Several days later, I went to my room and flopped on my bed. Finally, I could get a break! There had been a serious breakout that caused several of the herbalists and medical staff to be called away. As a result, Princess Shirayuki had taken over several of their duties and, in turn, Miko resumed some of her mother's responsibilities.

While Miko was working she had a headache and decided to play with herbs. This resulted in her losing her memory and her sanity. Desti and I were stuck babysitting Miko so she wouldn't hurt herself. There was an encounter that involved me playing 'pirates' with Miko using a mop that was pretty entertaining, but aside from that, the whole experience had been stressful.

Thankfully, her mother was good at her job and managed to make an antidote. Prince Zen was kind enough to give us a break. Miko was asleep now and I decided to follow her lead. I stripped down to my bra and panties, as always, and pulled the covers over me. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

I woke up to see a man leaning over me. I was only half awake so his presence startled me and when I jumped my blankets fell off of me. I came to my senses and realized it was Mitsuhide.

"Geez man! You scared me half to death!"

"I-I'm sorry, Kat. B-But you were supposed to be awake a half an hour ago."

Even in the dim light I could see that his face was red. I'd been so used to being in my skivvies that I almost forgot that's all I was wearing. I rose from my bed and let out a sigh as I started to get dressed.

"You're really easy to fluster, ya know that?"

His back was turned to me. "You make that sound like a bad thing."

"If you lived the kind of life I have, then you'd consider it that way too." I snuck in close behind Mitsuhide and whispered in his ear. "But I must admit, I've had fun teasing you."

"I'm gonna wait outside!" The blushing man quickly decided and walked out the door.

I laughed and then finished getting dressed. Once that was done, I followed Mitsuhide to Miko's room where Kiki and Desti were waiting. Miko was sitting up and was massaging her forehead.

"How are you feeling, Princess Miko?"

Miko just groaned.

"I see the headache came back along with your memories, huh?"

"With a vengeance."

"Alright, stay put and I'll go get the medicine from the medical wing." The last thing I wanted was a repeat performance.

When I arrived, I was surprised to see Princess Shirayuki still working.

"Princess Shirayuki? You're still here?"

"Oh, Kat. I was just finishing up some things."

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard." I wasn't sure if she knew that I knew about the pregnancy, so I wasn't going to name that as my reason for concern. Besides, no one did well if they pushed themselves too hard.

"You don't need to worry. I'm going to lay down once I'm done here. I promised Zen I would."

I tensed slightly when she mentioned Prince Zen's name.

"Is everything alright?" Princess Shirayuki asked.

"I'm fine... I just came to get some medicine for Princess Miko. She's got a nasty headache."

"I figured that might happen." Princess Shirayuki opened a drawer and pulled out a vial. She handed it to me. "Here. I made this just in case."

"You've got a good head on your shoulders. You'd do good with a sword in your hands." I didn't know why I was able to be so relaxed around Princess Shirayuki. She hadn't done anything special to earn my trust, yet here I was, talking to her like I would anyone else.

"I'm not interested in that. I'd much rather work with the plants."

"I guess it's not for everyone." I glanced at the vial in my hand. "I better get this to Princess Miko." I bowed. "Have a good evening, Your Highness."

"You as well, Kat."

I left the medical wing and headed back to Miko's room.

"Your elixir, my Princess." I over dramatized as I bowed low with my hand held out with the vial.

"Really?"

I looked up at her and smiled. "I made you feel better didn't I?"

The next day, Miko was back to her old self again and things mostly back to normal. I had noticed that Miko was pretty stressed out. I didn't blame her, she'd been through a lot. Then I had the best idea, or possibly the worst, depending on how it played out.

Miko and I were in her office as she tried to get some of the paperwork done.

"I need to get out, so I'm gonna head to the tavern, you wanna come?"

"Let's do it."

I smiled and the two of us snuck out, leaving Desti to his training with Kiki. When we arrived in town, I decided it would be best if we didn't go to the same one as last time. I was wanting to avoid trouble.

"Isn't that where we want to go?" Miko asked.

"After you beat the pants off that one guy with your throwing knives, I think it's best we find a different tavern."

I received no argument and after walking a little further we found another tavern. We entered and sat at the bar. I ordered a few shots of whiskey and a beer and Miko ordered water.

"What's a pretty young thing like you doing in a place like this?" I heard a drunkard ask Miko.

"I'm here on invite."

"Lucky for me. That pink hair of yours is awful pretty."

I downed one of my shots and listened more intently. I didn't like where this was going.

"I get that a lot."

"What do you say we get to know each other a little better? We could have a lot of fun."

"What kind of fun?"

I hit my hand to my forehead. With her response, it sounded like she was leading him on. I couldn't believe she was that naive. I looked up to see the man playing with her hair. I stood up and went and stood in front of Miko. I firmly grabbed his hand and removed it from her hair.

"Hands off the hair, crud bucket."

"Relax, wench! We were just having a conversation."

" 'Just having a conversation', my ass! Now leave my friend alone, pervert!"

"What did you call me?!" The big man stood up from his seat.

"You heard me... pervert."

I saw the man get ready to throw a punch, so I ducked and thankfully, Miko did too. Because the man missed his target, he spun around and ended up hitting the man behind him. The man he had hit returned with a solid punch and knocked him into more drunk men who quickly became enraged.

Miko stood up and watched as things unfolded. I quickly put my back to hers.

"Please tell me you know hand to hand."

I quickly got my answer when she led me to quickly duck to miss another punch. We fended off several men as the bar was consumed with brawling men. Chairs were used to knock some men out, while others were thrown out the window. It was complete chaos, it was awesome!

