At the Hoshidan mess hall the royal family, alongside some of their local city folk were enjoying a warm dinner that Sakura had prepared for them. The atmosphere was one of serenity and relaxation, a fitting reward after a day of repelling a force of evil in the nearby mountain ranges.

"Eat up everyone," Ryoma said, getting to his feet and smiling, "To Hoshido!"

Everyone in the hall joined in with a rousing cheer before eagerly devouring the meals that were set in front of them, warm dishes of miso soup for starters, followed by an assortment of meat and rice, then to be concluded with ice cream, a foreign dish that Princess Elise of Nohr had informed the Hoshidans of.

"This arrangement is truly wonderful Sakura," Ryoma said with a warm smile as he retook his seat beside Lusignan and the rest of his family, "Mother would be very proud."

"I agree," Hinoka said, "The food tastes great, and everyone is having an enjoyable evening, well done."

"Good job pet," Lusignan affirmed as he took the first sip of the soup before licking his lips and moving in for a second spoonful, "A damn fine meal."

Sakura began to smile, her cheeks blushing heavily, "Oh it w-was nothing," she said as her eldest brother dropped his hand on her head and rubbed it approvingly, "Go on and get yourself a bowl," he said as he gestured to the kitchen, "The event organiser shouldn't be deprived of her own delicious food." After the young princess returned the family of four began recounting the actions that had occurred earlier in the day, telling Lusignan of their voyage to the Foggy Mountains and the quick destruction of the necromancer who was inhabiting them.

"I didn't think we'd be having a picnic afterwards, it was such fun!" Sakura beamed as she gently patted her mouth with a napkin.

"A picnic?" Lusignan enquired as set his spoon down, having halfway completed the first part of his dinner, "Well now I'm envious that I couldn't come, sounds like you all had a nice time."

"Yes, today was indeed very enjoyable," Takumi said with a cheerful smile, "Almost like a family day out, but with our retainers."

Ryoma nodded in agreement as he swallowed a large spoonful of soup, "We've known them all our lives Takumi, I dare say it wouldn't be a false statement to include our retainers as part of our family."

Takumi pondered upon the notion for a moment, before rushing off to the kitchen, returning with a thick cloth in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Hinoka asked as her brother began to carefully place his bowl of soup on top of the cloth, trying his utmost not to burn his hands on the plate.

"You're right brother, they are family," Takumi said as he lifted up the bowl, "So I'm going to go find Hinata and Oboro and ask if they wouldn't mind letting me eat with them."

"Oh what a lovely gesture," Sakura said, lightly clapping her hands together, "May I go and sit with Hana and Subaki big brother?"

Ryoma chuckled and passed one of the cloths Takumi had brought to his youngest sister, "I don't see why not Sakura."

"T-thank you!" the young princess replied with a short bow as he made her way to the South side of the mess hall, where her two retainers were seated.

"What about you?" Ryoma asked of his other sister who was happily watching Sakura run off, "Why don't you do the same?" The pegasus rider's expression fell slightly as she pointed to her right, "That's a little bit more difficult for me."

Ryoma and Lusignan turned their heads to the direction in which and saw Setsuna sitting at a table for six alone, slowly placing spoonfuls of soup into her mouth, appearing somewhat more sad than usual. "Azama can't stand eating with Setsuna, because of how slow she tackles her meal, so he goes and eats at the table with the other monks," Hinoka continued as she peered over some guests to look at the table in question, "And that table only has one spare seat, so I can't pull Setsuna over with me."

Lusignan grabbed a cloth and placed it under his bowl, "Tell you what, if you go over to Azama, I'll go and keep Setsuna company, how does that sound?"

"Would you?" Hinoka asked with a smile, "She really misses your training sessions you know, so I'm sure she would love to have you sit with her."

"It's not a problem," Lusignan responded with an Azama like smile, "Nobody should eat alone."

