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Angela was currently giving some water to Bianca in her room when she heard a knock on the door, she went to open and was surprised to see the king stand there.

"O-oh! Your majesty. W-what brings you here?" she looked around "Where's Sam?" she asked, not seeing him.

"I gave him the rest of the day off, come" he ordered, she closed the door behind her started walking behind him, not sure if he was still mad or not.

"M-may i ask where are we headed?" she found enough courage to ask in the end.

"To the forest" he briefly answered.

"C-can i ask why?"

"I was in the mood for a walk outside and wanted some company, does it border you?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.

"N-not at all, it's always an honor to spend time with his majesty" she quickly answered.

"You're not obligated to come if you don't want to you know? I'm not going to punish you" he assured.

"I-i know, i just enjoy spending time with you, your majesty" she clarified, catching his attention "Then why didn't you come to me more often before?" he asked back.

"W-well... you always looked so busy... with all your duties and work... i didn't want to be a border" she admitted, surprising him. Maybe Philza was right, he was spending too much time in his rooms doing paperwork, he needed to change that.

"I'll try to spare more time for you in the future then" he said, a smile returning to his lips, as they headed outside and towards the royal stables to get the horses. Carl immediately got exited when he saw his owner walk in, starting to neigh and jump, eager to leave.

"Hey there big fella, calm down, we need to get you set up first" he patted the horse's head and he calmed right away.

"Whoa..." Angela gasped, walking closer but still keeping her distance, scared that she might upset Carl.

"Is this your steed your majesty? He's beautiful" she said in awe, he nodded, starting to take the saddle and the rains, setting him up.

"He's the most loyal friend i've ever had, aside from that old man" he joked, managing to snatch a laugh from her "Do you want to pet him?"

"C-can i?" he nodded, moving to the side so to secure the saddle. Angela took a few hesitant steps forward, keeping her hands close to her chest, she was scared of large animals, seeing that with their size they could easily hurt her.

She jumped back when the horse turned his head to look at her, making her yelp and causing the king to chuckle lightly.

"He's not gonna bite you, he's very friendly, go on" he encouraged.

"I-i think i'll do it another t-time" she stuttered out, Techno noticed that her hands were shaking, was she really that scared by Carl? He let go of the saddle, walking back towards her.

"He's not going to hurt you, i promise. Here" he took one of her hands, gently guiding it on the animal's head, she closed he eyes, whimpering a bit.

"It's ok, look" he nudged her, and she opened one of her eyes to peek, seeing Carl lean into her hand, almost purring. Angela started to calm down, getting a bit more confident and starting to pet him a bit, which Carl seemed to like.

"He likes you" Angela smiled, looking back at him "Does he? Didn't you just say he likes everyone?" she reminded him.

"Yeah but he seems to like you in particular" he specified, returning to fix his saddle, finishing a few minutes and hopping on his steed without any problem.

"Come on" he offered his hand to her, wanting her to come up with him.

"I-i-i can't ride on the same h-horse as his m-majesty!" she quickly replied, taking a step back "B-besides, i've never r-rode a horse before" she stuttered out, making the king giggle a bit.

"All the more reasons for you to ride with me, you wouldn't want to fall off during the ride now would you?" he had a point, she was a bit conflicted but agreed in the end, figuring she might listen to the king rather than argue with him.

Angela took his hand and climbed on, immediately grabbing the king's shoulders to avoid falling off, which made Techno smile.

"Let's go then" he whipped the rains a bit, ordering Carl to move forward, starting to head outside the castle gates and into the forest, trotting at a slow pace.

"It's quite relaxing" she said after a while, looking around at the thriving vegetation, she really liked being surrounded by nature, it made her feel safe.

"Yeah... it is" how long as it been since he left the castle to just take a relaxing horse ride? A year? Maybe two? He had almost forgot how nice it felt to just close your eyes and listen to the wind whisper to you, the sound of birds singing, the light shining through the leaves of the trees and hitting his skin. He had missed this more than he thought.

"Uhm... your highness?" she called, causing him to open his eyes "Carl stopped" she pointed out, noticing that they were standing in front of a small stream, it was shallow enough for them to go through but Carl must have thought that his owner didn't want to get wet, and so he stopped.

