Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

At the end of his walk from the Great Hall, Crow got back to his room only to find out that someone else was already waiting inside. He froze by the doorway, caught off guard by the man’s sudden appearance. The stranger stood by the small table near the window with his hands folded behind his back. He was a bit advanced in age with silvery hairs sprinkled throughout his neatly trimmed beard, but he still stood with perfect posture without fidgeting or shifting his weight.

“You’re late,” he said in the clipped tone of a man who had little patience for tardiness.

Crow stepped a little further into the room but remained close to the door, eyeing the stranger warily. “Let me guess,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re the tutor.”

The man’s stern expression was broken with a faint smirk, “Oh, good. I see you’re not a completely hopeless case.”

Crow narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak, the man went on. “My name is Udolf Walter,” he said, walking slowly forward to approach the thief. “I’ve been a tutor in this castle for over twenty years. The king has tasked me with giving you an education, so that is what I’m going to do.” He stopped in front of him. “Of course, this means we’re going to be spending quite a lot of time together, so you should put that dirty look away before it gets on my nerves.”

“If we’re going to be spending so much time together, then I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak to me as if you think I’m a fool,” Crow growled. Though they had just met, he could tell he wasn’t going to like this man. He seemed like some sort of unholy cross between Eldon and William, neither of whom were people the viceroy thought of fondly.

“If you don’t want me to think you’re a fool, then prove me wrong,” Udolf said with another smirk. He turned to walk back to the table, gesturing for the thief to follow him. “As it stands right now, I know you to be an uneducated, illiterate peasant-turned-noble with no practical skills or knowledge of any trades worth developing.”

Crow gawked at the tutor with unrestrained astonishment. He’d been insulted for his lack of education before, but somehow Udolf had managed to say the exact same thing in a more demeaning manner than anyone else he’d come across. “I know four languages,” he huffed indignantly, attempting to restore at least some of his pride to the other man.

“That’s a start,” Udolf sounded unimpressed. “But simply knowing the words is not a practical skill. You do not yet have the manners or cultural knowledge to put those languages to use for His Majesty.” He held out his hand to the empty chair at the table. “Come and sit.”

At first, Crow lingered by the door, toying with the thought of disobeying just to be obstinate. However, upon thinking about it a little more, he realized that the sooner he complied with the tutor, the sooner the lesson would be over. He walked to the chair.

“Your first lesson,” Udolf announced, moving to stand next to his seat. “Will be proper etiquette.”

“Etiquette?” Crow wrinkled his nose. “I thought you were going to be teaching me practical skills.” He pointedly emphasized the last words in a mocking manner to get under the older man’s skin.

“Etiquette is quite practical,” Udolf went on, unperturbed. “As the king’s viceroy, you are going to be acting as his representative to the rulers of other kingdoms. The men and women you will be meeting and interacting with from now on are not like the unwashed masses you’re familiar with. They are people of class, and as such, you will learn to have class as well.”

“Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me,” Crow said with distaste.

“Perhaps it seems that way to a savage such as yourself,” the older man said carelessly, walking off to gather a few dishes and utensils he had brought, likely to set up a demonstration. “But no man or woman of culture is going to respect you, let alone listen to anything you have to say, when you’re leaning on the table, eating your supper with your hands.”

“I don’t see why they shouldn’t,” the thief muttered, mostly to himself.

Fortunately, Udolf didn’t seem to catch his comment. “Stop slouching,” he chided as he set up the empty dishes on the table in front of him. “When you sit up straight, you exude confidence. That’s an important trait for an ambassador to have—chin up, shoulders square, feet apart. Yes, yes, that’s much better.” He nodded approvingly when the viceroy corrected his posture.

