#A Convenient Arrangement

[punkpoemprose]

A Convenient Arrangement- Part 15

Universe: Canonverse Arranged Marriage AU Rating: T (No spice here, see previous chapter for mature content) Length: 2056 Words A/N: One more chapter to go if all goes as planned. Perhaps an epilogue after that if I'm feeling really brave about it. Thank you all for joining me on this ride. I hope you like this penultimate chapter!

The first light of dawn filtered through the curtains of Anna’s bedroom and Kristoff, despite Anna’s efforts to thoroughly exhaust him the night before, had been awake for some time. To the credit of the castle staff, or perhaps Elsa, no one had come up to wake them and demand their pre-dawn attendance toward any matters.

Anna was facing him, her body curled toward him, and he leaned up a bit, moving slowly to not disturb her, so he could block the incoming light with his chest. Anna was usually a heavy sleeper, he knew as much from their nights together, but he was enjoying watching her calm slumber and wanted to avoid her being disturbed if he could help it.

Her hair was slipping from the braid he’d put it in the night before, little tendrils of frizz sticking out and clinging to her pillow. She’d performed mock annoyance with him when he’d insisted that they couldn’t sleep until he’d helped her remove all her hairpins, but she’d acquiesced and leaned into his touch when he’d brushed out her hair and plaited it to the best of his ability. In the daylight he wasn’t sure what strands he’d missed in braiding, and which had slipped out in sleep, but either way he was proud of how well he’d done caring for his wife.

He brushed a few loose pieces of hair away from her face with a finger, careful not to wake her. She scrunched her eyes a little in return, but didn’t wake, giving him more time to take in the way she looked in peaceful sleep.

He thought that someday, if she would let him, he’d count all the freckles that danced across her nose and cheeks. It would take him weeks, months, maybe even years to catalog all the details of her body, but he was excited to have the challenge. He’d never before wanted to spend so much time with a single person as he did with Anna, and he was certain that even if he had her for the rest of his life, it still wouldn’t be enough time for his taste.

***

Anna woke feeling comfortable, warm, and safe. Her first sight of the morning, through bleary eyes, was Kristoff’s eyes on hers. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the sunlight illuminating his face, and she felt her lips quirk into a soft smile that matched the contented one she saw on his face.

“Good morning Anna.”

He spoke softly, easing her into wakefulness. She was grateful for it as, despite sleeping very well after the evening’s excitement, her willingness to wake up fully was at odds with her wishes to simply never leave bed ever again.

“Good morning,” she returned, the sound of her voice mingling with a yawn she could not suppress despite her best efforts.

He smiled a bit more at that, a grin that she recognized as amusement lighting his features with joy. She wasn’t at all upset by his amusement at her yawning. Kristoff was, perhaps, the only person that held her unwillingness to leave bed in high regard. She supposed, feeling warm at the thought, that it was perhaps in his best interest to keep her in bed for as long as possible given the enjoyment they’d both gotten out of the night before.

“Are we going to try to do something today, or should I try to find someone to bring us breakfast in bed?”

Anna smiled at the suggestion. His eyebrow waggled a bit at the suggestion of staying in bed, and she knew that, despite his insistence at taking her lead in their relationship, that he would be just as happy with that option as she was.

“I have plans for us,” she said, feeling only slightly bad for not agreeing to stay in bed all day with him. If he was upset by this answer, he certainly didn’t show it.

He yawned then, smiling at her still and pulling her closer by her waist.

“What would that be?”

She smiled, nuzzling into his chest once she was close enough to him. She was uncertain as to whether he’d even hear her with her head tucked into his chest when she said, “I just thought that since we’ll be back to learning out new duties soon, that it might be a good idea for us to take the day together to talk a but more about what our relationship is and also I think it might be food for both of us to make another appearance in public so that no one thinks that yesterday was a show. Maybe we could walk around the city and do a little visit with some of the kinder shopkeeps we met yesterday? I could buy you a gift since I didn’t give you one yesterday for our party. I never even got to give you one for our engagement. It just seems like it might be nice.”

Kristoff’s eyes seemed to move elsewhere in the room for a moment but returned to hers quickly. She didn’t really question it, but she did notice it. She supposed he was just thinking about the other things that he had to do in the day and was looking for a kind way to shut down her idea.

“That sounds perfect Anna,” he said before she could even think of a way to backpedal her offer.  She should have realized by now that she never needed to doubt herself when it came to Kristoff. All his reactions to her had always been honest and kind.

She smiled and nuzzled into his chest, not quite ready to get out of bed and start the day after all.

***

Anna had brought him through the city again, shopping and chatting with store owners like they had before, but today the city had been the quietest he’d ever seen it. He’d seen folks sleep off festivals before, but unfairly it seemed at times that they were the only citizens of the city to be out of bed even well into the afternoon. Of course, he had known that his and Anna’s marriage had been looked upon favorably by the people of Arendelle, given that it was the purpose of the arrangement in the first place, but even he was impressed by the amount of debauchery and joy their belated wedding celebrations had inspired.

The few beleaguered shop keeps that they had managed to speak will had been happy for their visits, of course, but he was just as happy when he and Anna, blessedly without a castle guard, had retired from the city proper and decided to spend time on some of the public lands in the surrounding hills.

The afternoon was already upon them, and Anna, in her infinite wisdom, had purchased all the makings of a picnic in the markets and shops they visited.

“I know I already have so many picnic blankets and baskets,” she said, laying everything out with his help, “but now that I actually have cause and company to go out and use them, I feel like it’s not a waste to have bought another.”

“And” Kristoff added with a chuckle, “you were worried that if we went back to get one you already had, and your sister saw us back in the castle, she would realize we were heading out and make us take a guard this time.”

“That is a not insignificant possibility. It may also be possible that I liked the pattern on this blanket because it looks like your sash.”

She was blushing, and as Kristoff looked between his sash, the one he wore most often, and the picnic blanket, he did notice the same mix of yellows, reds and purples, even if the pattern itself was different. He slipped his hand to the fabric around his waist and slid across the blanket to her side. Between them were the remainder of the sweet breads, fruit, and wine that they’d bought in the market.

“Here,” he said, slipping the fabric from around his waist, offering it to her, but then thinking better of it and offering, by extending his hand, to wrap it around her waist for her.

She gave him a curious look, but then acquiesced with a soft grin and allowed him to put it on her. He hadn’t intended to use it as an excuse to put his hands on her waist, but it wasn’t at all a negative to the interaction. He held her, and reveled in the way she looked at him with so much love and excitement in her blue eyes when he stroked his thumb down her side. He tied it gently around her, moving slowly to prolong the contact of his hands on her body. When he was done with his task and managed to pry his hands away from her, he felt something like pride in seeing her wear something of his so proudly.

She’d seemed just as pleased in the market when she’d picked up a similarly styled sash for him as a gift, one that happened to feature the signature green color of so many of her dresses. He tied that to his own waist much more expediently, physically marking himself as hers much in the same way he’d just marked her as his.

Whether it was the latent magic from the valley in the stone, or his own awareness of the ring in his pocket making it feel warm against his let at the thought, he wasn’t certain. What he did know was that as Anna looked at him with utter reverence, their bodies leaned close together in the verdant hills of Arendelle, he’d finally found the right moment to offer it to her.

He was already on his knees, but he did his best to appear intentional in his actions when he reached into his pocket and pulled from it, carefully watching her eyes as he did so, the ring that he and the trolls had crafted from his heart stone. He didn’t need to glance down at it to see what she sawm he had every detail of the stone and its setting memorized from its creation, a pink stone flanked on the side by other, non magical clear stones, set into a golden band. His family, far better with stone and the metals and gems extracted from them than he could ever be, had made it to his exact specifications. It was imperfect in ways that made it mean much more to him, and by the excitement he could see in Anna’s eyes, he had no doubt that she would love it for those details as well.

 The stone was small and only a piece of the crystal. In his family’s traditions, Anna would have been given the whole stone on a cord as their engagement gift, but given that Anna was not a rock troll who could hold a heavy stone around her neck and the fact that they were already married, some amendments were to be made. If she accepted the ring, the rest of the stone would already be hers, but he hoped that he would have her blessing to turn most of the remaining crystal into other things, earrings, a necklace, to celebrate their wedding and anniversaries. He hoped that she would take it and that she would agree to marry him again.

He cleared his throat, trying to remember the perfect words he’d thought about repeatedly, to ask his wife to marry him. None came to mind, and he wasn’t certain that he’d ever come up with any in the first place.

The joy, excitement, and adoration in Anna’s eyes told him that it didn’t matter. Her hand pressing to his sash, the one she wore on her waist, gave him the courage to say what was in his heart.

“Anna, my beautiful wife, would you do me the honor of marrying me again?”

She nodded, and while her eyes held tears, he knew they were happy ones. She agreed without question, and he knew that this, the moment that she tackled him onto the blanket, pressing her lips to his in joy, was the first day of the rest of his life.

And what a beautiful life it would be.

[retiredteabag]

Wishful thinking

Arranged marriage with Nanami… part one?

〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰〰・♡・〰

Nanami Kento was not in a sorcerer clan. In fact, he was the only sorcerer in his family. You had met him only once before you had been informed of the engagement, and in that brief interaction you had decided you knew exactly what type of man he was.

"It's a pain." had been his harsh words. Vitriol clear as day in his tone.

When asked what he felt about being a sorcerer his response had been that it was…a pain? Being the reserved individual he was, he didn't take the time to elaborate despite the questions of the sorcerers surrounding him.

You had rolled your eyes in that moment. Clearly, he had no sense of responsibility. No duty. I suppose that's what it means to not be in a clan. You had thought. He’s got no idea how good he has it.

And even though you chalked his image up in your mind as an irresponsible and pretentious git. The memory of his brutal gaze stuck in your mind. You knew deep down that it was simply jealousy.

Sorcery was a pain, there had been many instances where you wished you could put it aside and leave this world, but that was simply not what you were born for.

All those months ago, you had left the meeting with the Jujutsu higher-ups resentful. How lucky that man in the suit was, to not have an obligation to fulfill exactly what the clan heads asked of him. How free he must feel.

But, oh, how wrong you had been.

--

You had known your marriage was impending, having had meetings with your father and his subordinates on several occasions to discuss the offers from other clans.

Offers for your hand.

Offers for the rest of your miserable life, for your body, for your fertility, offers to impregnate you, and nothing much else.

You had been picky, of course, having known all your life this was forthcoming you were expecting to not have to rely on Zenin blood to uphold the family name.

Your father was no kind man but if there was one thing he was, it was prideful. If even his measly daughter could brush aside an important clan born man, he too could wait for a finer offer to come.

Back then, you had no idea that would lead to this.

You stood before a full-length mirror. Your dress came below your ankle, the neckline nothing short of chic modesty.

By all accounts and by the people serving you, you were expected to be prepared.

Your wedding was nothing special, a formality, nothing more. Clans from across Japan were here to see the ceremony. Still, your heart pounded as you gulped at your reflection. A shakily deep breath brought you little comfort as you squeezed your hand into a fist.

You knew little of the man you were to marry.

Here was what you had:

He was NOT a Zenin. Hallelujah.

He was not from any clan. (This had come as a shock to you, your father having only explored offers from fellow clan heads, you had no idea how this arrangement was to be made until Gakuganji, the principal of your school, Kyoto Jujutsu High, and one of the more powerfully cruel higher-ups, had arrived at your families estate, enlisting a "fine candidate" for your immanent marriage. He had seemed certain. Immovable.)

And last of the information you had, he was seemingly strong enough for your father to deem his ability to produce "quality children" acceptable. He was a grade 1 sorcerer, nothing to scoff at.

You knew your father would not have accepted the offer of a man without heritage if the higher-up’s had not endorsed it. Even now you wondered why they were so keen on this matrimony.

And that was all you had.

"You look beautiful." A maid from the estate was arranging your hair, she moved quickly, with a soft hand. You hardly noticed her. "I've heard he is a very gentle man," She starts up again after your eyes narrowed in the reflection of the mirror, "if that's any consolation." The women ends in a whisper.

You huff out a breath, "Thank you."

That's what they all say.

You wonder if she was lying to you. This morning you had heard your mother crying in your bedroom after you had made up your sheets for the last time. It made you sad, knowing she was afraid for you.

Afraid you would turn out like her.

You swallow with some effort and look up to the maid at your side, she smiled at you.

"It looks lovely." You say, assuming she wanted praise.

She lays a hand on your shoulder and her smile crinkles in a funny way, "He is very handsome." Her eyebrows tilt in a telling fashion, she almost giggles.

Great.

What were you to say to that?

"I... see." You look at the floor and turn away from your reflection. All that was left was for your father to arrive. To take your hand in an uncomfortably tight grip and lead you down the aisle to the man that was decided to be the father of your children.

"Is there anything you would like, before I leave you? It won't be long now..." The maid tries to meet your gaze so you look up to her face once more.

"No, there's nothing, thank you for helping me." You try to smile at her but your throat hurts from the brief amount of talking you have already done.

The women nods her head, she turns to go but hesitates at the door, for a moment you think she is going to turn and speak to you, to say something as a comfort perhaps, but just as her body holts to grip the door, the hinges swing away and your father steps in.

"Move out of my way. Move! Out!” Your father shoves at the women who had been by the threshold and she escapes out the door with a hushed apology and not a glance at yourself.

You stand before him. Resolved to not shutter in these moments. Neither of you speak until he swings his arms and says,

"Well, are you coming?"

You almost want to laugh. How you wish you could look up at the domineering man and say, no I don't think I am, but you knew better, and although he extends no arm to you, you take the few steps to his presence and heave a sign.

"Stand up straight. Serve us well."

You knew those would be all the words you heard from him tonight, as unhappy as you were to be married to a strange man, you felt pleased to know you would no longer be living in your clans estate, just as you knew your father would be glad to be rid of you.

Your fathers movements seemed all too fast. His steps, his reaching for your arm, his pulling you out the door and into the hall.

You felt as if time was slowing but those around you weren't effected. Your father huffed angrily, tugging you along. This was happening too fast. You didn't want this. You weren't ready.

You wiped the sweat from your palms over the satin dress hanging on your waist. The collar that once seemed elegant was starting to choke you. The door to the ceremony was drawing closer, you could hear music but it was almost as if the closer you came, the foggier it sounded.

Echos of your mother’s cries this morning permeated your brain. You knew you were asking for too much. But in those last moments before your autonomy would be taken from you, you had only one wish.

That the maid was right. That the man at the alter would truly be a gentle creature...would be tender....would be mild?

The doors were swinging open. The light was bright, but you did not dare to raise a hand to block its assault. You walked slowly, arm tightly locked in your fathers grasp. You noticed the clan leaders in the audience, but as your eyes tried to take in the man at the front of the room, you stuttered in your steps.

Hoping your father would take no notice, you tried to recall how you knew the man who was meeting your eye.

You began to put together who this man was, having met him before, though you hadn't been introduced. That one interaction had showed you he would not have been a man you would want to live the rest of your days with. He had seemed unhappy in those moment.

Fear shot through you.

An unhappy husband was more dangerous than any curse you had faced.

Having stared long enough, you drop your gaze from his own piercing one. You almost want to smile, but you're unable to.

Maybe he isn't as free as you thought he was. Poor him.

You wonder how he even managed to get in this predicament as the music began to come to its end. You're stepping up onto the platform that your future husband stood upon, your ankle wobbles in the heels that were chosen for you.

In a flash you see his arm reach out for you but you’re only confused, shrinking back a bit father from him.

You look to meet his gaze once more. He's barely a few breaths from you. His eyes seem focused on your face.

The officiant is talking but you cannot hear him.

You realize one of two things in this particular moment, one, the maid was right about something, this man was remarkably handsome. And second, you realize you're feeling quite faint.

The dress had not been so hot before you were standing before this man in front of all these people under the shine of all these lights. You swallow, dig your nails into your palms, the officiant seems to be speaking to the man before you and it isn't long before your husband speaks out a low, "I do."

You feel as though you must pay attention, your bit is coming up now and you would hate to embarrass your family, but you can hardly hear the man over the pounding in your ears. A prick of sweat starts to form on the back of your neck.

There is a pause in the mans speech, he looks at you intently, after a moment he raises a brow.

Oh, right. "I do." You say.

You look anywhere but your husband. Knowing you weren't expected to kiss, you try to take in some more air. This was it.

The officiant hands something to the man before you.

He's so tall. The suit he is wearing seems to fit him perfectly, and you can’t help wondering who helped him here today if he had no clan members.

His arm is suddenly in front of you, palm up. It takes you but a moment to know what he is asking for. You brace yourself and set your hand within his own.

He places his other hand onto yours for a moment, engulfing your hand in his grasp. You are shaking, you know you are, but with everything going on in this very moment, you are hoping he won't notice.

A ring is being slipped onto your finger. Good, now your turn.

He hands you his own, a plain ring of gold.

Don't drop it. Do not drop it. Don't-

You miss his ring finger once before finally sliding it on. You hope no one noticed. You pull your hand free of his first and look to your father in the crowd.

This was it, right?

There was an echo of the efficient, "I now pronounce you husband and wife", and the group before you claps in respect.

The man who you had just married is bending down to your ear, but he doesn't say anything. You look him from your peripheral vision, and he is tilting his head down the aisle a bit.

Ah, yes. Your hand is in his own as you go back down where you just came. Your life is forever changed now.

So much lay before you, so much for you to worry about, but the one thing on your mind in this moment is how the grip of your husbands hand is infinitely more pleasant than the aggressive clasp your father had on you.

You hope against hope, that maybe, you would never feel the harsh grip of a man again.

But that was too wishful, was it not?

[morinuu]

Hello!!!!

I’m so happy to see your requests are open I absolutely love your writing!!

Kyoya x fem reader where they have an arranged marriage because it will help both there parents companies, and Kyoya and reader start to actually have feelings for one another, even though they weren’t sure about marrying the other at first?? Just thought it would be super cute!!

Hope your day/night is going well!!

hiii im so glad u like my work! :3 added a wee bit of angst turnt fluff cus why not. its not exactly what u asked for but i hope u like it anyway!

