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"So... is everything well with you?"

Maud begins to wonder if this truly is her brother, when he sits down on her new waiting room sofa and asks how married life is treating her.

Despite the king of Blue Knight being the only thing on her mind lately, nagging at her like a shrill voice in her ear, it is first the following day after the coronation that she actually gets to see him. With Alaric in her arms, Maud has greeted her brother by the door of her's and Adelio's quarters in the central palace, and led him to the queen's waiting room further inside. Adelio is off working in his office, much further down in the inner palace, and he probably has no idea that their meeting is even taking place. It's for the better, Maud thinks, as she grumbles about how he didn't care about the Makai matter during the coronation, nor should he now. And yet still, through her awkwardness and anger over the situation, she still finds time to be surprised when Makai quite casually asks how she is doing. Something which, may she remind you, has never happened before in the two months that she has lived with him.

So it takes a while for her to answer, as the queen of Red Lion racks her brain for any proper answer that Makai might be looking for. Which in retrospect might have only enhanced his worries more. The thing is, Maud has no idea why he is suddenly acting so differently, it makes him suspicious. Why is he not acting so overly confident and smiley, with a hidden amount of evil capability shining in his eye like always? Has something changed in him during this past year?

"I am doing quite well, brother. I understand that things back home are good as well?"

Maud smiles hesitantly, basically ignoring Alaric as he attempts to climb up her red long dress. A red dress which, if Maud remembers correctly, Makai quite quickly frowned at when he walked into the room. He managed to hide his expression nearly the moment she caught it but the memory of it still remains in the queen's mind. It could be that he is still hateful over this country that he has been enemies with for so long, but something tells her it's about more than that. Makai isn't the type to show his petty distaste that openly. Maud hasn't bothered to wear a veil in front of her brother, since they are meeting in private anyway. But she is starting to regret it, as her brother's eyes pierce into her soul, almost as if they are looking for something.

"The kingdom is doing wonderfully, of course-"

Makai sounds bored as he talks about it, waving with his right hand to signal that it's an unimportant matter. Instead his eyes fall down to Alaric, and Maud fights the urge to hide her son from her brother. But she even feels a little bit of guilt in doing so, as Makai's expression is nothing less than innocent to any evil that she might be expecting from him. Alaric, who is quite a curious baby, stares right back at his uncle. It's quiet for a while, until Makai suddenly speaks, his eyes a little unfocused.

"He seems to have gained all of Adelio's features, the darker hair and eyes...I don't think I see any of you in him"

Makai seems to be a bit lost in thought, as he stares at the crown prince. Maud swallows a bit uncomfortably, but she quickly calms herself down. Makai can't be hinting at the fact that Alaric is adopted, since nobody has any idea of it, let alone a guy who has lived a whole kingdom away for nearly a year. It's not about him trying to blackmail her or something, he is being genuine in what he is saying. Genuinely upset. Perhaps because he doesn't like this kingdom, perhaps because Alaric is his heir. Or maybe just because he doesn't like that Adelio is the father of his nephew, which might Maud remind him is entirely his fault to begin with. The queen struggles with finding a good answer for long enough for him to say something first.

"Although the way that he smiles... maybe he'll have your personality. I have never seen that bastard Adelio smile"

Maud chuckles, once, awkwardly, her wide eyes staring at Makai with newfound surprise. He is being awfully critical of Adelio today, isn't he? Could there be something special on his mind concerning the king of Red Lion? Maud would love to ask him straight out but she has learned to be careful around her brother. He is a man of great intelligence, much like everyone else around her. She can never quite guess what he is planning, so in her case saying too little is saying just enough. The less she speaks and the less she reveals about herself the less likely he is to use that information against her.

But Maud finds herself caught off guard, when she doesn't even need to ask Makai before he himself reveals everything that is on his mind, his eyes snapping up from the crown prince to meet her surprised gaze.

"Does Adelio treat you horribly? I can imagine he isn't the most pleasant man in the room, but I would at least have expected him to-"

"He treats me well. Fantastically, actually. He gave me a son to secure my position as queen, he doesn't hit me and he's very kind to me"

For a moment, Maud is self confident enough to stop her elder brother from speaking without remorse. Back in Blue Knight, as a mere princess, she would never have had such bravery to do so. But here, as queen in a kingdom that is not under the control of her brother, there really isn't much stopping her from saying and doing as she pleases. And Makai doesn't even get mad, not like he definitely would have gotten before. Perhaps because he is no longer expecting perfection from her, no longer stressing about her becoming the princess that he needs her to be. Or maybe it's just something strange in him, something that she can't explain, something that shines in his eyes as she talks. Doubt. Hope.

"And he doesn't know?"

Maud falters, her small smile falling. Makai is suddenly staring at her with that gaze again, the one from a long time ago. It brings Maud back to those two months in Blue Knight. That time. His looks, his words. Maybe all of it was because of nervousness or stress. Maybe he was just trying to intimidate her. But the way that he looks at her now, it is the same as before.

"What?"

"About your past"

Because this is their secret, isn't it? Adelio still doesn't know about her real past, about her being born and raised a peasant for twenty years of her life. Maud isn't even sure if it's a big deal anymore, but the fact that he still doesn't know weighs down like a huge burden on her shoulders. She would like to say that it's because of Makai that she hasn't told him yet. Because she is afraid that her brother doesn't want her to reveal it, because he has other plans in mind. But in reality it's because she is scared. Scared that Adelio's kindness is a rarity and a luxury, one which could break and disappear in a moment. And if that happens, if her secret makes something in their relationship break, Maud has no idea what she would do with herself.

