Nothing to say. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

The royal library was one of Marianne's favorite places in the castle. Apart from it containing books that helped alleviate her massive boredom, it was also one of the few places where she could be truly alone apart from her room. Everywhere she went she would usually have attendants pestering her or the royal adviser - who was more like a royal matchmaker considering his penchant of pestering her father to find a suitable suitor - harassing her non-stop in an attempt for her to get married sooner rather than later. She was getting to the age where she was beginning to get very valuable for political relations.

It was also the one place where she could vent her frustrations.

Puffing her cheeks in irritation, she pushed open the wooden double doors before walking into the room slowly. At the table on the center of the archives, Christophe Lutece didn't even look up as he heard the doors slam open audibly. He'd been here long enough to recognize what the doors slamming meant: Princess Marianne had another life changing catastrophe in her hands and she needed someone to vent it to. Sighing, he closed the book he was reading and marked the page where he stopped. The princess hated it when she thought people weren't listening to her.

"Christophe? Are you here?" Marianne called out. It was a customary thing more than anything - She knew well enough that he rarely ever left the library save for his meals or to sleep, and sometimes even that. The old librarian was pretty much a staple in the area and only some of the castle's closest inhabitants could recall a time when he wasn't quietly attending to the books in the vast halls.

Christophe wasn't anyone special: With already graying hair, gray eyes and pale wrinkled skin that marked him as being either in his late thirties to early forties, he could hardly be called a dashing noble by anyone. Officially he was supposed to be the librarian, but unofficially he was one of the princess' tutors when - along with many others - when she was still learning the basics of education.

Although tutor might have been an overestimation. While he was supposed to teach her how to read, all of her tutor's already did that in addition to their own subjects: Etiquette, maths, sciences, nobility courting rituals - All of these were hammered into her since childhood. Soon his role as a tutor was forgotten and he was relegated to reading her stories whenever she found herself bored...which was rather often, seeing as she was a child being forced to learn about things she never found interest in.

Ah, but she loved the stories. Tales of dragons kidnapping princesses only to be rescued by the dashing knight in shining armor; dashing rogues who stole from the corrupt nobility and gave to the poor; and even the tales of forbidden romance. How the princess dreamed of being wooed by the charming knight or the charismatic rogue who would sweep her off her feet and take her on wild adventures, unshackling the chains nobility and royalty that held her down and going only where the road or their next whims would take them. The life of a free spirit.

Of course, real life wasn't as simple as that. Dragons rarely ever took princess, and if they did it was likely to eat them so there was little chance of rescue. Dashing rogues tended to be cutthroat and the line between a good noble and a bad noble became hard to distinguish so long as they kept loyal to the country they stayed in. And the idea of a rogue or knight marrying a princess was even more absurd. The former had a likelier chance of kidnapping her for a ransom - and then killing her anyway if the action pleased him - and the latter would be dishonored if he even thought of romancing someone above his position. It was a good fantasy, but a fantasy was all that it would ever be.

"Yes, princess, I am here," He called out. It was the practiced response that he had been using for over 3 years now.

"Ah, of course," Marianne smiled and sat down onto one of the chairs at his front, "I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, Christophe. Its just..." She pursed her lips and fidgeted in her seat. He raised an eyebrow in surprise; the princess was almost never reluctant to share what bothered her. For the most part it was because he never really judged her and her weird proclivities. She was the princess and he was the librarian, meaning that he had no right to judge her so long as she did her duty to the kingdom. He knew that the only reason that she even continued to vent on him was because she found it more relaxing than venting against the wall, although his usual lack of a reaction or answer made the point moot.

"What is the matter?" He grabbed for the quill and ink bottle before searching lazily for a parchment to write on. The princess liked it when he took notes of her problems; it at least made him appear that he was paying rapt attention and that he thought about how to help her even after she left. The truth of the matter was, of course, that he burned it as soon as she left - If anybody found notes on some of her problems...well, blackmail would be a mild way of stating what would happen to her. Besides, she solved all her problems not too long after she vented, so there was little need for him to think of a solution for her.

"I have something I need to confide in, and the details of it must not leave this room. Am I understood?" He nodded, already dunking the pen into the quill. "Oh, and please don't write this down either. I want this to remain a complete secret."

