"Good morning, Temari."

She flinched. Her arm stopped mid-stroke. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed her hand. Under her breath, she muttered a thanks to the goddess for giving her a chance to rest her aching wrist.

She looked back at her caller. Sitting up on her knees, she flashed a fake smile.

"Hey Shiho," she gave the blonde a curt nod before stretching out her arms. Her attention shifted elsewhere, outside of the window. Sunlight had just started filtering in through the fine glass. On the horizon, the sharp edge of the sun peeked out onto the world in a purplish gaze.

Everyday had been the same. Up before the first ray of dawn and straight to work. Back home, she had had a similar schedule in order to stay on top of her training. Often, she had to deal with her younger brother's grumblings about the noise she'd make out in the courtyard outside of their chambers.

Her stomach growled at its emptiness, denied relief for the past couple of hours and would be continued to be denied for a few hours more. She lurched over, thankful that there wasn't any food in her belly since it felt as if it would turn itself inside out if there was. She was used to food on demand, made by the servants who rushed off with their heads bowed. Now, the shoe was on the other foot.

Or the collar?

Shiho crouched down to help her as she returned to her work. As she reached for the cloth that Temari had been using, she slipped and face planted into the tiles.

As much as she was concerned for the servant, Temari couldn't stop herself from snickering. From the first day she was brought here from the capital, this girl hadn't gone a single hour without falling over her own feet. After making brief conversations with the klutz, Temari had learned that Shiho came from one of the surrounding villages. When she first bled, she was chosen to work in the Nara's manor after impressing the lord with her budding intelligence. Although, they had noticed that she struggled with her vision as well as her lack of care for sleep. The cost of her spectacles was more than they'd ever spend on a commoner, but the duke shrugged it off as the price of an investment.

Temari had asked what she meant by 'an investment' the first night they had met. Shiho then regaled her with the tale of the first time she met the lord's son and heir to the noble House Nara. It seemed that Lord and Lady Nara had noticed their son's aptitude for puzzles at a young age, so when they found Shiho, they used her as a way to challenge their boy in an attempt to cultivate his intellect. Everyday, she was excused from her duties as a servant to play games with the young master. Retelling the story, she let out a pained laugh at how he had gotten so good at each game without researching a single manoeuvre, leaving her in the metaphorical dust within days of starting a new game. It just came to him.

So far, Temari's own encounters with the young man were brief and infrequent enough that she couldn't gauge anything useful from him. It was rare that she had even ventured into his chambers, most of the time her orders taking her to work elsewhere.

From all she had seen, she had created a pretty precise timetable of the comings and goings of Lord Nara, his wife and his son. It didn't pose too much of a challenge, since Lady Nara left a few times a week to keep in contact with the other noble ladies her age and aside from that, she fulfilled her duties as a noble when they called on her. Lord Nara was gone the most, travelling to the capital as he was relied upon by the empress for his advice on military and political matters.

The son, on the other hand, was a rare sight for her tired eyes. When he wasn't with the army, he slept through most of the day. Waking up to indulge in his need for sustenance, he bathed before returning back to his room and resting by the window. On a sunny day, he often found a nice spot in the gardens to relax instead. His ability to stay so still for so long was a mystery to Temari, who had noticed him time and time again as she was dragged from one end of the house to the other by the other servants.

Stuck in her memories, Temari almost missed the sound of muffled footsteps before it was too late. She reached for her cloth, cutting herself on the shards that splintered out from Shiho's broken glasses.

"Shit!"

The door swung open with a small squeak.

Whilst Shiho scrambled around for her shattered spectacles, Temari stared up at the ebon-haired man standing in the doorway.

"Good morning," he greeted Temari before turning his attention down to Shiho.

Having found her empty rims, Shiho sat up with hunched shoulders. She averted her gaze, holding the frame in her hands as she muttered a greeting to the lord.

He sighed. "Again, Shiho?"

She nodded.

"That's the third time this moon," he remarked.

Shiho head fell lower. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to, I just slipped," she explained, her breath quickening.

"Well, we're out of spares so you'll have to accompany Yoshino when she goes out later."

She nodded again, before her eyes widened. "But, what about my duties?"

The nobleman stroked his chin for a moment. He groaned, turning to Temari. "You'll have to take over for Shiho today, understood?"

She grunted her understanding as she returned to wiping the tiles with her cloth. In the corner of her eye, she noted Shiho's bewildered gaze that was a little off-centred. Lord Nara seemed to brush off her disobedience, continuing through the door on the other side of the room, into the dining area.

