The Maverick started work in a week, and true to his word, after he had a morning work briefing with his men, he took her for a joyride on his hoverbike. The Princess loved the thrill of it. It was one of the few moments she could really ignore that she missed the comfort of her Knight. Much like the Delegate said their friend worked fast. Once plans were finalized, her new greenhouse was coming together beautifully and quickly. It seemed that things were going to be all right despite her aching heart.

Until she remembered. Somehow, in giving her Knight a leave of absence this angered some of the noble ladies even more. She gave him no instructions on how to use his free time, he chose to go home for a few weeks. They probably wanted to coerce him into asking them to the founding ball, but if he wasn’t at court, they couldn’t do that. None of them wanted to “slum it” and go to his hometown (which the Princess found very condescending. His hometown was absolutely beautiful, scenic and known for the best horses in the kingdom). In her mind if they couldn’t be bothered to write to him formally and request him to escort them, they don’t deserve him. They didn’t see it that way.

All of this came to a head one morning after she finished a joyride with the Maverick. It was the same ladies from her tea party (she was starting to regret ever having them). They seemed cross. She sighed deeply as she took off her helmet and nodded to them.

“Don’t you think this is scandalous, Princess!” one shouted.

“Hey, she nodded to you, you’re supposed to bow in response,” the Maverick said.

“What do you know of our protocol!”

“Only that you are currently in danger of royal contempt. You should bow.”

They seemed a little shaken by this and all bowed.

“I don’t see why I should bow to a royal who has no sense of decorum.”

“I’m sure your ancestors bowed to royals who were mass murderers, you can deal with a a Princess that likes to ride hoverbikes.”

“Can you let her speak for herself?”

“What about my actions is scandalous?” the Princess asked.

“Riding around with this man is not befitting of your station.”

Something in her snapped just a little.

“If I were a prince you’d have nothing to say. I’m sure you rode with your instructor when you learned how to ride a horse.”

“My instructor was a wo–”

“Find me a female instructor who can ride a hoverbike and the Maverick will be out of a job. Good day, ladies.”

She was angry, livid.

“Is this the ‘business’ you two have? No one will ever respect you at this rate!” one shouted after her. They did not know about the greenhouse or her purpose in building it. Since her garden was restricted, no one knew much about what was going on there. Nor did they know that she and the Maverick had discussed at length why his fusion core and mana stones behaved similarly and were discussing a potential business. The Maverick caught up with her and held her by her shoulders.

“Hey…why do you let them talk to you like that?” he asked.

“If…If I retaliate, I can destroy their families. If I say the wrong thing, everything can go up in flames for them. It’s too much for such a petty slight,” she said.

“This is not petty. They’re actively antagonizing the crown, do you think it will stop here?”

“Can I tell you the truth?”

“Please!”

“They desperately wanted my knight to go with them to the founding ball. They thought I would keep him from going with someone else so they bullied me into giving him an extended leave of absence. They did not calculate that he might want to go home for a few weeks. Now they think I purposely sent him away and are taking it out on me.”

She tried to hold back her tears, she didn’t think he’d understand.

“You know what your problem is?” the Maverick said. She knew. She was weak willed and spineless.

“You’re too cute.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“You’re too cute! Everyone thinks they can walk all over you because you’re just screaming kicked puppy! You need to be more like…oh who is the hot one I want to have step on me at least once…”

“The Delegate?”

His face flushed red immediately. “N-no! Why would you think that? I mean the one with white hair!”

“My aunt?”

“Yes! Be like her! In fact, for this ball of yours…we should give you a makeover, and I’ll be your date! Since they want to pretend we’re in a ‘scandalous’ relationship, let’s add to the rumor mill, get everyone talking the whole night and then announce that we’re going to be doing joint research on fusion cores…wait, you guys call them mana stones, right? Show them the real business we ended up working on!”

The Princess wasn’t sure what to make of this, but it did solve her problem of who to take to the ball. She held out her hand.

“It’s a deal!”

The Knight woke up in a cold sweat. Where was she? Was she kidnapped? Why couldn’t he sense her? He blinked his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts. He was at his parents’ house, in his room. He glanced at the clock. Three in the morning. He groaned and lay back on the pillows. This has been happening every day since he’d gotten home. He was supposed to relax and he absolutely could not. It was a trial to fall asleep again once he realized his Princess wasn’t near him.

