Co-written with miss mika namariya! We own nothing.

Let's start with the question that's been on everyone's minds: What happened to the pack horse?

Well, there's no need to fear. The answer is here: It is back in the stables, being very pampered after such a long journey, and being plied with apples.

Now that that's covered, let's get back to our main couple.

LINE BREAK

Lady Lily settled into her new life as a palace frog quickly. After all, she had been reunited with her True Love and she was a frog once again; nothing could get her down now. She and Sir Hoppington ribbited gently to each other that first night, catching up.

After Lady Lily had explained her trials and tribulations as a two-legger (and how jarring it had been to have so few legs), Sir Hoppington croaked out his story of how he had been knighted. He told her about how once she'd vanished, he had gone to the local fairies to ask them to cast a homing spell. However, before they could finish, a heron attacked! Lady Lily let out a "Rib!" of horror, but Sir Hoppington patted her mucousy foot with his own. He had managed to shield the fairies long enough for them to cast their spell, and then his favorite two-legger had intervened just in time. Unfortunately, the spell had hit Kyoko instead of him, which is why it took him so long to find her. The magic had to work itself out.

"Roob," she said wisely. Magic was like that.

Kuon, for his part, laid in bed listening to the ribbits. He couldn't understand them the way that Kyoko could, so it was just a soothing sound. Despite that, he could not sleep. Not in this giant bed, all alone. He had all the blankets anyone could ever want, but he was so cold. He wished now more than ever that Kyoko would creep out of the shadows to join him. He'd gotten spoiled on their travels; he'd let himself get used to the curve of her back pressed against him at night. He'd let himself grow accustomed to her warmth in his arms.

So he tossed and turned in his luxurious bed, wishing for all the world to be lying on the forest floor with her again.

The next morning, when Kyoko commented on the bags under his eyes, he decided to take a chance. "I'm not used to sleeping on my own anymore. I couldn't fall asleep last night."

"Oh, I can help with that!" she replied, bolstering his spirits - only to dash them that night, when she used one of his pressure points to knock him out.

What he didn't know was that the night before, she'd been cold, too.

LINE BREAK

There was a fair amount of things to catch up for both Kuon and Kyoko now that they were back at the castle, and they quickly settled into their usual routine. More or less. Sir and Lady Hoppington were enjoying their newly enlarged tank.

The lack of his knight's company would have made Kuon a bit lonely, since the frog was his primary conversation partner when Kyoko wasn't around, but then it struck Kuon that Kyoko was spending rather a lot of time visibly standing a few feet away from him, rather than her usual habit of disappearing around the corner or up a chimney or inside a suit of armor or into a hidden alcove behind a tapestry or the dozens of other places he'd seen her emerge from over her time in the palace.

"You're still around," he remarked one day in the corridors.

She raised an eyebrow. "As opposed to…?"

"I don't know. Disappearing out the window or onto the roof to check for assassins or something," he said, embarrassed.

"Would it make you feel safer if I w—"

"No, no— I like having you where I can see you," Kuon said hastily. He would have said by my side, but he didn't want to say such a thing in the palace corridor, where anyone could overhear. Not because he was worried about being publicly rejected—to be rejected required that Kyoko be aware that he was expressing interest in the first place. Nor was the prince worried about his crush getting out, since the whole palace knew already (except one person, of course). But still, Kuon didn't really need to give the Duke any more information to tease him with. When it came to Lory, he had to hold onto what little Princely dignity he had left.

So Kuon was perfectly ready to let the opportunity to confess his feelings slide, but what Kyoko said next froze him in his tracks.

"Well, I've noticed actually that you're pretty strong, I mean, on the road we slept close enough that I could feel your muscles, and I felt safe…" Her gaze flickered down, and she looked slightly abashed.

She's definitely blushing, Kuon thought with astonishment. I'm not just imagining it— Kyoko is blushing and saying I have strong arms. That's a sign, right? Maybe they'd gotten even closer than he'd thought during their adventuring.

"It made me feel really warm and cared for," Kyoko said, raising Kuon's hopes to uncharted heights. "As one of your subjects," the guard added, dashing Kuon's hopes in an instant. "I think I feel that way because I just know you'll be a really strong and great ruler! It's such an honor to serve you, your highness!"

Kyoko bowed low, which gave Kuon enough time to hide his grimace.

"...Thanks," the prince said.

"Of course!"