❄｜kyouya x reader where you're both forced to marry under your families' order. 1.7k words. this doesn't follow the canon for the events after the ouran graduation.

the noiret paced around his room in uneasiness. he knew one day his freedom would be cut short, he'd been waiting for that day, but he also had learnt to have the slightest, stupidest hope that his father's newfound respect for him had changed things.

he wonders, however, how he of all people could have been so naïve.

outside, the fairies of the winter had been drawing pretty little drawings of ice on the edges of his windows, as if to try and distract his racing mind from the events that would unfold the second he got out of his room. he was used to the noise of social events, the people chatter and the pressure of socialising, so this should be nothing for him, right?

right.

he didn't understand this feeling. it wasn't that he necessarily hated an arrangement for marriage, life would go on whether or not it would happen.

looking at the fairies' drawings of comfort one last time, he took a deep breath and exited his room to leave for the wedding venue without a word.

the car ride was uncomfortable. his family had already arrived so they weren't there to talk his ear off and the bride would come some time after than he did as the tradition goes. he had time left to think and contemplate again and again.

he looked down at his tuxedo. the bride requested that if she wasn't able to marry of her own free will, that she at least get to have her dream wedding. not a bad deal, kyouya thought. their outfits had been in matching colours, and both were over-the-top decorated. he felt slightly embarrassed at the outfit, but it wasn't anything too extreme in comparison to what he wore in highschool. the only concern was that his whole family and many important people would be there, though he swallowed that as well, as he'd been doing the entire year of the wedding preparation.

he'd met his fiancée plenty of times in that year. the first time they met was at his university graduation. she was smiling brightly standing next to his sister who rushed to hug him and congratulate him. he remembers her bowing politely and introducing herself, before his father stepped in to explain the situation. he remembers the slight surprise on her face at the lack of comments about his sons' achievements.

the next time they met was at a museum. his sister had advised him to ask her on a date so they could get to know each other. she was intelligent, charismatic, and he couldn't deny her face was pleasant to look at. her interest in history was a plus - at least she had an interesting characteristic.

their second date was a dinner at a restaurant, only the best to serve the ootoris. she'd picked steak and juice - quickly explaining she doesn't drink at the slight raise of his eyebrow. he nodded and changed his own wine order to juice as well. 'you don't have to do that!' she rushed but he assured her he's just being considerate of his fiancée. he never forgot how to be a gentleman.

the fifth date she asked to meet at a commoners' shopping mall to show him around. kyouya wasn't surprised by this. he'd learnt early on from his investigation on potential wife that she'd been adopted into the l/n family due to some sort of an affair. despite it being well-known, the gossip around the situation wasn't very clear, so he decided to wait until she talked about it instead.

at some point down the road, the two had become something akin to friends, and although not very close, y/n claimed she was satisfied with the bond they'd created regardless of its strength.

nine months later, he now is at the altar, bouquet in hand, a performative smile for all the guests to admire - until a beautiful woman comes through with her arm linked to her father's.

the ceremony didn't last long, the after-party however? most guests had already left but the couples' friends continued to act like it was the last day of their lives. the bridesmaids' laughter and his friends' drunk dance moves tired kyouya, but he was having fun, so what's another night sleepless?

a tap in his shoulder by his wife.

"you okay? you seem tired. we can call it a night." she exclaimed into his ear through the music. he'd read enough women's blogs to understand what that meant.

even if he wasn't tired, she was, and that was a roundabout way of telling him. what sort of husband disobeys his wife?

the second they got to their new house, y/n rushed to the bed and flopped on it like a sack. she had no energy to get changed or move, instead asking kyouya 'if they could complete their duties the next day, nobody was rushing them anyway'. kyouya he helped her out of her dress and comatosed with her in peace.

the next morning, nobody bothered to wake the couple. soon they'd leave for their honeymoon anyway. everything happened way too quickly and kyouya didn't know how to handle it. the weeks passed, and he refused to communicate any issues to his wife that weren't work or family related. he felt conflicted, but he didn't know about what. the woman lying next to him was kind, beautiful, clever. what right did he have to complain?

i mean, what did it matter if he didn't feel any connection in bed? why would it matter if she had a disappointed look on her face whenever he had to cut their time short? would it make any difference if he had an heir later and ignored his parents' whines about it? it was a tough thing to do, but each time he failed to satisfy his wife, it felt like a stab in the chest wounding his male ego. so did it really matter that he was away for long periods of time? it was a marriage of convenience, after all, and she wasn't missing out on anything.

she claimed that whatever friendship they had felt like it was dissolving because he 'didn't make an effort'? him? when he's the one working hard to make sure his dad's company doesn't make the wrong decisions? what does she know when she sits at home all day getting princess treatment despite being illegitimate?

"you chose this, kyouya." what?

"you refuse to leave your father's shadow." that's not it.

"maybe if you stood up for yourself, half the issues you're complaining about would be gone!" you're wrong.

he doesn't have free will, he never did. since he was a kid his life had been dictated by those around him, and surely you under-

"you're nearing thirty, kyoya! i'm tired of your self-pity! do something! i'm sick of this!"

it felt like yesterday when he saw his wife in her wedding dress for the first time. back then, he didn't really understand the concept of forever.

yet it had already been seven years.

seven years of obedience. seven years of keeping his head down. seven years of neglecting his wife to dedicate his time to his work. seven years for him to realise he was serving the ootoris. he was never on an equal level.

the issue wasn't his father, it was him. and on his twenty-ninth birthday, a snowy day just like his wedding day, with the winter fairies for comfort, he announced to his old man his retirement from the company.

"i'm sorry, y/n. i'm sorry for everything. let's try again."

you took his hand and embraced him. you knew your husband was broken somewhere inside him. you'd known for years. you'd seen how his family treated him, how they took him for granted. but no matter what you did, how much you pressured him, he only let you see specific parts of himself, and you couldn't help but blame yourself.

you refused to leave his side, no matter how exhausting your marriage felt. you rarely went on dates anymore, he never made the move to touch you, it wasn't marriage, it felt like... a business transaction.

deep down, you knew that that's what it was. you'd considered divorce plenty of times but at the end of the day, even if not your lover, kyouya was your friend. the man whom you ate breakfast with and lied on the same bed with. the man you'd seen you at your worst and gave you strength, and you knew you had to support even if he refused to let go of what was familiar to him. even if he refused his own happiness.

the sobbing man in your arms reminded you of a younger version of him. years ago, on your third anniversary when he'd planned a trip to chongqing because he remembered you saying you always wanted to go. during your two week stay, he got wine tipsy at dinner and eventually drunk by nighttime, spilling feelings he'd kept to himself for years.

he'd kneeled in front of you, furiously crying in your lap as he held your legs tightly, begging you not to leave because he could feel himself changing and neglecting his personal life.

you'd carried him to bed and admired his face as he fell asleep, naïvely thinking that this was just a rough patch and he'd go back to putting effort in just like he did in chongqing.

but the years passed and he proved to you his fears were legitimate.

"sure, let's try again kyouya." you patted his back when he held you in even tighter. "but this time we're trying counselling, okay?" you giggled, trying to light up the mood.

he pulled back and gave a tiny smile when you wiped his cheek.

"whatever my wife says." he caressed your hair. "let's stay married, okay? i don't want to lose you."

he didn't say the three words, but that was okay. it didn't matter much. romance could wait, because you knew you loved him more than a woman in a cheesy romcom would. you loved his soul, and you wanted nothing more than to see him bloom.

"let's stay married, kyouya. happy birthday."

it was a new beginning for the both of you and you had nothing but time on the horizon.

[seongwars]

ardently | i

Pairing: Viscount!Choi San x Countess!Reader AU: non-idol | regency Summary: After falling victim to one of Choi San’s many wagers, you vowed to a life of eternal spinsterhood. However, when the Choi family faces the imminent threat of losing their estate, the very man you swore you would never forgive re-enters your life.  Word Count: 8.0K (my bad) Warnings: you were a bet trope, some violence, misogyny, men being disappointing, angst, swearing

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a/n: I'm having a lot of anxiety before my procedure this week but here's the first chapter of my regency au based on the drabble I wrote

“The Choi’s have sent a letter of proposal,” Yeosang announced, stepping into the drawing room. His voice was tinged with hesitation as he approached you with the unopened envelope. The weight of the situation seemed to hang in the air, palpable and heavy.

You didn’t reach for the envelope, your fingers instead flipping the page of your book with deliberate nonchalance. 

“Send them my regards,” you bristled, your tone biting even as you maintained the pretense of calm. 

Yeosang sighed, clearly grappling with how best to navigate this unexpected development. He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture you recognized as one of his tells when he was deeply troubled. 

“I assure you, the address is indeed correct,” he said, his voice softening as he placed the envelope on the small table in front of you. The Choi family’s wax seal—an intricate emblem of the mountains and skies—stood out against the pristine surface.

“Y/N,” Yeosang’s voice softened, almost pleading. 

“Yeosang,” you replied, finally looking up from your book. The skepticism in your voice was as much a defense mechanism as the sarcasm you’d laced it with. 

“Choi San has an assembly of ladies to select from. I cannot fathom why his father would send a letter to our household.” The mention of San brought a flicker of anger to your eyes, but you quickly masked it with a carefully crafted indifference. 

“The Choi’s risk losing their estate and fortune. This proposal is a strategic endeavor to ensure their survival.”

“How unfortunate,” you replied flatly. “Perhaps the Viscount should not have squandered all of his investments in trade with the East Indies. It seems that the gamble did not pay off as expected.” 

The words were more cutting than you had intended, but you didn’t regret them. The Choi’s predicament, though dire, was of their own making, and the idea that they would try to drag your family into their mess infuriated you. 

“The Viscount is asking for a favor as a friend to father,” Yeosang continued, his tone edged with a note of earnestness, as if trying to appeal to some hidden thread of empathy in you.

“Father’s generosity does not extend to gambling debts nor poor investment decisions,” you retorted, leaning back in your chair, crossing your arms over your chest. “And it certainly does not extend to selling off his daughter like a piece of property.”

Four years before the proposal arrived, when the air was thick with the promise of the season and the drawing rooms of the ton buzzed with anticipation, a different kind of gamble was afoot.

“I bet you couldn’t win the heart of the most unassuming lady in the ton,” Jung Wooyoung declared, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he took a sip of his drink.

San, reclining with an air of casual confidence, regarded the challenge with a raised brow. “You mean the wallflower?” he asked, his tone dripping with nonchalance. 

Your debut season in society was a whirlwind of excitement and trepidation, a delicate dance between anticipation and the subtle pressure to conform. As the younger sister of Earl Kang Yeosang, you entered the glittering world of the ton with a blend of expectation and apprehension. 

While others were preoccupied with securing advantageous matches or making influential acquaintances, your thoughts frequently wandered to the world of literature. You dreamt of a future where you would hold your first published book in your hands—a future that seemed distant amidst the societal demands of the present.

“Consider it done.”

A wave of laughter and cheers erupted from his circle of friends. They leaned back in their chairs, the anticipation of San’s inevitable victory lighting up their faces. The challenge had been laid out, and San’s self-assured response had ignited a buzz of excitement. It was a game they knew San would relish—a new conquest to add to his list of triumphs.

Choi San, the youngest and only son of Viscount Choi, had an uncanny knack for charming everyone he met. His charisma was well-known, making him the center of attention in any room. To him, the prospect of winning over someone as unassuming as you was just another intriguing challenge. He approached it with the same effortless ease and confidence he would a friendly wager or a new card game, always ready to play and win.

The first attempt San set out to woo you, was at a hunt hosted by his family. The day is crisp, with a low mist hanging over the expansive grounds of the manor, a sprawling estate nestled against the autumnal countryside. The air is filled with the distant sounds of hounds barking, horses snorting, and the low murmur of conversation from the assembled guests.

Amid the cluster of gentlemen in their riding coats and polished boots, you spotted San, seated atop his dappled stallion. His posture was relaxed yet commanding, drawing more than a few admiring glances from the assembled ladies. He wore a dark hunting coat, his hair tousled by the wind, and his broad smile as he spoke with Lord Park carried a low, confident timbre.

San caught your gaze from across the clearing and nudged his horse in your direction. Your heart began to pound against your ribcage, each beat growing louder, more insistent, until it drowned out the distant chatter of the other guests. 

You were suddenly, acutely aware of the many eyes turning to watch this unexpected approach—mamas murmuring behind their fans, young ladies whispering behind gloved hands, and even the gentlemen casting curious glances. You could almost hear their thoughts: Why is he riding toward her? What does he mean by it?

“Ms. Kang,” San greeted as he reigned in his horse beside you, his voice low and smooth, laced with that familiar, infuriating hint of amusement. "What a welcome surprise."

You inclined your head slightly, fighting to keep your voice steady even as your fingers nervously fiddled with the leather handle of your riding crop. “Mr. Choi,” you replied, allowing a thin, polite smile to play on your lips, though you could feel the heat rising to your cheeks. “I didn’t expect to see you here, away from the rest of your party.”

“And yet, here I am. Fate has a strange way of bringing people together, don’t you think?” San’s voice was smooth, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Or perhaps it’s just your…habit for being everywhere at once,” you insinuated, taking a jab at his reputation.

His gaze lingered on you, a flicker of confusion in his eyes as he took in your demeanor. He had expected you to be as shy and reserved as the rumors suggested, but you defied those expectations entirely. There was a moment of silence, the air between you charged with unspoken words.

“Will you be watching from the sidelines like the rest?” San asked, a teasing edge in his voice that softened into genuine interest. “Or might you be bold enough to take part in the hunt yourself?”

You raised an eyebrow, meeting his gaze with a hint of challenge. “I might surprise you, Mr. Choi. I’m not one to sit idly by when there’s excitement to be had.”

San’s confusion quickly turned to intrigue. “I look forward to seeing you out there,” he said, his voice carrying a thread of quiet confidence. He gave you a slight, respectful bow of his head before guiding his horse back toward the group.

You caught the faintest hint of a smirk playing at his lips as he rode away, and a wave of frustration mingled with something warmer, something unwelcome, swept through you. You turned your horse away forcing yourself to ignore the whispers and sideways glances, and made your way over to where your brother and the rest of the hunting party had gathered. 

It was unusual for women to join the hunt, an activity traditionally dominated by men, but you had never been one to follow convention. Ever since you were a child, you had accompanied your father on his excursions, slipping away from the stuffy drawing rooms and the tiresome embroidery lessons to ride beside him. Your father had always encouraged your spirit, delighted in the way you held the reins with such determination, the way you matched him stride for stride through fields and forests.

The horns sounded, a clear, commanding call that echoed across the fields. The hounds sprang forward, their lean bodies surging across the estate, their howls filling the air with a primal energy. You urged your own horse to move, feeling the familiar rush of excitement as the wind whipped against your face, the ground blurring beneath you. 

San hadn’t expected to see you mounted on a horse with such a determined look in your eyes. The sight was a stark contrast to the reserved demeanor you usually displayed at social gatherings. As he watched you ride, he saw you weaving through the other hunters with practiced ease, your movements fluid and confident. The way you handled your horse, guiding it with subtle commands, spoke of a skill honed over years.

A thrill shot through him, an electric spark that danced along his skin, igniting a sense of admiration and curiosity. He found himself captivated by this facet of your personality, one that defied the quiet, unassuming image you were rumored to project.

Perhaps the wallflower has a brazen side to her, he mused.

The hounds had picked up a scent, their excited barks echoing through the forest. The riders spurred their horses forward, the thrill of the chase driving them on. You urged your horse to keep pace, the wind whipping through your hair as you navigated the dense underbrush.

Suddenly, a fallen branch blocked your path. You guided your horse to leap over it, the powerful muscles of the animal bunching beneath you as it soared through the air. You landed smoothly on the other side, the impact barely jarring as your horse’s hooves met the ground with practiced precision. 

A triumphant smile spread across your face, the exhilaration of the jump coursing through your veins. As you regained your stride, you noticed San riding alongside you, his eyes alight with admiration.

“Impressive,” he called out, his tone genuinely warm and filled with respect.

You gave him a small nod, acknowledging the compliment with a modest smile. The thrill of the moment spurred you on, and you surged forward with your horse, the wind whipping through your hair as you raced ahead. 

San matched your pace effortlessly, but confusion crossed his face once again. He had expected a verbal response, perhaps a playful retort or a shared laugh. Instead, your silence left him puzzled, wondering if he had misread the situation.

Eventually, the hunt drew to a close. The hounds had cornered their quarry, and the riders began to gather, their faces flushed with excitement. You dismounted, your legs slightly unsteady from the exertion. San was at your side in an instant, offering his arm for support.

“Thank you,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. 

“It was my pleasure,” he replied, his voice soft and sincere. “Perhaps we could ride together again sometime,” San suggested, his tone hopeful.

You chuckled softly, trying to steady your racing heart. “That would be improper without a chaperone, Mr. Choi,” you teased, a playful glint in your eyes as you pulled your hand away and turned to make your way back to your brother and mother.

San watched you go, a thoughtful smile lingering on his lips, knowing full well that he had caught a glimpse of something rare and untamed—a side of you that he would very much like to see again.

The day after the hunt dawned quietly, the morning light filtering through your window in soft, golden rays. You were beginning to settle into the rhythm of the day when a knock sounded at the door. One of the housemaids appeared in the doorway, looking slightly flustered.

“Miss, a delivery has arrived for you,” she announced, her eyes bright with a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

“A delivery?” you repeated, setting down the book you were pretending to read. “For me?”

She nodded eagerly and stepped aside, revealing a young footman holding a large, exquisite bouquet of flowers—pink roses, rhododendrons, and geraniums, artfully arranged with sprigs of greenery and delicate baby’s breath.

You took the flowers gingerly, surprised by their weight and the intoxicating scent that enveloped you. For a moment, you were at a loss, glancing down at the arrangement with a mixture of confusion and wonder. Who could have sent these?

Your eyes caught sight of a small card nestled among the blooms. Your fingers trembled slightly as you pulled it free, turning it over to read the neat, elegant script written on it:

“For the lady whose grace and spirit during the hunt were truly a sight to behold. –S.”

You could almost hear his voice in the words—the familiar teasing lilt, that infuriating hint of amusement that seemed to color everything he said. A smile tugged at your lips despite yourself, but you quickly suppressed it, unsure of how you truly felt. Flattered? Irritated? Amused? Perhaps a confusing mix of all three.

“What is this?” your mother asked, appearing in the doorway.

“A gift,” you replied, “from Mr. Choi.”