"What a smart horse" he patted his neck, smiling before an idea sprouted in his head, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.

"Angela, have you ever rode a horse at full speed through a forest?" he asked, gripping the rains hard, Angela looked at him weird.

"Uhhh no, i haven't even rode a horse before" she answered "Why?"

"I suggest you hold on tight, because we are about to take off" he said in an exited tone.

"Your hi-Whaaa!" Techno whipped the rains hard, causing Carl to start running, quickly passing the stream and dashing at full speed. Angela wrapped her arms tightly around the king's chest to avoid falling off, burying her face in his gown as they ran through the forest, reaching a small lake in a few minutes, where he decided to stop to let Carl rest a bit.

Techno was quite tempted to keep on running, enjoying the way her hands held tightly onto him but he knew she wasn't liking it, so he stopped.

"You can open your eyes now, we have stopped" he called, feeling her shuffle a bit in his gown, lifting her face to look at him.

"Your majesty... next time you decide to do that... please let me down first" she panted out, feeling out of breath, Techno giggled "Alright i will, sorry for that. Do you want to get down?" she nodded, letting go of him. Techno jumped down first, grabbing her by the waits to help her down as well.

"T-thank you your majesty" she mumbled, looking away to try and hide the blush that appeared on her cheeks, and he noticed.

"Want some water?" he proposed, taking out his flask and offering it to her, she happly took it, taking some long sips out of it to calm down.

"Say Angela... do you already have someone?" he asked, causing her to choke on the water, coughing a bit.

"W-w-what? W-w-where d-does this c-come from?" she stuttered out, her face blushing even more, Techno just shrugged "I was just curious" he turned to look at her "Do you?"

"N-n-no... i-i don't have s-someone yet... i'm... not very good when i-it comes to r-romantic stuff or interactions in g-general" she admitted, handing back the flask "T-thanks for the water" she mumbled, not meeting his gaze. He took the item back, putting it in the small bag that was attached to Carl's saddle.

"Let's rest a bit, this place looks nice" he walked over a nearby tree and sat down under it's shade, his back leaning against it's trunk.

"Y-your majesty you're gonna get your clothes dirty!" she warned, running up to him.

"It's fine, it's just dirt, it'll wash off without problems" he said offhandedly "Sit down, the wind feels nice" she sighed, listening to his advice and sitting under the tree next to him.

"You're right, it is nice" she closed her eyes, enjoying the soft spring breeze move her hair around and making her shiver, feeling a bit cold.

"You're cold?" he asked, she shook her head "I'm fine, i've been feeling a bit more sensitive to the temperature sin-" she flinched as another memory flashed in her mind, this one made her head hurt and she closed her eyes as a reaction, alerting Techno.

All she could feel and see was blood and pain. She was laying on the ground and there were people screaming and calling for help, she could faintly sense the smell of smoke in the air as well. She shook her head, sending the memory away.

"Angela!" Techno called again, this time shaking her by the shoulders, he had been calling her for several minutes now, but she wasn't responding. Needless to say he was relieved to see her open her eyes again.

"T-techno?" she called insecurely, tears starting to build up in her eyes, he understood she was really scared when he heard her call him by his name, she had never done that before. Techno pulled her into a hug.

"It's ok, i'm here, you're safe" he assured in a caring voice.

"T-there w-was so m-much blood a-and people s-screaming and i-" he hushed her, sitting down beside her and lending some of his gown, wrapping it up like a blanket, never breaking apart from the hug.

"It's gone now, it can't hurt you anymore. Whoever hurt you won't do it again, i'll protect you" he pulled her closer "I promise" he whispered in a soft voice, she buried her face in his shirt, quietly crying for several minutes until she eventually calmed down.

"Te-... your highness?" she quickly corrected herself "I-i know this is inappropriate but... c-could we stay like t-this for a l-little longer... please?" she asked in a tired voice, Techno smiled, shifting a bit so he had his right arm around her, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Sure, you can stay for as long as you need to Angela" he assured, passing a hand through her silky hair, his repetitive action managing to make her relax and soon fall asleep. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, so innocent, so pure. Who would ever hurt someone like that? Only thinking about it made his blood boil, if he ever got his hands on who did this, he promised himself to make them feel ten times the pain she had endured.

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