Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He tried his best xD
At least he managed to keep from getting roped into courting her

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow considered himself to be a decent conversationalist, but even he had a hard time talking with Mercia. The noblewoman didn’t seem very fond of talking about herself—or perhaps she didn’t know how. She answered all his questions vaguely with little details, but she also didn’t ask him anything about himself either. He found it difficult to string a conversation along with her when she was barely willing to participate. Still, he tried his best for Wayne’s sake, since the nobleman seemed quite pleased with how things were progressing.

By the time he finished his food, he had come to the conclusion that he and Mercia had absolutely nothing in common. She reminded him of a bird kept in a cage. She seemed happy enough with her restricted life in the castle, but like the bird, she didn’t know the freedom of the world that laid beyond the palace walls. Even if he hadn’t been with Penelope, he couldn’t handle courting someone who was content with sitting in her room, looking out over the kingdom without ever experiencing it for herself. He needed someone whom he could enjoy every part of life with—and hold a normal conversation without so much effort.

At the thought, he smiled to himself, and his eyes flicked back to the table where Penelope was eating with Naida. He had everything he could want in her. Compared to the other women in the castle, she was much more adventurous and fun to be around, and she had proven over and over that she was someone he could trust and rely on. His heart fluttered in his chest as he thought again about just how lucky he was to have won her affection. He couldn’t wait for the day when they could stop hiding their relationship from the rest of the inner kingdom and start courting with the intent for marriage.

“So,” Wayne spoke up. He had a broad smile on his face, seeming to have caught the viceroy’s softened expression and mistaken it for interest in Mercia. “You two seem to be a perfect pair.”

Perhaps if I was half dead and lame, Crow thought, suppressing the urge to snort.

Wayne continued: “My sister mentioned it before, but our father is offering a handsome dowry to the man who takes her hand in marriage. I know she would be honored if you would be the one to court her.” He glanced pointedly at Mercia, who offered a weak smile to the viceroy.

Crow glanced between the siblings with a puzzled expression, acting as if the proposal had caught him off guard. “Oh,” he said, feigning a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in courting anyone right now.” He turned to Mercia. “You’re a lovely woman—” For a ragdoll. “—but I’ve only been living at this castle for about a week. I want to focus on settling in more before I even consider something like marriage. I hope I haven’t offended you.”

If anything, the woman looked relieved. Her features relaxed, and she shook her head. “Of course,” she said, smiling at him a little more genuinely. “I understand.”

On the other hand, Wayne’s excited look wavered. He looked between the two before his gaze settled on the viceroy. “Well, when you are ready to start looking for a wife, I hope you’ll keep Mercia in mind,” he said with his usual fake smile.

Not if she was the last woman in Brerra. “Of course,” Crow nodded, moving to stand up from the table. “Anyway, I should get going.” He flashed one more friendly smile at Mercia. “It was wonderful to meet you, love.”

“You as well,” she dipped her head to him courteously.

“I’ll see you around,” he said to Wayne before turning to head out of the Great Hall at a brisk walk. After spending his supper in the dullest of company, he was eager to meet up with Penelope that evening. He didn’t even bother to wait for Preston as he hurried back to his room to see her.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I can't wait for that xD

Meanwhile, Crow is trying to just string along a normal conversation with Mercia lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow casted a subtle, wistful glance at Penelope as he joined Wayne and Mercia at their table. When he’d agreed to eat with the nobleman, he hadn’t expected to be meeting another member of his family. It wasn’t a long shot to guess what Wayne’s intentions were either. Judging by the elaborate—and slightly low-cut—dress Mercia was wearing along with her brother’s blatant excitement, the viceroy felt quite certain that they were here to try and coerce him into a courtship.

He looked the noblewoman over. It was difficult to tell how she felt about the setup. Though she was dressed the part, she didn’t express the same excitement as Wayne did. Her face was an unreadable mask, displaying no strong emotion and drawing the image of a doll to the viceroy’s mind once again. Overall, she reminded him of the stereotypical, “prim and proper” woman that nobles seemed to value above all others—the kind he was least fond of.

Mercia glanced at her brother, who gestured at her indiscreetly to speak, and then met Crow’s gaze with a delicate smile. Every part of her looked like it could shatter with just a rough touch. “It’s an honor to meet you, Collin,” she said with a polite dip of her head.

“Um, you too,” Crow said uncertainly. He’d never interacted with someone as formal as this woman, so he didn’t have the first clue what to say to her.

