Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Princess WHO of WHERE?!? ❯ Awww, Do I Have To? ( Chapter 17 )

DISCLAIMER: me no own dbz.

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Everyone gasped audibly when they saw the beautiful, young female that stepped down from the carriage. Bulma even had to admit that she was pretty. She was of the same petite stature as her mother, though a little taller. Also a brunette, she wore her hair loose and free as if attesting to her innocence. She wore an apple green silk gown, with a low, square neckline that was bordered with tiny pearls. Her face was the perfect mask of sweetness and docility, though Bulma took an immediate dislike of her. She hadn't yet uttered a word, but Bulma still had a bad feeling about her.

"My lords, I present to you my daughter, Valeria," Lord Gefen announced.

Lord Vegeta was the first to step forward and kiss her hand. "Lady Valeria, it's been a long time. The last time I saw you, you were still yet a small cub in muslin gowns and pigtails. Yet now here you are a great deal more mature with beauty that will no doubt rival your mother's."

Valeria drew her hand from Lord Vegeta's and giggled, her returned hand on her cheek. Why, she was even blushing!

`This girl is good,' Bulma thought to herself.

"Lord Vegeta, it is good to see you again. I thank you for the compliment, for my Mother is truly the most beautiful of all ladies. Now that I have grown up, you don't seem as monstrously tall as my Father."

Lord Vegeta laughed heartily. "Well! I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered."

"Oh, indeed was it meant as a compliment, good sir. I must stand some distance away from my lord Father lest I strain my poor neck!"

Everyone laughed at the poor joke, except for Vegeta. He was clearly not amused. When they quieted down, everyone noticed Vegeta hadn't been laughing, though no one commented on it.

Lord Vegeta cleared his throat before placing his hand on his son's shoulder. "Valeria, you remember my son don't you?" he said, giving his son a small push forward.

Valeria quickly looked Vegeta over assessing his possible attributes and was quite pleased with what she saw. `I shall be able to keep him under control with no problem after we are mated,' she thought to herself. She smiled and curtsied perfectly thinking of every trick she knew of to entice a male.

Vegeta bowed to her with courtly grace, though against his will. He already knew there was no way in the world he would ever mate with this female. He would rather become a monk! He had already witnessed her spoiled and irrational personality on the last visit. He couldn't for the life of him understand why his Father wanted him to mate with this girl. Surely they could wait until someone more suitable is found.

He then took her hand in his and kissed it lightly, not wanting to let his lips linger on her skin a moment more than they had too. He already knew her game and was going to go along with it. When his eyes looked into hers, the look practically asked him to take her right here in the courtyard.

`What a disgusting and pathetic female,' he thought. `She's only here for the land my family holds, not me. And if she thinks she's going to get it, I have a real rude awakening for her,'

"Lady Valeria, your beauty far surpasses that of our previous meeting," he lied. Vegeta did not like pale, overly feminine women. They got on his nerves and he would be damned if he was going to spend the rest of his life with one.

"Thank you, Vegeta. You have grown up to become quite handsome as well. You are nearly the mirror image of your father," Valeria replied, though pleased with his looks, she was more interested in his property. "I hope that we can use this visit to become reacquainted as friends."

"Of course. I will be at your disposal," Vegeta bowed again, knowing he was lying and had no intention of spending any kind of time alone with her. He had told his father that he would join them for breakfast and dinner, but to not expect to see him any other time of the day. His father had waved him off saying `fine, fine', not caring what his son did because he knew that the boy didn't like his possible betrothed.

"Well, now that we've all reintroduced ourselves, how about we adjourn inside for dinner?" Lord Vegeta suggested.

"That's a splendid idea, Vegeta. Say, you don't still have the same cook as you did last time we visited?" Lord Gefen asked.

"No. Unfortunately, he retired shortly after the last time you were here, but now his son's in charge. So if you thought the father's cooking was good, the son's will probably have you die in rapture."

"Then let's eat!"

Lord Vegeta held out his arm to Lady Rouhani, while Lord Gefen escorted his daughter, which left Vegeta trailing behind at the end. A situation he took a great deal of pleasure in.

"Lord Vegeta, you have such a magnificent fortress! Could you tell me about it?" Valeria asked of Lord Vegeta who was walking ahead of her and her father.

"Of course! My home is my pride and joy. I had it built…….." was all Bulma heard as they walked through the doors.

Bulma watched the group go in while everyone around her began to disperse. She stood at the window a few moments longer staring at nothing at all, wondering what Vegeta's thoughts were of this female. She wouldn't get to find out this evening. He had already told her not to worry about having his bath ready or bringing his breakfast in the morning because he would be tied up with their guests for the initial few hours of their visit. Bulma sighed, for the first time having more time on her hands than she knew what to do with. Being that she didn't have Vegeta to worry about and she had already taken a bath, she was completely at loose ends.

`Maybe I should take Vegeta something to eat since he's always complaining about how he doesn't like to eat the kind of foods his father does,' she thought.

Just them she heard her stomach growl and rubbed it in sympathy. Vegeta still hadn't let up on her eating restrictions, though she was sure that he knew she was getting something from somewhere. The bad thing was, she wasn't getting anything as often as she would have liked to. Bulma knew she would have to eat something soon before she passed out.

