You huffed as you slammed the book in your lap shut. You were forbidden from working on anything else on Kouen's orders. You didn't even know why he cared anyway. He had already basically admitted to trying to manipulate you into loving him. 

There was no possible way you could sneak away either considering Kazue was keeping a close eye on you to make sure you didn't go anywhere. You dropped the book on the ground and stared down at the small pond near your feet. You let your mind wander while absentmindedly watching the koi fish gracefully cut through the water. 

When you had woken up after passing out in bed, Kouen had asked why you were working so hard without any regard for your own health. You didn't want to answer at the time and only said you had lost track of time. There was no point in talking about your sister anyway, you just wanted to forget about it for now. 

You hadn't even told Kazue about it. 

"Princess, are you alright?"

Speaking of...

You stood up and turned to smile at him, "I'm fine," you said, "I just want to talk a little walk around the palace if that's alright." Before he could answer, you were already walking past him. Maybe it was a tad rude, but you really didn't want to talk about it now.

During your walk throughout the castle, you heard a string of familiar noises and quickly walked towards the source. When you finally found it, you noticed it was Kouen, who was currently training. A blush erupted across your cheeks when you noticed something. 

He was not wearing a shirt. 

Kazue came up behind you and placed a hand on your shoulder causing you to yelp in surprise. It had caught Kouen's attention and he put his bow down after getting ready to shoot an arrow. He turned to the source of the yelp and noticed you were there next to Kazue. 

He ignored the small inkling of pride in his chest when he noticed the blush. "How long have you been watching me?" He asked, grabbing an arrow to place it on his bow. Kouen chuckled when he heard you huff. 

"I was not watching you," you denied, crossing your arms. 

Kouen hummed, not at all believing you. "Well, how about instead of watching-"

"I was not doing that!"

"-you come down here to join me," he suggested, squinting his eye while aiming his bow near the center of the target. He let go of the string and let the arrow fly. It hit just below the center. Kouen let out a small grunt. 

You giggled a bit, "nice aim," you teased. 

"You think you can do any better?" Countered Kouen. 

You crossed your arms again but with a smug smirk this time. "I know I can," you proclaimed proudly. 

Kouen rose a brow, "sounds like your challenging me," he said, putting the bow down.

"What if I am?" 

"Then, we'll see who's the better shot

You nodded and walked off with Kazue to go change out of your dress. "I'll be back," you announced to Kouen. 

When you finally arrived back to the room you two shared you felt Kazue was eyeing the back of your head. "Something wrong?" You asked, shuffling through your closet. 

"Nothing, Princess. Just wanted to remind you that you were supposed to be resting," he said nonchalantly.

You flinched and laughed sheepishly at this statement. "Well, Kouen didn't say anything, so, I'm sure it's fine," you said, waving it off. 

Kazue frowned at you but then shrugged. "Fine, but know that if you pass out I'm not even going to allow you to leave this room," he threatened with a light tone before leaving the room. 

When you left you were staring at the floor, no need to sound so scary, Kazue, you sweatdropped. 

*~*~*

Just before Kouen had shot another arrow, your voice rang through the training ground. "Are you ready to lose?" You asked, walking down the small steps towards the training grounds. Kouen turned to where your voice was and had to take a small double take at what you were wearing. 

You were wearing a plain red tunic that reached your knees and tight brown pants, tied around your waist was an orange sash. Your hair was tied up into a ponytail. What really ended up catching his attention was the fact that you were actually wearing his tunic, probably why you needed to tie the sash around your waist. 

"Hope you don't mind that I stole something of yours," you said casually, "we are married after all." You shot him a small wink. 

Kouen didn't say anything and turned away from you. "Just grab a bow and we'll see who's best," he said stiffly. 

You rolled your eyes at his tone and grabbed the bow that Kazue handed to you. You walked over to Kouen to grab an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back, you ignored the fact that you accidentally brushed your hand against his muscular back. 

"Okay, should I go first? Or you?" You asked. 

"Ladies first."

