After their conversation in the gardens, the King would let himself be seen around the palace more often, which prompted more encounters between the two. None were very long or compelling, but she appreciated every one of them, and she was thankful she could see and talk to him more often.

After some days, though, she figured enough time had passed with her being away that she ought to pay a visit to her friends in the town aboveground. She felt a bit bad about having left without explaining. She wondered what the little ghost had told their siblings, if at all.

It suddenly occurred to her that neither the pale children nor the King were aware the other party was alive. She wondered how that would get across for any of them. Should she be worried that maybe one of the siblings would become hostile upon learning this? ...maybe she should tell the King first. It's not like he would need anyone's protection, much less hers; he was a god, after all. But emotional scarring was something not even his divinity could protect him from, and as much as he liked to pretend he didn't, she knew he had feelings.

...she would think about it at some other time. There was no rush. For now, she decided to pack a couple of supplies for a trip.

-

He was surprising himself a lot lately, with how often he left his chambers. He couldn't help it. He regretted to admit he enjoyed the company. Don't get him wrong, he liked being alone, but perhaps his solitude had gotten tedious after an age. And the palace was big enough that he could still easily seclude himself if he wanted to.

When she had first arrived he had immediately dismissed her and left, and later, when he noticed she had taken residence within his realm, he had become... not angry, but extremely annoyed. He had considered banishing or even killing her, but he didn't have enough energy to waste on such trivialities. He had just decided to wait it out, for she was sure to get tired and lonely before he did. That hadn't gone quite well. But he was glad he hadn't acted against her. He... didn't really want her to leave.

That's why, when he saw her appear dressed with a short cloak, dark pants and combat boots and carrying at her side a small bag of supplies, he panicked.

"Good morning, my King" she greeted with her usual bow. He was so caught up in his thoughts -why was she leaving? Had he done something wrong? But lately they had been talking a lot more! Maybe he'd said something she hadn't liked? What if she had been telling the truth about doing some research and she had already concluded? Where was she even going? Maybe he could ask her to stay? Could he ask her to stay?- that he didn't reply. Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"I have come to inform you that I will be spending the day out, today. I have some acquaintances up in Dirtmouth I would like to catch up with. I will be back in a while; since I don't plan on spending the night out".

...oh. Okay. There was no need to overreact. Calm down.

"Very well. We will see you later, then".

"Goodbye". She bowed again before turning around and heading for the exit. He watched her walk until she rounded a corner, and then waited until he heard the distant sound of the veil between realms opening and closing again.

...now what?

Huh. One would think he'd been alone long enough that he'd never have to make himself that question, and yet here he was. He'd grown used to, at the very least, watching her work. He found himself already looking forward to her return.

But he still needed something to do for today. He supposed it had been a while since the last time he built something, but... although his passion for engineering was something he knew he'd never lose, he had grown tired of working with the same materials for so long. Same materials meant the same results. He could have asked her to bring him something to... build... with? Uh, on second thought, maybe it was a good thing that he hadn't. He didn't know what he would have asked for, anyway. Discarded nails? Scrap metal? Imagine that, the Pale King of Hallownest, the New Light and giver or sapience, asking her to bring scrap metal she found laying around. What would she have thought of him.

...what did she think of him? Why was she here, and why had she stayed here for so long? What was she trying to do?

The thought of going into her quarters and looking through the journal briefly crossed his mind, but he dismissed it almost immediately. Even if it wasn't a completely out of place invasion of privacy, which it was; it had been established that she wrote in a typography that he couldn't read. It was a miracle they could at least communicate verbally. Not to mention, she might have taken it with her.

So what could he do? What did people do? What did people like? What did...

When... was the last time he had eaten something? He... couldn't remember. He wasn't even sure he had eaten at all ever since he sealed himself away. One didn't need to eat in this realm, since it held a less physical form of the beings within it. But one could still eat.

His stomach grumbled, and he suddenly thought that she probably hadn't fed either since she arrived. He remembered the banquets he used to host in the palace an age ago, and remembered as well the immense kitchens sitting, unused, below him.

