Penelope was glad to hear that Crow approved of her suggestion. The knight smiled as he winked at her playfully and nodded her head in confirmation. Her gaze followed him for a moment before she turned to walk the opposite way, moving more casually through the crowd as she waited for him to leave first. Of course, it was only a matter of a few moments before Cedric swooped in now that she was alone. She caught sight of the male knight making his way over to her from the corner of her eye. She turned to shoot him a glare and while it seemed to catch him off guard, it didn't stop him. 

Seeming to realize she was furious with him, he approached her with a hesitance and offered her a soft smile. "You were amazing up there. I think you convince just about everyone in this room." he said. 

"Thanks but you're the last person I feel like talking to right now." Penelope grumbled as she took a step away from him. Now that her initial shock had faded away and her worries about Crow being put to rest, she was left feeling resentment towards her former suitor for putting her in such a position.

A hurt expression crossed his face. "Penelope I didn't mean any offense early. It was just a kiss."

Penelope clenched her jaw. "You don't understand, I—" she hesitated for a second, catching herself mid-scolding. As much as she wanted to be direct and just say she was spoken for, she couldn't. Not yet at least. "—it was a kiss I had no interest in receiving. And right before my speech too. Just leave me alone, Cedric." 

"Penelope, wait." As she turned to leave, she felt him catch her by her wrist. The touch made her quickly yank her arm out of his grasp, sending him another cold look that he shrunk under. "Ok I messed up." he said holding up his hands and taking a step back to give her space. "I was impulsive and didn't think it'd hurt you like this. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you, I was just hoping you'd remember what you had once felt for me.. The good parts at least."

"Well it did the opposite." the knight muttered bitterly. While she was still mad at him, her fire died down slightly. He didn't seem to have been coming from a malicious stand point and besides that, he didn't know that she was already taken. Reminded that Cedric likely thought he had simply kissed an unattached woman, she felt slightly less frustrated with him. However, she refused to pass any real judgement on him until she thought it over more as watched his behavior a bit more cautiously. At the moment, all she wanted to do was get to her room. "Now leave me alone Cedric. If you're looking for forgiveness, you won't be getting it tonight."

This time the male knight didn't try to stop her as she headed off. After her run in with Cedric, she subtly searched the crowd to locate Crow. When she didn't find him, the knight figured that he had left sometime during the exchange with Cedric. Feeling a thrill of excitement, she began to make her way towards the exit of the ballroom, which proved to be much more difficult than she originally expected it would be. Several times she got stopped by various noblemen who wanted to chat or ask her to dance. She was able to brush off most of them by appearing busy but a couple stubborn ones made her stick around longer than she would have liked. She used the excuse of needing to get some air alone.

Eventually the knight made it out of the ballroom and from there it was an easy shot to her own room without any worry of someone attempting to stop her. Penelope let out a breath of relief, nearly feeling a bit smothered by the sudden attention. Picking up her pace slightly, she hurried off to her room, luckily without anymore interruptions. As she reached it, she glanced around the corridor before stepping inside and softly closing the door behind her.