Before the General could venture into daydreaming about winning on the battlefields, his sister-in-law brought him back to the present…

“I will not accept it! I’m going home!” Upon stamping her feet, Rose left without saying her goodbyes.

Shaking his head and breathing out in a huff, the General muttered, “I can’t understand how people think of her as sweet! She’s a spoilt brat! She better not do anything to Sahara, otherwise I’ll get mad!”

“Darling, she is generally well behaved, you know this…When it comes to Prince Matthew, she is a little different.”

Putting an arm around his wife, the General leaned into her, pouting, “You and her are so different. Does she have to be my sister-in-law?”

His wife hit him and laughed, “You are nasty, my dear husband!”

Rubbing his head into his wife, he started to giggle again, “This husband is nearly all better! Why don’t you serve your ‘dear husband’ uh!”

“You!” The lady sighed at her husband.

The General saw how she looked and pulled her into the bed, “Never mind, just sleep. You must look better when you wake up!”

Snuggling into his wife, he had a smile on his face.

It’s good to be alive!

​

 

Sahara had teleported to an area, still within the estate, where it was just land and animals.

Naruto ran off straight away…Somewhere…Making her shake her head and let out a small laugh.

Matthew stared at Sahara for a moment, then a slight smile showed on his face. He was still holding her, and he really didn’t want to let go!

She sighed, now that it was over…What does she say!?

Silence enveloped them as Matthew took advantage of being able to hold her…And Sahara tried to think of something to say.

After a minute, she realized where they were, and she remembered that she still had to heal the General!

Finally finding a suitable reason to move on from what had happened, Sahara felt relieved.

She had guts, yes, she knew this even in her last life…But…Why the hell did she do kiss him for!? She was sure with this case, even if she follows her instincts, they will probably get her into trouble!

Taking a deep breath in and out, Sahara finally said, “I’m going to get spiritual essence back now.”

Matthew sighed but let her go. Having made the best of the situation, he still felt lucky…

Sahara then sat down and got comfortable…Well, tried to get comfortable, as she was still very clearly conscious of Matthew’s presence close by.

 

Sitting down next to Sahara, Matthew sighed again.

Knowing now that she was relatively a free spirit, he let her do as she pleased and just laid down. He had been so busy, with both cases of himself and the Crowned Prince, that he had hardly slept. And now, with the extra problem on his hands, his emotions…

As he shut his eyes, he found himself strangely relaxed. He knew that his Princess held some kind of power to make him feel at ease, like nothing really seemed to matter…And he drifted off to sleep…

Band One and Band Two, who were hiding out of sight, were really quite astonished that their Master was able to fall asleep upon this type of place…This Sahara, had indeed turned their master’s life upside down!

For them, who knew their Master the most, they see many positives and negatives about Sahara. All this time, from the moment he had met her, their Master had slowly changed into someone that seemed to be living, instead of an empty shell. Yet…Were they to be worried about the power that she had over their master?

 

As time slowly passed, Sahara thought about something peculiar…After having seen ‘prince charming’ resting, it occurred to her that there was something amiss…She had thought that, even though he was by her side right now, she felt some kind of change…And having the word ‘change’ come into her mind, Sahara thought about how her spiritual essence was able to ‘change’ as well…

Was that really something that ‘Bending Space’ meditation was able to do? Closer…Further away, then Bigger and Smaller…

As her dantian slowly filled with spiritual essence, so did her questions…Sahara know that she will have to look into this, because as she thought about it more, she was sure that changing spiritual essence wasn’t a part of the ‘Bending Space’ meditation. So…If it wasn’t ‘Bending Space’ meditation…Then what meditation was it?

Sahara had already been changing her spiritual essence for so long…Why hadn’t she thought about this earlier!?

Of course, she had completely forgot why she thought of ‘change’ in the first place…Which probably was the reason why she hadn’t thought of it being another type of meditation earlier…

 

 

After another hour, Sahara had finally replenished over half of her spiritual essence, having already also started to meditate beforehand in the room before being interrupted, and she opened her eyes.

She found herself in a…Well…

Looking at the sleeping man beside her, he looked completely innocent and peaceful. Yet…He had put his arms possessively around her waist, while she had been busy.

Was he someone that likes to cuddle teddies while asleep or…Did he cuddle other women?

Looking around, and stretching her neck, Sahara told herself that it didn’t matter. What he did for fun, was something that didn’t have anything to do with her…Even though that kiss had changed things, it still didn’t mean things had to change…

 

Of course, to a small degree, Sahara was a little upset, but she tried not to think about it.

…Seeing him like this, she was sure that this was an innocent act…Making her let out a small chuckle.

Removing his hand from around her waist, he seemed to have woken up.

“Mmm.”

Sahara watched him wake up, even having the urge to cleanse his body for him.

He really did look so sexy, as his clothes had opened up slightly, revealing some of his higher chest.

His hair was a little ruffled as well, making him look a little more normal, like other men.

“What, do I look strange?” He said.

Sahara wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or annoyed. “No.”

“Sahara.”

Omigod, how the hell did my name ever get to sound so sexy and cute!

Matthew watched her blink, and he became more aware, he was nearly fully awake now…Even very happy to have woken up with Sahara by his side.

“Sahara.” He said again, smiling and getting a tiny bit closer to her.

 

“Mmm, what?” Sahara said, after clearing her throat and standing up, in which he stood up as well.

Matthew looked at her seriously then, “If word gets out…That…”

“That what?” She asked.

“That we kissed…Wouldn’t your reputation be tarnished?” He asked.

