A kiss in the Rain [EnEi]
Often Kouen heard his cousin’s wise words about not wielding a sword against people that did not want to be part of the Kou empire all at once. Conversation would be the key for uniting people and with that they would even support the empire instead of hating the rulers and their army for violently taking over the land.
By now that woman was far away from the naive girl he met years ago when both of them were still in their teenage years. Her beauty grew as well as her intellect and great heart. Sometimes the redhead wondered why she even bothered herself with him and his rough way of handling things. For some reason the princess had a calming aura which made Kouen rethink his ways but it did not last longer than one or two days on the battlefield. Just too easily he got annoyed and Koumei’s strategies were more or less a welcome excuse for falling back to old habits. Every now and then Kouen thought about what he did and the bickering question if Hakuei was judging him did not leave his mind until he came back from a campaign and found her greeting him with a soft smile. It clearly eased his heart even though he never showed it to her or anyone else.
It was one of those days when both of them started talking about the very same topic again in the pavilion of the great garden that rested in the center of the palace. Some when in the middle of their conversation Kouen snapped and with a wild gesture he barked at her. Why did she have to interfere with his ideas and bring so much disorder in his mindset? The prince did not even leave Hakuei a chance to answer his questions before he passed by her side and left the pavilion’s protective roof. The heavy rain pattered to the grey stone tiles with sounds even loud enough to mute the blue-haired princesses words. But the woman would not let it be brushed away like that and it took only a moment until she decided to run after him. A careless move forward over the small steps lead her to utter a loud cry as she slipped headfirst to the ground. Of course Kouen noticed the sudden scream immediately, nonetheless he was not quick enough to catch his cousin before she fell and all he could do was asking her if she was hurt anywhere. Only muttering she answered that those injuries she had were not caused by that little accident and from the look on her face he was able catch before Hakuei buried it on his chest, the redhead could tell that the woman in his arms felt bad because of him. From all places, did she have to cry here, outside in the rain that already started soaking their clothes? The prince loosened his cloak despite the heavy armor piece attached to it and draped it around his cousin’s slender shoulders. But since the water was already running down the tiles they knelled on, Kouen decided it would be the best to get inside as soon as possible. As gently as possible he tilted the woman up and walked towards the shielding roof of the palace but something made him stop in the middle of walking. All the redhead noticed before Hakuei’s lips attached to his was an apology for bothering him all the time and that she was only worried about him. He never expected the blue-haired woman to have such feelings, nor to express them so bluntly. Up until now the prince tried to overlook his affection towards her even though it bloomed slowly for quite some time, but this was nothing he could just handle the very same way. Kouen did not even want to. His grip tightened around the woman’s slender frame as the redhead gave into the soft feeling of her lips brushing over his. Just moments before all he could think of was bringing her inside to protect her from getting sick, but his mind was washed blank by now.