Your mother’s eyes widened slightly, and she stepped forward, her hands clasping together in front of her. “Mr. Choi?” she repeated, her tone colored with intrigue. She paused, a contemplative look crossing her face, and you could practically see the wheels turning in her mind. “Well, that is… unexpected.”

“Indeed,” you murmured, glancing back at the flowers. 

“Well,” she asked, her tone almost teasing, “will you respond?”

You sighed, feeling a familiar mix of exasperation and affection for the woman who always seemed to know exactly what to say to unsettle you. You flopped back onto your bed, the springs creaking under your weight. 

“I suppose I should thank him,” you admitted, your voice carrying a hint of reluctance.

Your mother’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, a mischievous smile plastered across her face. “He has made quite a gesture, after all. It would be rude not to acknowledge it.”

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t help but smile a little. “Yes, yes, I know,” you said, sitting up again. Moving to your writing desk, you dipped your quill into the inkwell. As the nib touched the paper, you paused, considering your words carefully. You knew you would have to strike a balance—a note that was gracious, but not too encouraging; polite, but with just enough edge to keep him guessing.

You hesitated, wondering if you should add something more, some playful remark that would remind him that you weren’t so easily won. But then, deciding that less was more, you signed your name with a flourish and sealed the letter with a small, satisfied smile.

San leaned back in his chair, the rich scent of smoke curling around him like a veil. He held his cards in one hand, his other hand bringing the cigar to his mouth for a slow, deliberate puff. The ember at the tip glowed brighter as he inhaled, a flicker of fire against the dark backdrop of the room.

“How goes the wallflower?” Lord Park Seonghwa asked, his voice low and smooth, tinged with a hint of amusement. The question was casual, almost offhand, but the sharp glint in his eyes suggested he was more interested in the answer than he let on.

San studied his cards, his fingers tapping lightly against the worn edges. After a moment of silence, he flicked his gaze up to meet Lord Park’s.

“She’s… intriguing,” San replied at last, his voice carrying a hint of something more than mere curiosity. He exhaled a slow stream of smoke, watching as it swirled and dissipated into the room. “Not as shy as others say she is. I’d say she has more thorns than petals.”

“Thorns can be dangerous, my friend,” Wooyoung mused, his gaze sharp as he considered San’s words. “Especially when they’re hidden beneath such a delicate facade.”

San’s smile didn’t waver, though a shadow passed over his features, too fleeting for most to catch. “Delicate things also have a way of surprising you when you least expect it.”

Wooyoung raised a brow. “Is that so?” 

“Might I remind you gentlemen that you’re playing with fire,” Duke Jeong Yunho interjected, without looking up from his cards. “She is Yeosang’s sister and he doesn’t take kindly to anyone who crosses his family.” 

The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of Yunho’s words settling over them like a heavy fog. The flickering light of the fire danced in his eyes as he finally looked up, his gaze moving from Wooyoung to San, a warning clear in his expression. 

San’s gaze lingered on his cards, his mind clearly preoccupied with Yunho’s warning. Yunho observed him for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. With a slight nod, he returned to his cards, signaling the end of the conversation, though the tension between them remained palpable.

“A letter from Ms. Kang has arrived for you, sir,” one of the Choi family’s footmen announced as San entered the foyer of the manor, the heavy doors closing behind him with a soft thud. 

San paused mid-step, his attention immediately drawn to the letter. “From Ms. Kang?” he repeated, his voice carrying a note of intrigue. He reached out, plucking the envelope from the tray, his fingertips brushing the smooth paper.

He felt his pulse quicken slightly, an unusual sensation he wasn’t quite accustomed to. He had expected some kind of reply, of course—sending flowers without anticipating an answer would have been rather anticlimactic. But he hadn’t been entirely certain of what you would say, or how you would respond. And that uncertainty intrigued him more than he cared to admit.

“Mr. Choi–I must thank you for your most unexpected gift. Your thoughtfulness is noted. I trust you enjoyed the hunt as much as I did. Until we meet again.”

He chuckled under his breath at that, amused by your careful choice of words.  It was exactly the kind of response he might have expected from you—poised, thoughtful, and ever so slightly elusive.

Rushing to his study, San settled at his desk and reached for his quill. Dipping it into the ink, he began to write his reply, a slow, satisfied smile playing on his lips.

“Ms. Kang–Your response, like your presence, is most intriguing. I did indeed enjoy the hunt, though I find myself far more captivated by the prospect of our next encounter. Might I propose a ride—properly chaperoned, of course—along the riverbank this coming Sunday? I look forward to your answer. Yours, S.”

“Deliver this to Ms. Kang immediately,” he instructed when the footman reappeared, his tone leaving no room for delay.

“Riding with San is bound to stir talk, Y/N,” Yeosang sighed, riding beside you. His tone carried the weight of his concerns. Your older brother, the current Earl, had always been protective, but this time, there was a sharper edge to his words, hinting at more than just worry.

Your gaze drifted to the path ahead, where the river glinted under the late morning sun. “Let them talk,” you said quietly, your voice barely above a whisper, though there was an undercurrent of resolve. 

“I have nothing to hide. I’m simply replying to a request from an acquaintance. Your friend, might I add.”

Yeosang snorted, a sound that was equal parts disbelief and frustration. “Choi San of all people?” he scoffed, his voice tinged with incredulity. He casted a sideways glance at you, as if searching for some sign that you were not serious. 

“Since when did sending flowers qualify him as an acquaintance?”

You felt a flush rise to your cheeks at his words, the warmth creeping up your neck despite your best efforts to remain composed. 

“Believe what you like,” you replied, patting Darcy’s neck affectionately, as he trotted alongside your brother’s horse with the same steady pace, oblivious to the tension between the two of you.

Yeosang’s expression softened for a moment as he watched you, his eyes narrowing slightly as though trying to read your thoughts. “He is not just any man. His reputation precedes him, and not always in a way that benefits a lady’s name.”

“You are the company you keep, brother,” you jested, your voice steady but your heart pounding. “And I choose my friends wisely.”

“Books do not count as friends, Y/N,” he retorted, his tone laced with a hint of teasing, but also with an underlying note of exasperation. It was a typical response from him, one that spoke of countless evenings spent in your family’s library, where you had found solace in the pages of novels rather than in the company of people.

You couldn’t help but smile at that, though it was more out of habit than amusement. Without another word, you gently nudged Darcy forward, urging him into a slightly faster trot. Ahead, San came into view, standing by the river’s edge, his silhouette sharp against the backdrop of the water. 

“Ms. Kang,” he greeted, his voice smooth and rich, “a pleasure, as always.”

You dipped your head in acknowledgement, a polite smile on your lips, though your heart fluttered in a way that betrayed the calm facade you tried so hard to maintain. 

“Mr. Choi,” you replied, your tone light but with a hint of familiarity that didn’t go unnoticed by Yeosang.

Yeosang, who had ridden up beside you, remained on his horse, his posture rigid and his expression carefully neutral. His eyes, however, flickered with protectiveness and suspicion as they settled on San.

“Choi,” Yeosang acknowledged curtly, his tone cool and formal. He inclined his head slightly, though there was no warmth in the gesture.

“Kang,” San replied, his eyes briefly meeting Yeosang’s before returning to you. There was a subtle challenge in his gaze, a silent acknowledgment of the tension that hung in the air. Perceptive bastard, Yeosang thought as he rolled his eyes. 

“Shall we, Ms. Kang?” he asked, his tone playful yet respectful. There was a spark of mischief in his eyes, as if he relished the challenge of winning you over, even under Yeosang’s watchful eye.

You hesitated for the briefest of moments, aware of Yeosang’s disapproving glare. But then you took San’s arm, your decision made. 

“We shall,” you replied, your voice steady. You glanced back at your brother, offering him a reassuring smile that you hoped would ease his concern, though you knew it likely wouldn’t.

Yeosang sighed quietly, resigning himself to his role as the chaperone. With a reluctant nod, he dismounted from his horse, clearly prepared to follow along at a distance—close enough to intervene if necessary, but far enough to grant you some semblance of privacy.

San’s arm was warm beneath your hand as you walked, the two of you moving in comfortable rhythm. The river’s gentle murmur provided a soothing backdrop to the conversation that began as lightly as the breeze.

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” San remarked, his tone easy, as if the weight of your brother’s gaze wasn’t pressing down on both of you. 

“It is,” you agreed, your eyes drifting to the sparkling water. “I find that being near the river always brings a sense of peace. It’s as if time slows down here.”

San smiled, a genuine expression that softened his sharp features. “I’ve noticed that about you,” he said, his voice lowering slightly. “You seem to seek out places like this—quiet, serene, away from the noise of society.”

You felt a blush creep up your neck at the subtle compliment, though you kept your tone light. “And you, Mr. Choi? Do you enjoy such places, or do you find the quiet unnerving?”

“There’s a time and place for everything. Sometimes, I enjoy the thrill of the city—the excitement, the unpredictability. But there are moments when I crave a bit of peace. Moments like this, for example.”

“I suppose everyone needs a respite from the chaos now and then,” you replied, your tone thoughtful. “Even those who thrive in it.”

He glanced at you, his eyes searching yours, as if trying to discern something deeper. “You speak as though you’ve seen more chaos than most, Ms. Kang.”

There were things about your life, about the pressures of your status and the expectations placed upon you, that you rarely discussed openly. But something about San made you want to share more, to let him see beyond the surface.

“I suppose I have,” you admitted quietly, your voice carrying a hint of vulnerability that you usually kept hidden. “Being the only daughter comes with certain… burdens. Expectations that aren’t always easy to meet. Society has its own set of rules for us, and they can be suffocating. You have an older sister, do you not? I’m sure she would understand.”

San’s expression softened as he listened to your quiet admission, his dark eyes reflecting a depth of understanding that surprised you. There was no judgment in his gaze, only a quiet empathy that made you feel seen in a way you hadn’t expected.

“Yes,” he replied, his voice gentle yet firm. “It’s not always easy to be the one others look to for strength, especially when the world expects so much from you.”

His words resonated with you, a sincerity that made your heart ache with recognition. It was rare for someone to articulate so clearly the challenges you faced, to acknowledge the invisible burdens that so often went unnoticed.

“I did not realize rakes had the capacity to feel empathy,” you teased, though your heart was still heavy with the weight of your own burdens.

San chuckled softly, the sound warm and genuine. “We are full of surprises, Ms. Kang. Just because society labels us one way doesn’t mean we lack depth or understanding.”

You nodded, appreciating his perspective. As you looked at him, curiosity piqued by the openness with which he spoke, you realized that despite his reputation, San seemed to carry his own set of challenges—ones that perhaps mirrored your own in unexpected ways. This realization emboldened you to ask the question that had been lingering in the back of your mind.

“What sort of life would you live if you weren’t your father’s heir?” you asked suddenly, the words slipping out before you could second-guess them. There was a note of genuine curiosity in your voice, an eagerness to understand the man walking beside you.

San seemed taken aback by the question, his eyes widening slightly as he considered it. For a moment, he was silent, his expression thoughtful as he weighed his response.

“Perhaps an adventurer. I imagine a life of exploration, free from the expectations that have always defined me. I’ve always been drawn to the unknown, to the thrill of discovering new places and new ideas.”

His answer surprised you, revealing a depth to San that you hadn’t fully realized before. Beneath the charming exterior was a dreamer, a man who longed for something more than the life that had been set out for him. Yet, there was comfort in knowing you weren’t alone in this struggle, that someone else understood the desire to break free, even if only in dreams.

San’s gaze shifted back to you, his eyes searching yours with an intensity that made your heart skip a beat. “And you? If you could be anything, anyone, without the constraints of your life as it is… what would you choose?”

The question caught you off guard, a mirror suddenly held up to your own thoughts. What would you choose? What sort of life would you live if the chains of duty and expectation were broken? The weight of the question settled over you, and for a moment, you felt the world pause.

A slow smile crept onto your face as you pondered the question, savoring the idea of a life unburdened by obligations. “A writer,” you said softly, the words tasting like freedom on your tongue. “There’s a magic in stories, in the way they can transport you to another time, another place.”

San’s eyes lit up at your words, his expression warm and appreciative. “A writer,” he mused, as if savoring the idea himself. His gaze softened, and you could see a flicker of his own dreams reflected in his eyes.

You laughed lightly, a touch of embarrassment coloring your cheeks. “I suppose we both long for a life of freedom, of discovery. Though perhaps in different ways.”

There was a moment of quiet between you, a shared understanding lingering in the air. The path ahead felt less certain, but somehow, knowing that San, too, yearned for something more, made it seem a little less daunting. 

As the days turned into weeks, San found himself increasingly torn between the thrill of the dare and the reality of his growing affection for you. He hadn’t expected you to be so different from what he imagined. 

The image he had of you, shaped by the whispers of society and the assumptions of others, had quickly shattered as he spent more time in your company. Instead of the cold, distant lady he had envisioned, he found someone warm and passionate, someone whose sharp wit and quiet strength captivated him in ways he hadn’t anticipated.

“What sort of life would you live if you weren’t your father’s heir?” 

The question had taken him by surprise, striking at a place deep within him that he rarely allowed others to see. For a brief moment, he was forced to confront the truth of his own desires—the life he might have led if he weren’t bound by the expectations of his family and society. 

San knew he was walking a dangerous line. The more he allowed himself to feel, the harder it became to maintain the facade. He feared what would happen when the truth inevitably came to light—when you discovered that his attentions had been born out of a cruel jest rather than genuine affection. Would you ever forgive him? Could you?

And then the night of your mama’s ball arrived.

Every detail of the ballroom spoke of opulence and sophistication, from the gilded mirrors that lined the walls to the crystal glasses that clinked softly in toasts. It was a place where appearances were everything, and every glance, every gesture, was laden with meaning.

San, ever the charming gentleman, was acutely aware of the eyes that followed his every move. His colleagues and other potential admirers watched with barely concealed interest, some with jealousy, others with curiosity. They knew he was playing a game, but none knew the rules, least of all you.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you for a dance, Ms. Kang,” he said, his voice smooth and inviting. 

You placed your hand in his, feeling the warm, secure clasp of his fingers around yours. There was an electric charge in the touch, a connection that neither of you fully understood but couldn’t deny. As he led you to the center of the floor, the bustling activity of the ballroom seemed to fade into a distant hum. In that moment, it was as if the world had narrowed to just the two of you, the music and the people fading into the background.

San guided you effortlessly through the first few steps, his movements smooth and assured. His hand rested lightly on your waist, his touch firm yet gentle, as if he was both leading and following you in this intricate dance. 

“Your mama knows how to throw quite the ball,” he remarked, amused by the opulence of the atmosphere. His voice was low, just for you.

“It is one of her many talents,” you quipped, the corners of your lips curling into a small, knowing smile. 

“Is hosting in your future as well, Ms. Kang?” he asked, his tone light, but there was an underlying seriousness to the question. He was probing, searching for more than just a surface answer, wanting to understand the real you—the woman who had caught him off guard and who now occupied far too many of his thoughts.

You tilted your head slightly, considering his question as you continued to glide across the floor. “Perhaps,” you replied thoughtfully, your voice softening. 

“But I think I’d prefer to be the guest who brings something interesting to the soiree, rather than the one who simply throws it.”

His grip on your hand tightened ever so slightly, a silent acknowledgment of the truth in your words. You weren’t just another society lady content to play her part; you wanted more, and that desire resonated with something deep within him. 

San felt his resolve wavering, the lines of the game he had started becoming increasingly blurred. The stakes were higher now, the risks greater, because this wasn’t just a dare anymore. It was something real, something he hadn’t planned for, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the consequences of what might happen when the truth finally came to light.

The evening had been a whirlwind of forced smiles and polite exchanges, each interaction more draining than the last. The laughter and chatter of the crowded ballroom felt like a cacophony, grating on your nerves. You had sought a moment of solitude, desperate to escape the oppressive atmosphere and the superficial conversations that had begun to wear on you.

Slipping out through a side door, you found yourself in the garden, a sanctuary offering a brief respite from the prying eyes of high society. You wandered along the gravel paths, the scent of night blooms filling the air. For a moment, you allowed yourself to imagine a world where you weren’t bound by the rigid rules of propriety, where you could be free to live and love as you wished.

But your moment of peace was shattered when you heard voices nearby, muffled by the hedges but unmistakably familiar. You paused, instinctively stepping back into the shadows, your curiosity piqued by the sound of hushed giggles and the mention of your name.

“...I was with him last night!” she squealed, unable to contain her glee. “He told me that it was a wager to see if he could win over Kang Y/N!”

You froze, your heart suddenly pounding in your chest. Your name sounded like a curse in the woman’s mouth, dripping with disdain.

"I’m glad he’s not serious about the wallflower," another woman scoffed. "She’s so odd, always off in her own world. It’s no wonder she hasn’t received any proposals.”

Their laughter echoed in the night, sharp and cruel, each word slicing through you like a knife. You felt your breath catch in your throat, your stomach churning with a sickening dread. They were talking about you, and the realization sent a shiver down your spine.

“I can’t believe she fell for it,” another voice chimed in, this one male, and unmistakably familiar. It was one of San’s friends–Park Seonghwa was it–his tone mocking.

And then you heard it—San’s voice, clear and confident, the same voice that had spoken to you with such warmth and sincerity only moments ago. “Pay up, gentlemen,” he said, the words laced with smug satisfaction. “I told you I could do it. It was only a matter of time.”

Your heart sank as you listened, your world crumbling around you. The man who had danced with you, sent you flowers, who had seemed to share a connection so real, had been playing a game all along.

A wager.

A cold numbness spread through your body as you struggled to process the betrayal. How could you have been so foolish? How could you have let yourself believe that someone like him could genuinely care for someone like you? The laughter from the other side of the hedge seemed to mock your naivety, and the pain in your chest grew with each passing second.

San’s chuckle cut through the night air, a sound that had once brought you comfort but now felt like the sharp edge of a blade. 

“It was almost too easy to get her to talk about her ambitions. She was so desperate for someone to care.”

You could feel the tears burning in your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. Not here, not now. You wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing how deeply they had hurt you. But as you stood there, the anger began to build, simmering beneath the surface until it was impossible to contain. You couldn’t just stand there and let them think they had gotten away with this. 

You couldn’t let San believe that his betrayal would go unnoticed, that his actions would have no consequences.

