HIIIII! Lolli-chan is finally back! Sorry for taking so long to update this! I'll make it up to you guys. ;) And thank you for the reviews from natnatgibbs, natalia, SusieK and YourBuddyBJ-Z, as well as all the favourites and follows for the previous chappie! It was really nice to read reviews. :)

Nike: Lolli-chan, welcome back! *hugs*

Me: Thank you! *hugs* I miss you so much!

Livi: I thought you weren't coming back, HEY- *pulls me away from Nike roughly* DON'T HUG NIKE SO TIGHTLY!

Me: OI! *glares* What's wrong with you!?

Livi: Stop suffocating her. Can't you see that?

Me: Why you! It was just a hug, brat!

Nike: *sweatdrops* Calm down you guys yikesss- *ducks*

*Cushions, shoes, papers, etc start getting thrown everywhere*

Mira: My, my... Such violent kids tsk tsk! *shakes head*

Nike: Onee-san! Stop sitting on the sofa and help me please! Get them to stop!

Mira: *smiles sweetly* O-k-a-y...

*She walks to the fighting pair and grabs their collars to pull them apart.*

Mira: Now, now. Stop fighting, children. You won't be good kids if you fight. Lolli-chan, calm down. And Livi, stop being jealous over a small hug. Geez!

Lolli&Livi: WHAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

~ Chapter 9 A Special Day ~

It was already late evening when Nike got back to the castle with Livi. Although she was a little tired from the short getaway, her heart was overjoyed. Her mind kept replaying the memories that they made today over and over again. She sighed pleasantly. But she suddenly stiffened when a certain thought crossed her mind.

Will Livi be going back to his office to work now? Leaving her along again? She fully understood that this was inevitable, that he couldn't neglect his duties as a King because of her. She knew she would see him soon, but how many days would it take this time?

She was well aware of her duties as the Sun Queen. She couldn't let her selfishness and greediness overtook her, even if her heart wretched uncomfortably knowing that Livi was in the same castle as her but she was unable to see him. He was so close yet so far away.

Although she didn't show it, she really didn't want to spend the rest of this special day alone. Not after how they spent the beautiful morning together.

But little did Nike know that this wasn't the end.

Once their white horse got past the gigantic and solidly-built gates of the castle, they were greeted by a row of servants and maids, who were awaiting for their return. Neil was there too, standing at the front. They bowed deeply when the quiet beast stopped a few metres right in front of them.

"Did you had fun, Your Majesty and Nike-sama?" Neil asked politely. He took the reins from Livi after they both dismounted from the horse. Nike got off easily with some help from her husband, which made her blush slightly since there were a lot of people watching them. In her arms was a bundle of cosmo flowers that she picked earlier in the field.

"Of course!" Livi responded happily. The butler's violet eyes shifted to Nike, who smiled in agreement too. A big smile broke out on his face at their responses.

"That's great to hear," he said.

"Ahh, my cute brother-in-law and sister are back!" Mira exclaimed delightedly as soon as she emerged from the grand castle doors and saw them. She ran up to them happily and planted a quick kiss on Nike's cheek.

Surprised, Nike's cheeks turned red slightly at her sister's sudden display of affection. "A-ah Mira Onee-chan!"

Mira beamed widely at her, before turning to Livi and flinging one arm over his neck to bring his ear close to her mouth. "Preparations are ready," she whispered to him softly. Nike who was witnessing this, immediately felt annoyed at the sudden closeness between them.

And what on earth were they saying to each other? They were being so secretive. Something was definitely up.

She gave a slight cough. "Care to share your conversation?" she asked them. She didn't bother hiding her unhappiness.

Mira simply released Livi and swivelled around with a smirk. "Nothing," she replied. She secretly signalled to a group of maids, who bowed politely and advanced towards the girl with peach orange hair from behind.

"Doesn't seem like 'nothing' to me-" Nike started muttering, but her murmurs soon changed into yelps of surprise.

"-aacccckkkkkk!"

Two maids scooped her up easily while another one took the flowers from her arms. "Nike-sama, we've prepared your bath. Please follow us," one of them told her. Their over-beaming smiles confirmed the suspicion that the princess was already harbouring.

"What're you guys doing?" she exclaimed wildly. "Let me down!"

"We're sorry, Nike-sama. Please bear with us!" With this, they started to carry her into the castle.

"LIVIIIIIIII!"

She screamed his name loudly and craned her neck to look back. She managed to catch a glimpse of him shaking his head at her and laughing. The rest were just having weird gleeful smiles on their faces.