As Udolf went on to give a long-winded explanation about the proper way for a nobleman to behave at a meal, Crow let out a quiet sigh, staring longingly at the door. This is going to be a long day…

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same cx

Naida's still trying so hard lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow snorted when Naida said Preston didn’t speak with a filter. “Yeah, well if he keeps up with those little remarks, I’ll make him wish he was still dealing with the horses,” he muttered annoyedly. While he didn’t mind bantering with other people, he preferred to be at the administering end of a joke rather than the butt of someone else’s. Still, he supposed he should be glad that the boy felt comfortable enough around him to let his tongue slip—even if the comments he made were rather rude. He wanted him to know that he wasn’t going to treat him like the other noblemen in the castle treated their servants. Social hierarchy meant little to him, so he had no intention of having Preston punished or thrown in a cell for simply speaking his mind.

He was drawn from his thoughts when Penelope spoke up to announce that she had to go. His shoulders fell slightly. He’d been hoping they would have more time together now that he had gone through the rites to become a noble, but it seemed they wouldn’t be able to see each other much more than they had the day before. He felt a pang of disappointment at the thought but managed not to show the emotion on his face as he returned her smile.

“See you around,” he said as casually as he could.

“Later, Penelope!” Naida raised her hand. “If you’ve got any free time later, be sure to find me!”

As the knight left, Crow turned his attention back to his plate, finishing off the rest of his breakfast and chasing it with a draught of water. Without looking, he could tell that Naida’s eyes on him. “What is it?” he asked, looking up at her with a frown. Despite his question, he had a feeling he already knew what she was going to say.

“So?” Naida fidgeted slightly in her excitement, tipping her head towards the door Penelope had left through. “What do you think of her?”

“Not this again,” Crow groaned.

“Oh, come on,” Naida pressed. “You said we could talk about it later, and it’s officially later. So, tell me: Do you like her?”

“I told you I don’t want to court anyone right now,” he reminded her shortly.

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to court her,” Naida grinned cunningly. “I just asked if you like her.”

Crow glanced toward the door, stalling for time as he debated how to answer her. He knew he couldn’t lie and say that he disliked Penelope, but perhaps he could at least throw his sister off their trail.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, turning back to her and resting his chin in his hand. “She seems kind of… serious. I mean, she’s pleasant enough to be around, but even when she was my guard, her priority was always her work.”

“Well, yeah,” Naida frowned. “She’s a knight. All knights are serious about their work.”

“You’re not,” he pointed out.

“That’s only because I haven’t been given a real job in ages,” Naida reached across the table to flick him on the arm. “If I was on a mission, I’d be serious too.”

“I don’t know if I believe that, but go on,” Crow smirked at her teasingly.

Naida rolled her eyes, “I was going to say that she’s not always serious. When she’s not working, she’s a lot of fun to be around. I think that if you give her a chance, you’ll see that too—What?” She crossed her arms as she realized he was staring at her with an amused smile.

“Why is this so important to you?” he asked with a laugh.

“Because…” Naida blushed before going on hurriedly. “Because it just is! She’s one of my closest friends, and you’re my family. Why shouldn’t I want you to end up together?”

“Because you’re being meddlesome,” Crow poked her on the forehead and then stood up from the table. “Look, if it happens, it’ll happen on its own, but you shouldn’t try to force us into a courtship just because it would make you happy, okay?”

“Okay,” Naida muttered, although the tone of her voice didn’t convince him that she was going to stop.

“Anyway,” he went on, changing the subject. “I should get going. From what I’ve been told, I’m going to have a long day of being lectured at by a tutor.”

“Ooh, good luck,” Naida’s smile returned.

“Thanks,” Crow grinned back at her. “I’ll probably need it.” With nothing else to say to his sister, he turned to make his way out of the Great Hall, while Preston, who’d been chatting with a few other attendants off to the side, fell in step beside him.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Preston's getting a little bolder around them xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow glanced up from his plate when he heard Penelope speak up to Preston. The attendant looked uncertain about how to respond to her, and the viceroy had to fill his mouth with another bite of food to stifle the amused smirk that threatened to take over his lips. Now that he knew a little more about the boy’s history at the castle, he was fairly certain that, like Hunter, the servant wasn’t used to being addressed by anyone who held a higher rank than himself.

