Hello everyone, thanks for the reviews! I suppose, after an arc mostly focused on Klaus' character, this is a swell time to focus on Raelyn's. I thought Rex would be a great instigator to that. In this chapter, more exposition on Rex's character, and his dynamic with Raelyn, will be explored. I hope you guys enjoy this!

Raeger couldn't help but to steal a few curious glances at his newest customer: Klaus, Raelyn, and another guy he had never seen before. They took a spot at the far corner of the restaurant, with the two men sitting facing each other and Raelyn between them, creating a pretty awkward triangle. They barely spoke to each other while they were waiting for their order; Klaus stayed at where he was calmly, the stranger folded his arm—his expression was unknown to Raeger since he was facing away from the counter, while Raelyn kept exchanging glances with these two. When he served their order, they simply ate in silence with little regards to one another. It was only until they were only left with their drinks that the conversation started to flow.

"Let's go through this again, you're Klaus?"

"Yes."

"The same guy who made my baby sister cried?"

"Rex!"

"What? He didn't know that he kept you waiting like a fool that Spring?"

"I do," Klaus replied calmly.

Rex's anger became even more obvious. "It's my personal creed not to let any jerk who hurt my sister go away."

"Rex, that thing is almost a year ago…" Raelyn pointed out. "I have settled things over with him… it's super late if you want to—"

"Sure. How would you go about it?" Klaus interjected calmly.

"Klaus!" Raelyn called out in distress. Why he cannot understand what I'm trying to do?! Tired with the hoo-ha, Raelyn rose up and forced Klaus to follow him. They moved to another corner of the restaurant, out of her brother's earshot. "Please don't pick a fight with my brother!"

"I'm just answering his questions honestly, Raelyn."

"You don't know what Rex could do!"

Klaus bent down, closing the distance between the two of them. Raelyn held her breath, she was rather unaccustomed to such closeness, especially with him. Nevertheless, she stood her ground and maintained her eye contact with him. He stopped just short of touching their noses together. "Do you forget who I am?"

For a moment, Raelyn remembered whatever she happened to see during Klaus' fight with Craig, and there was no way she could forget the state she found him afterwards. Then, she recalled how Rex literally made Kyle pissed in his pants. That was not the last time Rex did that to anybody whom he thought to be a threat to her. She knew he meant well, and she really did appreciate the thought, but at times she had hoped that Rex would trust that she could watch her own back.

"I don't like seeing you fight, especially with Rex. Things are going to get messy…."

Klaus put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Relax, I have no intention to do so either. Now, why don't we go back to your brother? It is very rude to keep him waiting."

With that he led her back to their table, where Rex had been nursing his wine. Rex chuckled when they saw them taking their seats. "I bet you were trying to stop him, Lynn… but the way I see it, this man knows better."

"I understand where you're coming from," Klaus agreed. "But let's not distress her. I'm sure none of us want to upset her."

"Sure. How do you want to do it?"

"I'll decide," Raelyn declared before anybody could speak. If she could not prevent it, at least she could very well try that it would be the least harmful way possible. "I'll let you guys know what, when and how later."

Thankfully, none of the guys had any objection.

They parted ways at the town entrance, with Rex following Raelyn home. The two siblings walked side by side with Yin carrying Rex's luggage.

"What are you doing suddenly showing up here?" Raelyn finally asked.

He grinned. "Visiting my baby sister, of course!"

"You could have told me beforehand or something."

"I wanted to give you a surprise, although I suppose I'm the one getting a surprise in the end—are you really dating him? The guy who made you wait? Listen, sis, a guy who really wants you doesn't make you wait for nothing!"

"And he didn't," she quipped. "We are going out, Rex. For real."

"Have you told our family about it?"

"I plan to do it in my next letter," she said. "To you too, of course."

When they arrived at the farm, Rex affectionately messed with her hair. "Look at you, living all alone in this town with a farm so far away in the mountain!"

"It's not that far, really…" she muttered. "It's a good escape, I suppose."

He nodded. "It suits you, Lynn."

Raelyn watched as her dogs began to shepherd her animals back to their respective shelters. At this point, her farm had managed to provide a steady stream of income from its various products. She also had enough to put aside some amount for safekeeping. Realizing that, she couldn't help but to smile. "I guess it does…"

That night, after helping Rex to settle down in her house, Raelyn glanced at the calendar next to her bed. Her calendar also acted as her planner, with a lot of markings due to her planning, which became even more crucial as she expanded her farm. Looking at it, she just knew what she had to do with these two men.

The next morning, Raelyn called for Klaus. When he arrived, she provided two baskets and sickles in front of them.

"What is this?"

"Your competition," Raelyn grinned with pride and mischief. "It just so happens that I'm expecting huge harvest today, let's see… my oranges, wheats, soybeans, rice, lotus root, and wasabi. I could really use some help with these—" she put on her best pleading look. "You wouldn't have the heart to see me carry everything around, right?"

