For the rest of the day, Claus and Ness spent it together. Seeing as to how Ness had the whole day off, and Duster was basically 'covering' up for him, he had until his bedtime curfew to get home. Using the time wisely, Claus took Ness around the town, showing him all the people he knew. Ness felt bad, seeing as to how everyone he knew and were friends with wasn't his age. All were older and mature than him. Claus really didn't have friends because of Fuel.
However, that wasn't the only hint that made Ness believe in that. When school finally ended, kids and teenagers of many ages were seen. When he and Claus walked around town together, those kids gave them, mainly Claus, confused or smug looks. Claus glared back, ignoring them and putting his full attention on Ness. The prince could clearly tell why they were doing that. Because he, a boy that's unknown around town, and has never been seen before, is hanging around Claus.
Other than that, the day was simply, great. They spent more time around each other, their friendship slowly strengthening. And Ness could tell too. Claus became more nicer, and spilled less insults on Ness. Although, he'd still insult him, but in the end he'd just tell Ness he was joking, which would earn a laugh from the both of them.
Sadly, they had to put an end to the day. Ness offered to walk Claus home because it was pretty dark out and no one was out anymore, but Claus declined rather quickly. Then when Ness asked for Claus' address, Claus didn't tell him anything either. All he said was:
"What are you? A stalker? Haha! You don't need to know, Princey."
Giving in, Ness accepted it, and let life take its course again. Claus and him walked their separate ways. Ness towards the castle, and Claus towards the deeper part of the kingdom. Then that was it.
It has been a week since Claus and Ness have seen each other. Personally, Ness didn't want it to get to him... but in the end, it did. He missed him. The day they've spent together was the most fun Ness has ever had in years! It's like the void of something missing... Claus filled it in. Ness didn't know how, but he did.
Right now, Duster is going over Ness' daily routines. The last 3 days have been hectic for Ness. His agenda was completely full from the time he woke up, to the time he fell asleep. But today, he could relax.
"Finally! You're done catching up, young prince." Duster smiled satisfyingly. "Today, you don't have much. Now you can have the free time you were dying for."
Ness sighed in disappointment. Sure, he had free time, but just what the heck can he use it on? The prince buried his face in his hands as he sat on the edge of his bed. He was already dressed and ready for the day.
"Ness?" Duster sat on the bed next to him. He put an arm around Ness. "Is something wrong?"
A small groan passed Ness' lips. "It's nothing..."
"It doesn't seem like nothing. Want to talk about it?"
Ness doesn't reply.
"What? Is it something personal? Does it have-" Duster gasped. "By any chance does it have to do with your recent activities out of the castle?"
Ness took a breath in as he raised his head up from his hands. Then he looked over at Duster with a stressed out face. "Spot-on as ever, aren't you?" he says, in the sarcastic tone.
"Does that mean I'm right?!" Duster grins.
"Yes, but I'm still not going to talk to you about it," finalized Ness.
"Why not? It can't possibly be that serious. Just tell me-"
"No!" Ness snapped. "Look, why don't you just get back to your girlfriend."
Duster blushed. "She is not my girlfriend- that isn't even the point! What happened?! Did you do something wrong? Possibly a scan-"
"DON'T START!" Ness put his hands over his ears. Duster's mouth gaped open.
"Possibly... have you met another girl?!"
Despite the fact that Ness' hands were over his ears, he could still hear his servant. As soon as he heard that, Ness flipped out and looked at Duster with a sincere look. "W-WHAT?! No! You're wrong! You're so wrong!"
Duster paid no to the prince's words, and went on instead. "My word! You have been with another girl! You can't do that! You are betrothed to Princess Paula only!" The brown haired man started to panic. "Oh if this were to get out to the public everything will surely go wrong-"
"I SAID IT'S NOT A GIRL, OKAY?!" shouted Ness, right into Duster's ear. "It's my friend! A male friend!"
"..." Duster shook his head. "Your Royal Highness! You know you cannot speak with people who aren't of the royal family or aren't of nobility!"
"See? This is why I didn't want to speak to you about this! I can't speak to anyone about this! Not as long as my friend remains a commoner!" Ness complained. "Stupid rules... ugh! Well- enough about that!" He got up from his bed. "I'll start my morning classes early. Until then, Duster." He was just about to leave, until his older friend stopped him.
"Wait! Okay, you do not want to talk about it. I am fine with that. But there has been a package delivered to the castle. Meant for you." Duster went outside of the prince's room for a moment and carried in a medium sized box that he has left there. It wasn't too big; it fit in both of his arms and looked easy to carry. Thick and knotted strings are what kept it together. "Another member was supposed to deliver this to you, but since I was going to your room anyways, I figured I would deliver them myself."
