Soul doesn't remember it happening, but evidently, it happened.
One moment, he was sitting in the thick garden grass with Maka, listening to her talk about some book she'd just started before going to bed. They were laying in the middle of the quiet garden, heads turned up towards the warm sun rays that cast down onto them with a smile.
He'd stolen a quick glance at Maka. His eyes trailed over the sloping bridge of her nose before landing on her plump lips that were curved up as she spoke. He had remembered turning away quickly, turning his focus onto the now forming clouds above them.
The next moment, Soul felt cold hands grab at the sides of his face.
Soul. Soul, wake up.
To his surprise, he was not greeted by Maka's face. Instead, he caught Kiliks eyes, feeling his friend shake at his face.
With a sharp breath, he was, quite literally, shaken back into reality.
"What're you doing here?" He questions, swatting away Kiliks hands like pesky flies. Before he even gets an answer, he sits up and turns to his side where he remembers Maka laying beside him in the grass, only to be met with nothing.
"Where is Maka-" Panic laces his voice and he can't stop it. The gears in his head were still turning, trying to rid his brain of the morning cobwebs that had made him a trainwreck earlier that morning. He still wasn't thinking the straightest. There was also the overwhelming fact that he was practically in charge of the Princess's wellbeing until further notice and if he'd already lost her, he was definitely going to lose his job.
"Chill, chill chill," Kilik stressed, crouching down in front of him to meet him at eye-level. "She just walked out with one of the cooks to grab breakfast. She's in good hands." Kilik reassures him, patting him on his head.
"You don't know that," Soul chuckles. "For all you know, that cook could have been an assassin sent to kill her."
Kilik erupts into a fit of laughter after that. "Really? Kim being an assassin? That's funny."
Soul remembers the name he heard yesterday morning. Kim. She was one of the cooks here, obviously, and seemed to be on both Kilik and Maka's good side. She must have been a good person, then.
"Anyway," Kilik sighed, sitting down criss-cross in front of him. "What's this all about?"
Soul wants to play dumb, but he knows exactly what Kilik is asking. He knows that his friend is referring to the weird morning visit that Maka had given the guard's quarters. He knows that he's referring to the fact that she'd gone out of her way to invite Soul, a mear knight, to breakfast with her.
He knows he's asking why the hell he'd fallen asleep in a garden with the kingdom's princess at his side.
"I don't know what youre talking about," he insists anyway, pulling himself to his feet.
"Soul-"
"Really, I don't know what you're trying to infer." He innocently raises his shoulders and hands, hoping to god that what he was feeling didn't translate to a terrified expression on his face.
"Blackstar and you can talk about it then. Good luck with that." Kilik pulls himself together, standing in one swift motion before readjusting his cape around his shoulders. "You know what he'd say about whatever this is."
Sure, Blackstar had joked about the Princess being all romantic and buddy-buddy with him; but if that was the truth, he'd be livid.
Blackstar didn't have a good past with the royals. He knew they couldn't be trusted. He knew that they'd only use people for their own selfish ways. He knew how manipulative royals could be when it benefited them and only them.
Soul understood where Blackstar was coming from all too well, and it left him feeling sick as he tightened his hands into fists at his sides, watching as Kilik walked out with a bounce in his step.
A week comes and goes faster than Soul can count to five. The days seem to blend together, making his time in the castle feeling a lot longer than it truly had been.
Souls' weird moments with the Princess just kept coming. He tried not to think about it too deeply when he'd sit in the quietness of Maka's room alone with her. Tried to not let the thoughts eat away at him when they ate their breakfast together in the morning. Tried to ignore every single red flag he noticed when Maka invited him to come and explore the library with him one afternoon.
Maka was being too nice. Way too nice.
Royals didn't act like this.
Deep down inside, he really had hoped he was just over analyzing things. This new position would of course bring him new stresses and maybe that was making him look at the situation funnily.
Soul was nothing but Maka's guard.
Maka was just lonely, looking to make a friend.
That was all it was.
He kept trying to convince himself of that even when Kid spoke to him about Crona, Maka's past guard. Turns out Crona had been her guard for over four years and the two rarely spoke; Maka had kept him at an arm's distance.
