Clara walked across the room, finished with folding the prince's clothes. She stopped at his bookcase, cleaning away the dust from the books gently, as she gazed at a few books that peaked her interest. Right now she was looking at the contents of a book about plants.

The prince re-entered his room, and Clara jumped, having been too engrossed with the book in her hand. Her face flushed as she quickly went back to dusting. Victor raised an eyebrow, and allowed himself to show the slightest of smiles at her flustered state.

"You can take the book if you want." his deep voice rang out. Clara turned around, her face showing that she was surprised at the gesture. 

"Oh, thank you, your majesty." she smiled sincerely, turning back to finish off her job. The prince hovered over his desk that was covered in piles of paper and observed it, frustratedly running a hand through his dark hair. With a huff he decided to eat his dinner before he went back to work.

When Clara moved to the other side of the bookcase, she didn't see the chest in front of it, and accidentally bumped her knee against it, earning a grunt of pain. Victor stopped eating, looking at her.

"How's your knee?"

"As I've said 4 days ago, it's completely fine."

"Excuse me for not taking your word when you say you're fine." he rolled his eyes.

"Look, I can walk around perfectly." she said softly, turning around to face him. "It's almost fully healed; I can even do a cartwheel!"

"Oh, that would be amusing to see." he smirked.

"I'm not doing a cartwheel." she deadpanned and he chuckled, raising his hands in mock defense. After a moment of silence, she spoke up quietly. "Thank you for your concern."

The prince nodded at her, somewhat flustered, but he'd never show it.

He watched curiously as Clara made her way to his desk and analyzed the papers. If it were anyone else, he would've yelled at them to get away, since it contained sensitive information about their kingdom, but he figured if his father trusted her to be with him all day and night, then it was okay for her to see.

And frankly, he was desperate for help, even though he would never admit it.

He watched as she bit her lip in concentration, not even aware of his lingering gaze as she took some papers and placed them around the desk in what seemed like a planned manner.

"What are you doing?" he didn't mean for his tone to be so demanding, it came out as a habit.

"Organizing." she paid no attention to him as she continued sorting the papers. "What exactly is going on in Chefrithe?"

Victor sighed, running a hand down his face. You could see the bags under his enchanting blue eyes, only in this moment. 

"It got attacked by some bandits a few weeks ago." he stood up and walked over to her, standing on the other side of the desk. "They caused a lot of damage and stole a lot of resources."

Clara froze in her spot, her heart hammering against her chest. She felt as if someone sprinkled salt on her internal wound.

"What about the people?" she whispered, her chest tightening.

"A few died..." Victor replied with a pained tone. He too was heartbroken from the news. "This town is now my responsibility, and there's just so much to do..."

Clara analyzed the papers, trying to control her breathing as she did so. She put the security measures in one pile on the side, and the plans for restoring the resources in another, and so on. She then picked up the security pile and studied it, her mind lost in an abyss of focus to avoid the pain that resurfaced moments ago.

"The attack happened when the knights were changing shifts, correct?" she read out loud, glancing at the prince who nodded. "Which means they knew the schedule..." 

Victor furrowed his eyebrows, seeing where she was going with this. "You don't suppose we have a spy among our knights do you?"

Clara shook her head, knowing how hard the process of becoming a knight is, and how careful Edwin is.

"No, I think the bandits had scouts around, studying the knights movements for days, making a pattern."

Victor gazed at the papers, thinking about what she said. He didn't have time to reply before Clara placed a map in front of him and leaned forward to be able to point.

"See the woods surrounding Chefrithe? According to this, there were no knights guarding that area at all."

"So the bandits hid out there to figure out the schedule!" he exclaimed, how couldn't he see this earlier?

"And since they succeeded this time, it's likely they'll try again."

"So we should appoint some guards in the woods." Clara nodded in agreement.

"As well as make the knights schedule unpredictable, change it every week or so, completely randomly, so they can never find an open window."

"Brilliant!" he murmured to himself, looking up at the girl. She felt his eyes on her so she too lifted her head, and noticed how close they were. Victor cleared his throat as they both backed away, avoiding each other's eyes. However, Clara glanced at him hopefully, but when a few more seconds passed and the prince didn't utter another word, she sighed disappointedly and went back to her chores. Victor looked up once she moved away and saw her crestfallen face, and it didn't sit right with him, so he gathered all his pride and spoke out loud. 

