Chapter 10: Welcome

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own YGO Zexal, heck, I don't even own the general concept of cheesy-romance flick. So, shut up and just read if you want. XOXO

III's first impression upon seeing the blue-haired girl was; he liked her. Not 'like' like he was into her, but more like he was happy that she was going to be family members.

Of course, he had been wary at first, meeting someone who was able to make his obstinate brother do anything to get her—even V himself was still rather skeptical towards the arrangement but had, more or less, ceased fighting just to see how far IV would get. It was hard to believe for those who knew IV well—namely the member of Royal Palace—but he chose to believe his brother had really taken his role seriously.

Rio herself seemed like a pleasant character who knew a lot of interesting things. She even showed great interest towards his research about the supernatural potential of old relic—one of a few people who could understand whatever he was saying without looking bored or distracted (V tended to be the latter, so he wasn't high on his list of people who he wanted to talk with).

"I've read about gemstones having various magic properties depending on what kind of minerals in its composition. Do you think the soil burying it has anything to do with said minerals?" Rio commented, peering over a book she was reading.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think. Which is why I believe that old relics might have certain properties that we could utilize," III said, full of enthusiasm.

"Have you ever tried it?"

"I have, but the result isn't exactly satisfactory. One of them crumbled when I used it for fueling a torch, and I had bad dreams every night for the following weeks." He shuddered at the memory. "I haven't tried anything else until I'm sure what had caused such reaction. Destroying specimen is the last thing I want to do."

"Many people died when they tried various kinds of medicine and food. Thanks to them, too, we can find what's good or not to eat now. And there'll probably a lot more of it for the sake of knowledge. At least we're not dealing with living things."

"That still doesn't make it right. There're only so much old relics we could use. I know we can't all be perfect, but we have to do as good as we could with what we have," III replied—slightly snapped at her."

Rio frowned, then smiled amusedly. "You're quite an interesting combination of your brothers, huh?" she commented. "I like it better. I hope we can be friends."

Now, it was III's turn to frown. IV hadn't told him much about how he ended up courting her, and he'd been busy with his own tasks anyway. He had thought it was just the usual banters between his brothers. But now that the person in question had actually come, he couldn't help but felt curious at the new character. He only recognized Ryouga as his brother's best friend, and he hadn't even known that IV was quite close to the sister, since she was rarely mentioned during any conversation—let alone meeting her.

But yet, here she was now; happened to pass by the library where he read at his usual time and they had been talking about various things ever since. Of course he had asked what she was doing here right after he saw her, but then, she had to mention the book he was reading and he immediately forgot about anything else.

"Did IV-niisama coerce you into this arrangement?" he asked out of nowhere, didn't realize that he had actually said that out loud until he could hear his own voice echoed in his ears. It was just something he had been thinking about since he heard that IV was bringing home his bride-to-be.

The youngest Prince of the Arclight Kingdom had suspected that his brother was just bluffing. Worst-case scenario was that IV had coerced some random girl to bring home. Rio was anything but random. They had histories with each other, not to mention Ryouga standing between them. Her remarks just then had indicated something along that line and he wondered if his brother would do so far as coercing his best friend's sister just to win this silly game.

The blunette was taken aback a bit, closed her book, and asked back, "Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Well, V-niisama has a point, you know," he said.

The Princess of the United Land of Poseidon propped her head with a hand. "Yeah, it was surprising at first since I've never seen him as the type to be romantic. But seeing that he went all this way to actually bring me here to meet your father, I guess he's serious."

"Guess?" he asked again.

She shrugged. "I'm still surprised myself. It feels surreal, I mean, with the way things are turning out in a very short amount of time."

"You're not the only one, though," III muttered, more to himself than to anyone in particular. "Are you sure this is alright? I mean, with your side?"

"Why? Afraid that Ryouga might declare war on your country?" she chuckled.

That was one of his concerns, but if she asked him that, then it might not be the case. So, he let himself relax and decided to ask something else, "What do you like about IV-niisama?"

She was silent for a while, contemplating things. "He has passion," she answered after a moment, then added with a smile, "Like you."

"Yes, but IV-niisama can be reckless sometimes. It's really disconcerting, you know? He goes out there, not knowing what he'd do or what he'd end up like. Even he bringing you here today was really unexpected."

