"So how did it feel to have your first meeting with your soon-to-be wife?" 

Irene asked as she sat with Jisoo on one of the benches at the garden, munching sandwiches that the older Princess had prepared. 

"Felt like nothing" Jisoo muttered, focusing on the food inside rather than on the conversation.

"You are lying, aren't you" Her older sister smirked. "As your sister I know it very well whenever you are trying to lie" 

"Well if anything, what I felt was extreme annoyance. I mean, she appeared just out of nowhere like that. How creepy! And another thing is that, she is sooo gullible. She wouldn't even know that I am the Princess if I let her be in the dark"

"Hmmm... So you were kind of hoping that she would know that you are the Princess"

"I was not!" 

"That is also indirectly saying, that you were hoping she would know that you are her fiancé" 

"Unnie!" Jisoo abruptly put the small plate she was holding on her thigh; so abrupt that Irene thought the plate was going to fall onto the ground and break into shards. 

"I am just joking, alright?" The older woman patted Jisoo on the head. "You are so gullible yourself that it is so easy to tease you" 

Instead of eliciting a reply, Jisoo's mouth protruded slightly to pout and her eyes shot an annoyed glare at Irene. "Well then how did you feel yourself when you first met Seulgi?" 

"I didn't dislike her, nor like her that much. But I grew fond of her" 

"But it's different, unnie. You were not told to marry her. Mom and The Queen of Jupiter just sort of... let you two meet" 

"Isn't that what they are doing to you now? Letting you meet her?"

"Yeah but I am supposed to- I am bound to marry her! I have no option here!" 

"It depends on how you look at it-" Irene halted her speech when she noticed someone approaching them from a few meters away. She had not met Jennie personally, but she had seen her a few times because her maids kept pointing it out to her every time Jennie was around. "Speaking of the devil"

That made Jisoo look up too, and the figure of the woman they had been gossiping about came to her sight. A few seconds later she spotted Jennie smiling at her, to which she simply ignored by looking down, dismissing the quickening of her heartbeat. 

"Good morning, Princess Kim Jisoo and..." Jennie began with a formal greeting. 

"I am Irene, her older sister" 

"Ah, The First Princess of Venus and the wife of Jupiter's princess. My apology for not having recognized you"

"No worries and please do not be so formal around me or my sister. We can just greet each other casually" 

"It is how I usually talk to people outside my own kingdom so it is quite hard to change, but I will try" Jennie fixed her eyes at Jisoo. The Second Princess of Venus was looking away and busy chewing her piece of bread. "What are you two having?"

"Just some sandwiches that I made, but I am finished so I will leave my sister with you" Irene smiled as her statement earned a puzzled, angry look from her sister. 

Jennie took a peek at Irene's plate and almost grinned. She still had like more than half of her sandwich untouched, so she was actually far from finished. Jennie nodded anyway, permitting Irene to quit the scene. 

"Let me just tell you that I am also going right away after I gulp down all of this" Jisoo said before Jennie could even sit next to her. 

"That's okay. A few minutes is enough" The Martian then took the vacant space next to her, putting only a few centimeters in their distance. "So what did you say to your sister about me?"

Jisoo snorted right away. "Who said we were talking about you" 

"I heard it all" Jennie set a roguish smile. "Haven't you heard that Martians possess the ability to hear something from far away?"

Shock and horror soon haunted Jisoo's face. She tried to widen the gap between them, but then realized right away that she was blocked by the armrest of the bench. "You stalker! Why have you been so creepy since yesterday!?"

The Princess of Mars bursted into laughter. "I was not serious, alright? Oh my, you are so naive"

Jisoo felt heat around her face, then, but she was not sure if it was due to embarassment or irritation. "I- I knew that! I was just trying to joke along"

Jennie was still barely trying to calm herself down from laughter when she saw the Venusian's tomato face, and she swore she almost died because of the other girl's cuteness. 

"How about you yourself!? You wouldn't even think that I am a princess if I hadn't told you myself! You are more naive than I am" Jisoo continued; her pitch obviously got one octave higher. 

"That's a different case. I had absolutely zero clue of what you look like"

"Not totally a different case, you could have asked some people" 

"Then the same goes to you. You should have studied about Mars to gain some background knowledge"

"Doesn't change the fact that you are not any less gullible than I am, or maybe even worse"

"You cannot say I am worse if it is a draw result we have here" 

"Ha. Ha. Whatever, I am just going to laugh in three different languages here"

"Laughter does not have any language. How do you laugh in another language?"

That seemed to shut Jisoo up. Her breathing turned rather heavy trying to hold the anger back in. That was the first time someone managed to leave her speechless. No one had gone to the extent of keeping the argument with her. This Jennie girl had outwitted her, and she was unhappy about it. As if it was not enough, Jennie had to throw a smirk at her as if claiming a victory. 

"I am finished so I will be gone" Jisoo announced briefly before walking away speedily and angrily. 

The third time they met was on that same day, when Jisoo was on the practice ground again. Jennie had no idea what Jisoo's schedule was like, so she didn't know that she would see Jisoo when she was visiting the arena. 

"You are Jennie, The Princess of Mars, aren't you?" Jennie's eyes were busy following Jisoo when she heard a man's voice. She turned and found a young man taller than her, but it was not Artemis. 

"Yes, I am. May I know who you are?"

"I am Mino, Commander of the third battalion. Did you come here to see our princess?"

Jennie shook her head. "No, I was about to request for a friendly match. I practice everyday in Mars, and having passed a few days without exercise makes me feel weak"

"I see. Our Princess likes to do that a lot, too. I often become her trainer and practice partner. Our Princess is playful, but she also loves martial arts" 

"I can see that" Jennie grinned. "I caught that moment when she landed that kick on your skull"

"She was exceptionally on rampage yesterday. I didn't see that coming either" There was a brief silence as the two observed the said princess punching and kicking. 

