The following morning, Noctis woke up to find himself alone in the hotel room. Seeing no one around, he left the room and walked down the stairwell to the lobby. There, he found Iris waiting for him. "Morning, sleepyhead!" She cheerfully greeted him.

"Mornin'," he drowsily responded. He looked around the lobby for his friends, but the only other person he saw was Jared. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, they're out walking with Talcott. They went to see the sights. We should, too!"

He didn't see an issue with her offer nor did he see a reason to deny. "Sure, why not?"

Iris smiled from ear to ear. "Great! I'll show you around!"

Noctis followed the girl out of the Leville. He walked behind her as they ventured around Lestallum. Their first stop was Partellum Market. It wasn't far from the hotel.

Iris led Noctis through the marketplace and pointed out the various stalls and goods for sale. "You can get almost anything here. Isn't it great? I'd buy out the whole place if I could. I had so much fun shopping here with Makina yesterday."

Noctis looked around at the many vendors and items they were selling. "All these shops seem right up your alley."

She laughed. "You know me so well."

They continued their stroll through the marketplace. Iris got distracted by one of the stalls and excused herself. She quickly returned a few minutes later and escorted Noctis to the next stop on her tour—EXINERIS Industries.

The large powerplant was the focal point of Lestallum and served as a landmark. "That's the power plant, the driving force behind Lestallum's prosperity," Iris explained. "But get this: only women work there. As a matter of fact, women are the ones who do all the work in this town."

"Sounds like your kind of place. I can see you doing well here," Noctis responded.

"I think so, too! It's so different from home. I was surprised at first. But I like it!" Iris turned her back to the powerplant. "All right! Next, we're going to the outlook!"

Along the way, the two idly chattered about their various surroundings. They walked through the main thoroughfare, crossed the street, and meandered past the parking lot to reach their final destination.

"Pegglar Outlook," Iris announced. "Amazing view, right? Look! There's the Meteor!" She suddenly bounded up closer to Noctis and laid her head on his shoulder. "Y'know, Noct, this almost feels like a date."

Noctis tried to make light of the situation. "If it were, your brother would kick my ass. And, well...y'know..."

The young girl laughed. "We better keep it quiet then. And besides, you already have Makina. I wouldn't do something like that to her or you."

He rubbed the back of his neck with a small frown. "Things are kinda complicated right now."

"What?" She gasped. "Is it because of the treaty and the whole arranged marriage with Lady Lunafreya?"

"Exactly."

She tilted her head in bewilderment. "The arranged marriage was part of the peace treaty, wasn't it? Wouldn't that make it void since the empire attacked Insomnia?"

Noctis opened his mouth to reply but no words came out as he fully understood Iris' question. His jaw slackened as realization slapped him in the face. Any terms detailed in the peace treaty became void the moment the empire attacked Insomnia. The peace treaty hadn't been signed and none of them were legally binding any longer.

She chuckled at his expression. "Looks like you better find Makina. Sounds like you two have some talking to do."

Noctis took off. He ran through the streets of Lestallum in search of Makina. He checked the main thoroughfare and the marketplace, but he didn't find her. He decided to check the Leville and fortunately found her in the courtyard. She stood by the fountain, admiring the gentle sound created by the splashing water. "Hey!" he shouted.

The princess heard and turned around to face him. "I thought you'd still be touring the town with Iris." She saw the perspiration on his forehead and the way he was panting. "Why're you sweating? Did something happen?"

"You could say that..." He huffed out. After catching his breath, he walked up to her and stared down at her shorter form. He was eight inches taller than her and often had to look down to meet her gaze. "Could we talk in private?"

She raised a brow in a questioning manner. "You're acting weird. Weirder than usual, actually." She folded her arms across her chest. "Since you're staring at me like a puppy who's eager to go on a walk, how could I say no? Let's talk in my room."

She led the way into the Leville and up the stairs to the room she and Iris were sharing. She gazed confusingly at Noctis when he locked the door behind them. "Okay, you're starting to freak me out. What happened?"

"It's nothing bad, I promise," he replied as he leaned against the door.

She sighed. "Well, you're acting like it's really urgent. Usually urgent news is bad news..."

Pushing himself off the door, Noctis strode over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. His fingers dug into the flesh along her exposed shoulders. Without hesitating any longer, he leaned down and placed his lips against hers.

Makina tensed at the unexpected kiss but reciprocated a few seconds later. She matched his intensity and kissed back. However, she lost her concentration when Noctis suddenly pushed her back by her shoulders and knocked her onto the bed. Her lips disconnected from his as she yelped in surprise when she fell onto the mattress. She stared owlishly at the ceiling before pushing herself up onto her elbows and smirked at him. "Someone's pushy today."

