Even if Aelia had said she wasn't expecting him to return any feeling or for things to change, things had changed between them. Perhaps not at first, they had just gone on as usual when they interacted at the Citadel, it was simple work related things and there was always many people around them to distract them of one another. But then they had those two trips before the damned Gralea one. And it wasn't like Aelia had changed the way she acted around him or said things she hadn't before, it was just him noticing to what he had been oblivious before…

"I don't know why you still have to tag along. I'm not even going out of Lucis this time." The Princess said as they walked through the Citadel, they were on their way to depart for Galahad.

"Considering Verstael tried to capture you even when in Accordo, it might just be that he is growing desperate to catch any of you. We can't know to what lengths he still might go."

"Glauca is dead now and it's been quiet since four months ago, what's the worse he can do? He doesn't even seem to be able to produce more MTs."

"Being overconfident is the fastest way to get you killed or taken away." Cor pointed out, just like it had almost happened in Altissia.

"It doesn't matter if I am overconfident or not, either way you're going. King's orders, right?" She said slightly raising her eyebrows and waving her hand.

Right, King's orders. Except it wasn't, he hadn't needed to be given the order for him to go. The Princess was the most obvious target for Verstael since neither the King nor Prince travelled outside the Crown City. If only the Princess would stay put for some more time until they managed to find Verstael…

"What are you frowning again at?" Aelia's voice brought him back to attention. They had already made it to the cars at the Citadel's entrance, he opened the backdoor for her but she stopped, waiting for a response.

"Verstael is still at the loose and you insist on dilly-dallying around places where you are a perfect target."

Now she frowned. "It's been calm for months now-,"

"Just as it had been calm for months last time in Altissia."

"Well, that was an unfortunate happenstance." She said laying her hand on the top of the door, not far from his. "And it's not dilly-dallying, I know you don't think much of what I do, but someone has to actually go and see what the people need or the problems of certain regions and reconstructions are still taking place along many places."

"You can send someone else." Cor said, ignoring her accusation. He didn't think all she did was unimportant, he simply didn't have the patience for it.

"Can I?" She said vaguely. "No, it wouldn't do."

"Why?" And Cor's suspicion of her doing or scheming something started to ring on the back of his mind.

"Because we need people to feel listened to and taken care of, we just ended a war in which many lost too much. And if I don't go, who else would? The King himself? You know he would, perhaps less often and to fewer places and with more men. But still… it's better for me to go."

Cor suddenly felt very stupid. Could it be-? No, she wouldn't. Regis would have never let her, unless he hadn't realized it or- "You were playing bite all this time."

She froze and looked at her gloved hand resting in the car door not far from his. "So what if I did? Glauca is dead, isn't he?"

The little wretch didn't even try to deny it. Silence stretched between them. Cor was sure Regis would kill him or exile him if he throttled his daughter, wouldn't he?

"Your father doesn't know does he?" He said with strain.

"Of course not. That's it… I think he might have suspected it from time to time," She smiled self-depreciably, "But I've become a very good liar I guess."

Yes, he had called her that a few times already, she wasn't fond of it.

"Of all the stupid ideas that could crawl into your head-, what were you thinking?" He said releasing the door and looking into the sky, he really was fighting to keep his temper under control. The he looked again at her, she was staring directly at him, tense as a bowstring, but unrepentant to the bone.

"Because it's all I can do!" She breathed heavily and turned her head to one side, not able to withstand his stare down. "I can't fight against the likes of Glauca nor daemons, I can hardly fight to save my own life. So how else can I protect Noctis or help my father? It's the least I can do Cor! Its magic Verstael is after, if he knew that I am so weak at magic he probably wouldn't have expended so many resources on me at all. And even if he would have managed to capture me somehow, it wouldn't have helped at all to find whatever he is after or help with the new monstrosities he wants to create. At worse, Lucis would just lose a princess, not the King nor their future protector."

"But you're not the one to take him down nonetheless, you were putting your escorts' lives in danger as well! Don't say you haven't thought of it already. Or do you think that because it already their jobs, it doesn't matter?" Her eyes shinned with anger, and she seemed to want to say something but instead clenched her jaw and looked away from him. Silence fell again between them again, but this one was charged as a storm summoned by Ramuh himself. His outrage finally took the better of him. "Aelia, I thought you were smart and thoughtful, it seems I was mistaken. Your father should never had put so much trust in you."

'Nor did I.' Went unsaid but he was sure she caught it as her eyes snapped back at him and hurt reflected into her eyes, then she looked quickly to the side and crossed her arms in front of her, something she rarely did. She looked back at him after some seconds with a mocking smile. "Is that so? Then who should he trust to help him? Only in people like you, who only know how to fight thoughtlessly at any given moment?" His eyes narrowed in fury, even if he knew she was the one being thoughtless right now and spouting nonsense. Words like that denoted some concealed scorn towards soldiers, people who had given their lives for the Kingdom. Aelia seemed to realise she had stepped over the line and reined in some of her temper. "It doesn't matter now, my plan served its purpose quiet well, and results are what count. We've lost enough time already, Marshal, time to go." She finished in a dead tone and climbed into her seat.

