The Guarded Princess

V

Kouen, Koumei, and Kougyoku were sitting in the meeting room that they all had recently been in and with it being spacious and well-lighted, it was the perfect place for them to go over foreign documents. Though Sinbad also happened to be in the room with a light and fluffy atmosphere around him and somehow, it seemed really annoying.

"Isn't today such a nice weather?" he hummed, a bright smile on his face.

The birds chirped outside underneath the sunlight as Kouen unrolled another scroll.

"How are the snacks? They're made by the best patisserie in Sindria?" he said.

Kougyoku sipped her tea as Koumei rolled one of the scrolls. Nobody answered him and nobody bothered to look his way. He should've already known that none of them paid any interest in him - maybe Kougyoku - and yet, he continued bothering with them. Kougyoku put down her cup of tea and sighed, wondering how she had even fallen for such a man. She looked at the sweets set on the table and the only one that had bothered eating it was Koumei.

Koumei-niisama really does like sweets, huh? she chuckled.

She looked at Kouen, her eldest brother, and smiled. He wasn't the type to eat sweets and if anything, he hated it. She flinched a bit when Kouen moved, rolling his scroll back up and setting it on the side. Kougyoku saw him look at the sweets and for a moment, the faintest smile appeared on his face as his eyes softened. She widened her eyes in surprise and looked at the sweets. She immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Lucy-neesama likes sweets, doesn't she?" she said with a soft smile.

"Ah," he took up a fruit tart. "She used to always brighten up whenever it was time for afternoon snacks. Those times were nice."

"And the time we spend with her now hasn't changed a single bit," Kougyoku grinned. "The times we spend together now is also nice. Though I dare say that it might be even better."

He looked at her and chuckled. "You're right."

"Hm? What is it?" Sinbad brightened up. "Does Lucy like sweets? If so, you should've told me earlier! It's the perfect time to bring these sweets to her and while at it, we can have lunch toget-"

Sinbad stopped midsentence as his face paled.

"Don't you dare," Kouen glared at him, his sword right at Sinbad's neck.

"Kouen, Kouen, it's dangerous to point a sword at someone's neck," Sinbad started sweating bullets as he lifted his hands out of fear.

"Does it look like I care?"

"Hey! Aren't you going way too overboard? All I'm doing is visiting her by bringing some of these sweets to her. Is that bad?" he argued and sighed, sitting back into the couch. "You Ren siblings are being a bit too overprotective, don't you think? She's sixteen, you know."

"It's exactly because she's sixteen," Kouen glared, sheathing back his sword.

"Is it bad to be alone with me?" Sinbad defended himself. "I'm young, I'm handsome, what's so bad about being with me? It's just lunch."

"Everything about you is bad," the three of them said unanimously.

"Sinbad-sama," Koumei voiced, patting down his hands and ridding it of crumbs. "No matter what kind of title you had decreed to her, Lucy-sama is still a person of the Kou Empire. Moreover, it's precisely she's young and you're young that meeting alone to eat lunch is a bad idea."

"Why? You think she'll fall for me?" Sinbad grinned.

Kouen smacked him hard in the head. "Quit joking around. There's no way she would fall for someone like you."