He kept trying to convince himself it was nothing even when Blackstar started going on long spells every night about how he needed to be more cautious about Maka, that he needed to refrain from becoming friends, that he needed to start declining the morning breakfasts and hanging out in her room.
He even tried convincing himself it was nothing after one particular conversation he had with Liz one night.
"Liz, what do you usually do when you're on guard duty?"
"I stand outside of whatever room they're in and try to block out their stupid loud voices."
Right.
It was still nothing.
Maka was just friendly.
And it was becoming really hard to stop himself from becoming his friend.
Soul had gotten up rather early this morning. Today, Maka finally had something to do. It was in regards to her birthday celebration, something to do with picking out silverware settings and garments. It was Soul's thing and if he had the choice, he'd skip it in a heartbeat.
But he didn't have a choice. It was his job, as Blackstar had put it the other night, to be "Maka's bitch," which entailed following the Princess around like a guard puppy.
It was a close enough analogy.
By the time Soul had finally changed into his armor and slipped out of the bedroom door, he heard one of the beds creak behind him. "Soul?" Blackstars tired voice called out to him. "Leaving already?"
He turned around just the slightest, watching as Blackstar pulled himself from his sheets and stood abruptly.
"Don't want to miss out on breakfast," He replied just above a whisper, careful to not wake Kilik who was still curled up under his sheets fast asleep.
Blackstar blinked at him twice with a sour face before he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're unbelievable."
"What?"
Here he was again, playing stupid. He knew exactly why Blackstar was mad, but he was willing to do anything to avoid the conversation and just leave already. They have had the same conversation everyday for the past three days; Blackstar would remind him of the dangers that came with getting close to the royals, he'd deny ever wanting to get close with Maka, and that would be it.
It was getting repetitive and old, but he knew that at the end of the day Blackstar was just trying to look out for him.
Blackstar was quickly making his way across the room, stopping just in front of Soul with a huff. "I don't get you," He started, keeping his voice low. "You really think that the Princess is just being nice to you for the hell of it?"
"Yeah," He replied quite bitterly. He didn't like thinking that there was some alternative motive to Maka's kindness, but he knew that things aren't always in black and white, and he knew how easy it was to lie to get what you want.
But he didn't have to admit that if he didn't want to.
Blackstar took an abrupt step closer to him after that reply and he found his back hitting the doorway faster than he expected it would. With his exposed fingertips gliding against the rough wood of the door at an odd angle, he felt sharp pains shoot through his pointer finger and thumb.
Splinters.
"Why do you have to be so damn-" Blackstar paused, noticing the way Soul had visibly curled in on himself. "What's wrong?"
Pulling his hand away from the door, Soul inspected the tips of his fingers. To no surprise of his, several splinters had embedded themselves into him.
Blackstar examined his hand as well, the fight in him visibly leaving. With a careful touch, he wrapped his hand around Soul's wrist and pulled him down the hallway into the small med room on the other side of the guard's quarters.
Soul didn't fight him when he ushered him to sit. He didn't even say a word to him as he watched him grab a pair of tweezers from one of the cabinets and return in front of him.
Blackstar crushed in front of him, grabbing Soul's hand and pulling it into his own lap as he wordlessly plucked the splinters from his friend's hand.
"You drive me absolutely insane, you know that?"
"You still love me, though," Soul couldn't help but joke.
Blackstar sighed, shaking his head as he pulled the last pieces of wood from his thumb. "You wish."
They fell into silence as Blackstar began working on his pointer finger.
"You should have breakfast with me."
Soul was caught off guard by the sudden offer. Sure, he and Blackstar had been friends ever since they became roommates, but they never really shared a meal before. It just wasn't their thing.
Deep down inside, Soul knew he was only offering because he didn't want him eating with Maka. He knew how Blackstar worked, and yet, he couldn't help but accept the offer.
Sure, the cold biscuits and gravy were nothing compared to the warm breakfasts that Kim prepared in the castle, but they still filled him just the same when he had Blackstar sitting beside him, happy.
By the time he had finally made it to the castle, the sun had fully come up. He couldn't have been more than ten or so minutes late, but it was hard to tell when he no longer carried a clock with him.
