"Hmmmm. Well I will try to help how I can." Put in a good word for Riku here and there with his uncle, or with his parents that would be repeated to his uncle. "Well I can say that I feel many of them already do. Or at least they suspect enough that they will not be surprised." People certainly were not ignoring Riku by any means at this point.
"Alright," Conrad said, nodding a little. He figured that Belle wouldn't be the kind of lady that would sit around in her room all day waiting for lunch. He also didn't want to insult her independence by suggesting he pick her up at her room. He liked that, though. "We can meet in the Garden, at noon."
He closed the cover before taking his hands away and offering his arm again so they could keep walking a bit. "Yes, it is. I apologize if some of the pages are worn." Like, dog eared too many times or falling just a bit from the binding. To hear she would write anyway, made him smile the warm gentle smile of his. "I would like that. It will certainly be something to look forward to on the long road back to Caloria, and until I am able to visit y- ah Hollow Bastion again." Whoops. He didn't want to make it too personal and awkward for her.
He wasn't trying to court her exactly, he just really enjoyed her company and if she didn't MIND possibly waiting, now that the war was over, very soon he'd be out of the danger of dying and it may be safe to court someone and think about his own future. He hadn't done that in a very long time, and still felt guilty about doing so when he knew that his own little brother and a boy he adored like a nephew were in a strictly political marriage and didn't even have the luxury of falling in love.