Human

Carmichael stared from across the desk and tapped his fingers. His eyes were on Mei, studying her as if she was the bringer of the plague. Mei hadn't left Cathlinn, keeping so close to even be in Cathlinn's lap as she studied what Simon had placed in front of her. "Your highness," he sighed.

"It's a phase. She'll take her independence when she's ready," Cathlinn muttered. In truth, she was craving any form of touch. It was relaxing and her panic attacks had started to die down.

"It's a bad image," Carmichael groaned. Mei started to get up until Cathlinn tensed a bit around her.

"It's helping," Cathlinn glanced at Carmichael and he blinked before rubbing his head in exasperation.

"If it's helping," he nodded.

"Do we have anything unbiased," Cathlinn asked. He frowned and stared at the book that was open, a smirk coming to his face as he stared at the pages.

"Isn't it a great thing," he mused.

"It sounds inaccurate. I get the winner does with history as they please but I want all sides," Cathlinn stated.

"You could always ask to travel," Carmichael nodded. Cathlinn dropped the quill in her hand and stared at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide. "What is it?"

"You mean to tell me I'm not stuck here," Cathlinn gawked, "And you didn't bother to fucking tell me?"

"The princess never expressed a desire to travel," Carmichael shrugged.

"No desire to- where do we go first," the grin on Cathlinn's face grew wide. It was probably the only other time Carmichael had seen her become lively, the only other time when she was drinking with the knights.

"Well, the allied nations first," Carmichael hummed.

"Oh! Can't you start from far away and visit while coming back," Mei chimed in.

"Can't you have the princess conduct her studies," Cathlinn glanced up at Simon and she smiled.

"Come with then," she suggested. His face twitched a bit at the suggestion but Cathlinn saw it; that small smirk was enough to tell her he would enjoy it. "You can broaden your knowledge too, Mr. Scholarly."

"Your highness, you need to realize what traveling would entail for you," he hummed. "I would be simple, but you'd have to have guards, maids, trusted cooks accompany you so nothing happens. You'd have to visit the foreign noblemen to have relations politically outside of the country's inner circles. Not to mention all the study material you'd have to being with you."

Cathlinn frowned and glanced between Carmichael and Mei, "Mei? You said you were a warrior?"

"I was training to be a fan maiden, yes," Mei replied.

"And Carmichael is like a paladin," Cathlinn stated. "I can defend myself too. So guards wouldn't be a problem if I had these two. The studying wouldn't be hard because I could use the foreign libraries right? And who says we can't go mostly undercover? It would reduce assassination attempts all while I get a better feel."

Simon's grin became visible as he crossed his arms, "Your highness. You can't read or speak any other language."

"So we conduct something called immersive learning," Cathlinn sat back and shrugged, shifting when Mei leaned against her and wrapped her arms around Cathlinn's neck. If it wasn't for her, Cathlinn would be in a small panic from the excitement that she felt. It was a small relief but maybe the human contact was what she needed.

"We still have to petition the king for permission," Carmichael nodded. "And the queen may be against it."

"The queen can suck my undeveloped dick," Cathlinn snorted. The men stared at her in shock as Mei started laughing.

Cathlinn shifted under the Kong's gaze as he stared at the travel plans she had written out, his eyes narrowing. "This is very thought through for such a small group," he placed the paper down and leaned back. His study was far larger than the one Cathlinn had been permitted to use and there was more than just books and maps set about. It reminded her of aesthetic drawings of witch homes and fairy tail libraries.

"I figured I'd come with a plan," Cathlinn nodded. "I wanted to have something ready in case you asked me a bunch of questions, your-"

"Father," the king sat back and smiled warmly at Cathlinn. She stared at him silently for a moment, a twinge of guilt or happiness flicking at her heart. He wasn't her father, much less her step father, but he wanted to be? Even if she wasn't his? "I'm sure you're very aware that Monique wasn't my own before. However your world worked, you don't seem too ignorant to that like Monique was."

Cathlinn flopped into a chair, covering her mouth to try and stop her voice from cracking under the weight of her emotion, "I was aware. I didn't know if it was different here is all."

"Did you know your father," he asked. Cathlinn looked around, no one in the study with them. Was it really okay to talk about this with him? If he was aware then why wasn't he upset?

"I-I did," she nodded.

"What is he like," he asked. There was no malice in his voice, just a stated curiosity. She glanced at his hands as they began to write, trying to come up with words to explain everything.

"Hard working," she nodded slowly as her voice came out, "Honest. Ambitious and intelligent."

"Did you ask him for much," he asked. "Because you haven't asked for anything like Monique has." Cathlinn rubbed her face as her eyes stung. Was she homesick or was this just because someone asked her about before?

"I was angry with him for a long time," she replied. "I was angry based off of childish fears that he was patient enough to help water out."

"So wise as well," the king nodded. "I'm sad to say that man died here. Not too long ago either."

"What," the crack in Cathlinn's voice couldn't be squashed as her eyes widened. How could that be? Back home, her father was a man hard to kill, hard to get rid of. His patience and forethought had always been ahead of everything and it led to his success and livelihood.

"In battle," the king nodded. "He was defending his family." The king slid the papers across to her but she didn't take them. She was still staring at the king with wide eyes as she processed. The king stared with a regretful look. "I thought I would tell you before you'd start searching for the rest of your family. You seem the type to need the information forthcoming."

"Thank you," she mumbled. He blinked when he looked up, slowly reaching across the desk and taking Cathlinn's hand.

"You can cry, you know," his voice was soft and it felt like that was hard for him to say. "No one will judge you for letting out your emotions."

"He taught me that there's no use crying for something you can't control," she said after a long silence. "And besides, if he knew me here, he'd want me to keep moving. There's a lot to-"

"You haven't expressed a single shred of your innermost feelings. That's going to hold you back," he nodded and sat back. "You can travel with the group you've made. My only request is you send a letter every night you're in an actual bed."

"Thank you very much your," she took a breath as she stood up and stared at him as he raised an eyebrow, "Thank you, dad."

"So informal," he chuckled. "I find it endearing how you speak. Don't let that change, no matter how much the queen scolds you for it, all right?"

"I didn't plan to," she nodded as she looked over the papers and left his study. Mei was outside the door, tears in her eyes as her gaze stayed fixed to the floor. Cathlinn stopped next to her and folded the papers up, gently touching her arm. Mei flinched and stared at Cathlinn, quickly wiping her cheeks and adjusting the make up that ran with it before making eye contact with Cathlinn. A serious expression replaced whatever emotion had been there before and she hugged the other tightly.

"Your highness," she sniffled.

"What's gotten into you," Cathlinn chuckled nervously. "We're you thinking about what happened?"

There was hesitation before Mei nodded and squeezed a bit tighter, "Yes. I'll be okay in a little bit."

"Go rest up then. We have to pack soon," Cathlinn nodded.