A/N: Finally a new chapter!

The first conscious thought Fritzi had as she lay in bed while waking up, was that she was humming. But as she realized this, whatever song she had been humming then vanished from her mind.

Suddenly annoyed at the fact she couldn't remember the tune, she took a deep breath and sat up to stretch out her muscles. As she gathered her clothes and walked into the bathroom to prepare for the day, she wrestled with her mind for some hint of the song, but even as she washed up, trying to mimic the humming from before, she eventually gave up. Maybe it would come back to her in time?

Deciding it probably wasn't important, she stepped back into her room, grimacing at the mess of papers littering her desk from the night before. Picking up the stray papers that landed on the floor somehow, Fritzi placed them back on her desk before she ventured outside her room in search of breakfast.

Having reached the dining area, Fritzi schooled her features to appear aloof. Shoulders pulled back and putting effort into appearing graceful, yet confident in her mannerisms, she walked inside to gather a tray of food for herself before finding a secluded place to eat. Normally it was the one of the windows with a clear view of the garden, and as luck would have it, her favorite one was currently vacated. If one paid attention, you could see a family of robins that nested there in one of the crevices.

Once situated, she lightly bit into a plain piece of toast. No jam or butter, which she used to slather on when she was a child, both at the same time. After all, she still recalled the horrified expressions of some of the other girls the first few times she did that. Being not so discreetly called a barbaric commoner with a greedy appetite behind her back had taken away all the pleasure she used to get from eating her favorite breakfast in her own quirky way.

As it was, the bread made by the cook at Blue Rose headquarters was rather good. However, Fritzi still retained the biased opinion that the bread her father and mother made was the best in the world. As well as any baked goods she had been spoiled with growing up.

Having been staring at the ceiling above, she was lost in her thoughts as her grey eyes traced the twining briars painted in gold, leading to a graceful chandelier that was carefully crafted to resemble a rose. The rare magic crystals were even a blue color befitting the particular magic knight's squad who dined in the room, crystals that glowed all by themselves in the evenings. As of now, the morning rays of light streaming through the windows caught on the stones, reflecting rainbow hued specks of light about the area.

Fritzi still was in awe of the beauty of this room, of all the ones in the castle if she was to be honest. But beauty or not, she still retained a fear of her clumsiness and the worry she break some valuable heirloom and never have enough funds, no matter how much she earned as a magic knight, to pay off such a debt. She still sometimes feared if she so much as breathed the wrong way, the chandelier itself would crash down around their heads and the ramifications of such a thing happening were too much to think about.

The clearing of a throat beside her nearly startled her, but Fritzi stopped herself from flinching away at the abrupt noise. After all, Michael seemed nervous enough as it was.

Giving him a kind smile, she hoped it would put him at ease. "How are you today Michael? I hope you are well?"

As he gave a bow, Fritzi tried not to roll her eyes at the fact Folia was whispering with another girl while not even trying to hide the fact she was pointing in her direction. Whatever was said was apparently of some amusement as they laughed.

Michael stood straight, giving a small smile. "I am well. I have found another letter addressed to you, Miss Fritzi," he said, placing the letter in her hands.

"Thank you Michael, that's very kind of you..." Fritzi started with a grin, but her face became more stern as she added, "I'm grateful for you delivering my mail to me, but it's not an obligation, you know. You have enough on your hands besides taking time out of your schedule to hand deliver them to me when I can easily gather them myself..."

"I-it's okay... I like doing it." Michael then pushed up his glasses as his green eyes nervously examined the floor. Clearing his throat, he added, "May I be of any other assistance Miss Fritzi?"

Arching a brow in curiosity, she shook her head. "No, that's alright..."

Yet again bowing, Fritzi wanted to almost snap at him to stop doing that, but as he turned to walk past Folia and her group, she instead called out, "Hey Michael? Actually may I ask a favor?"

Turning back, he smiled. "Of course. How can I help?"

