“I just… uhm…” she looked up at him, specifically staring straight into his eyes as her own started to shake a bit. “I-It’s not good to say it, you know…? Some things are best left unknown until a later date, yeah…?” She swallowed quickly, genuinely nervous. Because she’s never been with any male other than those within her family with the exclusion of Vincent and his officers, she’s been quite a curious and needy individual without herself even knowing it.
Korren couldn’t help but stifle light laughter, simply just nodding.
“A-Alright,” he replied. “Guess I’ll have to wait, then?”
And whether he learned the contents of her speech tomorrow or three weeks from now, he could wait. While he was a curious individual, he was also a patient one.
“In the meantime— not to sound dull or anything— but I’d like to get to know you. Rumors aren’t the most… accurate way to learn about the royal family.”
(bump?)
(Ack— I forgot— Sorry ;-;)
“Mm… I suppose it isn’t,” she smiled and turned back to him with a giddy smile.
“What would you like know about me?” She asked, unsure where to start with explaining herself. There are a lot of things about her, not a lot of which people knew about.
(no problem! i kinda didn’t wanna bump cuz i didn’t wanna seem pushy, so don’t worry about it at all—)
“I guess it is a little difficult to pick a topic out of nowhere, hm?” he asked, words cut short by him taking another sip of tea. “Maybe… well… I guess since we already brushed over the topic— what would you be doing if you didn’t have any ties to the royal family? If you had complete freedom, so to speak.”
“If I had complete freedom? I’d probably be at a florist somewhere, working day and night, taking care of flowers or something… I know, not the greatest of ideas but it is what I know I want to do,” she mentioned, sighing softly as she looked down at her own dress. “It would save me so much sanity if I was able to do that and not go on royal workings as a ‘representative’ of my father or mother…” she mentioned with a sad smile. “Next?”
Korren nodded, leaning up against one of Valentine’s bed posts.
“I see. And call me a softie, but working with flowers sounds… nice. A really peaceful kind of job in comparison to being a knight.”
He pried his eyes from his cup of tea, glancing over to where the princess sat.
“Hmm… let me think. Do your parents let you do anything outside of your royal duties? Like, hobbies, or the like?”
“Uhm… not as much as I would want but… at least I get to do things I like from time to time so that’s definitely nice!” She laughed ruefully, although her face showed signs of mild sadness. Clearly she didn’t have enough time or the chance to do what she wanted…
“Is that so?” he mumbled, mouth curving back into a smile. “That’s.. nice. For the most part.”
His voice grew slightly raspy before he cleared his throat, then took the last sip of his tea and began to cradle the cup in a worn hand.
“What do you usually do?” With his free hand, he brushed the hair from his eyes to little avail— the damp strands falling back the second he stopped. He didn’t seem to mind, though, with the majority of his attention locked on the princess.
“Uhm… usually I would paint or work on the garden behind the castle…” she answered, clearly nervous after seeing his form this close.
“H-How about you… what do you usually do on your free time away from training?”
“It really depends on how much time off I’m allowed,” Korr replied, nodding slowly. “If it’s only for a couple hours or so, I usually watch the traveling bards in the courtyard. If it’s for a longer time then…”
He tapped his finger on the porcelain cup, eyes flitting around for a moment as he thought.
“Then I’d probably add to my cartography collection. I make maps of nearby places; it gives me a good excuse to travel.”
“That’s a nice way to spend your time, actually,” she commented as she finally finished her cup of tea. She sighed softly as the silence settled in. “More questions? Or… topic of discussion? Honestly, anything to keep me company right now would be extremely appreciated…”
“Well…,” he said, setting his empty tea cup down on a nearby bedside table. He took a step forward, tilting his head to the side and offering the princess a hand.
“Would your parents allow us a walk through the courtyard?” Korren asked, eyes lively as he smiled down at the woman. His attention flicked to the window for a moment before settling back on her. “It’s always a lovely sight this time of day.”