Ness looked curiously at the box. He looked for labels, and he soon found one. It was sent purely to the castle by hand, and all it said was that it was for the prince, no address was labeled or given.
"Not sure what that is, but I'll leave that to you. I must get going. My break starts right now and I want to go into the kingdom to buy some good ol' bread from the baker." Duster waved a farewell hand at Ness, then carried on.
Still curious, Ness brought the box over to his bed. Unknotting the strings, he was greeted by a basket inside, that was protected by the stuffing within it. He pulled it out with his eyes wide open. Inside the basket were the things Claus has stolen from him. He searched through each item. Everything was there, neat, as if it has been handled with great care. There also something extra. Underneath everything, there was a necklace. He picked it up and held it with his fingers.
It was a necklace made of rope, and there was a wooden pendant. On the wooden pendant was carved, 'Princey'. The rope latched together at the ends.
There was also a wrinkly letter. On it was written, 'I'm sorry' in black ink.
He opened it, and read the rest of it.
Dear Princey (Ness),
Yeah, you read it. I'm sorry, okay? I'm not usually the one to regret or feel sorry for anything, but this time, I do. Yes, I have been thinking about what I've done. I'm not some stick that can't feel anything. Stealing and getting in a fight with you... I feel bad. Here. I don't have the money to repay you back (I used some of it on myself, my family, and even to deliver this...), but I will. One way or another. Bye. And for your information, I made that necklace for you. I got... bored. Wear it. Don't throw it away.
Your friend,
Claus
P.S: You gonna come out into the town to see me or not? Or will I have to enter the castle myself? Jeez, you're slower than ever.
Immediately, over the fact that it was Claus who sent him this, it brought a big grin to Ness' face. Although, he wasn't as mad about what Claus did to him. He actually has gotten over that. But it's because he apologized. And the ending as well. It brought a little enjoyment to him.
Claus? Entering the castle? Hah! Ness smiled. He figured he'd have to go into the village again to see him. But today wasn't the day. He had classes and since it was the weekend, Paula would be visiting. He had to apologize. Not because his parents told him he had to, but because he wanted to. Not doing so is going strongly against his morals.
So without further ado, he hid all the things underneath his bed, except for the necklace. That, he put around his neck and put it under his top, so that it wouldn't hang out for other people to see.
From there, he went to his morning classes which were art and sports practice. Today, he practiced his violin, rather than the piano. He also went horseback riding while at the same time practiced archery for sports. His teachers were nice to him, yet, know when to get serious. With that, a few or so hours have passed, and now it was around 12 p.m. A bit tired and sweaty from horseback riding, the prince changed from his archery outfit, back to his regular princely attire.
Afterwards, he thanked his teachers for the lesson like he does everyday. Right now, he was outside on the Training Grounds. There were wooden targets placed at different distances. Arrows that Ness has shot were still pinned to them. He hit the closer targets dead-center, but as the targets got farther and smaller, his shots starting spacing away from the center.
"Thank you for the lesson today." Ness bowed thankfully.
Marilyn bowed back. "You're welcome, Your Royal Highness." She smiled afterwards. "You're getting better! A fast learner, you are."
"Well I wouldn't say that..." Ness smiled sheepishly.
While they were talking, the entrance Ness used to get outside, opened up. It creaked open. Right then, Ness and Marilyn looked over.
Through Ness' eyes, he saw Princess Paula, and 2 escorts coming in, that's it. She looked confused for a second, looking outside for Ness. When her eyes finally met the prince, she smiled and waved.
"Ness!" she called. She picked up her dress and ran over the grass to him.
"Hey Paula!" Ness smiled.
"Hello!" She smiled back, clearly happy to see him again. "It's been awhile!"
"Awhile? It's only been a week..." Ness frustrated. "A week from what happened..."
Paula stopped in her tracks right in front of Ness. She tilted her head, clearly confused. "A week from what?" She thought carefully, then when she finally found out, she lifted her head back to its regular position again. "OH! That! ...I'm supposing that your parents told you what happened?"
Ness gave her a guilty look. "I'm sorry for leaving you all alone!" he apologizes. "And for having you defend me like that."
Paula wrapped her arms around the back of her waist. She looked down at the ground, her face trying its best not to give a bothered look. "I-It's alright that you just left me there...I just hope you were okay!" She rose back up and smiled at him. "But what happened anyways?! Did you get hurt? Did someone offend you?"