"...Are you certain?" At her nod, he quickly kept the utensils. That was odd. She always told him that whatever she was about to say shouldn't leave the room, but that never stopped her from doing nothing as he wrote down her problems. Was this serious? Usually she would come to him to complain about how her lessons went or to remark that prince so and so and duke such and such were much too old and pompous for him to ever think about marrying them. At times she would even confess to having risque dreams about a certain knight - although she didn't include the details. He was never going to say anything and she took advantage of that.

"Yes. This is truly important," She wrung her fingers together, "Christophe, have you ever been in love?" He was briefly surprised by the blunt question, but held his reaction in all the same. Had the princess finally found a fiance? The royal messenger would be happy, "Ah, forgive me for asking such a blunt question. But please, I wish for you to answer me honestly."

"I've never really thought about it, I suppose," He shrugged. How odd, the princess usually never asked him questions or his opinions. He was there to be an ear; that was how it was for the past three years, "Many nobles go their whole lives without thinking on the subject and marriage is political for the most part. My older brother did mention that he had an heir, but that was years ago and I haven't really kept in contact. Why? Have you finally found a suitor?" She blushed at the return question, "Ah, then who is the lucky noble? I'm sure that your father and the royal adviser will be happy to hear that."

"No, I haven't a fiance to speak of," She denied vehemently, though the blush remained on her cheeks, "It is...complicated. Do you recall Karin, the knight I spoke of to you weeks ago?"

"Of course," He replied. There was no way he didn't know who Karin was; the dashing young Chevalier who stole Princess Marianne's heart. It wasn't as if it was a well-kept secret - Practically everyone in the kingdom who cared about the latest rumors knew of the princess was in love with the knight. Personally he wondered how exactly Royal Adviser Alain hadn't caught on yet, although he excused it with the noble thinking rumors were beneath him or not caring at all even if he did know. Karin was a knight, not a Duke or even a Viscount. He was no threat.

"Yes, of course you do," She shook her head and took a deep breath, "I...sneaked out the castle a few hours ago," He didn't give any indication that he was surprised. While the princess liked to think she kept her excursions secret, most of the servants in the castle already knew where she got off to whenever she went missing. They let her be, mostly due to her young age. No doubt they would stop her once she reached the appropriate age, "I wanted to see Karin, so I went into town and...and..."

"Continue," He reached under the desk and searched for one of the books she liked. It was also one of the ways she calmed down: Reading her fairtytales and forgetting about her problems. Perhaps the 'Hero of Ivaldi' would be a good choice? He heard that young maiden's found the book intriguing, although he didn't fancy the book himself.

"He was with someone else," She closed her eyes and tried to keep herself calm, "She...well, she was older than me, that much was obvious. But she and Karin were together...and...and Karin said they weren't lovers, but-but-but the girl was blushing and she mentioned getting a room together! D-Doesn't that mean they're together!? After all, when a woman and man share a bed, doesn't that make them lovers!"

Christophe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the already coming headache. While he was used to hearing the princess' complaints already, she did have the bad habit of jumping to conclusions at times. He needed to find a way to calm her before she decided the best way to confirm her suspicions was to ask her father the king or throwing her weight around.

"Princess, did this knight say she was his lover?" He started off slowly. She hesitated slightly before shaking her head from side to side, "Then why not trust him? Your affection for him is no secret, and I can only presume that he hasn't completely rejected you so far given your continued pursuit of him. Jumping to conclusions helps no one and only serves to cause problems." He recited, trying to remember the spiel from that one book he read a fortnight ago. He had no idea how to deal with teenagers and their love problems.

"But..." She looked down and bit her lip in irritation, he hands going to her chest for whatever reason. He sighed and looked around the library quietly as the princess continued to mutter excuses and reasons from under her breath. His assistant had gone into town for supplies and no one ever visited the library, so he thought the day would finally allow him some peace and quiet.

