A/N: Just a small point of information- I love this chapter ♥️

Kieran was strolling in the back yard, and he sat down on a bench in the lawns. Thinking of Elena's blushing face made him smile to himself, but he wondered why she had left his presence so fast. Had he shocked her that much? She did have a tendency to run away from him. And with all that had happened lately, maybe he had come on too strong when she hadn't fully recovered from his last attack.

But he couldn't help himself. He knew she was naive and new to intimacy, but whenever she was around, he seemed to act on impulse, not reason; and failed to consider whether she was uncomfortable or not.

Regardless of whether she'd been too flustered to stay by him, or it was due to discomfort, he knew he needed to calm down.

"It's you!"

He turned his head sideways and saw Elena standing next to the bench, just under the stand on which a lantern hung. She was bending forward and peeping at him with a......wide grin on her face? Wait, why was she smiling?

Elena sauntered round the bench and stood infront of him.
She gasped loudly and exclaimed, "It is you!"
She jumped and clapped her hands once, excitedly.
"You are the General!" she added and tossed her head back, laughing mercilessly at whatever she thought was funny.

Kieran was utterly confused by the oddity of her perky behaviour. He regarded her for a while, and realisation dawned on him.
"Are you......are you drunk?"

Elena narrowed her eyes until they were mere slits, as if pondering hard on his question.

She lifted her head, and he lifted his, awaiting her response. She made to bring it back down in a slow nod, and he mirrored her actions. But instead, she cocked her head to the side, before lifting her head once more, and repeating the motion. The result was something between a nod and a shake, and her reply was,
"No......yeeeeeeh...no! I mean...yes?"

Kieran sighed, now sure that she was drunk. He raised himself to stand, but Elena placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him to sit back down. She stepped forward, filling up the space between his slightly spread legs, and he arched his head. Her ocean blue orbs bore into his cyan ones, and the steadiness in them commanded him to be still.

"You..." she breathed.

It was mild, but he caught the whiff of brandy.

She ran her hands up his neck to his jaw, and cupped his face gently, her thumbs touching his earlobes.
".......are mine."

To say that Kieran was disconcerted was an understatement. Her words dove into his heart, and crippled his nerves, rendering him immobile.

Slowly, she leaned in, and as her face inched closer and closer to his, the pace of his heart picked up. Her nose softly rubbed against his, and her forehead met his.
She closed her eyes the moment their foreheads and noses touched, but he kept on looking at her, eventhough it was a cross-eye view. He looked at her thick long lashes and pink cheeks, and took in her roses and peaches scent.

If this was her revenge for what had happened with them during the dance, it was most definitely a success.

They remained like that for a short while until she withdrew her face from his, but kept her hands in place.
"You are my betrothed." She said, her eyes never leaving his, "Mine, and only mine."

Kieran watched her silently, his entire being swelling with pleasant emotions for the woman infront of him.

"Yes." Was the only thing he mustered to say, his resolve weakened into submission.

A simper of a smile crossed Elena's lips. She withdrew her hands and let out a giggle from the back of her throat. She did so with her neck buried in her hunched shoulders, her head tossed back and her hands raised and dangling infront of her like a wild hare standing on hind legs.
Kieran smiled. The strange way in which she giggled was...charming.

"But General!" She suddenly said, jutting out her lower lip in a pout, "You are so full of.....of...suh..." her index finger scratched her temple, her expression frustrated as she wracked her brains for the right word, "Shuh? Shurrprayiiizz....surprises! You are so full of surprises!"

Kieran raised his eyebrows, and his eyes followed her form as she plopped down on the bench next to him. She regarded him with a 'serious' expression; her eyebrows meeting, her lips pursed so tight her cheeks puffed. Her nose wrinkled slightly every now and then, bringing her likeness to the rabbit even closer. He found it funny.

"F-for example, why.....Wh-why would you say that to me?!" she whined, her tone high pitched.

"Say what, exactly?"

She huffed a breath.
"You know..." she mumbled, her fingers toying with the sheer lace of her skirt, "Wh-what you c-called me earlier."

Kieran cocked his head and darted his eyes upwards to recall.

"Do you mean when I called you beautiful?" He asked, and Elena's hands flew to cover her face. She let out a squeak, and her ears reddened.
He couldn't tell if she was delighted or embarrassed, or both, but he found the sight amusing.
She nodded without looking at him, and he smiled.