Ness froze. "W-Well I-" He had to make a lie, a quick one. He knew if he told Paula he couldn't tell her, she'd be on his shoulder until it was time for her to leave. "Yeah, in fact, a man with black hair stole a bracelet my dad gave to me. He pickpocketed me and then ran off. I had to chase him...! I got it back, by the way." He smiled, unsurely. "I'm fine! Don't worry about me!"
The princess looked suspicious. "Hm? Well, okay. That explanation was pretty quick." Paula eyed Ness. Then... a small smile crept onto her face.
"What...?" asked Ness, looking awkward.
"I've got you something," said the princess. "Here, follow me." She took the prince's hand in hers and pulled him out of the training grounds and inside. In the middle of the wide hallways, there was no one. Feeling satisfied with that, she smiled and put her hand into her pocket. She took out a small wrapped box. It was golden, wrapped with a luscious red ribbon.
"For you...!" She blushed, and handed it to him. Ness took it, still confused. He tore off the golden wrapper and removed the lid of the tiny box. Feeling as if his heart was in the middle of his throat, he saw it. A heart-shaped locket.
"Open it," Paula said. The prince did as told, and opened it. Inside was a picture of him on one side, and a picture of Paula on the other.
"D-Do you like it?" The princess fiddled with her fingers.
"It's..." Ness couldn't find the words. He was too distracted by how sickeningly sentimental this whole situation became.
Paula's smile dropped. "Y-You don't like it?"
"I-I love it! It's perfect!" Ness forced. He didn't know what to do. With his mind set as only seeing Paula as a friend, seeing her give something to him out of love... it was strange.
A smile returned back to the princess. "Oh, thank you! I'm glad to hear you say that!" she says in glee. "Want me to help you put it on?"
"Sure..." Ness trailed off, just letting the conversation pass. He gave her the locket and turned around. She was just about to wrap the chain around his neck, when Ness immediately stopped her and spaced away. He remembered he was wearing Claus' necklace.
A bit offended, Paula said, "What's wrong? Don't you want to wear it?"
"No- w-well I do!" Ness stuttered. Mistake.
Paula grew suspicious as she looked over Ness. For a moment's notice, her gaze passed across Ness' neck. And that's when she saw it. A rope around his neck that was barely showing. "What's that?" she asked, reaching her hand over. That just made Ness back up even more. "What is that?!"
Ness panicked, and he couldn't find anything to say. And with Paula's persistence, he just gave in and let her reveal the whole trinket. He let out a little sigh.
"..." Paula looked and inspected the whole thing. She either made a confused, or angry expression the whole time. Then she brought her gaze up to Ness. Her look told Ness exactly what she was thinking.
"...It's not what you think," said Ness, immediately. "I-I made it for myself!"
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" shouted Paula. "Who made you this?! If you made it, then it'd be made out of gold! Your servant told me you liked shiny things!"
Ness took a deep breath in, and then out. "Okay, yeah, I was lying... eheheh..." He laughed nervously, clearly taking the situation less seriously than Paula was. The girl just steamed over a bit more.
"Where did you get this?!"
Ness needed someone to accuse, and quick.
"Duster."
"Eh? Who's Duster?" Paula's anger died down, and she became normal again.
"He's my servant. Although, he's not really of royalty and still goes out into the town and all that," said Ness, barely spending time to breathe.
Paula bought it. "Oh! Well you could've just said so!" She smiled, but then it turned into an expression of disappointment. "Now what do I do with this necklace?" She stared upsettingly at the accessory.
Being a person that never liked to make anyone feel bad, Ness said, "I'll wear it too! Simple!" He grins at her as he snatches the necklace from her hands, and latches it around his neck. He adjusted it to the right place. "I look hot with this on, don't I?" he humors.
Paula couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, sure!" She hugs Ness momentarily, then lets go. "So, what do you want to do? We have the day all to ourselves~"
"Um. Well... uh." Ness looked at Paula. "Want a tour of the castle or something?"
"That sounds great!"
With that, Ness signaled Paula to walk next to him. Along the way down the Grand Hallways, Paula sneaked a hand into Ness'. The prince noticed, but ignored it for the best of the situation. Slowly, they glided throughout the castle, with him naming each and every room. And I mean each and every room.
"This is a room." Ness pointed to the right. "This is also a room." He pointed to the left. "And that's..." Ness stopped, completely baffled for a moment. When he remembered what it was, he snapped his fingers confidently and said, "That's also a room!"
"And that is room #42~" Ness sang, enjoying himself for some reason.
"Your castle has a lot of rooms..." Paula said, in a confused way. "Do you guys even use them...?!"
