The next day I was stationed at the front of the castle with Nosuke just like before. I couldn't help but give a yawn. Compared to life on a ship, this was boring.

"What's wrong, pretty boy? Getting bored?"

"I really wish you didn't have to call me that..."

"Don't worry, once the thirty days are up, I'll call you Kat."

"Thanks."

"But I should warn you. It will probably stick."

I scowled. "Thanks for the heads up." It was time to get the conversation off of me. "Did your nickname stick?" I was kinda curious.

"No, thank goodness."

"Lucky bas-" I was cut off by Nosuke slapping his hand over my mouth.

It was amusing really. I guess, since I did it to him, he figured it was fine to me. His hand was firm but gentle. Unlike anyone on the Phoenix.

"You don't want to get caught cursing like that. Trust me." Nosuke lifted his hand from my mouth and the heat of his hand lingered on my face.

I smirked. "Why? What'll happen?"

"The captain will put you on polish duty."

I raised an eyebrow. "Polish duty?"

"That's what I call it. You get locked in the armory and have to polish every piece. And there's a lot."

"Speaking from experience are we?" I deviously inquired. "What did a man like you do to get in that much trouble?"

"Sorry, but I vowed to never speak of it again."

I couldn't help but laugh. Simply saying that made me all the more curious.

"Yeah, you laugh now, but if you don't watch it, you'll be next."

"You don't have to worry about me, farm boy."

"I'd hope not, pretty boy."

Nosuke and I chuckled together as we bantered back and forth. I found myself feeling surprisingly comfortable around him. If magic were real, Nosuke could have been using it to make me feel at ease.

Suddenly, Nosuke straightened up. I turned and I saw Miko heading towards us.

"How's the new job, 'pretty boy'?"

"Ahg... Not you too."

She looked over at Nosuke. "I hope you're not giving him a hard time."

"No, Your Highness, we were just playing around."

"That's great. Your shift is over soon, right Kat?"

"Yeess...?"

"Great! Then I will see you for lunch." She gave me a wink and then walked away.

"It's an honor to be invited to lunch with the princess! I'm surprised you're not more thrilled! I don't know anyone who wouldn't kill to be you right now!"

I flinched at his enthusiasm. What was with people in Clarines? Was there something contagious going around that I wasn't aware of?

"It's not that big of a deal. I'm sure she just wants to say thank you. I did save her mother." And no one does something without expecting something in return. I may have saved her mother, but there was a chance the lunch was a front for Miko to get something from me.

"Still! I would love to be in your shoes right now!"

I rolled my eyes. If he was like every other man I've met, he was probably thinking about the princess' beauty. He probably even wanted to bed her.

"What?"

"You know very well what."

Nosuke looked at me with disbelief. "Are you telling me you're not the slightest bit attracted to her?!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Sorry to disappoint, but that's exactly what I'm saying. She's not my type."

"Not your- I think you need your eyes examined! How can any man not be attracted to her?! Her curves are perfect, if you know what I mean."

"Aaand that's enough of that!" I knew where that conversation was going and I really didn't want to hear it right now. Especially not when it was about the Pirate Killer's daughter. "We are on duty after all. Aren't you supposed to be the one teaching me?"

"You're right. Sorry for getting a bit carried away."

I let out a sigh. "I guess it's not entirely your fault. Let's talk about something else."

"Alright."

Thankfully, our conversation never went back to Miko or her body. I was able to finish my shift in peace.

I had no clue where Miko wanted to meet me for lunch, so I had to guess. I picked the spot where I had been looking at the papers for jobs. I didn't really know my way around yet so it made sense to pick a spot that was easy to find.

I stretched out on the grass, placing my hands behind my head, and stared up at the clouds. There was a slight breeze but it was nothing like the wind from the sea but it was nice. I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself on the Phoenix.

Thane would be at my side as I steered the ship. The men would be working hard as we'd try to catch up to a trade ship so we could steal what we needed. I'd lived at sea for ten years, it was weird not being there now.

I sat up and gave a big stretch and looked at the large clock tower at the time. I couldn't help but get irritated. It was Miko's idea to meet for lunch, so why was she late?

