You had known Gaius since you were a child, he was your best friend. When you were both little, you still remembered old women saying that you two would get married one day, Gaius always made fun of those sentences when they said that.

So when the feelings inside you started to change from friendship love to another form of love, you kept quiet about it. You were secretly worried that he would make fun of you too. You had no idea that Gaius' feelings were also starting to change and that he was starting to see you as more than just the little girl he used to steal sweets from kitchens with.

And Gaius, after making fun of everyone who said he would marry you when he was little, was too proud to even admit to himself that he saw you as more than just his best friend. That's why you remained best friends for a long time, neither of you being aware of the other's feelings.

When he went off to war, you began to fear that before you could tell him your feelings, you'd be just best friends forever. You were afraid that Gaius would not return from the war and you spent every day he spent in the war praying to the gods for him.

The gods answered your prayer, by teasing you a little. The best friend of his childhood returned from the war as emperor of holy Rome. Now he was much more busy with the Roman aristocracy than he was with you, and he didn't have the free time to ride the horses he stole from stables with you. However, although late, he created this free time for you.

It had been a long time for Gaius since he had set foot in the house where the two of you spent most of your childhood. Everywhere in this house was a memory of the two of you. And when, after so long, he finally saw your face he had clung to in war, he felt a sense of relief. Unfortunately, this relief was short-lived when he saw your nervousness and formality around him. You were treating him like your emperor, not like your friend. His eyebrows furrowed.

"You act like you're almost kneeling in front of me. Don't act like that."