“Mercia’s been wanting to speak with you for a while,” Wayne jumped in for his soft-spoken sister. “When she found out I know you, she asked me to arrange for you both to meet.”

Bullshit, Crow thought blandly when he caught sight of the noblewoman’s faint wince. Mercia had nothing to do with this. In fact, she probably disliked him just as much as every other noble in the castle. Wayne had most likely set the whole thing up in the hopes of using them both to advance the Cardonell family name. Still, in the interest of holding onto one of the few decent—albeit fake—relationships he had with another nobleman, the viceroy decided to play along with the little game.

“Is that so?” he mused, turning back to the woman across from him. She nodded unconvincingly, and he flashed her a friendly smile. “Alright then, tell me about yourself.”

Mercia blinked, seeming caught off guard by the personal question. “Well,” she started slowly. “I’m nineteen years of age, and my father is offering a sizeable dowry for my hand in marriage—”

“No, no, no,” Crow waved his hand. “I don’t want numbers. I want to hear about who you are.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table in a relaxed posture. Even though he had no intention whatsoever of pursuing a courtship with the woman, he was at least willing to hold a decent conversation with her. Unfortunately, it seemed like that was much easier said than done as she stared at him blankly. If he didn’t know better, he would have guessed that she’d never been asked about herself by someone else before.

“Alright, I’ll make this easy for you,” he smirked. “What do you do for fun around here?”

Mercia’s eyes darted back to her brother, as if she’d been given a script and didn’t know what to say now that the conversation had gone a different direction than what she’d expected. Wayne just shrugged at her in response.

“I… like to journal,” she finally answered in a meek voice, fiddling with her dress beneath the table. “There’s a window in my room that overlooks a grassy hill just beyond the castle. I find it peaceful to sit in front of it and write about my day.”

Gods, everything about this woman is boring, Crow thought to himself, though he feigned interest in what she was saying with a nod. “What else?” he prompted to keep the conversation going. Off to his side, he could see Wayne watching them eagerly. It seemed that the nobleman believed they were getting along just as he’d wanted. The viceroy only hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed when he turned down the offer to court his sister later.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'll check them out!

Crow got back at Preston a little xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As they walked to the Great Hall, Crow noticed that Preston was glancing at him again. He wasn’t sure why, since he wasn’t acting strangely anymore. However, since he was no longer in a foul mood, and the boy’s staring didn’t particularly bother him, he didn’t snap at him. Instead, he decided to have a bit of fun with his servant.

“You’re not as subtle as you think, you know,” he spoke up, breaking the silence between them and casting the attendant a smirk.

Preston blinked confusedly, “What do you mean?”

“Come on,” Crow rolled his eyes. “You’ve been staring at me since the day we met. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

The attendant said nothing, clearly unsure where the viceroy was going with this.

Crow grinned at him and leaned closer, going on in a low voice, “I think you’re smitten.”

“What?” Preston’s eyes shot open and he turned red.

Crow bit his lip to keep from laughing. “I can’t say I blame you,” he went on with a shrug, carrying on with the act. “We’ve spent quite a bit of time together, so it’s only natural that you’d fall for me. And you know what?” His smile turned sultry, and he wrapped an arm around the attendant’s shoulders. “I think I’ve taken a liking to you too.”

Preston’s reaction was priceless. The servant scrambled to distance himself from the viceroy, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he did. His eyes were round as disks, and his face was scarlet. “N-No, no! You’ve got it all wrong! I-I wasn’t staring because I’m smitten. I was just thinking you looked like you were in a better mood than you were this morning, and… err…” He began to fumble over his word as he tried to recover.

Unable to hold back anymore, Crow burst out laughing. “Gods, you make this too easy,” he snickered, wiping a tear from his eye.

“W-What?” Preston stammered, confused again.

“I was just messing with you, kid,” the viceroy nudged his arm. “But maybe you’ll think twice about accusing me of such things in the future, huh?”

“Maybe,” the attendant muttered, still as red as a beet as he stared down at the ground. “But I know I’m right about you and that knight.”

“You never learn, do you?” Crow shook his head.

“I learned you’re an ass,” Preston pointed out.

“Yes, but that was already established,” the viceroy said flippantly.