`I guess that's something I could do,' she turned from the window and went on a search for food.

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A few hours later in the formal dining room, Vegeta was leaning over to the right side in his chair, his elbow on the arm of his chair, and his face resting is his right hand. After suffering through a barely passable meal, he was sitting here having to endure their incessant chatter. He didn't join in the conversation, nor did he attempt to. He didn't speak unless spoken and those answers were as short as possible, making it plain to everyone that he was not enjoying himself.

`I wonder what Bulma's doing right now,' he thought. He had dismissed her from most of her duties for the next two days and was almost wishing he hadn't. He would have given anything to have someone to tell about his frustration with this whole situation.

He watched everyone at the table out of the corner of his eye, looking for something, ANYTHING, as an excuse to get out of here. Vegeta finally got his signal when he saw Valeria yawn, though she tried to hide it.

"Excuse me, Father, but I think that it's time that we seek our beds for the evening. It seems that Lady Valeria has been tired from the exertion of such a long ride to our home."

"Oh?" was all Lord Vegeta said as he looked to Valeria.

"I must admit that I am a little travel weary. Perhaps a good night's sleep would be in order," she said.

"Of course, of course! We'll have plenty of time to talk. You'll be here for a whole fortnight so there's no need to talk about everything in one day," said Lord Vegeta. "I will also escort you to your rooms."

Vegeta almost shouted in relief and quickly got up from his chair. The other men did the same as well as assist the ladies from their seats. Vegeta almost ran out of the dining room and only manners drilled into him from a young age kept him from doing so.

He first went to Lady Rouhani and in the `standard procedure', bowed and kissed her hand. "It has been a wonderful evening, my lady. I look forward to seeing you on the morrow," Vegeta forced out. He didn't want to say, but it seemed as if someone else took over his body and mind when he got in certain situations around other people.

"As I look forward to seeing you, young Vegeta. Have a good evening," Lady Rouhani said, with a regal incline of her head as if dismissing him.

Vegeta ignored it and went on to Valeria. "Be sure to rest well, my lady. I shall see you in the morning," he said, again with the `standard procedure'.

She smiled at Vegeta, he was glad to see she possessed a mouth full of white teeth. Too many people didn't take care of their teeth, which resulted in foul odors that they did a woefully bad job of trying to cover up. "You will be at breakfast then?" she asked.

"Of course I will. I shall be in your presence whenever my duties permit me." Vegeta was almost sick at that one. He hated the lies and would rather tell her exactly what he thought of her to her face. His father would have his hide if he did, so he just played along with the game knowing he would find valid excuses not to be around Valeria or her parents.

"Then have a good night," she told him sweetly, "and I shall see you in the morning.

Vegeta turned from her without another word. He just nodded in acknowledgement to his Father and Lord Gefen. "Good night, Father, Lord Gefen."

They both said good night and Vegeta left the formal dining room without a backward glance. As soon as he was out of sight, he jumped out of the first open window he came to and transformed so he could fly up to his room window. He looked at the waning activities below as he flew over the fortress. The formal dining room was near the South Tower, where all the servants and staff live. The kitchens were also connected. He reached his own rooms in the North Tower and landed gracefully on his balcony.

Just as he opened the doors that led into his rooms, he started thinking about how great a hot bath would be and hoped that Bulma had everything ready. The emptiness he saw in his sitting room reminded him that he told her not to bring him a bath this evening, which caused him to sigh in disappointment.

He looked at his table where she normally left his meals and was surprised to see a small, covered tray. He lifted the lid and was surprised to find a whole cooked chicken and a note:

`I thought you would be hungry and left this. Sorry about the missing leg. Bulma.'

`Missing leg?' he thought and turned the tray around. Sure enough, there was a leg missing. Vegeta wasn't mad, though. He actually felt a little special that she had thought to do such a thing. And besides, he really didn't like dark meat anyway.

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Bulma was already in her room in bed by the time Vegeta reached his. She wondered how the dinner went. Eighteen had went to the kitchen to sneak them a few treats, but the snacks and the chicken leg she had eaten earlier didn't do anything but tease Bulma's stomach. She also told Bulma that the servers were all talking about how Vegeta was acting like he didn't want their visitors there.

This lightened Bulma's heart a little. She was glad he didn't like them especially that Valeria. Bulma's instinct had never steered her wrong when it came to people and she wasn't going to start ignoring it now. She couldn't wait for them to leave, so she could resume her regular duties. Being one that was used to working she couldn't just sit around idle. Not even the books she had to read could fill all her time.

She lay on her back with her hands folded behind her head and stared at the ceiling, not being able to fall asleep yet. She couldn't admit to herself the reason why she cared whether or not Vegeta liked Valeria, and instead convinced herself that she was just looking out for his well-being. She hoped that he would still go train tomorrow, so that she could talk to him.

Bulma was sure everything would go alright and that before they knew it those people would be gone and everything would go back to normal.

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Normal? Hah!! Who said I wanted things to be normal? How interesting would this fic be if everything was NORMAL. Get ready for the next chapter cause there's gonna be a CAT FIGHT!!!!!

R&R