"I...trust Karin, of course I do. But..." She muttered something unintelligible under her breath again, "I don't trust the girl he was with. When I asked Karin if they were lovers he was quick enough to deny it, but she didn't. She claimed that they held something special between them and I saw her face redden when I mentioned the possibility that they were together. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"She may hold affection for him, this is true, but this is not indicative of him returning these feelings," He replied neutrally. He had little idea of what she was talking about and placating her was the priority. The King's absence meant that the princess was pretty much given free reign on what she wished to do, meaning that

"Are you saying that she is simply an admirer and stands no chance with him?" That wasn't what he said at all, but he nodded all the same, "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Karin's the hero who exposed Estashu," Technically it was his entire knight group, but he didn't interrupt her, "And he was the one who braved an execution in order to uncover the truth. It makes sense that he has admirers."

He didn't know how much of that was accurate and how much of it was the princess' own hero-worship. He let it slide; after all, she was at least beginning to cheer up.

"With that said, I now need the key to the sacred vault," ...How were those two related at all? "Please don't look at me with suspicion. I am simply going to check if there's anything there that's still usable and I don't plan to steal anything. After all, it is well-known that the vault only holds relics of the past and it would be heretical to steal any of the holy artifacts. I promise not to touch the Founders prayer book or any of his other artifacts."

"You can always ask the royal treasurer. As a member of the royal family, you are allowed to inspect the vault as is your right as princess, " He frowned slightly, "But please make sure to be careful. Due to the recent influx of criminal activities and vagabonds entering the city, the treasurer and the various officials thought it would be best to place some of the more riskier items in the vault since no one would think to attack the palace. Be careful that you don't steal a poison."

"Of course. And thank you for speaking with me, as always," She bowed and turned her back to him, making her way to the door. He was oblivious to the slight smile she had on her face. She knew exactly what the vault contained; she'd heard the maid's gossiping about it when she first came running back to the castle. If they were right, then the vault contained exactly what she needed.

Christophe watched her leave before bending down to pick up his book again. He really should have stopped her or discouraged her, but he saw little point in it. If there was one thing she had inherited from her father, it was his stubborn will. And in the end, it wouldn't matter. When her future fiance was decided, she would have to fulfill her duties as the kingdom's sole heir and marry him for the good of the people. She would get her fun now and then she would do her duty later. He just hoped this Karin fellow wouldn't try anything or resist the temptation. For both his and the princess' sake.

...But all the same, he gave Karin his sympathies. The knight was going to need it.

Karin rubbed her eyes wearily and stared at the dark ceiling above her. It was still early - the morning sun was just barely beginning to peek over the horizon - and she was still fatigued from the events that had happened yesterday. Brimir above, that was completely disastrous. Bad enough that the princess thought her friend was her lover, but she still had to let Daphne feed on her after everything.

She winced as she rubbed her arms, trying to alleviate the sudden chill she felt. For a reason she couldn't possibly fathom, the vampire insisted on drinking her sweat again over actually just draining her of blood. It made sense the first time; they were going to attack a heavily fortified estate and she couldn't afford to be weakened by blood loss. Now she had all the time in the world and it was pretty obvious to her that most of her time spent guarding the princess was just to keep her company till the king came back from his hunting trip. There was no need for her to strip and sweat it out like before, especially since the blood drain option was quicker and cleaner all around.

And that wasn't even getting to the fact that they had repeated the process three times before the Vampire finally satisfied herself. She needed to put her foot down; the firstborn was getting way too spoiled for her own good.

"Ugh, need to hurry. Can't be too late on the first day..." She forced her tired limbs to move and sat up on the bed, ignoring the pillow's call that she sleep again. Off to the right, she could see Centurion sleeping in his own bed, his entire body covered by a thin white blanket. Karin had arrived later than he did and he was already asleep by the time she got there. He seemed to be tired so she decided against waking him up to announce her presence. She'd say goodbye later.

Groggily, she reached for her attire lying on the chair before making her way to the other room. It was a force of habit; Centurion was asleep and likely wouldn't wake up unless she suddenly yelled, but she still felt wary all the same. The last thing she needed was for the clueless-to-females-even-after-he-groped-them-in-h is-sleep knight to wake up in the middle of her changing. Although he might have felt relieved after he realized that he felt attracted to a female rather than a suspiciously attractive male. Barkus was the same during the start of their friendship.