With a surge of resolve, you stepped out from the shadows, the gravel crunching beneath your feet as you made your presence known. As you emerged into the dim light of the garden, the group fell silent, their laughter dying on their lips as they realized they were no longer alone.

“Is this true?” you demanded, your voice quivering and strained, each word punctuated with the raw pain and disbelief that surged through you. 

You locked eyes with San, the man who had been at the center of it all, the one who had so effortlessly made you believe in the possibility of something more. But there was no explanation that could undo what he had done. No words that could erase the pain he had caused.

“Y/N. I–” he stammered, his voice faltering as he grappled with the gravity of the situation. “Let me explain–”

Your voice rose, each word laced with fury and heartbreak. “Explain?” you echoed, your voice rising in a mixture of fury and pain. “Explain how you toyed with my feelings for a wager? How you led me to lay bare my vulnerabilities only to use them as fodder for your amusement?”

San flinched at the venom in your words, his face paling as the full impact of what he had done became impossible to ignore. The others watched in stunned silence, the reality of the situation sinking in as they witnessed the fallout of their actions. But you barely noticed them. Your focus was entirely on San, the man who had taken your trust and shattered it without a second thought.

“Y/N, please—”

“Don’t,” you cut him off, the tears you had been holding back finally spilling over. “Don’t try to justify this. Don’t try to tell me it wasn’t what it seemed. Because I heard you. I heard everything.”

For a moment, you stood there, breathing heavily, your chest heaving with the force of your emotions. The garden, once a place of refuge, now felt suffocating, the air thick with the scent of betrayal. 

“You’ve shown me exactly who you are.” 

With one final, burning look at San, you turned on your heel and walked away, your steps steady and purposeful. You would not run, you would not flee into the night like some wounded animal. You would survive this. You would rise above it. And you would show them all that you were not a wallflower to be trifled with.

“Where the fuck is he!?”

Yeosang stormed into the club, his heart pounding with a fury that made his vision blur at the edges. The usual buzz of laughter that filled the place faded as he stepped inside, the sheer force of his presence commanding attention. 

The moment San looked up and saw Yeosang bearing down on him, the casual amusement on his face evaporated, replaced by a fleeting but unmistakable look of surprise. Before San could fully register what was happening, Yeosang’s fist was already flying through the air. The punch connected with a sickening crack, sending San reeling back into his seat. 

“Of all the people in this world, you decided to make a wager on my sister?”

San’s eyes darted between Yeosang and the crowd, his shock turning to regret as he slowly began to comprehend the magnitude of his actions.

“I never meant for it to go this far.”

The regret in his expression was immediate, but it did nothing to quell the fire in Yeosang’s eyes. He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper that was somehow more terrifying than his entrance.

“Did you think you could just make a fool out of her and walk away unscathed? That you could treat her like some...some plaything, and there wouldn’t be consequences?”

San swallowed hard, the reality of his actions finally crashing down on him. He had played the game too far, crossed a line he could never uncross. “I’m sorry,” he managed, his voice barely audible, the words tasting hollow and useless even as he spoke them.

“Sorry?” Yeosang repeated, his voice dripping with disdain. “Do you really think a simple apology can undo the damage you’ve caused to her reputation?”

San bowed his head slightly, the weight of his guilt pressing down on him. But Yeosang wasn’t finished. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper that was heard by everyone in the stunned crowd.

“Let me remind you of something,” Yeosang continued, his tone darkening with every syllable. “Contrary to what the rest of your bastards think, my sister is not some wallflower you can toy with and discard. If I’d let her have her way, she’d have set the hounds on you and hunted you through the woods herself.”

Yeosang’s gaze remained fixed on San, his eyes blazing with an intensity that brooked no argument. 

“You’re lucky,” he hissed, “lucky that I’m the one standing here tonight and not her. Because if she were here, you’d be running for your life right now, and there wouldn’t be a soul in this room who could save you.”

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving San alone in the center of the room, the eyes of everyone upon him, the full weight of his actions bearing down on him like an unforgiving storm.

“I’ll have to eventually send a reply, Y/N,” Yeosang sighed, his voice heavy with the weight of the situation. He stood by the window, his silhouette framed by the fading light of the twilight. The darkening sky seemed to mirror the turmoil in his mind as he stared out, seeking answers in the distant horizon that offered none.

You leaned back on the sofa, the letter from the Choi family lying unopened on the coffee table like a looming storm cloud. You glanced at it with a hint of disdain before letting out a dry chuckle. 

“Why don’t you marry San?” you suggested, your tone edged with sarcasm. “You both seemed to have made up after you nearly dislocated his jaw.”

“Ah, yes, because nothing says true love like a fistfight at the local club,” Yeosang quipped, shooting you a bemused look.

You shrugged, a sardonic grin playing on your lips. “I’ve already been a pawn to their son before, and I won’t let myself be used again,” Your eyes hardened as you cut him off, the pain of past betrayals flashing in them, mingling with a fierce determination. 

“The last thing I want is to be part of another arrangement that diminishes my worth.”

Yeosang nodded, his expression resigned yet still hopeful. “I only ask that you consider… just consider it, for father’s sake.”

The grand halls of the Choi estate were alive with activity, but not in the usual festive manner. In the midst of this flurry, the family’s domestic staff worked with a practiced efficiency. Their hands deftly placed the covers over the delicate upholstery of the sofas and the intricate designs of the armchairs. The rich tapestries and decorative vases were carefully wrapped, their vibrant colors and intricate patterns momentarily hidden beneath plain, protective fabric.

Viscount Choi Han Sung's usually composed demeanor was marred by the strain of their financial predicament. His brows were furrowed, and his hands rested on the edge of the polished desk, gripping it as if for support. Across from him, San’s normally confident air seemed overshadowed by the weight of their current situation.

Maps and financial reports were scattered across the desk, the papers bearing the marks of multiple revisions and frantic calculations. The flicker of the fireplace cast long shadows on the walls, adding to the somber mood.

“We’ve exhausted most of our resources in trade and investments,” the Viscount said, his voice weary and resigned. “A proposal might be our last viable solution.”

San’s shoulders tensed as he listened, his gaze shifting between the documents and his father’s troubled expression. “Father, I know you’re trying to protect our legacy, but I’m not sure if this is the right approach. A marriage proposal, especially one of convenience, might not be received well. It could damage our reputation further if not handled delicately.”

The Viscount sighed deeply, running a hand through his thinning hair, a gesture that seemed to age him even more in the dim light. 

“Our estate and name have always been at the heart of high society, son. We can’t afford to lose that standing. This proposal might be the only way to secure the support we need.”

San felt a pang of unease as his father’s words settled into his mind, and then the blow came—the suggestion that made his blood run cold.

“The Kang’s have a daughter who is a suitable marriage prospect.”

San’s heart sank as those words settled in his mind, a cold dread spreading through him. He could still see your face in his mind, the way your eyes had looked when you’d trusted him, the sincerity in your voice when you had spoken of your hopes and dreams. The memory of his laughter with his friends, the mockery hidden beneath what he had pretended was affection, now felt like a knife twisting in his chest.

“Father,” San began, his voice cracking slightly as he struggled to maintain his composure. “It would be improper to involve her in this matter,” his words tumbled out in a rush, his eyes pleading for understanding.

"In what way? She is but a spinster, and you are unwed. It is a match," he replied, his tone matter-of-fact, as if discussing a business transaction rather than the fate of two lives.

The thought of trapping you in a marriage born out of necessity, not love, filled him with a profound sense of dread. But what choice did he have? The precariousness of their position, the thin line they walked, left him with no easy answers. To go against his father meant risking everything—his inheritance, his duty, his very place in the world.

“She deserves more than to be used as a pawn in our affairs,” San argued softly, desperation creeping into his voice despite his best efforts to keep it level. “She has done nothing to warrant being caught in our family’s troubles. To pull her into this… it would be cruel.”

“Cruelty is a luxury we can no longer afford,” his father sighed, the words heavy with defeat. "We do what we must to survive, to protect what is ours.”

“There has to be another way,” San whispered, almost to himself. The thought of condemning her to a life of misery gnawed at him, a relentless ache in his chest. “I can’t do this to her, Father. I won’t.”

The Viscount’s expression darkened, his patience wearing thin. His eyes, once filled with the wisdom of years, now bore into his son with a steely resolve. “And what would you do instead? Defy me? Throw away your inheritance, your duty, for a woman you barely know? You think that would save her?”

For a moment, silence hung between them, heavy and tense. The air crackled with unspoken words, the weight of their shared history pressing down on them. Then, Viscount Choi spoke again, his voice low and edged with finality. 

“You will think on this, my boy. And you will choose wisely. Because if you do not… we will lose everything.”

San’s heart pounded in his chest, the enormity of the decision before him threatening to crush him. The choice was his, but the consequences would ripple far beyond his own life, affecting everyone he held dear. In that moment, he felt the full weight of his duty, the crushing burden of a legacy he could not escape.

ii >>

[fanboyswhore9]

The Proposal (Pt. 1)~ Sherlock Holmes

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill’s version) x Fem! reader

Contains: Henry Cavil, marriage of convenience, childhood lovers, long lost love, TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF

Summary: Childhood friends Sherlock Holmes and the reader were inseparable until she left for boarding school, leaving unresolved feelings between them. Nearly two decades later, she returns to 221B Baker Street with an urgent proposition: to secure her inheritance, she must marry, and she asks Sherlock for help. Unbeknownst to her, Sherlock has harbored feelings for her all along. They confess their love for each other and agree to marry, not just for convenience but out of genuine love.

A/N: THIS IS POSSIBLY THE LONGEST FIC I’VE EVER WRITTEN ON TUMBLR! This is my first Sherlock fic that I’ve done. I hope I do him justice!❤️❤️❤️❤️

The rain was steady that evening, casting a mist over the streets of London. Inside 221B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes sat in his armchair, eyes half-lidded, mind lost in a myriad of thoughts as the fire crackled. He hadn’t had a proper case in days, which left him restless, pacing between fleeting memories and idle deductions.

A knock on the door cut through his haze. Sherlock frowned, glancing at the clock. It was late, too late for most visitors, but not impossible. Perhaps Mrs. Hudson was entertaining guests again. He rose, heading to the door, when he heard the knock again—more insistent this time.

When he opened the door, the last person he ever expected to see stood before him, soaked from the rain, her hair damp around her face. “Sherlock,” she breathed, her voice a familiar melody he hadn’t heard in almost two decades.

His breath caught. It was her. The girl from his youth, his best friend, his confidant—until she was whisked away to boarding school, leaving him behind in a cold and silent void that he rarely acknowledged but always felt. She had grown into the woman he imagined she would be: poised, beautiful, but with that same spark in her eyes that always challenged him, intrigued him.

He stepped back to let her in, not trusting his voice just yet. She entered, glancing around at the familiar setting of 221B. “Some things never change,” she said, her lips pulling into a soft smile, though there was an edge of uncertainty there. Wanting to be polite, he asked her, “I know it’s past time, but would you like a cup of tea?” She looked at him nodding gently, “Yes, please. I’d love a cup of tea.” He nods as he starts to brew tea in the kettle.

Sherlock cleared his throat, suddenly aware of the weight of the moment. “What are you doing here?” He didn’t mean for the words to sound so cold, but they came out that way regardless.She looked at him, her expression guarded, then stepped closer. “I need your help, Sherlock.”

“Help?” His curiosity piqued, but there was something else in her eyes. Something more personal. Her fingers fiddled with the hem of her coat as she gathered her courage. “I… I’ve come back to London because of my grandmother. She’s ill, Sherlock. She’s… dying.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, and for once, it wasn’t merely out of politeness. “She’s left me her fortune, her estate, but there’s a catch.” She glanced away, as if embarrassed to continue. “I have to be married to inherit.” Sherlock’s brow furrowed. “Married?”

“Yes,” she said quickly, her voice tightening. “My parents are pressuring me. They’ve paraded potential suitors in front of me for months, but none of them… none of them understand me.” She took a deep breath, her eyes finally meeting his. “And I really don’t want to marry any of them.” The air between them seemed to crackle with tension. Sherlock’s mind was already racing, calculating her reasons for coming to him, searching for the logical thread.

“And you’ve come to me because…?” he asked, though a part of him already knew the answer.“Because,” she said softly, stepping closer, her eyes searching his face, “I don’t want to marry just anyone. I want to marry someone I trust. Someone I care about. Someone I…” She hesitated, her voice breaking slightly. “Someone I love.” Sherlock froze.

The words he never expected to hear from her—yet had longed to hear—hung in the air. For a moment, he was sixteen again, watching her pack her things as she left for boarding school, a thousand words unsaid between them. He had always assumed she moved on, that she forgot about him. But now, here she was, standing before him, offering him not just her trust, but her heart.

“You—” He started, but his voice faltered. His mind, usually so sharp, struggled to find the right words. “I know this is sudden,” she rushed on, her hands trembling slightly, “and maybe it’s foolish. Maybe you’ve moved on, maybe you never thought about me that way. But I had to tell you, otherwise I might regret it for the rest of my life. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, Sherlock. And if there’s even the smallest chance that you feel the same…” She trailed off, hope and fear mingling in her eyes.

Sherlock, for once, was at a loss. His emotions, something he kept carefully locked away, threatened to overwhelm him. He had thought of her often over the years, wondered where she was, what she was doing. He had buried his feelings for her, convinced they were pointless, that she was a part of his past he could never reclaim.

But now…

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he admitted quietly, his voice raw with emotion he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in years. “I—” He paused, the words foreign on his tongue. “I didn’t know how to say it, or if I even should. I assumed… I thought you were happy. That you had your life, your suitors.”She smiled sadly. “I never wanted anyone else.”

Silence filled the room, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was heavy with possibilities, with unspoken promises. Sherlock, ever logical, ever calculating, found himself making a decision not based on reason but on something far more human.

“Then marry me,” he said simply, his eyes locked on hers. Her breath caught, her eyes widening in surprise. “Sherlock, I didn’t mean—”

“I’m serious,” he interrupted, stepping closer until they were mere inches apart. “Marry me. Not for your inheritance, not for your grandmother, but because I can’t bear the thought of you with anyone else.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she nodded, a soft laugh escaping her lips. “Yes, Sherlock. Yes.” He reached out, his hand trembling slightly as he cupped her face. And for the first time in years, Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, let himself feel.

His eyes, usually so calculating and detached, softened as they locked onto hers. The distance between them seemed to disappear, years of unspoken emotions finally surfacing. His thumb gently traced the line of her cheek, his touch both tender and reverent.

“I’ve been a fool,” he whispered, his voice barely more than a breath, “for not realizing sooner.”

Before she could respond, Sherlock leaned in, closing the final space between them. His lips met hers in a kiss that was both hesitant and deliberate, as if he was discovering something new but also something long overdue. The kiss was soft at first, slow and searching, but then it deepened, filled with all the feelings they had kept hidden for so long.

Her hands found their way to his shoulders, holding him close as she melted into the warmth of his embrace. The world outside seemed to fade, leaving only the two of them in this quiet, intimate moment. His kiss, though unsure at first, soon became sure and steady, filled with the depth of emotion he had kept buried beneath layers of logic and restraint.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads rested against each other, their breaths mingling in the silence. Sherlock’s eyes remained closed for a brief moment longer, savoring the connection, before he finally opened them to look at her. “For you,” he murmured, his voice raw with emotion, “I’ll always make an exception.” A soft smile tugged at her lips, her heart swelling at his words. “Then I’ll always be your exception.”

~SHORT TIME SKIP~

A few days had passed since she had shown up at Sherlock’s doorstep with her proposition. The weight of their confession and the whirlwind engagement still felt surreal, but there was no time for hesitation. Arrangements had to be made, and there were still people she needed to see.

That afternoon, she found herself in the grand, stately sitting room of the Diogenes Club, Mycroft Holmes’ preferred sanctuary. He greeted her with his usual aloofness, but there was a subtle curiosity in his eyes as they exchanged pleasantries.

“My brother is not one for sentiment,” Mycroft said, swirling a glass of brandy as he studied her, “but you seem to have managed what few others could.” His words were clipped but not unkind. “It’s rather remarkable.” She smiled, feeling the weight of his scrutiny. “I didn’t come here expecting him to say yes. But I know Sherlock, and I believe this is right for both of us.”

Mycroft gave her a small, approving nod. “You’ve always had a peculiar influence on him. I suppose if anyone can make sense of this arrangement, it’s you.” Before she could respond, the door opened, and a young woman with wild curls and a sharp, curious look in her eyes entered the room. Enola Holmes, Sherlock and Mycroft’s little sister, stepped in with an air of confidence. It was the first time they’d met, though she had heard much about Enola’s independent and rebellious nature.

Enola glanced between her and Mycroft, her expression caught between surprise and amusement. “So, you’re the one who’s finally going to tie Sherlock down,” she said, half-teasing, half-curious. She let out a soft giggle and smiled, amused by the younger woman’s boldness. “It seems so.” Enola stepped forward, her curiosity obvious. “I must say, I’m impressed. Sherlock’s never shown much interest in anything besides his cases. You must be quite extraordinary.”

“Not as extraordinary as you, Enola. Sherlock speaks highly of you,” she replied warmly, and that seemed to catch Enola off guard. Enola smiled, clearly pleased by the compliment. “Well, you’ve certainly earned my respect. Anyone who can handle Sherlock is worthy of admiration.”

As the girls exchanged more pleasantries, she felt a sense of warmth from Enola, a feeling of acceptance, even if it came with a bit of Holmes skepticism. It felt like the final piece of her integration into Sherlock’s life, meeting both Mycroft and Enola, and earning a place in the family dynamic that was uniquely theirs.

Later that evening, in the quiet of Sherlock’s flat at 221B Baker Street, she sat at his desk and wrote a letter to her family. Her parents, grandmother, and sister needed to be informed, though she was sure the news would spread quickly once the engagement was made official.

Dearest Mother, Father, Grandmother, & my dear Sister,

I write to you with news I never expected to share. After years of distance & time apart, I have returned to London & reunited with Sherlock Holmes. Our connection, though it was once left in the past, has rekindled, & I am pleased to inform you that I am now engaged to be married to him.

I know this news may come as a surprise, but please understand that this decision was made with great care and certainty. Sherlock has always held a special place in my heart, & I believe that this union will be one of love, companionship, & understanding.