"I'll see you later then, Nike." She heard his words right before the castle doors closed after them. The maids carried her up to her room as fast as horses were. Goodness, where did they get their strengths from!?

When they entered her chambers, her eyes immediately landed on the mountain pile of gorgeous gowns on the bed and floor. Horrified, her mouth dropped instantly and a high-pitched scream went off that even the whole Sun Kingdom could hear.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

So, it was going to be one of those days.

~ oOo ~

"Shall we prepare ourselves too?" Livi asked.

"Yes, My Majesty," Neil bowed.

A sudden ear-piercing scream from somewhere in the castle reached their ears. An amused expression crossed their faces and Mira started laughing loudly.

"That sister of mine, does this always happen?" she questioned the butler and the king.

"Unfortunately, yes." Neil gave a deadpanned look, making Mira erupted into giggles again. She imagined Nike screaming her head off while the maids pulled her corset tightly and forcefully. They must have unleashed the wild animal in her.

"So my fearless Imouto-chan finally has something that she fears..."

A painfully sharp scream came again, and it was enough to send tremors through the ground.

"..." They all stared at one another silently with a knowing look. Livi was the first one to break the silence.

"Indeed," he agreed.

And another scream could be heard again.

~ oOo ~

"It's over, Nike-sama. Y-you've worked hard."

The three maids complimented the princess politely, but sweatdropped at the sight of her lying flat on the bed motionlessly. Her face was buried in the covers, her hands stretched out limply. If one were to enter the room suddenly, he or she would definitely start screaming and presume that the girl lying on the bed was no longer alive.

Yes, just like a corpse. Who knew that dressing a princess would suck every single bit of energy out of her?

"Nike-sama, it's time to go. Please get up," one of the maids urged her nervously. They shifted on their feet edgily.

"..." There was no reply from her.

"Nike-sama?" They asked in unison worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"wgejer rensj weeldj goibk?" A muffled question was heard, but no one could make out what she was saying into the covers.

The maids sweatdropped even more. "What did you say, Nike-sama?"

A sudden jerking-up movement from her body made them jump backwards in shock as Nike turned around quickly to look at them. The girl on the bed has transformed into a beautiful woman. Donned in a stunning satin gold gown that shimmered in the light, and hair done up in a braided bun with luscious locks of hair cascading down, she would take any man's breath away instantly.

"I was asking-" she began saying. Her eyebrows knitted as she frowned at them. "-that why are you guys suddenly dressing me up like a doll? I didn't know that we are having a party and meeting the ministers or ambassadors." There was a deeper frown as she contemplated her words again. "Are we?"

"Y-y-yeah," they answered nervously. "It was a sudden announcement by Neil. N-now, shall w-we get going, Nike-sama? We'll be late if we don't make a move now."

She pursed her lips. "Alright," she sighed. She got off her bed and nearly tripped when her heels stepped on the hem of her long dress. The maids shrieked in fear and managed to help her just in time before she fell. Beads of sweat rolled off their forehead as they wondered what would have happened if Nike had messed up her appearance and all their efforts were wasted.

"Hmm, let's go?" Nike flashed a sheepish smile, knowing that they were frightened by her clumsiness. Her maids nodded nervously and guided her carefully to the party. On the inside, they feared that something might happen to Nike along the way there. They crossed their fingers behind their backs and prayed hard that nothing unfortunate would happen.

When they finally arrived at the entrance of the ballroom, a servant bowed politely to her before proceeding to open the doors. Her maids stopped at the entrance and gestured for Nike to enter on her own.

What lay beyond the doors of the majestic ballroom, shocked her to the point where her mind went blank and her body could no longer function anymore. Her jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide.

"What...are all this?"

The ballroom was a magnificent sight. Beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, creating sparkles in the lights that reflected off the shiny, polished marble floor. A lavish banquet with a wide variety of food awaited her. An orchestra started playing a soft melody upon her arrival at the ballroom.

A couple of maids, servants and chefs bowed politely and greeted her when they saw her. She noticed that Livi, Mira and Neil stood in front of the group. Her sister was wearing a gorgeous ivory green gown with one strap that showed off her cleavage and nice curves. As for Livi, he was looking absolutely striking. He wore an outfit that was a matching color to Nike's, which brought out the lovely blue in his eyes.

Stunned at everything, Nike stood unmoving in the same spot with confusion and surprise in her aquamarine eyes. There were no ministers or ambassadors in sight. What was going on? Even when Livi walked towards her slowly, she just stared at him bewilderedly, waiting for an explanation.

