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Chapter VII
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"Lord Grant, welcome. Thank you for coming all the way to visit," said Takumi as him, Akira and Affare entered the entrance hall to greet Lord Grant and his children.
"Ah, Your Majesty! It's such an honour for Your Majesty to come greet us in person," said Lord Grant, bowing to Takumi.
Takumi gestured him to rise. "And these two must be Vincent and Elizabeth." He asked, glancing at the two standing behind Lord Grant.
Lord Grant gestured them forward to greet Takumi.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Your Majesty." greeted both of them.
Takumi gestured them to rise. "Likewise. It had been such a long time. Both of you had changed a lot that I almost couldn't recognize you."
"Haha! Well, I most certainly agree. It makes me feel old, seeing my children grow up so fast. But I must say, Your Majesty, you've have grown up to be a fine young king too." Said Lord Grant.
"Thank you for your compliment." Said Takumi.
"And so? May I know where is the Queen? I should send my greetings to her as well." Inquired Lord Grant, looking around.
"Oh, how forgetful of me. Let me introduce you to my Queen, Akira Okuzaki." Said Takumi. He put his hand on Akira's as Akira bowed to Lord Grant. "Pleasure to meet you, Lord Grant. I am Akira Okuzaki."
Lord Grant, Vincent and Elizabeth stared at her for moment before Lord Grant regained his composure. "Ah ha ha ha! Very funny, Your Majesty. Isn't she your Otome?"
However, he abruptly stopped his laughter when he saw the serious look on Takumi's face and the sad look on Akira's face. "It's true?"
"Yes." Takumi answered simply. "She's my former Otome and now she is my Queen." Somehow, Takumi is starting to dislike his uncle a little.
"Ah." Silence. Lord Grant straightened back and smiled. "Sorry for my rudeness. It's a pleasure meeting you, Your Highness Akira." He bowed to her, gesturing his kids to do the same.
"Pleasure is all mine, Lord Grant," said Akira.
Awkwardness filled the air.
Affare coughed lightly and stepped up. "Greetings, Lord Grant. My name is Affare and I am one of His Majesty's advisor. Allow me to lead you to the rooms that we have prepared for your stay." He silently ordered the servants to picked up the guests' bags and gestured Lord Grant, Vincent and Elizabeth to follow him.
"Very well then. Please excuse us, Your Majesty." Three of them bowed slightly to Takumi and followed Affare to their rooms.
Silence once again.
"I don't think I'll like him much." Said Takumi suddenly.
Akira raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. "Why not? He is your uncle, Takumi. You shouldn't say that."
"Yes, I know he is my uncle but somehow I figured out why my dad and he don't get along. He seems like the type that thinks social status matters a lot."
Akira patted on his shoulder lightly. "Takumi, you shouldn't quickly judge your uncle like that. Maybe it will be better during dinner tonight."
Takumi squeezed her hand lightly and smiled, "Let's hope you are right."
During dinner time….
The atmosphere had somehow lighten up and everyone is conversing with each other over dinner. Ronde was keeping Lord Grant entertained by inviting him to discuss topic on the recent events happening in the country where else Takumi and Akira are making small conversations with his kids, Vincent and Elizabeth.
"So, I heard that Vincent, you are learning martial arts?" asked Takumi with great interest at the young lord who was almost the same age as Takumi. "Is it difficult?"
Vincent gave a small smile. "Well, it is difficult at first but I got used to it. But I do still get a few bruises here and there sometimes."
The young king laughed. "But it will be a very useful skill to defend yourself. I would have love to learn that if I could." He patted his leg lightly while giving them a bitter smile.
Akira held his hand that was on his lap and squeezed to reassure him. Takumi respond with a small smile to her briefly before continuing his chat with Vincent. "Well, Akira on the other hand, is a martial artist. Even before joining Garderobe Acadamy. Maybe you two should have a spar one of these days."
"Oh, I would love that if Her Majesty does not mind. It is always good to have a veteran to help." Said Vincent with a smile.
Akira blushed slightly, "I am no veteran, Lord Vincent. But I wouldn't mind a friendly spar with you too one of these days."
"Thank you, Your Majesty Akira." Vincent nodded his head gratefully.
"How about you, Lady Elizabeth? Did you take on martial arts too?" asked Takumi, directing his question to the younger lady that had been quiet for a while.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I guess I don't have the talent for it. I went for horse riding instead." She replied with a smile. "I love horses. So the hobby suits me just fine."
"Ah… Horse riding.. I miss doing that too… One of these days, we should go for horse riding together." He replied back with a smile.
"That would be an honor, Your Majesty." Elizabeth exclaimed with a big smile. "Is Your Majesty Akira interested in horse riding too?"
"Ah, I am afraid that I am not used to it but I wouldn't mind learning from Lady Elizabeth." Answered Akira.
Elizabeth nodded happily and said, "Yes, for sure! We must go together soon!"
Takumi smiled, happy that at least Vincent and Elizabeth do not seem to be too bad and they are getting along well with Akira too.
The dinner continuing on as everyone chattered away happily.
In the Royal Bedroom…
"So, what do you think about them?" asked Takumi, as Akira helped him change his clothes.
"You mean Lord Grant and his kids?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it is not in my position to comment on them." answered Akira. She recalled that during dinner, Lord Grant had ignored her the whole time. Guess he really had problems with me being Queen… I wonder why… thought Akira but chose not to voice out to Takumi.