Sister, I especially want you to know how much I look forward to you being by my side through this, & I can’t wait to tell you everything in person.

I will return home soon to speak with you all in person & explain further. In the meantime, know that I am happy and excited for what lies ahead.

With all my love,

Your daughter and sister

She sealed the letter, her heart feeling lighter as she prepared to send it. The wheels were in motion now. Everything was becoming real. Soon, her family would know, and the life she was about to build with Sherlock was just beginning.

[rp-partnerfinder]

🌊23F looking (for other writers 20+!!) to write my mafia boy against your OC! He is definitely ur typical brooding, quiet type with a lot of issues but he is so special to me😭 and i want him to be paired with someone he can fully devote himself to! I am open to MxF or MxM pairings for him!

For MxM pairings, I want to do an enemies to enemies with benefits to lovers plot so bad, but I am definitely open to more plots if you don’t think that one would fit.  

 'i can fix him' and 'i can make him worse' are both very dear to me so anything goes.

some tropes id love to try with him are opposites attract, friends to lovers, arranged marriages/marriages of convenience, fake relationships, second chance!

I'm am totally fine with any type of OC's just not boring ones pleaseeee im begging. they can definitely be more submissive but please have a backbone or a good backstory. 

There will also obviously be darker themes of violence/blood so please be cool with that! Obviously also okay with NSFW! I do write on discord in third person, multiple paragraphs (adv lit - novella) and i am a daily replier. My boy has a realistic fc but i don't mind descriptions! Like this and i'll dm!

.

[jessread-s]

Thanks to @penguinrandomhouse for providing me with a finished copy in exchange for an honest review

✩🐺🪢Review:

Hazelwood’s paranormal debut is addictive and all-consuming!

Bride follows Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman, who agrees to uphold a Vampyre-Werewolf alliance by marrying Alpha Lowe Moreland after discovering that her future husband may be linked to her missing friend.

It was really fun to see Hazelwood branch out into the paranormal romance genre! I enjoyed her world-building and thought the history surrounding Vampyres, Werewolf, and human relations was very digestible.

I love how Hazelwood incorporated the mystery of Serena’s disappearance into the storyline. The breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout paired with the novel’s paranormal elements kept me fully engaged and on my toes.

While “Bride” is quintessential Ali Hazelwood with women in STEM, a big male love interest, galaxy apparel, and palpable love for cats, I think that Misery as a female protagonist ultimately sets this book apart from her contemporary romance novels. I found myself laughing out loud at Misery’s sense of humor and really admired her strength and perseverance. Despite all she goes through having been cast out from Vampyre society, she still remains inherently kind and is fiercely protective of her found family.

Lowe and Misery’s development as a couple is well-paced and her slowest burning romance yet! It takes a while for the characters to give into their attraction to each other given that they are supposed to be mortal enemies, but once they do, Hazelwood delivers on the spice! I couldn’t get enough of the caretaking while injured and “that’s my wife” moments as well as the snippets of Lowe’s internal thoughts at the beginning of each chapter!

This book ends with the potential for a sequel and I hope she’ll move forward with it full steam ahead!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[amyriadofleaves]

outside it starts to pour — neuvillette | chapter thirteen

synopsis: in the limelight of fontaine, the prying eyes of its people never truly tears their gaze off the iudex and you, the présidence du conseil d'état, which makes for baseless rumours to fester and echo throughout the theatrics of opera. you and neuvillette are challenged by the reputations the both of you are expected to uphold, and the weighty decision to navigate these intricacies rests upon the discerning judgement of fontaine's archon.

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ao3 : wattpad  ˚　.˚　　

⌗ pairing : neuvillette x fem!reader ⌗ feat : neuvillette, reader, furina ⌗ warnings : BLOOD. lots of it. inflicted trauma (both mentally and physically I fear...) ⌗ word count: 5.8K

Neuvillette watches you disappear around the bend to your residence, your stride as unmoving as ever. Were it within his power, he would’ve accompanied you to your very doorstep for no more of the lurking dangers that had come to bite your blind spot: a robber, perhaps, or perhaps your door had rendered itself faulty. Yet, in truth, despite his pitiful ignorance in denying that it was merely an excuse, every fibre of his being itched with the desire to see you — even if it meant for only a second longer.

Lady Furina once teased that without you in his presence, he resembled a lost, weeping dog without its master; and at the time, such a bold claim seemed borderline preposterous when made against The Most Impartial Man to Grace Teyvat. Yet, now, with no one but you running circles in his lawyering mind, he thinks Furina wasn’t so wrong.

What had you done that had the conservative faction onto your every bone? He dwelled upon the thought amidst the expected strain of your silence in the coach; and when you left, his chest swelled inexplicably of something he could scarcely articulate — something that evoked fear and a second thing; something the fine workings of his brain and the candid nature of his tongue are much too afraid to admit. Because he had spent the greater part of this year saying that he loved, and loved, and loved you — yet always with a measure of restraint. 

Because no person in the world can fathom, let alone bear, the burden of calling the woman who hates them their lover — and yet, there Neuvillette is, with his heart laid bare on his sleeve, yet hopelessly unable to lift the cloth off it — because God forbid he breaks his word; and the Iudex never breaks his word. Not unless it’s for you.

 Cut to his blood. Let it spill. And only then will they see how every cell of his body spells your name, into every corner, every crevice the reddish wine of life wishes to touch.

He never questioned why you hated him so much. Many people despise him, wish to have him burnt at the stake. But he had come to accept this bitter truth long — but that was before; before he caught the glint in your eye whenever you smiled — however fake or real. And that was when his heart caved in on itself, to make room for one extra person, despite how difficult you were, and still are.

A pit settles in his stomach, and he cannot help but wonder if whatever it is that is ailing him derives itself from himself, or from you — because if it were from you —

“Uhm, Monsieur? Where to?” The coachman has his elbow resting against his own headrest by the sheer effort of him attempting to grab Neuvillette’s attention — and that he does — just, with a little bit of difficulty involved. 

Neuvillette’s blinks, slightly shaking his head to stir him back to reality. 

If anything was to take his mind off things, it would be work. So, with a resolute sigh, he gathers himself and straightens his tie along with his posture.

“Ah, right. The Palais Mermonia, please.” He says this with a sort of modest dip of the head, possibly in shame, but more likely because he almost feels as if caught, subpoenaed into telling the world what he had just thought about.

He settles back against the cushioned seat, the moonlight making the blue accents of both cloth and body only fade into a natural monochrome. As the coach rumbles along, he thinks of you.

Archons save you, because whatever it is, you aren’t making a safe trip to your doorstep. 

You try to disregard the echo of the footsteps mirroring your own— but from what happened earlier today, you can’t say you aren’t at least a little on your toes. A brief scrape of the wheels of the coach against the tarmac makes its final note within your vicinity before fading into the void of silence, and you mutter a prayer, however severed your belief is with the Heavens above, for someone to come save you.

Trepidation rumbles through your veins like the bass of a drum, and it rings through your already pounding head, making you a puppet to fear’s instrument. A mild shake to your head only presses the incorporeal needle deeper into your head. In an attempt to divert the discomfort, you rub your temples profusely. But, your efforts are relayed out to you in vain as you falter in your steps.

You hear a split second delay of the mimicker; and this time the step resounds a metre closer than a minute ago. Panic drives you through the streets. Reaching for the dagger up the garter wrapped around your torso, the polished sheen of the blade gleaming in the light. You hold it aloft, meeting the tight knit of your eyes in its reflection, every feature bending into every curve of the metal; but you also catch the ominous smirk of a hooded man from behind you.

Your blood runs cold. The sole of your heels rest in discomfort against the merciless cold of cement below your feet. You come to an unideal outcome: this is a do or die situation, and dignity be damned if you don’t at least leave with claw marks. You inhale sharply, the stinging tang of the winter air cool against the violent heat of your skin. 

“If you’re here just ‘cause you were sent by Monsieur Moreau, I’d suggest you return to your quarters,” you start, steeling your heels into the cement of Fontainian soil. “and tell him to kill me himself.”

A rustle of cloth ripples through the wall of dull citylife, and you almost instinctively make a turn to confirm your statement — but you realise with horror that this isn’t some assassin sent by your father. 

The man ruptures into hysterical, maniacal laughter. “You won’t have to do all that work, Birdie.” 

His mania only ticks at your stuttered stride. You stumble to make up for the blunder, working your pace (your beauty sleep is forgotten, and you’ve long gone walked past your apartment complex). “After twenty-five years, this is how you ask for forgiveness?”

“I am not here to ask for forgiveness. I’m here to take you out myself.” 

You whirl, making a move to slash at the arm blanketed by the veil of black he wears. “Couldn’t do that the first time?”

He groans, clutching at his forearm before feeling at the warmth of the liquid between his fingers. The heart encased behind your ribs threatens to break, and your fear only spikes when that look you’ve grown to know washes over his dead, dry eyes. “Still afraid to hurt me, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I’m far from afraid.”

He reaches for his own blade, and though you had gone years without seeing him, you cannot help but feel a pitiful tug of hurt in your chest. The chill of steel grazes that very spot, and you instinctively wrap your fingers around it to give yourself space between yourself and your possible cause of murder. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

You respond with you slicing his side, and he hisses — the sound of it honey to your ears. A trance washes over you in your indulgence of watching the man who terrorised you suffer, and as he stumbles backwards, the blade leaves with it. 

A grunt of effort sounds from him and he reaches to slice your neck. A slight tilt of the head mitigates the blow to your right cheek, blooming in a clean line of crimson. In your haze, you are blinded with bloodlust, mindlessly throwing blows before your wrist is caught in his stronger, firmer hold — and this is where your dread festers.

Your mind flashes in a frenzy of this specific scenario, where your father throws you on the ground and places a prop sword to your abdomen — but the weapon curled around his hand is not a prop sword, and you aren’t five anymore.

The only lifeline you had slips from your hold, clinking against the floor. There’s no time, and there’s certainly no room to dwell on your weapon; because you are about to get stabbed, and there’s nothing you can do about it. 

Rebellious hands meet malicious ones, and you are doing everything in your power to pry the blade away from meeting your stomach. 

And this is where you make your mistake.

Your diversion from left to right gives your father the perfect leeway to slam down with no force upwards — and you only realise this when your grip loosens and metal digs into your skin. 

A guttural scream escapes from the very depths of your throat. When you feel the meticulous handiwork of dissolved thread rip from either side, a panicked sob threatens to leave your lips before a hand slams onto your mouth, muffling your every sound. 

I keep getting distracted, you think, the wound Clorinde inflicted on you spilling open in memories and sputtering crimson.

Perfectly slicing the scar he dealt you in your teen years, you’re certain he’s out for more than just blood. He’s out to annihilate you — to silence you; for what can be uttered by a corpse?

It isn’t a lethal spot to stab, but, in some way — it is. Why would he stab through the crevice of your right rib, the one that your mother sacrificed in all the superiority of man? Some part of you hoped with a childlike wonder, that your relationship as father and daughter would bring him to relent, to feel remorse for murdering your mother. 

But you realise he had done the same to you as he had done to her. He was just as cruel, and just as unfeeling.

Your mind flickers to Neuvillette, your accusation of his lack of emotion a droplet of water in the ocean compared to this absolute villain of a man standing over you, 

Your eyes meet your father’s, and you feel like a rabid dog: helpless, violent, and a loser all the same. 

Despite it all, he smiles, the corners of his lips dripping with malice and apathy, the look you’d come to face in all your worst dreams. “You really are like your mother. Weak, a pushover, unable to stop when the possibility presents itself.”

Your eye twitches, and you wrench his hand away from his hold on your face. Blood spills from your busted lips, and it sputters at your attempts to speak. You let out a desperate grunt of effort, finally getting out what you think might be your final words. “S—sounds a lot like you’re talking about yourself.”

He flinches at your words, the leer once etched onto his face a faulty circuit. “How dare you,” he snarls, tightening his grip on the blade. Blame it on your delirium, but it is almost as it wrings the blood on the steel, causing it to seep further into the fabric of your blouse (despite how desperately the cloth of your shirt clings to your skin, it seems to drink in the pour of blood as if parched). “You ungrateful, stubborn girl — you know nothing of power.”

Bravado. One would view your father to be a composed, successful man; but you are his daughter, no matter how much it pains you to admit it — and so you can see the cracks (bravado) in his facade just as easily as you can put up yours. One would see a broken man. You just see evil brimming in flames through the cracks of his skin.

“I know… I know enough,” you manage, voice barely clawing above a whisper. “And I know power just as much as you know selfishness.”

He winces, pulling the blade back as if to strike once more, but for once, you are quicker. With a surge of adrenaline, you ball your left hand to reduce the strain on your right, and relish in the momentary satisfaction the crack of bone brings as your fist meets his chin.

Your father staggers back as if drunk, and you squint at the notice of him diverting the direction of his heels, almost admitting defeat, admitting his plan of escape. Foolish; he had never changed his ways — mostly because you never told him that his cowardice always stayed with him. Because he always left.

Your blade is but a few steps away from you, and so you wriggle your arm with a sort of hastiness you never thought you had. It almost seems to increase in distance the more you reach for it, the sheen of the curved dagger dulling in tandem with your effort. With your eyelids shut in an attempt to regain some semblance of strength, your fingers finally brush against metal, and you grasp it with a disregard for your grip around the sharp edge. 

You look up, and panic. Managing another blow to his ankle, a shard of ice manifests from your hand. Aimed at his Achilles heel, you shut your left eye. The shard veers off course, slicing just shy of its mark. Shit. His scream of agony resounds like an orchestra in your ears.

Taking advantage of his disorientation, you clutch at the wound, chewing on your lip to muffle the screams that threaten to burst uncontrollably from the very depths of your throat. Pain ripples through every ounce of your being, but you force yourself to stand, weighing on your left heel. 

The chill of more unforgiving ice shoots from the tips of your fingers, wrapping snuggly around the ankles of the man who shoots you an indiscernible stare. Sometimes I forget I can do that, you think, loitering around the cool glow of blue around your waist. He’s backed against a wall, legs frozen into the ground, and there’s no where he can run to.

“You underestimate me, Father,” you grit, bringing your blade to his neck, the anxious pounding of his heart made obvious by a tense vein acting as a metronome of his unadmitted fear. “I am not my mother. And I certainly am not you.I’ve worked my way up the ranks fair and square.” 

The unbothered facade doesn’t hold up as well as you’d like, and a quiver leaves your lips. 

His glare reflects back into your own, and instead of a witty remark, he only scoffs. “Fair and square? Watch your mouth,” he tuts, shaking his head in disbelief. “Madame Lavigne. Willingly giving up the House of Moreau for nobodies like the Lavignes. And the Neuvillette name!”

“At least my mother died a death of honour,” you mumble, seething with blinding rage, that, under the blanket of irrationality, tells you her death was not of honour. It was of humiliation. 

To be cursed wealth and to raise a child birthed out of wedlock — that is a legacy of no worth. 

To claw at the decadent marble floors stained by a person in which carries himself with the arrogance of man, the sinful coin of those left bloodied under the heel of his boots, is degrading in its whole entirety.

A cruel, spiteful quirk of his lip morphs the wrinkles of his skin into a wicked mocking of his age, and he shivers with rage. “And you think you will?”

The blade at his neck falters, and so does your will. Blood trickles down your face, and even more down your legs, burgundy reveries tracing their course down to the very pads of your heel. “If that’s the question you choose to ask, I don’t think you know me at all.” 

He tips his head back (as if he could go any further, given the distance between his skull and the wall), letting the blood drip in the absence of a dagger. “I think I do.” “P — prove it.” Your vision falters for a sudden, lurching moment, and you find yourself digging your feet deeper into the grooves of the city tarmac. 

“Kill me then,” he commands, the authority of conman and a father blurred in the dim light of night. 

“You’re making me prove I know you well enough,” Your voice lilts. “That is not what I asked.”

He persists, voice now a constant demand echoing amongst the other phantoms of the same voice, except this time, his tangible voice. “Stupid girl. Kill me.”

You should know that your father is the last person to do what you ask — but can you blame yourself? That’s all you’ve ever wished for. All you’ve ever prayed for.

(but could you call it a prayer? another, more foolish version of you sounds. it says: a prayer is whatever you say on your knees.)

With all the strength you have left, you press deeper into his skin, until you feel it give way with a pool of blood. Another push, and he’d be dead. Perhaps you’d be, too. Killing him won’t stop your own bleeding.

The teeth that anchor your tortured gasps give way to an unbidden dam of tears, each sob a betrayal of your own will. It flows — the pain — in salty rivulets, ebbing in silent streams down your bloodied cheeks. Why do you show sadness in the face of a man that just so happened to be the cause behind your own assassination? To this, you have no answer.

His expression sours into that of a grimace. “You’re weak,” is what he chokes out, gulping for air to spit out more words you think will haunt you for all the days you are blessed (cursed) to live.

“You disappoint me.”

It’s childish — how you awaited the next words with the manner of your old habit: rehearsing his lines in your head. You always find that they’re not quite what you expected.

And in that moment, your realisation comes in grim, gnawing waves. The two of you have come to an agreement; and for this you are somewhat bitterly grateful.

You would never kill your father.

This does not mean you aren’t entitled to feel rage. Rage for what he had just done to you. Rage for what he did. 

Archons, you’re struggling to stand because he just drove a blade through your stomach.

And so you give him one last warning by wrenching the dagger out of your abdomen and mirroring the action to his kidney.

His scream is no longer an indulgence, but an overdose. Your mouth parts to shoot another jab, but you find you have nothing else to say. This does not stop you from searching his eyes for an answer, and within their depths, you find everything you need.

Your knees threaten to buckle, but you make yourself a promise not to show yourself weaker than you already are. Sliding with the tips of your toes, your mind springs to make a choice. You aren’t bothered enough to turn and have your father watch you return to your house. Clorinde lives too far off the city walls.

There is only one person you can think of. And with a thawing, yet stiff heart, you pick the kindest of the three evils.

It is safe to conclude that the Iudex of Fontaine has found himself mired in more distress than revelation on Lucien Moreau.

Moreau’s reputation in society is nothing short of a good, upstanding citizen — a man shooting his way up the ranks through very legitimate means. According to accounts, his dealings in business are only transacted through honest income — his wealth easily to link — traced back from esteemed family fortunes and heirlooms. The house of Moreau has always been in favour of the public.

