Lots of gratitude towards natnatgibbs, Artemis-Sadie-Athena-Piper .kim, denz001, peaches7 and averieartina! Even the silent readers too! I really adore you guys a lot! :3

Me: Guys, I realize that I've been ranting A LOT soooo I should keep quiet for this chapter. *does a zipping-my-lips action*

Livi: Yup, keep it that way. *nods*

Me: *swats his shoulder* Nobody was asking you!

Livi: Nobody said I couldn't say anything.

Me: Why you... *eyeballs him before jumping onto his back*

Livi: HEY! STOP IT! AHAHAHAHAHA!

Me: *snickers* How do you like my tickles?

~ Chapter 7 Our Secret Haven ~

Three old men sat around a meeting table in a badly-lit room, holding one of their daily discussions. Only the Four Gods were able to gain entry to this council chamber while others were forbidden. This was where they always discussed their political issues and strategize plans whenever conflicts arose.

So, who were the Four Gods?

The first one was the God of Tactics, Lord Graham Wodan, who was a tall man with long, grey wavy hair and beard. The second one was the God of Weapons, Lord Alan Catesby. He was a short and fierce-looking man with black hair and beard that he obviously dyed to keep himself looking young. The third one was the God of Connections, Lord Vincent Ratcliff, who was as short as his fellow acquaintance and has a shiny bald head. He wore a black monocle eyepiece, giving him a rather witty look.

And finally, the last God was the young King himself, Livius. This completed the Four Gods. Together, they were undefeatable and their Voice was defied by none.

Indeed, their reputations around the world were well-known and prestige. No one dared to have the audacity to go against them. Just hearing their names was enough to run shivers of fear down one's spine.

But what people didn't know, was how pervertic the old geezers were.

Backs hunched and hands clasped on the table, the three elders who were currently present, glanced at the only empty seat and grinned at one another with their eyes closed. Words of the recent commotion in the castle that happened yesterday have already reached their ears.

"Hehehe... He's not here today again."

The one who had just spoken was Lord Alan. An amused look crossed his face as he glanced at his other two acquaintances, who nodded their heads in agreement. Lord Vincent let out a bark of laughter.

"The wolf is out," he announced. "Hime-sama has to be careful of him."

Lord Graham brushed through his long beard thoughtfully. "Hmm, he must be having fun with her round, bouncy boobs after seducing her."

"I want to join in too," Lord Vincent whined. He wriggled his eyebrows and fingers in anticipation as he thought of something dirty. "Imagine the feel of her tits," he said dreamily to himself.

"Ahh... I don't think His Majesty wants to share her though," Lord Alan said. They all knew the King's love for his wife and how he always kept Nike all to himself. He was a greedy King indeed.

"I heard that they're heading out of the castle today. They didn't invite us along!" Disappointment flickered across Lord Graham's face. If only he could join the happy couple...

Someone cleared his throat loudly. "My friends," Lord Alan began. "We can join them too. You didn't forget about our secret weapon right?"

The other two snapped their heads up immediately. They all exchanged looks, their eyes twinkling in amusement and mischief. Smiling, they stood up slowly and went over to a corner of the room, rummaging through one of the boxes quickly.

"Here they are!"

The excited Lord Graham found something and held them high up in the air to show his friends. In his hands were three new binoculars. The other two lords clapped their hands happily like little kids at the sight of them. They each took a binocular from Lord Graham before all three headed towards the dark brown curtains and drew them aside, revealing a small window behind it. Sunlight streamed through and lit up the dark room.

They tested their binoculars and looked through the lens, excited at the idea that they could secretly watch the King and Princess having one of their make out moments. However, their eagers smiles soon turned into frowns when they realized something horrible.

"Why are the lens broken?" They cried out unhappily. Apparently, someone has already damaged the binoculars badly and they were useless now. The elders' plan has backfired and they stared at each other gloomily. The culprit behind this has clearly predicted their plan and was a step ahead of them.

"Ahh... His Majesty, huh?" They sighed in unison, their words trailing off into the dead gloomy silence.

~ oOo ~

"Where are we going, Livi?"