The prince groaned at her pun. "Don't you start with the cheesy puns too. Specs does it enough already."

"I can crack puns whenever I want." She scooted her body up the bed and laid her head on the pillow. She then remembered what they were doing and gasped in realization. "Oh, gods!"

Noctis flinched at her sudden shout. "Why're you yelling?"

She sat up with her legs stretched out in front of her. "We just kissed."

He arched a brow. "So?"

"So?!" She shrieked. "You're engaged and I'm—!"

Noctis silenced her by climbing onto the bed and grabbing her shoulders. He used his weight to push her back down onto her back. Knees tucked between her legs, he moves his hands from her shoulders and places them on both sides of her head. He stared down into her lilac eyes. "The marriage's off."

Her eyes widen. "Off? How is that possible?"

"The peace treaty fell through the moment the empire attacked the city. Did you forget already?"

"Of course not! The treaty—" She stopped midsentence before she too grasped the situation. "Oh, Astrals, you're right..."

"I didn't realize until Iris told me."

She eyed him curiously. "So, does that mean we can get back together?"

"I didn't realize we officially broke up," Noctis remarked.

"I broke up with you at Galdin Quay, remember?"

He could remember clearly. However, he refused to acknowledge what happened that day. "Nope."

She saw through his lie but didn't call him out. Instead, she lifted her hands and placed them on his cheeks. She gazed into his azure eyes, searching for any regret that hid within them. "I don't have anything to offer you. Not a kingdom or an army. Are you okay with that?"

"Guess what those guys said really got to you," he mumbled. "I don't care about any of that. I fell in love with you for who you are, not what you have." He leaned down and kissed her again. Unlike before, this kiss was more passionate. His tongue delved past her lips and explored her mouth.

Makina caressed his cheeks with her thumbs as she got lost in the kiss. She tried to match his intensity like earlier, but she fell short when he decided to be the one to take the lead.

As the heated kiss intensified, Noctis lowered his body against hers. He made sure not to put his full weight on her and continued to kiss her passionately.

The girl, whose thighs were now pressed against the sides of his hips, realized how intense the make-out session was becoming and reluctantly broke the kiss. She unlatched her lips from his and placed her hands on his chest. She pushed him away just enough to see his face. "Whoa," she said. "Down, boy."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a dog."

"You're more of a cat than a dog," she snickered. "But we really should stop before we get carried away. You remember why we can't sleep together, right?"

Noctis' eyes lit up with realization. "Oh, right..."

"Not only that, but it's not even noon yet. Who knows who would interrupt us."

"Most likely Specs," the prince commented.

"There is no way on this planet am I letting Ignis walk in on us doing the nasty."

Noctis groaned at the thought. "Don't put that image in my head..."

"Sorry," she laughed. One of her hands came up to his face and comb back some strands of his unruly hair. "Before I forget, Talcott told us something rather interesting this morning. Let's go see him."

He lazily flopped down onto her with a sigh, eliciting a grunt from her. He buried his face into the crook of her neck. "Can't we stay like this for a little longer?"

"If we do the others will get the wrong idea, especially Gladio."

Another groan came from the prince. He pushed himself off the girl and got off the bed. "I swear, I wish it was just us sometimes..."

Makina crawled off the bed and straightened her clothes and snowy locks. Once she was decent, she left the room with Noctis following her. They returned to the lobby where the others were waiting for them.

Prompto smiled when he saw his best friend was back. "Hey, look who's back! Talcott, go on and tell 'em what you told me."

The little boy smiled excitedly. "You got it!"

Jared glanced at his grandson with a shocked expression. "Oh, come now, show some respect."

"Whoa, no need to respect me—I'm not royalty," Prompto said.

Talcott gave Noctis his full attention. "So, there's this legend about a sword. And the sword's supposed to be behind a waterfall nearby."

"It may well be one of the lost tombs," Ignis deduced.

Prompto glanced over at the prince. "Check it out?"

"For sure." Noctis smiled saintly at the young boy. "Thanks for the tip, Talcott."

Talcott was smiling from ear to ear. "You're welcome!"

Makina glanced at the boys. "Well then, it sounds like our next destination is set. Shall we go?"

"Don't see why not," Noctis replied. "Let's go."

The five leave the hotel and head to the parking lot. Along the way, Gladiolus eyed the two royals. "So, you two got somethin' to tell us?"

Noctis stopped midstep and faced his shield. "Like what?"