He gripped his shirt, balling his hand over his heart. He couldn’t do this, it almost physically hurt him. He looked at his swords on the mantle. He needed to train. Whenever he got frustrated over not being able to see the Princess for extended periods of time, he’d overtrain. He knew it was bad for him, but he needed to feel something other than whatever pain was in his chest. His reward was once he ended up in the infirmary, the Princess herself would come in to heal him. She didn’t even need to use any mana on him, her presence enough made his pain melt away.

Could he do that here? If he overtrained far from her, he’d just be in more pain. She wouldn’t know and she wouldn’t come to heal him. What could he do? He heard footsteps in the hall and a small yawn. His father. He hurried over and opened the door.

“Dad?” he said. He could feel all the joy from his father even without seeing his face.

“Sorry I didn’t see you at all yesterday! I got home after you were asleep! Good morning!” he said.

“Yes, good morning. Can I come to work with you?” the Knight said.

“You want to come to work with me? You can just rest more and come see me at the bakery later.”

“Father…I really need to come to work with you,” he said.

His father sighed. “All right, but if you get tired, I’m sending you home.”

“I’ll be right down, wait for me!”

If his father thought he was bluffing he was sorely mistaken. It wasn’t even a full five minutes and he was downstairs ready to go. His father was taken aback ​​by his swiftness.

“Let’s go then,” he said.

The Knight went along with him ​buzzing with anxious energy. He did not expect the absence of his Princess to make him so unbearably jittery and anxious. He should have begged for a kiss at least, even if she sent him away, he needed more of her affection.

“Son, are you feeling okay?” his father asked.

“I’m fine. Excited to go to work with you again after all these years!” the Knight replied.

“I’m happy to work with you again too! It makes me think of the old days when you’d come out to the fields with me.”

They both laughed. Despite this easy going conversation, he felt the guilt and sadness coming from his father like a dark cloud. Why was he failing so badly? He needed his Princess. Somehow, nothing like this ever happened at the palace. It was one of the most stressful places, he knew people’s darkest feelings and nothing felt as oppressive as this. Maybe it was because he loved all the people who were feeling guilty and anxious in his presence. Disappointing the people around him was crushing him. He had to work through this. They arrived and the men and women who worked at the bakery were waiting.

“We have to finish bread for the morning rush of farmers and hired hands. I think I’ll put you on oven duty ,” his father said. “It’s simple, you put the bread in the oven, and we’ll tell you when to take it out.”

He was glad to be busy. The ovens were lit, he helped carry the vats of dough to the work stations as they sprinkled them with flour. He waited by the ovens for the bread to arrive on their trays. He surrendered himself to work and enjoyed the sensations around him. The bread smelled amazing. It was warm, the bakers had pleasant banter. He could still sense his father’s anxiety, but this was dulled by the curiosity and amusement he sensed from the others. It was peaceful.

Once most of the loaves were baked, his father came over.

“I know you well enough to know you probably want more work. Would you like to sell the loaves to the incoming workers?” he asked.

The Knight lit up. “Absolutely!”

He was at the front ready for the rush. Once a few of the men started entering they grinned.

“Hey guys! Our boy has come home!” one shouted. Cheers echoed. Being called “our boy” was very comforting. He was the town hero, the man who saved the princess and became the person she trusted most. Becoming a personal knight to royalty was an elevated position that no commoner dreamed of having even if they managed to become a knight. You needed so many connections to even be considered. He bypassed all that and was selected on his merit alone.

He enjoyed the morning, handing out bread to the men, conversing and receiving praise and admiration. Eventually the morning rush ended. He then helped to carefully arrange the displays of beautiful tarts, cakes and other pastries. Then when the ingredients arrived, he gladly helped unload it, carrying huge bags of flour and sugar, enormous canisters of milk, and crate after crate of eggs and fruit. Finally, as he was getting ready to take his place at the counter again, his father grabbed his arm.

“It’s almost one in the afternoon. You haven’t stopped to eat or even take a breather outside since we left the house. I don’t make any of my workers do ten hour days! Please go home. If you want to work tomorrow, I won’t stop you, but please take it easy!” his father said.

