"Hello."

You jumped at the voice and turned to see a boy a bit younger than you with his red hair, which made you assume that he was another one of Kouen's siblings, tied into a messy ponytail. You felt a small pang in your heart when you saw the bangs under his eyes, you guessed the poor boy hadn't slept in ages.

Nonetheless, you smiled, "Hello, I'm guessing you're another one of Kouen's siblings?" You asked. 

He nodded, "My name is Koumei, I am the second prince of Kou," he said. 

You soon realized he was still standing and gestured for a servant to bring him a chair. Once he was comfortably seated he laid the fan he was carrying on his lap, "I saw your match against one of our dungeons monsters. I was impressed to see you come out victorious."

You smiled at his praise, "thank you," you said, "although, I didn't get out of it unharmed." You rested a hand on your eye where the scar was.

Koumei nodded, "you know, I'm sure our healers can get rid of that for you if you'd like," he suggested.

You shook your head and noticed his questioning look. "I wouldn't because it's kind of like a reminder. If I got rid of all my scars I would forget all of the mistakes that caused them," you explained while folding your hands in your lap. 

You didn't know if he understood, but you didn't think he'd have time to once another boy with striking red hair barreled into him. "Hi, Mei-nii~!" He sang with his arms around his neck. 

Koumei resisted the urge to sigh, "hello, Kouha."

You held in a small giggle at their antics causing them both to look at you. You held up a hand, "I'm sorry, it's just really cute to see brothers acting that way," you said with a sleeve covering your mouth.

Kouha rose a brow at you but said nothing. You blushed a bit in embarrassment under his gaze and coughed into your hand, "um, Koumei if you don't mind me asking...-" you got up from your chair and laid a hand on his cheek- "have you been sleeping lately? You look exhausted."

You quickly retracted your hand as you realized what you were doing, "um, sorry. I-I was just a bit worried," you explained. 

Koumei rose a brow, "you just met me and you're already worried?" He asked, "you almost seem like a mother."

You gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of your head with a light blush on your cheeks, "do I? I guess I'm just a tad worried about you now that I'm your sister," you said, "if it's not too forward of me maybe you should get to bed early. I'm almost afraid you might sleep standing."

Kouha chuckled at your remark, "that happens with Mei-nii, he never sleeps and usually, Kouen slaps his arm to wake him," he said while laughing as Koumei glared at him. 

Your eyes widened while glancing at Kouen who was busy speaking to guests, "does he really?" You asked. It seemed just a tad violent to you, but then again your sisters have always horrid things to you. 

Kouha nodded, "yep."

You nodded at him and Koumei soon cut in, "if you don't mind me asking, Princess Y/N. Do you know how the circumstances came to these?" He asked, trying to change the subject. Unbeknownst to you, he had still wanted to get to the bottom of the whole urgency his father had to get Kouen married.

You frowned at him and your eyes widened as a memory from years ago came back. A banquet, your father chatting it up with stuck up nobles, and one smug woman in particular who got on your nerves that set you off. Soon enough all you remembered was screams and something getting ready to attack her. 

You shook your head to get rid of the memory, "well, no. I don't. And please, just Y/N is fine," you said, "we're siblings now after all."

They both nodded and Koutoku stood up, signaling everyone back to their seats so the food could be passed out. Koumei gave a small nod as a goodbye while Kouha left at his but not before saying, "see you soon, Y/N-nee!"

You could've sworn you felt something warm in your heart when you heard him call you that. You never remembered a time where your sisters called you that or even your brother, which wasn't all that much of a surprise concerning his attitude. You still smiled and quickly wiped your eyes before any tears could escape. 

You heard a cough from behind and looked to see Kouen gesturing for you to sit down. You picked up your dress and took your seat next to him, "it's nice to finally meet you," you acknowledged, "I've only ever heard rumors but they all seem to be very accurate."