"I called you beautiful because that is what you are," he said, "And that is how I see you."

Her fingers parted so she could peep at him through the space between them. Slowly, her fingers slid down her face and landed on her laps.
"Th-thank you," she muttered, her eyes not meeting his.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"How do you see me?" He asked. One thing common to intoxication was that people tended to speak the truth under the influence. And he wanted to hear the truth from Elena.
"Do you find me good looking?"

He anticipated her answer as she portrayed a confused expression.

"I thought you thought said, thought you.....you said you were not vain." She slurred.

"I am not."

"Then why are you akskssking me?"

"Because your opinion matters to me."

"Other people's opinion should matter not if you are not vain." She reasoned, "If you are not vain, you would not be akskssking me...'do you find me good looking?', now would you?" She tried to imitate Kieran's deep voice and intense gaze when she echoed his words, earning a roll of the eyes from Kieran.

"It is not other people's opinions that matter to me, it is yours," he said, adding emphasis to make her understand, "I need to know only what you think."

Elena blinked, and her eyes momentarily lost focus and formed a squint, causing her to sway a bit. She angled her head to the side and furrowed her brows when she asked, "But why me?"

"Because-!" Kieran stopped his rushed reply when he discovered he had no answer to that. The only thing he knew was that he wanted her to acknowledge his looks.

He sighed, "Can you please just tell me your honest opinion?" He asked.

"My...honest opinion?"

He nodded, "I just want to know. There's no harm in telling, right?" He borrowed Luke's words, and Elena nodded, finally getting his point.

"Right." She said.

"Right. Yes. So tell me." He shifted his position so he was facing her. His placed his arm atop the backrest so his forearm was dangling forward.

"My honest opinion, General, is...." Elena said, her eyes roaming over his face, obviously studying him.

"Is....?" He asked, eagerly.

"Is that you...."

"I'm.....?" He used his hand motion as a gesture to encourage her to go on.

"Youuuu....." she said, and suddenly smiled, the look on her face one that showed awe, as though she was fascinated by what she saw in his face.

"Yes?" He asked, trying to hide his own smile at what she was going to say and or admit next.

".....have big ears."

Kieran's face fell.

She was still looking at him with fascination.

"What?" His voice was hard.

She nodded sloppily, "They are without a doubt the biggest ears I have ever seen on a man."

Kieran looked away in disbelief, and he could not hide his disappointment. Was that really the only thing she saw whenever she looked at him? He should have worn his hair down as usual, he thought.

"You are the only other person who's said something like that to me aside from my mother." He grumbled.

"It means she has eyes."

Kieran turned to her, "Are you really being serious?"

"About your ears? Yes." She nodded her head once, energetically, as she said yes, then added, "But they are cute."

"Cute?" Irritation now spiked his tone.

"Mm. Like a jerboa," she said, tilting her head to the side to study his ears better, "Or a bush baby," gasping, she added, "Or an elephant!"

Kieran could feel the effects of a stroke upon him. He narrowed his eyes at her and growled through gritted teeth, "Elena Rivera, nothing about my appearance is of animalistic resemblance."

She was unfazed.
"You should not growl so much, General." She said, "Otherwise, you will turn into a bear......except with ears 5 times bigger!"

And then she giggled; in the same rabbit-like manner that had charmed him earlier, and all annoyance he'd held towards her was forgotten in a flash. It was like an enchantment- her laugh.

She breathed in deep and exhaled loudly, then announced, "Let's play hide and seek."

He arched a brow, "The child's game?"

"I will hide and you go seek!" She was fidgeting about her seat, like a child who could not sit still while waiting for the seasons' festival sweets and treats, and the spark in her eyes was brighter than the stars.

"We are not going to play some child's-"

But she did not need his consent to get up and start sprinting.
Kieran groaned and brought a hand to his temple,
"There you go again, running from me." He muttered and dragged himself to his feet.

He jogged in the direction he presumed she had run, and found a bunch of well spaced and neatly shaped shrubs. He figured she must have hidden behind any of them, so he proceeded to look. If she was this unpredictable in her drunken state, then he really needed to find her fast, and make sure she didn't wander off and cause trouble.

