Raymond's POV:
I was the key witness in the case against Marshall. I sat next to the queen, on her left this time, as Edward was banned from being here by his older sister. Once I was called to the stand, I was attacked with questions by the defense. Questions which had nothing to do with the case, but instead my relationship with the queen. Before I could point out that my relationship with the queen was irrelevant the prosecutor objected and the judge agreed that it could not be brought into question. So the defense tried another approach. "Why were you and the queen in the library to start with?" I looked the attorney directly in the eyes "We were going over old laws. We have been trying to reform some laws King Rupert put in place." To be fair, we were doing this while dancing, but it had come up in the conversations we had, and they didn't need every detail. The defense tried, and failed to hide a grimace. "But you were in close proximity, close enough to the queen to pull her behind the shelving as Marshall walked in?" I nodded. "Yes." "But it is illegal for staff to touch the queen unless stated beforehand by her majesty herself." I nodded, looking at her and knowing where this was going. "So if the Duke is on trial, you should be as well." I shrugged, seeming informal but I didn't care at the moment. "If she wants me on trial, I will be put on trial. Let us finish this trial first however." Her eyes met mine and she quickly looked away.
I was relieved when the trial finally ended and I was able to go home. I went straight to the kitchen, starting dinner. I didn't know if she would want to eat after what just happened, but I still made the queen a plate. Sure enough, after I sat down at the table, she walked in and stared at the plate for a moment, before bringing it to the table and sitting across from me. I smiled at her and continued eating. She didn't eat, or even pick up her fork for a moment. "They haven't decided yet." She nodded, still staying silent. "They can't find him innocent after they found that diary." She sighed and looked up at me. "That's not why I'm upset Ray. They basically said that you should be arrested. They interrogated you for keeping me safe." I nodded. "But I'm okay, and you pardoned me in front of all the press, so they won't do anything." She sighed but nodded, starting to eat before stopping and taking off her heels. "Stupid that I have to wear these all the time." I gave her a smile, and finished eating. When she finished, she walked to the sink and started doing the dishes. I grabbed her arm while she did, and she swiftly turned to me. I released her and she flinched. "Ria. I would never hit you." She shook her head. "I know. That doesn't mean I won't flinch." I was confused at that. I knew her dad was in her nightmare, but was that real trauma?
We finished the dishes and I said goodnight to her, but she shook her head. "Not until you tell me why you grabbed my arm." I sighed, looking at my feet. "This is a conversation for another day my queen." She clearly disagreed, as she crossed her arms over her chest and jumped up on the counter, waiting for me to explain myself. I sighed and responded. "I wanted to make sure you knew I was okay. Im sorry if it startled you." She nodded and uncrossed her arms, bracing them on the counter and clearly buying my story. I walked up to her and held out my hands, wanting to help her down. She took my hands, but placed them on her hips. I lifted her easily, placing her on the ground right in front of me. Her perfume engulfed me as I closed my eyes for a moment. I opened them again and was greeted by her piercing green eyes once more. She seemed unbothered by the proximity and instead brought a hand to my cheek. I pulled her closer to me, so she was flush against my chest, and she moved her hand from my cheek and to the back of my neck, pulling me down into a kiss. Before I could react however, she was already pulling back, grabbing her heels and sprinting out of the room.
After a moment of processing, I walked to her room. I knocked on the door and heard a soft, almost broken voice call out "Come in." I opened the door to find her looking at me already. "If you are here to resign we can handle the paperwork after the court proceedings." I furrowed my eyebrows, before walking up to her and looking at her calmly. "I don't want to resign, my queen." "What do you mean? This changes everything. And you must hate me now." I shook my head, bringing my hand to her cheek, as she had done to me earlier. "I don't hate you Ria." I leant down so that I could whisper in her ear "I couldn't hate you for doing something I've been thinking about since you made me breakfast after the meeting with Kairi and Marshall." That had been a whole month ago. I couldn't believe that much time had passed. It barely seemed like 2 weeks. I guess time with the queen did that to you. I pulled away from her ear, letting my hand drop back to my side. She didn't let me stand up fully however, before she pulled me into a more passionate kiss, giving me time to react this time. After a moment, we pulled back, and I leaned my forehead against her's, out of breath. "Guess you'll have to pardon me for that too." I said with a small smile, closing my eyes. She chuckled and responded. "Yeah, guess so."