Eventually, Miko and I were the only two left standing. I grabbed one of my coin pouches and left it on the bar. Because of my job, I was paid very well, so I figured I would help the poor tavern owner out.

We left the tavern and began our walk home. I was in such a good mood, nothing could bring it down.

"That was quite the party! We should do it again sometime!" Miko enthused.

"I couldn't agree more."

"I've got one question, what did he do to piss you off?"

"He was hitting on you."

"Ahhh...?"

"He wanted to be more than friends."

"He wanted to kiss me?! But we just met."

I let out a sigh and wondered if it was nice to be that naive. She got the picture, more or less, so I figured I'd spare her the details. When we arrived back at the castle and entered Miko's office, Desti stood there with his arms crossed. He reminded me of Auntie.

"Where did you two run off to?"

"Relax Desti, everything's fine."

Miko sat at her desk and started working again. She seemed more focused now that she had blown off some steam.

Later I walked freely around the castle grounds and lazed in a tree for a while until I noticed Kiki coming towards me.

"Kat. Come down from there. I need to speak with you." her voice was cold and commanding. I didn't want to find out what she would do if I ignored her, so I complied.

She crossed her arms. "What have you been doing to Mitsuhide?"

"What do you mean?" I played innocent.

"He goes red in the face almost every time you're together."

I burst out laughing.

"It's not funny, Kat."

"Oh, but it is."

"Answer my question!" She ordered.

"Alright blondie, don't get your panties in a bunch. I've just been teasing him a bit, that's all."

"Teasing how?"

"You can't figure it out?"

"Humor me."

"I've had fun being seductive." I smirked.

"That stops now!" She gave me a death glare.

Wow, she was laying into me pretty hard. Obviously, she had feelings for the guy.

"Alright, I'll leave him alone." I relented. There was no point in making a big deal out of it. My fun had come to an end.

"Good." She turned and walked away.

"Too bad."

I made my way to my room and flopped on my bed. Going to the tavern with Miko had been fun. It gave me a chance to relieve some stress.

There was a knock on the door. Who could that be? It's late.

I was happily surprised to see Nosuke standing there and he had a smirk on his face.

"Now that's a look I haven't seen before." I smirked back at him. "What is going on in that head of yours?"

"Do you want to help me pull a prank on my parents?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Come with me and I'll show you." Nosuke grabbed my hand and led me to a tree that was about halfway to his country home.

He reached into the tree and pulled out a fancy looking dress, it was probably a costume, and a red wig.

My jaw dropped then turned into a smirk. "You are evil."

He chuckled slightly. "I know. So, are you up for it?"

"You bet! But what are you going to do?"

Nosuke dug a fancy man's outfit from the tree along with a wig that matched Prince Zen's hair.

I burst out laughing. This was going to be too good!

Once I settled down, Nosuke spoke again. "Okay, here's the plan..."

Nosuke and I walked up to the cabin dressed in our costumes. I was grateful that no one from the castle would see us. If they did, this would not be taken in the humor we intended it to be.

As we drew nearer, we noticed the living room light was on. Good. They were going to see everything.

We stopped at the perfect spot where the light from the window gave just enough light to catch the color of our wigs. Nosuke grabbed me and began to passionately claim my lips. I did the same back, as that was the plan.

As we kissed, nothing was happening. Nosuke turned me so I could glance at his parents' reactions.

"What... are they... doing?" He asked in between kisses as to not make us look suspicious.

He moved his mouth to my neck and I quickly glanced at them before returning my attention to Nosuke. "Your father is smiling, your mother is shocked."

"Not... good enough."

In a swift movement, he took me to the ground, being careful not to hurt me. If I was completely honest, it was hard not to get swept up in the moment. But Nosuke's decision to take it up a notch got us the reaction we wanted.

We heard the door open followed by Sakura's voice.

"E-Excuse me. P-Prince Zen?"

"What is it?" Nosuke answered in a very convincing Prince Zen voice, then proceeded to kiss me.

"We-Well... I-I don't mean to intrude... However..."

"What my wife is trying to say, Your Highness, is that it would be safer for the two of you to return to the castle." Nahiko finished.

I pushed Nosuke off of me and stood to face his parents with my hands on my hips. "Well! I think it's none of your business! We are royalty after all! We can do as we please!" I did my best impersonation of Princess Shirayuki's voice. I was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"O-Of course, Your Highness!" Sakura bowed deeply and forced Nahiko to do the same. "Our deepest apologies!"

That was it! I couldn't keep it together anymore and Nosuke and I burst out laughing at the same time.

Both of Nosuke's parents shot up from their bows at the same time.

"NOSUKE!" They shouted in unison.

"That's the best reaction I've got from you guys yet!" Nosuke was still laughing.

"Then you better run!" Nahiko threatened with a smirk on his face.

Nosuke stopped laughing and I settled down quickly too. There was something about that look that was slightly terrifying.

"RUN!" Nosuke grabbed my hand and we sprinted off together. We tried our best to outrun Nahiko and Sakura but it was no use. They cornered us at a small lake that was at the base of a mountain.

"Now, Nosuke, it wasn't good for you to get Kat involved. But because you did, she will share in your punishment."

I froze momentarily, but it was just enough time for Nahiko and Sakura to throw me into the water behind us.

Nosuke followed soon after.

When we recovered from the shock, all four of us burst out laughing. This was almost more fun than the tavern. Almost.

I couldn't believe that I'd relaxed so quickly around Nosuke and his family. Maybe it was because I wasn't around Prince Zen. At the same time, it felt like it was more than that. It was like this was a place that I knew I could belong. I hadn't felt like this since Desti and Auntie took me in and it was something I didn't want to let go of.