“Oh, I just remembered I got a gift for my special baby!”

Zen said while slipping his hand into the white fur of his robe. His slim brows became crooked when he couldn't find the gift for a second. But then, the next moment, his face lit up just like a child who found his lost treasure. Carefully, he let out his hand, which now held a beautiful wreath of white and blue wisteria flowers entwined on a willow scaffold.

“Here you go! A wisteria crown for the princess of zen wisteria,” he said with a lovely smile and a little chuckle, gently placing the wreath on the princess's head.

“It's so beautiful! Daddy” Her face looked as bloomed as the flowers on her head were. 

“Daddy!”

“Uhm.”

“You know this wreath is just like you!” 

“Ooh! Is it because they are blue, just like my eyes?" He points to one of his eyes. “ Or because my hair color matches the white flowers?” His hand impatiently brushed a few hair strands that fell onto his forehead. 

“Partly” 

“Uh! How come partly?” Zen raised his eyebrow.

“Number one, they have beauty just like yours.”

She proudly raised her index finger as if she was sure of her statement that she could prove right away if asked. Then, after a while, she supported it with her middle finger and continued confidently.

“Number two, they are gentle just like you….”

     Her cheeks flushed light pink as the flashes of those sweet moments that she spent with her father, ran through her little head. She treasured them like they were her greatest asset. Except for when Zen had to leave the castle for inspection or attend a Royal meeting, he was always found cuddling with the princess. So, when she remembered that day when he avoided her for the whole day but then at night appeared before her with a self-baked cake which he had prepared for her birthday and also showed her many burnt cakes as evidence of his behavior, she felt so delighted that her face lightened with a giggle.

    Those moments were beautiful. Just like these flowers, she wondered. Then, suddenly, a thought kicked her, and instantly, the flush on her cheeks evaporated into thin air. Her eyes dropped their gaze, and the angelic smile flew away.

“What in the world made her sad?” 

The whole room fell into dead silence. Shirayuki and zen looked at each other with addled gazes. Obi and the Head Pharmacist looked at the young princess with worried expressions. No one knew the cause of the princess's gloom.

Hesitantly, the depth of those ocean-blue eyes rose to meet the crystalline shore of the blue-green sea that impatiently broke into dew drops. Zen took her in his arms, gently squeezing her in a warm embrace. The young princess burst into tears with her head buried in zen's chest and arms folded around his nape. He continued to pat her back but did not say a single word.

Shirayuki's throat choked with the breath, seeing her daughter sobbing. It painfully throbbed and ached her unyielded heart, which she opened only for her loved ones. Her brain couldn't comprehend the princess' behavior. She was smiling a moment ago. So, what caused her to be this way?

Everyone waited for the young princess to calm down. And when she did, Zen wiped her tear-streaked cheeks with his sleeve, forgetting about royal protocols. He leaned his head on the princess' head, and with a somber tone, he asked the princess why she cried.

“D-Daddy?’’

“I’m right here, sweety.”

Nothing mattered to him more than his daughter's happiness. Even if it meant he had to fight the whole world for it. That's the feeling he felt when he first held her.

"D-D-Daddy, my nanny told me... that beautiful flowers are always the ones that wither first... So, w-what if just like this flower... you... one day... leave me all alone? "

“Huh!!!”

Zen's eyes widened in complete surprise. He could not believe that his kid, whom he swore to protect all his life, could think like that. But then again, he wondered, he was like her at that age. Afraid of losing his loved ones. Scared of hurting others. Reluctant of trusting others. So, when he realized what his daughter felt, he softened his gaze and spoke gently.

“Well…There's a way you can prevent those beautiful flowers from withering.”

“H-how?”

She rubbed her misted eyes with her gently squeezed fists and looked at him with a questioning gaze. Her sobbing had melted away by now, leaving behind a choked breath that quickly escaped as she uttered her query.

“If you shower them with enough love….” 

She tilted her head slightly to the left with a dubious gaze as if she couldn't comprehend the logic behind those words. One of the drops that held onto the hem of her eyes rolled over to her cheeks because of that little movement. But she didn't notice its fall as she was focused on something else. After thinking for a while, she asked.

“Isn't it out of love that we plucked them out in the first place?”

A little bit of a surprise. Then a sudden realization. After that, a light chuckle. Those were the expressions that played one after another on Zen's face within a single second. He was happy to see shirayuki's reflection in her. How she expressed her emotions was now mirrored in her daughter.

And he loved it, all the same, all the time. Zen wiped the drop from her cheeks and said in a soothing tone.

“You know what, I don't think so… If you like a flower, you pluck it, but if you love a flower, you water it. Shower it every day with your love. To keep it alive. To keep it from collapsing.”

Her eyes lit up with a shimmer, and a big smile was shown. She couldn’t hold her excitement. She hadn't heard or read it, so it felt too thrilling to keep. Seeing her emotions spilling out, Zen couldn't help but smile.

"Also, don't worry about me. You and your mother have poured so much love into me that even if the biggest empires attacked us, I'm sure I will fight them just like these flowers do against the gusts of wind and emerge victorious," he said with a pat on her head.

“Hehe… Thanks, daddy!”

Shiriyukis's heart which was throbbing at the time switched back to its regular beat after seeing them like this. She always wondered how zen could cheer Shuki up so fast. He was exceptionally good at it. Precisely as he could read hearts and minds, she remembered when she first met him at the abandoned house and zen swung over the wall. No wonder the red he spoke of that day brought all of us right to this moment. Shiriuki chucked, remembering all the chaos his presence brought into her life as she heard a familiar voice coming their way.

"I knew you would be here!" Mitsuhide spoke as he entered the medical wing. Behind him, a few steps away, Kiki, with her usual straight face, also followed him into the room. Everyone directed their attention toward them as they stepped in.

"Haven't I finished all of my work already? So, why are you still chasing after me?" Zen said with a scowl while holding the princess closer to his chest.

"Well, you can't complain now that we are chasing you. You already know we will follow you no matter where you go," Mitsuhide replied while rubbing the back of his head.

“I will also chase after daddy!” The princess said excitedly while raising her arm as if a marathon was going on in clarines and the grand prize was Zen.

“Hehe… It looks like our princess also joined the race,” Mitsuhide said as he bent down to eye level and patted her head. 

“By the way, why are you here? I don't remember doing something wrong.” Zen said, looking down at him with a spectacle face.

“You didn't do anything wrong. But something wrong will happen soon if you don't come to the castle gate right now,” Kiki spoke calmly.

“What?”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you prince Zuki is returning to the castle today,” Mitsuhide spoke as he straightened up. 

“Is brother Zuki coming home today?” the princess's voice echoed in the room as everyone else was too stunned to speak. Her eyes lit up as she heard the name of her brother. How could it not? After all, she had been waiting for this moment for two years. She was so excited that a giggle escaped her lips without her knowing.