"Don't worry, it's mutual." She laughed. "In fact, he's done more favor that I'm not sure I can repay."

The pink-haired young man tilted his head. "Favor?"

Rio only smiled again and answered, "That's the story for another time."

.

.

.

He was sharp, way sharper than his brothers.

Rio walked down the unfamiliar corridor, trying and failing to even her racing heartbeat. Everyone had been surprised seeing her actually came down here, that was to be expected, but none of them had come close to revealing the truth like III.

"I don't know what IV is planning, but since you're here now, I hope we can be friends as fellow wives of the most obstinate people on earth," Akari had said when she first met her, laughing all the while.

"Unlike your husband, I'm not that block-headed to openly admit that I'd do anything for this lovely lady here," IV said, kissing Rio's temple as he did so.

V looked like he was going to vomit but managed to twitch the corners of his mouth upward—although barely. "Well, I hope this arrangement will change him for the better," he said, smiling tiredly at the two 'lovebirds'.

It was pretty clear that Akari merely enjoyed the spectacle while V was not, judging by the black lines around his eyes indicating that he'd been having sleepless night these past few days—maybe even week. IV did say that his brother was a workaholic, so such sight wasn't something unexpected. But then again, he didn't seem like the type to be so unbecoming in front of relative stranger, so she suspected that this kind of display was caused by certain events; which was most likely the announcement of her engagement to the King of Arclight Kingdom. She almost pitied the Regent, considering how he kept getting reminded that he had lost this time, but she didn't have the leisure to think about someone else's problems.

First, there were literally tons of questions from her side—mainly her acolytes, and although she only needed to repeat telling the same thing with bubbly expression, it was no easy task as she started to get wearied by the unending surge of curious stare and inquiries about everything they could pry on her. Coming here relieved her of the annoying questions, but not so much on the 'inquisitive glares' they directed at the obvious stranger who walked by their King's side. Then, III had to ask her the real question and her heart almost leaped out of her ribcage that moment.

It was ironic, really, knowing that IV was the one coming up with the plan but the people closest to him knew nothing about it. It made their interaction felt awkward, and since she barely knew these people, that only made it doubly awkward.

"What are you doing here alone, lady?"

A familiar voice asked, followed by an arm snaked around her waist. She crossed her arm and rolled her eyes. "Aren't you a bit overdoing this?"

"I plan to get most of it while it last," he answered, pecking her temple.

"Why do you keep kissing my temple?" she asked as they walked down the corridor together, now with his arm around her.

"It looks romantic, don't you think?"

"Do you do that to your fans?"

"Jealous?"

"In your nightmare."

He laughed and answered the question anyway, "Don't worry. I'm not that touchy-feely with random someone. This is strictly business matter."

"That's reassuring." She rolled her eyes again, but felt somewhat relieved at that. At least he was decent enough compared to her other choice. "Could it be that you have proximity issues?"

He was silent for a few moments and she started to fear that she might have hit a sore spot. She was about to apologize when he preceded her. "Or maybe I'm simply untouchable?" he said with a smirk.

The blunette shoved her elbow to his rib slightly, but he didn't release his arm and only laughed again as she sighed inwardly. She had never seen him as the type to hold grudge or even getting upset over a small insult. But only then did she realize that she knew next to nothing about someone who was going to be her husband—although temporarily. That was probably one of the causes to Ryouga's discomfort about this arrangement. But well, this was still better.

Almost as quick as she thought that, she realized what she was doing. This wasn't good. She started telling herself stuffs to make her feel better. Now she felt like an ungrateful prick. Her predicament then had been her own doing and she was lucky to be able to get out of it practically unscathed. Sure, it wasn't her first choice, but she shouldn't be complaining right now. They were just starting after all.

"III almost blew our cover story to smithereens," she blurted out anything else to divert her attention.

IV raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised but maintaining his composure. "That's bound to happen—one way or another. It's just a bit quicker than I previously thought. What did you say to him?"

"I might have implied something in my manner of speaking. But that's not the problem, by the way. Doesn't anyone in your family know about this?"

"I need genuine reaction and support. My brother—V, I mean—would give me twice the nightmare of whatever that Vector King would give if he ever found out about this."