"Your goings are about to get a lot less frequent, Princess." He said before closing the door normally even when he really wanted to slam it shut. He then he walked to the car at the front that had the Glaives in and gestured for Nyx to climb out.

"What? Quarrelled again?" Nyx jokingly asked, then swallowed and shut up when Cor shot him a murderous look.

"You drive the Princess today." He said tossing the car keys to him.

"Yes, sir." Nyx said and walked away to the other car.

It was a three day car ride to Galahad, the plan for a railroad to run through Lucis had started two years back and part of the Princess travels were to help the King decide which routs should take priority. To say things had gone downwards between them from that point it was to leave it short. Where the Princess would ask him to tag along for one of her leisure strolls around whatever place they were at, now she would stay in her lodgings reading documents and looking at maps; or at eating times when she would talk or ask him about things from the past or about the current problems she was tasked with, she would just eat in silence and not even look at him. Cor had thought that was good in a way, it would surely kill the feelings she harboured for him, even if he didn't relish on the thought of his words having hurt her more than he intended.

Galahad was known for its unpredictable climate, it wasn't rain season and yet it was raining, thunder and lightning raged the skies. The place they were staying at was a small old inn on the outskirts of Gaeris. The inn had thick walls that were covered in ivies from outside, uneven stone floors and windows that were all of different sizes and shapes. Overall a quaint and quiet place that the Princess loved since the first time she stayed here with her father and brother when they were passing by for their first trip to Tenebrae.

It was late at night already and Cor had been taking calls for a couple of hours now, so he decided to stroll around the inn's inner garden corridor and look out for any suspicious movement. He found Nyx sitting in one of the big windows frame, looking outside while peeling galahdian firenuts and popping them into his mouth.

"Shouldn't you be guarding the Princess room?" Cor asked.

Nyx said nothing and just motioned with his head to the raining exterior of the inner garden. Cor looked out and there standing under an umbrella was Aelia.

"She likes to do that from time to time when the weather's like this." Nyx commented. " 'captain says she's done so since little." He popped another firelnut into his mouth and shrugged, then stared at him. "Something probably upset her, she's been there over an hour already."

Cor looked at him and crossed his arms. "If you want to say something, say it."

Nyx put back down the firenut he was about to peel and leaned back against the side of the window's frame. "We knew what she was doing."

"You knew." Cor said slowly.

"Yes, she talked it with the Captain."

Cor could feel a headache starting to throb at the sides of his head, he stopped himself from rubbing his temples. "And he didn't think to tell the King… or me."

"Well… Neither of you asked."

So if they had asked them that 'specific question' they would have spilled the truth huh? That suspiciously sounded like someone's way of thinking. 'If they don't ask, you don't need to tell.'

"The Princess idea as well, I gather."

Nyx smiled impishly and shrugged. "We had to take our chances, besides, we weren't expecting you to start coming along more often instead of the Captain."

Cor knew Drautos and the Kingsglaives had had a grudge against Glauca, after all he had been the one to take the Glaives and surrender them to Verstael and his sick experiments and examinations. They had lost good men in horrible ways, friends, even family.

"You're all getting into trouble for telling me this, you know?" Cor finally said, he couldn't even bring himself to be too angry about it anymore. And now he knew what the Princess had wanted to say to him when he called her callous and unthinking a couple of days ago, but she had held her tongue not wanting the Kingsglaives to get into trouble.

Nyx sighed. "Yes, but we are as responsible for it as the Princess. Letting her take all the brunt of it wouldn't be fair, would it?"

Cor looked outside at the Princess again and breathed out. For now, he would rather not think about the implication that the whole Kingsglaives had been plotting behind the King's back at the beaconing of the idiotic Princess. Speaking of; said idiot would catch a cold if she stayed there more time, but then again, idiots aren't supposed catch colds.

Cor walked out under the rain and at first the Princess didn't notice him, she was crouching down and absorbed in… watching a small boat made of leaves run around in spirals inside the water gutter. Cor's mouth twitched.

"It won't sink if you're not here to watch it."

Aelia jumped to her feet and dropped the umbrella. Cor cursed under his breath at her clumsiness and wondered how she hadn't died or get captured yet by Verstael, then he picked the umbrella and put it into her hand again.

"You're getting wet." She said numbly.

"Perhaps if the Princess wasn't sulking under the rain in the middle of the night, I wouldn't."

"I'm not sulking." She said, clearly sulking.

"If you say so. Now, let's go inside."

The Princess didn't answer but let herself be herded back inside. Nyx was nowhere in sight now, Cor almost sighed. He must be skulking around, waiting to see if another argument would break out between them and being smart enough to not want to have anything to do with it.

"You didn't need to go under the rain. You could have just called and I would have come inside." The Princess said, releasing her long hair from her braid and shaking some dampness away. "Now you're soaked." She added quietly. So she did know how to feel guilty, he thought wryly. She continued to take off her coat to shake the water away and the reflecting gleam of an object dangling from her neck caught his eye. It was the Shiva pendant he had gifted her a few years back. It was a mere trinket made of steel, she had jewellery far finer and prettier than that he was sure.

