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Maud would like to think that this is normal. She is wrong, of course.

"If anyone is bothering you, don't be afraid to tell me. I'll always do my duty and protect you"

Suspicion is an evil snake, slithering through every part of her brain. At first it's unnoticeable, like a gray fog. She didn't see it coming, it existed within her mind and she thought it to be normal. But it grows as time goes by, the suspicion, by every single weird act and say. And then suddenly, after growing and growing, she snaps back to reality and realizes that the suspicion that she felt has become more of a reality than a thought. It's no longer just a nagging voice at the back of her mind. It's a screaming voice that interrupts every other thought and sends her spiraling down the staircase of hell.

Because that's what her suspicion really is. Sinful. And sins belong in hell.

It's on one of those days, as Maud lays in her husband's arms in the early morning, the sun peeking through the window, that she lets that snake run free. A week has passed in a blur. Whatever happened during her first day at the palace is like another fever dream, as every hour passes she forgets more and more of what's real and continues to walk through heavy sets of fog. Her mind is at a buzz, from the moment she opens her eyes in the morning to the sweetness that she shares with her husband in the evening. Everything is the same yet it constantly seems to catch her off guard. Just walking and talking takes so much energy that she hardly has any space left to learn or think for herself. Thankfully princesses don't really need to think for themselves to function. Their maids and guards lead them through the day.

Maud has memorized her schedule, but in the moment she always manages to forget it. Usually she wakes up before the sun and gets ready for a busy day. Her maids brush her hair, get her dressed, put different products and powders on her face before finishing off with a short daily briefing. Then it's breakfast in the east princess wing together with her new sisters-in-law, who seem to join her only out of excitement and curiosity. The thrill of getting a new princess to talk to, she supposes. By that point she is already exhausted and mildly confused by everything and everyone, but her day has just begun. They continue with different kinds of work and lessons throughout the day, from learning how to run the palace by shadowing the eldest princess, to meeting different officials and nobles and signing papers that she can't understand. The complexity of her life now greatly contrasts the simple way she used to live on the farm.

Meals are often forgotten throughout the day. That leaves her even dizzier than before. Each sunrise and sundown passes in a blur, the stars in the sky are the only bright thing in her life at the moment. The pressing heat and lack of constant meals and time for herself makes Maud weaker and more disoriented than she would like to admit. She was doing fine at Blue Knight, with only a few hours of sleep and hardly any food. But now it's different. Fatigue and the heavy workload catches up on her faster than it ever has before. Faster than it did during the starving winters on the farm, or during the cold nights at the Blue Knight palace. Maud can't figure out what has changed, what makes her act this way. The only thing she can think of is the sun.

That damned sun that shines down upon them all, every second of the awakening day. Despite the buildings being open and built out of stone, it's still hot inside, so there is no refuge. Born in the cold north and darkness, there is nothing as torturous as constant heat and light. Her clothes aren't as thick and covering as they used to be at the Blue Knight palace, but she still feels like fainting most of the time. It's pretty. Everything is so pretty. The pink and blue and red that she wears, beautiful fabrics that flow down to the ground. The airy veils and the thin shirts and dresses, it's so pretty. The beautiful sunrises in the morning, the way her maids put flowers in her hair, the colorful decoration in her food, the smiles of the servants and the nobles that she sees. There is beauty everywhere and it makes her nauseous, like her head is spinning and ears are ringing and time moves faster than ever before.

At this point she is a walking shell and nothing else. Floating through space, seeing people blur by, feeling her maids lead her from one room to another and letting her new sisters instruct her. Then she lands back down to earth, every time her head falls back on Adelio's pillow. She is nervous, every time that she realizes where her maids are taking her next. Will it be her bedroom or Adelio's? When will his affections and attention end? How can a man serve his wife so dutifully? Wouldn't he rather spend his night with other, more experienced women, partying and drinking and making prince-like decisions? But every time that she begins to doubt the sincerity of the crown prince, she finds herself being led to his bed chambers again. Under his mercy, yet somehow always getting what she wants. How does that make sense?

And it's moments like these, in the evening, that she wakes up from her fever dream. The few rare moments where she has some actual clarity in her head. That clarity takes the form of a snake. A suspicious snake. As it slithers on, tugging at the one thing that she can truly rely on in times like these. Tugging at her mind, concerning the honesty of her husband.

Is he truly who he says he is?

"Nothing is bothering me, don't worry too much"

Maud would like to ignore every single warning sign that she sees. Especially when they get close like this. She has gone from fearing him to loving him in a couple of weeks, more specifically during this last week. He worries about her and she worries about him. They pretend to only tolerate each other because of the wedding that they were forced into, but in reality Adelio keeps calling for her every night. Letting her in his chamber. And the more they do it the more addictive it becomes. Feelings that were meaningless before start to develop as time goes by. None of it would've been possible if it hadn't been for his extremely uniquely kind nature.

"Strangely enough, I don't believe you"

It's early morning again, but this time the maids haven't come to fetch her yet. Why? Maud can't remember. She doesn't remember anything these days. They come and they go, dragging her with them, and she lets them do whatever they need to do. Despite the sun rising in the background, they still haven't shown up, and Maud begins to think that Adelio has arranged some sort of break for her. That would explain his strange questions concerning her health and well-being. Strange, because in this world men never worry for women. Especially not their wives, and especially not royal or noble men. Adelio is once again an exception. He always is. Oddly kind, oddly supportive, oddly understanding. One moment he is yelling at her like a husband should do, and the next he's apologizing for it with tears in his eyes, not wanting to hurt her in any shape or form. If that's not strange, Maud doesn't know what is.

