Victoiré flutter her eyes open as she rose herself, her long red hair tumbling down to her back. Her redhair always seem to fit perfectly at how the sun shone brightly in the room, like it was sparkling. She made her way to the bathroom that was connected to her room as she went to wash her face. With her giving a tired sigh, she grabbed her comb and started to comb her fiery red hair.

A knock filled the silent room, placing down her comb and reached for her raven-colored wig from the counter placing it on her head, covering completely her red hair. "Who is it?" She yelled loud enough for the person at the door to hear.

"It's Maria, Princess. I have your breakfast ready"

She fixed her wig, making sure there weren't any red hair strands showing. Satisfied with the way she looks, she made her way to the door and revealed her trusted maid carrying along with her the princess' breakfast.

"Thank you, Maria" Victoiré said, as she opened the door alittle for Maria to enter the room, placing her breakfast on top of a desk.

"You're very welcome, Princess" Maria said, giving a bow before she left the room.

After doing her usual morning routine, she went to her walk-in closet that revealed different kinds of clothing, shoes and accessories. She wore her usual outfit that consists of a off-shoulder white top with a brown corset on her stomach and a red colored skirt. Brown fingerless gloves both extends until her elbow and black thigh-length boots with a white thick belt on her left thigh which is to hold knives. Lastly, she placed a black belt around her waist to hold up her rapier.

She did her usual strolls around the castle grounds, passing by the garden house when she saw Zen and Shirayuki inside. She opened the door of the garden house, with Zen and Shirayuki happily went outside, like it was their first time to be released from prison.

"Someone locked us up inside. We were stuck there all night" Shirayuki said followed by a sigh of relief.

"Is that so? Well then, it is a good idea for me to do my usual strolls around the castle" Victoiré said.

"Thanks, Vic." Zen told his twin. Victoiré stared at him like it was a first she heard him thank her.

"You're welcome, my dear brother!" Victoiré said, giving her twin a hard pat at the back as Zen winced.

"I really hate it when you do that..." Zen muttered.

"If I remember," Victoiré said, ignoring what Zen had said and turned to look at Shirayuki. "The chief herbalist would like to see you Shirayuki, she told me if ever I see you go to her office immediately. She mentioned she has something to tell you"

"Then, I'll be there right away!" Shirayuki said.

"I'll walk you to the chief then" Zen offered and lead the way to the medical building.

It was the time of the year when cherry blossoms appear. It was Victoiré's favorite season, spring. She sat down underneath a cherry blossom, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the cool breeze of the wind. It was just peaceful and relaxing when she reminisced about her childhood. For her, it was the happiest moments of her life.

It was spring, three young children were running around the cherry blossoms playing tag. The redhead huffed in annoyance since she was always the one being the it.

"I don't want to play anymore..." Victoiré pouted as she averted her gaze away from Zen and Gin. The two young males stared at eachother then back again to the certain young redhead.

"We'll let you win this time Victoiré" Gin said, trying to cheer her up but to no avail. Victoiré was giving them her silent treatment.

"Annoying twin sister" Zen muttered when an irked marked formed on Victoiré's head.

"Shut up! You stupid brother!" Victoiré yelled. The argument between the twins continued on and on. Gin just stared at the two as they exchanged insults.

The twins stopped arguing when Gin started to laugh at them, the twins were left confused.

"Sorry, its just that I never had a sibling before" Gin said as laughter slowly died down. "It was just fun seeing twin siblings have an argument with eachother"

Zen and Victoiré started to cry when they heard what Gin had said.

"Don't worry Gin! I already think of you as my sibling!" As the young Zen and Victoiré said.

Gin gave a warm smile at his two childhood friends. "Thank you..."

Victoiré heard a cough from behind her, her eyes twitched when she noticed the familiar voice. And it always made her wonder, why is it him out of all the people?

"Hello, Princess. Did you sleep well last night?" Obi asked as he sat beside the Princess.

"Well, yes I did sleep well last night. Thank you for asking" Victoiré replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Princess, you look tense" Obi said.

"What are you talking about? I'm not—!"

"It seems like Princess is always tense~" Obi cooed. "Does the Princess like me that much~?"

An irked mark formed on Victoiré's head, with her cheeks slightly shaded with pink. She tried to stay calm to what he had said, afterall she liked someone else. Someone much, much more nicer than this person could ever be.

"As for your information messenger of Zen, I already have my heart set on someone else since childhood" Victoiré suddenly said. The ex assassin stared at the raven-haired, astonished to what she had said. It was just a few seconds before Victoiré realized what she had said, her face flushed.

"What a cute childhood promise~" Obi teased.

"Shut up already you stupid messenger!"

Just then, Obi's face turned into a serious one. "The wind..." He muttered under his breath, he grabbed the raven-haired's wrist dragging her inside the castle.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"It is about to rain soon, Princess. It is best to stay inside"

The raven-haired princess gave a nod at the cat-eyed man. "Alright," She said as they made their way to Victoiré's office.

And just like what Obi had said, it started raining heavily. Victoiré always hated whenever it was raining, it reminded her of the day of her parent's burial. She saw a lightning striked, jumping in surprise as she tried to hide underneath her desk.

"What are you doing? Are we going to play hide and seek?" Obi asked, he expected a remark from the princess but nothing came. "Princess?"

When he saw her trembling underneath the desk, he immediately went by her side. "Are you alright, Princess?!"

"D-Don't worry about m-me..." She stuttered. Suddenly a thunder striked, making the raven-haired princess tremble once again. Obi embraced the trembling princess into his arms. For Victoiré, it felt warm and secure. Like this embrace felt like the one from her childhood, from the one she always loved...

She pulled away from Obi's embrace and looks at him with a smile on her face, tears continued to stream down her face. "Thank you, Obi..."

It was the first time Obi saw the raven-haired smile. He thought it was really comforting to see her smile, she looked more beautiful despite those tears streaming down her face. He felt something warm inside his chest when he saw that smile, what was that feeling again?

〜〜〜〜〜

hi friends! the picture from above is how i imagine Victoiré's outfit would be, but i added alittle changes. also i got the idea of the thunder and lightning sh*t bc its actually raining heavily from where i am. but the only difference is that i love the rain alot lol.

thats all for now, as promised this chapter became alittle longer than the last one so i hope you do enjoy this!

love ya guys! 💕

— イサ