Every document on Moreau’s particulars state the same thing: businessman; trader on occasion; wealthy by inheritance. Businessman, trader on occasion, wealthy by inheritance. All sixteen syllables of those words recur in an agonising mantra as he pores further into the records — because how can Neuvillette ever hope to protect you if there’s nothing incriminating on him?

He’s simply a man who specialises in exports.

The Iudex’s frustration can only mount as his fingers rake in a dance through his already mussed hair. Searching relentlessly for inconsistencies, he finds nothing but a man poised to perfection. But Neuvillette, the Ordainer of Justice, should know full well that no man is perfect. Not even him.

From trade logs to financial statements, connections, he finds his search fruitless. 

So Neuvillette comes to a conclusion: he is not to achieve anything driven in such a state of lassitude. He draws in a sharp breath, slips the documents into a file, places it to the top of the stack of cases, and leaves.

He adjusts his hair at the foot of the office door, and realises that he is the only source of sound in the whole of the Palais. The tips of his ears suggest a sharper edge to his hearing, and though it’s somewhat true, he wonders if this is where his age comes to attack his senses. A little birdie would suggest the eerie quiet of the night is a much more unsettling endeavour than one of crickets. Although Neuvillette is not one for superstition, he still takes this thought into consideration as he tugs his glove further up his sleeve, briefly recalling your anthology of fallacy perched on one of your shelves.

A creak sounds from one of the hinges, and his eyes draw into slits, as if to hear better. How awfully peculiar, he thinks; his hands aren’t anywhere near the knob.

Another creak comes to manifest in the door’s screws, and another, and another, until it gives way under the weak weight of whatever’s on the other end. He fully expects a bull to come barreling through, but he sees… you?

What a sight. You’ve come to crawl to sit against the doorframe for support, clutching tightly around the small of your waist. The blazer you’d worn earlier today is nowhere to be found, leaving you in nothing but a soaked dress shirt clinging onto every morsel of your skin — and pants, of course. Bloodied and bruised, your lips twitch into a dazed smile. 

“Hey.”

“Mon — [Name], who did this to you?” His first instinct is to pull you up and bring you to the couch, but judging from your state, it would be far more agonising than if you were to just lay where you are. 

With the back of your palm, you wipe the crimson staining the corners of your mouth. “What does it matter? I would still bleed if you knew.” 

Neuvillette squats down to level his gaze to yours, before his attention dips to the blood seeping from a gash from your side. Against his accord, he winces. 

A breathless chuckle escapes through the gaps in your teeth. “That bad?”

“No, no, not at all. Let me help you,” he says, watching the way your head tips, almost submitting to the loss of blood. In a frenzy, he reaches out to cup your face, tapping your cheek to stir your eyes open. “Whatever you do, do not close your eyes, not now.”

Your forehead crinkles in distaste, but you force yourself awake anyway. He reaches underneath you, touch feathering lightly around your figure. “No — I’ll — I’ll stain your robes,” you deny, muttering helplessly, clenching your fingers around his arm. 

Does she not recall I’ve had another robe made after I gifted her my own? he frowns, a pinch amused at the thought.

“Then let it stain my robes,” he assures, throat bobbing in boyish anticipation. Your head struggles under the effort of you nodding, and so he wastes no time in scooping you up, the warmth of your beading blood soaking through his clothes.

(He thinks he’s just been cleansed with the ichor of a goddess, but surely the impartial Judge Neuvillette mustn't say such things, lest the Archons realise where his heart truly lies. Blasphemy! he thinks they shout.)

Your lids threaten to fall under the weight of exasperation, and so, with a light poke to your temple, you are disturbed by Neuvillette’s act of keeping you awake. The groan that grows to morph into a whimper brings the Iudex to stutter in his tracks; what should he do? Should he cool you down?

He comes to a drawing conclusion that it would be best to set you down on the leather couch before choosing his next course of action. With all softness, he cups the back of your head, slowly laying you down. His soaked hands abandon their hold on you, and given your lapse in judgement, you shudder at the loss of warmth. 

Neuvillette pretends to not notice it.

He turns his back to you, rummaging through his drawer, his hands coming away with a cluster of gauze. Multiple things slip from his shaking grip, and it takes an idiot to realise why: he is panicking, afraid (and for the first time in his life, a solid verdict cannot dictate how to heal his injured wife).Reaching for more, the cadence of an angel commands him to stop.

“Neuv… Neuvillette,” you sigh, eyes clenched tight in light of your bleeding. If he hadn’t known any better, he would’ve turned as fast as the words leaving your lips. 

Orpheus had fallen victim to it with Eurydice, and Neuvillette had once doubted his integrity. In all renditions, Orpheus turns because her silence has driven him mad; he turns because he thinks they have triumphed; he turns on instinct at the sound of her stumble.

For if all it would’ve taken was for him to resist that backward glance, why did he falter? 

But now he knows why. And he hates that he does.

“I know, [Name]. It will be alright.” 

You let out another noise, and this time it’s an agonising scream that tears the very bases of your diaphragm. 

You certainly are no Eurydice, and he certainly isn’t Orpheus. 

And regardless, he turns.

He rushes, but he feels that his pace is sluggish, comically slow. Your hand is in his before you can even blink, but nothing beats the feeling of your father's blade embedded in you like some sort of morbid heirloom. This is one battle scar you wish not to put on display.

Neuvillette makes space for himself on the couch, his focus trailing down the streams of blood that begin to crack as they dry. He resorts to another solution, but for whatever reason, he thinks you wouldn’t be partial to it.

“I can meld this wound shut, but I must ask you to steel yourself of the pain. Do you believe you could endure it?” He searches your pained, constricted look for a response, and believes he finds one.

With desperate eyes, you nod. However hard you try to avoid his look, it still bores into you, almost relentlessly.

“Just — hold onto me should the pain become too much to bear.” He still has a layer of cloth to get through, and he fears you wouldn’t like it. So he asks. “May I — ahem — undo your…”

“Archons, just do whatever you have to do.” Noted. Extreme cases of duress do not appear to shut your brattish tongue.

He works gently at the buttons of your dress shirt, prying the cloth apart to reveal an absolutely gnarly sight of grime. Looking past the blooming bruise around the perimeter, he places one hand around the curve of your waist to steady his other hand, which glows, almost neon in the light.

Pinching the fingers of his right hand together, he mimics the thread of a stitch through your skin; and as he diverts his eyes, he still sees you, brimming with something more than hurt. Lady Furina once corrected him — said that hurt was not anguish. 

Anguish. What a strange word for such a strange feeling.

He strains his hand that hovers over your abdomen, and you bite into your palm to muffle your cries. Neuvillette’s eyes flit to you just in time to catch your act of fruitless respite — and without his usual calculations, he offers his hand, beginning to trip over his own words as if he’s never spoken before.

“Uhm. Here, you can squeeze here.” 

If things were any different, he would’ve smiled the moment you registered the lack of sophistication in his diction (well, he thinks you do; but that’s enough for him). However, things are the same, and instead, he’s drowning in the tenderness of your agony. A playfulness buried under the need for survival.

To his surprise, you reach for his wrist — causing him to almost lose his focus, and it’s already showing! The blue glow emanating from his right dims immediately ever so slightly at the little distraction: you.

Just before the skin’s fully stretched taut and the wound is melded closed, you let another grunt of pain. 

“Did I do something?” Neuvillette asks, a little too frantic — even to his liking.

You squeeze harder on his wrist. “I think my fa— assailant poisoned the blade.”

“Do not worry. I may not be Sigewinne, but I know how to work my way around poison.”

Your chest rises in a short-lived sweetness of a laugh before you shrink back again, grimacing in pain. “I sure would hope you do.”

“Alright, I hereby suspend any further laughing for the foreseeable future,” he chastises, albeit a little playfully. He does not recognise the twist in his chest that begins unravelling at the sight of you loosened up under some sort of anaesthetic of induced delirium.

You are sound asleep, and as far as he knows, this is the most peaceful he has seen you; other than when you were passed out in your office. Similar circumstances, different couch. You sure do love your couches.

He hadn’t moved one bit, subjecting himself to a most unpleasant position on the leather seat. Given the limited legroom, he’d considered bringing you to one of the guest rooms, but he didn’t intend on disturbing your slumber, either.

Given the way you’re frozen stiff, he assumes you haven’t had rest like this in weeks. He takes meticulous steps in cleaning the blood from your cheek, and even more scrupulous effort at the tear of your lip, curved in a perpetual frown. He worries if he hurts you, even in slumber.

God, even leaving his office to search for antiseptic ailed him to the point where he constantly looked to see if you were fine. He worried to wake you even when the cotton pads reached to clean the blood underneath your fingernails, the dried tears that never fell from the cliff of your eyebags.

He lets the wads of cotton pile in the corner of the couch, scooting closer to get a clearer view of your face. Even dirtied, your skin glows like porcelain in the dim light — and he doesn’t even realise what he’s doing until you shift your sleep.

Neuvillette, Chief Justice of Fontaine, does not know the truth of power ballads and poems. He does not know how to reenact what mortals love to speak of. Somehow, he manages to find all his answers in you.

He just doesn’t know if you find the answers in him.

Rain stirs from the outside, pattering violent drums against the windows, before eventually reaching into the confines of Neuvillette’s heart and ripping them open. To the naked eye, he is just tending to a wound. To the trained eye, he hopes they see a man tending to a wound.

Leaning closer to wipe the fresh blood that begins to bloom once again, he moves to the slope of your nose, then to your brow, and further, and further upwards. His lips threaten to meet the temple of your face, exigent, brimming with want. Neuvillette has never learnt how to want.

Before he can draw any closer, your eyes flutter open, and he frantically acts as though he’s in the midst of cleaning your face (he briefly argues that kissing is an act of sanitisation, though he knows full well he’s conning himself).

Your glassy gaze peeks through your lashes, meeting Neuvillette’s stare in a solemn greeting. 

What does one say to someone who has awoken in the early hours, just shy of midnight? Good morning? Good night? Whatever the dilemma is, it washes away at the sound of your voice breaking the wall of silence. “It’s okay. Go on, do what you were going to do.”

“I was merely tending to your injuries.”

“You know what I mean.”

Is there anything in the Fontainian Legal Codex that states anything of a divorce prompted by terrible romantic advancements? Because if there isn’t, he might be the sole inspiration for a new addition to a five-century-old book of law.

Your lips thin in drowsy impatience before bringing a hand to delicately trace his chin, guiding him to you with the touch of what one might mistake for a divine atlas. It’s soft beneath your calloused palm, almost reverent, the act of navigating the map etched in the fine lines of your skin a fervent current.

It is sweet, almost. Doing what is encouraged, but what is also prohibited — your own rules broken by a sick hand. Your sick hand. You are supposed to be strong, firm. But firm be damned if this is the only time you can indulge in regretful desires before your father kills you — properly this time.

Neuvillette’s lips against yours is a gentle war, the first touch of dawn, strings of sun prodding you awake.

He feels you lean forward for more, but he presses you down, afraid of hurting you any further. Desire is an odd, odd thing. Why the tug at heart? Some part of him tells him it’s simply guilt. But emotions aren’t simple.

You are the first to pull away, but not enough to rid yourself of him. 

“I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry if I confuse you. I am confused myself.” What you really think of is the begrudging mercy of your blade, the one set to slit the throat of your own blood. But you are weak, you tell yourself, succumbing to the horror of your father’s prophecy. For you truly are frail, and that front you put up won’t hold forever. 

He, however torturous, manages to make space between the two of you. However far he searches, he finds no semblance of culpability. That’s what makes it wrong. Impartial as he may be, he has just erred in judgement, but he thinks it’s okay. That it’s justifiable.

But is love justifiable in the face of court?

a/n: aaa KISS KISS KISS ive been dying to write this chapter for a while!! I thought it would be best to write the majority of the chapter in neuvillette's pov to really build it… I thought it'd be nice to explicitly talk about reader's impulsiveness and fluctuating moods. and I think we know where she gets it from ermmm mm m please lmk what u think of this chapter n and feel free to write your predictions hehe

taglist : @sek0ya, @souxiesun, @11111112222222sblog @floffytofu

[esther-dot]

Pride & Prejudice AUs

You Look Like A Movie, You Sound Like A Song 2k @jonsastan

She had met Jon Targaryen there. It was a complete accident and at first, Sansa thought, a complete misfortune. He was drenched from an impromptu swim in his pond, and she was flustered, not wanting him to think she was vying for his attention. But as she had attempted to make her hurried escape, he had found her and invited her parents to stroll with him around the gardens. He had offered her kindness, and thoughtfulness, he had talked with her parents, discussed the present state of politics with her father and chatted knowledgeably about gardens with her mother.

A Certain Step Toward Falling in Love 2k by @comma-splice

Jon Snow returns North after departing abruptly one year ago.

The Bennet Sisters - a P&P AU comic by @melinaillustrations

P&P Gifset by @sardoniyx, P&P Gifset by @dcbicki, P&P Gifset by deactivated

Persuasion AUs

Who Loves Longest, Who loves Best 1k by @ladysaruka

After refusing him years ago, Sansa sees her cousin once again.

Persuasion edits one, two , three by @glueck

Mansfield Park AUs

Half Agony, Half Hope 10k, incomplete by @noqueenbutthequeeninthenorth

After the death of his disgraced mother, Jon Snow is taken in by his uncle's family, the Starks of Winterfell. He grows up alongside his cousins, including the beautiful and kind-hearted Sansa, but knowing he can never truly be their equal, he fears he has little choice but to leave the place he's come to call home. corresponding moodboard

Catch Me If You Can 34k (P&P and Emma inspired too) by @ben-barnes-is-my-husband

Set in the countryside of Regency England, Jon Snow has been in love with Sansa Stark for as long as he can remember. He wants her as his wife, but Sansa is not sure she wants to be a wife at all, and she knows she doesn’t want to marry the pragmatic and boring Jon. She’d rather help Theon Greyjoy come out of his shell and play matchmaker. But then Jaime Lannister comes to town and Jon finds he has some serious competition for Sansa…

Moments Like This (So Few and Far Between) 3k by @lydiamartenism

Mama and Papa left the house to go pick up Jon, the son of her father’s oldest friend. Three weeks ago, the phone rang and their parent’s announced that Jon would be coming to live with them since his mother passed away and had no one else to take care of him.

Northanger Abbey AUs

The Lady in White 7k by @kissed-by-circe

Dragonstone Manor had looked like it had woken only a few days earlier, after a slumber of several years, if not decades, and Sansa had felt like the heroine of a gothic novel, a mysterious, naive girl with a dark past or a dark secret, arriving at the opening scene of the most dramatic story of all times. Or Sansa as Katherine Morland in a Jane Eyre Setting.

Sense & Sensibility AUs

In Such Jocund Company 2k @maybetwice

It would be no matter at all for Captain Snow to return to the north after seven months’ absence, had Sansa’s heart not changed entirely in that time. A remix of Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility.

Emma & Clueless AUs

if i loved you less 2k by @ladystarks

Her father has, often and fondly, told Sansa that she and Mr. Snow bite at each other like wolves, but he hardly understood that their verbal sparring was as exhilarating as a sport well done, or a match coming together under Sansa’s skilled hands. corresponding artwork

Sansa: A NOVEL in Five Parts 15k by @imagineagreatadventure

Sansa Stark, handsome, clever, rich, hopes to establish herself as her town's foremost matchmaker. After seeing her governess Miss Shae married to the rich and clever Mr. Tyrion Lannister, she feels as though she deserves that title. Her dear friend and cousin, Jon Targaryen, heartily disagrees and is quite proven right when Sansa sets her sights on marrying off her newest and dearest friend Jeyne Poole to the vicar Mr. Baelish.

A Baldwin and a Betty 2k

Jon drives to the Valley to give Sansa a ride home.

Emma AU art by @dcvahkiin and Clueless art by wolvesofspring

Emma Gifset by @dcbicki

General Regency AUs

No Notion of Loving by Halves 2k @darkmagyk

The Stark cousin, Jon, goes home to discuss matters concerning the entail on Winterfell. In which Jon is a really good guy, and I flagrantly disregard how entails actually work.

Manners and Misunderstandings 114k, WIP by @x-winging-it

The Stark sisters have travelled all the way to London to begin their first season, leaving behind the familiar world of Winterfell Hall and a disappointed Jon Stark- with whom the eldest Miss Stark has been convinced to break off a connection. In London they join family friends the Baratheons and the fashionable young Tyrells in a world of romance and balls. Meanwhile Gendry Waters has been plucked out of the life he knew to become his ailing father's heir, Robb, Theon and later Rickon embark on military careers in the Napoleonic wars, and their aunt Lysa makes a foolish marriage. When tragedy hits the family, they must come together, learning how manners may hide monsters and the best people are often those misunderstood by society.

You Could Draw Me to the Gallows 2k by @azulaahai

After having eloped from home with and subsequently been abandoned by wealthy heir Joffrey Baratheon, Sansa Stark refuses to come home. Having caused a scandal that is sure to prevent her from ever marrying, she is adamant not to bring further shame to the family name by returning to Winterfell. Until, that is, a visitor comes to her - Jon Snow, an old family friend, determined to bring Sansa with him back north. He has a solution to offer her - a proposal with the potential to change both of their lives.

A Perilous Dance Indeed & fiercely, tenderly and eternally 27k by @amymel86

He should either look away or interrupt this improper little meeting, he knows. For some unfathomable reason, he does neither. The two look far too intimate for Jon’s liking, although he feels he should have come to expect it to be so. A romantic like Sansa – however proper she is – would simply adore overt flirtations and a secret tête-à-tête. Even from where he stands, Jon can see the way in which she has stars set in her eyes like precious cut stones. He only hopes the man for whom they shine is deserving of it. *** Cousin Jon is to inherit Winterfell Manor and its estate after the untimely death of his uncle leaves a widow and two daughters. Sansa is expectant of an imminent proposal from her dear beau, Harrold Hardyng and everything will be absolutely, stunningly, utterly fine.

Waiting for Your Slippered Feet 49k by @wintry-ritu

Lady Sansa Stark has always looked forward to her come-out season in London, the balls, the rides in Hyde Park, evenings at Vauxhall, the romance and wonder of it all. Never had she imagined that it would happen like this, with her parents gone and her younger siblings underfoot. Now, all Sansa wants is for it all to be over quickly so she can get back to Winterfell. She needs a kind, amiable man who will be brave enough to take on his wife's siblings. That should not be so hard to find in London, should it? And while she is most grateful for Jon Targaryen's help, why must her cousin be so distracting?

