Natalya ran her hands down the soft fabric, these days the sun had been shining with all his might, giving her the opportunity to try on her summer dresses, she paced around the room, giving a couple of glances to the window.

The distant trees were rumbling, she frowned, she didn't want to lose her hat if the wind was blowing hard, she had prepared all morning but the weather didn't seem to understand her worries.

A brown haired man caught her attention, the servant was unmistakably familiar, his hasty steps and constant fidgeting gave away his identity.

Natalya stepped closer to the window, seeing him stand by the gate, chatting with one of the guards in there, she tried to make out their conversation with no avail, barely able to see the guard shaking his head, a negation, of what she didn't know.

She was walking down the stairs when the servants' whispers grew louder, a soldier alerting the others of the arrival.

When the gates were opened, she was already by the entrance, the horses lowered their galloping until the carriage came to a stop, Natalya wondered why they were missing a horse.

She shook away her thoughts, forcing herself to smile as naturally as she could. She glanced down at her gloved hands, intertwining her fingers, she would not run to him as he had disliked the act before. Smile,wave from afar and wait to see if he greets you, that's what she kept on saying to herself, like a mantra.

When the carriage door was opened, her heart leaped, she watched as Yekaterina emerged, smiling and lifting her skirt with a huff. "Natalya, that is such a lovely dress."

Natalya's smile faltered, she hurried to the carriage, ignoring Yekaterina's greeting and peeking into it, her eyes met the empty carriage, glancing around, a growing frustration overtook her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned sharply, meeting Tolys' face, a sheeply smile on his face. "Lady Natalya, the prince has stayed back in the city, he'll come later."

The words only caused her to shake with anger, all her effort and her waiting were in vain. She turned on her heel and walked behind Yekaterina, mumbling her greeting.

The friendly smile she gave her, soothed her anger, Yekaterina reminded her of her father, always calm, though, her eyes always carried a speck of fear, of what? she could not know, and she wasn't curious enough to ask.

Her soft voice took her out of her train of thought, "I'm happy to be back, What were you up to, Natalya?"

"Not much, My mother already left, I stayed back in order to welcome you." It wasn't a lie, there wasn't much she could do in the palace when they were out, exchanging letters with her father and walking around was all she had done, apart from delivering that stupid letter.

Natalya, pursued her lips, following Yekaterina silently.

"He stayed back in the city, I don't know how to scold him anymore, after the ceremony he got considerably inebriated," She sighed, pausing her steps and chuckling, "It wasn't too bad, at least Ivan just sulks in his seat," Yekaterina shook her head and added. "if you had seen Gilbert or Arthur you'd understand."

Natalya nodded, "He stayed back so I wouldn't notice?"

Yekaterina's smile fell, "I uh, I doubt so, he was fairly well, said he had something to do in the city, I didn't ask because I don't think I want to know" She laughed weakly, "My father always said that I should not ask too many questions,"

Natalya frowned, Yekaterina was always secretive, not disclosing details, did she not trust her? "Well, my father would never say that to me, so, I will-."

Yekaterina's voice changed abruptly, her face no longer carried a smile. "My brother is tired, leave him alone"

She didn't wait for a reply, her footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Natalya looked down, she shouldn't have said that, she mumbled her reply. "I'll take a walk"

Yekaterina's voice was soft, perhaps convincing, though Natalya could recognize the hint of derision in it. "Don't go too far"

Ivan walked around, receiving curious looks from the villagers, most of them maintained eye contact only to bow their heads when he approached.

Being greeted by his own subdites had proved to be more difficult than he expected, they were either scared or too humble to talk to him. Asking them directly about Chun Yan seemed to bother them, they all claimed not to know her.

After some time wandering alone, he stumbled upon a group of children, for Ivan it was strange, to see them barefoot, their clothes mended and old looking.

If he had learned something from his travels was that children were a decent source of local information. Not caring about social etiquette and having almost no filter in their words, they could, sometimes, be of use.

After describing what the servant girl looked like, the group of children were eager to help him find her. Moved by those silly fairy tales they've been told, they misunderstood his intentions, not fearing as their parents for the girl's sake, and giving out details about her possible whereabouts.