As the knight went on to make a teasing comment about him, Crow rolled his eyes. “I prefer to think of it as: I know what I like, and I don’t like to settle for anything less,” he said flippantly, casting her a wry grin. “If anyone finds that ‘troublesome,’ that isn’t my problem.”

“It’s no trouble,” Preston shrugged in response to Penelope’s remark. “I used to take care of Duke Adeney’s unbroken horses, so I can handle a temperamental viceroy.”

Naida snorted and quickly brought a hand to her mouth to hide her laugh.

Crow reddened slightly and shot the boy a glare, unappreciative of being compared to a horse. “You’re getting cocky with those comments, kid,” he growled.

“What? I said you weren’t as bad as the horses,” Preston frowned.

“I don’t think that’s the part he’s upset about,” Naida snickered.

Preston glanced at her and shrugged again before giving a curt bow and turning to walk away.

Crow watched him go and then turned back to the others with a shake of his head. “Sometimes I can’t tell if he says stuff like that on purpose,” he muttered, lifting another bite of food to his mouth.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same cx Her reaction will be great

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Morning,” Crow greeted Naida and Penelope in return as he sat down across from them at the table. He was glad that they all happened to be getting breakfast at the same time, since otherwise he would have had to spend the meal by himself. Well, either that or he would be harassed by the nobles who had been trying to win his favor in order to be looked upon highly by the king. He wasn’t sure which idea he disliked more, and he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to find out.

At his sister’s question, Crow shrugged. However, before he had a chance to answer her, Penelope spoke up first. He glanced at her and shifted uneasily as she brought up the name his father had used during the ceremony. He wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t like he had been on board with the idea of giving away such a personal part of himself, but Albin hadn’t given him a choice. For the sake of the life and future he’d promised to give the knight, he’d had to do it.

“Right, well…” he started slowly, looking up to meet her gaze. “When I met with the king the night we got back from the outer villages, that was one of the things he spoke to me about.” He sighed, deciding he might as well tell them what had happened. “He said that if I was going to be representing him and the kingdom, I had to go by a ‘respectable’ name. My title as a thief wasn’t good enough, so he asked me to tell him what my birthname was, and, well…” He shrugged again.

Naida glanced between him and Penelope for a moment. “If it was that important to you, why didn’t you just give him another fake name?” she asked. “Father wouldn’t know the difference.”

“I considered it,” Crow admitted. “But there were already a few other people who’ve learned what my real name is, so I guess I just thought ‘what’s the point?’ Besides,” he offered her a smile. “I’m already getting used to hearing people call me Collin again. It was uncomfortable before, and it still is, but it doesn’t make me cringe the way I used to.”

“That’s good,” Naida grinned back at him. “I certainly like it.” She nudged Penelope teasingly. “What about you?”

Crow rolled his eyes at his sister’s obvious attempt to get a reaction out of the knight. In the next moment, his attention was drawn away from the conversation as Preston appeared with a plate of food for him from the kitchen. He said a quick ‘thanks’ and was about to eat, but the attendant stopped him.

“Oh, right,” Crow muttered, folding his arms over his chest as the boy tested to make sure his meal hadn’t been poisoned. “I forgot you do this now.”

“It’s for your own safety,” Naida chuckled, seeming amused by his reaction.

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Crow said blandly, taking a bite of his food once Preston had finished inspecting it.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

At least Naida will make sure they have plenty of time together lol

Crow and Preston just found out they're from the same village cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Crow walked down the hallway with Preston, he noticed that the guards they passed seemed even grumpier than usual. Instead of casting him cold looks, they avoided his gaze completely, as if they wouldn’t be able to restrain themselves from coming at him if they looked into his eyes. Their tension made him cautious, and he made sure to keep them within his sight as much as possible just to be safe. He wished he was able to carry the daggers he’d taken from the thieves’ camp, but in the clothes he was currently wearing, there was nowhere that he could easily hide the blades.

