terrible enough to be concerned about.

He didn’t dwell on the thought for long before she seemed to brighten again and agreed to pay her home a visit. Content that she was in a good mood once more, he let his questions drop in favor of focusing on the present moment as she led the way to the small house. Like his other queries, it wasn’t worth asking about if it meant dampening the pleasantness of the day. Besides, if any of his curiosities were important enough, he could always talk to her about them at a different time.

Walking alongside the knight, Crow let his gaze wander over the grounds of the estate. To his former peasant eyes, the place nearly seemed like a miniature version of the castle. There were impressive buildings, manicured gardens, stables with horses, and even a few servants milling about as they performed various tasks for their masters. He wondered if all nobles lived the same way, regardless of where they were located in the inner kingdom. In the outer villages, every town was different in its own unique way, but here, it almost seemed as if there was a mold that everyone was trying to fit into. He wasn’t sure what to think about that.

When they reached the front door, the viceroy turned back to Penelope as she explained that they shouldn’t have to worry about running into anyone in her house. That only meant one thing to him: privacy. He grinned as he followed her inside. Though he had wanted to spend some quality time with her that day, he’d been hoping they would find someplace to escape to where they could be alone. If what she said was true, this was probably the best opportunity they were going to have.

Stepping into the den with her, Crow’s eyes roved over the small space. It looked quite cozy with cushioned furniture and some shelving for storage. Although not as grand as the other spaces he had seen inhabited by nobles in the past, he found it to be quaint. “Well, I think it’s just as good as a room in the castle,” he argued, casting her a fond smile. “All that decorative stuff is unnecessary anyway. I call this functional.”

He was just about to reach for her hand again, but then flinched when he heard a tentative voice call out Penelope’s name. Turning toward the source of the sound, he was surprised to see an older woman in servant clothes appear from the adjoining room. Having expected the house to be empty, he was caught off guard by her sudden appearance and glanced subtly to the knight in the hopes that she would know what was going on.

As the woman faced him and asked who he was, Crow shifted his weight, finding himself in a rather strange dilemma. For the first time, he couldn’t give either of his names. [i]Collin[/i] Lockton was now known as the king’s viceroy throughout Brerra. For the sake of keeping his closeness with Penelope a secret, he couldn’t tell her that was who he was. However, on the other hand, [i]Crow[/i] Lockton was an infamous thief. If he introduced himself by that title, he would risk frightening the woman and sending her running to the nearest guards. Instead, he opted for something simpler.

“I’m a friend of Penelope’s,” he said, offering the servant a polite smile before turning to the knight. “I was just accompanying her on an errand she wanted to run in Bellmare.”