Crow held Kane’s gaze unwaveringly as the nobleman stared him down. He didn’t care if the rival picked up on his closeness to Penelope or not. Naida was the one at the top of the list of people who might let it slip to their father that he and the knight were together, and he was clearheaded enough to give her a believable excuse if Kane decided to cause a scene. On the contrary, the only thing the other man could do was send him bitter looks and gossip among the lower class nobles, which the viceroy doubted he would do anyway since he was trying to win Penelope over. Spreading word that there was something going on between her and a former criminal was the fastest way for him to lose the chance he thought he still had.

To his relief, Kane backed down without much of a fight. Crow followed him with his eyes as he headed for the door, waiting until the other man was out of sight before he turned back to the others. He was eager to spend a few minutes alone with the knight and his sister, but before he could strike up a conversation, he blinked as he felt the former suddenly lean heavily into his side. Glancing down at her, he pressed an open palm on the other side of the bench to brace himself. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who was getting tired that night.

Unfortunately, Naida noticed her friend’s slightly too comfortable gesture as well. He looked up to find that the princess was beaming at them excitedly, seeming to believe that her matchmaking skills were finally paying off. He swore silently to himself. The last thing they needed was for his loose-lipped sister to go running off and prematurely tell the whole kingdom that they were together. If Albin was still leaning toward mandating that he couldn’t court anyone, the viceroy would lose the opportunity to convince him otherwise. He preferred to be proactive rather than reactive when trying to get what he wanted.

“Knock it off, Cupid,” he rolled his eyes, attempting to keep up a nonchalant demeanor in front of the princess. Beyond her line of sight, however, he smoothly slipped his arm around the small of Penelope’s back to hold her close and help steady her if she was unbalanced. “You’re the one who made her drink so much that she can’t even sit up straight.”

“Interesting that she chose t’lean on you though,” Naida insisted with a victorious grin. “I wonder why…”

“Because I’m more comfortable than a wooden table, obviously,” Crow winked at her jokingly.

“Looks like Penelope thinks so,” his sister agreed, missing the sarcasm behind his words. She turned back to her friend with a mischievous expression. “You two ‘re real cute, you know that?”