They continued on their way, Kuon trying his best not to show that he was secretly dying inside. Meanwhile, Kyoko was preoccupied with telling herself that she had made a perfectly logical conclusion (of course) and had not said anything weird (what else could she possibly have meant, anyways?). What she felt in the prince's arms was the certainty of a prosperous future for the kingdom. Any fluttering of her heart was because the prince had extremely nice biceps of compassion for the common folk and wonderfully strong deltoids of commitment to justice and democratic principles. Definitely not anything else. Perfectly normal feelings for a citizen of the country to feel when they were softly cradled in the arms of the future leader and heir to the throne. Yup, just normal things.

That's what she told herself. It was a very good thing that Sir Hoppington wasn't there to witness the exchange, or he would have croaked himself hoarse scolding the two-leggers for their nonsense.

((LINE BREAK))

King Kuu was thrilled to have his son back at the palace. He'd missed his son's broad, manly shoulders, his son's golden hair that outshone the sun, and his son's gentleness and sweet temperament. Hell, he'd even missed his son's pet frog (and knight of the realm). Luckily, the winter solstice was not too far away, and so together with Lory, the King began to plan a truly spectacular affair to celebrate Kuon's return home from his quest (of arguable success) and also the upcoming holidays, but mostly the return of his son. And naturally, Kuu assumed that of course everyone in the entire kingdom would want to celebrate with him.

"It's a welcome home ball, what do you mean you're not going to attend?" Kuon asked, baffled.

"It's a welcome home ball for you," Kyoko emphasized. "The palace isn't my home, I just work here, your highness."

The Prince realized that he had no real reason to be offended. Nothing that Kyoko had said was untrue, and she'd said it mildly. The bodyguard was only stating a fact. But it still hurt.

"But you're my guard— your home should be wherever my home is," Kuon pointed out.

Kyoko looked thoughtful. "I suppose so," she said with a shrug. It wasn't very convincing. Kuon felt a mild panic at the realization that his True Love did not consider his home to be her home. He would do anything he could to fix that.

"What would make the palace feel more like home to you?" Kuon asked. Because I would like you to stay forever was the obvious implication, and just as obviously went over Kyoko's head. The prince had no need for subtlety when Kyoko's brain would simply convince itself that the prince enjoyed asking strange hypotheticals. And because she saw none of the implications, Kyoko answered honestly.

Kuon was still puzzling over her response hours later as he lay awake in bed and stared up at the canopy above him. He sat up, throwing the covers back and padding across the room.

"Are you awake?" He whispered to the knight's tank.

"Rib?"

"I know it's late, sorry to disturb you," Kuon said, lowering his hand into the tank. "I need some advice."

Sir Hoppington obliged with a dignified jump into the Prince's waiting palm.

Kuon was aware that he was acting more than a little insane, but he didn't care. If he didn't have someone to talk to, he probably would go crazy.

"What does she mean?!" He asked the frog desperately. "The palace doesn't feel homey because there aren't any obstacles? Are the hallways at the Academy filled with rings of fire or trap doors or some nonsense?"

"Ribbit," said Sir Hoppington.

"It's too comfortable," Kuon continued muttering. "Should I get rid of all my blankets? And what does she mean, there's too much ceiling?" The prince would have thrown his hands up, but he didn't want to send his knight flying.

"Should I ask the masonry workers to put a big hole above my bed? I don't understand what's not homey about 'everything being dry all the time'," the prince complained as Sir H sagely patted his palm with a mucousy foot.

"Crooooaaak."

"You're right— sorry," Kuon said, putting the sleepy knight back in his tank. "Thanks for listening."

"Rib-roob."

Kuon returned to bed. Sir Hoppington was right, as always. There was nothing he could do about all of his questions right now. The Prince would have to wait until tomorrow, when he could take the matter up with Lory.

((line break))

Prince Kuon left his conversation with Duke Takarada with even more questions than before, and some genuine concern for the safety of LME Academy's student body. Not because he thought that Lory had any malicious intentions. But the Duke could be rather extreme, to say the very least, and better safe than sorry. It couldn't hurt to have the kingdom's board of inspectors audit the Academy and make sure that everything was up to code. And it would probably provide Kuon with more answers than speaking with the Duke had. The prince wrote up a quick note and had a page boy take it over to where the kingdom's bureaucrats worked.

A few days later, however, the Prince received a very unsatisfactory response. He frowned, read the letter twice, and then marched off to see the Duke.