He rushed through the long hallways, making his way to Maka's tower quicker than he normally would. To his surprise, Maka had been sitting at the bottom of the staircase that led to her room, a book hanging from her knee.
"Soul?" The Princess got to her feet quickly, brushing the dust from her dress skirt and leaving her book discarded somewhere on the floor. "Where were you earlier this morning?"
There's a worried crease between the Princess's eyebrows that catched Soul's eyes. Her lips are parted just the slightest, and he can't help but notice the small amount of whipped cream that is smeared on the corner of her cheek.
"You have a little something," Soul ignored her question, pointing to his cheek, "Right there."
Maka pauses before bringing a finger to the corner of her mouth and wiping away a good portion of the whipped cream.
"Still there."
More forcefully, she rubbed the side of her cheek again.
"Still there."
With an audible groan, the Princess took both hands and rubbed her face so roughly that it left her cheeks red. "Is that better?"
"No, but it'll do." Soul jokes, a smirk growing on his face.
The Princess groans once more, rubbing her face down more aggressively. "Don't joke with me, Soul! I can't be looking like a slob when we go to meet with the caterers."
He can't help but notice the frustration that's growing on the other's face quickly. "You got it the first time."
"Really?" Maka deflates dramatically in front of him, rolling her eyes dramatically. "You're the worst. First, you stand me up for breakfast, and then you lie to me! What's next, are you going to assassinate me?"
Soul wrinkled his nose in confusion. "That's one big leap. Do you just automatically assume everyone who tells a joke is an assassin?"
"No," Maka drawls out, crossing her arms over her chest in a guarded stance. "Did you even eat this morning? We have to go soon."
"I did," he answers, thinking back to the cold and thick gravy he ate this morning."I'm sorry I bailed on you. One of the other guards asked if I could have breakfast with them and I felt bad turning them down."
At that, Maka shoots him with almost a sympathetic look." "Well, that's good to hear that you actually ate. Let's get going before we're actually late."
Maka leads him through the castle, once again that week. She tells him they're meeting with the people who have been put in charge of her party planning in the east wing.
Their walk is long, but Soul doesn't complain despite how much he wants to.
Soul doesn't pay much attention to whatever is happening in the middle of the room. He's off in the corner, alone, watching as the midday sunlight rays dance in the stained glass window above him.
"Will that be all for today?"
"It seems so! Thank you so much for meeting with us, your highness. Shall we schedule another meeting for next week? We will be tailoring you and whoever you cheese as your guest for outfits."
"Make it for next Monday morning, please."
Out of the corner of his eye, Soul watches as the trio of women who Maka had been talking with for the past two hours exit the room with bundles of fabrics and plates tucked under their arms. He's tempted to let out a breath of relief, but he refrains.
"Ugh, that was so tiring," Maka complains from the head of the circular table. "I almost forgot how much I hated meetings."
Soul takes that as his cue to leave his corner. He makes his way over to the Princess whose head is pressed against the table, humming in reply.
"I'm sure it was just as boring to partake in as it was to watch it happen."
Maka lifts her head with the smallest of smiles plastered on her face. "You really got the shit end of the stick, didnt you?"
"I signed up to be a guard, I don't mind sitting and waiting around all day." Soul comments. He knows there's much worse he could be doing with his life and he'd rather choose being a guard over anything else any day.
Maka tips her head. "Don't you get bored?"
"A little boredom never killed, now did it?"
At that, the Princess raises her eyebrows with an affirmative hum. "Don't you ever wish you did anything fun though?"
"This is fun."
"You're weird." Maka wrinkles her nose. "I mean actually fun, like traveling or adventuring."
"Traveling and adventuring gets boring after a while too, just like everything else." Soul goes to point out, remembering his early days in training camps.
"I wouldn't know about that," Maka murmurs under her breath, "I don't leave the castle often."
"Does that… bother you?" Soul can't help but ask. "You know, not leaving?"
He knows he shouldn't have asked. He knew where this conversation was going to go. He knows he should have just let what Maka said be- but he cant.
"Honestly?" Maka looked his way and locked eyes with Soul. "It bothers me a lot more than I let on."