"You wouldn't have come inside." He answered simply, tearing his eyes away from the pendant and at her self-conscious grimace at the truth in his words.

"Maybe I would have." She said wearily the turned to look at him. After staring at him for a moment, seemingly debating to say something more, but finally deciding against it. "Goodnight." She said softly and walked off to her room.

She had started talking to him after that, but she still was very curt and monotone, not indulging in silly chatter like she did whenever silence stretched for too long. Then when the trip back from Galahad came around and this time he did drive her car.

They had crossed already to Cavaugh, a couple of hours more and they would be back in Insomnia, so far the Princess had remained in complete silence watching absently through the window or sleeping. Cor thought she would be like this for at least a couple of days or weeks when around him, so it came as a surprise when her voice filled the cabin.

"Will you tell my father?" She asked.

He didn't need to ask what she was referring to. "Yes." And Cor watched from the driving mirror how she pursed her lips.

"Because it's your duty or because you care?"

Cor almost smiled at that. "Is there a difference?"

"Yes. Yes there is. But I already know the answer then." She said bitterly.

Cor didn't answer, but he knew why she asked and he thought it stupid of her, she was only hurting herself more.

Cor had done as promised and told Regis about what Aelia had been trying- or well had succeeded in doing-, so Regis had laid her off as an official representative of Lucis for some time. When Cor had told his friend it had gone as good as he had expected; the King had taken it badly, the pain and self-reproach of not noticing his daughter's plan had shone in his eyes. As for how his talk with Aelia had gone, he didn't know, but he did had crossed paths with her when she had been walking out of the King's office…

It was reminiscent of many past times when the Princess almost crashed into him again when turning a corner, Cor had been on his way to the King's office, it was just one day after they had returned from Galahad. Cor had grasped her from the shoulders to avoid her from falling backwards, she had been going very fast and collided rather strongly against him.

"Princess, I'd thought you'd learned already to not rush around the Citadel."

"Sorry." She said meekly looking down, then tried to get past him but he didn't release his grip. She was acting so unlike herself it put him out.

"It went that bad?" She didn't answer and still wasn't looking at him. "He won't be angry for too long-"

"Angry? He wasn't angry-," "He was just- disappointed. Not in me, but himself. Damnit, if he had been anger, if he had screamed at me…it wouldn't-"

'It wouldn't hurt so much.' Cor knew she wanted say that, because he knew it hurt more to see someone you love dearly being pained by what you've done, than them being angry for it.

She took a calming breath, but her voice was still shaky. "Can you let go?"

He should. He should let her go and let her unwind and cry out her hurt on her own, it was in great part her own doing, so she should shoulder it on her own. But he remembered watching her standing in Gaeris under the rain following a small boat trapped in the water. She would rather shoulder her pains and worries alone than to burden her family or friends with it because she knew they already were burdened enough on their own and she loved them enough to make stupid mistakes, mistakes like trying shouldering too much on her own.

Cor knew he would regret it later, when she might get the wrong idea of why he was doing this or knowing it and hurting from it by understanding it wasn't what she wanted from him. But he still didn't let her go and put a hand over her head, she was still young and stubborn, and was still learning the ways of the world. Just as he did a long time ago.

"You can't expect to shoulder everything on your own. Even if you would rather not burden your father or show weakness in front of your brother or friends, you need to learn it gives them peace of mind that you know you can relay in them. Some more than others or in different ways and moments. There, you can cry now." He knew he needed to say that because she never cried nor showed distress before others easily. She was someone to naturally wear her emotions on her sleeve but she had trained herself to hold it in, even from her close ones. Especially from her close ones it seemed. Until she could go to unwind when she was alone or press it in hoping it would just go away with time. He was more familiar with the later than the former, long ago his friends had shown him that neither were good on the long run, and he had to admit it was a lesson he still had trouble following. But she was young, she could still veer past that self-destructive habit.

Aelia stiffened, she was still trying to fight her emotions, until finally she cracked and moved away from him covering her mouth as a sob broke free. Now, Cor really was awkward around crying people, especially women. But luckily he did know what to do this time.

"Go back to your father now, he'll feel much better if you go cry your eyes out with him as a little child. He'll know you can rely on him-, that you want to rely on him. And you'll feel much better as well, he's your dad, not only the King after all."

She hadn't answered him, just turned blindly around and run back to her father's office. He didn't know what came out of it, but by the more relaxed demeanour of Regis next day he knew it had helped some. He almost hadn't seen her for a month after that, Cor smiled, now he was sure she had been avoiding him like the plague. She was a prideful little wretch and having him looking at her in her lowest was a great blow for her.