"Thank you."

"It was nothing." she smiled contently. "I'm always here to help. Quite literally, actually, it is my job after all."

Victor allowed himself to laugh and shake his head as he returned to his papers, writing things down.

The next day, Clara had some time off, since Victor would be attending a meeting with the council regarding Chifrithe. Edwin and countless other knights would also be attending, so she could finally have an afternoon to herself and not worry for the life of the prince.

She glanced up every now and then when Lila giggled while she sat contently on Julian's lap as he helped her make a flower crown. Julian was also given the day off to be able to relax for a while, and no better day than when Clara was also free.

Lila got so distracted when she saw a butterfly pass by her head that she pricked her palm against the needle that Julian held in his hand as he threaded flowers together. With a sudden cry, she ran to her big sister, calling her name with tears clouding her vision.

"Clara!" she cried and jumped into her arms, showing her the small bit of blood on her palm. Clara gently took her hand in hers, wiped the blood away with a handkerchief she brought with herself and kissed it softly, whispering encouraging words to the small girl to calm her down.

"Shh, you're okay. It's okay darling, let it all out. You're safe with me."

Julian on the other hand was losing his mind, as he sprang up from his place like his life depended on it when he heard Lila cry, and he was terrified that he had hurt her, so he was rambling apologies here and there but none were understood in his frantic state.

When she calmed down, Lila began to laugh at Julian, and he breathed out in relief that she was fine.

"I take it you're okay, Tiny?" he knelt to her height and held her small hand in his big one.

"I'm okay!" she grinned at him and turned to her sister once more, who nodded at her. "I'm a strong girl!"

"That you are, Tiny." he chuckled and she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. He then pulled away and placed the finished flower crown on her head, making her grin widen even more.

"What do we say, Lila?" Clara smiled.

"Thank you Julienne!" she giggled and ran around in the grass, continuing her mission of chasing butterflies.

Clara and Julian laughed lightly and sat side by side, admiring the small girl with a bright smile as they leaned back on the wisteria tree.

"She really likes you." Clara nudged his shoulder teasingly. "I would say she fancies you."

"Of course she does, look at me!" he scoffed jokingly and flexed his muscles rather dramatically. 

Clara watched him with an unamused expression which made him blush, making her finally give in and laugh, rolling her eyes. She teased him by repeating his actions, her laughter only growing.

"Well of course compared to you I'm a roach." he smirked, leaning closer to her, nudging her shoulder. Her laughter stopped abruptly and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?" he asked innocently.

"Making me blush and all that," she struggled to speak with her red face. "ugh, now I can't speak."

They both laughed and just admired the view, before Clara softly leaned her head on Julian's shoulder, which made him look at her instead of the beautiful wisteria trees that surrounded them. They sat in peace and comfort, just enjoying one another's presence.

"Clara, Julienne, come catch me!"

The two adults exchanged glances before they raced to the little girl, causing her to squeak out a giggle and run away from them. Their laughter filled the air as Clara finally caught up to the little girl and lifted her up in her arms and spun her around, only for Julian to then wrap his arms around Clara's waist and doing the same to her, making both girls squeal and laugh. They then went back to their spot where the picnic basket sat and ate their dinner happily.

"Thank you for spending the day with us, Julian." Clara smiled at him while they walked towards her home, with Julian holding onto a sleeping Lila as she curled up into his chest comfortably.

"Anything for you, my lady." he smiled back. "I had a lot of fun; I always love spending time with you."

"As do I." she then glanced at Lila and laughed quietly before taking her from his arms. "And clearly so does Lila."

Julian chuckled and pushed away the hair that had fallen onto Lila's face gently. "She's wonderful."

"I better tuck her in." she smiled at her sister, then leaned up to kiss Julian's cheek softly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Clara." he whispered, placing a kiss on her cheek and one on Lila's forehead before he started to walk back to his own home, his thoughts filled with a certain brunette with fiery and kind brown eyes.

Heeyyyy :)

I keep forgetting to mention that I've made a playlist for the Avelyn series, and I was wondering if you guys would be interested in it? 

Tho I will say, it would probably include subtle spoilers as to what will happen in the future so...

Anyways, hope you're enjoying the story so far! Please let me know what you think!