Even though it wasn’t him that had kissed her, but the other way around, he still did care about her reputation.

Was this the reason why I felt something was amiss before?

Sahara coughed, in remembering about the ancient era and getting close to a man.

Omigod! How could I do that!? Are my instincts going to ruin me!?

She breathed in deeply, trying to calm down.

 

“Meh, what is reputation anyway. It’s like a book cover!” Sahara said, not really caring. She was still somewhat uneasy, but they were her honest feelings and opinions…In her previous life, reputation wasn’t such a big deal, as compared to here!

“Eh?” Matthew said, surprised. “What do you mean a book cover?”

Sahara sighed, “Well, the book cover doesn’t really say a lot about what’s in a book, it’s just the outside…A reputation isn’t the basis of who I am, so…Why should I care for it?”

Matthew stared incredulously at her, a girl’s reputation was everything! How could she think like it was nothing!?

She saw his face and narrowed her eyes, “Don’t worry, I won’t be a part of your harem!”

The sudden cold atmosphere really stunned Matthew, “What harem!?”

Sahara started to do a couple of stretches, “Surely you must have a few women back at home. Why is it that you come after me!?”

 

It was Matthew’s turn to narrow his eyes at Sahara, and after a moment he finally said, “And who was it that said something about a book cover! I don’t have a harem!”

Seeing him mad actually shocked Sahara, and then what shocked her more was that he was right!

Sahara had just said something like ‘not judge a book by its cover’ and here she was assuming that he had a harem…

“You don’t…” Sahara couldn’t finish her words.

Seriously, how could he not!? He was too handsome to not have any women! Wouldn’t everyone think like me!?

Matthew breathed out angrily, “I have no harem!”

She couldn’t help it! She was so curious! “Why not!?”

Matthew widened his eyes to her curiosity, wondering if she wanted him to have a harem! “I don’t want a harem!”

Not satisfied, Sahara asked further, “Why don’t you want a harem?”

Suddenly, Matthew was stuttering, “I…Don’t…I don’t see why…”

 

Sahara suddenly laughed, it was so strange, to see such a handsome guy not wanting a harem. Doesn’t a lot of women throw themselves at him? How could he ignore each and every one!?

Hell, she even had a feeling that if she were a man and had the chance to have more then one wife, she might want to try it out at least once, just to see what it was like to have people fight for her attention…Then again…

Sahara shook her head, what was she thinking!?

Having an experience just for the sake of having an experience sometimes probably wouldn’t be worth it. She remembers some shows and even some real history of the past and what had happened with women fighting over their husbands…Why would she want that drama! More drama is more work! No way!

Lazy, leisure life…LLL…That’s what I want! LLL! And freedom…LLLF?…FLLL? Whatever…

 

Matthew shook his head and took a step closer, bending down his head and putting his hand to Sahara’s cheek, “I hadn’t desired any women…Except you!”

Sahara stopped thinking, and was stunned…Yes, she heard that…

He desires me? Prince…Prince charming desires me!?

It was like every girl’s dream, right, to be wanted by a handsome man! Sahara couldn’t help jitters from entering her stomach and going a little crazy at thinking about those words properly.

Matthew put his forehead against hers then, “If rumors go around, I’d prefer that you marry me, then have a bad reputation.”

 

Never…Had his heartbeat so fast! Matthew knew the tradition of asking the parents, bestowing gifts and all…But…How was he supposed to do this with Sahara? If he were to ask the parents…Does he ask Talon or does he ask the Right Minister? And then, with her being so discreet, she probably wouldn’t want that!

And with bestowing gifts…Where does he send them too!?

Having thought that this was an introduction of at least having her think about it, he had said all these things with his nerves ready to jump out of his chest!

Wait…Just a sec…What? Did he just say…Marry…

It was such a huge impact on Sahara, that she went silent and put her head to the side.

‘marry me’… ‘marry me’…

 

In her previous life, she hadn’t married. Honestly, she had told herself that it’s just a piece of paper and a ring, who cares for that? Not only that, but the whole concept of marriage in the 21^st century Earth time seemed so stupid! People were getting divorced so much that the initial reasoning of ‘getting married’, so that you can spend the rest of your life with a loved one and only them, was ruined!

For a while, Sahara wanted to come up with a whole new type of ceremony. A whole new saying to the idea of spending the rest of your years with your loved one. No laws and no type of court session if it doesn’t work out!

The only thing that she came up with before death, considering that she hadn’t many relationships to worry about it anyway, was being ‘unofficially married’. Which meant no piece of paper that meant it was by law. So, there was no divorce.

Well, whatever, in this time and place it was probably different. Wasn’t her body still young though? Wait, no it wasn’t, Gabriella was going to be married not long ago and she was young. Right…

Marriage…

 

Sahara knew deep down, like many other girls, that marriage was one experience that she wished she could have taken before she had died. Sahara always buried those feelings though, because she had never found anyone, or too much had happened…

She looked towards the ground, feeling like she crashed up against a wall. For a short time, she had forgotten her resolution and had even gotten close to man…How did she forget!?

“I told you…”

Matthew interrupted her, “No…I don’t believe it! You undervalue yourself, Sahara! You might not think you do, but you do. If you think you’ll be bad luck for me, then be bad luck for me, I’d still want to be with you!”

With everything going on with the Crowned Prince, Matthew knew what it was like to have many things happen, so he would assume he’d still find it worth it being with her, even if stuff like this was to continue to happen to him.

Sahara went silent, unsure on whether she was sad, angry, upset…Or happy…

Seeing her like this, Matthew softened up, “At least think about it…Please.”