Kota's POV:

We were in the middle of a family meeting when Blackbourne-san announced that we would be accompanying our lord and his family to the ceremony that evening.

I and my brothers didn't like it. Such ceremonies between clan's heads and all the socializing and back stabbing involved tended to cause a strong revulsion in us all, but Blackbourne-san insisted, saying that our lord needed our support.

We might not like it, but loyalty decreed that we must go, and so we did.

Now, all nine of us are sitting around a table at the ceremony hall, waiting and observing as the Sorenson party arrived.

Their Lord comes in with his wife, daughter and a young servant. At first I think that she is a little girl, considering how small she is, but once the Sorenson family sits down and I get a better look at her my breath rushes out of my lungs.

The servant' kimono she wore did nothing to detract from her beauty. Quite the contrary, its plain color caused the green in her eyes to stand out, and her hair shined with different shades of blond. It was pinned behind her head with a beautiful clip, which I could hear Gabe-kun cursing from under his breath.

I smiled at his discomfort, but when my eyes caught her gaze the smile dropped from my face.

Her eyes were full of emotions and shadows, the mixture of sadness, fear, curiosity and kindness in them almost dizzying.

With one glance at those eyes I knew she needed help. Would she let me help her? Could I?

Did I really want to? I didn't even know this girl and she wasn't from the same clan as me. I had no obligation towards her.

Why was it then that I suddenly couldn't shake the growing need to protect her?

I mentally shook my head, trying to dislodge the silly thoughts from it with no success. I start counting to calm my thoughts.

One, one-thousand...

Two, one-thousand...

Three, one-thousand...

She turned her head and stared at us. I knew we looked weird, a bunch of men who clearly weren't servants nor related to our lord's family, sitting at their ceremony.

Then she gave us a small smile and I could see my brothers practically melting into a collective puddle on the floor.

I watched as my Lord's son walked up to the Sorenson's daughter, and I saw the servant girl's eyes widen in shock before she quickly schooled her expression.

I wondered what that was about. Did she somehow know him?

Deciding it was best to investigate I stood from my place and walked over to her; she'd turned her back to us and was heading over to where the other servants were standing when I sneaked behind her, touching her shoulder lightly.

She turns around with startled green eyes, clearly not having seen me coming over. I internally curse myself for walking so silently. Couldn't I at least pretend to be normal in front of a pretty girl?

"Hi," I tell her, trying to distract her of the fact that I move as silently as a ninja, "I'm Dakota Lee. Would you like to come and sit with us?" I asked, pointing to the table in the corner which we were using, hopping she will accept and sit with us.

Her eyes go to where I am indicating and she sees how we are all staring at her like a bunch of twitterpated fools.

She blushes prettily and lowers her gaze, staring at our table instead. The sound of her stomach growling causes her blush to deepen and I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile.

She agrees to sit with us and I can't control the wide smile that appears on my face.

"Good." I said, happy with the opportunity to get to know her better.

She tells us to call her Sang-chan. It's a familiar form of address, using her first name instead of her last one, but we agree quietly, Blackbourne-san being the only one clearly bothered by it. But without knowing her surname there was nothing he could do about it.

I can't help but notice that she keeps glancing at our Lord's son, however, and the prospect that she might know him kind of scares me.

What was her relationship with him? What did he mean to her?

I almost felt jealousy, except I couldn't possibly be jealous of a girl I had just met, it wasn't logical.

Right?

I mentally slapped myself for being stupid and started counting again.

One, one-thousand...

Two, one-thousand...

Three, one-thousand...

Once I was calmer and more in control of myself I make the decision to ignore her strange behavior for the moment. I would enjoy the evening and talk with my brothers later, when they were alone.