To Make You Love Me 16k incomplete and orphaned

When Ned Stark dies, he leaves behind his wife, two daughters, and his family’s estate at Winterfell. What follows is a series of unwanted marriage proposals, houseguests who far outstay their welcome, and Arya parading around in a comically large hat and an oil-paint mustache as she declares herself the new ‘Lord of Winterfell,’ in an attempt to dissuade her sister’s suitors. However, when Mr. Jon Snow — their distant cousin and Ned’s appointed heir to the estate — comes to call, an oil-paint mustache is hardly enough to deter him from courting Miss Sansa Stark. And she thinks, perhaps, that a man could marry her for love more than her claim, after all.

Mine for a Season 101k by @vivilove-jonsa

Colonel Jon Targaryen is a single man in possession of a good fortune who claims no interest in finding himself a wife. With his war wounds, he thinks no young lady would want him anyway for anything beyond the allure of his pocketbook. Fortunately and unbeknownst to him, Fate has chosen to find a wife for him and will even deliver her right to his doorstep. Taking on the responsibility of shepherding a young lady about for a Season in London is not at all what Jon had wished to do but he had accepted out of a sense of familial duty. However, once he meets Sansa again after only having met her years ago as a child, he may not consider it a duty so much as a torment.

a lady of winterfell 185k, WIP by @wandering-scavenger

She bit her lip and exhaled shakily, “If you are so sickened by the prospect of marrying me, we should be able to obtain an annulment easily enough with your father’s connections.” “I will do no such thing.” he snapped, refusing to look at her. Sansa had never felt more rejected than she did at that moment. Her past experiences of being humiliated at the hand of Joffrey did not feel as painful as this. Even so, she could not allow him to see the weakness in her, not now. “I will not be left out, Jon.” she said, tilting her chin up to look down at him. He grimaced. They were silent for longer than she cared to count, but each second that he did not speak chipped away at her resolve and her ability to withhold her tears. Jon did not want her, and she could not blame him. Who could ever want her? It should not have distressed her as much as it did. She was never his favourite sister, she who treated him as a stranger since she was old enough to understand what a bastard was. A tear slipped down to her face until she tasted the salt of it on her lips. “If we marry, we will remain so.” corresponding gifset

moth's wings 47k by @cellsshapedlikestars

Sansa was determined to convince her aunt to let Arya debut, which is how she finds herself in her current predicament. “Who is this secret gentleman who has asked for your hand?” Aunt Lysa asks, and Sansa knows from her tone that she does not believe. (She has every right not to believe, for it is not true.) And then Sansa does something very, very foolish. She says a name. “The Duke of Dragonstone!” Or, Sansa fakes an engagement so that Arya can debut and marry the man she loves. The only problem? Her fake fiance just so happens to be in the city when he was not supposed to be.

An Understanding 2k, WIP by @thewolvescalledmehome

At the start of Sansa Stark's third London Season, she decides it will be her last. She will secure a husband by the end of the final ball. Jon Snow is new to the London Season and high society. He never expected to inherit money or property from an unknown uncle. When they meet at a ball, Sansa gets an idea.

you're in my blood like holy wine 72k

Sansa finds it difficult to look at Jon’s face, with its weathered lines and cragginess. It is the face of the North and a face that northerners trust; the face of Sansa’s brothers and her father, who had been loved and respected by their tenants as their forefathers had been when they were kings. How can Sansa feel anything but resentment, looking into that face and knowing that all of her years of hard work will never earn her the respect that that profile engenders within seconds? But she does. It is a small, burning coal of something that must be smothered.

PRE CANON - WESTERN - FAIRYTALES - LITTLE WOMEN - HOLIDAY - SEASON 6 ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - THE GIRL IN GREY - FREE CITIES - FAIRYTALE PART II - POLITICAL MARRIAGE - SALTY TEENS - POST CANON

[himeryu]

Novels 02 (Kamisato Ayato x Reader)

CH NOTES: arranged marriage, emotional cheating, neglect, unhealthy relationship, sad ending, hurt no comfort, heavy angst, slight ooc

PAIRING: Ayato x GN!Reader (Fem terms might be used accidentally)

SUMMARY: Ayato x Fiance! Reader but you’re a hopeless romantic to your fiance who is in love with another.

A/N: inspired by Movies by Conan Gray

... navigation masterlist previous next

I. “Why do you keep avoiding Yuki?” Ayato says with contempt, making you flinch at the tone of his voice. Kamisato Ayato is angry, all because of her. Your heart drops at the thought, yet you can’t help but feel a surge of negative emotions. Recently there have been rumors circulating about Kamisato Ayato and Kaedahara Yuki: rumors of Infidelity. 

You heard of the rumors accidentally during a social party. Before the mask came crashing down, Kamisato Ayato would clarify every rumor regarding the commission. However, despite hearing the distasteful rumor in-person, he stayed still, deciding to stay ignorant. 

You stood still as you stared at him in disbelief. Thoughts of questions about his purpose and why he is feigning ignorance circulate in your head. You felt ill, those rumors would damage his and your reputation, something that you both hold dear. But, he stood still, almost like he was enjoying the rumors. 

Why? why? WHY?

That was until everything came into place. You snapped your head away from his figure, painfully smiling to yourself as you finally understood why he was feigning ignorance. The gossipers would continue till Lady Kaedahara Yuki would personally tell them that it isn’t true. Curiously, you glanced at the commissioner, and oh how you would regret doing that. 

His smile was forced, and his gaze held a bit of disappointment. You stare at him in disbelief, your heart shattering even more. God, Kamisato Ayato broke your heart once more, what did you do to deserve this? 

But, you can’t help but laugh at the irony.

You and Kamisato Ayato have one thing in common: you both enjoy your delusions of being loved by the person you wish they hold you dear. 

Kamisato Ayato’s love for Kaedahara Yuki is unrequited. 

“[Name], I asked you a question,” says Ayato, snapping you back to reality. 

“Ah. I’m sorry, I was just lost in thought,” you continue, putting on a small smile to hide your thoughts, “What did you say?”

“Why do you keep avoiding Yuki?”

God, he says her name with so much endearment it’s making you want to cry. 

“Oh? I have never avoided Lady Yuki,” you reply with a smile. 

It’s a lie, of course. You have been avoiding the former Kaedahara heir ever since her return to Inazuma. Though, it isn’t exactly avoiding, it is more like not meeting her unless needed. Furthermore, you and Kaedahara Yuki have not been acquainted before, so there was no reason to greet her. 

However, the truth is, you can’t face her— your fiance's one-sided crush. She’s beautiful, charismatic and a person blessed by God, everything that you are not. 

You fear that one day, jealousy would taint your mind and only her highness, the shogun, would know what you would do. After all, jealousy is a deadly disease that taints both the mind and heart, a disease that could only be cured by love. But, you don’t have that luxury, do you?

Ayato sighs with frustration as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Whatever you say,” he dismisses your defense, “Don’t make her feel bad ever again.”

And so, he leaves, leaving you once more once again.

II. As a child, you have always dreamed of a grand wedding. You, standing side by side with your lover as they look at you with a loving expression as you swear your love in front of all your friends and family; And the wedding garment of your dreams adorning your body, making you radiate like you bathed in fairy dust. 

The grand wedding of your dreams should be the day you would only feel happiness, and nothing else. 

So, you await for the day that someone would give you the wedding of your dreams, someone who would give you the world just because you asked for it. And the day you met your fiance, you believed that he would be the one to do so.

Yet impressions are different from their true human nature. The impressions you perceive from people are nothing but ideas you created in your head to fill in the lack of information you have regarding that person. The impressions you formed would then form a mask that would cunningly cover your judgment towards that person, staying ignorant to his ‘true’ nature. 

Kamisato Ayato’s ‘mask’ was never there, your perception of people was just too naive and immature to handle a cunning man like the commissioner; it could not perceive Kamisato Ayato’s ‘true’ nature. But, who are you to blame? That man is cunning like a snake, crawling onto your skin as it makes you succumb to naivety. Therefore, you got yourself fooled and your hopes went up all because of your naivety and ignorance; Your impression on that man ruined your life.

Your dream wedding shattered in an instance, and your dreams for a happy future disappeared. Life has never been a rosy path with Archons smiling down at you as you obtain your happiness– so your experience is only natural, right? 

‘This is reality,’ you would say to yourself, trying to cope with your indescribable distress, ‘Life should be nothing like the novels I’ve read.’ 

Your love for reading starts to dissipate, replaced with a sense of hatred. You hate reading, it was the reason why you were so naive, so caught up with the illusions that you ruined your perception towards people.

You can’t do this anymore, you can’t star in a play you didn’t want to be in. 

You have to leave, you need to. 

You would rather die than spend the rest of your life chained towards someone who sees you as a nuisance in his unrequited love. 

But, How?

How can you, a sheltered child who only knows how to drown themselves in fantasies, run away from your family, friends…

Ayato?

You pitifully laugh at yourself, tears welling up in the corners of your eyes. 

You’re pathetic.  

You need to change. 

III. “I’m worried about Master [Surname],” Ayaka confesses with her head down. Ever since the Irodori festival, she has seen less and less of her future in-law which makes her worried. Kamisato Ayaka adores you, much to her brother’s surprise. The two would usually converse over tea about the latest release from Yae’s Publishing House, laughing and joking around about how the latest chapter was out of your expectations. 

Kaedahara Yuki listens to the younger Kamisato intently. Truth be told, she is curious about Kamisato Ayato’s, her childhood friend, Fiance, after all, she has never conversed with the aristocrat. Furthermore, you would be wed into a family that she considers her own, so who could blame her? Though, she has heard of you from a distance: the high-ranking aristocrat from the prestigious [Surname] family who is known to be collected and benevolent, delicate like a flower on top of a lake. 

Every time she asks Kamisato Ayato about his fiance, he would brush it off and discuss their childhood memories, dismissing her curiosity. She would press Kamisato Ayato for details about his fiance, even begging him to introduce her to her. But as usual, Kamisato Ayato would dismiss her attempts, making her feel down. 

But, if the oldest Kamisato can’t give her any information, shouldn't she ask from the youngest?

“I haven’t seen Master [Surname] since the Irodori Festival and it is making me worried,” Ayaka sighs, her expression down. 

“Have you tried contacting them?”

“I did try to request an audience with them, but the servants said that they wish to be alone,” Ayaka pouts. “Have you ever seen them, Lady Yuki?”

Kaedahara Yuki blushes in embarrassment, “Oh Ayaka. Please don’t use ‘Lady’ to me anymore. I am no longer part of nobility.”

Ayaka giggles. 

And so, Kamisato Ayaka stops talking about you.

Kaedahara Yuki isn’t cunning, so she does not press the youngest Kamisato anymore answers despite her curiosity; Though, if it was Ayato, she would continue to demand answers till her throat sores. 

However, if an opportunity ever occurs where she could meet you, she would grasp that opportunity immediately, paying no mind to the effects it has on others.

IV. “Aren’t you Master [Surname]?” ask Kaedahara Kazuha as you nervously avoid his gaze.

Oh fuck.

You messed up. 

For the first time, you decided to take a stroll on the streets of Inazuma late at night alone. You know this is a stupid decision, especially for someone as high as yourself. However, you needed a breather, and your family estate started to feel suffocating, so your only plan is to take a stroll alone. You knew your parents wouldn’t allow you to walk around the streets of Inazuma at night, especially without an escort, so sneaking out was only the option.

So, you hatched your plan. Though it was your first time sneaking out, you’ve read countless novels of the heroine running away to enjoy themselves in festivals. Hence, you have an idea of how to sneak out. 

It was 10:30 PM, nearing midnight. You disguise yourself using old clothes you stole from your servant, stripping all your jewelry in your possession, and only keeping a few silver coins. Sneakily, you slid past your servants and guards, climbing out of your estate’s wall. It took you a few tries due to your lack of physical strength; however, after some attempts, you succeeded. You quickly run away from your estate; The cool night breeze brushes your face as the song of the trees accompanies you on your journey. You smile to yourself-- for the first time in your life-- you felt free. 

However, your adrenaline rush was caught short as you spotted a man with silver hair in the distance. 

You tried your best to avoid him, but the man has the wind by his side. And so, here you are.

 

You awkwardly laugh, “Kaedahara Kazuha, it is a pleasure to meet you.” 

Kaedahara Kazuha stays quiet; his eyes are wide in shock as he notices your tattered clothing and unkempt appearance. You are a person of high regard, never in your life have you worn poor-quality garments and presented yourself unsightly. Even as a young child, Kaedahara Kazuha could only observe you from a distance due to the immense status gap, despite being a former aristocrat. Therefore, he can’t help but be shocked at your appearance. 

..

...

'Ah. I am doomed.' You thought. Today is your first time sneaking out of your estate, and you got caught. Sweat rolls down your cheek as you wait for the younger Kaedahara to reply. Numerous thoughts fill your mind as you wait, countless of which was fueled by anxiety. 

'What if he tells on me?' 'If he ever tells this to Ayato, would I be disposed of for being improper?' 'If my family finds out, I would never be allowed to step foot outside of my family estate.'

Your expression darkens as you fall into despair, realizing the gravity of the situation. For the first time, you felt free, no longer trapped in a well-decorated cage like an ornament for display. However, you got caught. 

Suddenly, Kaedahara Kazuha speaks. 

"Don't worry," he says as you slowly look up at him, "I won't tell anyone." Your mouth was slightly ajar, confused. "Huh?" You mutter. 

Kazuha smiles, "Everyone has their reasons for running away." 

"But I'm not running away," you refute. Kazuha looks at you confused, "Huh?" 

"I'm just here for a stroll," you state. 

"Ah." Kazuha rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed, "I apologize for the assumption."

"It's alright," you smile. 

An awkward silence fills the air as you two refrain from talking. Truth be told, this is Kaedahara Kazuha's first time conversing with you; moreover, he is not one to chat with children from other aristocratic families-- that was his sister's job. Due to this, he does not know what to say. 

Regardless, this does not stop him from worrying. Why? Probably because you are his former superior's fiance? Who knows. Furthermore, Kazuha knows better than to leave you alone at night. Though you are wearing old and poor-quality clothes, your aura screams "rich noble", which can make you a target for petty thieves. 

So, Kaedahara Kazuha makes a decision. 

"I won't tell anyone," He repeats. "However, please allow me to accompany you, master [Name]." 

a/n: crazy how this took me like a year to update lol sorry

taglist

@nanaoya @nokkoongie @local-mr-frog @mnn11ankamaaka @akiqvq @iiyumii @aloveablechaos @lily-blackstone @notlive06 @monexxuu @crowbird @cherlynono

[admrlthundrbolt]

Love From The Other Side (Bowser x Chubby Reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your kingdom had recently come on dire time. With the Koopa Kingdom having a vast army. Well who was Bowser to deny your family's pleads. Especially when you were being offered to him on a tempting platter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys, I'm back at it again. Don't think that I wasn't writing, I just found out I had an allergy. So I had to deal with that. But I'm back and with a cute Bowser story. I've wanted to write for him since the new Mario Bros movie. It wasn't until recently that I thought of a decent plot though. Any who I hope you enjoy.

---------------------------------------------------------

He was surprised at receiving a request for an audience with your kingdom. A trading kingdom from a far off port. He had seen your parents from time to time at galas or Royal conferences. They seemed to be respectable if not private people. What was most peculiar though, was your name in the letter. He had heard mentions of you of course. But outside of your own kingdom, no one had seemed to see you.

It may have been your presence that made his decision. Who was to say, either way, your family would be at his castle within a fortnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your hands fidget together as the carriage made its way down the rocky road. Glancing around you notice your mother frowning out the window. While you father was staring at you. Looking down quickly, you braced for a lecture.

“You know this is a last resort, don't you?” His gaze seemed to bore through you to your very soul.

Nodding you hoped that would be answer enough. As he didn't turn away, you said. “I do.” Though the whole situation only made you feel as if you were only an object.

A ghost of a smile fell on his face. Though it was as hollow as his next words. “I'm glad.”

Your mother's eyes narrowed as they surveyed the passing scenery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your families arrival rang throughout the castle. The Goombas were rushing around to do last second tidying. While Kamek ordered Koopas to finish the dinner preparations.

Bowser's eyes swept over the grounds until they landed on the colorful carriage. It had wonderful murals of coastal scenery. As well as being drawn by creatures that weren't quite fish or horse. He was eagar to see what other oddities your kingdom may have. Hearing a scuffle next to him, he looked down to see Bowser Jr. shuffling in excitement. It wasn't everyday someone visited the castle under pleasant circumstances. Smiling down at his son, he ruffled his hair affectionately.

The carriage parked in front of the king and the driver opened the door. As regal as ever, your father and mother stepped through the door. He was a moment from greeting them, when you appeared. Beautiful as anyone he had ever seen and full as an overripe fruit. You were the visage of a deity.

Your father cleared his throat causing Bowser to reluctantly look away from you. The man had a knowing yet somber expression on his face. While your mother was out right scowling. A sheepish look crossed your face as you joined your parents.

Putting on a more professional air, he waved his arm towards the castle. “Welcome, please come inside and rest in your rooms a while. Dinner will be ready soon.” With that he rushed inside, Jr. trailing behind him. All the while berating himself. Coming up with a plan to not make so much of a fool of himself at dinner. Not noticing how Jr. couldn't stop looking back at you admiringly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Charles are you sure this is the right decision? I mean did you see the way he was gaping at her.” You could hear your mother's complaints ringing through the room you had been shown to.

“Evie please, this was a descion that had to be made.” There was a tense silence that followed. “It's not as if we've forced her. You know better than anyone that no one can will her to do anything.”

This caused an uncomfortable pressure to build behind your eyes. Not wanting to hear about your parents thoughts on you. You swiftly entered the room. “Have they called us for dinner?” You had already heard the Koopa tell your parents it was ready. But it was easier to change the subject quickly and avoid their gaze this way.

Your father smiled and gave you a endearing smile that you weren't sure you deserved. “Yes, should we start making our way then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He sat at the head of the table. Desperately hoping that he didn't seem to eagar as your family approached. Jr. bounced in his seat to the right. To his shock you took the seat on his left. It was in this moment that he was glad that Kamek had suggested a smaller table. Something about it being a less intimidated and cozy gestured.