She was wiping off the drops of blood that ebbed out of her cut finger, when Shiho finished mopping up the glass shards. The girl was almost helpless without her vision, stumbling around the room like a baby deer.

Temari left her to sort herself out as she left to get on with her extra duties.

The first added to her workload was serving the lord's breakfast. The cooks sent her out with a few plates balancing on her arm in a precarious manner. Sat at the head of the long, polished table, Lord Nara stayed silent as she served him his food. His wife, seated next to the him, didn't let up her nagging for a second. Temari was impressed that she managed to breathe in between bites of her lavish meal whilst berating her husband. Her main gripe seemed to focus on taking Shiho out with her later in the day.

Standing out of their way, Temari observed the noble couple. There wasn't a moment where the lord ever seemed worried by his wife's words. The brutal scar on his face would have Temari assuming that he was some veteran warrior. Yet, his demeanour was like that of a scholar, calm and composed.

He would be a fearsome opponent, on and off the battlefield.

Soon after they had finished their breakfast, the lady left in search of Shiho. Temari was about to start cleaning up the table, but she had to wait for the lord to leave. She tugged at the collar around her neck. Despite its sleek design, it didn't fail to remind her of her new life if she wasn't on her guard.

Her eyes roved over the luxury food that the couple had left on the serving platters, counting each piece of fresh bread with wonder. In smooth action, she wiped her mouth before she begun drooling.

"Help yourself," the duke glanced at her to his side.

She almost choked, bolting upright as she was caught staring. "No… No, I didn't mean t—"

He cut off her scrambling with a wave of his hand, gesturing to the now empty seat. "Sit," he met her confused gaze with a stern look. "And eat."

Still, she eyed him with caution. "What are you after?"

The nobleman raised an eyebrow. "Can't a lord make sure his servants are well-fed?"

She stood firm, waiting for a real answer.

Shaking his head, Lord Nara chortled. "You're a smart one alright," he remarked. "I wish to speak to you about my son."

He added to the allure of his mysterious invitation by sliding the platter full of baked goods in front of the empty seat.

As her stomach growled at her for the umpteenth time that morning, she relented and took a seat at the table. She dug into the buns, relishing the freshness of the dough and stuffing as much food in her mouth as she could get for fear of it being taken away.

"You don't eat like a princess, that's for sure," he watched her ravage the leftovers with a primal vigour, his hands crossed under his chin as he leaned his elbows on either side of his plate.

"I'm not a princess anymore, just a slave."

The lord grumbled. "Don't lie to me, girl," he met her eyes with a serious gaze. "You still have that royal pride whether you like it or not."

She stared at him, her food now forgotten. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

"You would do well to learn more about subtlety whilst you're in this house."

"And where am I to learn that?" she retorted. "Your son?"

Silence hung in the air, forcing her to raise her head and resort to her trained posture.

Then, the nobleman smirked. His scarred skin stretched with his lips' movement. "To be honest, I was hoping that he would learn from you," he admitted.

The look on her face must have been a surprising one, because Lord Nara burst out into a gravelly chuckle. She sat there, watching him laugh at her, waiting for him to finish. However, when he did, she found herself against another grave expression.

"Although, I must ask you something," he revealed.

Temari grimaced. "What is it?"

"Don't let my son get away with too much, okay?"

What?

She quirked her brow, expecting more.

The duke continued. "Whatever you do, don't let up on him for a moment: if you do then you won't stand a chance," he explained.

"You make him sound like some sort of monster from a fairytale," she snickered. But, she stopped when she saw that his countenance was unmoved.

With his cryptic warning relayed to her, Lord Nara stood from his chair. "I am needed in the capital for a few days," he gave her one last glance. "I'll be curious to see how you get on."

# # #

The rest of the morning, Temari completed her duties with an absent mind. The other servants steered clear, like usual, with frightened looks on their faces and quiet steps as if she were some wild animal. She concluded that her more hostile thoughts must have seeped into her expression. When she realised this, she did her best to hide behind a more composed façade. But, the face she had perfected for the last eighteen summers since her mother had passed seemed to fall apart every time her thoughts strayed to the son of Lord Nara.

How bad could this kid be?

Her fingernails dug into her palms each time she recalled the lord's warning. Combined with her conversation she had with Neji back at the military encampment in Tani and this heir to House Nara seemed less like a slothful and privileged nobleman, and more like a devious sadist.

Sweeping the floor, she growled to herself. This noble was not going to get the best of her, she would make sure of that. Whatever he tried, she was going outdo tenfold. If he thought he was superior to her, she was going to put him in his place so hard he'd be crying to his daddy the second he returned from the capital.

Looking out of the window, she noted the sun's position high above the forested landscape.