"Nope. Well- I guess you can say that some of the people that work at the castle, live here too!"
"Aw, that's nice of you!" Paula smiled, as they both continued on walking. She was deep in thought, with a bunch of questions piled in her head to ask Ness, to strengthen their bond. When she was sure she had a question that she was able to ask, she asked before Ness called the next room, well, another room.
"Hey, Ness."
Ness perked up, and brightly said, "Yeah?"
"You know Duster, the one that made you the necklace... who is he, to you?" Paula asked, completely out of curiosity. "Like, I get how he's your servant, but why wear something given from him?"
"Oh!" Ness smiled. "That's because he's not just any servant. Back when I was young, he was, and is still a friend to me. He helps me out whenever he can, and makes sure I make the best choices. Like an older brother or something."
Paula finally understood, and smiled back. "That's great! I have a servant back at home that's like that to me too! I have a feeling that if she was never there, I would've died internally or something."
That got both of them to giggle. As they were distracted, they passed by the Grand Office in the process.
"Oh please please PLEASE let him stay here! Or work here at least!" a voice was heard through the door that was left slightly ajar.
That voice caught the attention of both the girl and boy.
"And speaking of Duster, that's his voice," Ness pointed out, quietly. Paula nodded her head. And then, as off of curiosity and impulse, Ness eavesdropped on the conversation. Paula wasn't sure why he was doing so, but joined in anyway.
"But Duster... we know you're one of the most top servants, but we just can't hire another! We have plenty in this castle. Besides, this one is just only a youth!" Ness' father replied.
A youth...? Ness thought, and peeked in a bit deeper to see the people within the room. Right now, his parents were sitting at a desk as Duster, and an unknown figure were sitting next to each other, just across from them. The unknown figure had on a tarnished cloak, completely covering the face and top of his/her body. Ness tilted his head in bafflement.
"Your Highnesses..." Duster got on his knees. "I found this boy around the darkened alleys of the town! He was just sitting there, no food, no shelter, just himself. He didn't even look unhappy. He had on a blank expression, as if to say, 'I'm ready to die.'"
"..." The king and queen looked to each other, their expressions softened. It took awhile, but Duster's genuine words got to them.
"...Okay..." the queen agreed. Then her voice turned stern. "But he will be put under your wing! If he causes any trouble, it will all fall on you! Like a regular servant, he will be paid fairly. But there will not be any special treatment for this young boy! Whatever he is assigned to do, he will do it."
A grin popped onto Duster's face as he thanked the royals. "Thank you! I will make sure he is always supervised!"
"Yes." The king nodded, as a small smile appeared on his face. "Now take him to get suited. His dirty clothes will not suit that of the castle."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Duster saluted. He then got up and so did the one in the dirty cloak and ripped clothing.
Noticing they were going to come out, Ness immediately shot up, grabbed Paula by the wrist, and ran off and around a corner before they could notice they were snooping around.
The 2 came out of the Grand Office, and headed the way opposite from Ness and Paula. Once they were gone, Ness came out from hiding, as so did Paula.
"What was the point on eavesdropping on that?" asked the princess. She fixed her bow that was slightly loosened from Ness' sudden jolt.
"I dunno, I just do it for fun. I like to know things that other people don't know I know." Ness winked. Paula rolled her eyes playfully. "And I'm happy for Duster now! He's finally got someone to work right for him. He always looks so stressed, running around the castle."
Paula smiled. "I'm glad that makes you happy." Her words were genuine.
"Yeah... say, let's go back. I think I've found something for us to do to kill time." Ness began walking.
Paula let out a huge breath. "FINALLY~ We're done counting rooms."
"Now, remember, your job here is to always follow my orders, and the king's as well. You are working in his castle. You swear yourself to him, got that?" Duster warned informally, searching through his drawers. His assistant sat by on Duster's bed, listening intently.
"I got it. And again, thank you so much," the boy replied gratefully.
"Such good manners for such a roughed boy." Duster smiled. He finally got some very nice clothes for his assistant to change into. He handed it to him. "Go get changed."
"Alright." The boy snapped up, about to head into the bathroom.
Duster's eyes widened. "OH! Wait!" The assistant stopped in his tracks. "Forgive me, I haven't asked for your name, yet!"
The assistant stood there before him, his cloak still drooping over his face. He paused, then removed the cloak. It revealed a boy, with dashing orange hair, and luminous, emerald eyes that glowed. "...Just call me Claudius." He smiled at Duster, then went into the bathroom for a changing.
Duster nodded his head to himself in the liking. "Hm, nice name," he said to himself.