The sun rises with the quartet sleeping and falls with them waking up. A carriage pulls by the inn bearing the flag of Zephan and Silver Crow as its guards. Aella walks out of the carriage as the passersby watch in awe and some with curiosity. Aella walks to the inn to see 3 people waiting for her. They are Flint, Akua and Chuck.
Aella is confused, "Uhh, is Princess Twenny busy?" Chuck looks at Aku on his left, Aku looks at Flint on his left, Flint looks to the empty space on his left. They stay frozen as a gust of wind blows over them.
A door opens in the inn *BANG* Aku rushes in to see a figure curled up in bed with sheets covering it. "GET UP! It's time to leave!"
The figure curls even more, "Hmph! I'm not going."
Aku grabs sheets and pulls it as the figure resists, "Get up already! How long do you plan to sleep?!"
"Ummm, until this whole mess blows over." The figure pulls the sheets.
A vein on Aku's head can be seen popping as her face twitches, Aku glows blue. "Twenny! GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE BED NOW!!!" She pulls the sheet and the figure being Twenny rolls off the bed, in the air and falls down.
*THUD* "Heeey! What's the big idea?"
Aku grabs Twenny's ear, "THE IDEA IS YOU'RE TRYING TO AVOID MEETING THE KING!" Twenny tries to escape.
Twenny's ear and face is red, "What's the big deal, it'll probably be some big old gramps whose gonna give us more mess."
Aku shakes her head, "Why's it so hard for you to meet the king? Aren't you a princess?"
"But I never said I was." Twenny answers with a blank look. "You guys just concluded that."
Aku slams her forehead, "We didn't, the people did. Besides we three know your background is suspicious and some princess won't cut it. For all I know you could be some vampire."
Twenny raises a brow, "And you never asked?"
Aku looks Twenny in the eye, "We've decided to trust you no matter what. If not for you, we wouldn't even be allowed to speak with nobles let alone the king." Aku gives a bright smile.
Twenny stares back, "So…. you've got a thing for vampires?"
Aku's smile twitches, a red aura covers Aku as she grabs Twenny's collar. Twenny pleads, "WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT! I WAS KIDDING?!" Aku drags Twenny out of the room to the stairs. "COME ON! YOU KNOW I DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING. WAIT WAIT WAAAIIIT!" Aku throws Twenny down the stairs. *THUD THUD THUD THUD BANG*
Twenny lands in an unladylike position upside down as underclothes are seen, the audience blushes from seeing a 'princess' in such a position. Twenny turns over and points at Aku, "HOW DARE YOU! IS THAT HOW YOU TREAT A LADY?!" Aku cracks her knuckles as she makes a monstrous face. *WHOOOSH* Twenny appears behind Flint hiding, "On second thought, it's not so bad seeing the king."
Aku walks to the carriage with a bright smile, "Everyone is and ready to leave."
Everyone stares at Aku with a blank look as their thoughts, "Yeah, no way am pissing her off."
They get into the carriage and surprisingly, Aku is sitting at the center beside Twenny. Twenny looks like the most obedient thing beside Aku, Twenny sits straight with her hands on her thighs as she looks down. Chuck is sitting beside Zephan and the glare from Aku is more than enough to kill. Flint is looking out the window like it's none of his business.
Zephan covers her mouth as she lets out a laughter, "Hahahahahah." The quartet stare at her in surprise as she continues. "Pardon me, I couldn't help it. Seeing how close you are, it's almost like you're a family." There's a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Chuck holds her hand as Zephan looks at him, Chuck smiles. "You're with us now, I say forget everything and have fun."
Zephan nods and smiles, "Right."
Chuck freezes as sweat streams down his body, he sees Aku in the corner of his eye with her death glare. Aku puts her hand over Twenny's shoulder, "*Sighs* Duchess Zephan, is i- "
Zephan interrupts with her hand on her chest, "Please call me Aella." She smiles brightly.
Aku is taken aback, "Alright then. I'm the eldest amongst us." Twenny turns quickly to Aku with a face like 'HUH' Aku ignores, "As such, I'm responsible. I don't want anything bad to happen to them. That's why I have an aversion for any relationship between us and nobles, because we commoners can be punished or even killed for as much as walking on the same road as you. So Aella, I know you're a good person but can you really claim that this road you're taking us on won't lead to trouble for us?"
Twenny looks at Aku with a confused face as her thought, "Did she take my reluctance as a mess waiting to happen?"
Aella takes a deep breath and speaks out loud for those outside to hear. "I Duchess Aella Celeste Zephan, hereby stake my name on Princess Twenny, Aku Barimah, Flint Barimah and Chuck Delvan. They are from now onwards under the protection of the Zephan house, anyone who touches them has touched me, Duchess Aella Celeste Zephan." Everyone outside heard her statement.
Flint, Aku and Chuck stare at Aella with shock, her statement more than guaranteed their safety as it assured them the protection of a duke who is only second to the king. Twenny doesn't really care.
Aella smiles at them, "Is that enough to convince you of my intentions for good?"
Aku nods her head fervently, "Yes more than anything." She gives a wry smile, "I wasn't expecting you to go so far as you put your name on us."
Aella giggles, "That just shows how much I'm willing to go for you."
Twenny shrugs, "How long is this ride anyway?" She looks out the window.
Flint burst out laughing as Aku and Chuck join in, Flint shakes his head. "Teacher will always be Teacher."
Aella thinks about it, "Umm, at this rate. Maybe a week."
Twenny froze, "WHAT?!" everyone is startled.
Aku holds Twenny's shoulder, "Twenny, what's wrong?" She's worried.
Twenny looks at Aku with horror, "1 week? I'll get backache by the time we arrive." They stare blankly at Twenny, "What? I can't be the only one worried about a backache?"
Outside the carriage, the Silver Crow soldiers chuckle from the little shenanigans going on in the carriage. The vice-captain, "Quiet everyone, we don't want to get yelled at. *Muffled 'Hahaha*" she's also trying hard not to laugh.