The Guarded Princess

LXXIX

A month had passed since then and Lucy's condition had greatly improved. The Celestial Empire had officially settled down and with there being no big changes, the Empire continued to prosper and flourish with the continuing days - much due to Lucy and her retainers' hard work. It had barely been a year since its founding and yet, here it was, standing proudly among the top. The citizens laughed in joy at their Empire's success but these days, there was another thing on their mind that they were all busy preparing for, including her retainers. However, the matter went unnoticed by Lucy for, as always, she was continuously focused on paperwork and any break time that she had was devoted to having a quick afternoon tea all the while reading documents. Today, too, she sat in her office taking care of the needed paperwork.

A knock sounded at the door. "Lucy."

Recognizing his voice, Lucy called out to him. "Enter."

Masrur opened the door and peeked his head in as he held a basket of sandwiches and other simple foods, knowing that she liked such food for it was convenient and easy to eat. Masud peeked his head in as well, his tiny hand on the door as he blinked his maroon pink eyes in curiosity. However, with the two of them there, Lucy continued to scribble away, her eyes darting back and forth among the paper.

"Still working?" Masrur asked as he turned around and closed the door.

"Mn," Lucy blankly replied and narrowed her eyes as she strained her hand to continue writing. "Almost...done!"

Letting go of the pen and dropping it down on the desk with a light tap, Lucy stretched as she reached her hands to the air and gave a satisfied and relaxing sound. Placing her hands back down to her side, she saw the two and her eyes beamed with joy.

"Seems like Masud came as well," she chuckled.

The young boy nodded his head with a small blush on his face as he greeted Lucy. "Did Lucy-san finish all the necessary paperwork by herself? If you wished for it, I could've helped out as well."

Lucy smiled and patted Masud on the head. "Thank you, Masud. But, Kaede and Hakuyuu take care of most of the paperwork for me so if I don't do some myself from time to time, I'm going to lose my touch at it," she laughed.

"Though you say that, you finish twice the amount they could do together in a day," Masrur sweat-dropped as he glanced at the staggering mountains of finished paperwork set to the side. "Since you're done. Have some lunch. I'm sure you're tired."

"As expected of Masrur to know my mood," she grinned. "You came at the perfect time. I was just about to get hungry."

Masrur smiled and, placing the basket down at the nearby table, the three of them sat around the table and began munching happily on the sandwiches as the servants brought in a tray of tea to accompany their meal. As Lucy and Masud ate the sandwich that Masrur had prepared, they chewed with a blissful expression, their cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. Flowers popped up in the air around them as the rukh fluttered in excitement.

"Delicious," the two said at the same time.

Masrur looked at the two and gave one of his rare, faint chuckles for in that instant, the two looked so alike that someone could've mistaken them for mother and son but with Lucy's appearance, she would be a rather young mother. Noticing his stare, Lucy perked up.

"Masrur, you're not going to eat?" Lucy tilted her head.

"Before I came, I already ate something," Masrur said as he had only eaten one sandwich. "Besides," he smiled. "Seeing the two of you eat so happily, there's nothing else I need right now."

Lucy widened her eyes as her cheeks were painted a rosy hue. Masud finished eating his sandwich and noticing the silence, he looked back and forth between Masrur and Lucy. Masrur had a faint blush on his cheek as he situated his head on the palm of his head while Lucy nibbled on her sandwich with her head lowered, hiding the tomato redness of her face. Wondering why her face was so red, Masud wiped his hands and kneeling on his chair, he reached his hand over to Lucy's forehead and leaned in.