After a while of walking in silence, Crow casted Preston a sideways glance. Since the boy was going to be his personal attendant for the foreseeable future, they were probably going to spend quite a bit of time together. However, he still knew next to nothing about him. Thinking about it now, the viceroy realized that all he knew was that his attendant’s name was Preston Bossard and that he was a servant of the palace. Everything else about the boy was still a mystery.

“So,” he spoke up, turning to meet Preston’s gaze with a curious expression. “Have you always worked at the castle?”

The attendant looked up at him, seeming mildly surprised that he wanted to know anything about him. “Not always,” he answered after a moment. “But for most of my life, yes.”

Crow noticed that the boy only answered his question with a bare minimum of details, though he couldn’t tell if it was because he was shy or if it was because he didn’t feel comfortable talking about himself in front of a superior. Somehow, he found the latter idea off-putting. Just yesterday, he had ranked far below the servant, since he had been a criminal, and criminals were seen as the lowest members of society in Brerra. The attendant shouldn’t have been nervous around him.

Suddenly recalling how frightened Preston had been when he’d tried to dismiss him when they had first met, he decided to ask another question: “What did you do for work before you were assigned to be my attendant?”

“Well,” Preston said thoughtfully. “I was just a general servant, so I mostly cleaned around the castle, washed dishes during meals, and took care of the horses in the stable.”

“That sounds dull,” Crow shook his head.

“It was,” the boy’s lip curved upward slightly in a faint smirk.

“If you weren’t born as a serf, and you didn’t enjoy the work, then why did you choose to come here and become a servant?” Crow queried, pressing for a little more information.

At that, the boy hesitated slightly, and the viceroy wondered if he’d pushed him a bit too far. However, in the next moment, he answered in a low voice: “Because peasants who serve the king have much better lives than those who live in the outer villages.”

Crow blinked, not expecting a reply like that. “I don’t think so,” he shrugged. “I’ve lived my whole life on the border, and I was perfectly happy. You don’t need luxury to enjoy your life.”

“You don’t get it,” Preston sighed, lowering his gaze. “I didn’t come here for the luxury. I just saw how awful life was in my village and wanted to find something better. For most peasants, this is as good as it gets.”

Crow studied him quietly for a moment. “I’m not trying to say you made a bad decision by coming here, but life in the outer villages doesn’t have to be bad either,” he said, tentatively defending his homeland. “We just made the most of what we had and learned to appreciate the simple things in life.”

“I guess,” Preston didn’t seem to believe him. He wavered before adding, “The people in my village tried to do that too, but it’s hard to make the most of your life when it’s always cut short.”

Crow faltered at that. He stared at the attendant with newfound intrigue. The boy’s story sounded eerily familiar to his own. Could he be…? “If you don’t mind my asking: Which village are you from?” he asked suddenly.

Preston looked up at him with a frown, “Myrefall.”

“No way,” Crow’s eyes widened. He brought a hand to his chest. “That’s where I’m from too.”

“Really?” Now it was Preston’s turn to look surprised.

“Yeah,” Crow grinned.

For the rest of their walk to the Great Hall, Crow and Preston spoke eagerly with each other about their shared home village. They both found kinship in knowing that they had similar experiences during their childhoods and had seen the same hardship of losing people they had cared about to the illness that plagued Myrefall. By the time they reached the dining area, Crow felt much closer to the attendant than before and found that he no longer minded his presence.

Crow stepped into the Great Hall through the door that the servant had been holding open for him and took a look around. Like every other time he’d been in this room, it was full of noblemen and women who were sitting around at various tables to eat and talk amongst each other. This time, they didn’t make him as nervous though. He was slowly getting used to being around standing in the midst of large groups of nobles, so he didn’t feel the urge to run away as strongly as he had before.

The viceroy was just about to make his way over to an empty table he’d spotted, when he caught sight of his sister on the other side of the room. She had her hand in the air and was waving eagerly to get his attention. A small smile tugged at his lip as he noticed that Penelope was with the princess again. After barely seeing the knight the day before, he wanted to spend more time with her, and this was a perfect opportunity. He made his way through the crowd to join them at their table.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's still fighting with Preston over everything xD