You nodded and set up your arrow to get ready to shoot the arrow. You rolled your shoulders and pulled the string back with the arrow in place. You let out a small breath and let the arrow fly. It landed just a few inches from the target. 

"Not bad for being out of practice," you hummed, "your turn."

Kouen nodded and masked his surprise if there was any. He shot his own arrow and it landed close to your own. "It's a tie so far," he examined. 

You crossed your arms. "Maybe we should make things a tad more interesting," you suggested, "with a little bet." 

Kouen turned to you, you noticed there was a twinge of interest in his eyes. "Oh?" He inquired with a brow raised, "what kind?" 

You placed a hand in your chin in thought. "How about if I land on the target," you trailed off in thought, "you have to let me get back to work." You smirked and crossed your arms. 

Kouen chuckled a bit, "alright. If you don't then, you have to tell me why you pushed yourself so hard," he said, referring to when he had gotten back to the palace to see you working yourself to the bone. 

At the statement, you flinched and suddenly, your expression became crestfallen and then stoic. "Fine," you sighed, "let's hope you enjoy the taste of defeat." Without informing him, you went first. You grabbed another arrow and got ready to shoot it. 

But as you were getting ready and held the arrow between your fingertips on the string.  Before you could even let it go, the thoughts of what had happened consumed all over again. That's why you had started to work so hard when Koumei asked for your help, you wanted to forget. 

Now, however, there was no room for that. Even though currently you had to focus on trying to aim, for some reason, the meeting with your sister was much more prevalent in your mind. Your fingers began to tremble and you almost let go of the arrow, before it could, you shot it.

It landed in the third ring. 

Kouen didn't comment and went about shooting his own arrow. Just as you suspected, it landed on the target. When it did, however, he didn't say anything. He didn't even look at you. He just stood there as if waiting for you to say something. 

Your hand was clenched around the bow until you dropped it and let it fall to the ground. "When I was little, I had a big sister and I loved her," you paused, "very much. She was the only sibling I liked." 

"She kept secrets though, everyone does. What I didn't know was she planning to run away... To the Kou Empire," you explained, trying to get a look at Kouen's face. You couldn't see it though. "I didn't know what was happening until the day she left me all alone."

You let yourself pause for a bit as to not let your voice break. "Then, suddenly, when I was just fifteen I was thrown until all this training and preparing. I was trained in several weapons and learned war tactics." Memories of all those times you had bruises on your fingers from training and headaches from trying to memorize so much flooded your mind. 

"I started fighting and leading Ryukyu in war when I was sixteen. You may scoff at that, but I just wasn't able to handle it in such a short time of preparation." Tears filled your eyes of all those soldiers that fell thanks to you. Even if any plan seemed perfect with every last detail planned, it wasn't enough, some always ended up dying. 

"Years later after all of that, I had found out I was going to be married to the man next in the line to the Empire I had begun to loathe," you continued, "just imagine how much more hatred sprouted when I found out she was dead." You put air quotes over the word dead. 

Your face scrunched in anger as you said the next part, "imagine my surprise when she's actually alive and didn't bother to tell me until now," you spat, your teeth clenched. All those times you could've benefited from her being by your side, but no, she wanted to be selfish. 

"To make matters worse, she doesn't even look the same. She's a stranger now. And she actually thought there would be some heartfelt reunion waiting for her." You began to laugh a bit, "the fool."

With that, that was the end of the story and you glanced up at Kouen to see what he would do, he hasn't moved. You decided to speak again, "that's why I was working so hard. So, I could forget," you finally explained. 

Even with that, he was still silent. You clenched your fists and then let them relax. "Alright, well, I'll be seeing you," you said, "I hope you're satisfied now." You began to walk from the training and ignored the way Kazue was staring at you, you had actually forgotten he was there. It almost made you feel embarrassed. 

Before you could even reach that first step, there was a rough hand pulling on your wrist. The next thing you knew, you were being cradled in someone's arms. You didn't bother looking up at Kouen and stayed there, even if it was fake and just another trick, you allowed yourself to be held. Turns out, you really needed it. 