In the hallway, the curious Nike followed Livi closely behind while asking him this question. He was being so secretive and refusing to tell her where he was bringing her. The suspense was killing her and she trailed behind him nervously. She was really dying to know where they were going.

"You'll know when we get there," he smiled at her.

He led her to the gates of the castle, where Neil and a couple of maids were waiting patiently for them. His butler was holding the reins of a tall, gallant white horse whose tail was swishing and there was a medium-sized brown pack tied to its back.

Nike's eyebrows arched in puzzlement. "We're heading out of the castle?" she asked.

"Yup," Livi replied. He slid his left boot into the solid brass stirrup and heaved himself up onto the majestic horse gracefully. He took the reins from Neil and held out a hand towards her, waiting for her to climb up too.

"Wait! W-we're riding together?" She asked him nervously even though she knew that the answer was too obvious - there was only one horse around. They clearly have to ride together.

"Duh," he grinned at her. "Unless you want to run for miles instead."

She sweatdropped instantly. "Miles!? Where on earth is this place we're going?"

He shook his head with a teasing smile. "I'm not spilling anything. Come on, Nike. Don't make me wait." His hand was still stretched out for her as he urged her to climb up.

She started to grow very nervous, but decided to do as she was told. There was no way she was going to run for miles and sweat like a pig. Whatever that he was planning, she prayed that it wouldn't be bad.

Placing a hand over his, she allowed herself to be pulled up and onto the white horse, sitting right behind Livi. Neil and the maids bowed happily to them and wished them a good day.

Surprised, she blurted out a question immediately. "Isn't Neil coming along?"

"Nope," the butler answered her. "It'll just be His Majesty and Nike-sama alone today. I trust that you both will take care of each other." He turned to look at Livi and seemed to silently convey a message to him.

Livi snorted, but nodded his head. "We'll stay safe. Don't you worry about us," he promised genuinely.

After saying that, he nudged the horse gently and the quiet beast started moving forward. Nike lurched forward a little and grabbed Livi's shoulders to support herself. She felt his hand on hers as he helped to steady her.

"Geez, Nike," he said. "You should wrap your arms around my waist."

"H-hmm, okay..." She slid her arms around his waist, growing more aware of their proximity. Her heart started fluttering weirdly as she could feel the heat coming from his body. This reminded her of what happened in the bathroom earlier and she felt herself blushing madly.

"You're awfully silent. What are you thinking now?" His lighthearted voice broke her train of thoughts. She shook her head slightly to clear her mind of the dirty stuff.

"N-nothing! I was just thinking about how great the weather is today," she lied.

"Huh, really?" Amusement tinged in his voice. "I thought that you might have been recalling what happened earlier in the bathroom... Or was it just only me?"

Oh my gosh! Did he read her mind!? How on earth did he know what she was thinking exactly!? Seriously, that guy has magical powers to read her mind!

"Baka! I wasn't thinking anything like that!" Her cheeks flushed tomato red. Thank goodness, he couldn't see her face now. Otherwise, it would really be embarrassing for her.

"Heh..." His head turned around quickly to look at her. He managed to catch a glimpse of her blushing look just in time before she could slap her hands on his cheeks and make him look straight ahead.

"Are you sure you wouldn't thinking about that? Your face looks awfully red." He chuckled lightly to himself, knowing that she was caught redhandedly. He loved to tease her so much.

"It's because of the hot weather!" she lied again. "I'm getting sunburns on my face!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't listening to any of her excuses because he was still talking. "We should continue on from where we left off..."

His left hand covered her hand that was placed on his left cheek while his head turned slightly to kiss her palm. His warm lips left a tingling sensation behind and made her even more flustered. Her cheeks reddened in response too. She took her hands off his face swiftly in embarrassment.

I'm definitely NOT gonna survive today.

They travelled away from the castle and headed towards the east for an hour. Apparently, it seemed like they moving straight into mother nature and away from human civilization. Livi led their horse across the green plains and through a mythical-like forest. Over here, there wasn't any people in sight anymore but more animals. Nike enjoyed the cool breeze blowing past her and giggled happily at cute little rabbits, squirrels and birds. She really misses nature so much since she was always cooped up in the castle and nature was like her second home back in her home country.