Before the attendant had a chance to rebuttal, they arrived at the Great Hall. As always, Crow ran a quick sweep of the room to look for familiar faces. Since it was still early and there weren’t very many nobles eating yet, it didn’t take long for him to spot Penelope sitting alone at a table. He smiled and took a step toward her but didn’t get any further before he was cut off by someone else.

“Hey, Collin,” Wayne greeted him with his usual fake smile. “Need some company for supper?”

Crow glanced over the nobleman’s shoulder at Penelope, tempted to just keep going, since he wanted to spend time with her. However, he knew it would look strange for him to blow Wayne off for the knight when they were still trying to keep their heads down. Besides, he was already going to spend the evening with her. There was no point in risking their secret to win a little more time together than they were already going to have. So, even though he didn’t like it, he forced a polite smile and nodded to the other man, “Sure.”

“Great,” Wayne seemed surprisingly eager. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

“Really?” Crow raised a brow. He wondered if his plan to use the noble to build more connections around the castle was finally paying off.

“Yes,” Wayne beckoned him to follow as he led the way to a nearby table, where a woman in a bright yellow dress was seated. She had dark hair and eyes, and she sat with perfect posture with her ankles crossed and her hands resting daintily on her lap. She reminded the viceroy of a porcelain doll he’d seen in the house of a noblewoman he’d robbed long ago.

“This is my sister, Mercia,” Wayne introduced with a grin. “I think you two will get along famously.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice! Those would be cool to read, haha

I'm also thinking I'll have the first noblewoman approach Crow about courting at the next meal cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Well, at least it won’t be any different than usual,” Crow said dryly as he stood up from the table. He seemed to have a talent for angering his tutor. Nearly every lesson they’d had together had begun with the old man chiding him for something or other—usually his tardiness, although the tutor sometimes also took a jab at his peasant background as well. He wondered if it was even worth the effort to try and avoid upsetting him at this point.

“See you,” he nodded as she left, returning her smile with one of his own. Even though he was still slightly unsettled by his vivid nightmare, his attention had mostly drifted away from it after speaking with the knight. He found himself in a much better mood as Preston rejoined him by the entrance of the Great Hall and the two made their way back toward his bedchamber for his midday lesson.

--

When Crow got back to his room, Udolf was waiting by the table with his arms crossed over his chest. As he’d expected, the tutor looked frustrated. His brows were knitted tightly together, so he nearly looked like he just had one long, fuzzy tuft on his face, and his nose was wrinkled in a scowl. “I’m beginning to think there is no getting through that thick skull of yours, Lockton,” he harrumphed, waving one hand for the viceroy to sit down. “Tell me, do you have no sense of time, or are you just a careless sluggard?”

Crow fought the urge to roll his eyes as he made his way across the room and sat at the table. He was growing more used to the old man’s biting remarks, but he still disliked them. Tempted to make a snide comment of his own, he bit his tongue and ignored his tutor’s question altogether. “Am I going to be reading again today?” he asked instead, hoping that Udolf would be more tolerable to be around if they got started right away on his lesson.

Luckily, the trick seemed to work.

“You will,” the tutor answered him. “But first, we will be starting with your writing.”

“Writing?” Crow echoed with interest. He couldn’t help but find it ironic that the old man had planned to teach him how to write on the same day that Penelope had offered to help him compose a letter for Hazel and the thieves. It wasn’t that surprising though. He had already known that Udolf had been planning to incorporate writing into his lessons soon. The tutor had only delayed it so that he could grow familiar with written words by reading them first.

“Yes,” Udolf said, laying out a piece of blank parchment on the table. “You seem to be understanding the words in the book I gave you well enough, so I believe you’re ready to begin writing your own.” He gestured for the viceroy to pick up the quill on the table. “To start, I’m going to teach you the basic rules of spelling and forming sentences…”

--

Much to Crow’s displeasure, he quickly discovered that there were quite a lot of rules that went along with writing. It was hard to keep up with them all, and Udolf corrected him numerous times as he made mistakes. Fortunately, it seemed like the rules weren’t easy for anyone to pick up, because the tutor never once got impatient with him. He just hoped he would be able to remember them all as he practiced more, because at the moment, he didn’t feel like he could ever memorize so many nuances. The only good thing about it was that his studies took so much of his focus that his mind didn’t have a chance to wander back to his nightmare. By the end of the lesson, he had almost completely forgotten about it.

Eventually, Udolf decided that he had learned enough for one day and left him alone to read more of his book, although, like the day before, he remained in the room to make sure his student didn’t slack off before supper.