He nodded, "even about how my goatee doesn't suit me," he said. You snorted a bit in your sleeve, you had guessed he was making a small joke. 

You shot him a smile, "I'd like to think it suits you very well, My Prince," you said sweetly while taking a sip of your wine to hide your blushing face.

From the corner of your eye, you could've sworn he cracked a small smile. 'How adorable,' you thought to yourself, 'maybe this won't be so bad.'

Once the food was passed, you two began eating and the conversation soon took a different turn. "I heard that you were also becoming good friends with Kougyoku as well and you were going to teach her the ways of the sword," he said. 

You nodded, "I'd like to think that girl had a small chance to prove herself as something worth noticing, she might even save herself from a political marriage such as this," you said, slightly mumbling the last part to yourself. 

"Is marrying me such a bad thing?" He asked. Although you saw from his tone it was more amusement rather than actual concern. 

You huffed slightly with your own amusement, "why don't you give me a few weeks and we'll see," you replied, taking a sip of your wine.

*~*~*

You felt your heart pounding into your chest as the banquet was coming to a close, you hadn't seen Kougyoku but you had at least hoped someone was with her at the moment and that she wasn't alone. Going back to the matter at hand, the banquet coming to a close only told you one thing at the moment. It was time to consummate your marriage. 

You tried breathing slowly to try and help yourself calm down. You twitched when you felt a hand on your arm only to see it was Kougyoku, you smiled down at her. "Kougyoku, there you are! Did you have fun? Did you talk to anyone? You weren't alone, were you?" You bombarded her with question after question which only caused her to laugh. 

She nodded, "I had fun. I was with Kouha-nii!" She said happily which caused you to smile.

"That's great," you said softly while grabbing her hand softly for some form of comfort. 

She nodded but her brows scrunched together as she remembered what she was doing in the first place. "Y/N, are you nervous about something?" She asked, "what is it?"

You blushed in embarrassment as you obviously couldn't tell her. "I... Um... You'll find out when you're older," you said with an awkward chuckle. 

She nodded, "okay."

You had wished to stay longer but soon enough Kouen was at your side, signaling that it was time. You nodded and bid Kougyoku goodbye, once you had reached the room you noticed how many nobles would be a witness to your marriage consummation. 

It was a terrible tradition in your opinion, it made you feel dirty.  You did admit that you were relieved that they would be outside of the room. Kouen didn't seem to think anything of it, you wondered if he ever felt anything at all. After all, he always had such a serious face. 

You sighed and grabbed the hand he had extended to you. You felt your heart beating in your chest so loud that you couldn't hear anything besides, thump thump thump. You had tried breathing heavily to try and help yourself, but as soon as you felt the plush bed your brain began to shut down. You had realized you didn't even have time to gaze at the beauty of the room thanks to the nerves. 

A rough hand rubbing itself against yours brought your attention to Kouen who brought your hand up to his lips to press a kiss to it. You couldn't help but blush at his action, I mean, the two of you didn't even kiss during the ceremony. Not to mention his lips had felt smoother than you expected on your small hands. 

You tried stifling a gasp as he ran his lips up your arm and to your neck, now pressing small kisses to it while keeping one of his hands enclosed in yours. You felt your eyes slowly drift shut at the feeling of bliss enveloping you. 

Kouen side eyed your face and felt a small inkling of pride in his chest to see you already enjoying yourself. He had noticed you were feeling before the two of you had even come into the room. It was clear that you had never experienced intimate love at all, unlike him. But all those courtesans forcibly sent by his father never meant anything, all they were for was producing an heir, nothing more. 

But as he felt your arms begin to wrap around his neck as he trailed his lips up to meet yours he thought to himself that maybe you could be more than all those courtesans. 

*~*~*

As the sunlight poured in through the window two people squirmed under the covers of their bed. One groaned and peeled their eyes open only to see a slight haze in their vision. Red hair spilled down his shoulders as he yawned. He blinked to try and get rid of the haze from his sight, he let out a small groan and tried sitting up only to feel something weighing him down. 