You opened your eyes for a split second and noticed a small pink butterfly resting on his bare shoulder. You blinked and then it was gone. 

Weird. 

*~*~*

Right now, you were in bed, getting ready to fall asleep. You were wearing a long, pink nightgown and had just let your hair down to run a brush through it. A hand had grabbed yours before you could groom your hair. It was Kazue's. 

"Allow me," he said, running your brush softly through your h/c strands. 

You let your eyes close at the soft feeling of the brush and Kazue's gentle hands. "Kazue," you began, grabbing his attention, "thank you for always being there for me." 

You heard him let out a happy hum, you knew he was smiling. "I will always be with you," he whispered, "I promise." 

Then, when he was done brushing your hair, he placed a light kiss on your head and left you alone. You let in a deep breath and then let it out. Kouen hadn't shown up yet. You let your eye twitch in slight irritation and stood from your vanity, "I swear, if he's sleeping at his desk again I will kill him," you muttered as you grabbed your robe and slipped it onto your shoulders. 

You left the comfort of the room and quickly walked to where his study was. Along the way, you ran into Koumei, who was most likely going to get sleep (you hoped at least). You stopped and rose a brow at him, "you better be going to sleep, Koumei," you ordered. 

He flinched at your tone, "sometimes you're just like, Aniue," he said, scratching the back of his head. 

You rolled your eyes, "don't make me come to check on you as if you were five," you said, crossing your arms, "speaking of, where is he?" 

"Where do you think?" He asked rhetorically.

You sighed and placed a hand on your forehead. "Just go to sleep, okay?" You said, "and I'm serious about going to go check on you." You called out to him as he walked off. He only waved you off and continued walking to where you hoped his room was. 

When you finally arrived at his study there were two guards posted outside. You gave them a curt nod as they saluted to you. You opened the door and narrowed your eyes at the figure sleeping on his desk. You didn't even know why you cared so much. 

You walked over to him nonetheless and stared down at his face. Somehow, when he was sleeping, he looked as if he showed more expression this way. You raised a tentative hand and brushed the bangs from his forehead. Leaning down you whispered in his ear, "hey... WAKE UP!" You suddenly yelled close to his ear. 

Kouen jumped right out his seat with the yelling and frowned when he noticed you were the source. You began to laugh so hard you had to clutch onto your stomach. "That wasn't funny," he said. 

"Clearly... It was c-considering I'm still... haha! ... laughing," you said in between laughs. 

Your laughing then stopped when he picked you up by the waist and put you over his shoulder. "This isn't funny," you said deadpan as he carried you out of the room. 

"Yes, it is."

"You're not laughing."

"I never do."

You rolled your eyes at his antics, "you better be going to be bed now," you said, waving sheepishly to the guards who stared at the two of you in confusion. You sighed in frustration when Kouen didn't bother answering and allowed yourself to be carried in silence.

It didn't take very long for Kouen to walk to the room and once he was inside, he dropped you on top of the bed. You fell onto it with a slight bounce and a grunt. "You could be a bit gentler, you know," you advised while taking off your robe. 

Kouen hummed and said nothing more. That didn't surprise you. You rolled your eyes, then, got under the covers and laid down. A second later, you were pleased to feel a dip in the bed, insinuating he was getting in bed. "Good night," you whispered. 

"Night." 

You almost chuckled and snuggled deep into the covers, it was surprisingly cold at night. You would be lying if you said it didn't make you a tad nervous considering you almost died in a dungeon like this. You tried keeping your shivering to a minimum as to not disturb Kouen. 

That didn't end up mattering, however, as you felt warm arms wrap around you and pull you close. "Are you okay?" He asked. 

It was your turn to remain silent and you only nodded. This was fine. You allowed yourself this comfort at least one more time. That was fine. Right?

Right.

~~~

A/N: Next chapter is most likely going to involve some lighthearted antics, so, look out for that! And maybe some more fluff...? 

We'll see.