One morning, as Elizabeth awoke, something didn't feel right. In particular, her throat. It felt a little swollen and sore. She sat up, gently touching it, but even that was painful. She grimaced before feeling a slight tickle. She tried to cough, but it made her eyes water from the pain. There was a knock at her door.

"Come in," she croaked and the door opened to reveal one of the maids.

"I'm here to get you ready Princess Elizabeth," the maid bowed," Are you feeling alright?"

"Just a little cough," Elizabeth smiled weakly as she got out her bed.

…

After she got dressed, she left her room, heading to the dining room for her breakfast. She still wasn't feeling well, but she didn't want to bother anyone.

When she sat down, she asked her sister, Veronica, to pass her a glass of water. Veronica nodded absentmindedly as she gave her sister the water, not noticing Elizabeth's rough voice. Margaret then started to talk about her plans for the upcoming month.

"So, I think we should organize another collection," Margaret began, discussing her charity work. Nodding, Elizabeth took a sip of water before she began coughing violently. Her throat was too swollen to even swallow the liquid.

"Elizabeth!" Veronica yelled out, slapping her back. After a few hits, Elizabeth's coughing stopped but she was left red faced and teary eyed, panting harshly. Everyone was staring in shock at the youngest princess.

"Good Heavens," Bartra asked, his voice filled with concern," Are you alright, Ellie?"

"I'm fine," Elizabeth croaked.

"No, you're not," Margaret insisted, standing up," Come with me. You need to see Miss Merlin."

So despite her protests, Elizabeth found herself in the Boar Sin's makeshift clinic. Luckily, Merlin was in the room. After her sister explained the problem, Merlin turned to Elizabeth.

"Open wide," Merlin instructed as she made a ball of bright energy," Now say AH."

"Ah!" Elizabeth obeyed, opening her mouth as wide as possible. Merlin examined her throat, using the magic sphere, then felt her tonsils. Merlin frowned and continued to feel them.

"There's the problem," Merlin mumbled, as she felt the swollen tonsils.

"What's wrong with her?" Margaret asked, her face one of concern.

"Your sister has tonsilitis."

"What's that?" Veronica asked, her brow furrowed as she stared at her younger sister.

"It means that her tonsils are inflamed," Merlin explained," I have no choice but to remove them."

Everyone gasped, except Ellie, who instead bit her lip and looked down in an attempt to hide her tears. She didn't like doctors and the idea of having something removed was terrifying to say the least. But she had to be brave.

"When will you remove them?" Margaret asked nervously.

"Right now," Merlin replied, as she walked towards a cupboard," It's better to do it sooner than later so that she can recover much more quickly. I'll need to ask everyone to leave the room."

…

After the impromptu surgery, Elizabeth had begun to wake up, her mind cloudy still from the drugs she was given to knock her out. As her vision began to clear, she saw two emerald eyes staring at her intensely. Due to her weakened state, she wasn't able to see how his shoulders relaxed and the sigh of relief he made as he saw her come to.

"Hey Elizabeth," Meliodas chuckled, giving her a little wave," How ya doing?"

Elizabeth tried to respond but was unable to as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her throat. Noticing her pained expression, Meliodas immediately grasped her hand.

"Don't try to speak," Meliodas calmly said," It's gonna take a while for your throat to heal so in the meantime, I got you a gift."

Elizabeth sat up slowly, watching as Meliodas grabbed something from a nearby table. She heard a strange beeping sound and turned to see a metal machine next to her. Before she could figure out what it was, something was being placed on her lap.

It was a piece of slate and some chalk.

"I know it's not too fancy," Meliodas grinned," but it means that you can communicate with us."

Elizabeth took the gift and began to write before turning it around.

Thank You

"No problem," Meliodas smiled," Are you thirsty by any chance?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Wait right here then," Meliodas said as he got up and left. He came back soon with a tray.

"I got you some water and also some ice cream," he said, placing the tray down onto a table," Open wide."

Elizabeth blushed but did as he said, opening her mouth slightly so he could place a straw into it. She tried to hold the glass herself but he gently pushed her hands away.

"You're still weak after the surgery," he insisted," I don't want you to drop it."

After she'd had her water, he began to feed her ice cream, which was strawberry flavoured. Elizabeth was slightly embarrassed by all the fuss he was making over her. After all, she was 17 now. This reminded her of two things.

One was of her as a child, being fed by Meliodas. She didn't like the idea as for some reason. Perhaps it was that she didn't want to be seen as a child by him. She didn't know why but the idea of him treating her like a kid made her squirm.

The second was even more embarrassing. It reminded her of Margaret and Gilthunder, who would sometimes feed each other things in a lovey-dovey manner. Thinking about Meliodas feeding her in a romantic sense made her heart race quickly.

"All done," he chuckled, putting down the empty container. He turned back to her and suddenly frowned.

"You have some ice cream on your face," he muttered to himself.

Before Elizabeth could reach up to wipe it off, Meliodas leaned in, pressing his thumb near her mouth and wiping off the ice cream. He went to wipe it on a napkin, but there wasn't any to be seen. Shrugging, he licked his thumb.

For Elizabeth, this was too much to bear.

"D-did he just lick the ice cream?" she thought silently to herself, her face turning even more red.

"That was pretty sweet," Meliodas chuckled, looking up at Elizabeth before frowning," Are you feeling okay, Elizabeth? You're all red."

"Did we just have an indirect kiss?" Elizabeth silently continued to herself, not even hearing his question.

However, the moment was ruined as the strange metal object next to her began to beep frantically. Suddenly Merlin appeared in the middle of the room, briskly walking over to the pair.

"Is everything okay?" Merlin asked," Elizabeth's heart rate just increased dramatically according to the machine and I wanted to see if she was alright."

Elizabeth quickly grabbed her slate and wrote.

I'm fine.

"Very well then," Merlin nodded, before turning to Meliodas, discussing the do's and don'ts for Elizabeth for the following weeks. But Elizabeth was in her own world, her hand unconsciously, touching the spot where he'd touched her.