He stopped right before her, before taking her hand and lifting it up to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand gently, causing her to blush.

"Happy Sweet Eighteenth Birthday, my Rain Princess."

B-birthday!?

Realization finally hit her as she remembered that it was her birthday today. For these past few days, her mind was always preoccupied with thoughts of Livi and his adult appearance that she has completely forgotten about it.

Wait a minute, she thought. So, those conversations that Livi and Mira were having is because of this!?

Feeling touched by the whole surprise, tears sprang to her eyes. She felt guilty for having crazy suspicions about the relationship between Livi and Mira. You baka Nike! Baka baka baka! She scolded herself inwardly.

"My kawaii Imouto-chan! Happy Birthday to you!" Mira congratulated her happily. "And awww, it's a happy occasion today so stop crying! I didn't come all the way from our home to see you like this!" She winked and threw her a hug, in which Nike hugged her back gratefully. She heard Neil and the others wished her the same as well.

Mira leaned back a few seconds later. "Oh yes! Presents!" she exclaimed before dragging Nike over to a long table that was piled with lots of gifts from family and friends.

"This is from Grandma and that's from Father and Mother," she pointed to a charm and a pretty flower hairpin before moving on to the rest. "That's from me, Nia-chan and Kara-chan!" She turned around to grin at Nike but stopped herself.

"DON'T RUIN YOUR MAKEUP, YOU STUPID SISTER! YOUR MAJESTY, DO SOMETHING ABOUT HER!"

Tears kept pouring out of Nike's eyes. "Uwaaa!" she sobbed. There were so many emotions in her that she couldn't help crying. "I'm so sorry, uwaaa, I'm such a bad person! To do all this for me, I'm so grateful and happy!"

Warm arms wrapped her body from behind unexpectedly. "Since you're grateful, will you give me what I want?" Livi nibbled on her right earlobe, sending shivers down her spine and causing her to turn red from head to toe.

"Get a room please." Mira rolled her eyes. Neil and the others simply blushed and turned to look elsewhere.

Nike's face grew even redder in embarrassment. "BAKA LIVI!" She tried to smack him while he ducked.

"Well, at least I stopped your tears." He winked at her.

~ oOo ~

After eating all the savoury food and having several dances with Livi and Mira, the private ball came to an end in the late night, much to her reluctance. All of them retired to their respective chambers to turn in for the night.

Nike sat on her bed in her nightgown, smiling to herself as she recalled the events that happened today. She really had a lot of fun today, and it was all thanks to Livi, her sister and everybody else in the castle. No wonder Mira appeared in the Sun Kingdom without informing anyone. She has already planned this surprise right from the beginning.

She didn't notice Livi entering her room until she felt a cool chain around her neck and a soft lock sound. She jumped in surprise as Livi kissed her cheek quickly.

"This is my present, my birthday princess. You didn't think I wouldn't give you any, right?"

Pink hues spread across her cheeks. She really thought it that way, considering how the others gifted her with presents except him. But now she knew that he was purposely holding it out on her until they were alone together.

"T-thank you!" She stammered a little, for she was aware of their proximity. She fingered the pendant and glanced down to take a good look at it properly.

"Wow!" She gasped aloud at the beauty of it. It was a sapphire blue stone in the shape of a teardrop. Light seemed to sparkle off the jewel at every angle. She knew exactly why Livi gave this to her. It seemed to speak of her everything, that she was Nike Remercier, the Rain Princess whose songs could call upon the rain. This pendant belonged to her and only her.

"Arigatou, Livi..." She turned around to give him a hug, which surprised him a lot. How great could this day get? All the people that she loved made today a very special day for her indeed.

He hugged her back tightly and placed his chin above her head. "Like I said earlier," he said with a teasing tone. "If you are grateful towards me, then will you give me what I want?"

"Hmm... What do you want?" she asked him despite having a really bad feeling about this.

He pulled her away from his body to look at her seriously in the face. "I want you," he breathed. "Tonight, tomorrow, every night..." His fingers brushed across her cheeks and she shivered under his intense gaze and touch.

"So... Can I?"

His fingers brushed across her velvet lips before he closed the distance between them and captured her lips in his. She didn't resist him and buried her fingers in his hair. They both fell back onto the bed while kissing each other passionately. Neither one of them was letting go of the other as they carried on sharing fiery kisses. They continued on until both of them were exhausted and fell asleep in each other's arms.

They seemed to have forgotten the fact that there was only one more day left until the effect of the Flower of Desires wears off.