"Exactly," Ryoma said with an approving nod as Lusignan and Hinoka left the table heading towards their new partners for dinner, "Ah..." he muttered, having realised he was now the one that was alone. The Hoshidan King eventually sighed as he placed a cloth under his bowl and looked directly up into the wooden beams where Kagerou and Saizo were quietly eating their respective meals, "Now how in heaven's name am I to get up there..."

"Well Setsuna," Lusignan smiled, "Don't mind if I join you for the rest of your dinner do you?"

The archer's face lit up, well, as much as it could do, when she saw the Lord at the side of her table, "Hey milord..." she said, "Do you want to sit with me? I've missed you..."

Lusignan took that as an acceptance of his request and promptly sat opposite the young girl, accidentally knocking her knees with his, "Oh sorry about that," he laughed, "I'm almost as clumsy as you are."

"Don't worry about it..." Setsuna replied as she stared intently at the man opposite her, her expression showing slightly more emotion than usual, "Do you want some of my food?"

"No no Setsuna I didn't come here to take your food," Lusignan chuckled as he pointed to his empty bowl, "I came here to talk to you."

"Wow...about what…?" the archer replied, her stare still firmly locked in place.

"Well...nothing in particular, just how things are going I suppose," Lusignan said he got a glimpse of Hinoka in the distance giving him a relieved smile and a thumbs up, "For example, how has your training been going, I hope you've still been doing it?"

"Oh yes...I haven't missed a day since you taught me the techniques…" Setsuna nodded, "But Lady Hinoka says that I have to keep my clothes on while I do it...so it's not quite the same..."

Lusignan grinned, "Well isn't that a shame then, missing out on the best part."

"Hehehehe...you're funny..." the archer mumbled with a smile before quickly returning to her typical expression, "Why don't I get to see you anymore…?"

"Well I've been busy with some of my affairs," the Lord replied as he took a sip of his wine, "It's not easy ruling a country from a distance you know."

Setsuna's eyes opened ever so slightly more than usual, "Affairs...? With women...?"

"No, not that kind of affair..." Lusignan groaned, "International affairs, with my home nation, diplomatic processes and such."

"Oh...I see..." Setsuna murmured, "So does that mean we won't get to train together anymore..?"

Lusignan could see that the girl was visibly downtrodden, and knew he had to make an effort to cheer her up. After around twenty minutes of archery, food and trap based discussion the Lord realised that only the promise of another practice session would improve Setsuna's mood. "Tell you what Setsuna," he began, "How about we schedule a training session for one day a week, so I can check up on you and make sure you're doing everything correctly?" The Lord was well aware that Setsuna enjoyed their time together, and to be honest he also enjoyed having a partner to spar with once more, "I'll take care of your practice, we can even go far up into the mountains and maintain focus without any distractions, have a real gritty and physical exhibition of strength, truly test the limits of our bodies."

Setsuna smiled slightly, "That sounds nice...we could get even stronger..." she replied as Lusignan nodded in agreement, "Will we be able to take our clothes off again?"

"Er...that's really only useful if there are harsh weather conditions," the Lord replied as he quickly took an awkward gulp of his wine, eager to avoid getting any extra telling offs from Hinoka, "Besides, your mistress said for you not to, so I think it's best if you keep your armour on."

"Oh..." Setsuna muttered, "Perhaps if I ask her..."

"Hmm? What was that? Setsuna!?" Lusignan called, suddenly being brought to a concerned attention, but his conversational partner had already left her seat and began walking towards her mistress.

"Excuse me Lady Hinoka..." Setsuna asked, bringing the attention of the entire table of fourteen elderly monks upon her.

"Yes Setsuna, do you need something?" Hinoka asked with a smile as she set down her glass of milk.

"I'm going to be training with Lord Lusignan again, and I wanted your permission to take all of my clothes off while I do it," Setsuna continued.

"Clothes off!?" the monks chorused in disbelief, gasping in shock at the inappropriateness of the young girl's request as Honoka's cheeks flared a bright scarlet.

"Setsuna can we maybe-" Hinoka began with a nervous laugh, as she tried to end the conversation immediately.