The Knight sighed. “Fine. I’ll head home. But I had so much fun with everyone. I hope to see you at home tonight and I’ll see you all tomorrow!”

Everyone seemed genuinely pleased at the idea except his father, whose grief pressed on him and seemed to clog his lungs. He had to leave. He started home. The work seemed to help, he was tired and a little distracted, but he knew once he got home he’d just be anxious again. He felt strangely bereft without his Princess’s mana or knowing how she was feeling. He just missed her. He needed to see her smile, he needed to know she was pleased with him and she didn’t send him away because he’d hurt her. He felt like he was fraying at the edges without her. He needed more to do.

He arrived home. He knew his brother and mother were out at their small farm. They kept a few animals and a large vegetable garden. They didn’t rely on it for revenue and food, so it was a little more of a hobby than for true survival. However they did provide milk, eggs and vegetables and fruit to others in the village. He found them weeding and he was ready. Yes, he could help in the garden at least. He approached them and gave his mother a big hug.

“Hello, Sweetie, did you have fun working with Dad today?” she asked.

“Yeah, lots of fun, saw lots of old friends. Do you need help in the garden?” he asked.

He saw his mother and brother exchange a look.

“Not really,” his brother said.

“Should I do the laundry?”

“No, the housekeeper is doing that,” his mother said.

“Maybe I’ll make lunch.”

“No, we ate already. But there’s food for you inside.”

“Can I dust, wash windows, or—”

“Just relax, Bro,” his brother said.

The Knight laughed, just barely hiding his anxiety.

“Okay, I’ll at least get something to eat,” he said.

Food did help. He was hungry, he didn’t realize he was shaking or that he had a headache until he had some food. He was tired, but he couldn’t rest. Because when he did he just felt all his family’s anxiety and then he missed his Princess (and then remembered she was anxious around him). He entered the library. Oldest Sister was there carefully examining a glowing stone writing notes.

“Hey…” he said.

“No,” she said flatly.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say!”

“You want to help me study and you can’t. I’m in the middle of an experiment and I can’t risk any mistakes. Go take a bath and a nap. You’ll feel better after working for ten hours straight.”

He groaned. “I just want to help you!”

She sighed and looked up at him. “I like it when you help me, but you can’t this time. It’s a weird mana thing. Come here.”

He came over obediently. She kissed his forehead.

“Now, go away and relax. We can hang out later, I promise.”

That helped just a tiny bit. He could concentrate enough to wash up and take a small nap. He woke up with a mission to accomplish. He had a surprise for his parents. He wanted to attend the founding ball with someone. If he went alone he’d be accosted by too many noble women. However, if he picked another noble woman she’d probably assume he was interested, and he already knew who he was going to marry. So naturally, taking his parents would be the best idea. It would accomplish several goals: he wanted to introduce them to people he cared about. The Knight Commander, the only person other than the Royal Family who had authority over him. He had always been kind and smoothed over any obstacles for him. He also wanted them to meet the Princess’s former knight. She was also supportive from the moment they met and was the Queen’s close friend. There were a few noble couples who were genuinely kind to him that had always expressed interest in meeting his parents, and if there were a few young ladies who were kind and sincere they’d still approach.

His parents were in an odd position of not being officially noble (the King and Princess offered and they didn’t want titles), however they were slightly above commoners. So many could look down on them, however doing so could incur the wrath of the Royal Family. So the ones who felt they were too good for them often just opted not to talk to them. Thus his parents were a good filter, no one would be super rude, but few would approach with less than pure intentions.

However, they could not attend the founding ball in anything less than top shelf outfits. He’d contacted the local tailor ahead of time and arranged for this. They all would wear dark green and gold. Green for his father’s eyes and gold for his mother’s. The tailor already had all his parent’s measurements, the last time the Princess was in town she paid for his entire family to have new clothes (and got a few outfits herself). So it was easy to get outfits made without their knowledge. He decided to head down to the tailor’s and see the outfits then surprise his parents with the gift and the announcement they were going to attend the ball with him within the week. Maybe finally, his parents would be happy and proud of him again.