«I forgot to ask you how you\'re feeling today,» Ignis says. He\'ll keep me here against the wall forever.

«I am fine,» I sigh. «I admit I was a little hasty, but it didn\'t hurt much, to begin with. Not something I want to repeat, but it\'s not a disaster either.»

He seems content to hear my surrender.

«I forgot something, too, yesterday,» I add.

I take out my favourite hair tie, the one I used yesterday, and I bind it around Ignis\'s wrist.

«I wanted to do this yesterday before leaving, but you were so cute while sleeping that I forgot about it.»

I spent so much time watching him sleep that I almost got caught by the servants doing their early chores.

«How did you sleep?»

«Well,» he sighs. «I haven\'t slept so well in a while.»

«When did your insomnia start? When you became the King?» Is it due to the ghosts hunting him?

«Long before that. When I came back from the first war.»

«And it was...»

«I first enlisted at fifteen,» he says with a shrug.

Also, he takes a step back. We\'re talking about serious matters, so being too close doesn\'t seem good.

«So, sleeping with me does help a little, right?» I murmur.

«More than a little,» he breathes, pecking my hair from over the tiara of flowers.

I hug him tightly, forgetting about everything for a moment. Oh, it\'s so difficult to be infatuated. I was so much more reliable and rational before.

«Also, Veronica... The capital is a dangerous place. You shouldn\'t trust people too easily when you come there. There are a lot of things going on, so please be careful.»

«I am not a child.»

«I know. I can\'t help but worry.»

When I let him go, I notice the petals on his shirt. They\'re from the flowers on my head! Oh, damn it!

I dust his clothes until no trace is left. Then, my eyes swipe his figure in search of any imperfection. There\'s none: he\'s just perfect. Not a single wrinkled cloth!

Only his hair is a mess. There are petals even there! We just hugged, for goodness. When did he have the time to collect so many? There\'s more on him than on me!

I get rid of the tiara and clean Ignis from the flowers. I make him check that my hair is tidy as well.

«Shall I take this off while bathing, though?» Ignis murmurs, looking at the small, cute ribbon I tied around his wrist.

«I don\'t take this off ever,» I point out, showing the bracelet. «But I don\'t have something more suitable for a man, so you have to make do with the ribbon for now.»

«Is it a token of your love?»

«It\'s a reminder that I will come back! You don\'t need to have it with you all the time... But, when you want to sleep maybe? Or when you\'re surrounded by pretty women and fear you\'ll fall into temptation.»

«I can\'t fall into temptation if you\'re not around.»

«Wear the ribbon and remember me,» I exclaim. «Just in case.»

This time, it\'s his turn to drag me into a tight embrace.

We turn to walk back when we find Lucia on our path. I didn\'t hear her coming. How long has she been here? How much did she see?

She\'s so young. She shouldn\'t be exposed to such naughty scenes!

Oh, my. I\'ll have to talk with my sister later and make sure she won\'t allow any man to kiss her like this. My precious little sister isn\'t one to be wed. I\'m sure father won\'t mind keeping her home forever.

He already married me off, so he can use it as an excuse to avoid a second daughter marrying far from home. Or marrying at all.

Instead of looking at me in search of explanations, she stares at Ignis.

«Has your Majesty had a pleasant stay at our place?» she says. A little mechanically, as if it was a prepared speech.

I stop worrying about her innocence while realising something is going on here. What have my siblings prepared?

I sigh, realising I failed. I kept them under control for a couple days. They could stay put a few minutes more, and the delegation would have left without incidents.

«We were honoured to host you, your Majesty. Our humble home isn\'t as big as a Royal Palace, but I hope you didn\'t lack anything during your stay,» Lucia continues.

Oh, it must be bad. Is she distracting us while the other two make trouble? Is she keeping us here for some reason?

What are they doing? What\'s their plan?

«We are very grateful to your Majesty. You\'ll take upon yourself to bear our sister,» she adds. Her straight-forward face would make me laugh if I wasn\'t this worried. «We all hope your Majesty will survive next to her. We\'re used to her, but your Majesty doesn\'t know how dangerous she is.»

«Dangerous?» Ignis murmurs with a serious tone. He believed her!

«I\'m not! I\'m not dangerous, Ignis. I don\'t even mistreat people. I don\'t know why she\'s doing this, but it\'s obvious there\'s a second purpose; come on!»

Don\'t be fooled by an eleven-year-old girl. Even if she\'s adorable, her act is more than transparent.

«We owe our lives to your Majesty now,» Lucia adds.

«Oh,» Ignis moans.

Lucia\'s eyes are crossed by contentness. She thinks she succeeded. She\'s convinced she fooled the King.

«I\'m relieved that my actions brought you good,» my husband comments with a big smile. «I\'m so surprised how much you grew up, by the way. You were a few months old when I visited. Just a baby...»

Lucia\'s lips twirl, and she walks forward, forgetting about her initial purpose.

«How was my sister?»

«Beautiful as she\'s now.»

«Oh, right. She\'s been like this for as long as I can remember.»

«She also loved to get in trouble. She even dragged me along to share the guilt and get lighter punishments,» Ignis continues.

What is this? Why are they discussing my flaws now?

«But how can someone say no to her?» he continues with a shrug. «It was fine, as long as punishment didn\'t involve being apart for too long.»

Lucia nods, understanding his reasoning.

One side of me is relieved this is over. But the other is displeased that they\'re talking about me in such terms.

Also, where are the other two? Are they waiting somewhere else?

Antonio and Marius won\'t stop if they\'re told a few good words. They\'re way more stubborn than Lucia.

«Let\'s go back,» I say. We should reach the hall before those two appear and cause real trouble.

Lying to a King is a crime, but it might be overlooked if Ignis doesn\'t remember about it. Hurting or attacking him is worse.

I should avoid it at any cost.

Living far from the capital has many advantages, especially for a family with mages. Yet, it makes one grow up without worries about the rules of society.

Especially if they remember Ignis as a child, they won\'t see him as the King. Ignis himself doesn\'t act too regal.

I forget about it as well, from time to time, but his persona is sacred, and he embodies the country. Anything that hurts him is considered an enemy of Alba. Even children accidentally hurting a Prince can be sentenced.

It\'s just that Ignis isn\'t used to being a royal. Even as a child, he never acted like a prince. And now... Oh, now it\'s even worse!

He acts so easy-to-approach and loveable. He should be upright and look at everyone from the top. He should wear costly clothes and be difficult to talk with, in fear the wrong word causes his fury.

Yet, all that I see is a hard-working young man, still uncertain about his role and exploring his new life.

«Oh, Ignis,» I murmur, reaching out for his hand.

He raises his brows, wondering what\'s gotten into me.

«I will miss you,» I say.

Lucia looks down, guilty. My words must have made her understand how I feel about this whole situation. Trying to meddle in my marriage won\'t bring luck to anyone. Hopefully, she realised it.

As for my brothers... I\'ll have to physically stop them if they come here to fight.

They don\'t have enough patience to use words.

«Ignis, whatever happens,» I say, pulling his hand and looking him in the eye. «Please, just remember they\'re my family. You know us from a long time ago. Please, don\'t kill anyone.»

I don\'t even care if he\'s a tyrant and a cruel monster. As long as he doesn\'t hurt the people I love, I won\'t care about the rest of the nobles.

He\'s doing what he needs to stay alive. Being a King doesn\'t let much time to think and consider.

But my family is another matter.. We\'re not a threat to him, except when we lose control over these siblings of mine.