It was time.

Her footsteps echoed through the halls in the quietest area of the house. As if in exile, the son's quarters were located on the other side of the keep, isolated by a maze of bleak corridors devoid of life. The first few times she had ventured to this side of the stronghold, she had found herself spun around more than she'd have liked to admit to anyone.

This day, however, she followed the crude map she had tailored after each time she had wound up in a dark corner of the castle. It didn't take her long to end up standing in front of an eerie oak door. Finding she was eager to meet this monster she'd been cautioned about, she didn't bother knocking before shoving the door open. The heavy slab of wood swung wide open without making so much as a squeak as it rested against the wall inside.

Stepping inside, Temari squinted. The curtains, a deep verdant shade, allowed a few slithers of light to illuminate the room. At first glance, it was quite impressive. Almost comparable to her own back in Suna, the space was expansive. A few pieces of extravagant furniture made up most of the view, although the centrepiece was unmistakable. An enormous bed dominated the chamber, its frame casting monstrous shadows over the plain carpet.

But that was all secondary, or even tertiary, information that flew past her the instant she locked her gaze on the figure resting against the pillows. Surrounded by a devilish halo of hair, as dark as his father's, the son's shrewd features seemed frozen in time. Under his head, he used his hands to form a cradle. The position exposed his muscled arms, his ghostly pale skin revealing a web of veins. In his peaceful slumber, the quilt had slipped down to reveal his torso. Inspecting it, Temari found the toned muscle to be adequate enough. His body was about what she expected a knight of the empire's to be like at the very least.

Standing over him, she waited for him to wake up. After tapping her heel against the ground for a while, she looked over to the window and thought of a better idea.

If he's not going to wake up on his own, then maybe the sun can help him.

With the window now unveiled and pried open, a soft wind breezed through in pursuit of the sunlight. The elemental game of cat and mouse, she spun around to find that he hadn't moved at all. The only thing that had changed was his expression, his lips now pulled into a small smile as if the touch of the sun and wind brought out his pleasant dreams into reality.

She considered using a bit of force to wake him up but decided against it after a few moments of deliberation. It wouldn't be wise to piss off a nobleman just for her satisfaction. Despite the request his father had made, she chose to wait until he woke up to give him hell.

Sitting down on an ornate chair facing the bed, she glared at him. The first thing she noticed was that his quilt had slipped even further down to present his abdomen to the world. She had always known that a man's body wasn't as soft as their feminine counterparts, though she was fascinated by this nobleman's honed abs. She did have to hold back a fit of smirking when she gazed over the almost lopsided pattern of his core. Concluding that it was due to his service in the empire's army, she assumed that the boy attained his physique by doing the bare minimum.

That was point that just served to vex her. She had put in countless hours of training and she was proud of the constitution that effort had earned her. Yet, this brat almost had a better figure than her without so much as swinging a sword. It wasn't fair.

Her murderous stare was broken by the sheet moving once again. She followed it down, her curiosity piqued. The quilt had slipped down far enough for Temari to see his prominent hipbones, which formed a shape reminiscent of the letter V. There was another twitch and she managed to pinpoint the source. The fabric seemed to stretch around a massive bulge.

When it twitched again, she understood the situation in its entirety. That understanding still didn't stop her from being overwhelmed by disbelief.

Is he some kind of mutant?

She peeked at his covered crotch in confusion. The rest of his body seemed quite normal, so could he really be a mutant?

It would add some weight to Lord Nara and Ser Neji's warnings. However, she didn't think that this is what they'd cautioned her about. And, Shiho hadn't mentioned anything about this.

No, he was far more dangerous than some mutation.

She stood up, walking over to the edge of the mattress. Peeling her focus away from his body, she returned her gaze to his face. Something about it was just infuriating Temari. His features weren't handsome or ugly, they were just so normal. Yet, looking at him had her balling her fists and having to stuff them down at her side.

This was the knight who won such a decisive victory.

His calm expression was a cruel reminder of their shared history. Here she was, a slave watching her slaver sleep without a hint of worry. Considering his renown in the world of military strategy, she was surprised that he wasn't more cautious about his sleeping arrangements. Although thinking about it, maybe he just didn't perceive her as a threat now that she had been beaten and chained.

She'd have to rectify his carefree attitude soon enough.

Her seething slowed down to halt as she watched him exhale a soft breath through thin lips.

There was just something about him that stopped her from looking away. Her brow furrowed as she continued to stare. Even asleep, he was an enigma that she wasn't sure how to even go about answering.

"I think the answer is true love's kiss."

She flinched.

