I.

The first time they shower together, all they do is bathe. They don't know when they crossed the boundary between betrothed young girl and her single sword and herb teacher.

She comes out into her living room, naked but holding a towel. "Feel free to join me if you want," she says. This is normal for both of them now. No one cares about her that much.

He wants, so he follows her into the bathroom, removing his clothes as he goes, and they both step naked into the bathtub as the steaming hot water rains down on them from above.

He scrubs her back and she scrubs his, but that's all; they do their own fronts and he makes sure that his hand never dips below the small of her back, as if that way he could keep this chaste, as if there's some way to pretend that it's not sexual for a teacher and his eighteen-year-old pupil to shower together, naked.

His erection and hardening of her nipple gives the lie to that pretense, of course.

II.

The first time they share a bed, all they do is sleep. His house just within walking distance of Magic Academy, and he lives alone. Katarina always come here after school, either to practice her sword skill or just to bother him with her homework. That day, both of them tired from the practice. He just to go his room immediately, not even saying anything to her. He's already half asleep when he hears his bedroom open and feels her slide into the bed next to him. He wonder if she didn't realized he is here, or she just don't care.

When he wakes up the next morning, he and Katarina are well-entangled with each other and with the sheets, and it takes him a minute to disentangle himself without waking her. She's dressed in a scant nightgown, and it's riding up her leg to display quite a bit of thigh.

(She doesn't wear panties. But, he'll just pretend he doesn't see that.)

He goes to the kitchen and begins making breakfast, and when she exits his bedroom, gives him a quick kiss(since when quick kisses between two of them became daily thing?), and sits down at the kitchen table, it's like any other morning in the Gerran household.

III.

As a noble, he's pretty much obligated to attend the formal dinner celebrating the Queen's birthday. Katarina attends with him instead of her fiance, and as usual she dresses with elegance and style, wearing a dark blue dress with matching heels. She's drop dead gorgeous in it, and it takes an act of will to keep from drooling over her in public.

(No one saying anything, only a few second of curious glance from other attendees and giggle from Sienna, when she came with him to the party. Not even her fiance, the Third Prince of Sorcier say anything. When they get asked of it, both of them say same thing, that just a coincidence. No one knew. Only Anne and Sienna knew about their relationship.)

Just as the main entree is served, she leans over and whispers in his ear that she isn't wearing any underwear, and he can't think of anything else for the rest of the night.