It was late, official working hours had already finished in the Citadel for the day, so corridors and training grounds were mostly empty. He had been cooped all day in his office and he wanted to do some katas to unwind his stiff body, then some sword stances and then he would head home. To his surprise he wasn't the only one to think the quiet hours of dusk were good for training; the elusive Princess was there and it was unusual to see her practicing her swordsmanship. He had believed she had dropped it long ago in favour of firearms, after all it was what she summoned when in danger, never her sabre. But it seemed he had been wrong, her form was clean and natural which denoted constant practice, so she did had kept it up if only for amusement.

Maybe he should leave her to it then, but part of him did want to see how she would fare if she had to depend on her sword in a close combat scenario. Not because he had missed her troublesome presence.

"You haven't gone back to bad habits in posture I see." He said loud enough to startle her out of the trance she seemed to be at.

Her back was to him now, she went stiff as a board for a moment then lowered her sword that had been in a mid-swing. Cor could knew she was debating in how to avoid him in the fastest way, even if it was funny to see her trying to avoid him as humanly possible she would eventually have to get past it.

"Yes, I-," She said turning around slowly, as if making sure he was actually there and it wasn't a ghost. "-I have to keep practice or Ravus batters me mercilessly for have slacked in it… Even though he knows I don't really use it, he still insists in our yearly tradition of a sparring match." The Princess said walking to one of the benches were a towel and a water bottle were.

"He does? I guess he doesn't even need to try to beat you." Cor commented, after all he had helped train Prince Ravus when he had been at Tenebrae from time to time while fighting back the Old Empire.

She sighed and passed the towel over her face. The shuffle of her clothes freed a shining chain from under her shirt. It was that damn Shiva pendant again, he started to regret giving the thing to her.

"No, he doesn't. But it still amuses him, so I might as well humour him. And Noctis can't use me as an example to train less." She answered.

Cor raised an eyebrow at her quick acknowledge her poorness of ability. "Maybe if you took it more seriously you wouldn't lose so fast."

Aelia paused mid drinking her water and shot him a weary look, then moved the bottle away from her lips. "I know were my strength lays, in any situation I know I'll fare better with a gun than a sword."

"You're that smart at least." And perhaps Cor shouldn't shot barbs at her from the fight they had before traveling to Galahad, but he wasn't going to let it go that easily, she had been avoiding him for a month after all.

Aelia didn't take it well, she stiffened and gave a lopsided smile. "Good talking to you, Marshal. I'll leave the space to you now."

Cor stopped her before she left the hall. "Let's spar."

The Princess stopped and turned her head his way. "No."

"I didn't remember you being so cowardly before." Cor taunted her.

"Well, I was stupid-," She said rather gloomy, then turned resentful eyes to him and added, "-er before."

"Yes." He agreed and she shot him a nasty look. "But now you see it as it is, so you are probably better now than you were before. Besides, it's more enjoyable to have someone else to trade with than by yourself."

She give him a suspicious look. "You just want to smack me, don't you?"

Cor couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him, she did had a penchant for wild guesses. The Princess blushed and looked down when he looked at her with a smile still lingering on his lips. That did erased his smile, if not entirely his good humour.

"No, Princess, I don't wish to 'smack you'. I'm just curious to see how you've evolved your swordsmanship."

"It can't be that interesting. You probably can read all my movements without even trying." Aelia shrugged, and Cor could see now she was just plain out disheartened. It was unbefitting of her, but he guessed it was to be expected after Regis had prohibited her from exiting Insomnia until new notice. Cor even had the feeling that she hadn't even left the Citadel for the whole month since they came back from Galahad. Regis could be very exacting with his children when needed be.

"Don't worry, I won't let you hurt yourself with your own sword." Cor said straight-faced, he wondered what it would take to make her take the bite. Not much it seemed as Aelia's shoulders tensed and her lips pursed, she indeed was a prideful thing, easy to goad on at times.

"Alright, just the one round." She finally conceded.

Cor smiled and motioned for her to step back into the open area of the training hall. She averted quickly her eyes and moved stiffly to the centre of the ground. Once there, the Princess summoned back her sabre, her weight shifting from one foot to the other while she followed his slow walk to the opposite side of the hall, as if he was a coeurl about to pounce at her.

And maybe, Cor had to admit that some part of him did want to reprimand her a little over her reckless behaviour that had brought the most trouble to him. After all, he had been the one to take down Glauca.

"Go then." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

Aelia shot him an incredulous look. "No sword?"

"I won't need it, unless you're good enough." Cor said cocking his head to one side, waiting.

The Princess was very ticked off by his offhanded attitude. Good, this might bring some of her spirit back. She finally lunged forward and as she had ascertained earlier, he could read all her movements. He dodged the strike and used her momentum to trip her.

"You didn't impale yourself with your sword. That's good." Cor observed, his arms still crossed over his chest.

She stood up again, indignation shinning in her eyes. Aelia made several more attempts, but to no avail, he didn't need to summon his katana nor any other weapon to fight her. They had been at it near an hour when he threw her again onto her back, knocking some air out of her and her sword flaying out of her grasp. That's when she finally decided it had been enough disgrace for one night. She didn't raise up again, just lay there slowing her breathing back to normal.