He was overwhelmed by their resounding voices, they were bold enough to address him as "the prince", asking him about his clothes, about his horse and one even requesting to see the crown, as the child had said "every prince should have a crown". Ivan had to disappoint them, explaining that he did not wear a crown every day.

They kept him company throughout different spots where the girl was either mistaken for another or not present, Ivan's patience was crumbling after the fifth location and the children kept on asking him nonsensical questions. Once they reached the market, some of the children were scolded and taken away by their mothers with a string of apologies.

The people seemed to avoid him like the plague, clearing the way and whispering to themselves, he left the horse next to a tree, securing the animal with the reins so it wouldn't run away, requesting the few unsupervised children to keep an eye on it.

Ivan was uncomfortable to say the least, being watched from afar by several pairs of eyes as if he were a strange creature, made him nervous.

The monument adorning the center of the city stood tall, horribly placed, contrasting with the rest of the scenery. It called for attention as it was taller than the houses and structures, an old and faded statue of his grandfather, giving his back to the palace and pointing forward, in the past it had been a beautiful work of art, but now, it was rooting away, it looked like a phantom instead of an acclaimed leader.

A phantom was a good way to describe his grandfather, though. He was a blank spot of memory to him, he didn't even know his name. Only that he was apparently out of his mind, killed off the magicians of the court, started a war with the neighbouring kingdoms and prosecuted whoever dared to contradict him, even his own wife. No wonder why his father didn't mention him.

After seeing the Middle Kingdom, he could tell that investment on the city itself would pay off in the future, an impoverished population was sure to become a problem later.

He saw the brunette girl by the monument, seated with his head low, and fidgeting.

He sighed, approaching slowly. "Did you receive my letter?"

She looked up, meeting his eyes for mere seconds."Yes, your majesty, you can have it back," Her voice quivered while she stretched her hand, presenting the envelope.

Ivan frowned, the letter was almost untouched. "Did you even read it?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, but your princess was very kind when she explained what you wanted. Thank you for not beheading me, it is greatly appreciated."

"What?" Ivan knitted his eyebrows together, was she talking about Natalya?

"She said that I could get back to my duties if I stayed away from your sight, which is what I'm trying but obviously failed." She stood up, her head low, she presented the letter again, her hand shaking slightly.

"Who told you that? that's not what I wrote."

This time she looked up, placing the letter in his hand and stepping back quickly. "Well, that lady, from the palace, the one that refers to me as a witch, she read it to me."

Ivan sighed, this was making his headache return. "If you read the letter, I'm sure that you'll understand. I intend to give you an opportunity to correct your mistakes."

She fidgeted with her hands, a frown formed on her face "I'm sorry for existing, but I don't mean any trouble, just let me work, if you want me to beg, I'll do it, but let me keep my work." Her voice carried a slight anguish, as she tried to keep her voice steady.

Ivan approached her again, placing the letter on her hands. "Just look at it,"

She glanced at the envelope, not making any move as to open it, her eyes traveled up to meet his gaze wearily.

Ivan fought the urge to snap at her, feeling more observed more than before, he lowered his voice. "It's an apology, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and I retaliated against you without a reason. I need you to teach me what you know about magic and as a reward for that, I will concede you a title."

She stayed silent, perhaps pondering on his words, Ivan wasn't sure, he shifted on his feet, focusing on the surroundings he saw some people averting their gaze and whispering, he held his stare, at least their fear could be of use, to make them ignore this small conversation.

"If I'm going to teach you, you'll give the title to my brother."

Ivan looked back, she was meeting his gaze, her face was serious, lacking the fear she had before. He shrugged. "Sure."

She held the letter tightly in her hand. "You'll provide him everything that comes with a title, including education and housing."

He arched an eyebrow, an amused smile forming on his face. "I cannot do that. It is not up to me to take a child into the palace."

"But you are the king, who else should take that choice?"

At this, he faltered, she was partly right, he was almost the king. Almost, as everyone seemed to believe his father was still alive, as it was Katya handling everything.

But in theory, he was indeed, the king. A king that was asking the help of a peasant, how humiliating.

The silvery voice that followed him around whispered. "Seems like you've finally gained some sense. It was about time."

Ivan found himself nodding, as if to assure himself or him that he knew what that meant. "I will, you shall not disclose this with anyone, not even my sister, or Natalya."