Finding her turned out to take longer than expected, and he was getting frustrated. The night sky did not help, and neither did the dim lights from the lanterns hung on the stands stationed around.

She had not been joking when she had told him her nickname was phantom for her lack of presence. The mind boggling thing was that he could hear her giggle, but when he moved towards the direction of the sound, he found she wasn't there.

It was vexing that he had tracked many criminals and foes during work, but he could not find a small drunken woman in his vicinity! He hoped she hadn't dashed into the manor house, because it would be a disaster if she showed up in her current state.

He circled the bushes once more, and had just peeped behind one to check her whereabouts when,

"Got you!"

He jerked violently and turned around, startled to find a jumpy Elena laughing at him.

"Where did you come from? Thin air?" He demanded, still perplexed at how he had completely failed to sense her presence behind him. He thanked heavens this talent was hers and not a foe of his, otherwise he would have easily been stabbed in the back and bled out to his death.

Elena grinned, "I am phantom! I am everywhere and nowhere!" She declared, thrusting her arms upwards, "I find anyone! And I have found you!"

"But...was it not I who was seeking and you hiding?"

She blinked, a moment of brief confusion crossing her face, before gasping in realisation, "I am hiding!" She shrieked, and to solve her predicament, dropped to a crouch, covering her face with her hands.
Kieran looked down curiously at her.

"You cannot find me now!" She said in a sing-song voice.

He could only smile at her silliness. He crouched in front of her, and taking her hands, pushed them away from her face.
Surprised blue eyes looked back at him, before her face fell into a sad frown.
"But how did you find me?" She whined.

Kieran, seeing how much she was enjoying herself, decided to play along, "I admit you are good at hiding, lady Elena." He said, "But I am simply a better seeker."

Elena pouted in silent disappointment. Her attention was then drawn behind him, and her face returned to its jolly state as she exclaimed,
"That must be more dessert! I want gingerbread!"

Kieran turned and saw servants carrying platters and walking in a file through the cloister of the Manor house, which was illuminated by fire torches in sconces along the upper walls. The servants were heading into the back entrance one by one.

Elena briskly stood up and before he knew it, she'd started off towards them.

"No, lady Elena, wait!" he exclaimed and sprung to his feet, going after her. He caught her by the arm before she could reach the house.
"You can't go in there. Not in this state."

Elena glared at him and said defiantly, "I want gingerbread."

"No. You'll cause trouble."

She huffed a breath, then spoke louder,
"I. Want. Gingerbread!"

"Hush! You do not have to be so loud!" Kieran hissed, and he grew unsettled, sensing an upcoming tantrum.

And he was right. For she began announcing as loud as she could,
"I want gingerbread! I want gingerbread! I WANT GINGERBREAD! I WANT-!"

An exasperated Kieran tugged her by the arm and brought her closer, ordering her to be quiet.

An angry Elena lifted her arm and forcefully wrenched it from his grasp. She then inhaled deeply and let it out- in form of a shrill scream.

He jumped into action, cupping his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, but that was not the end. She violently shook her head and yanked his hand off her, before whirling around and heading towards the manor house once more. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back, which in her thoughts was a wrong move. For she raised her hand and swung it backwards, landing a clean hit to his temple.

The shock of being hit made him loosen his grip, and she easily slipped free, marching towards the house once more.

Kieran was getting angry. She was being a menace- and he didn't like being hit. It was easier to deal with it on the battlefield, since he would be able to hit back harder. But since this was an entirely different scenario, he had to deal with it differently.

He strode towards her, and this time when he took hold of her waist, he lifted her up, causing her to immediately flail her limbs about in an attempt to break free.

"Won't you be still!" He barked, carrying her back away from the manor. His lips were pursed and his face hard as he tried to dodge the stray blows.

Instead, Elena started screaming again. He could not have that, since it would cause a commotion and they would have an audience in no time. He set her down, spun her around and clamped his hand over her mouth again. Fiery blue eyes met glowering cyan ones.
She was breathing heavily, but she was still now, although the ocean in her eyes was now raging.

"You can't go in there." He said lowly, his voice firm, "Everyone would question your etiquette and point fingers. I'll be damned if I let you leave only to be insulted by society."

Elena must have understood his intentions, and seen the earnestness behind his words, because her ocean calmed, her upset countenance clearing. She looked down and nodded sadly, her shoulders slumped.

