The three of them sat in silence for a little while, before Oriana and Valeria accompanied Fabia to her quarters. The woman spared no words to thank them both for being so patient with her and after bowing down for the fifth time she disappeared into her room leaving the Princess and the Commander alone.

  Without saying anything Valeria took Oriana’s hand and started leading her back to her bedroom, however, the girl had no intention of moving.

  She turned around to give her a puzzled look.

  "Can I… stay with you tonight?" the Princess asked shyly. With everything that happened that evening, she didn’t feel like staying alone for the rest of the night.

  "Are you sure?" Valeria stepped closer. "You know… I still didn’t receive that new bed you promised st time," she teased.

  There was something about seeing her so… seductive, that made Oriana forget about the shyness and instead urged her to respond in the same manner. To push it further and see if the roles will ever be reversed.

  "Oh? Were you hoping for one?" Oriana moved closer as well, bridging the gap between them. Her long eyeshes fluttered as she looked up. "To be honest, the bed wasn’t so uncomfortable when I had it all for myself. I see no reason to get a better one if you’re going to spend the night with your dear paperwork anyway."

  Valeria raised her eyebrows, surprised by the sudden change in the way the Princess acted.

  But it was a change she happily welcomed.

  She leaned in, her face inching closer to Oriana’s. A teasing smile curved her lips.

  "I have no paperwork tonight, Your Highness. Tonight… I’m all yours," she whispered.

  Valeria’s voice brushed against Oriana’s skin, leaving her breathless and stunned.

  She was completely helpless against her.

  Every time that Swindler Commander decided to tease her, she’d become unable to speak or even think.

  Seeing that the Princess was too flustered to respond, a sense of satisfaction washed over Valeria.

  The pride evident on her face was so clear that it managed to snap Oriana out of her love-struck haze.

  "Well, at worst I’ll just use you as my pillow," she retorted and, without waiting for her reaction, pulled her towards the Commander’s quarters.

  Oriana yet again found herself standing in front of Valeria’s bed.

  It was the second night in a row that she was there, and it was becoming apparent that at this rate she really will have to get a bigger bed for her.

  Not that she was pnning to spend any more nights in this room.

  That being said, she didn’t necessarily pn to spend the previous two either…

  Looking around the bedroom, the Princess realized that she didn’t pay enough attention to the surroundings st time she was there. Which could be attributed to being too focused on preparing for a possible (un)expected act of passion from Valeria.

  Only to be left disappo—…

  I was NOT disappointed!, she corrected herself inwardly.

  Trying to contain the blooming blush, Oriana shifted her attention to the puppets pced on the desk.

  Adorable miniatures of a wolf and a fox.

  The Princess was very familiar with Kyra’s handiwork, as she also had a few of her creations in her room, so she recognized it immediately. Albeit, the puppets Valeria had must’ve been much older, since they bore some signs of being worn by time.

  A wolf clearly represented Valeria, so the fox must’ve been the Goddess.

  Oriana picked up the puppet and examined it for a moment.

  It wasn’t big but there was impressive attention to details, as expected of Kyra. Tiny bck beady eyes contrasted on the white wool used for the body giving the toy a charming, if not cute, appearance. Something most people would never expect to find in the quarters of famously cold and pragmatic Commander of the Royal Guard.

  Nevertheless, the Princess was not ‘most people.’

  Smiling to her own thoughts, Oriana brushed all of the nine tails on the puppet before pcing it back to its rightful pce beside the wolf.

  I hope you’ll come back soon, Goddess. There’s one more Wolf, that still needs you.

  The Princess kept looking around, her gaze roaming around the room, as she was taking notice of all the little things that Valeria considered worthy of keeping and dispying.

  Suddenly a sound of spshing water pulled her out of her thoughts.

  "What are you doing?!" Oriana turned around to see Valeria picking up another bucket of water.

  The Commander raised her eyebrows at the question. She considered it a rather self-expnatory situation.

