Arranged Marriage To The Princess Of The Red Scorpions

Samuel tried to see who was at the door when Lena opened, but the position of the chair and the way that she was standing ended up blocking his view.

"I'm in the middle of a meeting right now, is it something important?" The princess sounded slightly annoyed which told him it wasn't family. He couldn't hear what the other person was saying though because their voice was rather low. The way that Lena sighed however told him it was something that needed her attention.

"I'll be right back, I'm being required to take care of something by my father. Stay here Sammy-boy." She told him turning her head enough to look at the other without moving her position.

"Okay." Samuel replied with a nod of his head. Turning around, he could Lena continue talking to whoever it was but he couldn't hear what they were saying.

Samuel wasn't bothered by the waiting though because he still had to finish putting all the appointments in his phone and Lena not being there meant he could also better look at the office.

There was one thing in particular that had caught his attention when he came in- a picture frame that was laying flat in the bookcase in the corner. He saw it standing up but sitting down made it go out of sight.

He probably shouldn't have been snooping around, but curiosity was getting the better of him and wanted to know what the picture was. He just told himself that he would take a quick peek at it but wouldn't move it and make sure that it stayed in the same position he found it.

He figured that since Lena was going to speak with her father anyways that she probably wouldn't be back for a few minutes at least which meant the risk of her coming back and seeing him looking at it were low.

Still though, he tried to be as quiet as possible as he got up from his seat and shifted over to where the bookcase was. The picture frame was silver and looked to be rather expensive from the boarder and the way the back was designed which made him even more curious as to what type of important picture was preserved in such an expensive and decorative picture frame.

Samuel made sure that he was as gentle as possible as he lifted it up to see what the picture was. The front of the picture frame was just as ornate as the back was, two small doves were on each side and winding vine of what looked like roses was crafted into the frame. It looked as though it had been custom made.

When he got a look at the picture itself, he felt his breath catch in his chest. It was a picture of whom he assumed was Lena and Leo when they were younger, they looked as though they could've been no older than 8-10 years old and they were both smiling brightly. Leo looked about the same except that he had aged and his hair color had changed slightly and he was wearing a rather fancy looking suit for his age. Lena on the other hand looked like much of a bright, full of like and energy little girl which was a stark contrast to the person he knew her to be. She was wearing a baby blue summer dress and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Like her brother, she had a bright grin on her face as her eyes sparkled as though she was excited to be live and looking forward to whatever adventure life threw at her next.

What caught his attention most was the woman in the dark blue who was standing and smiling behind them with a hand resting on each of their shoulders. She looked a lot like Lena, except if Lena was about twenty years older and had shorter, darker red hair. Her eyes and nose were almost the same color and shape except that her eyes held a much softer and more affection expression in them that matched the gentle smile on their face.  Based upon the background of the picture, he guessed that it must've been taken in the sunroom that Lena frequently occupied when she was busy or wanted to talk, except that by the background, it looked as though some remodeling had been done since the photo had been taken which made sense it was probably almost taken ten years ago.

Samuel set the the picture down again before returning to where had been sitting before. He thought that he would feel much less curious after he looked at the picture, but peeking at it had the exact opposite effect on him. He wanted to know who that woman was now.

He could only assume that she must've been their mother, but he had never remembered seeing a woman that looked like that during his stay before. He had noticed how a 'mother' was never mentioned in any conversations or that Zane had never mentioned why his wife was absent. Had something happened to her? He wanted to know, but got the feeling that because it was a subject that wasn't touched upon, it might not go well if he suddenly brought it up, especially if the princess was touchy about the topic.

He had thought about taking a picture of it on his phone so that he could look at it later, but he would feel terribly guilty if anyone found that he had been snooping into something that would probably turn out to be none of his business in the end anyways.

For now he would just have to let it be and try to act as focused as possible on finishing putting everything down on his phone schedule so that Lena wouldn't suspect what he was up to while she was gone.

He needed to get it finished anyways because there was going to be a lot for him to do and he doubted that if he didn't write it down, he would have an easy time remembering everything since he didn't plan any of it for himself. He would also need to probably send a copy to his parents as they were still going to expect him to call and talk with them around everything else going, especially as they were getting everything together for the engagement. He was certain his mother especially would like to see what he and Lena would be wearing so that she could what to wear prior the engagement party both for herself and her husband.

Samuel got the feeling however that it was something that they weren't going to have to worry themselves with too much as he felt certain Zane would be taking care of such things in order for them to not worry about spending extra money.