"I'm glad you understand." He said in a gentler voice, and loosened his hold on her mouth. And that is when she took the clear opportunity to open her mouth and chomp through his flesh with her incisors.

Kieran let out a yelp and quickly withdrew his hand, jerking it, as shock registered through his body. Did she just bite him? It was the second strike now.

This time, Elena lifted her skirts and bolted towards the manor house.

He was still bottling up anger from the first hit, and then she went and bit him. Not only that, but she had tricked him the moment he let his guard down. Her unusual behaviour was no longer cute. The blood in his veins boiled, and his jaw clenched.

"Lady Elena!" He boomed, and marched forth angrily, his hands balled into fists, and the tail of his coat flaring dangerously behind him. He was furious.

He reached the end of the lawn where Elena was crouched just infront of the cloister, and some six feet away from the door to the back entrance.

"I am not l-leaving here until I collect m-my gingerbread." she declared, hugging her knees.

"Get up." He said icily, her adorable stammer nolonger having an effect on him.

"I will not."

He snarled.
"Elena Rivera, get up right this instant." He ordered, his gaming mood long gone.

She jutted her chin out and repeated, "I will not."

"Then I will have to pick you from there." His eyes were glowering down at her, the blue and green clashing, fighting for dominance.

She narrowed her eyes at him and slurred challengingly, "Do.Your.Worrrrssshhhhht."

The green overpowered the blue till his eyes resembled the bottom of the Teriden sea. Reaching down, he held her by her upper arms to lift her up. Of course, she fought back. But it was a short and useless struggle. In no time, he'd hoisted her and tossed her over his shoulder, and was then marching away from the house.

What had started as defiant kicking and swatting from Elena manifested into fits of giggles when in her attempt to yank him by the hair, she undid the string that held it up, and his hair fell partly over his face. This irked him the more.

When he reached the bench, he set her down infront of it, and glared hotly at her.

She was unfazed.
"You have womanly hair." She pointed out, her eyes half-lidded, "Maybe you should have been a woman, instead of a man."

Kieran bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from snapping at her. He looked above her head and towards the house. His top concern at the moment wasn't how angry and frustrated he was with her, but whether anyone had seen her, or noticed their little horse play. He'd hate to see her become the subject of ghastly rumors.

"I hope they didn't notice us." he said as he saw a few servants exit from the house.

Elena was not paying attention to the words he was saying, but rather, where they came from- his throat.

"It would be a disaster if they did."

She watched in fascination as his Adam's Apple bobbed with the words he spoke, and was even more awed that this was where his alluring deep rumble came from.

Focused on what was up ahead, Kieran did not notice when she stepped closer to him, or when she stood on her toes. He only felt the wetness of her tongue, and graze of her teeth on his throat.

The rate at which his blood rushed to his groin was alarming. He grabbed her by the shoulders and quickly pushed her back away from him.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, his hands tightly gripping her shoulders.

The look of awe and wonder on her face let him know she didn't even know what she had done.

"It looks like a biscuit," she said, beaming, "So it is edible, yes?"

He felt many things in that moment. He was still angry at her; and he was frustrated at her naivety, but he was also excited by her. How was it possible for the woman before him to rile him up and arouse him at the same time?

He turned away from her, and a hand raked through his thick hair, muttering a string of curses. He let out a shaky breath and tried to regain his control. Placing his hands at his waist, he glared at the green grass.

By the time he turned around, he found that Elena had taken off her shoes and climbed onto the bench where she now stood. She was looking at him shyly and fingering the lace of her skirt as she asked,
"Do you want me to perform a private dance show for you?"

His throat ran dry. By stars, she was going to kill him this night.

**
Elena's 'private dance show' turned out to be something completely different from what he had imagined. In fact, one could not dare call it 'dance' at all. What she was doing was entirely something else, something he had never witnessed before, and wished never to witness again.

She had managed to resemble a waddling penguin and a raging monkey at once, and thrown in a few martial arts techniques into the mix. He had stiffly cocked his head to the side to avoid a flying kick as he watched her, his face fixed in a baffled grimace, his lips parted the whole time.

Needless to say, it was bizarre, and a complete turnoff.