Cursing herself, Fritzi quickly tried to think of something. Unbeknownst to the boy, it really had been a ploy to prevent him tripping over Folia's extended foot. But looking down, she quickly realized she had an excuse as to send him in a direction away from the embarrassment of falling on his face.

Doing her best to look sheepish, she said "I do apologize, but would you mind taking this tray and putting it away? I would do it myself, but I have just recalled a matter of importance I have to take care of immediately..."

"There's no trouble at all ma'am..." Michael said as he picked up the tray.

Standing up, Fritzi placed a hand on his shoulder in thanks. "Take care now..."

Going out of the dining room, she paused long enough to carefully leave a pumpkin vine that crawled under Folia's table and wrapped itself about one of the legs and loosely hang itself about her ankle.

A taste of her own medicine, Fritzi thought with a small hum. Once it was touched it would vanish, but it would stay long enough to do the job.

Trying not to feel too satisfied as she turned the corner and not several moments later a loud shriek, followed by a thud sounded, she examined the letter.

Recognizing the untidy scrawl of a handwriting, as well as the black sealing wax that held a familiar symbol, she was suddenly confused.

It was from Magna...

Pausing a second, she stepped outside and into the courtyard to get a more peaceful environment to read what he had to say.

While the castle was a beautiful structure full of endless lavish decorations, the garden was the place Fritzi felt the most at ease. The stone walkways and bubbling water fountains were still on the ritzy side, but it was easier to pretend the priceless blue roses and countless other plant life were just extensions of nature instead of another room full of firm reminders she was lucky to be allowed to see such extravagance.

The roses were lovely of course, but her favorite parts of the garden were the beds of flowers found from various places across the Clover kingdom, and some from outside it as well. There were countless wildflowers much like the ones she grew up seeing back in the common realm that stayed in full bloom year round thanks to the spells placed in the area.

Then there was this nice patch of lilies that hid a stone bench. If she stayed quiet, no one would notice her there for hours at a time. It was here she settled to read her letter away from prying eyes.

Truth be told, she wasn't at all sure what to think. All the other letters passed between them, she had at least an iota of an idea whether or not Magna would write her back when she replied. But after the fact they had parted on good terms, she thought it was over and done with. No more letters.

This one was a bit of a surprise. Well, more than a bit.

Sliding her fingers under the flap to loosen the wax and free the letter, Fritzi's mind was full of questions about what he possibly wanted to write to her about. Maybe a question about the books she told him about? Or maybe to tell her she forgot something when she left the tavern the night before? She did occasionally forget her notepads in random places...

Once she had the letter in her hands, Fritzi took a deep breath and decided to see for herself what he had to say.

To the still snobby but kinda cool chick from Blue Rose,

I realized there was something I wanted to ask you, but it was after you left when I thought of it. But before that, I wanted to say... sorry I guess, for being a bit of a jerk yesterday? I still am surprised you bothered sticking up for me and my squad alongside your own to that creep and all the others in that pub...

I know I said I didn't want to bump into you again, but I thought about it after talking to you in person. You are still a pain in my ass, but I did like talking to you once you actually relaxed and started showing some emotions on your face. No offense, but if I wanted to talk an unfeeling rock, there's a castle full of them here at HQ...

If you ever think you have time to unwind and need to chat, I wouldn't mind hanging out again? Up to you though...

Signed, the ever manly Magna Swing

Feeling her face burn, Fritzi still couldn't fight the twitch of a smile on her lips.

"Of all the cheeky... ugh..." she said, not even remotely offended by his comments, but rather amused. She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Carefully refolding the letter and taking a deep breath, she studied a few finches perched on the fence maintaining the wildflowers as she thought about his suggestion. She did recall enjoying herself when they talked to each other. And it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone new, especially since Magna was rather nice at times when he wasn't being a snarky asshole.

"I may just have to take him up on that offer sometime..." she said to no one in particular.