She nodded swiftly, "I will teach you when my brother starts his learning."

Ivan frowned."You are getting too bold and I don't like it" he smiled as her eyes lowered, "we will start tomorrow, at eight."

"I work from six to nine."

Ivan shrugged, "Then nine it is. Just right after breakfast." He declared.

Her voice was hesitant. "Uh, you don't understand your majesty, It's nine after dawn not before."

He stared in disbelief, trying to figure if she was lying.

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I work with the cook."

Perhaps it was better, Natalya would not follow him around that late. "Fine, sneak a pastry for me then."

She nodded and shifted on her feet, glancing back at the statue. He followed her gaze, his eyes landing on the glare that this marbled man, his grandfather had. A foolish thought crossed his mind, was this statue glaring at him?

Was this glare a constant in his father's life? Perhaps that was why he acted so harshly with him too. Were they doomed into a cycle?

He shook his head, a monument couldn't glare, it was the guilt of hiding yet another thing from Katya, but what she didn't know wouldn't bother her, right?

Tolys paced around in the gardens, stealing a glance at the gates every now and then.

He sighed, there was no way he could foresee Ivan's arrival, perhaps he had already arrived using another entrance, Tolys frowned, that had no sense.

The servants like him, entered through either the back or through the small forest, as if they were trespassing the place, Tolys himself hated the forest' path, it was lonely and somber, he pitied the poor servants that had to take that one at night, it was easy to get lost. The prince would surely use the main entrance, he had taken a horse too, so, it was logical for him to arrive there in order to be received.

He was taken out of his thoughts as some neighing grew audible, his eyes looking for the animal without avail, a short scream was heard, the voice was undeniably female, Tolys searched for the source of the sounds, they were coming from the small forest, approaching gallops grew louder and Tolys' heartbeats quickened, his mind telling him to run away from the upcoming danger.

He managed to take some steps back, the horse was more than visible now, it was coming right at him, his eyes widened as he saw Ivan pull back the reins while the animal halted.

Tolys slipped back, the soft grass breaking his fall, he could distinguish Ivan's laughter, the sound made him frown slightly, he stood up, dusting off his clothes. Despite his growing anger, he managed to use a polite tone."Welcomed back, your majesty,"

Ivan turned to glance at him, his face carrying a slight confusion before he greeted back. "Tolys! it's good to see you" the horse gave some steps back, turning to the side. Tolys' eyes widened at the sight of a young girl clutching at Ivan.

She was hugging him tightly from behind, her eyes closed, as she opened her brown eyes and focused on him, a slight blush settled on her cheeks, she let go quickly from him, staring down.

"Would you mind helping her down?" Ivan chuckled, "I want to ride the horse a bit more before I face Natalya." He motioned with his head, he waved and smiled in the direction of the palace.

Tolys glanced back to see Natalya glaring at them from one of the windows, a shudder went down his spine as he imagined the temper she'd throw, though, he didn't blame her, this situation was beyond strange.

He hurried to help the scared girl, a sigh escaping him as he saw Ivan leave, he turned to the girl. "What did just happen? You are Chun Yan, right?"

She dusted her dress, and answered with a huff. "He offered to take me back and I accepted, a horrible choice on my part, everyone in the town knows my name now" She scrutinized him, softening her frown, "Were you the one that talked with Sadik?"

Tolys nodded, fidgeting with his hands. His eyes widened at the sudden embrace she gave him.

She let go of him and smiled. "I don't know what you told the prince but thank you." and with that she left.

Tolys could only stand there, he watched as she entered the palace, using the servants doors of course, he glanced up, Natalya was still holding her glare, from the window he saw her blue eyes, blaming him for everything.

He looked down, clenching his fists at his sides, he had no idea of what was happening, at least not here. He looked away, in the forest, the trees were rumbling, protesting the presence that roamed them, it was so strange, in his time here, not even once he had seen Ivan enter that forest on his own will, he never haunted there, didn't take strolls or anything alike.

He sighed, relaxing his posture, a small smile making its way to his face, Natalya could blame him all she wanted, if Ivan had not listened to her before, he would not start doing so now, it seemed like the prince had returned with a challenging spirit, perhaps more aware of the lack of authority in the palace, Tolys hoped that Ivan wouldn't mind others noticing that flaw either.