"I made him cry," I emphasised. "I should never have been outside my room to begin with."
"Why were you?"
"A delegation from Rajaad was arriving and Mama insisted I be there to greet them with the rest of the family. She let me stay in bed for the welcome dinner after I snapped at the footman though."
"Perhaps for the best."
"It is," I agree. "Thankfully, my cousins don't seem to be arriving today, and the worst will be over by tomorrow."
"Hopefully, they arrive soon. The banquet isn't very far away," Nate says.
"True. It's a shame I wasn't able to taste everything today. I was looking forward to trying it."
"I can talk to Chef Martina and ask if we can set up something else for you?" he suggests. "I'm sure there'll be some of the taster dishes left."
"If you wouldn't mind. I should have thought of that myself, but I've managed to avoid this situation up until now."
"I don't mind." He reaches out to brush a hand against my arm.
I don't know what it is about him touching me, but I like it. There's a safety in it that I haven't experienced from anyone else.
A door down the corridor opens, and I look over in time to see Veronica leave the room next to mine.
She pauses in her tracks when she sees us. "Chef Matthews," Veronica says, her gaze slipping past him and to me.
"Your Highness," he says with a bow.
"It's good to see you back in the castle," she says.
"It's good to have returned." He looks at me, and I can't help smiling at him.
"The pastries you sent up for breakfast the other day were delicious," she says. "Perhaps you'd give your father the recipe so that he can keep making them for us."
"I'll pass it on," Nate promises. "And Ev-Princess Evelyn has the recipe too."
"I'm sure she does."
The three of us stand there, and I find myself wishing that I could hurry my sister away so that she's no longer bothering us, even if it's just so that I can finish saying goodbye to Nate.
"I should be returning to the kitchen. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asks me.
I nod. "Yes."
"I look forward to it," he says. "Your Highnesses." He dips his head to Veronica first, and then to me, lingering a little longer than I expect him to, which makes my heart a little giddy in response. I'm not sure exactly what the cause of that is, but I kind of like it.
I watch him leave, letting out a wistful sigh, gaining another look from my sister.
"You ruined a perfectly lovely goodbye," I tell her.
"I'm sure I did," she responds. "You're aware of what people are going to think if they see him leaving your room while you're dressed like that, right?"
"I'm dressed like I normally do at this time of the month."
"You're wearing your bed clothes, Evie."
"My courses have started, what else am I going to wear when I don't want to get out of bed?"
Veronica rolls her eyes, and I run back through what I've said to try and work out what was wrong about it, but can't come up with anything.