She opened the door quietly before stepping into the room. She needed to stay quiet; she didn't want to wake Centurion, "...Need to buy new gloves..." She frowned as she saw how tight the gloves fit into her hands. During her week-long mission she'd actually had to buy a new set of clothes due receiving damage from the warband, albeit she managed to find a tailor in the small village that allowed her a larger version of her old attire. She'd gotten a sudden growth spurt the week and, while she didn't gain more than a couple of inches at most, her form-fitting attire had gotten tighter since it was already short on her to begin with.

Her frown deepened even more when she raised her shorts to their place. The new attire she bought had gotten dirty and it would have been shameless since she already wore it for most of the week; water magic could only do so much before she had to launder it, and it would have been poor etiquette to appear in front of the princess with disheveled clothing. It could be excused before since she was reporting on a mission, but not now.

Once she finished putting on her stocking, she finally removed the loose sleeping attire - really just an oversized tunic - and reached for her white sleeveless vest, giving a slight glance of discomfort at the cloth. The thing looked smaller than she last remembered. Oh well, better to do this quick before-

...Something was wrong. She grabbed for both sides before trying to button them, which was met with a general lack of success as the two sides refused to meet one another. Another attempt, another lack of success. Through the darkness, she began to sweat nervously. She'd chosen this attire because the size was just right for her; even if one looked to the size, they wouldn't be able to see her chest jutting out at all. But that meant of course that if it got any tighter then she was completely unable to do anything about it.

"No! Damn it, close you stubborn little-!" She muffled a curse under her breath. She'd managed to button up the sides on her stomach, but the ones on her chest refused to budge, "...Won't fit..." If she was a little less panicked, she would've laughed at the irony of her wishing that her already small breasts to become even smaller. Stupid growth spurt.

"Karin? Karin, you alright?" Centurion's weak voice reached her ears, "Karin, where are you? Is something wrong?" He got up from the bed and began to walk to the other room. He was going to see her.

"Damn it!" She ran to the door before slamming her back against it. She was not going to let him see her like this, "U-Uh, everything's fine!" She sucked in her breath and tried to close the buttons again; no dice, "J-Just having a bit of a hard time changing into my clothes, that's all! This thing feels smaller for some reason. Maybe I grew?" Oh Brimir above, let him buy the excuse!

"...Smaller? Oh, I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Damn it, she wasn't going to get anywhere like this. Why didn't this door have a lock? At least then she wouldn't have had to us herself as some kind of makeshift barricade.

"I screwed up washing the clothes while you were away," ...What? "Yeah, I used warm water by accident and your clothes shrunk, I guess. Its not a growth spurt, or at least I don't think it is since you don't look that bigger compared to before. Hey, you still there?" She didn't reply, "Anyway, I bought you a new set of clothes to replace the ones I ruined. They're in the cabinet, if you want them."

...She was going to kill him.

"J-Just get them to me! We still have an agreement, right?" She did all the chores and in return he didn't ask why she refused to let anyone see her change. That was their deal, "Open the door slightly and give them to me! If I see you poking your head in here, you're dead!" She needed to keep calm. Waiting a few seconds after hearing his "Yes", she opened the small cabinet and looked for the cloth bandages they stored there. She didn't like it, but she would have to bind her chest since the idiot probably got the wrong size for her.

Outside, Centurion picked up the clothes before heaving a tired sigh. What was the big deal with changing in the same rooms? Yes, he called Karin a homosexual in the past, but he at least liked to think that they'd been through enough together that they could go past that little incident. She didn't like to think of the pink haired knight holding a grudge against him, especially after what they went through the week prior.

"Hey, I've got your clothes-" A tiny pair of hands grabbed for assorted garments before he could even his sentence and slammed the door in his face, "...Good morning to you too." God, he still felt dizzy from yesterday. He needed to lie down and save his energy.

Inside the room, Karin's right eye twitched as she looked at the clothes Centurion had given her. While they were the same for the most part, she could make out that the shorts were longer and and that the sleeveless tunic was baggier than her old clothes. Her mouth lowered into a frown and she began to unroll the bandage. The clothes were too baggy and she leaned down then anyone could see her chest. She could at least excuse the bandages as injuries she had received during the prior mission.