Now, he didn't know how to cook. But some of his servants did.

He voicelessly called his Retainers and headed towards the stairs.

- - -

She placed her foot on a small opening in the wall and with a last push of strength climbed the last ledge to the palace grounds. Which, after spending some time in the actual palace, she found entirely too underwhelming. It was hard to believe the empty cave sitting in front of her had once contained the White Palace. She wondered what the King would think if he ever saw it.

After spending the day with the siblings, she felt refreshed. She loved the three of them dearly, and although Hornet kind of intimidated her, she was thankful for her taking care of the vessels, because the gods know they wouldn't be able to by themselves.

The Hollow Knight was healing nicely, both physically and emotionally. She both longed for and dreaded the day when she could tell them their father was alive.

She heard tiny steps following hers, and turned around to look at the third of the siblings.

"Here we are, little ghost! Thank you for making the way back with me, I really appreciate it".

The small vessel didn't make a sound, unable to as they were, but the way they perked up at her and the small bounce in their next few steps looked like an eager 'no problem!' to her. She was repeatedly surprised at how expressive a being that could neither speak nor emote was.

They glanced at the empty corpse that served as the doorway to the other realm, and then at her, and then turned their head slightly.

"Ah, well. I'm... studying something. I want to learn more about the kingdom's past, and I figured there might be some documents in the palace that contain information not anywhere else. But I'm... having some trouble finding and putting them together" she said, answering their wordless question.

They didn't move their head from its position.

"It's true! I swear!" Still they didn't move. She knew she couldn't get in without their help, and they wouldn't let go until satisfied with the answer. She sighed. "Okay, okay... it's not the full truth. I didn't lie, mind you, but... I can't tell you yet. I promise I'll explain everything, to the three of you, but I can't yet. ...is that okay?"

They seemed to hesitate, but they ended up nodding. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, little ghost. I promise you'll be the first one to know".

They promptly took out their dream nail, needed to cut through the veil between planes she needed to cross to get to the palace. This was the second time they came along with her, since, even if they could have lent her the nail, she was sure they wouldn't have.

They struck the corpse and light engulfed them both.

She wasn't worried about them accidentally seeing the King in the few seconds it would take them to leave again. She knew they would materialize in front of the palace's main entrance, and he was rarely found outside the third floor, let alone outside of the palace itself.

No, when the light finally dissipated around them, all they could see was the imposing view of the White Palace standing in its full glory, glowing as if it were a source of light itself; the kingsmould that had been guarding the door for an eternity, and the King himself standing beside it, looking a bit distracted.

--wait. What?!

What? Why was the- how? Why now? Oh, gods. Oh gods oh gods oh gods.

Inevitably, he turned to look at them, and if the circumstances were any different, she would have probably blushed at his clear glee at the sight of her, but as they were, it was immediately followed by surprise and then horror when his eyes trailed the smaller figure behind her.

She turned around just in time to catch the little ghost as they tried to run past her, weapon already in hand. In the short struggle, they managed to give her arm a shallow cut just below the elbow, but she barely hissed as she grabbed their arms and forced them to look at her.

"Wait, don't! Look at me! Hey! Focus!" they slowly tore their gaze from the King and towards her. "Please go back. Please go back to Dirtmouth, I'll explain. I promise I'll explain everything, okay? But not right now. Please".

They stayed still for a couple of seconds, and they looked between the King and her a couple of times, as if processing what was happening. Finally, their gaze settled on her, and if they were any other being she would have been terrified of forever losing their trust in her by asking this, but the little ghost knew she would never lead them astray.

Despite this, she wasn't able to convey her gratitude when they slowly nodded and their arms relaxed in her grip. She knew how they felt about the King. She let them go.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise I'll explain everything".

They looked beyond her -presumably at the King- once more, before finally turning around and leaving the way they came in.

She stood up slowly and sighed, bracing herself for what was to come. Then she turned around.