  "I’m preparing a bath, Your Highness," she expined as she poured more water into the wooden tub in the corner of the room.

  Oriana felt the heat spreading all over her body.

  "Why are you preparing a bath?!"

  Valeria put down the bucket and stared at the Princess for a moment, searching for anything that would suggest there’s a trick to her questions.

  "…So I can bathe?" She answered carefully.

  "Now?! HERE?!" Oriana supported herself on the desk, feeling dizzy from all the heat rushing to her head.

  She barely regained the composure after the shape-shifting incident earlier and the passionate speech about love and now this woman was going to make it all irrelevant by parading in her natural glory once more!

  It didn’t escape Valeria’s attention that the Princess was glowing red by that point, and given the recent development between them, she had the vague idea what could’ve been the reason for such strong reaction.

  Cunning smile flickered on her face.

  "Well… I could go to take the bath in the underground," she said, nonchantly crossing arms in front of her. "But I thought you didn’t want to be alone in the room for so long, given everything that happened…"

  Oriana got ready to protest, but the unfortunate realization that the Commander is right, struck her before she could say anything.

  Checkmate, Valeria praised herself in her mind. She couldn’t help but feel rather satisfied knowing the effect she had on the Princess.

  And, perhaps, she was in a mood to test the extent of that influence…

  "If you have no more objections, Your Highness, then please wait for me in the bed. I’ll be with you shortly."

  Having her mind clouded by thoughts unfitting for the proper and pure maiden, Oriana didn’t even have the energy to protest. She simply followed Valeria’s request and sat on the bed in a daze.

  She wasn’t sure how it happened. Maybe it was a pure coincidence or perhaps some kind of impish spin on divine intervention. But from the spot she picked, she had a crystal clear view at the mirror. And that mirror was positioned at an absurdly perfect angle to let her see everything happening behind the wooden screen. Everything.

  Seemingly unaware of being robbed of privacy, Valeria proceeded to strip.

  Oriana knew she shouldn’t be looking. It was a terrible dispy of ck of manners and it was something that no person of her status should do.

  However, the moment Valeria’s hands started sliding down her pure white shirt, slowly undoing button by button, Oriana simply couldn’t look away.

  Her gaze wandering all over the smooth pale skin of her shoulders, down to her tastefully toned back. It lingered on the alluring curve of her waist and hips, before gliding down her long legs.

  It wasn’t the first time she had seen her, it wasn’t even the second, and yet it was the first time she was noticing all the little details that eluded her all the times before.

  Like the small mole right above her right hip, or how gracefully she looked when the long white hair flowed unrestrained down her shoulders and back, all the way to her waist.

  Seeing her like this, with the bright light of the moon cast through the window shining down on her, Oriana couldn’t believe that someone so delicate was once sent into a brutal battle. She felt a sudden urge to scold her father for such reckless and uncaring behavior.

  It was a ridiculous thought as she knew better than anyone else just how lithe and strong Valeria’s body was. Her heart, however, didn’t care for logic. It had a simple desire to protect her from any harm.

  "Enjoying the view… Your Highness?" She asked unexpectedly. Her voice ced with flirtatious pyfulness.

  Pulled out of her thoughts, Oriana realized that their gazes met through the reflection in the mirror.

  Valeria was sitting at the edge of the tub, holding a small towel to her chest to cover herself. The roguish smile on her face and the mischievous sparkles dancing in her eyes left no doubt.

  She was enjoying this very much.

  That couldn’t be said about the Princess, on the other hand, who was yet again rendered speechless by being caught red-handed with her scandalous behavior.

  "I was… I just… I…" she begun to expin, "I… I was just thinking that you should wear something else aside from the uniform sometimes," she said after overcoming the brain fog.

  "Unfortunately, the rules of the Pace state that everyone in the Royal Guard is required to wear the uniform while attending to their duties," Valeria expined briefly and checked the water with her hand.

