One day passes, and in the gardens at the back of the castle grounds, Stace and the newly selected spy, Amadeus Robertson, walk through the narrow paths late at night. River is in bed, and for Stace, her daily royal advisor duties are finished, so she's decided to walk with Amadeus to get to know him better. He's been so busy practicing his nobleman act for his soon-to-be spy work, that she hasn't really gotten to know him at all. It's quiet and peaceful, moonlight with scattered clouds shining down upon them.

Stace has made sure to get into her most beautiful dress, and Amadeus continues to wear his noble attire that he wears during his practice sessions. But he had the chance to change his clothes before she approached him, so it almost seems like he's stayed in them on purpose. "So... Mister Amadeus, where are you from?" Stace asks him, asking a question that is typical to use as an ice-breaker during conversation. Especially after a time of awkward silence.

Amadeus looks over at her, walking with his hands behind his back. He's practiced how to behave like a nobleman so much as of late that he has pretty much mastered how they move, and it's essentially integrated into his normal behavior as well. "Ah, I'm from..." He thinks it's a test, so gives a fake answer. "I am from the Wellington family of the capital city." He tells her, very confident that he said the right thing.

Being able to immediately tell that he's doing his nobleman persona and thinks that she is testing him, she laughs about it. "Hey, I'm being serious. No need to give me your fake answer." She says whilst wearing a smile, having found it quite funny that he would do it. Though it makes sense, as to him she is his boss, after all. "Wow, you're incredibly funny." She tells him, happy that he gave her such a laugh. He's also good at being funny, even though it was accidental.

His face reddening ever so slightly, Amadeus looks away and rubs the back of his head while he laughs nervously. "Yeah, totally intentional." He says sarcastically, looking back over at her as he lowers his hand. "I... I totally meant to do that." He repeats, laughing again with closed eyes after he does. To him, he also likes her, whether it be platonic or romantic. That's why he stayed in his nice 'pretend' clothing even though he could have changed beforehand.

The flowerbeds are illuminated by what light resides around the garden, though it's dim. This dim light mixed with the pale blue of the moon puts the mind at peace, and the smell of the fresh flowers definitely helps. "Of course you did." Stace smiles, eyes halfway closed as she looks down at the flowers. Even though they aren't as easy to see as they would be at day, they are nice. "Where are you really from, mister Gregoire Wellington?" She asks him with a sly grin. She's knows what she's doing and is eating it up.

This sends a shock to his system it feels like, as he had not expected her to feed into that mistake at all. He laughs afterwards though, as it is funny to him. "I'm from the capital. The slums of it." He tells her, "I was in a pretty large family too. They moved to a small village in the far north of the isles now, though." He says while rubbing the back of his head and walking beside of her. Stace had no idea that they had similar upbringings, yet he still has family left while she only has distant relatives that may still be living.

"Whoa. I had no clue." She says, taking note of his all-around etiquette. It's unknown to her why he started to learn to behave like he's from a noble family with an esteemed heritage, but it's impressive nonetheless. Since he's told her of his humble upbringing, that would be embarrassing for some; it's only right that she do the same. "I'm from the slums too." She says, "I know, odd to think that I did considering I'm the royal advisor." She says with a laugh, as he is surprised.

It's no shock that he's surprised, as a person of such a high standing as being the royal advisor coming from such a background is a big shock for most, though few actually know this about her, especially after she entered high society as the royal advisor. "I would've never imagined that you came from the same place that I did." He says to her, pleasantly surprised. "Do you care if I ask a rather personal question?" He asks as they continue walking, and she nods to him. "Where are your family at? Sorry if it's too personal." He tells her.

Stace knows what the answer to that question is, and how it could be disheartening, but she still wants to answer that question for him, despite her concern of ruining the mood. "My family? Well..." She looks down at a flower bed as they pass it. "They... They're gone. They all passed away some years ago." She says to answer his question as effectively, albeit bluntly, as possible. Immediately Amadeus feels sorry for having even asked her.