The two men glanced at each other, clearly rather uncomfortable with what Raelyn had proposed but at the same time did not really have the heart to refuse her. "Look, sis, where's the 'competition' part in it? I'm still a farmer's son, and I bet this fancy-looking sugar daddy of yours has never done any farm work in his—"

"One, Klaus is not my sugar daddy. Two, I believe in your sportsmanship that you'll teach him how to handle my crops. Three, the one that destroys the least of my crops can be the winner," she turned to Klaus. "You might want to change into something more comfortable."

"I'll lend you my clothes," Rex chimed in. "It would be too troublesome to wait for you to change and whatnot."

"Sure, thank you."

Raelyn smiled. "Great! You guys can go to the paddy and grain fields, I'll handle the oranges! I hope you guys can make it for lunch!"

After putting aside some for her own use and processing some into fruit wines, Raelyn loaded the rest of the oranges into her wagon. She looked at the sky, lunchtime would be in two more hours.

Maybe I should start cooking soon, she thought.

It was then a familiar figure walking up to her farm. She smiled and waved. "Raelyn! You're looking well!"

"Miss Iris!"

Iris walked over to her with an exaggerated pout. "What have I been telling you? Klaus' girlfriend cannot call me 'Miss Iris'! It's 'Iris', understood?"

Raelyn laughed nervously. "It's a habit… sometimes I still call Klaus 'Mr. Klaus', too."

The novelist smiled. "Speaking of him, he told me that your brother is in town?"

Raelyn nodded.

"Something tells me that their first impression of each other is something that could have been better."

"Yeah," she replied. "Rex is a bit hot-blooded… too hot-blooded at times."

Iris smiled sympathetically. "Well… so where are these hot-blooded brothers of ours?"

"Down in the paddy and grain fields, you don't pass by them?"

"Must have missed them. I wasn't looking around."

"I told them to do some harvesting for me. Hopefully that gives them the opportunity to get to know each other better than from some… fistfights."

"That's a pretty clever idea, actually."

"I'm about to cook lunch, I think you should join us!"

"That sounds good, I'll help you prepare."

The lunch was finished just in time with the Klaus and Rex's arrival. Raelyn was relieved to see that they seemed to be getting along better than this morning. "Welcome back!" she greeted with a huge smile. "Lunch is ready, just put them down near the wagon and come on in!"

When Rex entered Raelyn's house, he saw a stranger, a beautiful stranger. She had a lithe figure, wrapped in purple dress. Her pale blond hair cascaded softly on her shoulder and her skin was as fair as snow. Her eyes were gray with a hint of violet in it, and her small lips were coated in a light shade of peach lipstick.

"You are…"

She smiled. "You must be Raelyn's brother. I'm Iris."

She offered her hand, but he decided not to shake it because his hand was smeared with dirt due to the harvesting. She seemed not to take offense to it, thankfully.

Rex felt a slight pull. "That's my sister you've been ogling at," Klaus told him in his ear.

"Heee, sister, eh?" Raelyn chimed in with a mock annoyance. "So now you're claiming she's your sister?"

"In my defense, you never actually asked me what is my relationship with her. From what I heard, you simply assumed that she was my girlfriend and Iris rightly replied that she was not."

Raelyn puffed her cheeks, but she dismissed the matter quickly.

"Wait, how can you not know they're siblings?"

Iris and Klaus looked at each other; in the end, it was Klaus who spoke. "We're not related by blood. Her parents adopted me when we were children."

The four of them sat down around the dining table and began eating. Raelyn carefully watched her brother and Klaus, who were sitting side by side. They began to exchange stories of their lives, which made her glad; asking them to harvest her crops was really killing two birds with one stone.

"So, Klaus… for someone your age, you have pretty good moves."

"Pardon?"

"You've been exercising a lot?"

Raelyn held her breath. She glanced surreptitiously at Klaus, but Klaus didn't seem to share her worry. He replied calmly. "I suppose you could say so. Dating a much younger woman makes you feel younger, too."

"Klaus seemed to be okay," Rex told her that evening. "Much better than I expected, honestly."

"He is," Raelyn agreed. "But something tells me you are not really satisfied yet."

Rex stared at her sister sharply. His eyes reminded her of their mother; she held her breath. "You oughta know better, sis… there's nothing such as an unblemished record. He doesn't strike me as the type who has a smooth life."

Raelyn gritted her teeth. "So what if he doesn't? I don't care and neither should you."

"Wrong," Rex replied immediately. "The fact that you don't care gives me all the more reason to care. You're my sister and I swear to Harvest Goddess, if he—"

"Stop treating me like a kid!" Raelyn yelled. "Look at this, I've made my own life! I'm a damn adult!"

"No kid needs to yell that she isn't one." Rex snickered, "Are you dating him to feel more mature about yourself? You're pathetic, Lynn."

"You—"

Raelyn stopped short of continuing her sentence. As much as she hated it, Rex had a point. If she really had matured, people should have seen in on their own. She thought she had, but maybe she was overestimating herself.

And then there was that question:

Are you dating him to feel more mature about yourself?

Did Rex just strike a nerve with Raelyn?

What do you think?

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review!

A/N: Hey guys, what do you think of Rex? I'm curious as to your opinions on him :)