"Go on. Again." Cor nudged her with his foot.

She huffed. "What for? Haven't you had your share of fun already?"

"Then I guess you won't want this back?" He said and dangled her Shiva necklace in front of her eyes, he had taken it some time ago in one of her futile attacks. Her eyes widened and reached for her cleavage where it should have been resting. Then she tried to snatch it back from him, Cor avoided her hand easily.

"I never took you for someone who could hold a grudge for so long." Aelia said rolling into her stomach and raising up tiredly to a crouch. However, he could see in her eyes a renewed determination.

"I'm usually not, but it takes a special kind to pull it out of me." He said dryly.

"So I'm special?" She asked with a sharp grin.

"Of the worst kind." Cor conceded.

"I'm flattered." Aelia said in turn humorously and re-summoned her sabre to her hand. "Now, give that back."

Cor looked at the pendant on his hand then back at her, he smirked and dangled it. Aelia growled and ran to him, he dodged, ducked and pushed her around but didn't take away her sword this time. Soon enough, Aelia was panting again, so she stopped and they came to a standstill.

"If you keep doing the same thing and it doesn't work, you shouldn't keep doing it." Cor admonished her.

"As if I had any other option." She huffed, then shot him a speculative look. "I might have more luck waiting for you to get bored of this."

Cor smiled shortly and shrugged, he wouldn't. Then he saw that look on her face; the one that foretold a very dicey idea. Cor frowned, Aelia grinned and in a quick movement of her arm she summoned and threw a dagger right at him. He could dodge it or catch it, whatever he did he knew she was planning to warp and he wouldn't be able to stop her either way. But it actually surprised him when she disappeared before the knife reached him, she was planning to barrel into him fast enough for him to either dodge the knife or her. He choose the knife and received her full weight, not defensively but making sure the ramshackle girl wouldn't hurt herself beyond the toll magic took from her body.

"Ifrit's flames! Aelia are you crazy?" He snapped once they both have fallen to the floor.

Was she even conscious? Her shaking in his arms told him she was, and she was laughing.

Yes, she was definitely a crackbrain. Cor sighed and pulled her away, she was pale and now that she stopped laughing, her breaths were coming out short, but her eyes were clear and there was a spark of triumph in them.

"I got it." The Princess said waving her closed fist at her side.

Cor breathed out slowly and stood up. "Don't use magic, Princess. You know better than me how it affects you, especially over meaningless things."

"It's not meaningless!" Aelia defended quickly "It represents the ending of the war. Well, the victory over the last remaining forces of Aldercapt. You were able to reach Gralea, buy it and come back safely with our soldiers… It's a remainder that now we can fight for a peaceful future, or as peaceful as the Eos may ever get."

So it wasn't just because he had given it to her she appreciated it so much after all. It had become a symbol of purpose for her, and in a way he knew he had helped to give that purpose to her… A purpose that had pushed her to go dangerous places and spend hours in company of lowlifes and corrupt people.

Cor then had to take her back to her rooms on his back, because she couldn't walk and was starting to fall asleep. And in her drowsy state she had whispered in his ear an apology, a very odd jumbled and childish one at that.

"I'm sorry Cor… For the Glauca thing and what I said before going to Galahad. You know-, back in Altissia, when you were fighting Glauca… That time we weren't expecting something to happen… that's why it was only supposed to be Nyx with me. But you tagged along as well." She sighed and he thought she had finally fallen asleep. "I'd rather been taken away than have you die…"

Cor had stopped and stared at the floor for longer than he should have, because he wasn't sure if not feeling more troubled over having her being so devoted in her feelings towards him was a tell-tale of going down a slippery slope. He had decided to simply don't put too much mind into it, after all, nothing would come out of it except heartbreak for her.

Yes, loving him will only bring her sorrow, he didn't have time nor was interested for love of that sort, and if he did he would have married just like Regis and Clarus long ago. The Princess was young, she should find someone closer to her age, someone less damaged and carefree. And for some time he thought the King of Tenebrae would be that one, should be the one. Cor had seen them together a several times, they were alike in how they thought and acted, even if they're personalities could be complete opposite at times. But then, the coronation of Ravus arrived, and of course she would go and get herself into danger and proven him whatever love she felt for her childhood friend was more akin to a brother than anything else.

"Why can't I go?" Noctis asked from the couch he was sprawled on while watching lazily at his sister cleaning her precious rifle.

"Because it's dangerous." Aelia answered not looking up.

Cor said nothing about the clear hypocrisy she was displaying right now, because he did agree that Noctis shouldn't tag along.

"I can fare better in danger than you." Noctis countered.

"Yes, no one denies that. But you are the Crown Prince, I'm not." She said, starting to reassemble her gun.

"Ravus is going." Noctis pointed out.

"He's the King now, he might do as he pleases. You will as well, once you're King."

"You do just as you please, and I don't see a crown in your head." Noctis did could make compelling points, shooting many barbs his sister's way.

"See this?" She said pointing at her head. "It's a tiara, it's close enough." Aelia looked up from her rifle and smiled sweetly at him.