"Figures..." I had no reason to trust her. I don't know why I even showed up. I would wait another fifteen minutes. If she wasn't here in that time then I would leave.

Finally, with one minute to spare, she came sprinting with a satchel over her shoulder. When she reached me, she placed her hands on her knees and panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry, I'm late, Kat. I had to- something came up. I brought you some lunch." She handed me a sandwich.

Obviously, I wasn't supposed to know the specifics. That was fine by me. The less I knew about her the better. It'd be easier to leave when the time came. She's a princess anyway, her life was bound to be busy.

"It's okay. Life gets like that sometimes." I took a large bite of my sandwich. The sandwich was the best thing, I had ever tasted. All the flavors perfectly complimented each other. Maybe there was something good that came out of living in the castle.

"Do you always eat food this good?!" I asked with my mouth full.

"I grabbed whatever I could find. Is it that good?"

"It's better than anything I get back at my ship."

"If you think it's that good, maybe I'll get you something even better, tomorrow."

"Sure, as long as it doesn't cause any trouble." The last thing I wanted was to draw unnecessary attention to myself.

"So, how do you like it here?"

"It's fine. I've had a hard time sleeping though."

"Why is that?"

"It's almost too peaceful. Ya know what I mean?" I wasn't going to tell her about the fact that the castle made me uncomfortable. But to keep my cover, I had to pretend we were friends.

"All too well."

I shoved the last of my sandwich into my mouth and savored all the flavors it had to offer.

"So, where is the furthest you've gone? How many countries have you visited? What exactly are the activities you have on your ship? What do you actually do?"

I became frustrated with the bombardment of questions, never mind, the fact that answering all of them would compromise me. I had to stop myself from slapping my hand over her mouth. I may have been able to get away with it with Nosuke, but he was a commoner. I doubt it would be overlooked with a princess. I quickly composed myself and spoke.

"Let me stop you there, Pinkette. My life on my ship is private. I won't talk about details, but I am willing to answer your questions about other countries. Now, one question at a time." Even though I tried to stay composed, my words came out harsher than I had intended. On the up side, saying things this way got me out of answering every question.

"Sorry, I just got a little excited. I-I..."

She was interrupted by the 'dong' of the oversized clock.

"I got to go, can we meet the same time, tomorrow?" She stood up and began to leave. "I won't be late this time!"

I rolled my eyes and watched as she walked away.

I stretched back out on the grass and closed my eyes again. Even though I knew I was still in the castle, closing my eyes was like a temporary escape. I needed to find a way to relax if I was going to stay here for any length of time.

"Hey, pretty boy!"

I groaned and sat up. I saw Nosuke coming towards me.

"What do you want, farm boy. I was just starting to relax."

"Sorry, but I just got off shift and I had an idea."

"Oh?"

"You said Prince Zen has you staying in a room here at the castle right?"

"Yeeeaah..."

"I don't know about you, but sometimes the castle can be suffocating."

He felt it too?

"Still waiting for your point, Nosuke."

"Well, I was thinking, what if you and I became roommates? We could get a place in town."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'd only known him for two days and he wanted to be roommates? I thought about denying his request, but it would get me out of the castle. "Alright."

"Then let's go."

"What?! Now?"

"Why not? We can find a place today and move our stuff in on our day off tomorrow."

I groaned. It made sense, but I didn't like it. "Fine." I got up and went with Nosuke.

We walked around town for a couple of hours and still hadn't found a good place.

"For the love of Poseidon! How hard can it be to find a place to live?!" My patience was wearing thin.

"How long did you live at sea again?" Nosuke asked out of the blue.

"Ten years, why?"

"That explains the cursing."

I put my arms behind my head as we walked. "I'm off shift, so what does it matter?"

"You're still in uniform. If the captain finds out you've been giving the castle guards a bad reputation, you'll either be punished or discharged."

"Fine. I'll try my best."

"What about this one?" Nosuke pointed at a ground level apartment.

"Okay we'll look but this is the last one for today. If we don't agree, we try again tomorrow."

"Deal."

We found the landlord with no problem and he showed us the apartment. Turned out, it was perfect. It had two bedrooms and a reasonable price.

When you walked in, directly ahead was the kitchen and dining room area. Just past that was the living room. To the right were the doors leading to the two bedrooms, side by side.