Crow sprawled lazily on his bed as he continued to work through his book. After reading it for a few days now, he was more than halfway through the pages. Even though it was a short book compared to some of the others he had seen on the shelves in his bedchamber library, he felt rather proud of himself for covering so much ground in such a short period of time. Udolf seemed pleased as well—enough that he even made a flattering comment on the vieroy’s progress before he moved to leave for supper.

Before he made it do the door, however, Crow stopped him.

“I’ve been wondering,” he said thoughtfully, catching the tutor’s attention. The viceroy lounged across the width of his bed with his head lolling over the edge and his book resting open on his stomach as he paused to speak with the old man. “Once I’m literate, what else will you have left to teach me?”

Udolf turned to him, taking a moment to think before he answered: “From me, you will learn math, economics, and the history of our kingdom, but I won’t be your only teacher.”

Crow thought over his words and then nodded, “John is going to teach me fighting, right?”

“Along with whatever other physical skills you lack,” the tutor confirmed. “I take it that you don’t know how to ride a horse, is that correct?”

“Well, yes,” Crow frowned. “No one from the outer villages does.”

“Of course,” Udolf said. It was obvious that he already knew that. “John will be teaching you things such as that as well. Additionally, His Majesty will also begin tutoring you soon.”

“He will?” Crow’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected that his father would be personally involved in his lessons. “Why?”

“King Mannering was the last to hold your position,” Udolf explained. “Apart from him, there is no one else qualified to teach you the skills you will be needing as the next ambassador.”

“What skills are those?”

“For one,” the tutor continued patiently. “I can only teach you to read and write in our native tongue. His Majesty will teach you to understand the written forms of languages that you will need to communicate with our foreign neighbors.”

Crow groaned inwardly at that. It had been enough of a headache to learn one written language. He wasn’t keen to start on another one until he had enough time to practice the one he was working on now.

“Speaking of your other teachers,” Udolf went on. “Vermillion will be conducting your lesson tomorrow afternoon. He will meet you in the Great Hall after breakfast to show you to the training grounds.”

“Alright,” the viceroy nodded. Setting his book aside, he sat up on the bed and then hopped down the opposite side to put his boots on in preparation to go to supper. He’d eaten a light breakfast that morning, so his stomach growled in anticipation for the meal. It seemed he had perfect timing too. As soon as Udolf exited the room, Preston replaced him.

“Supper is ready,” the attendant announced, lingering by the door when he noticed that Crow was already ready to go.

“Great,” he said as he walked over to join the boy. “Let’s get going then. I’m starving.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

She did a good job xD
He cheered up really fast

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow winced when Penelope said she didn’t trust his judgment. He was well aware that some of his secrets had caused more trouble between them than they should have in the past. He just preferred to try and handle issues on his own before involving anyone else. After all, most of the time, he was able to deal with them without help. This case seemed to be no different. He had just been unsettled by a bad dream, so there was no reason to bring the knight into it. It wasn’t like there was anything she could do anyway.

“I know,” he casted her a halfhearted smile when she said she wouldn’t let it go next time. “I don’t think it will though… I’m sure I’ll be fine soon.” It had just been one nightmare. Once it wasn’t as fresh in his mind, he knew he would be able to move on and forget about it. He’d had plenty in the past, especially when he’d been younger and the memory of the slaughter in Tamsworth was still recent. He supposed the incident with Jaxon must have just stirred up old fears.

As a brief silence fell between them, Crow managed to swallow a couple more bites of food. After that, his stomach protested too much for him to finish the rest, so he pushed his plate aside. At this point, he didn’t care if it looked strange. Penelope had already caught on that he was upset about something, so there was no reason to give himself a bellyache to hide it anymore. If he built up an appetite later, he would just help himself to a second serving at dinner.

When the knight spoke up again, the viceroy turned to her with a nod. “That’s good,” he mused. He was going to add something else, but then paused as she went on first. Her words brought a hint of interest to his face. “That would be great,” he said, visibly perking up at the thought of getting back in touch with the other thieves. As time passed at the castle, he had begun to miss their company. “I haven’t really done much writing outside of when Udolf taught me all the letters, so I could use the help.”

Suddenly, Crow’s eyes widened slightly in realization, and he glanced toward the door. “Speaking of Udolf, I think I’m late for my lesson today,” he turned back to her with a helpless shrug. “I should get going before he gets too angry and starts accusing me of not taking my studies seriously again.”