Suikoden Fan Fiction ❯ Taking a compliment ❯ Chapter 1

Taking a compliment

 

Roy whistled as Lyon walked past him on her way to Falena Castle's War Room. He grinned boyishly at her ruffled expression.

 

“Looking hot there, sweetie!” he said flirtingly. To his dismay, the Queen's Knights Apprentice threw him a look of disdain and marched up the stairs into the third floor of the castle. “What's her problem?” he muttered to himself.

 

“That's just the way Lyon is,” a lazy voice drawled behind the Prince double. He shrieked with shock and spun around to find Lady Sialeeds staring after the aforementioned girl. “She doesn't like it when men try to flirt with her.”

 

Roy was bewildered at the thought of a girl who didn't like to be told how great they looked. It was just impossible. But then, Lyon never did seem to take admiration from anyone that well. It was as if she had a natural dislike for praise.

 

“Is there anyone who could get away with it?” he asked curiously. He was good at disguising himself so maybe he could dress up as someone and lay it on Lyon.

 

Sialeeds simply yawned. “My nephew's probably the only one she'll take seriously” she commented offhandedly before returning to her room for an afternoon nap.

 

Roy stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “Does she do nothing but sleep all day?” he asked rhetorically to no one. He suddenly remembered what she had said, and cursed to himself. “So the Prince is the only guy Lyon will take a compliment from? Lucky royal bastard.”

 

Prince Freyjadour sat primly in his room, writing correspondence to Boz Wilde. He wanted an update on the status of Rainwall, and who better than the Lord of Estrise? Even if the large man was rather… boisterous, he knew when to take things seriously. He wasn't as bad as Wasil of Lelcar, at least…

 

Prince shuddered at the fiasco of that time and wondered just how effective his `disguise' really was. Maybe he needed to cut his hair or something, get rid of the braid.

 

Oh, perish the thought.

 

His musings were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. He waited until a familiar voice called, “Prince? I've brought some tea, would you like some?”

 

“Sure,” he replied, and smiled when Lyon carefully entered the room with a tray balanced precariously in her hands. “Do you need help?”

 

“I'm fine, Prince,” the Queen's Knights Apprentice assured him. “This is no - ahhh!”

 

The Prince watched with mixed mirth and concern as Lyon stumbled, almost bringing the tea, and her, to the floor. The dark-haired girl managed to steady herself before she could fall, but the almost-accident made her blush with mortification. She kept her head bent down to hide her face as she deposited the tray onto the Prince's desk.

 

“Th-There you go, Prince,” she stammered, embarrassed a-plenty by her slip-up. “I-I'll take my leave now.” She pivoted around to leave the room and save some face - and probably ask a maid how to do this properly next time.

 

“You don't have to go,” the Prince spoke up gently. He was amused to still see a fading blush on Lyon's face even though her back was turned to him. “You brought two cups and I don't think I can use both of them by myself.” He smiled humorously.

 

Lyon tentatively turned around and was relieved by His Highness's expression. She bowed politely and answered positively, with a hint of elation in her voice. She formally took a seat across from the Prince and offered to pour the tea, to which the Prince accepted before he continued his letter writing.

 

The black-haired Queen's Knights Apprentice sipped her tea politely and gazed around the room. It was surprising how bare it was, and yet so much like His Highness. He didn't like to be fancy, although he grew up in the extravagant Sol-Falena castle. It wasn't something he liked to take for granted, since as a royal male he wasn't in line for the throne anyway. With that in mind, his room in Falena Castle was rather quaint and bland but when it came down to it Lyon didn't expect His Highness to complain. A room was a room, especially considering the circumstances.

 

She was startled from her thoughts by Prince's voice. She blushed at being distracted and looked at him.

 

“I'm sorry; this must be boring for you. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, I will take a while.”

 

Lyon laughed and shook her head. His Highness looked so apologetic, considering she was the one who interrupted his time and almost left in the first place. He was always so humble and polite around people when in his comfort zone. It made Lyon wonder why everyone else couldn't take a leaf from his book.

 

“It's not that, Your Highness,” she corrected him. “I just had something on my mind, that's all.”

 

The Prince nodded, a thoughtful expression replacing his apologetic one. Lyon watched with quiet fascination as his mouth curved into a jovial smile. She blushed unbeknownst to her.

 

“It's been a while,” he said simply.

 

“Huh?”

 

His Highness elaborated, “Since you laughed like that. I know it's been a long time since we could relax and be the way we used to be, but I missed seeing you like that.” He smiled again. “It's cute.”

 

Lyon definitely knew she was blushing. She cleared her throat nervously and stammered. “A-Ah… y-y-y-yes, th-thank you, Your Highness.” She almost made to bow, but remembered she was sitting down and would have hit her head against the desk. Instead she simply sat stock still, repeating the Prince's words in her head.

 

“… Lucky royal bastard.”

 

Both Lyon and the Prince looked at the door when they heard a familiar voice. Lyon thought she'd heard it earlier in the day but she thought she was mistaken. The Prince just looked confused.

 

A different, stern voice could be heard saying “What are you doing?” followed by an unmanly shriek and hurried footsteps. There was silence for several seconds before the pen scratching of the Prince writing his letters. Lyon shook her head and continued drinking her tea.

 

Next morning, Prince Freyjadour and Lyon woke up (in different rooms) to find the same newspaper at their doors. They glanced at the headline and blanched.

 

“Princely Praise for Luscious Lady Lyon”

 

Needless to say, His Highness spent all day in his room while Lyon raged after a screaming Roy.

 

The End