The night went downhill from there, and it all began with a sneeze from her. Kieran took off his coat, and offered it to her as she jumped down from the bench.

"Wear it. You are cold, and I don't want you getting sick." He said to her.

Elena looked at the coat, looked at Kieran, and shook her head.

He thought he hadn't read her reaction right.

"Why do you shake your head? I'm telling you to wear it." He said, stretching the coat towards her.

Again, she shook her head, her front teeth biting down on the nail of her thumb, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

Kieran furrowed his eyebrows and asked, slowly, "Do you not want to wear it?"

She nodded her head, slowly.

He could not beleive how impossible she was being yet again. He took a step forward, she took a step backwards. He glared at her, she stared innocently at him.
He took another step forward, she took another backwards.

A moment of understanding of what was to occur next crossed between them, and at once, they ran; him chasing her. First, back and forth around the bench, until he jumped on it. This caused her to run off barefoot in the direction of the shrubs, squealing like a pig, her arms flailing about, as he went after her.

She was sneezing even as she ran, and laughing all the while.
Laugh, sneeze, squeal.
It was a cycle.

Her sneezing made him even more determined to catch her and make her wear the coat. And he did.

Except making her wear the coat was the same as dressing up a rebellious child- only Elena was more vicious.

She pushed, pulled, pinched and tweaked whatever part of him she could take hold of- his arms, his nose, his cheeks and his ears, and yanked with unforgiving determination at his hair, clearly aiming to rip it out. He could only yelp, grunt and try to dodge as many blows as he could while he struggled to dress her up.

He had gone through this a couple of times with Aira when she was a child, but it hit different with a full grown tigre- woman.

And in the process of it all, she had sneezed on his face twice.

***
After an excruciatingly long while, Kieran found himself slumping on the bench, looking like he had just gone through a wrestling marathon. His hair was disheveled and many strands stuck out unceremoniously. His doublet was creased and rickety, as though it had met a stampede of buffaloes.

Wearily, he looked down at the tigre- woman sleeping soundly beside him, her head on his shoulder and her legs bent back at the knees onto the bench. She was wearing his coat, and it practically swallowed up her form; only the tips of her fingers could be seen from under the sleeves. Both hands were enveloped around his one arm in a python grip, holding on like her life depended on it.

Aside from the coat, her appearance had not changed despite the wrangles that had occured, her hair and flowers still intact.

In spite of how irritated and frustrated he had been with her; at the end of it all, he smiled at her sleeping form. It was still Elena after all. But he did make a mental note to never ever let her drink on his watch.

It was not long before Mara eventually found them, and she expelled a breath of relief when she saw her sister was with Kieran.

"Oh thank goodness!" She exclaimed, placing a hand to her chest. Her fast breaths were blustering from looking all over the place for Elena, "When two stupid drunk birds told me she had taken it, I was so worried! She's a terrible drunk, my sister. Can't handle more than one helping of liquor! Oh General, she must have been such a nuisance to you!"

"It's quite alright," Kieran said, "Rather it be me than a random person."

Mara gave him a smile of gratitude, "Thank you, General. For keeping with her here," she said, "Otherwise, she would have run all around the halls and embarrassed herself."

Kieran nodded understandingly and asked, "Are you soon leaving?"

"Yes, yes. Right now, actually." She said, and gave him an apologetic look, "I could use your assistance in getting her to the carriage."

"Of course." He agreed right away.

He did not want to wake her so he tried to untangle her from his arm as gently as he could. However, Elena arose from her slumber, lifting her head and detaching herself from Kieran. She peered up at Mara, still groggy from sleep.

"Sister," Mara said softly, "We are leaving now."

Elena blinked, rubbed her eyes, then nodded. She moved her legs from the bench and fitted her petite feet into her shoes. Both of them thus presumed she could walk on her own.

To their surprise, Elena lifted her legs and swung them to the other side, placing them on Kieran's laps, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. She then pushed closer to him so she could snuggle her face against his neck.

"Let us go," she mumbled, tiredly.

Understanding what she wanted him to do, he smiled as he placed one arm round her back, and slid the other under her knees. He then stood up carrying her, and faced Mara, who was gaping at them.

"Lead the way." He said.

Author's chatter.

As I said at the beginning, I love this chapter ♥️

That is all.

Oh yes, and vote!