He was fake, he was annoying, and overly polite. He was taking up too much of her time and the princess had other things to be doing yet she was stuck in her office listening to his proposal for a business partnership. Perhaps she needed to rethink how much credit she had been giving James in seeming to understand what she was and not looking for in people she worked with.

Lena needed to leave soon and the man didn't seem to get the hint when she glanced at her watch.

​​

James who was sitting nervously in the one of the chairs further back taking notes and sitting in to make sure everything would be okay must've felt the shift in tension as he glanced up from what he was doing to watch what was going on.

He was perhaps in his mid thirties based upon his features. He was wearing A dove colored suit with matching pants and a black tie. His amber was styled in what could've been assumed to be a tidy position once, but was sticking up towards the top which was probably an indication that he was a person who ran his fingers through his hair often. He had light green eyes that looked soft but held an undertone that spoke of something else. His smile was also something that Lena could tell was as plastic as plastic gets from years of practice despite the attempt to make it appear genuine.

The princess could also tell he was a man who had his nose broken more than once or twice in his life based upon the risen bumps on the bridge of his nose. He went by Marcus Klien, but Lena doubted that it was his actual name.

"Marcus while I appreciate the effort you put into the proposal and I do think it sounds like a possible deal, especially after I look further into it, why don't you cut to the chase and tell me the real reason here?" Marcus stopped and turned his head to look at her from were he was lounging on the sofa. Again she saw the look in his eyes that told her he had an ulterior motive to just a business partnership in mind.

"Whatever do you mean? I thought that I made it quite clear when I came in and gave you my proposal what I was looking for out of this. You even have all that information right there in front of you." He motioned the folder that he had placed on her desk. His response made her narrow her eyes at him.

"I may be young, but I'm no fooling when it comes to knowing when someone is hiding more than they're letting on." The princess replied, her face was calm but her eyes were daring him to continue lying to her and see what would happen. The corner of Marcus's lip twitched into an even larger than perhaps should've been possible.

"I can indeed see why they would pick you to be in charge of this place despite being so young. You don't mince words and you're pretty sharp as well." He uncrossed his legs as he spoke and took on a more serious position.

"The honest part is that I do want to have a business partnership with you. I've been hearing through a rumor mill that you intend to have big plans for where you want to take this business and I want to be a part of that." Marcus explained.

"But there's also the fact that you have something I'm interested in and I'd like to observe and find out if it'll flourish in this environment or not." He stood as he said the last part and approached Lena's desk. James moved his hand subtly at the same time he did to a point where it was close to the gun he had holstered on his hip. He didn't trust this man anymore than the princess did and he certainly wouldn't let any befall her under his watch.

Lena noticed this and without shifting her gaze away from the man in front of her, she used her hand that was out of Marcus's line of sight to give a subtle motion for James to stand down. She knew this man wasn't here to do anything rash if he was telling her this.

"And what would that something be?" The princess asked causing the Marcus's grin to widen.

"I'm sure that a smart little girl like you will be able to pick up on that quickly. Since I've evidentially overstayed I'll be taking my leave now. Tata." He gave her a small wave before he turned to leave.

"I do hope that you'll seriously consider my proposal. I genuinely think that we'd make great business partners." He said once again as he opened the door to her office to leave. However he was met by a wall that was Romeo. Surprised to find anyone on the other side, he took a step back to allow the other man to enter the office before leaving.

Romeo chose not to move right away and instead locked eyes with the other as he assessed him. Looking past Marcus he saw that Lena and James seemed fine and determined it was safe to let him past to leave.

"Princess is-" Romeo couldn't finish speaking before Lena cut him off.

"Where's Samuel? I thought you were supposed to be taking him to the retail store?" The noticeable agitation in her voice caught him off guard.

"He's here waiting with Jeff, princess." He replied as Lena stood up from her desk and grabbed what few things she had out.

"He said he wanted to come check on you since you're never late for an appointment. He thought something might've been wrong." He further explained though it didn't seem much like the princess was listening to him as she walked the towards the office door.

"We're leaving, NOW." She ordered not caring to pay attention if the other two were actually following after her.