Kouen looked down to see latched onto his arm, snoring peacefully and quietly. Your cheeks were flushed and you snuggled closer to his arm. He almost didn't want to move away from the familiar warmth in his bed, he hadn't felt something like this in a long while. He hesitantly lifted his hand only to set it back down, he was afraid that if he tried to brush the bangs from your face he might accidentally wake you. He also deduced that he wouldn't be able to move his arm as you had quite the grip on it. 

Unfortunately, you were nonetheless woken up by maids coming in to help the both of you get ready for the day. "Prince Kouen~! Princess Y/N~! Time to wake up~!" One of them sang causing you to sit upright with the blankets covering your chest. You had ended up realizing you had the grip on his arm before you let go and ended up blushing. 

"I-I'm sorry, Prince Kouen," you whispered, "please excuse my actions..."

He sighed and placed a hand on your head, "it's fine, we are married after all."

"R-Right," you stuttered as one of the maids tugged you out of bed to one of the baths. You blushed severely as you felt entirely exposed, you never had help from other maids when it came to bathing or dressing. Kazue made sure you had learned to do so by yourself, he's also taught other things but those skills can be shown a different time. 

You sighed in relief when they finished dressing you and looked down at the beautiful gown, "wow," you said with a smile, "thank you so much," you finished with a bow. The maids smiled at their work and proceeded to take their leave. You took a better look at yourself and noticed your hair was in a half bun with the hair stick Kouen had gifted you in your hair, you smiled wider at the sight of it and left the bathroom. 

Upon leaving you noticed Kouen waiting for you, you giggled and quickly wrapped your arm around his. "Shall we?" You asked. He nodded and you both left his room arm in arm. Well, a more appropriate label now you would your shared bedroom. That left a nice, giddy feeling in your chest. 

*~*~*

You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding when you realized it was time to have breakfast with Kouen's family, you guessed what mostly made you nervous was that his mother was joining as well. Although unbeknownst to you, this wasn't a very normal occurrence as she usually ate by herself in the mornings. 

You hadn't even realized your grip on Kouen's arm had tightened causing him to lay his hand on your wrist to calm you down. You stuttered out an apology and loosened your grip, he gently rubbed your hand as if to say that it was okay.

You two entered the dining room and you let out a relieved sigh to see Kouen's sister and Kougyoku still at the castle, they at least gave you some relief with their presence. You sent them a smile and Kougyoku a small wave causing her to smile at you. You also sent a smile to Kouha and Koumei, who returned your gesture.

You and Kouen sat down while waiting for the food to be brought to the table. As everyone began to eat you glanced up and noticed a black haired teen laying down on his floating staff, he had a mischevious look on his face. Chances are, you didn't like where he was going to take this. 

"Yo, Princess, maybe the next time you and goat man have sex you can be a little quieter. I'm sure the whole castle could hear you," he teased. You felt your cheeks grow aflame and you gripped your dress to stop yourself from saying anything. 

Kouen opened his mouth to snap at him but Gyokuen cut him off with a chuckle, "now, now, Judar. Don't embarrass the poor girl... Even if it is true," she said, sending you a nasty look while drinking her tea, "poor dear is a screamer," she quipped. 

You took a deep breath, "Empress Gyokuen, if you have a problem then please say something instead of hiding behind childish insults and that goes for your as well," you said, sending a pointed stare to Judar, "now, if you'll excuse me I've lost my appetite."

You then got up and left to go take a walk. While you left Kouen shot both Gyokuen and Judar a heavy glare, "as she said before, that's enough of your childish insults, especially from you, Empress Gyokuen."

~~~~

A/N: Finally this marriage arc is over! Now that they're finally married I feel as if I can finally get started with this story! Hope you'll all stick with me the whole way, the real fun begins now!