She felt free like this. And with Livi by her side, this made everything seemed so perfect and surreal for her.

"Are we reaching soon?" she asked Livi eagerly.

She very much wanted to hop up and down in her seat in excitement for whatever surprise he was planning for her. However, she stopped herself in time because she was afraid that the horse would get irritated and kicked them off instead. That certainly wouldn't be a pleasant situation for both of them.

Moreover, she was now sure that Livi wouldn't be planning anything bad because he wouldn't spoil their perfect day together, right?

"Yeah!" he replied, squinting his eyes. "Just a little bit more..."

Judging from his voice, even Livi was excited. It must be a good thing. She smiled widely and looked forward, trying to see what lies ahead of them. It was only after fifteen minutes later, that they both arrived at their destination.

They emerged out of the forest and a vast, gorgeous field of cosmo flowers greeted them. The air was mixed with a fragrance smell of the flowers and it wafted into their noses. Her eyes gazed across and she noticed that the cosmo flowers stretched on, never seeming to end as the horizon was a thin blue line that separated the vivid blue sky and land.

"This...this is beautiful, Livi." Nike gasped at the enchanting view right before her eyes. Her hands clasped in front of her chest while her emerald eyes shone brightly in amazement. How could she not know of such a beautiful place?

"I know. It's pretty, right?" He smiled at her radiant face. Seeing her reaction, he knew that there were no regrets in bringing her here.

The horse stopped moving and both of them dismounted. Nike stepped a feet forward while Livi was standing behind and watching her happily. When she started walking, he took the brown sack from the horse and followed after her. She was obviously entranced by the stunning view.

"Livi!" She spun around suddenly to face him. "When did you find this place? This is so beautiful!"

He beamed at her. "I used to come here when I was young."

Her eyes widened in curiosity. "Tell me more," she begged. She was clearly happy and eager to hear more about his past. It was something that he rarely talked about.

He laughed lightly and held a hand out. "Come here and I'll tell you more."

She skipped over to him immediately and slipped her hand through his. They began strolling slowly across the field while Livi began telling his story to her. The soft wind ruffled their hair and clothes playfully while the golden sun was high up in the sky. Nike kept quiet so that she could listen to every single word that he said.

"When I was very young, I didn't live in the castle yet. I was living outside with Sheila."

She already knew about this because Neil has shared with her about his past before. She nodded her head to urge him to continue on speaking.

"There was once when I was bored playing in the courtyard of my house. And so, I decided to explore this forest just to be adventurous. I pleaded and dragged Sheila along with me."

"We ventured deep into the forest and suddenly, I ran off to chase after a rabbit when she turned her back to me for one second." He flashed a sheepish smile as he remembered how playful he was then. "And without knowing, I was lost. It was really frightening then, to be alone in a huge forest and no one to ask for directions."

"I couldn't stay at one place for so long because I knew that it would make me even more nervous. I decided after a while to move my legs and search for my mother. I called out her name so many times and unknowingly, I stumbled upon this place." He swung his arm out and gestured to the cosmo flowers field.

"I started playing here, forgetting the fact that I was lost. Fortunately, my mother, too, found this place and me. And ever since then, this place was our secret place. We returned here for countless times."

Nike chuckled. "You must have been scolded by her. I can imagine you as a child now. It's so cute."

He blushed at her words. "Yeah, but she let it go lightly. All we cared about was this field of cosmo flowers instead."

She giggled happily, before her smile faded. "Why did you bring me here, Livi?" she asked him seriously. It was a question that has been bothering her ever since she first stepped foot here.

"Because," he began. "I want to share this with you and only you. I want this place to hold wonderful memories of my two beloved women."

Happiness swelled up instantly in her chest upon hearing his words. Who knew that Livi, a young boy, could hold so much love and affection in his heart? He always seemed to move her at the most unexpected times.

Her right hand reached up to touch his cheek lightly. "Thank you," she smiled gratefully at him. "For bringing me here." No amount of words could express her gratitude and love towards him now.

He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. His lips forming a charming smile as he gazed at her lovingly.

"This place shall be our secret haven."

Translation:

Hime-sama - Princess

To be continued... Please review to keep me motivated! :3