I leaned back, placed a sheet of paper down, and removed my glasses, pinching the bridge of my nose. After my father left with Charles, Edith served us moments later. I was so grateful for Edith and her calming tea because I had to listen to Michael tell me about the meetings and social events I had to attend.

 

"Are you alright, sir?" Michael asked, and I looked at him, sighing and placing my glasses down.

 

"Yes, I am alright," I said. I looked over to Luna; she was sitting on the sofa reading a book with a slight smile. She looks peaceful. The more I looked at her, the more confused I was with her behavior from this morning, which I still had to talk to her about. I need to find a way to speak to her alone and understand what is going through that head of hers.  

 

"If you want to take a break, Your Highness, we can sense the urgent work is done," Michael started. Thank god for that boy! I smiled and clapped loudly, making Edith and Michael jump. I looked at Luna; her eyes were still glued to the book. I huffed, looking back at Michael and smiling at him.

 

"I think that is a wonderful idea, Michael. I think I would stroll in the palace gardens to clear my head," I said, glancing over at Luna, which made her look up.

 

"Of course, Your Highness, I will take care of the rest of the work while you are gone," Michael said.

 

"Okay," I got up, looked at Luna, and smiled. "Let us leave, Luna," I said, and she walked to me.

 

"Do you want me to make refreshments for you?" Edith asked.

 

"Actually, no, I would like to be alone with Luna. You can stay here and keep Michael company," I said, looking over at Michael, who was red.

 

"Awe, you made him blush. You better take good care of him, girl,' Luna said. I looked at Edith, and she was redder than Michael.

 

"Come on, Luna, let's leave these kids to it," I said, walking out of the study.

 

"N- not funny, your highness," Edith called out, making me laugh at the young girl. Once we were far enough, I started glancing over at Luna, and I was beginning to think I was acting like a fool. A million questions went through my mind when I thought about this morning, and honestly, my thoughts were only plagued with Luna. I was furious with her for leaving, but the closer I got to her room, the more I started to feel worried that she was okay. Now that I have her here alone, I cannot find the words to speak with her. The words die when they reach the tip of my tongue. God, what is wrong with me?

 

"You know if you have something you want to say, you better say it now," Luna said, pulling me from my thoughts.

 

"Did I upset you?" came out of my mouth, and Luna paused for a bit, looking at me before continuing.

 

"No, why would you think that I was upset?" Luna asked.

 

"Well, whenever you have some sort of feeling, your hair color seems to change," I said.

 

"I didn't think you were paying attention to that," Luna said.

 

"Really? Do you think I would not notice the color of a beautiful woman's hair changes? Also, how can no one see it when they look at you? And also-" I looked at Luna, but she wasn't beside me. She was a few feet behind me, covering her face with bright pink hair. "What are you doing?" I asked. She peeked through her hand and ran her finger through her hair and down her face. She sighed, walking towards me, not stopping when she passed me.

 

"Come on, we don't have all day, idiot," Luna called out. Her hair was still pink, and I felt happy when I smiled, running up to her.

 

We walked through that garden in silence. I tried to speak with her, but it just fell on deaf ears because she just remained silent, not looking in my direction at all. I looked ahead, spotting the lake in the distance. I looked back at Luna; her eyes lit up, and she started walking faster. I smiled, picking up the pace matching Luna's until the lake was a few feet away. I heard Luna gasp, and she ran up to the lake, sitting on the edge and smiling at the ducks swimming there. I walked up and sat beside her, watching the ducks swim around. It was a mother and her children. It was about four of them. I glanced at Luna; she looked so mesmerized by them, watching them swim around. I turned back to the lake, watching the mother and her children until one of the children ventured off, swimming towards us, stopping in front of Luna.

 

"Hey, they cutie, are you hungry?" Luna asked. I watched her snap her fingers, and bread appeared before her. I watched her break a piece off and toss a piece to the duckling, and it took a piece, quaking at her before swimming back to its family. Moments later, the rest of the family showed up. Luna let out a small laugh, tossing them more pieces of bread. I watched her give out all of the bread to the duck family. The mother squawked at Luna and swam away. At this point, Luna felt me staring at her, and she turned and looked at me, giving me a warm smile. I felt myself get hot at the sight of how beautiful she looked. God, Stephen, you need to get a hold of yourself. This woman is your partner, nothing more.