"You don't have to worry about anyone else seeing my lady...Lord Lusignan said he would take me up into the mountains, where we could be alone..." the archer continued.

"Alone!?" the monks cried as several of them fainted, this conversation already leading to be too lewd for their religious innocence, Lusignan facepalmed himself with a sigh as he got up from his chair and began walking towards the monk's table.

"Yes but Setsuna-" Hinoka continued only to be interrupted once more.

"And I really want to do it," Setsuna continued, "Lord Lusignan said we would get really physical, test the limits of our bodies..."

"Physical!? Test the limits of their bodies!?" the monks lamented as the remaining conscious members quickly fell from their chairs crashing onto the floor, leaving only Azama still seated, who chuckled mischievously.

Lusignan approached Setsuna's side and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry about that," he said to Hinoka who was holding her heads in her hands, "I could have chosen better wording."

"It's fine, just try to remember who you're talking to," she replied rolling her eyes, "I'll make up some excuse when they wake up and tell them she heard you incorrectly or something."

"Why's everybody asleep…? Did I do something wrong again…?" Setsuna asked cluelessly as she looked around, confused at why all of Azama's friends were on the ground.

"No no Setsuna it's okay, you just need to be careful with how you structure sentences," Azama responded with his signature smile, "Perhaps since you are having strength training it would be in your best interests to also receive situational awareness training."

"Situational awareness...I don't really know what that is..." the archer replied flatly.

"It's the ability to identify and process the elements of everyday life that are happening around you, analysing the impact they may have on your own actions and therefore altering them if necessary," Azama explained, Lusignan was impressed, the monk was probably as much of an academic as his own tutor Yukimura.

"That sounds kinda boring..." Setsuna replied with the hint of a frown on her expression.

"I'm sure Lord Lusignan here would be delighted to help you with it, you could both spend a week in the mountains, if you would like," Azama continued, sending a polite nod towards the Lord in the process.

"I'll do it..." Setsuna affirmed immediately.

"I thought you might," Azama laughed as he returned to his meal.

Hinoka sat quietly for a few seconds as she weighed up the positives and negatives of temporarily losing Setsuna, she couldn't deny that having a retainer who didn't fall into holes or get caught in traps would be a huge benefit, "Ah...actually there isn't really a negative in this," she told herself as she turned back to face Lusignan.

"You would be okay to help her out with awareness, it wouldn't be too troubling?" the pegasus rider asked, "It would be a great help to me, and I can make it up to you with a cooked meal of whatever you want."

Lusignan appeared skeptical, "Who'll be cooking the meal…?" he asked hesitantly, having heard stories, bad stories regarding the princesses' cooking.

Hinoka sighed, "Fine I'll get Sakura to cook it for you," Lusignan winked and grinned in agreement, "And are you sure you want to do this Setsuna?" Hinoka turned and asked her retainer, "It could be an awful lot of work, both physical and mental."

"Yeah…" Setsuna replied as she grabbed onto Lusignan's arm, prompting raised eyebrows from Hinoka, Lusignan and Azama, "I like Lord Lusignan, he's nice to me..."

The Lord chuckled, "Well there's your answer I suppose, we'll start packing after the evening's celebrations have concluded then I suppose," Setsuna nodded and followed the Lord as he walked back to their table, like a baby duckling would their parent.

Hinoka sat back in her chair, "I've never seen Setsuna so...attached to something before," she said.

"Oh I don't know about that..." Azama replied as he finished his soup, "She tends to get quite intimate with all of the traps she encounters."

"Oh shush you know what I meant," Hinoka said to her retainer as he began chuckling once more.

"Don't worry my lady," Azama said as he offered her a hand, "Setsuna is very quiet, laid back and absent minded girl, if anyone had the power to help her out of that it would be our resident Lord of Confidence over there, however, I won't say he has an easy journey in front of him." Azama gestured to Lusignan's table where Setsuna had already started undressing herself, much to the dismay of her mentor, who quickly threw his cloak over here and carried her out of the mess hall with a sigh.