Takumi raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Akira, did you forget who you are now? You are their Queen. You can say anything."
Akira laughed. "Anything?"
"Well, just don't say anything that will start a war." joked Takumi.
She smiled and sat beside him. "I think that social relations take time and I am sure that we will be able to get along better later on."
He smiled back at her. "Since they are here, we might as well give them the best treatment. We could plan a picnic and do some horse-riding with the Vincent and Elizabeth. They will appreciate that maybe."
"Great!" exclaimed Akira. "Oh, and I could practice sparring with Vincent and swaps techniques with each other. This is going to be enjoyable!"
"Haha, alright. Let's go to sleep. We'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow…" said Takumi, as him and Akira lied down on the bed, facing each other.
"Yeah! Oh, I should get ready my things for the sparring with Vincent then! I can't wait to spar with him!" said Akira excitedly, her eyes lit up in happiness.
"Akira." Takumi's finger on her lips, shushing her. "I don't mind that you are excited about sparring with Vincent, but please, don't keep talking of another man when we are in bed." Takumi pouted. "You are making me jealous… Or is that what you wanted?"
Akira blushed red like a tomato. "O-oh, I am sorry, Takumi. I didn't realize I was babbling away… I didn't mean it… I was just -"
Takumi silenced her by planting his lips on her, which surprised Akira. Takumi took advantage of her mouth's small opening and insert his tongue in and started swirling it around her mouth, causing Akira to moan.
"Nnnn-mmm" Akira was unable to think of anything else. Everything that she was about to say just flew off. All she could think of was the tongue in her mouth that was probing her own tongue to do the same. Hesitantly, she responded with her tongue, causing a jolt of pleasure to Takumi.
Takumi hugged her tightly until he can feel her curves against his body. He caressed her body gently, causing shivers running down her body. Akira, herself, was already too immersed in the passionate kiss to resist him.
As Takumi slid his hand up her pajamas blouse and lightly touched her bare back, Akira's eyes flew open. She quickly pushed Takumi away and sputtered, "O-o-oh, Takumi. I am so sorry! I just reacted without thinking! I didn't mean to push you away! I-I j-just -"
Takumi hugged her again, stopping her outburst. "It's okay, Akira. I understand… You were not ready yet and I almost forced you to do it… I should be the one saying sorry…"
"N-n-no…" Akira shook her head. "I-I'm…"
"I know that you are not ready to give up your powers and yet I couldn't control my lust and almost forced you. I am really the one at fault, Akira. Don't feel bad…"
"T-Takumi…" She hugged him back. "I am sorry. Thank you."
Takumi smiled and patted her head gently. "That's alright. Let's go to sleep… You must be tired…"
Akira nodded and positioned her head on his chest to make herself comfortable and she gently dozed off. Takumi give a sigh of relief. At least his actions tonight didn't make her feel uncomfortable towards him. With that thought, he fell asleep.
Unbeknown to them, their bedroom door was slightly ajar and there was a shadow watching them the whole time. The shadow smiled cunningly and thought, I have found an opportunity… Then, the shadow gently closed the door and swiftly went away.
In the office, Ronde and Affare were discussing matters regarding Lord Grant.
"Ronde, were you aware of the proposition that Lord Grant made to the council about making his son the rightful king instead of Your Majesty Takumi?" asked Affare, placing a document on his table.
Ronde read the document and said, "Yes, I was aware. Lord Grant knew that he was not eligible for the position because of his previous acts against our former king so he decided to nominate his son instead."
"Well? Why did he come here? He should be angry about the whole ordeal!" cried Affare exasperatedly.
"Well, we can't be sure if his visit is friendly or threatening to our king yet. So, in the meantime, we have to keep our guards up." Said Ronde, frowning slightly.
Affare gave a big sigh. "I suppose so. I'll turn in now. Good night, Ronde." He walked out and closed the door behind him.
As he was walking back to his room, he bumped into Vincent. "Lord Vincent… fancy meeting you here… Are you lost?"
Vincent looked startled. "Errr, yes. I wanted to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water but I couldn't find my way there."
Affare laughed softly. "Oh yes, sometimes this place can be confusing. Very well, you can go back to your room first. I will ask a maid to bring a glass of water for you."
Vincent nodded gratefully. "Thank you very much. Erm, which way is to my room again? Haha…"
Affare directed Vincent back to his room before making his way to the kitchen to give his order. On the way, he couldn't help but realize that the way Vincent came before bumping into him was the corridor to the Royal Bedroom. He shook his head and smiled to himself. "I am being too sensitive…"
To be continued….
Author's notes:
Sorry for the long hiatus! Things had been hectic for me and I couldn't find the right time to sit down comfortably and get this chapter done… So, to those that had been waiting long, thousand apologies to you all!
This chapter, I added a little 'hot hot' scene. Hehe… Shows the naughty side of Takumi *grins* Frankly, I kept picturing Takumi and Akira 'lovey-dovey' scenes to add into the story but I always find one flaw. That is Takumi is sitting on a wheelchair. This influences everything in the story… So, I had to re-improvise the scenes again…
Well, things still haven't settle down and thus, I might be updating my story really slow… So, please bear with me!
Thank you!
- Saffyopal -