There aren't many things that she knows in this world. Being a princess, being a wife, all of it is new to her. But she has lived, she does have experience in that. Living as a woman is something that she has had practice doing for about twenty years. She has lived together with her adoptive mother and father for all of her life, and observed their relationship very closely, as they were the only two humans around for most of the time. The way a man treats his woman, she has seen it all. And the things that she saw were only normalized by all the men at the Blue Knight palace, from both the things that she overheard and the things her brothers told her. Men are cruel beings, at least to women. Some are kinder but they are never understanding. That is simply the culture they were brought up in, no matter which country they reside in. And at first, Adelio seemed the same. Mean, cold, seemingly above her in every way possible. She could see his eyes rake over her body but she never saw any love or understanding in his gaze.

Everything changed that day they got married. Slowly, of course. There were moments where he seemed to be the same man she first met at the Blue Knight palace. But the look that he gave her on the night of their wedding, looming above her in the bed, was something out of this world. More than just affection for her body. More than just lust or power or want. It was something so pure, Maud can't put it to words. She has never seen a purer expression in any man before. Adelio will be the first and last. And that's what's truly suspicious about him. What could he possibly gain from tricking her like this? Because that's what he's doing. There is no other explanation. Either, he is tricking her, or the reason for his complete understanding and innocent love is something that can't be explained by her small and narrow mind. Something that she needs a lot of time to figure out.

"You seem so dizzy when I see you, something has clearly changed since we arrived"

Maud turns around in his grip, so that she is facing him. He is beautiful. Dark eyes and a sharp jaw, breathtakingly ethereal yet somehow close and within reach at the same time. Like a god, but also like the most vulnerable and normal human. He wears his clothes all the time, although he has started wearing more loose fitting white linen shirts instead of the more tight fitting daily clothing that he has. The modesty that he shows used to be embarrassing for her, because she surely isn't as modest as he is. It's just too amazing to see the subtle change of expression on his face as her body is slowly exposed to him. But now it's almost natural, she has decided that he is simply too shy. So wonderful. Her husband is shy, yet he has nothing to be shy of. He is like a rare mythical being, unable of any imperfection, yet somehow completely belonging to her imperfect self.

"I think it's the lack of food. And the heat. I fear I will disappoint your sister and fail if this goes on for any longer"

She looks up at him with her widened, slightly shy and nervous eyes. The contrast is what she loves. The way his dark eyes are always so confident and calm, even when angry or stressed, while hers are almost never like that. With anybody else she would hate to feel weak or inferior, because it's dangerous and nerve wracking. But with him it's fine. For some reason, it's okay only with him. Not because he's her husband, she would never trust anybody else even if they were her husband. Just because he's Adelio. The understanding, kind and mysterious man that she married.

Adelio frowns at the mention of her lacking food intake during the last seven days.

"What is a palace for if they can't even feed one princess properly? Don't worry lovely, I'll make sure they give you more time to rest and regular meals from now on. I can't believe they weren't doing that bef-"

"What?"

Adelio tilts his head to the side, as much as he can on the pillow that he rests on. Maud has a faint blush over her cheeks, and she stares up at him with her mouth slightly parted. Adelio doesn't understand why she is so shocked, until she voices her thoughts.

"Is something wrong?"

"You- you called me lovely. Why?"

The concept of pet names isn't very normal in Blue Knight. Red Lion is more known for its romance, no matter how empty it might be for the women involved. Pet names, casual flirting, all of that has existed since the beginning of time here. It's a part of their culture, to be frank. But in the cold north, even their language doesn't suit flirtatious speech. They are direct and honest with each other, pet names and fun word games aren't exactly something that Maud is familiar with. And Adelio realizes that, Maud can see it. In the way a smirk grows over his face.

"That's what you are. Lovely. It's my nickname for you"

Maud thinks about it for a while. What a cute thing to do for each other. Nicknames. She's lovely? Does he mean that she is loveable or simply sweet? Perhaps she's reading into it too much. Nicknames are simple, cute and fun. She can do that. It's a little off her own territory, but everything is new to her when it comes to affection. If the cold hearted warrior prince Adelio can do nicknames, then so can she.

"I like it. What should I call you then?"

Adelio smiles proudly.

"How about your handsome prince?"

Maud snorts. Adelio looks mock offended. She takes that time to think about a good name for him. Something that is both cute and affectionate at the same time, but also fitting to his personality. She's lovely, it's cute and fits his perspective on her personality. Adelio isn't exactly sweet like her, at least not in the same way. He's understanding and kind in secret, a true charming prince, but on the outside he often seems cold and heartless. Wouldn't it be cute if she called him a nickname that would fit his inner personality more than the outside that he shows? It would make it more personal. Perhaps she's thinking too much into it, once again. But Maud can't help but be excited over such a trivial matter.

"You are handsome, but I'd rather call you my angel. It suits you, for everything that you do"

For saving her from her brothers. For being so kind and forgiving. For always worrying and caring about her. For constantly being there for her. Adelio is her angel. It might be a feminine nickname, but somehow, it suits him.

And so, the snake slithers on.

"Now, can we go visit the city today like you promised?

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