A Strange Little Note

With all the work he had to attend to, it had taken him a few days to find the time to seek Avaline out. The only reason he hadn't completely forgotten about the strange note is because he had been using it as a bookmark. Jin had surprised himself as he found himself reading the book he'd loaned as an excuse every night. It was already rather late by the time he finished working and with the temptation of wanting to read what happens next, he was staying up far later than he should. He couldn't knock Avaline's taste, it was really a good book and he couldn't recall the last time he had spent time leisure reading. Perhaps he should thank her again for that? Well, to do any of that, he had to find her first, which was as difficult a task as it always was.

He'd had to ask four maids so far and wander through half the palace to finally find the room she was in, a fairly empty and undecorated room that was kept spare for when the Eden family were entertaining foriegn guests but otherwise remained unused. He intended to ask what exactly she was using the room for but when he opened the door, he ended up so shocked his mind blanked.

The princess in question was sprawled out on the ground beneath the body of a guard who was hastily lifting himself off of her. The guard's head snapped up to meet the gaze of the prince who looked down at them silently, his expression a little off. The guard's face flushed a deep red, a horrified expression on his face but he was frozen in place until Ava tilted her head back, greeting rather nonchalantly considering the circumstances, "Prince Jin."

"Princess Avaline." Jin replied back, his tone a little strained but still carefully controlled, his hands clenched tightly behind his back.

The guard finally came back to his senses, scrambling to his feet and quickly bending over to help the princess up. "I-i'm so terribly sorry, I've committed a terrible sin. Are you hurt Your Highness?"

Ava got to her feet, brushing out the skirts of her dress. "Not really. It's alright Marl."

"No it isn't! If I injured the Princess of Eden, even my life wouldn't be enough punishment! I'm so sorry!" He quickly turned and bowed deeply to the prince, remaining stiffly in that position. "I'm terribly sorry for being unable to keep the Princess from harm, I've failed my duties.

"Marl, it was my fault we tripped. You're only doing this at my request, on your days off as well. I'm not even injured, its fine, really. I believe that's enough practice for the day however, we'll resume the same time tomorrow. You should go rest."

"You're really too kind Princess Avaline…" He mumbled, still festering in his guilt. He remained in the same position however until Prince Jin dismissed him.

Prince Jin moved his gaze from the guard, to Avaline who was busily fixing her hair, to Covin and Mila who stood off to the side with their heads bowed to him, uncertain of what to make of this. "You may leave." He said after a moment, met with more thanks and apologies by Marl who didn't waste time fulfilling the order, disappearing from sight in no time.

Ava turned to Covin, who lifted his head, signing something. In response, Ava's fixed smile twitched in annoyance. "Well, yes, I'm aware I made a mistake with my footwork considering both Marl and I had to pick ourselves up from the ground. Could you be more specific about where I went wrong instead of teasing me?"

At this point, Jin finally couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Could you please explain what exactly is happening here?"

Ava turned back to him, her brows raising slightly in surprise, either unaware of just how bad that scene had looked or unaware of why Jin would care. "I'm unfamiliar with one of the dances that seems to be popular here. I wanted to practice it before the upcoming ball so as to avoid any embarrassment for the royal family. Marl agreed to be my practice partner, Covin and Mila are providing guidance. Is there something the matter, Prince Jin?"

Jin's hands that were still hidden at his back slowly unclenched. He chided himself in his mind for being foolish. Regardless of what Avaline was doing, it perhaps shouldn't have been any of his business. "No, nothing. I was just curious. If you needed someone to practice with, I would be a better partner, no?"

Ava's brows rose further as she smiled at him. "Certainly but I'm aware of how busy you are, Your Highness."

"I'm not that busy. I can accompany you to practice."

Ava simply tilted her head slightly as she regarded him for a moment, her smile widening. Actually, she was being truthful. She kept an eye on his schedule, she knew exactly how busy he was. Far too busy to have the time to waste practicing dancing with her. She couldn't exactly call him out on that and if he was going to offer, she might as well accept. It would be far easier practicing with someone who is used to dancing. "Oh? That would be much appreciated then, many thanks Prince Jin. You're very kind."

Prince Jin waved a hand. "It's no problem, my pleasure. You're doing this out of consideration for our family. Oh. I actually came here to ask about this." He pulled the the folded note from his pocket, holding it out for Avaline to take. "It was in the book you lent me. I was wondering what language it was."

Avaline's eyes widened slightly as she got a look at that piece of paper, and more importantly, what was written on it. Covin and Mila's gazes quickly fixed on Avaline, silently accusing, once they caught sight of the note. Ava let out a quiet, awkward laugh, curling her fingers around the paper and looking aside as if she were shy. "Ah well… It's in code actually. When I was younger, Mila, Covin and I developed a code to write secret notes to one another during my classes. Its nothing important." Actually, that was only partially true. It was code and she had definitely used it to pass secret notes, even during classes. But they hadn't developed it. This was the code the network used to keep their high level information secret from outsiders. Even though Jin didn't understand it, it was still not meant to end up in the hands of others. She was definitely going to hear an earful for this one…

Jin looked from Avaline to her servants with interest. "It seems like a rather complex code, thats truly impressive. May I ask what the note says?"

This time the embarrassed look on Ava's face was real. Mila hurriedly dipped her head, not wanting to watch, her cheeks dusted in pink, and even Covin had fixed his gaze elsewhere, steeling his expression. "Ah… Are you certain you want to know? It isn't anything interesting."

Jin nodded. "Yes, Im certain."

"This note is discussing whether my literature teacher looked more like a pig or a rat…" She tried hard to keep a straight face while saying it but it was too difficult, even biting down on her lip wasn't enough to control her expression, her lips still rising slightly. Covin started laughing but quickly hid it behind a cough. Mila was clever enough to have kept her head down, unable to see the words Ava said and therefore able to keep her composure.

Jin blinked a few times. He could hardly even fathom it. His upbringing had been loving but rather strict and he'd never really been a mischievous child. He couldn't imagine passing such notes during his classes. How many times was Ava going to leave him stumped like this? "It… truly?"

"Yes. I've since matured but I was.. A tad unruly as a child." This was all true. Except maybe the maturing part, she was still unruly even as an adult. Still, she'd found this note particularly funny and so she kept it, slipping it into the back pages of her favourite book. Even now she found it kind of amusing so she hadn't thrown it.

Jin pressed a fist over his mouth to hide the way his lips turned up slightly. It was really improper to find amusement in something like this. "I see. Then… Could you teach me it?"

"Teach you…?"

"The code. Could you teach me it?"

"My apologies, Prince Jin. It's been too long since I've last used it, I can't remember it well."

Although she knew she couldn't possibly teach him it, she almost felt a little guilty seeing how disappointed he looked. Poor Jin, it seems she was going to need to show him how to have more fun in his life.

"I understand. I'll come find you tomorrow for dance practice then."

"See you tomorrow Prince Jin," Ava gave a little wave goodbye.

...Was it odd for him to feel a bit excited about it? Probably not, he was likely just enjoying the fact he'd won more of Ava's fickle attention, just as it was likely normal for him to be so curious about all the little facts he was learning of Ava. There isn't anything wrong with wanting to know more about the person you're married to.