Cor coughed to hide a laugh, he didn't want to encourage the Princess at all in doing stupid things, but her handling of her little brother never failed to amuse him and anyone else who was present.

"But Luna is going as well." Noctis sulked.

Aelia sighed, finally the crux of the matter came to the surface; infatuations in this family seemed to be troublesome to say the least. "It's a tradition of the crowning in Tenebrae to go hunting for the snow coeurl. She has to go, it's her brother. Besides, you have to go back the day after tomorrow, and we'll be out for four days at least."

Noctis said nothing more but was clearly annoyed. Aelia raised her eyes from her finished task and smirked at him. "If you couldn't convince Ignis, you thought I would be any better?"

"I had to try."

"Yes, I would have thought it lacklustre form you if you didn't." She laughed, then smiled deviously at him. "But listen, I'll make sure nothing happens to your fair princess. Cross my heart."

"Just worry about yourself." Noctis said while leaving the waiting room of her usual lodging in Fenestala Manor.

At Noctis' comment, Cor did chuckled and she shot him a glare.

"If I could convince you as well to not go in this hunt." Cor said after a while.

"It's just a hunt and it's not the first time I do it. We've gone hunting with Ravus almost every year since the first time I came to Tenebrae." Aelia waved her hand dismissively.

"But as you're so fond of saying, danger comes your way, whether you like it or not. And I won't be there if something does happen." Cor said, as he had come as Noctis escort this time and would go back with him. He rarely accompanied the Princess to her frequent trips to Tenebrae.

"You say it as if you're the only one capable of keeping me safe. Ravus and all his Kingsguard will be there. And Nyx is staying right? I wouldn't go if I thought there was a chance for me to get in trouble. I gave my word to my dad."

Even if it was good to see her back to her normal light-hearted self after her lifelessness for being constrained inside Insomnia for six months, Cor still would prefer it if she returned with him and Noctis. But Regis had authorized her staying longer, after all it was her best friend's coronation celebration. The only relief he had felt of that trip had been that the New Empress had been unable to attend the celebrations, as Cor knew for certain Aranea would have taken a fancy to goad the Princess into doing stupid things, not that it hadn't been reserved for not such a far future….

But Empress or not, danger had gone her way the Princess way. Though he did had to acknowledge that for once danger hadn't gone for her directly, but of course Aelia had done a damn good effort to make it so anyways. Cor should have known that already, especially when there was someone dear to her in the line of danger. Why couldn't she just keep out of trouble? Even to this day, he wondered in what kind of mess she was bound to get into, it had been very quiet lately form her part.

They were bound to leave Fenestala Manor in less than an hour when his phone rung.

"Marshal."

Cor sighed when he heard Nyx's careful voice from the other end.

"What did the Princess get herself into this time?"

"We got separated a couple of hours back," That didn't sound so bad. "after we got attacked by a very big dog."

"A… dog?"

"A three headed dog. As big as a behemoth." Nyx said solemnly. Cor was tense but not overly worried, by the Glaive's tone it seemed things hadn't gone horribly wrong yet.

"You mean the supposed deamon that had been rampant near Ghorovas?"

"It seems like the rumours about it were true."

Cor pinched the bridge of his nose. "And the Princess…?"

"Fell down into a river and washed down some miles away. She has radio signal and say is no worse for wear. I told her to stay put." Nyx said.

"The dog?"

"Still somewhere around, it seems to be after Princess Lunafreya. Perhaps something about the Oracle magic or something, seemed to piss the thing off. Some men died, but the King and Princess Lunafreya are fine. We're still far from the closest outpost of Stila, we've put some distance with the thing but I'd bet it still is chasing after us."

Cor had to choose to go after the washed away Princess himself and keeping the Glaive with their royalty of their allies and calling for backup to hunt the thing down. Drautos and his Glaives have had a hell of a time chasing the thing around in the northern forests of Tenebrae, and Cor was sure he might have enjoyed that more than spending two days traveling alone with the Princess back to the nearest outpost.

Finding her hadn't been hard, just as Nyx had said she had washed down a couple of miles down the river down the cliff from where the daemon had attacked them. She had been waiting there for a whole day, but every one of her escorts knew better to ask her to get a move on her own, because her horrible sense of direction was well known and it would just make things worse if she got herself lost trying to make her way to a rendezvous point.

She was in one piece when he found her but definitely was very bored as he found her building little rock piles besides the riverbank. At least, she had been attending of her surroundings and when she had heard the ruffle of some leaves as he approached her she had shot him, or tried to, she didn't hit him.

"Cor, for Ifrit's arse! You should've said something, I could have hit you!"

"If I could be so easily killed, the Empire would have managed it long ago."

She huffed but said nothing else, raising her rifle and resting it again her shoulder. "Let's go then. I want to have a warm bath and eat something warm."

"It's not going to be so fast." Cor answered.

"What do you mean?" The Princess frowned.

"We'll have to go around another route, Drautos and his men must have already arrived and started to hunt the daemon, which was around the area I came from."