After the brief fear of someone spying on her had passed, and she'd dismissed the existence of ghosts for the first time since she was a child, she followed her logic and glared down at the source.

Cracking an eye open, the boy let out a sigh.

"You've been awake this whole time?" she growled.

The boy smirked. "I've been awake for… some time."

Her thoughts strayed to working out the exact moment he had begun to observe her. He couldn't have been watching for too long. Maybe, when the sunlight had first kissed his spectral skin. But then, if he had been awake for so long…

Does he have no shame?

"Then why are you still in bed?"

The noble shut his eyes again. "It's comfy," he explained.

"It's the afternoon," she barked down at him, her hand waved towards the window.

"Have you never heard of an afternoon nap?" he asked. "I hear they are quite popular in the kingdom of Yume."

His father's request rung in the back of her mind. "You're wasting the day in here."

A smug grin stretched across his lips, an annoying look with his eyes still closed. "The royal physician herself says that an afternoon nap can lead to increased productivity throughout the day," he adjusted his position, shrugging his shoulders with a sigh of satisfaction.

Temari rolled her eyes. "I think her advice requires you to get out of bed first and do something before taking a nap."

"Don't you have something else to do?" he mumbled.

"More than usual, to be honest."

"Let me guess," he opened an eye to meet her gaze. "Shiho broke her glasses."

She nodded.

"In that case," he pulled one of his hands out from underneath his head, unfurling it towards the window. She followed the direction his fingertip was pointing towards and focused on the garden outside the window. "Meet me on the far side of the gardens, you'll know what you're looking for when you see it."

After raising an eyebrow, she decided to listen to his command. "Ten minutes," she said. "And not a second later," she left after warning him.

# # #

She sat on the bench, tapping her heel against the ground as she watched him approach. The scents of the flowers played on her sinuses. Their rawer scents suggested that they were often used for medicinal purposes whilst the sweeter perfumes spurred Temari to theorise their use for darker endeavours. The labyrinth of hedges threatened to leave those unprepared stranded. But for those who knew their way, it offered hidden oases of natural songs.

Just like the halls of the castle, it had taken her more tries than she'd like to admit in order to compose a reliable set of directions through the maze.

The noble, on the other hand, had no excuse.

"You're half an hour late!" she scowled.

He yawned, taking the entirety of the bench opposite her to recline.

"Half an hour that you could use to practice," he pointed at the table separating them. He met her gaze with a smirk. "You're welcome."

She looked down at the checkered tabletop spanning between them. The tiles were polished with a dazzling shine. The intricate pieces of ivory sat, waiting for their commands. When she had first arrived, she made sure to sit on the side with the white pieces. Back home, whenever she had time away from weapons training and the rest of her studies, she played this game as if it were the goddess' will itself.

Without asking, she moved one of the smallest pieces forward two spaces forward.

For a second, she wasn't sure if he was aware of her first move since his eyes were still closed. His breathing was so slow that she thought he'd died. Or, at the very least, fallen asleep. As if to spite her, neither event occurred.

"Boring," he stretched before moving a piece in the second row forwards in a pattern similar to an L.

"What was that?" she moved another piece.

The boy shrugged. He slid a small piece forward in support. "You think too much."

What is he talking about?

"And that's bad because…" she started, curious. She'd moved another piece in order to gain a line of sight on the most prized piece on his side. All she needed was for him to make the right choice.

Still without looking, he answered. "All those details, it makes your traps so obvious."

She grimaced when she saw him put her under pressure on the other side of the board. Although, something about this state seemed familiar to her.

It didn't take her long for her to match it to the battle they had fought against each other back in her homeland.

"That was a substantial number of soldiers," she recounted her orders to send a knight-captain out with half a battalion as bait. "Why would you think that'd be a trap?"

The noble groaned. "Please, you couldn't decide whether it was a decoy or not," he smirked. "If you wanted to use them as bait, then you'd have sent out less soldiers. And, if you wanted to make it a normal advance, then you'd have gone with a full battalion, not just half."

His explanation resonated within her. Everything she had ever learned about military tactics and strategy from the finest resources her father could find, they all seemed to pale in comparison to this nobleman's genius.

Stuck in thought, she didn't notice him slide his weakest piece to trap her most valuable in the corner of the board.

"Checkmate."

A/N- Hey guys, I've hoped you've enjoyed this chapter. And, I hope you've had a good week, if not then it's good to have the weekend. If you're excited for some smut, then keep reading because it's gonna get quite interesting in the next few chapters or so. Maybe not the next one but the ones after that. Anyways, it's been nice to write this, so I imagine it was nice to read as well.

Yours truly,

Signing off