"I saw you and cupcake head to her room. You both were gone for quite a while," he grinned. "Did you two finally do it?"

"Dude, gross!" Prompto wailed. "Besides, that is clearly none of our business!"

"Do leave such matters private," Ignis advised.

Gladiolus glanced at the tactician. "C'mon, Iggy. I know you're curious too."

"How wrong you are..."

Makina saw the brute was going to try to squeeze information out of Noctis and came to his rescue. She stood before the boys with a hand placed on her hip. "We haven't slept together."

"You gotta be pulling my leg," Gladiolus scoffed. He then jabbed a finger in the prince's direction. "Prince Charmless here has a hard time keeping his hands off you. There's no way you two haven't done it yet."

"Trust me, we haven't done it. Besides, you'd be able to tell if we did. Noct's hair would turn white and his eyes would be purple like mine." She spun around and walked away, not noticing the flabbergasted expressions written on the faces of Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus.

"Wait... What?!" Prompto shrieked before pointing at his best friend. "You, with white hair and purple eyes?!"

Noctis wasn't surprised his friends didn't know the truth. He was the only one Makina told and it was before they started dating. "Guess you guys really are clueless."

"You gonna tell us or do we have to chase after cupcake to get the answer?" Gladiolus inquired.

"Maybe—"

"Hey!" Makina shouted as she rounded the corner. "What're you four doing just standing around?"

Noctis rubbed the back of his neck. "You'd better tell them."

She sighed. "Is this still about Noct and I sleeping together?"

The prince cleared his throat. "Yep."

She crossed her arms and looked at Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto. "That means you three aren't aware of how the Valtreus blood is passed down. I'm surprised my father didn't share it with you all. Then again, I understand why he didn't."

"King Fellux was not of the royal bloodline yet possessed the blood of Valtreus. There must be a method Queen Azuli used to pass along the sacred blood," Ignis said.

"And that's where intercourse comes in," she said. "The blood of Valtreus is passed down via coition. It is the only way for the Valtreus blood to be passed along to a spouse. It is also the method that allows the children of the King and Queen of Iona to be purebloods."

Prompto gasped as he listened to her when a memory from high school resurfaced. "That guy really was lying!"

"What guy?" Gladiolus wondered.

"There was this guy in high school who was telling everyone he slept with Makina."

"Ah," Ignis chimed in. "I also remember such an occurrence."

The marksman grinned. "Noct was really upset when he heard the rumor."

Noctis looked away, refusing to say anything. He replayed the memory in his head.

༻──── ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ────༺

Inside homeroom, Noctis tiredly rested his head on his desk. He wanted the day to start so he could finally go home and take a nap. He closed his eyes for a second, but they quickly opened when he heard a group of boys laughing. He was going to ignore them, but his full attention was on them when he heard them mention Makina.

"Dude, there's no way you slept with THE Makina Valtreus. You're lyin'," the shaggy-haired boy said. "There's no way the hottest girl in our school slept with a loser like you."

"But she did!" The spiky-haired boy remarked with a confident smirk. "She even said I was the best guy she's slept with."

Noctis couldn't bear to listen any longer. He quickly got up from his desk and searched for Makina. As he left the classroom and walked down the hallway, he heard even more people talking about the princess. What sickened him the most was hearing the other students call her a slut. This made his blood boil.

After some time, Noctis found Makina tucked away in the corner of the library. With her was Prompto. The blonde was trying to comfort the weeping princess.

"Hey," the prince said as he rushed over. He kneeled on a single knee and placed a hand on the girl's arm. "What happened?"

"It's this stupid rumor going around," Prompto growled. "Some girls just cornered her and started to attack."

"What?" he gaped in shock and horror.

"I'm gonna get some stuff from the nurse's office. Stay with her, buddy." Prompto smacked him on the back before rushing out of the library.

Once the blonde was gone, Noctis took a closer look at Makina. Besides the tears, he saw the small scratches along her cheeks and neck. He winced as though he was the one in pain. "Damn..."

"I-It's not as bad as it looks," Makina muttered shakily.

"Why did they do this to you?" he asked.

She looked away with a sniffle. "Th-They think I slept with their boyfriends."

"What a load of bullshit," he hissed.

"It's all a lie," she declared. "Do you see any guy around school with white hair and purple eyes?"

Noctis blinked in shock at her question. "Wait, what?"

"Intercourse is how the Valtreus blood is passed to spouses who don't hail from the royal bloodline. If I had slept with so many guys like the rumor says, there would be tons of guys walking around with white hair and purple eyes!" She tugged at her snowy locks with a frustrated huff. "I-I don't understand why so many people are believing a baseless rumor!"

