After Nikita left I decided it was time to do some paperwork. I suppose despite having to fill out a veritable mountain in adoption forms earlier today I’m just hungry for more tedious activity.

As depressing as this may sound, the monotony of paperwork can be a salve for the soul at times. Keeps me from thinking about other much more stressful things.

These specific documents could wait if I really wanted, but I’d rather just do them now in case I need to mail them out by the end of the week. They’re for officially documenting that my Guild now has two new Beastfolk occupants who were legally adopted and serve as official housekeepers. It’s not like the Association will compensate me for having additional mouths to feed or anything, but it’s just better to report these things before they become a problem down the road.

I’ll need to send these off to the Association when the trial period is up, assuming that everything goes well.

I may be being optimistic, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t.

As long as I keep an eye on them and potentially try to help through any lingering disputes they may have then I think both Cherry and Peri will adjust, as long as Peri doesn’t get a sniff of me and try seducing me...

Still, I’m very optimistic that these pretty kitties will pull through alright in the end which is why I decided to fill out the paperwork preemptively. Ah, wait. Seems like I grabbed three of these sheets by mistake... must still be thinking about the one who got away.

By the time I finish up with the task at hand, Sam comes in bringing me a steaming fresh cup of hot coffee.

“Thought I’d check in on you, Boss! Everything going ok? Brought you a drink, too. Sorry if it ain’t good, I’m still learning the secretary part of ‘sexy secretary’.” She says with her goofy, comforting smile.

“I just finished up, but I’ll still take the coffee.” I smile in response 

“Course you will.” The Princess rolls her eyes at me and sets it down on my desk before she sits down on the office’s couch.

“Meditation go well?” I ask while enjoying the first sip of my generously offered drink. Sam’s coffee is burnt but I drink it anyway to show my appreciation. She tries her best and that makes it taste better in my book.

“Nah but I’m... I dunno. Getting there? You never told me about this whole ‘Arts’ stuff. Was it not in all those books you read?”

“Of course I knew about Arts but there was no point in teaching you about things you couldn’t apply. You couldn’t even swing your sword properly. I knew very early on that we’d need to find you a combat instructor, we just happened to be lucky enough that Nikita fell into our lap the way she did.”

“Guess so.” Sam sighs and looks away. I bring my coffee with me as I move in to sit with her. “Gonna tell me about all this Bond Level junk now?” 

“...Later on. Currently I’d much prefer a quiet moment, just the two of us.” I wrap my left arm around the Princess and pull her closer, making her blush and smile adorably.

“Yeah, sorry... I shouldn’t have asked.” Sam sighs before accepting our closeness and nuzzling into me.

I finish up the burnt coffee and reach down to set it onto the coffee table, but as we continue to sit with each other the silence starts to become overwhelming and I feel the need to ask something lingering on my mind.

“You’re not mad at me that I never told you about the Demon Lord, are you?”

Sam is quiet but shakes her head. “Nah. Not like I didn’t keep secrets from you at first.”

“Got any left? I do so love a good secret.”

“Afraid I’m fresh out after telling you I love you.” Sam’s cheeks redden as she looks away, remembering the dramatic confession last night she made in front of everyone else. I guess that really was the first time she said the L-word out loud to me, huh?

“That was about as much of a secret as you being a Princess was.”

“Gods, shut up! You’re such a bitch-” She laughs and playfully punches me. It doesn’t hurt, thankfully. Sam’s come a long way and has better control over her strength now.

“Don’t I know it.” I tell her while leaning over to give the Princess a loving kiss. It’s soft, slow, and it lingers for a good until we’re both satisfied.

“Zuzu seems better today...” She hangs her head while looking for something to talk about. “I didn’t wanna say anything about it this morning and neither did Meri, but... was she the one who gave you all those marks on your back? And that nasty bite on your neck?”

“...Yeah. It’ll be fine. WE’LL be fine.”

Sam frowns. “I just wish I could help her the same way that you do. She’s always been there for me yet it’s like I never even knew how bad her day to day life was for all these years...”

“Go out on a date sometime, then. She’d like that. Take her around the town and play spot the mana crystal addict. Might as well make good use of this odd little cosmically arranged polyamorous group we find ourselves in, don’t you think?”