Lory was busy getting ready for the winter festivities. Of course, there was a winter solstice celebration every year, but since this year they were celebrating the Prince's return to the palace, it had to be extra special. Good party planning is a lot more involved and complicated than people think, and when Kuon arrived at the Duke's residential quarters in the palace, it took the Prince a few minutes to even get in the doors, which were partially blocked by stacks of crates with wintry decorations spilling out. Inside was chaos: most of the furniture had been pushed aside to make room for a giant ten-foot canvas and a platform on which the Duke currently stood, posing regally for the royal court artist. There were merchants waiting to be paid, ladies in waiting chatting while holding various calling cards, and Lory's personal minstrels working on a song in the corner - while palace servants expertly wove through the chaos.

Eventually, Kuon managed to catch Lory's eye.

"Let's take a ten minute break," the Duke announced, breaking the pose he had been holding. Behind Lory, his trusted manservant Ruto lowered the live swan that he had been holding up behind the Duke and handed it to the court artist's apprentice, who eyed the bird nervously.

Kuon thrust the note he was holding into Lory's face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kuon asked.

"To His Royal Highness Prince Kuon," the Duke read aloud, while removing a white fur cape and handing it to a waiting pageboy, who winced as his young eyes were momentarily blinded by the fluorescence of Lory's signature suit color. "we are honored by your request— da-da-da-da… the board of inspectors da-da-da… no record of LME Academy being registered as an institution of learning and is thus outside the purview of this b—"

"There must be some mistake," Kuon said, waving the paper. He looked at the Duke.

Lory gave him a bemused smile, then shrugged.

"Why would you call it an academy if it isn't a school?!" The Prince interrupted.

"I wanted it to sound official," the duke replied. "I don't see what the fuss is."

"I thought you were a headmaster!"

"I am, of a-sorts," Lory said, nonplussed. "There's all kinds of learning, you know. Your Highness ought to be more open-minded about what you consider educational, since y—"

"Don't give me that," Kuon said.

"What should I have called it, then? 'The Takarada Definitely-Not-Assassin Training Boarding Institution for Talented Orphans?"

"YES," Kuon said. "At least that would have been descriptive!"

Lory pouted. "But the acronym is terrible."

"Also, don't think you're getting away with anything here. What do you mean, assassins?" Kuon stared at the Duke. "Are you aware that one of your former pupils is a pirate?!"

"Ah, yes, Kyoko mentioned that you'd run into Chiori," the Duke said easily, as if they were talking about the weather. "How's she doing these days? You didn't happen to see if she had a large sapphire ring, did you? No particular reason."

Kuon rubbed a hand over his face. He was suddenly very tired, and it was barely ten in the morning.

"She had such spunk, even as a kid," Lory said, reminiscing with a fond smile. "I knew she was going to do something spectacular—"

"By that do you mean robbery on the high seas?" Kuon muttered.

The Duke ignored him. "Chiori couldn't have been more than seven when I offered her a home at the Academy. And do you know what she did? She spat on my shoe," Lory said, grinning with delight.

"Charming." Kuon heaved a sigh. He sat down on the edge of the platform.

"Careful not to disturb my set-up," Lory said.

"What do you need a new portrait for?" The prince asked wearily, looking up at the Duke.

"The ball, of course! I wanted a tapestry, but I was informed they'd never be able to finish on time."

"And the swan?" Kuon asked, throwing a sympathetic look at the page-boy who was currently (very delicately) holding the live animal.

"Oh please, don't tell me you expect me to have some bland velvet curtain as a background like everyone else," Lory said disparagingly, before acknowledging the court painter, "no offense to your artistic sensibilities."

"None taken," the painter replied, very used to the Duke after so many years working at the palace.

"I don't know why I believed you all those years," Kuon said hollowly as he looked at the room around him. "How could I ever mistake you for an educator?"

"Listen, I'm very busy and important, and there's a lot to do for your celebration. I don't have time to listen to your grumbling," Lory said swiftly. "If you're quite done, you can go make yourself useful by convincing your bodyguard that she should attend."

"Easier said than done," Kuon replied, but he stood up.

"You've always liked a challenge," The duke reminded him, motioning to the servant boy for his cape and stepping back onto the platform. "And stop by later, I need your opinion on some topiaries—"

Kuon ignored him, and left to find his bodyguard. This wasn't going to be easy. Maybe he should get some froggy help….