“You’re going to be amazing,” Crow nodded when Penelope said she would see him after. He could still see the nervousness written on her face, but he hoped she had calmed down enough to deliver a compelling speech to her intoxicated audience. As she walked away, he followed her with his eyes, leaning back against the cool, stone wall behind him. From his current vantage point, he didn’t have the best view of the pedestal where Oliver and Naida—he wondered what his sister was doing up there—were already gathered, but he chose not to move. If the knight needed to find his face in the crowd for reassurance at any point, he wanted her to know exactly where to find him.

Alone now, the viceroy stifled a yawn brought on from the long day and all the dancing he had been doing. He folded his arms over his chest and looked idly over the other nobles, most of whom didn’t seem to notice that the serious part of the party was beginning soon. A smirk curved his lip when he saw one of the men in the back of the ballroom stumble and fall. If he remembered correctly, that particular duke had been on the betting list that he and his half-siblings had made of the people they thought would make fools of themselves that night. It looked like he owed Willow another gold coin.

“I never had a chance, did I?”

Crow blinked and turned toward the sound of a feminine voice to see that Fye had approached him after Penelope left. The noblewoman had an amused look on her face as she met his gaze. “The Vermillion girl. You don’t want to just be friends with her, do you?”

The viceroy studied her quietly, surprised that she had caught on so quickly. He hadn’t thought that just touching the knight’s back would have been enough to give him away. At least she didn’t seem to realize that he and Penelope were already together. “Guilty,” he held up his hands with a lopsided smile, deciding there was no harm in playing along. Confessing interest alone wasn’t enough to hurt the knight’s reputation.

“Hm,” Fye smiled at him. “She was the knight assigned to that mission in Younis two years ago, wasn’t she?”

“Correct again,” Crow confirmed.

“That’s a long time to be smitten with someone,” she shifted to lean against the wall beside him, just close enough to brush his arm with hers. “Are you ever going to court her?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, safely treading the middle ground. “I’m sure you already know what I want to do, but as you can see, she has a lot going on.” He gestured with a wave of his hand toward the pedestal, where Penelope and the others were setting up to begin the speech.

“Well, that’s what you’d get if you chose a knight,” Fye looked up at him with a smirk. “Most of us aren’t that career driven.”

“I like that she is,” Crow mirrored her expression.

“Then best of luck to you,” the noblewoman chuckled.

“Thanks,” he turned back to Penelope just as everyone on the pedestal began signaling for the crowd’s attention. The speech was about to start.