 

"W- well, looks like we had enough of this. Shall we head back?" I said, getting up and dusting myself off. Luna sighed, getting up and giving me a blank look before walking away. I felt my heart flip, and I looked back at the ducks one last time, pushing whatever thoughts I had before chasing after Luna. Once I was by her side, we walked in silence for a bit as I was trying to rack my head trying to figure out what to say to her. I never had this much trouble talking with a woman, so why was I having one now? I looked at her one more time, and it clicked. Luna was not like those other women. She was different. She is one of a kind. She was special. I shook my head, pushing whatever feeling was coming back down. I can't think about that. Not now, not ever. I can't destroy the relationship that I have with her now.

 

"So I heard you went looking for me after I left the training grounds," I heard Luna say. I faltered in my steps before I continued walking. This time, my steps were more stiff.

 

"Yes, I did. I wanted to see if you were alright," I told her.

 

"Why did I not look okay to you?" Luna asked.

 

"Well, you look angered, troubled, actually," I said.

 

"Well, I am fine," Luna said. I saw that her hair was changing, and I placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

 

"Luna, if something is bothering you, you can speak with me," I said. Luna turned to me, and I watched the color of her eyes drain away, turning grey.

 

"Why do you care?" She asked, and my grip on her shoulder became tighter.

 

"Well, we are a team, are we not?" I asked, and her eyes went back to her amber color.

 

"I guess you are right about that," Luna removed my hand, walking back to the castle. I followed her, matching her pace, and I looked at her hair, which was back to blue. "I know what you are doing?" Luna said.

 

"I haven't had the slightest clue," I said, and Luna stopped, turning to me and crossing her arms over her chest, looking at me like I was some puzzle.

 

"Oh really, because whenever you ask me about something personal, you look at my hair to ensure I am calm. Am I wrong?" Luna said.

 

"Well, my apologies. I just noticed that whenever you are angry, your hair changes to a bright red like it is on fire," I said.

 

"Well, that is one of my flaws. Whenever I feel extreme emotion, it affects my hair and eye color. At first, I thought it was cool, but it gets pretty annoying after a while," Luna said.

 

"May I ask why?" I asked. Luna only sighed, walking past me. I watched her walk over to one of the benches and slowly lower herself. She slid to one side of the bench, and I assumed it was an invitation for me to join her. I walked up to the bench and silently sat with her, waiting for her to speak.

 

"I'm going to assume that you have a lot of questions racking around in that brain of yours, so how about we just get this over with so you are not asking me a billion questions that might annoy me later on," Luna said.

 

"Well, I suppose that is fair," I said, rubbing my chin.

 

"Okay, let it fly," Luna said.

 

"Well, I wanted to know if people can see when your hair and eye color change?" I asked.

 

"No," I tilted my head, waiting for her to explain, and she only groaned at me. "No, people can't because it is only magical beings or people I form contracts with," Luna said.

 

"So we have formed a contract. I see," I said, rubbing my chin, but I stopped when Luna sighed.

 

"We didn't form a contract," Luna said dryly.

 

"Wait, so how c-," I said Luna held a hand up.

 

"I can't answer that," Luna said, putting her hand down.

 

"Why not?" I asked.

 

"Because that is another person's job," Luna said.

 

"Who might that be?" I asked, and she ran a hand down her face.

 

"Oh, you'll meet them, just not now," Luna said.

 

"Okay," I said.

 

"Is that it?" Luna asked.

 

"No, I want to know why you left me at the training grounds?" I asked, and the color in Luna's eyes darkened before she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

 

"Because I was losing control," Luna said coldly.

 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

 

"We are supposed to keep our powers in check, and if we let our powers take over, then the results can be detrimental," Luna said, lowering her head.

 

"So when you left, you were trying to calm yourself down?" I asked, and she nodded.

 

"I also felt that something was wrong," Luna said.

 

"With you?" I asked.

 

"No. With you," Luna said, looking at me.

 

"With me?" I asked.

 

"Yeah, but like I said, that is something I cannot explain because that is not my job," Luna said.

 

"I see," I said, leaning back, and we sat in silence until Luna broke the silence.

 

"So now that you have the biggest nuisances out of the way. Now what?" Luna asked.

 

"Well, now that I have them down, I need them to stay down," I said through gritted. I felt Luna place a hand on my mine, and I looked at her, and she smiled at me.

 

"I got your back, so tell me the plan," she said. I nodded and started to explain the next step of my plan.