"So… we're going to circle around?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't bring chocobos."

"They're all spooked by the infernal mutt."

Aelia didn't answer, just looked to the sky and sighed. "Lead the way, Marshal."

The first hours they walked in silence, the weather was calm and pleasant under the shade of the trees, and so far the only noise around them were the normal chirping of birds or rustle of leaves overhead when some wind blew. Once they had made good progress, Cor stopped them for a rest.

"How're you holding up?" He asked after taking a sip of water.

"Fine." She answered chewing into one of the military rations he had given her to eat. Cor was surprised she didn't complain about the taste, but maybe she was hungry enough to eat anything.

"We'll continue after this rest until nightfall."

"Alright."

Cor shot her a speculative look; she was too docile, too quiet. But then again, she was probably tired. Even if she was in good physical condition, he doubted she had been in this kind of situation before for so long.

"You can sleep for a while, I'll wake you up once it's time to keep going."

"Lend me your jacket, I need a pillow."

Cor huffed, but complied and took off his jacket. He threw it very ungentlemanly towards her face, she didn't manage to catch it in time. Cor smirked as she yanked the piece of cloth away from her face and shot him a nasty look.

"My knight in shining armour, indeed." She muttered under-breath as she rolled up his jacket to make it as pillow-like as possible. She finally settled down, but it wasn't long before she moved again, Cor wasn't really paying much attention to her fussing until a small gasp of surprise made him look back at her. He almost cursed, she had pulled out the Bahamut medallion she had gifted him long ago. Cor wouldn't have cared before if she had found it, but now that he knew of her feelings towards him he'd rather not creating any space for misunderstandings that might rise her hopes to have them crushed later on.

"You still have it!"

"It's become a lucky charm of sorts." He said indifferently, even if he was actually feeling uneasy about it. "Besides, it's made of mythril. A very expensive material I've been told."

Aelia at least had the consciousness to blush a little while she scratched the back of her head. "Well, it saved you from some trouble didn't it? But I'm just glad you still have it." She said. Was it the first time he had seen her give a truly sunshiny smile?

And this time it was him that had to look away because there he felt a twist in his chest, guilt surely, for anything else would be wrong.

And he was dwelling again in things he shouldn't. Cor knew, something had shifted then, but he did what he usually did and told himself he would never dwell too long on it, and now more than before because there was a nagging suspicion it might hold a truth Cor wasn't ready to acknowledge.

They had found a big enough cave to serve as a shelter for the night, a fire lit at the entrance and the gentle creaking of the cicadas made it a very calm ambience. Cor was looking absently into the fire, retracing memories of other times when he had been encamping around Tenebrae fighting the Niffs and the odd daemon that they managed to release.

"Cor?" Aelia's sleepy voice broke the silence of the cave.

"What is it?" Cor asked without looking at her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You already are." He answered, snapping a twig and tossing it into the fire.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Cor shot her a blank look, then at her expectant look he decided to humour her. "From time to time I guess."

Aelia gave him an incredulous look. "That doesn't sound like falling in love."

"Yes, it probably really wasn't."

"You're kind of boring." She said and settled more comfortably into the wall she was leaning against.

"Entertaining you isn't part of my job." Cor answered dryly.

Aelia ignored him and looked pensively into the fire for a moment. "Then, you wouldn't really know if you fell in love, right?" She asked quietly.

Cor breathed out, he should have known things would go down this way. "I would know just fine."

The Princess looked at him earnestly. "So there's no chance for you to-,"

"No." He cut her off. "There's not. So it's better if you give up."

"I see." She said a little dejectedly and remained quiet for same time, then when Cor thought she would ask another pointless question she said what he least expected. "I guess I'll have to marry Ravus now… We could never have children because it would be simply gross to share a bed with him, but at the pace things are going neither of us will ever get married and our parents would not leave us alone until we do." Aelia said solemnly, her hands intertwined in front of her. Cor shot her a withering look and she continued. "Of course it'll fall to Noctis and Lunafreya to produce enough heirs for both Kingdoms…"

Cor finally coughed out a small laugh, and she finally grinned.

"I won't bother you about it anymore, don't worry." She said after a while, then cuddled up to sleep. Cor had stared at her long enough to curse himself afterwards when he noticed what he was doing, he just felt bad for her that was all.

Irritation bubbled in him again, he was supposed to be working and so far he hadn't finished even half of the documents he was supposed to through and the few who had ventured to consult or deliver something had anything but fled as soon as possible from him. So it was a little surprising to watch someone actually walk into his office and clear his throat nervously, Cor moved his eyes away from the form Clarus had given him first thing in the morning detailing the new shifts and addition to the incoming changes of the protocols in the Citadel that he had been staring at for the last hour.

"What." He snapped and the man flinched.

"Um…well- Sir, you see-," The Crownsguard started to fumble a little until he cleared his throat again and managed to pull out something coherent. "The Princess!"

"What about her?" Cor was starting to lose the last sliver of patience he had left, and of course Aelia had to be at the centre of it.

