"You've been too quite back there." Cassandra said, trying to break the silence between them.

"Well... yeah, I've been thinking."

"Thinking?" Cassandra said, as she arched her brows up.

"You know it's going to be a pretty long journey so I had been calculating how much I'd be needing my alchemy stuff." He said. No, he will definitely not tell her that he was worried about her. The thought of losing her again made him shudder.

"Hmmm." Cassandra said, as they made their way down the kitchen. "You need to pack them, right?"

"Oh, I will do it on our way back from the kitchen. It's just near the end of the corner. Also, in this way, you can take a look at my lab." He smirked.

Cassandra chuckled. "Is that an invitation, Mi lord?"

"If you want to put it in that way, then yes, Mi lady." He smiled, as he gently took her right hand in his, and put a soft kiss on it. Cassandra couldn't help but blush a little, and to hide that, she let out a small laugh, reminding herself that he was just messing around with her, and nothing more.

"Cheese?"

"Done."

"Bacon?"

"Done."

"Bread?"

"Done."

"Last but not the least, ham sandwiches?"

"Done." Cassandra said, as she lifted up the basket.

"Here, let me--" Varian said, trying to reach for the basket. However he didn't have time to finish as Cassandra butted in.

"I can handle it on my own, thank you."

"Yes, you can, but I thought that you'd be wearing the armour and carrying the weapons, as they'd be too difficult and hard to carry, so..." He smirked.

Cassandra sighed and rolled her eyes as she gave him the basket and went out.

"So, this is your lab." Cassandra said, taking a look around the room she was in.

"Yes." He said absentmindedly, as he went over some of his notes, took a look at his alchemy balls and some vials, finally putting them in the bag, lifting it up and hanging it over his shoulders. He went to the corner of his room, took a sword and sheathed it.

"Varian," Cassandra said, her voice was dry. "Are you sure you want to do this? I really don't want someone to be hurt, because of me. Not anymore."

"Cassie, trust me. I know what I am doing. I want to help you."

Cassandra sighed as she bit her lip. She couldn't tell him that she didn't want him to follow her on this journey. She didn't want anything to happen to him. She had successfully prevented Rapunzel and Eugene from following her by citing their duties. But Varian? He didn't have anything so important in Corona right now. Moreover he would be of much more help to her, Steve and Anne than to Corona.

"Okay." She said, mentally deciding that it was for the best. But she suddenly jerked up. "I have to meet my dad!" She said.

"Oh, uh sure." He raised his head towards her and slightly nodded. "He is downstairs--" Before he could finish Cassandra ran past him, out of the room. He sharply turned in her direction sighing, and took long strides to catch up with her. It didn't take long and soon he was by her side. "Are you ok?" He raised up his brows as he saw a tense expression on her face.

Cassandra slowed down and sighed. "Yes, I just want to meet him." What she didn't tell him was that maybe, this could be her last time. Her first encounter with the group had nearly killed her, hadn't it been for Anne, but now she had sworn to protect her. She had owed her life to the princess. And she shouldn't think of anything, but what she had sworn to protect. It seemed that she was once again in the shadows, but this time she had done it willingly and wasn't complaining.
Soon they reached her father's room. She raised her hand up to knock but something stopped her. She looked at Varian and quietly said, "Varian, if you don't mind..."

He looked at her and nodded in understanding and went a few steps back as she smiled at him gratefully. He smiled back at her, letting her know that he is ok with it.
Cassandra turned back again to to the door and took a deep breath as she knocked. She heard a short and strict, "Come in." She opened the door and went in.

The former captain was not a big fan of someone coming to him at this time. So when he heard the knock, he groaned and answered displeasedly. He narrowed his brows as he usually did, expecting to meet a new recruit sent by Eugene to him for some tips on mastering skills. Instead, he saw his daughter in armour and his expressions relaxed, and he gave her a slight smile which she tried to answer nervously.

"Hi dad." She took a step forward.

"Cassandra." The smile faded from his face and his expressions softened.

"I've, uh, been meaning to talk to you." She hesitated slightly, "About Nersedinia."

"I know. Her Highness informed about that in the afternoon itself. I couldn't have been more proud of you when I learned that you have decided to fight for a noble cause."

Cassandra's nervousness faded and she became more confident. 'It makes him proud.' she thought and smiled. "Dad I have decided to leave for Nersedinia tomorrow morning itself."

"I knew you would come up with something like that, though not so soon."

"Yes, and I have pledged my life to the princess."

The former captain tensed slightly, as he looked at her and then smiled softly. "I believe in you Cassandra, and I am proud of what you've become. May god bless you."

Cassandra smiled and hugged him tightly, and the captain answered her with the same vigour.

"And who else will be joining you on the road?"

"The Princess herself, a very good friend of hers and mine and Varian." She said and it seemed that she was certainly reminded of something as she pulled away and looked at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "You taught him sword fighting?" She asked as she raised her brows.

"Yes, had to. Eugene told me that he wanted me to teach him sword fighting. Order of the King, guess you can't run away from it." He joked good naturedly. "The boy was slack in it. I had to make sure that he followed the rules and remain disciplined."

"Oh, so that is why he told me that you were strict."

"I was. The boy was pretty bad in the initial days, but let me tell you, he soon caught up."

"Yeah, he defeated me." She said, rolling her eyes."

He looked at her and put his hands on either side of her shoulders. "I love you Cassandra."

She smiled back at him, "I love you too Dad."

"Well, that went long." Varian said, entering in the armoury. They had woken up the guards, chose some of the good ones, gave one of them the food basket that Varian had been carrying to keep it in the cart. He still had his backpack on.

"Yeah." Cassandra said, reaching for some of the weapons.

"Wait a second." Varian said and went to the corner of the room and he took out a medium sized iron-cart with different types of weapons in it. "Here, you don't have to carry them."
Cassandra narrowed her eyes towards him.
"What? I couldn't have let you carry that heavy basket! It's not what a gentleman supposed to do!"

Cassandra smirked. "Since when did you become a gentleman?"

"The day I became the Royal Alchemist." he looked away from her.

"It's a great thing, by the way." Cassandra chuckled as she took it by the handle and pushed it forward.

"Thanks." He muttered, not noticing the blush that was forming on his cheeks.