Friend approach

It was just a soft kiss on his cheek but Quince knew in the depth of his heart that he would never forget it.

Her kiss was so light, almost as if it didn't happen. Like a small feather that touched the surface of the water. It was ethereal.

Her sweet scent overwhelmed him and the expression on her face as she closed her eyes to give him that kiss would be carved into his heart for as long as he lived.

Her cheeks turned red and when she opened her eyes, Quince could see the uncertainty in them, and it completely melted his heart.

She was usually so confident, vulnerability was definitely not one of her traits. Yet, at that moment it was anything but that.

Quince couldn't enjoy her sweet expression for long as she suddenly wrinkled her brows and demanded haughtily,"So?"

"So?" Quince was honestly confused about the events that just happened. But he wasn't about to let her know and he hid the confusion in his eyes before asking back icily.

"Are you still mad?" Queen asked him with hopeful eyes.

"Mad?" Quince questioned her right back.

"Well, the series just now showed that if your boyfriend is mad at you, you should placate him." Queen explained.

"Placate? That peck on my cheek was meant to placate me?" Quince asked skeptically. Truth was, he was elated at the 'boyfriend' title she just used to call him.

The little kiss she gave him made him feel a soft tightening in his heart as well. But now, he couldn't help wanting more.

Quince couldn't resist asking her, hoping to jolt her mind into working.

"It's not enough?" Queen asked incredulously. The only thing the series showed just now was the girl kissing the guy cheek and he started smiling happily again.

Queen was hoping for the same result but clearly it didn't work. 'Or is it because we are besties so the same approach didn't work?'

"No. It was far from enough." Quince emphasized on the word 'enough', trying his best to give her hints without being shameless.

"Very well then. I know what to do." Queen nodded and said in a serious tone as she stared at Quince's face.

Quince felt his heart throb in anticipation at her words and waited for her to make a move. She suddenly raised her body up and kneeled on the sofa before moving towards him.

Quince had his eyes half closed and observed her as she came nearer and nearer. Anticipation build within him and adrenaline was rushing all over.

In the next moment, Queen completely went past him and grabbed something before sitting down properly on the sofa once more.

"I have this!" Queen exclaimed as she pulled out a box from her backpack excitedly. 'Since the lover approach didn't work, let's do it like besties!'

To say that Quince was disappointed was a complete understatement. The poor chap lost all his energy after seeing the box Queen held.

It was a board game. A military board game to be precise.

"You ever played this before?" Queen asked looking pumped up.

"No." Quince said with more ice in his tone than usual. He couldn't believe he thought the silly girl would know what he wanted. Hell! He was the craziest for even wanting it and not knowing why!

As Quince was busy cursing his stupidity in his heart, Queen went on to explain the game excitedly.

"This is a military warfare strategy. You act as the general and plan your troops. You will get explanation about you territory, advantage and drawbacks, then you have to plan accordingly."

"Miss Vancroft, I fail to see how this game is supposed to 'placate' me for the cruise incident." Quince said with a dark expression on his face, plunging the atmosphere around him into 0 degree Celsius.

As usual, Queen was ignorant of his icy temperament and merely said, "We will be building our relationship through this. As time goes by you will let bygones be bygones as we are close enough to forget the past."

"Who said I want to be close to you?" Quince asked with his usual signature non expression on his face.

"I'm your fiancée. I'm going to be with you for the rest of your life, it will be wise to understand me and counter defend my attack next time." Queen immediately refuted his words with her explanation.

At first Quince warmth bubbles in his heart after hearing that she would be with him for the rest of his life but the second part of her sentence popped those bubbles immediately.

"Counter defend? Next time? Are you planning to pull some stunts again Miss Vancroft?" Quince narrowed his eyes at her and spoke those words with an extremely low volume.

"Don't mind my words Master Quince! It was just an example!" Queen hurriedly provided an explanation as she saw his expression. It looked strangely dangerous and warning bells were ringing in her head.

Queen instincts were indeed right as if she truly said that she was planning to prank him again, Quince would have taken her home and locked her up.

"Now come on! Let's play together! Pleaseeee!" Queen batted her eyelashes and looked up at him with a pleading look on her face. Seeing he still didn't give in, she reached out her hands to shake his arm softly.

Quince was already going to agree to her suggestion after seeing her pleading look but the little girl was impatient and started shaking his arm instead.

Quince couldn't resist her cute expression and gesture. He sighed in defeat before agreeing to play with her.

"Yay!" Queen jumped up in glee and the joy that shone in her eyes made Quince feel that it was worth giving in.

They soon set up a table and sat on opposite ends before pulling the game out of the box.