Rio rolled her eyes at that. "One thing that I admire you of, Your Majesty, is your ability to praise yourself without making it sound too obvious. Your brother can't be that formidable given how he gave up easily for this kind of baloney."

"I'm deeply humbled by your kind compliment."

"What about III, then? Should we distract him with something so he'd stop suspecting?"

"No. He's hardly a liability. If anything, he'd sympathize on you once he heard about that other arrangement."

"Tell him everything, then. Spare me the awkwardness."

The young King of Arclight Kingdom shrugged. "He'll find out when the time comes. I don't think it's wise to tempt fate this early."

"Said someone who challenged the number one shrewd King of the century."

"I beg to differ. He's just overrated simpleton." He said firmly.

She was silent for a moment, about to debate just to be contrary but soon found out that she couldn't help but agree. "You're right. They're simpletons, what's with them only having the three basic animal needs."

He smirked at that. "You should meet my father, then tell me the definition of shrewd again—the revised one."

"Are we going to meet your father now?" she asked curiously.

"Of course. He's thrilled to finally meet the girl who could bend his obstinate son into a respectful King."

"Was that sarcasm? Because I can't stand being seen as a dominatrix."

"See for yourself, then." He closed the conversation with that as they finally reached their destination.

The two of them stopped in front of an elaborate wooden door, she presumed leading to his father's study room. He knocked three times, and when a muffled response was heard from the other side, he pushed it open slowly.

It was still midday, but the interior of the room was a stark contrast to the naturally illuminated hallway they just passed to get there. It looked, more or less, like any other study room she had seen, but with less light and no window. For one, it was really dim, with only a few lighting from several brass sconces on the wall and the desk lamp. A warm-looking rug covered most of the wooden floor, while the wall was covered by towering bookshelves up to the ceiling, adorned with heavy-looking books and other wooden trinkets. There was a sofa at the other side of the room, a carved wooden desk in the middle.

Sitting behind the desk was a middle aged, sandy-haired man wearing a monocle, which reminded her more of a perpetual scholar than someone who had once been a King. With that look, she was pretty sure that he had read all those books arranged in the bookshelves around him—and maybe even the ones in their rather huge library. She wasn't sure if he would actually be fooled by an amateur's trick like IV's plan.

"Father, this is Rio. Rio, this is Byron, my father," IV announced, drawing her closer to him as if to seek some comfort before a rather intimidating presence.

Byron smiled warmly, and to someone who didn't know their background, it would still appear so. But she realized that IV tensed slightly when they entered the room and she could feel it too. Byron didn't look even the slightest intimidating, but that was made him even more formidable because one couldn't simply judge him from the look alone. To make matters worse, they were really in some sort of act, making her felt too self-aware that she had to make a really convincing one to get through this obstacle—if she could at all.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Rio. Sit down, please, you two," Byron said, rising a little from his seat and gesturing towards the chairs before his desk.

She might have been just imagining things, but she could feel IV's hand on her waist tightened a bit before releasing it as they sat down on each chair. Rio intended to lean her back to the back of the chair, but soon found out that the chair was way too big for her that she had to scoot back further. IV seemed to had found his position already, but she still squirmed in her seat, which made her doubly embarrassed when she realized that the other two occupants of the room had been staring at her—one of them frowning, while the other with a wide, warm smile plastered on his face.

"Surely it's not really comfortable being in a new place," Byron started. "On such short notice, even." The latter was directed at his red-and-gold haired son as his golden orbs glanced slightly at the young man—who immediately squirmed at that.

"It's not entirely IV's fault, I kind of forced him to…" she stumbled her words almost automatically, didn't know why she was defending him. She might have gotten into her character way more than she had expected herself to.

"And why it has to be so?" Byron asked, and she immediately recognized the meaning behind the question.

Byron might have been out of his prime age, but he had been King once and currently a regent. There was no way he wasn't aware of her Kingdom's situation since they were allies to each other. This question was definitely a test for her. Maybe to test if she was actually serious about the whole arrangement or something along that line—she could only guess.

"It's just… I know it's quite spontaneous. But I have taken interest at him since years ago. And since the timing is just too good with our situation and all, we sort of talked and decided that it's time."