Changing took no time at all once she finally found the clothes to actually fit her. The shorts length bothered her slightly - They were currently went near to her knees and just barely went past the top of her stockings, but as long as it didn't impede her in combat then she could adjust to it easily enough. The new coat she had received was also a darker shade of blue; almost black if one looked at it from the right lighting. At least her boots and gloves remained the same, so there was that to consider.

"Hey, I'm done- Why in the void are you shirtless!" She quickly turned around and tried to hide her slightly reddening face. While she had gotten used to the sight of her compatriots body, that was usually because she helped him patch up manually when his willpower was too low and she had time to mentally prepare herself. Despite her best efforts, she was a female and Centurion was an attractive male (Despite how much she regretted admitting that). He didn't even have an obnoxious personality like Rancis or Barkus to offset this...well, not unless he was drunk. Then he just came off as annoying.

"My entire body's sore," He looked up at Karin before closing his eyes again, "That girl from before. Her name was Amethyst, wasn't it?" She nodded, "Yeah, well apparently Estashu didn't feed her when he kept her captive, and she didn't feed while they were being integrated to the king's secret guard for the whole week, so she was really hungry when she came to meet us."

"And how does that relate to you being shirtless?" She asked blankly, doing her best not to stare at him.

"Getting to that," Centurion groaned, "Anyway, Barkus volunteered to be fed on, but he and Rancis had a patrol and he couldn't afford to miss it - He lost his pay for the whole month and his still owes repairs to that shop, remember?" He laughed, "And since I'm their handler I volunteered to let her feed on me. She said she would only take a bit, but she was starved for a while, so..." He attempted a shrug, "Anyway, I'm not going to be able to work today, so I'm not bothering to put on a shirt. Its way too stuffy in here and even using a blanket ends with me sweating a lot. Heck, I'm surprised you're walking around so easily. Didn't Daphne feed on you?"

"Uh, yeah, but we used an...alternate method..." Karin fidgeted at the memory. Centurion raised an eyebrow but didn't question it, "Hmm, I'm supposed to be at the palace by early morning, so that means I have about an hour or two before I'm needed there. Is there anything you need done-"

"Don't worry," He rolled in the bed lazily and placed his head on the pillow, "Amethyst is coming to check up on me in half an hour or so and Rancis and Barkus are coming to visit at night after their job finishes. Just be careful, alright? Guarding the princess of Tristain is a big responsibility and you don't want to lose your Chevalier title so soon after you just got it," He gave a crooked smile, "And make sure to keep your restraint for the whole week. I bet against Rancis that you'd resist the temptation for the forbidden fruit and not try anything with the princess. He thinks you will and he bet a hundred ecu. Prove him wrong."

Karin rolled her eyes and threw her pillow against his head, only receiving a weak groan in response, "Is that all you three think about?" She commented exasperatedly, "By the way, you said Amethyst was coming to check up on you?" He nodded weakly, "Well, you might want to wipe off any sweat you have on your body. You'll regret it later if you don't...or maybe you won't, I can never be sure with you."

"Why?"

"Just...trust me. You'll thank me later." She tossed a torn strip of dry cloth at him, "Make sure to be through, alright? I have to go. Tell Rancis and Barkus goodbye for me and that I'll see you guys next week."

"See you."

With that last word, Karin waved goodbye to him and descended their domicile's stairs. For the next week she would have to watch over Princess Marianne, and that meant being in the castle for the duration of her task. She sighed. Just when she thought things were going to go back to normal. She'd even had thoughts of finally telling the others - or at least Centurion - her secret. But she would have to think about that later. Right now the princess was what was important and she would have to keep herself vigil for whatever may come the following week.

Unknown to her, Marianne was currently in the vault and smiling at the pinkish vial of liquid that she had uncovered: A love potion, perfect for coercing out any feelings a person might have kept hidden. She would just add a small drop, but if Karin had any feelings or affection for her then this concoction would be the catalyst to make her knight act on it.

May Brimir have mercy on her soul.

Mizuki00 - I doubt it. This is a T rated story, so it'll get purged if I make too much mature content. I have no problems for writing the lead ups to said situations, but after that is the reader's imagination.

BloodTrinity - This isn't really canon to Twisted Reflections: Mostly cause I can't see Karin canonically going for a threesome ending. Who knows, maybe I'll throw a reference to it here. But don't expect anything here.