"The couch was left here by the previous tenants, so you're welcome to have it." The landlord said.

"I like it." I told Nosuke.

"I don't know... do we really need two rooms? We're both men."

"I like my privacy."

"Since you two gentlemen are castle guards, I'd be willing to knock off one hundred dil." The landlord offered.

"Where do we sign?" Nosuke agreed.

I let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to know that my time living in the castle was coming to an end.

A few days later, I was stationed inside the castle. I was more tense than usual because it meant that the likelihood of seeing Prince Zen was good.

"You look nervous, pretty boy." Nosuke quietly whispered to me.

"Aren't you? Prince Zen could walk around the corner any minute!"

"Just relax. Prince Zen isn't a bad guy."

That's what he thinks.

"Besides, he'll be too busy entertaining Prince Raj."

I froze. "D-Did you say P-Prince Raj?!"

"Yeah." He looked at me. "Hey, you okay? You look pale."

"I-I'm fine." My voice betrayed my words.

If Prince Raj recognizes me, I am so dead!

"Liar." Nosuke called me on it.

"Don't worry about it." I felt my stomach twist into a thousand knots and it didn't go away the whole shift.

Finally, I was done and I power walked to try and get to my new home as soon as possible. I didn't want to stick around. I rounded a corner and crashed into someone. I stumbled back but managed to stay on my feet.

When I recovered, I saw that I had bumped into none other than Prince Raj. Instantaneously, I dropped to my knees and pressed my forehead to the floor.

"Forgive me, Your Highness." I tried to lower my voice even more than usual.

"It's fine. No harm done. You may rise."

I did so slowly and I kept my eyes down cast. Please don't recognize me.

"What's your name, soldier?"

I didn't know what to do. Even if I told him my male name, he wasn't stupid.

"Prince Raj asked you a question."

Shite! That was Sakaki's voice! If Prince Raj didn't recognize me, Sakaki definitely would.

"I-I'm sorry... I can't..."

Prince Raj took the liberty of bending awkwardly and locking his eyes with mine. His actions caught me by surprise and I straightened up properly to try and get away.

"Well, this is a surprise." Sakaki said.

"Indeed. It all makes sense now." Prince Raj agreed.

I felt my hand trembling.

"You were the one that saved Shirayuki, weren't you... Kat?" Prince Raj asked.

SHITE! NOT GOOD! I felt myself tremble no matter how hard I tried to stay still.

"Settle down. We won't say anything. Right, Sakaki?"

"Of course."

I tried to settle down but it was no good.

Prince Raj gently placed his hand on my shoulder and locked eyes with me. "I count you as a friend, Kat. I won't put your life at risk. You have my gratitude for saving Shirayuki." Prince Raj then gently took my hand and kissed it.

"Y-You're welcome..."

"Prince Raj!" Prince Zen's voice caused me to tense all over again. "I've been looking for- What are you doing?"

Prince Raj still had hold of my hand. He quickly let go.

"Nothing! I was just talking to this fine young guard! I thought I recognized him but I was mistaken!"

If it hadn't been for the tension, I would have laughed at Prince Raj's antics.

"Alright, then I shall take you to see Shirayuki."

"Yes, of course."

I stood frozen as the trio left me. As soon as I could, I forced myself into another power walk and I didn't stop till I was home.

I closed the door behind me then leaned against it, closing my eyes and letting out a sigh. I was finally home, I could relax.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

I jumped at the sound of Nosuke's voice. "Shite, Nosuke! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

I let out a huff. "I'm going to bed." I started to move for my bedroom.

"What about dinner?"

I stopped and crossed my arms. "What about it?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"No..." I changed my course and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the cupboard. "But I am thirsty." I uncapped it and swigged back a big gulp.

"When did that get there?" Nosuke asked.

"I bought it."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I think we need to establish some ground rules."

"Later." I waved him off and went towards my room.

"Kat!"

I groaned. "Look! I've had a crap day! Just let me drink tonight and we'll talk tomorrow, alright?"

"You give me your word?"

"Yes."

"Fine. But I'm not going to show any sympathy for your hangover tomorrow."

I just ignored him and entered my room. I stripped everything off and flopped on the bed.