The man chuckled. "Well, our IV is, indeed, interesting. Even after raising him in the last two decades, he keeps making surprises after surprises at whatever he's doing. But nothing is as big as this one."

Rio glanced slightly at IV, who was looking obviously uncomfortable and didn't even try to hide it. It was different than the annoyed-attitude whenever he was in V's presence, but she couldn't quite put the current situation into words. Now she knew why IV had called his father 'shrewd'; while the 'uncomfortable' part of their interactions remained similar, V and IV's interaction was nothing more than a brother's banters at worst; no one was actually better than other, one of them just so happened to be at the mass' mercy than the other. At least she could sympathize with IV in this situation being looked down was never fun, especially by your own relatives who knew you inside out.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself? IV hasn't told me much given how he rushes things like this." The middle-aged man intertwined his fingers just below his chin, smiling all the while.

That was another paper-thin lie that even she could see through it the moment it was spoken. V, at least, should have told him that before and it wasn't that hard to do a background check on someone with her rank if he wanted to. She wasn't sure if she was being too self-aware or what, but she just couldn't erase that feeling of being watched. Was the question intended to see how she reacted? Maybe she was simply thinking too much now that she was surrounded by strangers who looked at her like she was some sort of circus clown. She didn't know—but the questions still needed to be answered nevertheless.

"I'm trained to be a Priest in my place, so I'm quite adept at healing and water-divination. I like reading ancient texts and learning new things," she elaborated smoothly, grateful that her nervousness didn't hinder her narration.

"III likes ancient texts too."

She brightened up at something that she recognized. "Yes, I've met him just now. He has a very interesting idea about old relic that I'd love to look into further."

"Do you wish to keep enhancing you divination art and conduct another set of research while you're doing so?"

She nodded vigorously. "By all means. I might even need to work together with III about this. I think we could arrange some sort of educational exchange between our countries?"

Byron smiled at her enthusiasm, then glanced at his son again and said, "Are you okay with that?"

"With what? III isn't interested in anything that isn't buried at least 2 feet underground for a certain amount of time—preferably more than a few decades, or doesn't have some sort of uncanny inscription written or engraved on it," IV responded without missing a beat, now looking visibly better than he had been a few minutes ago since the topic has steered away from him.

The middle-aged man laughed at that—which sounded more like a deep rumblings coming out of his throat—and she couldn't help but chuckled too. In her short time of trying to get to know him, she found out that he has a rather funny way of addressing things with his subtle but accurate wordings that one had to think before feeling insulted if spoken before the subject itself. Ryouga was a tactless rude compared to that quality of him.

"You're right," Byron said, after he finished laughing. "I'm glad that you still know your brothers better than anyone else. You know that marrying Akari was also V's own idea for political gain? You two are so much alike than anyone ever expected."

"What, didn't you decide that?" IV asked back, looking genuinely surprised.

Byron shook his head. "Playing with politic is dangerous, but playing with people's feelings are even more dangerous. I don't see the long-term benefit in it, so the thought of it never crossed my mind," he said solemnly. "Marriage for political cause might solve things in the short term, but it will only bring forth more if there's nothing changed between the two parties."

Silence for a few tense moments. Both listeners obviously looked unsure as to who was addressed in Byron's short speech just then. They didn't want to risk looking stupid by assuming things, so they just zipped their mouth up and waited until Byron diffuse the situation.

Looking at the man now, she couldn't help but realizing that Byron had all of his sons' prominent traits; V had his looks and meticulousness (judging from how things were arranged on his desk), IV had his open-mind and mischievousness, while III had his insight and warm smile. Sure, each son has unique traits of their own (and possibly some from their absent mother) and had grown into an entirely different person. Not that she knew about them well enough, but just seeing their outward appearances, she couldn't help but visioning all of them as one person before her.

Inwardly, she blushed. Byron gave her strange feeling at the pit of her stomach. He was the type of men that struck her to be able to intimidate other or give them comfort just by being nice, depending on which side you were on, just like her father had been. If she could pick someone to marry, she'd definitely choose Byron's type. Absently, she wondered if his sons would eventually grow up to be like him someday.

"Anyway," Byron said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Welcome to our family, Rio. And I hope my son takes good care of the love of his life."

Rio was sure that last one was sarcasm.

Word Count: 3,781

A/N Reviews are always welcome! :)