The nation was in the middle of preparing for war and Crow, as one trusted by the knighthood, must have been as swamped as King Roy, as evidenced by his hair, normally perfect but now with a few strands out of place.
But, lonely and isolated as she was, his presence was enough to make Fie happy instantly. He was always like this—whenever she felt alone, he was always there for her. His warm smile could always melt her frozen heart, just as it did on the day she ran away from the consort’s chambers to become a squire.
He did tease her from time to time, but he also helped her out more than anyone back when she had no one else to turn to, looked out for her and was there for her when she began working as a knight, and helped cheer her up whenever she felt down. Whenever Crow actually acted seriously, he was an amazing person. It always warmed her heart to think of him. His presence truly saved her. She knew that with him around, no matter how dire the circumstances, she could keep going.
Just then, she realized: This must be how Queen feels about me. Was this the way he thought of her? Did he behold her with the same warmth? Was this how he felt when they were together? This was the first time she had ever understood him, and she felt elated to think he could feel that way about her.
Crow looked at her quizzically. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, it’s nothing.”
“You sure?”
There he was, being considerate and watching out for her again. She looked up at him and said, “Honestly, I’m in more of a fish and chips mood today.”
“Don’t give me that sass after I went out of my way to buy you this!” he grumbled playfully, pinching her cheek.
Amused, Fie whined, “No, stop! You asked, Sir Crow, so I had to tell you the truth.” Even if her answer itself was a lie, her desire to enjoy the moment with Crow was honest, and perhaps that made the entire statement honest enough.
“Hey, Sir Crow,” she said. “That’s a lion, right?”
“Yeah. Looks real impressive, doesn’t it? It’s jumping through a flaming hoop.”
“Duh, I know. Hey, which one of us did it better?”
“What kind of question is that?”
Fie made up her mind. Now she understood Queen’s feelings, and what to do next. But for the moment, she resolved to enjoy the circus and Crow’s company.
When the show was over, the maids saw the bright smile on Fie’s face and sighed in relief. They had been worried that she would have been lonely watching the show on her own, and had wondered if it might not have been better had they stayed to keep her company.
“It looks like you had a wonderful time, Your Highness,” said a maid.
“I sure did,” Fie said. “Thanks, guys.”
What a lovely person she is, the maids thought, charmed by her gratitude. Really, how did such nasty rumors get told about her in the first place? They looked back on their objections, such as wondering whether they were being punished for some error, from when they had first been assigned to wait on Princess Fie, and felt chagrined.
“We’d best be going back to the castle, Your Highness,” said another maid.
“Sounds good to me,” Fie said, and the whole party set off.
Later that night, Fie made up her mind again. I need to choose how I want to live the rest of my life, she thought. First things first, she had to verify exactly how Queen felt about her. She couldn’t afford to be complacent about this.
“Your Highness, might I ask what you’re doing?” said one of the maids.
“Just getting a bit of stretching in,” she said.
First things first (for real this time), she needed to get back in shape.