He grabs her hand without thinking and this gets her to look at him. She can tell he's feeling apologetic by the look on his face. "St-Stacy, I'm so sorry...! I didn't mean to uncover any wounds...! Please forgive me!" He pleads with her worriedly, and Stace doesn't answer as they walk. She looks down at their hands being locked together, which makes him look down and notice it. He releases her hand and looks away with a blood-red face and rubbing the side of his neck. "L-Like I said- I'm sorry." He says, embarrassed about holding her hand for a moment.

She finds this cute and does not take any offense whatsoever to him bringing up this topic, nor him grabbing her hand without thinking. Even if he doesn't know how she feels about it yet, she has every intention to let him know. "It's okay." She says, and he looks over at her to see her pretty smile. Looking down at his now dropped hand, she gathers the courage and grabs his hand. This surprises him, though it makes him happy to see that she feels the same about him as he does her.

The two walk in silence, now hand in hand amidst the dim light of the outdoor castle gardens, enjoying the silence and scenery together. The night ends and the two head to their separate bedrooms, which aren't too far away from one another. As the night bleeds into day and the sun rises from the east over the horizon of the large channel between the isles and the mainland of the continent, birds chirp around the capital, signaling the morning. As happens most days, morning is when people awaken to get to work at their jobs, be it at a shop or in manual labor jobs, that's how it happens most days, and today is no different.

With the morning light shining through her window, River awakens in her nice bedroom while rubbing her eyes. Her sleep was pretty good, but she knows she'll need to get to the throne for work, so she pulls off her cover and stands up wearing her nightgown. Walking over to the partition where a wardrobe, table with a mirror, and stool sit, she goes behind it and starts getting ready. She has all sorts of clothes to pick from, but picks a white purple dress out to wear and gets herself undressed and into it. Getting ready takes a bit however, as to make herself presentable, she must fix her hair and all as well.

The day goes on, and she arrives at the throne room, where she sits in the throne. She's surprised that Stace is so late, as hours pass without her coming. She wonders what she must be doing, but Stace is with Amadeus in the room where he has been practicing his act. "Dear maiden, my name is Gregoire Wellington. Might I ask, what is yours?" Amadeus says, pretending to kiss an imaginary woman's hand as Stace watches him acting like it's a stage show. At least it's not over the top like Bryce's performance was. He turns to Stace and bows to her as his practice performance ends.

Stace claps as he bows, impressed by his skill at acting. He genuinely could be a stage actor if he so desired, but he has a far greater responsibility right now. "Bravo!" Stace says with a smile on her face as she claps. The two of them are getting along very well right now, and it's looking like they could be together pretty soon if this keeps up. Stace stands up and walks over to him. "You're really good. You have the pompousness down." She laughs. Honestly, his performance reminds her of a certain prince of a certain kingdom.

He's humbled by these words, as such praise is uncommon for him to receive. Practicing his act the past day, he didn't have any spectators, but now he has Stace to keep him company while he perfects his vastly important skills. A craft that he needs to his spy work once the time comes. Luckily there is very little of a time-crunch placed upon his training, so he has just about all of the time in the world. "Thanks." He thanks her with a blush, glancing off bashfully. It feels nice to be able to have an audience, he has found.

Not being able to get it off of her mind that she's forgetting something, Stace smiles towards him. Amadeus smiles back at her bashfully, and as he does, it hits her just what she has forgotten at the worst possible time. "Oh!" She turns to the side as this thing she forgot is big in her mind. She's been having so much fun that it must've slipped across her mind like gliding on an oil slick. "Oh, this is bad!" She exclaims worriedly, which worries Amadeus, though as she notices his worry, she changes her demeanor again to ease it. "I just... I forgot that I was royal advisor for a moment." She laughs uncomfortably, "I should go and... Do that. Sorry." She says, though he is understanding.

