Samuel was jolted awake in a rather disoriented state by a voice he was unfamiliar with.
"I'm sorry to wake you up young Sir, but I assumed you'd like the full view of where you'll be staying for the next week." Clive told him, sounding genuinely apologetic.
"No problem. Thank you, I hadn't even realized that I fell asleep." Samuel replied, carefully rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep so he could see clearly.
The moment he sat up and looked out the front windshield of the car he became stunned speechless. Nothing he had ever thought of could compare him to the sight that before him.
Clive was driving them towards what looked to be at least a three-story mansion, but that wasn't all that was impressive. It appeared as though all of the land surrounding the mansion for as far as he could see based upon the fencing that was put up must have belonged the Red Scorpions. From what Samuel could see from the distance, it had to least be thirty acres in all four directions, or perhaps more.
"This… Does everyone live in that." Samuel asked leaning forward as he pointed at the mansion. Clive laughed at this.
"Oh goodness no young Sir, that is the house for the main family, extended relatives and necessary servants. The rest of us have our own mansion further away, but still close enough if we are needed at a moments' notice. The Boss is very good to all of us and makes sure that we are all well taken care of provided that we remember our loyalty to him and do our jobs well."
"I am not sure I can handle all of this." He mumbled as he flopped back in his seat. He knew that the Red Scorpions being such a large group must've had money, but this far exceeded his expectations, in fact it made him feel rather self-conscious considering what he had come from.
"Don't worry about it too much young Sir, it takes everyone a while to adjust once they first get here. You may wish to tidy your appearance as we are getting ready to park at the front and you will soon be in the presence of the Princess." Clive warned as the car began to come to a slow near the front of the mansion. Standing outside near the entrance were what appeared to be a butler and two maids. "No need to worry about your luggage or anything else you have brought with you. Our staff here will make sure that it is taken care and placed in your room for you to go through later." Samuel felt a chill go up his spine when the vehicle came to a full stop. Something told him this was not going to go as smoothly as he had expected it to.
"How is this going to go?" Samuel asked as Clive stepped out and opened the door for him after a moment of explaining the situation to the staff.
"The Princess should already be waiting for your arrival in the lobby. I will fetch the Boss while you two of you exchange greetings." Clive explained leading the way for the younger man to follow. With each step he was beginning to feel more and more hesitant but forced himself to keep going until he stopped outside the room that Clive opened for him. He paused for a few seconds as he through the entrance. Samuel got the feeling that he was going to just as shocked by the inside of this house as he was the outside.
He didn't have much time to look around or get familiar with anything in his path as he was quickly ushered to the lobby herded to sit down in a chair by a maid who was quiet but came across as very nervous.
"I will be back in just a moment." Clive assured as he made his way through a door leaving Samuel in the room alone with a girl who was lounging on a futon not far from where his chair was placed. The girl didn't open her mouth to speak, but stared at him with dull expression and pursed lips that made it look like she was highly displeased by the presence of the outsider in front of her. Samuel had to admit he felt a bit intimidated by the girl even though she looked rather small in size. Her lack of size however was made up by the black leather jacket and pants she was wearing with a studded belt that had what appeared to be a dark red scorpion on the front of it. Her hair which was a deep ruby red flowed past her shoulders and cascaded around her seeming to glow against her jacket. She had what appeared to be steel toed boots on and in her right hand she was lazily tapping what appeared to some sort of stick on the ground. Samuel wasn't sure if he should speak or not as he sat there maintaining eye contact with the girl as she continued to just stare at him. Finally after what appeared to be an eternity, she finally spoke.
"Who's this thin twig in front of me supposed to be?" she asked, boredom in her eyes and a slight frown on her face as she poked the leg of the young man sitting in front of her. With each minute she appeared to look far less pleased than he had expected her to. Before he had a chance to speak, a much deeper voice cut through the silence to answer her question.
"This is Samuel, Lena. Your soon-to-be husband." The man who had just entered the room explained. Samuel could see that there was a slight similarity between the two so he assumed this man must've been her father.
"This is Sammy-boy, eh? I had been expecting something a little bit different, but I guess he does have a decent face." Samuel bit his tongue at this comment, holding back the offense he felt at her remark. A bit of a harsh remark for only having just met
"You should be nice Lena, he has come all this way to meet you before he has even turned eighteen, you could at least showing him a little bit hospitality and talk with him for a while before dinner is ready." Her father scolded as he approached the young man. "Thank you for taking the time to come all this way. I would stay and talk, but I think it is more important for you to take some time to get to know each other since dinner is almost ready and there are a few things I need to take care of." Samuel had expected the other to shake his hand, but instead the man gave him a hard pat on the shoulder as he walked past him, once again leaving him alone with the girl sitting in front of him.
"First let me make something clear, I am not doing this by choice, but since you did come this way, I will at least give you a chance." The girl spoke after a few tense seconds of her just staring at him again.
"A chance for what exactly?" Samuel asked as the girl sat up and stared at him with a much sharper look.
"To prove that you're worthy of being my husband. It's not something that is going to just be handed to you a silver platter." She replied. "So amuse me until dinner and tell me about yourself." Samuel remained quiet as he stared at the girl, he wasn't sure exactly where to start or what she might be looking for them to talk about. He assumed she probably knew far more about him than he had expected. Seeing that he didn't seem interested in breaking the silence, she decided she would have to be the one to make the first move.
"Are you a virgin?" Samuel felt his face heat up the moment that she had asked his question causing her to make a noise that sounded like a 'tch' "So Sammy-boy's like."
"And what about you?" Samuel retorted feeling defensive despite how red his face. She smirked at him as she began to stand.
"Oh. I am, but that doesn't mean I haven't had a bit of fun. But it seems like I am left with a juvenile peacock who perhaps doesn't know what he's doing." Samuel began to feel uncomfortable as the girl moved closer to him and slightly offended by the way she addressed. But before he had a chance to rebuttal her comment, she was suddenly looming over him and looking him over. "Hmm, you are far cuter at a closer look, although you're far thin. I suppose this is something that I can work with." He felt his breath hitch when she leaned in closer, brining her face to rest near the crook of his neck. He really wanted to move, but he felt a shiver go up his back when a small wet pink tongue brushed against his neck causing his face to turn an even deeper shade of red. "You even smell and taste nice unexpectedly. I'm not sure what that is, but I like it." She murmured pulling away from him and staring at his struck face with a smirk plastered on her own. "For now, I will agree to give you this week. Let's see what will become of it, eh? I won't lie that I won't make it easy for you though."