"I see. You haven't told him yet"

Makai leans back on the sofa, eyes closed as if he is thinking about something. Maud doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't want to disturb him when he gets like this, so she just pursues her lips and stays quiet. Alaric makes a few gurgling noises in her lap but otherwise even he knows to be quiet. Maud takes the silence as time to think too. She can't believe that she is sitting in a room with her brother. A man which she thought she would never see again. Back when she got married, nearly a year ago now, she said to herself that she would be on Adelio's side from then on, not on her family's. But it becomes apparent, as she sits here with her brother, talking about their secret, that she can never truly leave her family's side. Not when something like this is weighing her down. Not when her son is his heir.

"That's... That's good. Yeah, don't tell him. If he's treating you so well then that's good for you, sister"

And for the first time he acknowledges that they are siblings. Maud nods.

"Since the topic of my marriage has now passed, should we perhaps talk about yours?"

Makai looks completely caught off guard, sitting up straight. Maud isn't playing around, her eyes are dead serious. As Alaric continues to fuss in her arms, climbing around up her dress and grabbing at her sleeves, the queen is reminded of her poor son's fate. Right now he is the only proper heir to the Blue Knight throne and that needs to change. As quickly as possible, actually. She doesn't want to be so closely tied to her family like this, and she doesn't want political chaos to ensue in a few dozen years when Alaric suddenly finds himself inheriting two kingdoms. Not to mention, she doesn't want an even bigger target and cloud of pressure to be put on his sweet innocent head when he was never supposed to have even one of the burdens. The only way for Alaric not to be doomed to eternal pressure from two huge empires, is for Makai to get married and have heirs as quickly as possible.

"My marriage? I'm not married, sister. You must have known this?"

Maud rolls her eyes, which she would never have dared to do in front of him in the past.

"Your future marriage, brother. Must I remind you of your duty as king of your country? Give our people a queen and an heir, Makai"

Makai raises an eyebrow, suddenly amused that he is being lectured by Maud. As if she wasn't sitting all intimidated under his control in the Blue knight palace waiting room a mere year ago, not daring to speak. He is amused enough to laugh,

"You have grown quite brave since your coronation, haven't you? And you speak nonsense, you have given me a nephew and thereby an heir, why would I bother with all the expenses of getting married?"

Maud sighs.

"Don't be ridiculous brother, what king should choose not to get a queen? Why don't you look nearby first? There are three princesses in this kingdom alone, I'm sure you would find at least one of them to be suitable"

Makai looks a bit aggravated when she mentions the princesses of this kingdom, and Maud would find him scary if it weren't for the amusing topic they are discussing.

"I don't understand why people keep mentioning this? Marriage is a waste of time. It may have worked out well for you, sister, but truly I have never seen a marriage work before"

Maud hums.

"Not even our mother's and father's marriage?"

Makai looks even more serious, if that is possible. His gaze darkens.

"Especially not theirs"

"And he doesn't know?"

Adelio's hand freezes mid air, hovering above the doorknob.

"What?"

Perhaps it was stupid of her to disturb them, as they were clearly having a private conversation. But Adelio just can't help it. Ever since their argument before the coronation, the mood between her and Maud has been tense to say the least. A part of the king is proud and happy that Maud would dare to be angry with her, as her mother most definitely never dared to even look at her father in a weird way. She is happy for Maud and proud of herself for making Maud feel safe enough to express her feelings properly. But another part of her, a more emotional part, is quite upset over their first real argument, which has now lasted a full day and night.

It was awkward to sleep in the royal king's and queen's bed together for the first time, and that's putting it lightly. They haven't had time nor the bravery to make up yet, they haven't even talked to each other. And Adelio would like to think that she has done nothing wrong but the truth is, if Maud is angry about it, she is probably in the wrong. When a servant came into her office to tell her that Makai was having an audience with the queen, naturally she was immediately worried. Their fight only fed the flames of his suspicion towards Makai. But turns out she played herself. Adelio thought Makai was simply evil, and that that was the reason for Maud being so stressed about talking to him again. But she never considered the possibility of there being another reason for Maud's nervousness. Despite having so many lies in her baggage, she somehow never expected her wife to have the same.

"About your past"

Adelio thought she had Maud all figured out. She is just a princess after all, nothing from her past life as a single woman could've been more shocking than a crown prince pretending to be a man. But the truth is, just because nothing could've been as shocking, doesn't mean that Maud can't have secrets of her own. And after months, months of thinking that she knew everything about her wife, it only took three words from her brother-in-law to make her realize that there was so much she didn't know from the beginning. And finally, Adelio begins to understand why Maud was so scared of Makai coming to visit. He is truly a terrifying character. Without even trying he has thrown all tables upside down.

"I see. You haven't told him yet"

And the funny thing is, Adelio can't even be upset. She isn't allowed to be. How could she ever blame Maud for having some sort of secret when her secret is that much more severe? And it kind of makes her choke up a bit. It brings back those old memories of stress, back to when she used to throw things against the wall and yell at her maids to leave her alone. Back when the stress of being a princess disguised as a prince became too much. She hasn't felt that way in a long while, but suddenly all of it comes back and Adelio has to hold her breath to calm herself down.

"Don't tell the queen that I came by"

And with that said to the nearest maid, she quickly leaves their shared quarters, wishing she could leave her own thoughts and past behind too.

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