It was bright. Very bright. The sun shined over the large kingdom, blessing the land with warmth and light. It gave life to the flowers and plants and helped put smiles on the faces of little children when they ran around underneath it. It made many people happy, helping them all out with their daily lives. They were more grateful to it than they could ever truly show.

Except for some people. Some people were a whole lot less grateful than the average. Some people who were forced to wear armour every day in any weather, the guards.

"It's so hot." The playful guard with light brown hair whined as the sun stayed plastered onto his metal plates, staying at his position in front of the gates like he always did. Well not always but MOST of the time. He didn't dread it though, and he rarely complained about it. He got to meet Shirayuki here, they both did. Him and his friend/partner. They adored her, not in the way their prince did because they weren't stupid, in their own way. She was just...charming. Yes. She had a special type of charming aura around her. That was the best way to describe it.

"Stop complaining." His partner sighed and shook his head, standing beside the first guard. He had his back up straight and facing forward, always trying to look proper. To look professional. He was so serious. Not really though, not if you actually got to know him. He was playful, but he always tried to hide it. He was adorable.

The first guard hung his head with a light pout when he heard his friend's sigh. Just being a little goofy since it was hard not to. Not when it was forced into his personality.

"Um...Hello." A voice spoke suddenly, a small and fragile voice. It almost sounded nervous actually.

His head snapped up, suddenly alert again as he looked to see who the voice belonged to, noticing that it was just an elderly woman. He let his guard down but not a lot. Just slightly since it was only an old woman. She wouldn't be able to do much harm herself even if she tried. Especially against two well fit men with weapons.

"Yes?" The second guard asked first, looking at her, since he had given her attention before the first guard.

The old woman's hand shook a bit as she looked up at him, her hand started to shake more as she held it up to reveal that there was an envelope clutched inside of it, now crumbled up, "Could you...give this..to Shirayuki?" She asked shyly...no it was nervous now, "I heard she works here now."

"She does." The second guard said with a nod, keeping his voice professional as he took the envelope carefully, "And may I ask who you are?"

"My name is Kino," She said as the first guard started to frown a little, "I'm visiting from Tanburan. Shirayuki used to be my friend and pharmacist." she explained.

"Understood." The second guard nodded and held the envelope lightly,careful not too wreck it more than it has been, "We will get it to her as soon as we can."

"Thank you." The old lady said quickly before turning around and walking away, very quickly though. She seemed...rushed.

"Odd." The first guard mumbled, his frown still on his face after the lady disappeared and looked over at his friend to see his thoughts about it. His friend just looked back at him, a frown on his own face but it wasn't as intense. It was more stern, but he did seem curious as well. It showed in his eyes.

His friend looked back into the gated area and noticed someone there, he called out to him, telling him to get a messenger since they couldn't leave their position so soon. The man inside quickly ran into the castle to get the requested person and that was that.

That was that.

"Shirayuki?" A voice rung inside of the redhead's head but she wasn't able to quite acknowledge it yet as she gently stroked the leaves of a herb in front of her. She enjoyed the weather out and she even liked to work in it as well. She got more of an excuse to go out and see the garden with Ryu. The garden was beautiful, full of herbs that she thought she may never encounter in her life. But here she was, in a castle, in another country, tending to their garden.

It was a dream to her.

"Shirayuki." The voice repeated, snapping the girl out of her thoughts this time. She turned her head to look over at the man, who was holding a plate with an envelope on top of it.

"Yes?" She asked, eyeing the envelope curiously.

"You have a message." He said and held the plate out. Shirayuki nodded and wiped off the dirt of her hands onto her bare ankle before lifting up the paper and pulling it to her.

Carefully she opened up the envelope then pulled out the small note in it. The paper was smooth but not expensive, not like the paper from the messages that she would normally get from the castle. Her eyebrow raised slightly, curious about who would send her a message on cheap paper. Not that she was judging, of course, but there weren't many that did.

She held the message firm in her hands as her eyes traced over each letter, taking in what each word said, soaking it all in. It was short, but as her eyes passed by each word a smile grew on her face, slowly but by the end of the letter, the smile on her face was huge.

Shirayuki placed the envelop back onto the plate but kept the letter in her hands. "Thank you." She said kindly to the messenger, who just gave her a slight nod before turning on his heels and leaving the garden area quickly, probably because he had other work to do.

Silence fell over the working pair again as Shirayuki tended to a herb again before plucking part of it out. What she plucked out wouldn't hurt the actual plant so it could grow more of them. She just needed that part for a certain medicine she wished to create.

"Hey...Ryuu." Shirayuki spoke quietly, breaking the silence, looking back over to where the brown haired boy was sitting on a step while writing in his notebook.

The boy glanced up slightly, his gaze on her for a second before going back to his notes, "Yes?"

"If I work extra hard tomorrow, do you think I could get off early?" She asked, feeling slightly shy about it but also guilty. She didn't want to leave the others to do all the work... but this didn't happen every day. This chance didn't happen much.

"You work extra hard every day." Ryuu deadpanned, not even looking up from his notes as he continued to talk, "You can have the rest of the day off if you want."

Shirayuki blushed slightly at the first compliment, not believing it to be true, but ended up grinning by the end of what he said. "Thank you!" She exclaimed, the excitement evident in her voice as she started to move a bit faster while plucking the rest of the items she needed from the plants growing, "Thank you so much! I'll finish up quickly then be on my way!"

Ryuu smiled at her, his gaze drifting her shortly as he watched her do exactly what she said. It took mere moments before she had the ingredients she need in the woven basket. Quickly, she pushed herself to her feet before darting away...no not darting. Skipping. She skipped away.

Ryuu's smile grew just a little bit, wondering what could have possibly gotten her so excited. Well whatever it is, he hoped it was just as great as she hoped.

She deserved it.