Let me into your Chambers

"Princess." Leo repeatedly hit the door, anxiously awaiting her response.

No response, this made him all the more anxious as to what was going on behind her closed doors.

Mae pulled her face from the pillow, her hair in a mess, spitting out loose hairs from her mouth, she looked around her room in confusion, her head ached from the position she had fallen asleep in.

"Ughn..." She groaned, rubbing her temples in circles, then the knock on her door caused her to jerk awake as she turned her droopy eyes towards her door.

"Princess Mae, please let me explain." She could hear on the other side of the door, but for some reason she couldn't quite pick up who was speaking, nor did she have the will to get up to find out in person.

'Just go back to sleep, probably all these were all a big nightmare.' She reasoned with a yawn, almost placing her cheek on the pillow when she heard the next words perking her interest.

"It's Leo, your one time pal and guardian, I can explain what happened yesterday. Please give me one chance. If I can justify what transpired that day, you could as well ignore me forever."

For a brief moment, he heard no response and instantly felt hopeful she had heard and was thinking through on what he had said.

Mae's head raised one more time, her attention never leaving the door, "Just go away." She groaned, her face plopped down on her pillow.

"Princess Mae, I'm sure you would like to know why your parents decided to accept that letter, for your sake." He threw his trump card, confident this would spark her interest finally.

How right he was, he could hear the creaking of her bed, 'Was she still in bed? Since yesterday?' He looked bewildered at her door with nothing more than his imagination to hold on to what might be transpiring in her Chambers.

Then followed a thud and s groan.

"Ughn! Why now?!" Mae frowned, pushing her cheek off the groan, her legs entangled in the sheet which was dangling in a tangling mess on the edge.

With all the force she could muster, she pulled out her legs successfully, falling face first once again on the wooden floor.

"Princess are you okay?" Leo's worried voice came through on the other side.

"I could manage." She replied, forcing herself up, she headed straight for the door.

Turning the knob anticlockwise, she pulled open the door slightly, peering out with her head. "So what did you say you wanted to explain?" She blew out a strand of her bird nest of a hair which had made its way once again to her mouth.

Leo's face sparked up at finally being able to get a chance to explain himself, but then his eyes glanced through her whole outlook and his initial excitement turned into one of confusion and shock.

Her perfectly wavy brunette hair was a total shadow of itself, he could only imagine the amount of pain she would go through if it were to be combed out. "Oooo." He scrunched up his nose, raising a leg and leaning backwards impulsively.

Mae raised a brow at his reaction, then she trailed his line of sight to where might have sparked such an absurd reaction.

There it was, her answer, she dug her hands into her hair, "Oh you mean this?" She questioned with a chuckle.

Leo slowly eased his expression, trying his best to compose himself, he cleared his throat and deepened his voice. "I never made reference to anything, Your Highness."

"Your Highness? Ha!" Mae laughed out loud at how strange that sounded coming from him. "Am I a stranger to you?" She hit him on the shoulder with her hand.

Feigning being hurt, Leo clutched onto where she had hit him, hissing and rubbing the non existent pain.

"It wasn't my fault my hair turned out this way. Try crying yourself to sleep and not knowing where the whole minutes and hours went jumping by in a blink of an eye." She mumbled, leaning on the door as support, slowly showing half of her body, the other still obscured by the door.

Leo suddenly felt guilty about her words, picking out key words; 'Crying' and 'sleep'. It almost felt like he was the main source of her pain and right he was to a degree.

"Princess Mae." He began, his eyes guilty.

"Hmmm?" She hummed, raising her head to meet his sad stare.

"I- I'm so sorry I withheld such information from you. But in my defense it was an order I couldn't afford to compromise." He tried explaining, not making much sense to Mae–whose nose raised in confusion to what he was spouting.

"Whaaa?" She voiced her confusion.

Letting out a breath, he looked to the left and then the right down the hallways, 'Good, no one is in sight. This should work but not here.' He nodded to his thoughts.

"I know, I know I'm not making complete sense right now–"

"Obviously!" Mae cut him off with the roll of her eyes, but her attention was not divided whatsoever.

Taking some steps forward, "Let me into your Chambers." He leaned forward, whispering into her eyes.

"Leo!" Mae pushed him the minute she felt a slight chill run down her spine to his words which had fanned her ears, her face burning up in embarrassment at her uncalled reaction.

Suddenly realising how awkward and lewd that sounded and quickly corrected himself, "so we could talk, I mean." He retracted his steps, letting out a cough; he turned the other way down the hallway instead.

"Pfft–Hahaha!!" He could hear laughter behind him, curious as he turned towards the source.

It was Mae, it was at that moment she realised how her thoughts had been derailing lately and how awkward she made his seemingly innocent words turn out to be lewd in an instant.

"Sure, come in." She smiled, moving away from the door to allow him access in.

Now confronted with the offer, he realised this was the first time she had actually accepted him into her Chambers, coupled with the fact, he couldn't quite determine where this conversation might lead to with her state of mind.

"A- are you sure about this, don't you think maybe–" He was cut off with a pull on his arm by Mae into her room.