  "The masquerade at Elener won’t be a part of your duty, since you’re going there as my escort," the Princess lit up at the realization of her genius. "You better wear something nice, or I will assign you to guard the pantry for the next month! You have such a b-beautiful body… you should wear something n-nice sometimes…" Oriana stuttered the st part, as she caught the sight of Valeria in the tub.

  "As you wish, my Princess," she answered while sinking deeper into the water. The warm bath soothed her tense muscles and slowly washed away all the events of the day.

  Oriana focused all of her might at calming her heart, which was definitely put to the test by the sweet sound of ‘my Princess.’

  Looking into the mirror again, she caught the glimpse of the single earring Valeria always wore.

  It was a very simple design, a small crescent moon and a star above it, carved from a blue gemstone.

  "I know that the neckce is your family heirloom. But what about the earring? What happened to the other one?" Oriana asked, recalling the things Valeria told her in the shack.

  "It was a gift from a friend," she answered. Her head resting against the edge of the tub. "She kept one and gave the other to me, so we can recognize each other when we meet again."

  "Oh…" Oriana felt a pang in her chest. "Were you two… close?"

  Valeria didn’t open her eyes to look at the Princess, but she could tell even from her voice alone that she was bothered by the idea.

  "We were. She was my friend," she answered calmly. A smile curved her lips. "You remind me of her, actually."

  "Were?" Oriana pressed, feeling the jealousy slowly getting the better of her. "A friendship like that could survive decades. You never know when you will meet that… friend of yours. It may be even tomorrow."

  Valeria didn’t answer right away. Once she finally did, her voice was still calm, but there was a faint note of sorrow in it.

  "I won’t. She passed away."

  The second she heard the answer, Oriana felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

  "I’m… I’m so sorry."

  "It’s alright. It happened a long time ago."

  Kyra and Valeria had been in the Pace for so long that it was easy for the Princess to forget that there was a time where they had a different life. A life she didn’t know almost anything about. It was obvious that there were people that they shared the past with, some closer than others.

  It bothered Oriana that there were things that someone else knew about Valeria that she didn’t. That someone saw her from a different perspective and a different side of her.

  It bothered her, because she wanted to know everything about her, and even more so, she wanted to be someone the closest to her.

  Because of that, there was a part of her that felt jealous about the Earring Girl.

  However, hearing the sadness in Valeria’s voice was like a bucket of ice water. No matter how jealous she was, hearing her like this, Oriana wished she had the power to bring people back to life.

  Even if there was a chance that it would mean losing the one she loves.

  "You are awfully quiet all of the sudden," Valera sat on the bed next to Oriana. She had finished the bath and changed into a simple white nightgown, much more frugal in a frill department than the one the Princess was wearing. "Are you still beating yourself up about this?" She asked softly.

  "I’m so sorry. Shouldn’t have been jumping to conclusions so fast. I just… I…" the Princess took a deep breath, "I got jealous and… didn’t think…" she mumbled at st.

  Valeria sat quietly gazing at her with a loving tenderness in her eyes. Then she leaned closer and whispered to Oriana’s ear.

  "She was a close friend, but you… You are someone much more special," the Commander’s hushed voice caressed the Princess’ skin, sending a wave of fire down her spine.

  Before she had a time to react, Oriana sensed Valeria’s soft lips pressing against her cheek.

  A gentle, tender kiss that flipped her world upside down and left her breathless.

  The Princess didn’t know how to respond or react. Her mind went completely bnk and all that she could hear was the frantic beating of her heart, like a panicked animal trying to escape.

  "I’mtiredI’mgoingtosleepGoodnight!" Oriana said it so fast that the sentences merged together, threw herself on the pillow and covered herself with the bnket all the way to the tip of her head.

  Little did she know, this reaction only made Valeria’s appetite to see the Princess so flustered even stronger.

  Wasting no time, the Swindler Commander begun forming a pn to make Oriana’s heart flutter even more.