Frankly, it really does ease his mind, as he imagined the worst thanks to her initial reaction to remembering that. "Phew. It's alright. I get it, you've got a big responsibility, so you should attend to that." He says, being very kind and understanding. He understands having big responsibilities, given the one that he himself now holds. His spy-work could define the trajectory of this war, so it's a massive one. "I lo-" He catches himself before he finishes speaking and puts his hands over his mouth. Moving his hand, he speaks with a shaky nervousness. "B-Bye." He says sheepishly.

Stace knows exactly what he was going to say despite his attempt to stop it, and it makes her very happy. She nods and proceeds out of the room, heading towards the throne room with a pep in her step. She's not been majorly in love with anyone for quite a long time, so these feelings she gets are nice. She does worry what River will say, even though she knows she won't be blisteringly mad or anything, but these lovely feelings offset that concern a great deal. Arriving at the throne room, she enters to see River sitting on the throne and looking her way. To her, her biggest fear is disappointing River since she was the one to entrust the position of royal advisor with her.

From River's perspective though, she was concerned for Stace, as she's been so attentive and almost always on time. The few times she's been late, she has been bothered by something, be it illness, or having personal matters to attend to, and she has never been THIS late. As Stace approaches the throne to stand by its side, seemingly upset and anxious, River pipes up. "Stace, are you okay?" She asks Stace, "You're late." She says, saying something that Stace is aware of all too well.

Imagining the worst sort of reaction despite how she knows River so well, she turns to her to apologize vehemently. "River, I'm so sorry-" Looking up at River, she stops as she sees her face. Her face does not ring a tune of outrage, rather it rings of true concern and worry. This is what reminds Stace just who River is, and that she would never be that mad about something such as this. "Oh. You're not mad?" She asks River, who shakes her head. "I see. I was..." She sees that there is no point to hide it. "I was having a fun time with Amadeus. Watching him practice and stuff." She explains why she was late as she glances away.

River is glad that it wasn't serious, her relief showing on her face, and she is pretty interested by the fact she was hanging out with a man. Alone. She doesn't want to assume, but the fact that Stace would put off work because she was spending time with someone of the opposite sex, whom she has shown to be quite fond of since Amadeus was taken in by the castle to be a spy, it's pretty suspicious to her. "Ooh, do you like him?" She asks Stace with a smile, and as Stace looks towards her with red cheeks, she feels like letting her go back to him in all honesty. "It's fine, it's fine. You can go back to him. I think I've got things handled here." She says, giving her the go-ahead to go and hang with Amadeus some more.

Stace was sure she was going to be picked on for it, pay-back for things she had done to River, but is happy to see that she isn't. "T-Thank you. I won't forget this." She tells River, very thankful and walking back through the throne room, exiting. Since she had that small moment with Amadeus before she left him a bit ago that proved he liked her as well, she has been thinking of making things official ever since. And now is her chance, as far as she can tell. It really is just her luck to have the best employer in the world.

As she steps into the room where Amadeus continues his practice, he halts his current act and looks over towards her. "Stacy, what are you doing back?" He asks her as she enters. Though she does not respond and walks towards him, making a bit anxious as he imagines she's gonna slap him or something considering her quick and hasty gait. As she reaches him and he starts to step back as she is quite close, she reaches up and grabs his shirt collar, pulling him in and kissing him passionately. As stated, she has every intention to put her own feelings out in the open. As their lips release, he is stunned. "S-Stacy...?" He asks, absolutely stunned and hardly knowing how to react.

She turns away from him and takes a couple steps away before stopping. Turning back to look at him, she smiles towards him. "Call me 'Stace.'" She tells him. He is dumbfounded why she just kissed him but is overwhelmingly happy since that shows him that she feels the same way. "I want to keep working, I just had to come and do that. See you later." She says with a slow wave, turning away and continuing to walk to the door. With both people's feelings known, they have quite the future ahead of them. A future that they will maybe, just maybe, lead together.

To Be Continued...