"She's- she's…! We don't know where she is!" The man finally coughed it out.

Cor sighed, it wasn't odd for her to go about her business without an escort, but since the Verstael incident had happened little less than two months ago, security was still strict. "She's probably going to show up in a while." He dismissed, but he should have known it wouldn't be so simple

"Yes…err, Sir. That's what we thought a couple of hours ago…" The man -Max, his name was Max right? Right.-, squeaked.

"Couple of hours?" Cor tensed up. "Since when is she gone?"

"Uh- uhm- well… since around seven in the morning. Sir." Max was sweating bullets now. Because it was close to midday now, and that meant she had been gone for five hours. "She was having breakfast with the Prince, when she suddenly got up and left. Lysa tried to ask her where she was going, but the Princess would not answer clearly, then climbed into her car and drove off the Citadel!" The man ended and took a deep breath as he had neglected breathing to explain everything in one go. But he wasn't finished yet. "And her car was registered leaving Insomnia via the north gate."

Cor jaw clamped shut so tightly it was a surprise no teeth cracked. He was going to kill her, the only thing he wanted at the moment was to find Aelia and strangle her. He took a deep breath and could have sworn one of his eyes twitched. "Understood. I'll locate her." He gritted out and the man took that as his cue to get the hell out.

Cor pulled out his phone and dialled her number, it connected and started ringing, which he wouldn't admit relieved him a little. He didn't have to wait long for Aelia to pick up.

"Yes?" Came her curt answer, as if she thought answering her phone was a heavy task. The reassurance of her being well enough to be a petulant wretch while answering him was soon replaced by irritation.

"Where are you?"

"Out." She bite out.

Oh, Astrals. He was going to kill her.

"Out where?"

"You know, by a pond and under some trees." Aelia was being particularly difficult today, no doubt their fight from the day before was the cause of it. Which was exactly why Cor wanted her to forget about him, she became childish, reckless and foolish.

But part of him wanted to see her be like that, to be young and that her worries were silly things that she could laugh at later in time, instead of worrying about people depending on her to protect them, to help give them a better future. Seeing every time she failed at peace through talks or to deliver the help needed to certain regions, and the weight it brought to her shoulders… he could see the self-doubt forming behind her practiced smiles and when she would remain unusually quiet while her eyes wondered vacantly thinking of what she could have done better.

But the fact that she was putting herself at danger right now… He pinched the bridge of his nose and released a calming breath. "I swear by the Astrals, if you don't tell me where you are-,"

"I'm in Taurus ruins." Aelia snapped. "I'll be heading back in a couple of hours." Then she ended the call.

Cor anger was starting to boil, he had to calm down and send some Crownsguards or a Glaive her way. He was sure that he would wring her neck the next time he saw her, but the thought of having her so close made his mind wander to her lips and how dry they had seemed to be yesterday-

Cor reeled at his treacherous mind. Seething, he called Monica to send a suitable escort to the Princess. Monica tried to tell him something but he hung up before she could finish it, then he rubbed his face. He needed to do something physically extenuating, fighting several Glaives at the same time sounded good, or perhaps if he was lucky enough Drautos might be free to go against him.

He swung open his office door and the couple of Crownsguards that were passing by flinched and hurried along. But as luck would have it he hadn't even made it out of the high administration wing when Regis and Clarus emerged from the former's office talking about who-knows-what. They stopped their conversation when they noticed him, of course both of them knew Cor well enough to know he was in a bad mood at just a glance, and to his further irritation they exchanged a look.

"Finished reading the new changes, Cor?" Clarus asked.

"No." Cor responded rather tightly.

"Did something happen?" Regis asked with a frown. The last thing Cor wanted was to worry his King, but it was his daughter the one causing problems.

"Only that your stubborn daughter decided it would be a good idea to take a trip outside Insomnia without an escort nor telling anyone where she was going."

Regis brows lifted a little, the crinkle on the side of his eyes and the twinge in his eyes told Cor he was amused instead of worried. "I'm sure she's fine."

Cor narrowed his eyes. "You know where she is."

Regis gave his most beatific look and glanced to the ceiling. "She mentioned it when I crossed paths with her this morning… she was in a similar mood to yours."

Clarus coughed a laugh, before clearing his throat and looked away when Cor' glare was directed at him. "Next time, tell her to inform her guards. She's old enough to know better."

A strange gleam took the King's eyes. "Yes, she is." After a pause in which Regis regarded him thoughtfully and he didn't like at all, he continued. "I will talk to her about it. You need not to worry, I sent some Glaives after her. But there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about… If you are not too busy right now."

Cor could tell by the demeanour of his old friend it was something important but personal, and immediately a voice in the back of his head told him to avoid it. Still, he just nodded curtly and Regis smiled.

"Let's walk then, I've been stuffed in that damn office for too long." The King said and started walking away, not even turning to see if Cor was following.

Clarus gave him a look with some amusement and some pity, it was one that he hadn't being at the receiving end for many years now, then clapped him in the back. "Move along, Cor."