Lena was back before dinner was ready leaving the only one missing from the table that night being Leo which was a bit odd to Samuel as he was the one who usually was never missing from the table.

According to Zane this was because he was taking his place at a business dinner meeting. Even though Leo was planning on heading back to the UK before the year was over, his father still wanted to make sure that he had made some connections before he headed back in case he needed them in the future.

Leo was never fond of such things, but he went along with them to humor his father as he knew it was what was expected of him being the only son of the head of the Red Scorpions. Such minor annoyances were things that he had to get used. The only thing that he pushed back on from those outside of his family was taking over the role as head over Lena. Even though there were those who would have still preferred he was the one to take over, he staunchly refused to as it was not something he was interested in no matter how much he was bugged about it. He had other plans in life.

Clarice was a welcome addition to the table however, and most of the family was quite pleased to get the chance to talk to and catch up with her. Lena didn't say much while she talked with everyone else as the princess had already agreed to set up some time with her after dinner to discuss some things. A discussion that Samuel wouldn't be part of as she had already told him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Lena asked once they were in her office. Opening the top draw of her desk she pulled out the pipe that her father usually kept. He was letting her borrow it for now since he wasn't in his office enough to be using it.

"I can see that Zane hasn't let that tradition die." Clarice commented as she got comfortable on the sofa. Lena gave her a questioning look as she lit the pipe.

"That thing." She replied pointing to the pipe."Hardly eighteen and you're already smoking." the princess took a puff before blowing out the smoke.

"Rarely. I only use it when I'm stressed out. I hardly smoke as much as my father used to." She replied before offering the pipe to the other woman who turned it down.

"I don't need that in my system right now." Clarice replied

"If I need something later, I will ask Ryan where he keeps the good alcohol in the kitchen."

"Should I take that to mean you're planning on staying the night?" Lena asked with a a raised eyebrow.

"I figure I might as well." She answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"It's already getting later and I don't really want to drive all the way back since it'll be even later once we finish talking."

"What did you want to talk with me about in the first place?" Lena asked as she leaned back in the desk chair.

"A lot of things actually. We have hardly had the chance to catch up in years. Right now though what I really want to talk about is that fiancé of yours.""Is he causing problems during training or not making the progress you expected him to in the time that you two have been training?" The princess asked. She had anticipated that Samuel might not be well suited for such things.

"Actually quite the opposite." Clarice replied with a serious look on her face.

"His form is horrible and by the way he responds and moves it obvious that he hasn't had a lot of training or practice, but his level of instinct and ability to react don't match up with someone who's a novice at physical combat. Are you absolutely certain that he hasn't had any type of training prior to me taking him on?" Clarice asked. It wasn't the response that the princess had been expecting so she took a moment to think about it before she replied.

"As far as I'm aware and what he has told me is that beyond playing paintball, his parents didn't teach him how to handle a gun or enrolling him any type of combat or self defense classes." Lena replied as she took another puff rom the pipe.

"But I would imagine that he would remember something like or have brought it up when I talked with him about you training him. I assume he has told you something similar?" Clarice nodded her head.

"He did, but I can't think of any other reasons as to why he would be able to pick up skills so quickly. He still needs to be refined quite and learn to keep his concentration before he'll be good enough to take care of himself, but he has far more potential than meets the eye." She explained to the princess.

"Is there anything interesting about his family then? He hasn't talked about them much beyond the reason why you two were initial engaged."

"His family comes from a normal background from what I can tell." Lena replied.

"His father works as a small time mechanic and his mother doesn't appear to have a job. His uncle is a businessman with an annoying wife and daughter. His paternal grandparents are still alive but according to his mother her parents are dead and there's no contact with the rest of the family." She explained in further detail.

"Have you looked into whether or not his mother is telling the truth?" Clarice asked.

"Are you asking out of curiosity or because you think that there's a reason to?" She asked rather than replying to the question.

"I'm not sure honestly, but there might be something worth looking into there. I might be wrong, but I just get the feeling that there's something more about him than maybe even he knows." Lena sighed when she heard this. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about that before. She just didn't think there would be a good reason to investigate Samuel's family since her father had known them for years.

"I will be talking with and and possibly meeting with this mother soon. I will ask her if I get the chance if there's anything that she might be hiding." Lena told her friend. It would be one more thing that she would have to figure out how to navigate.action