"Is it possible that I have a friendly match with her?" Jennie asked. A naughty smile made its appearance faintly on her face as the images of standing with the girl face-to-face filled her mind. 

"I don't see why it isn't possible" Mino answered. "We can go and ask her" 

The two made their way closer to where Jisoo and one troop were still having their match. A few meters before they reached her, however, Jisoo caught their glimpse on the corner of her eyes. She annuled her next attack and put her hands akimbo. Jennie could sense the unhappiness on the girl's face already.

"Are you stalking me again?" Jisoo's tone raised. 

"I am sorry but I was going to practice by myself. I did not know you were here" 

"Mino, why are you letting her here?" 

"Princess Jennie wants to have a friendly battle with you and I don't see why it would do any harm, Princess"

"Friendly match? With me?" Jisoo let out a set of mocking laughter. "I will end up breaking her bones"

"You can say so but you cannot be sure until we see the result" Jennie simply flashed a smile at her. 

Feeling challenged, Jisoo glared at the Martian, hoping the so-called Princess of Mars knew that she was serious. Her one palm met the other hand's fist to crack her knuckles. 

"We can start right away" She muttered to the other woman.

The troop who had been Jisoo's partner until a few minutes before stepped aside, letting Jennie take his position on the arena. Calmly, Jennie stood in front of the Venusian Princess. 

Jisoo bent her knees slightly to allow a steady fighting stance, and she was perplexed when she saw that her opponent was not doing the same. Jennie was simply standing there before her with a poker face. This Martian was obviously taking her lightly, and she swore she would prove her wrong. 

She jolted to launch a first attack, striding speedily with her ball of fist readied. The said fist advanced towards Jennie's nose, but much to Jisoo's disappointment, the Princess of Mars dodged the punch almost effortlessly by ducking. Jisoo elevated her right leg high enough to land an axe kick on Jennie's head, but again, Jennie rolled fast to the right, making Jisoo's heel whop the ground instead.  

Wasting no time, the Martian stood up, only to be welcomed by the sight of an elbow reaching out to knock her. She dropped herself backward until her back touched the soil and, using her arms as the center of her strength, she stood up. 

Irked by the fact that Jennie had been able to avoid her so far, Jisoo proceeded on launching her next attack immediately. It had appeared to her that Jennie's skills were not to be belittled. Jisoo charged towards her opponent and, crouching down, attempted a sliding kick targeted on Jennie's legs. To her delight, Jennie failed to dodge this time and lost her balance to the ground. 

Jennie stood up and, given no chance to breathe, saw Jisoo targeting a kick on her stomach already. The Martian moved to her right timely, making her evade the attack successfully. She looked up and spotted Jisoo's determined expression. The Venusian dashed again with one fist seemed more than ready to make her bleed on the face. 

Jisoo's right fist rushed towards Jennie's face, but her opponent was agile enough to draw her head back by a few centimeters. Jennie could see Jisoo's beautiful arm right in front of her, and would definitely take her time to appreciate the skin had she not been in a battle with the owner of the said arm herself. She quickly grabbed the arm using only one hand, and effortlessly pulled it until she made Jisoo's back facing her. Jennie put a strong grip on Jisoo's other wrist and deadlocked the two arms together behind Jisoo's lower back before the girl could even try to free herself. 

Jisoo grunted as she realized what Jennie was doing to her. With all her power she attempted to move her arms, but the effort was to no avail. The Martian was exceptionally powerful outside her expectation. She then felt Jennie's breath around the back of her neck. 

"I see that the way you fight is still rather childish" Jennie whispered. "Too impatient and aggressive"

Jisoo gulped upon the words. Jennie's tone was low and cold, yet dominating and bold. Still, her ego screamed louder than anything else at that moment, so she mindlessly motioned her head backward in such a speed that it created a loud thump on Jennie's nose. 

"Oooww!" The Martian yelled in pain. The grip on Jisoo's wrists was loosened right away, so Jisoo released herself soon after. 

"I still have my head even if I can't use my arms and legs" The Princess of Venus commented. She turned around to see Jennie's face scrutinized in pain; her palms were covering her nose. 

"Isn't your head hurting right now? Oooww" Jennie groaned again, this time as she rubbed her nose with her thumb. The red tint on the tip had become really apparent.

Jisoo gulped for the second time after she realized what she had just done. She obviously had no intention to hurt the girl that bad. 

"H- Hey, it can't be that painful. It was just a weak knock" 

"Oh no, I think it's starting to bleed" Jennie covered her nose with her hand again. 

"What!?" Jisoo stepped closer towards her. Her expression was a combination of panicked and worried. "You're exaggerating! I'm sure I didn't hit you that hard"

Jennie uncurtained her nose to Jisoo's view and threw her a smirk. "I was just joking. It still hurt though, even though it was not that hard indeed"

The Venusian Princess bit her lip in great irritation. Her stare at Jennie looked as if she would fly a thousand flying daggers towards her. "I swear I am going to make you bleed for real next time!"

Mino raised his eyebrows upon Jisoo's statement. His Princess obviously did not mean that kind of 'bleed', but he could not help it. He stepped into the field then, clearing his throat. "I will count this as a draw" 

Jennie smiled at Jisoo. "It was nice having this battle with you, Princess"

Jisoo's enraged expression remained unchanged although her heart began pounding upon Jennie's dazzling smile. She glared at Jennie for one more time before turning away. "I can win if we continue this but I am too tired"

With that, she walked away rather furiously.

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Comments are very much appreciated and although I don't always say it, I am thankful to those who enjoy this story.