"Well, I...did not know that," Noctis mumbled. He wedged himself in the space between her and the bookshelf. He pressed his back against the wall and tensed when he felt her head land on his shoulder. He relaxed after a few seconds. Unconsciously, he searched for her hand and took it. He squeezed gently to reassure her. "I'll make sure these rumors go away."

"But how?" She wondered.

"By finding the person who started it, and I think I know exactly who it is."

"B-But—"

"I'm back!" Prompto shouted. Luckily no one was behind the checkout counter to scold him for shouting in the library. He had a bottle of water, some cotton balls, and band-aids. He quickly got to work on patching the princess up.

"I'm gonna take care of this." Noctis squeezed Makina's hand a second time. He then looked at Prompto. "Watch over her for me."

"I got this," he responded and continued to work on the scratch marks on the girl's cheeks when she lifted her head off the prince's shoulder. "Just don't do anything too careless, okay?"

"No promises," Noctis replied. He released Makina's hand and left the library. Anger flowing through his veins, he was blinded and failed to see the frightened expression of his fellow classmates as he headed back to homeroom.

Back in the classroom, he found the spiky-haired boy where he was earlier. He slammed the sliding door closed behind him, which startled not only the group of boys but the other students in the room. Noctis focused his fiery glare on the spiky-haired boy as he stalked over. From the conversation earlier, he was certain this guy was the source of those ugly rumors. How dare he drag Makina's name through the mud just so he could get more attention. "You've got a lot of nerve," the prince snarled.

The boy was taken aback at Noctis' tone and presence. Never did he imagine the Prince of Lucis would approach him, especially with such malice in his voice. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"You're the one behind those damn rumors," he hissed.

A bell went off in the boy's head. "Oh! Those!" He swallowed nervously. "I-It wasn't me, I swear!"

Noctis grabbed the collar of his school uniform and pulled him closer. He was an inch taller than the boy and used the small height advantage to frighten him more. "I heard what you said earlier. I know it's you. You better make this right or I'm gonna deal with you personally."

The boy frantically nodded. "Y-Yes, Your Highness!"

The moment Noctis released the boy, he scrambled out of the classroom. His friends were close behind him.

The prince shoved his hands into his pockets with a heavy sigh. "Just another asshole looking for attention..." The moment he turned around, he froze when he saw Prompto and Makina standing outside the classroom. "How long have you guys been there?"

"Long enough to hear you threaten him," Makina answered.

Noctis stared at the bandages on her cheek and neck before looking away. "At least I didn't punch the guy..."

"Let's just hope he doesn't tell the teacher the Prince of Lucis threatened him." She then smiled. "Still, thanks for helping me, Noct."

"I wasn't gonna let some attention-seeking asshole drag your name through the mud," he replied. "If he doesn't end the rumor, I just might have to punch him."

"Can you try NOT to get suspended?" Prompto muttered. "Iggy and Gladio definitely wouldn't let that slide."

"I don't care what they do to me." The prince turned his back to them to hide his reddening cheeks. "I won't just sit around and let everyone insult Makina for something she didn't do just because some guy wanted attention."

The princess smiled gently. She walked up to Noctis and pecked him on the cheek, leaving a soft kiss on his rosy complexion. "You really are a sweet guy, Noct."

He cleared his throat just as the bell rang, signaling the school day was about to begin. "W-We better not be late..."

"Dude, you do realize all of us are in the same class, right?" Prompto cackled.

Now he was even more embarrassed. "I-I knew that!"

༻──── ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ────༺

"In the end, you still punched the guy," Makina giggled. "You were suspended for a week."

"Not my fault he didn't listen," Noctis remarked. "After that punch, he finally told the truth."

"Inflicting harm on others is not the ideal way to deal with a situation," Ignis sighed.

Gladiolus huffed out a chuckle. "Oh, please. If the girl you like was being bullied because of false rumors, you wouldn't hold back."

"I wouldn't result to violence. There are preferable methods that do not require violence."

"Don't you dare say talking because Noct already tried that."

Makina titled her head to the side as she remembered the past. "Oh, that's right. You praised Noct for what he did. On the other hand, Iggy forced him to train with him for the entire week as punishment."

"What can I say?" The shield shrugged his shoulders. "The boy became a man and defended his precious princess."

"Shut up..." Noctis grumbled.

Makina knew they had more important things to do and decided to end the idle chatter. "Let's leave the past and focus on the present. We've got a royal tomb to find, and hopefully a disciple along the way."