Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
Chapter 35 - Come With Me

Lena hadn't been lying about her love for horror movies once they got into the game. Samuel at times hardly had the chance to finish asking her the trivia question before she was already telling him the answer. All but twice she had been right.

Unlike him, she was surprisingly good at remember small, obscure details that he couldn't remember in movies. Questions about side characters, phrases, inconsistencies and such she knew almost too well. His strong points were just remember main characters, themes, years, occasionally where the inspiration came from. Both were equally good at old horror movies but the princess was slightly better at remembering less known and foreign ones.

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To know so much, he could only assume that she must've spent a large amount of her time watching them when she was younger. Maybe it contributed to part of the reason why she was so cold?

It was a rather short game unfortunately because there were only two of them which made the back and forth questions and cards go by rather quickly Samuel felt that it would've been more enjoyable to invite Leo to have played with them, but he got the feeling that Lena didn't want to be disturbed by other people during this time so he chose not to say anything.

The third match was almost over, Lena would've won most likely by the way the game was turning out when there were three timed out knocks on the door. Samuel turned to look at it, expecting that someone was getting ready to enter.

"It was one of the servants letting us know that it was time for dinner. Usually when the door is closed and this room is occupied they usually just knock two or three times depending on what they are relaying." Lena explained as she put her cards down.

"Oh, so that was the signal for dinner?" He clarified as he helped to start putting everything together. He was slightly disappointed that they weren't going to finish the game.

"Yep, and if we don't get everything sorted out soon, they'll end up knocking again." She replied, putting the cards back in the box and closing it up. Putting it back with the rest of the other games, she stood up. More than the other, she wanted to be heading back out to the dinner table before someone came and knocked on the door again. She could request later for someone to put everything back.

Being a touch impatient, she motioned Samuel out ahead of her as she closed the door behind herself. He didn't exactly understand what she was being impatient about, but let her lead the way as they headed towards the dining area. He still wasn't that good at remembering where everything was located in the mansion.

He had only been here for four days, but the fact that each night all the dishes that were placed on the table were completely different from the previous night hadn't stopped amazing him. He was certain that there was probably a certain amount of rotation in the food the chefs served, but there was no denying that they had a diverse set of cooking skills. Tonight's course appeared to have the central theme of Italian, but the dishes were ones he hadn't ever seen before.

Dinner conversation started as it usually did with general small talk and discussion of work related stuff that they seemed to think was harmless for Samuel to know.

Zane was the first one to pop the question of what Lena had been doing with her day off since she was so much quieter than she usually was when he told her to take work off.

"I kept Sammy-boy entertained since you told me that I should be spending less time with my work and more time with my potential fiancé." she replied, taking a drink before she continued.

"We gave the horses some exercise though Sammy isn't much good at riding without a saddle. Then he requested that I had the board games brought out for something less intensive." The princess's response was partly right. Except for the fact that he had asked her first if they had any board games, not as a result if wanting to do something less intense after hurting his back. He was thankful after the fact though that he had made that choice beforehand.

There were a few looks of surprise that passed over the table at the mentioning that the board games had been brought out. Had it really been that many years since anyone had last touched them.

"If you were going to bring them out and play, you could've at least asked me if I wanted to join. You hardly ever include me in on the fun." Leo pouted, feign a slight amount of hurt mixed in with his real disappointment that they played without him.

"There was no space for a third wheel. Today was intending as time for us to spend together, not to invite a disruptor. Besides, I thought you were busy today taking over the work that I wasn't allowed to do?" Lena raised an eyebrow as she asked this question.

"I did do everything, and then some. The work that needs to be done is never ending, but that doesn't mean I couldn't take a small break to enjoy in the fun you guys were having."

"Um, I kind of think that you're missing the point in what she said." Samuel piped up causing both the siblings to turn and look at him. Leo with slight surprise that he had spoken up and Lena with an expected looked as she waited to hear what else had to say.

"The point isn't that you were purposely excluded from joining in but rather, there was no room for you in what we were doing because it was supposed to be a couple thing?" He said the last part a bit uncertainly as he wasn't sure what other word to use to describe what he was trying to say.

"See, even Sammy-boy here understands what I am trying to say better than you do. Couples need time alone to do stuff without other people occupying the same space as them. His argument seemed to please Lena as she used it against her brother who was less thrilled that the other had spoken up in favor of his exclusion from the fun.

"It seems like you two are finally starting to get along better." Zane made this comment as Samuel and the princess looked at each other. Could what they were doing be considered getting along better or were they just getting better learning how to share the same space?

"I don't mind his company, there's still half a week left go, and even after that six months to decide if everything will work." Lena replied as she went back to focusing on her food again. Samuel didn't know what to say in response to the comment so he instead chose to keep quiet and focus on his food as well.

After that, the conversation focused more on the board games than on the couple and how it had been a while they had been touched and some couldn't remember all the games that had been collected. There was nothing in the conversation however about any intent to play anything before they were put back.

Once dinner was finished and most everyone had been cleared out and the table was cleaned up, Lena decided to catch Samuel before he got ready to leave.

"Come with me, there's something I want to talk with you about tonight." She told him.