"Are we going to keep shouting at each other now?" he called out and laughed softly. At least it was making it easier to find her. He should have brought food and a lantern to light the way. He was too focused on bringing her home that he hadn't even thought of anything else. Back home, the king and queen would look at the door occasionally, waiting for them to return. "We should send out some guards to get them back." The queen said. "Relax dear, we'll wait another hour. If they don't return then we'll send them out." he said and looked at one servant. "Have some food ready, Miss Sage will be hungry when she returns and make some tea." he ordered calmly. The servant nodded and quickly left to the kitchen to pass on the message.

Lyle laughed when he heard her response, then he saw her. Waving her arms around to get his attention. He led his horse over to where she was then stepped off and chuckled. "I heard there was a damsel in distress. You don't get a knight in shining armor though, you just get me." he said, pulling her into a hug and realizing she felt cold. Lyle let her go and took off his suit jacket then wrapped it around her to keep her warm. "Here, I don't want you catching a cold."

Lyle hugged her back and listened to what she had to say, "You've done nothing wrong Aria. You wanted to go horseback riding, there's nothing wrong with that." he said and looked down at her. "I'm more worried about you right now than anything. You're cold, you didn't eat dinner yesterday and you haven't eaten breakfast, lunch, or dinner today. I should be very cross with you, but I can't be right now. I'm just glad you're safe." Lyle said quietly. "Come now, let's get you home. I'm sure you want a warm bath, it will do you good." he said, helping her up on her horse. Lyle got up on Hades and started leading the way home, making sure to always stay right next to Aria.

"I should have ran after you when you didn't come to lunch. Instead I waited until now. Something could have happened." Lyle said quietly as they headed back to the castle. It was a long way home, but when they reached it, Lyle was glad to see it's lights still on. "Seems like they're waiting for us." he said, leaving his horse in the stable and waiting for Aria.

"It's not your fault. It can happen to anyone." Lyle opened the door for her then followed her inside and closed the door behind him. "Aria!" The queen gasped and quickly walked over to them. "Oh dear, you look like you're freezing. Come to the dining room, I'm sure you're hungry dear. Come, come now." The queen said and motioned for Aria to follow her. "You too Lyle!" she called. Lyle looked at his father and smiled softly before following his mother to the dining room. On the table were various dishes and of course, tea just as the king had asked. "We thought you might be hungry and perhaps now is a good time for you to talk if you wish." The queen said softly. "Don't ever scare us again dear." The queen said before leaving the room to join her husband, leaving Lyle alone with Aria. "Well then, I guess I don't have to make you food Aria." Lyle noted with a chuckle.

Lyle smiled and took his seat across from Aria and poured her a cup of tea before pouring himself a cup. Ladies first after all. "Eat, I'm sure you're hungry." he said quietly and decided to grab a bit of food for himself. He wasn't too hungry but he figured he could at least eat with her since they hadn't eaten together all day.

"I can't believe you haven't passed out from lack of eating." Lyle said softly then looked at her and smiled. "It could have been worse you know. So try not to feel bad about it. Like you said, you didn't mean to get lost. It just happened and that's okay."

"Well you did worry all of us. A lot. But I'm sure you didn't mean to." Lyle answered simply, taking a bite of the food. His parents clearly wanted them to talk about their problems but right now it didn't seem like a good idea. If Aria brought it up then fine, he'd go along with it but if she didn't, he wasn't going to ruin a nice day by bringing it up.

Lyle wasn't too surprised when she brought it up. He looked at her after sipping his tea with the same look on his face that he had when he was being painted. "Had you stayed for dinner you would have heard my reason for thinking such things." he said honestly. Lyle dind't like to repeat himself, but he guessed that she expected him to. "You want to have fun do you not?" he asked her. "And don't prolong your answer, a simple yes or no will suffice."

"You want to go out, I do not. Sorry but it's true. I'm not the kind of guy you meet outside. I don't enjoy being outside unless I have to, do you understand?" he asked. "I don't want you to do any of this because you feel you have to. It's why I haven't given you a ring yet. I don't want you to commit to something if it's going to make you miserable. My life is filled with rules that I'm not going to break and if you're going to enter this lifestyle then I just need you to know and follow the rules. I hope you know that I won't always be able to spend time with you. Not because I don't want to, but because I have work to do and work has deadlines that I need to meet. However, it wouldn't be fair if I kept you locked inside the house either."