“Um...” Her cheeks flush, “I guess I didn’t think of it like that. You really think it’s safe?”

“It didn’t seem like Sir Pimpington was there just to threaten us, did it?”

“...Naw, you’re right. He didn’t know we’d be there.” Sam sighs. “I miss when things weren’t stupid...”

“I don’t. Things started getting stupid the day you burst through my doors, and my life hasn’t stopped getting better since. Give or take.” I smile and surprisingly Sam doesn’t respond, instead only leaning her head against my shoulder.

“We don’t have to stay in Dewhurst, you know.” The Princess says matter of factly despite being factually wrong.

“Sam... we do. It’s like I told Snow before, the Association will fire me if I try to start up a different Guild. I’ve hardly made any profit in my entire career. This Guild is special, the-”

“The land and the building are both in your name. I know, I know. I’m not stupid.” She groans and looks me in the eyes like she was fed up with my repetitive bullshit. “Neither are you. If you can’t work inside the Association’s framework then build your own. As soon as we’re... you know... family... you’ll have the support to do anything you want.”

It’s not that simple. I don’t want to ruin our moment here by explaining Guild policy to her but the Association is the only one allowed to run and maintain Adventurer’s Guilds. They give royalty special discounts on quests for a great number of perks, exclusivity being one of them.

But that’s not relevant right now.

“I know... still- I can’t just back down from this, either. If I can’t handle one enigmatic small town crime lord then how am I going to lead you to defeat the Demon Lord like you’ve always dreamed of?”

This makes her smirk and she looks towards me. “Good point. But... you promise this isn’t just because it’s your grandpa’s Guild?”

“...No, Sam, I wouldn’t risk everyone’s safety over sentimentality like that. I-”

“Cause from the way Opal talks about him, I dunno. He just sounds awful. She makes it sound like he’s as bad as Abner...”

“No, of course not. He wasn’t... THAT bad...”

“Was he? Y’know, I didn’t know my Grandpa was that bad either until you told me about all him...”

“My glasses are Dwarven, not rose-tinted.” She giggles at my little joke, but the atmosphere is still a bit tense.

“Sam... would you like to tell me what all this is really about? You didn’t just want to ask about Zutiria and the Guild, did you?”

The young Princess surprises me by unbuckling her breast plate and her pauldrons, dropping the pieces on the floor. She quickly does the same to her faulds and kicks off her boots as well. Since she’s not wearing her gauntlets, she’s now just wearing her leather under armor. Then she straddles me in a gentle way, far from the overtly sexual manner I’ve come to know and expect from her.

“You’ve had a rough couple of days and you haven’t had anyone look after you. We went from celebrating Meri joining the harem to... well... yesterday. Yesterday speaks for itself. Of course, you’re a selfless nice guy so instead of taking care of yourself you spent the entire night looking after Zuzu... OBVIOUSLY you kinda had to, but still. Today was supposed to be your mental health day. We had a nice morning foursome, we went to go and see some kitties, but naw man, evil pimps and weird one armed ex-adventurers. What was even up with that guy, Boss? You were almost livid...” Sam stares at me from atop my lap, frowning.

“I...”

“Don’t wanna talk about it, right?”

“...”

“I don’t wanna make you talk about it. Just want you to realize that I’m not just a kid...” The tomboyish Princess reaches to her hair ties and pulls them down over her lengthy twintails and shakes her head.

Her sunlight locks flow into long strands of unkempt hair that as always make her look rough, fluffy and adorable. While she’s stunning when her hair is properly brushed like the beautiful Princess she is, her long and scrappy hair is charming in a completely different way.

Her expression is nervous but determined as her face becomes flushed. “You do so much for me and I don’t want you to think that I can’t ever be mature and take care of you when you need it, too... Please... just tell me when you need someone to comfort you, even if you’re too embarrassed or full of manly pride or... whatever else. I want to be that kind of person for you, just like you’re that kind of person for me.”

“Sam...?” I look into her emerald eyes and see them glimmer with conviction. “I’m... sorry that I never realized you felt this way...”

“Guess I lied then, Boss. I did have one secret left after all.”