The first dish came out and only the sound of silverware filled the room. It wasn't until the main course came that the tension was broken by your father.

“I'm sure your curious as to why we've called for this audience.” His gaze felt piercing to the turtle tyrant.

His eyes flickered to you for a brief moment, before focusing on him. “I was surprised why such a distant kingdom would reach out.” Without knowing the reason for your visit, it felt like he had to walk on egg shells. Why were you here?

Rubbing a hand across his aged features, he said. “It is not under happy circumstances. We are receiving threats from a nearby kingdom. Are you familiar with the Eezla domain?”

He had to hold back a flinch. Even he had a hard time dealing with the war hungry dictator of a leader from there. It was no wonder your family had seeked out an audience with another kingdom. The only question was why his.

“He has come to us with a demand. Our daughter's hand in marriage or a battle for our ports.” His tone was weary.

Your gaze dropped to the table with dread. You wouldn't mind sacrificing your morals to save your people. But as the only heir for your family. It was an obvious ploy to take over the kingdom. You wouldn't have been surprised if your parent's death would have followed the potential ceremony.

“So instead we talked together on the matter and came to a new conclusion. It would be far more difficult if our daughter was wed to a more tolerable kingdom. Though they would need to have a formidable army.” He would have continued his eloquent explanation. If not for your mother's bitter interuption.

“She choose you. Can you believe that.” Her glare burned through him. “Out of all the options she had. You were her first pick.” Folding her arms over her chest, she resembled more closely a toddler than a queen.

Standing up quickly, you gave a hard stare to your mother. “It was the logical choice.” Looking away from her, your timid demeanor returned. “If the other party accepts that is.”

He could help but think that your gaze was as piercing as your father's. Though there was a graceful openness to you. He thought of Peach for a moment and had to keep a grimace off of his face. It had been a blow to his heart when she married Mario. Looking at you, it was like a golden opportunity had been dropped in his lap. “I do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an odd feeling to bid fairwell to your parents. But with your mother's distaste for the arrangement and time running out. It was better that they go start the ceremony preparations now. It was a relief to only have to make final decisions. Also that Bowser agreed to a wedding in your home lands.

Placing your ear against the door. No large footfalls could be heard and your shoulders sagged in relief. You shouldn't be avoiding your betrothed. On the other hand, if he asked about what your mother said. You just may die of embarrassment.

Just how was a sheltered princess supposed to explain to her newly betrothed about her powers. That the only reason the ruler of Eezla had found out you are a seerer. After that it wasn't long before he demanded for your hand. By choice or force. This had prompted you to shut yourself away and look for the best path. It hadn't taken long. The moment Boswer entered your visions, it was all but decided. The sight of his heart break was surprising. Followed by the tenderness he held for his son. He provided for his citizens, raising a fierce army.

A blush took over your face as you remembered your possible future together. Growing to care for one another. Parenting Bowser Jr. together, even visions of your own children. It was almost to much to handle, your face felt as if it was on fire.

Taking a deep breath, you gathered yourself. Stepping out the door, you bumped into a small figure. It was a shock to run into someone shorter than you. But a gasp escaped your mouth as you saw Jr. on the floor in front of you.

Scooping him up on your arms, you fussed. “Oh darling, I'm so sorry. I didn't notice you there. Are you ok?”

He beamed up at you and nodded quickly. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He got a new mama, she was super nice and pretty! “Are you coming to breakfast?”

Looking down at the sweet boy you hesitated. “Is your father there?”

Shaking his head, he said. “No, he had to go with Kamek. So I told him I would take you to breakfast.” He was bouncing in your arms. It made him a bit hard to keep a hold of.

So placing him down gently, you nodded. “Yes some food sounds good.” You felt guilty for avoiding him. But you thought some time apart may bury the comments your mother made.

Feeling a tug at your hand, you allowed the excited child to lead you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He couldn't keep his mind off of it. You had chosen him. Of all people why him? He could hardly pay attention to the map sprawled out before him. No matter how many times he told himself that knowing the enemy territory was important. His thought just couldn't stop straying to you.

Your sweet temperament and melodious voice. How well your plush form filled out your clothes. How you looked at him without any fear or animosity. You had chosen him.

Shifting his mind onto a task to aid you. Yes that's how he could keep himself on point. This was for you. The more he knew of his new enemies. The better he could protect you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn't see each other again until dinner that evening. You having spent the day with Jr., avoiding any thought of the large turtle. While he made battle strategy and his mind wouldn't stop returning to you.

It would have been a quiet meal, if not for the youngest participant. He animatedly talked about what you both had done that day. His father couldn't help his admiration for you growing. You obviously had already taken a special place in his son's life.

“Then I slipped off the stair.” Waving his arms around wildly, the pint size turtle almost tipped out of his chair. You both leaned forward, until he settled back down. Your face flushed as your eyes met. “But Ms. (Y/N) caught me with sparkles.”

Bowser's eyes widened, he hadn't been informed of you having magical ability. He wondered if it was anything like Kamek's spells. “I wasn't aware of you being a caster.”

Your face darkened as his attention was solely on you. “Not many people are. That's one reason my parents kept me from the public eye. With how rare magic users are and all.” He wanted to questioned you a bit more. But the subject seemed to make you more timid than usual. So instead he turned back to Jr. and listened to his day with you. Hopefully with time you would feel comfortable enough to open yourself up to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You couldnt stand it any longer. You had to tell him the truth. It felt deceitful to keep your ability from him. The day you were meant to be bound was fast approaching. You didn't want to start your married life together on such a sour note.

You steeled your nerves as you came upon the door to his private chambers. It was well past Jr.’s bedtime, so you knew interuptions were unlikely. Raising a fist you knock lightly, when no immediate answer came you were torn. A part of you was relieved to not have to deal with this quite yet. Still there was a throb of anxiety about waiting any longer. You battled with yourself to knock again or leave. Until the door swung open.

Bowser toweled off his firey hair as he looked down at you. It was an unlikely yet pleasant surprise to see you outside his chambers. Grinning down at you he invited you in. “Make yourself comfortable.”

As he left through another door, you glanced around the room. It was about as grand as you had imagined it. Lavish paintings and banners decorating the walls. Though an area was sectioned off for Jr.'s art. It was adorable and heartwarming to see how much he had saved. A flush coated your cheeks as you noticed the only place to sit was the large bed. It was a lavish setting, dark stained wood with deep red bedding. You felt a shy yet scandalous heat travel through you. It wouldnt be long before this would be your chambers as well. The very bed that you would share together.

You almost jumped out of your skin as he reentered the room.

“Sorry about that, you caught me after a shower.” His hair drooped in a freshly washed fashion. It was a look you hadn't had a chance to see yet. It was an odd, but endearingly boyish style. “What was it you wanted to discuss?”

“Oh I was um.” The blush spread deepening to your neck. It was one thing to come up with the resolve. But another to go through with the difficult task. Still you needed to do this, for both of your sakes. “I need to let you know the truth. Why I chose you that is.”

He watched you carefully. It was something that had been on his mind for a while. Who was he kidding, since it was mentioned. But as he watched you fidget in place, he couldn’t take the usual pleasure he got from others squirming. So instead, he sat next to you patiently and waited for you to continue.

Gathering all your courage, you spat it out. “I can see the future.” A stagnant silence filled the air. Each of you waiting for the other to break it.

He awkwardly shifted to get a better look at you. Was that why you had chosen him? Was he the best pick or did you settle. Gazing down at you, he took you in. Your flush full cheeks and eyes looking everywhere but him. Your soft body, if only you knew how much your plush form filled his dreams. Taking your warm hands into his own, he smiled genuinely. “So you saw us together?” You nodded. “Were we….” He paused not knowing how to put the next question.

You noticed his hesitation, it made you want to sigh in relief. It was nice to know that you weren't the only one having a difficult time navigating this. Tightening your hold on his hands you explained. How the leader of Eezla had found out about you being a mage. But the only thing he was interested in was your proficient seer abilities. His demand for your hand was met with refusal. He then threatened the lives of your people. This led you to searching for a solution, which turned out to be him.

Eyes wide he wanted to deny it all. “But I'm just as bad as he is. Why choose me over him?” He hated himself for bringing it up. But a part of him would feel worse if he didn't.

Shaking your head you glared at him. “You are nothing like that monster. I know you have a sorted past with the Mushroom Kingdom. But the moment Peach married you left well enough alone. Not to mention the way you care for Jr. and your citizens. And when we have our daughter, your eyes light up the first time you hold her.”

He stared at you with astonishment. “We have a daughter?” You cover your face mortified. Only to shriek in the next moment as he scoops you up and spins you around the room. Your screams turn into elated giggles as you relax in his arms. Pulling you closer he gazes into your lovely eyes and leans forward. You meet his lips in a tender kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things went well, pleasant conversation and sweet looks were exchanged. It seemed that things were going to work out. Until the Mushroom Kingdom caught wind of a damsel ‘trapped’ in Bowser's castle.

Mario suits up as his brother looks at him skeptically. “Are you sure you should go charging in there?”

The shorter man glared at him. It wasn't like he had a choice. The minute Peach heard some woman was there she threw a fit. Complaining about her time there and what she had to deal with. If it was her he wouldn't hesitate to rush over. Even if she was right, he just wanted to relax every once and a while. If it wasn't his new royal duties, it was his family back in Brooklyn. It felt like he hadn't had a day off in years.

Waving a hand at the other man, he said. “I'm just going to check things out. Not start a war or anything.”

With a weary nod he followed after his older brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As time was drawing closer for the wedding, you were pouring over the final details with Bowser. He had originally insisted that you make all the decisions. But after convincing him this was a ceremony to join you both, he relented. You were elated at the combination of opinions and styles. It was going to be a magical event.

Jr. had tried not to get bored while you went over the seemingly endless papers. He really did, but what was a young boy to do. Although when he heard the words flower arrangements. He knew there was something he could do to help. Calling out that he was headed to the gardens, he darted away.

As he gathered flowers, weeds, and grass. He failed to notice the two plumbers approaching the castle. He jumped and whirled around as they called out to him.

“Hey kid, have you seen a new lady around the place?” Mario thought it would be easier to ask than sneak around.

Eyes narrowing at the brothers, he frowned. “What’s it to you?” There was no way he was letting these guys near Mama. When they didn't answer, he turned back to a patch of red flowers.

Getting frustrated with the whole situation, the shorter man put a hand on the boy. Only hoping to get his attention again. He was shocked when the child ran from them.

“Mama!” He stumbled in his hurry to escape from the brothers. Tumbling end over end, he landed on his knee. Scrapping the skin, blood seeped from the wound. Tears sprang from his eyes as he sat on the ground. Luigi started to make his way over, until the wind began to pick up and the ground shook.

The entrance burst open as a red eyed Bowser and a whirlwind sprinted towards the group. The wind calmed down a bit. The brothers were faced with a woman that looked as of she wanted to bite their heads off. They had never seen a more fierce expression on a person before.

Your hair whipped around your face wildly. The only thing that brought you back was Jr. wrapping his arms around your leg. Dropping the magic immediately, you scooped him into your arm. Cuddling him close to your chest, you wiped the tears from his cheeks.

Allowing himself to take a moment to gaze at the two of you tenderly. He enjoyed the sight of the woman he was growing to love caring for his child. It was a veiw that he could get used to. A glare slid on his face as he turned towards the brothers. “Is there any reason your harassing my son. Make it quick, you interupted something important.” One wrong move and he would tear into these idiots. He would risk peace with the Mushroom Kingdom for his families’ safety.

“We came to make sure she wasn't here against her will.” Mario was done with this entire situation. He was obviously sent on a dead end trip. You were treating Bowser Jr. like your own child. Not to mention Bowser putting himself between you and the brothers. It was obvious you were here by choice.

This made you finally take your attention off Jr. These men come here and accuse your betrothed of forcing you here. You know he had a sorted pass. Though your ability showed that he was passed that phase. It was one thing to make baseless claims. But it was a whole other to harm a child in the process. “I am here of my own accord. In a months time I will be marrying Boswer and taking my place in this kingdom. If that is enough evidence for you, I will now be leaving to heal my son. If not then I won't hesitate to make sure this is your last trip to the Koopa Kingdom.” The wind picked back up at your threat.

“No, we'll be on our way.” Mario just wanted to go home and soak away this entire experience. Pulling Luigi along, he shushed his protest with a wave of his hands.

Bowser followed after you, pupils practically shaped like hearts. He wasn't sure what he had done to be so lucky to meet you. But he would be sure to keep his plush queen by his side.

[punkpoemprose]

A Convenient Arrangement- Part 14

Universe: Canonverse Arranged Marriage AU Rating: M (Here’s where it gets a little spicy folks!) Length: 3254 Words   A/N: This is Day 3 of the 2022 Kristanna Advent Calendar! Beware the change in rating. 13 Chapters until adult content has to be a new record for me I think. 

Anna was close, so close he could practically feel her heartbeat.

It was dark now, and he wasn’t sure if it was the wine, the dancing, or her proximity that had him feeling so utterly intoxicated.

It had been a fun evening, and despite his protests, he’d allowed himself to be pulled from Anna’s side a few times throughout the revel that was still, despite their sneaking off, very much in swing despite the hour. He knew that the people of Arendelle, their people, had needed a celebration, a real public celebration, to feel content in the new Queen’s rule and in the marriage of their Princess, so he understood fully why it was continuing without them.

Now though, he couldn’t think about the reception line, or the dances he’d watched Anna enjoy without him, he could only think about the fact that she was pulling him towards her bed with her hair askew, her body against his as she kissed him and backed up toward the furniture in the semi-dark of her bedroom.

The stars and moon outside the large windows on the opposite wall were providing them with a soft and entirely too sultry light.

This wasn’t how he’d thought the night would be ending. Of course, he’d thought of nights ending in this way since the first night they’d been together. As soon as he’d seen her for the first time, up close and personal at their wedding, he’d already been attracted to her despite their situation. That first night on her bed he’d promised her that they never needed to be intimate, the whole time pleading with his lower half to behave because she’d been so scared of him and he’d been imagining a day where she, beautiful and feisty woman that she was, would want him.

And now she does.

“Anna,” he said, pulling half heartedly away from her kisses, “Anna, we can’t, you’ve been drinking…”

She shook her head and ducked down for another kiss, her mouth hungry on his.

My feisty princess.

“No, I’m not. I haven’t had a drink in hours, and neither have you, I made sure.”

Gods. He thought as she pressed herself somehow even closer to him, her hips somehow grinding into his despite her very full skirts. She’d been planning this.

When he thought about it, he knew that she was right. They’d been dancing and drinking all afternoon, but for the last few hours they’d been tiring and spending an increasing amount of time people watching and pulling away from the party.

“This is me saying yes,” she said with urgency, continuing to pull him towards her bed, “If you aren’t then we can just sleep, but Kristoff this is a yes, this is a thousand yesses.”

Just like that he was fully back to the night they met, when he’d told her that “just because you don’t say no, doesn’t mean you’re saying yes” and that when she said yes, he’d have to say yes too. God, despite how desperately he’d wanted her, he’d told her that it would take some time for him to be ready to say yes as well.

Has enough time passed? Is she really ready? Am I?

All signs pointed toward yes and he honestly could not imagine living another day without having her, fully and completely, unless her yes turned into a no. He remembered how thin and small and fragile she’d been on their wedding night, and now she was a wildfire, threatening to consume him if he let her.

I’d love nothing more.

He pressed on then, toward her bed, kissing her back and loving the way that her moan came unrestrained in a way that it hadn’t been able to in the hallway in the morning.

“Yes,” he said between hungry kisses, their want seemingly well matched, “I want this with you Anna. I’ve never… but yes, with you, yes.”

***

He all but tossed her back onto the bed as he pressed on with her, and God she loved it.

“We’re going to do this right,” he said quickly and Anna was certain that his cheeks were just as flushed as hers were when his fingers went to the laces of her gown.

She wasn’t sure what doing this “right” was, and she thought that while he likely had some more experience or at least knowledge in… these matters… than she did, she also was very certain that it was not much more. She also knew that she trusted him with all her being. He wouldn’t hurt her, he wouldn’t scare her, and even with the urgency of their current predicament, she could see the gentleness he brought to her undressing.

The bodice of her gown went first, then her overskirt, and the underskirts and petticoats and everything that made the shape of the dress and the shape of her body match. As he set everything aside, she worked at his buttons as best as she could manage from her position below him.

He was much less gentle with his own clothes, all but tearing them off as soon as her attention was focused on removing them. She was grateful to see no buttons or ties flying off them when they were both pared down to underthings. She liked him in those clothes. That she liked him even better out of them didn’t mean she wanted to see them damaged.

She’d seen him shirtless before, but there was something about it now, in this dim light knowing the purpose of their bareness made it feel new. He was muscled and yet soft, something she’d appreciated each night they’d spent together once she’d been brave enough to pillow her head on his chest. She took note now of the smattering of light hair running down his stomach from his navel to the place where his flesh became obscured by the waistband of his undergarment. The fabric was tented, and while she was far from an expert in sex, she knew that it was for her, because of her.

The air was just cool enough in her dark room to have her nipples hardening under the thin material of her chemise. She thought that she should probably care about how sweaty she had been from dancing. She thought that she should probably tell him that she needed a bath before they could reconvene, but as her eyes drifted back up his body from where they had been fixed, she couldn’t find it in her to care about anything other than the way his eyes were on hers and the sensation of her body reacting to the cool air and his warm hand on her hip.

“You can change your mind at any time,” he said, taking advantage of the pause between them, the air thick with possibility and the inevitability of what they were about to do despite his kind reminder.

“So if I do anything you don’t like,” he continued, “Or if you start to feel scared or uncomfortable or anything… Anna…”

She shushed him gently, not quite telling him to be quiet, but trying to relay that he wasn’t saying anything that she didn’t already understand.

“I trust you Kristoff, trust me to know what’s right for me,” she added, as she thought of it, “And you have to tell me what’s right for you too… I want this to be good for you… I want you to feel good.”

Her face felt like it was on fire, but her flush was more from anticipation than it was from anything like embarrassment. As best as she could tell in the dim light, he may be blushing as well, but she knew that neither of them were going to judge the other for any of the feelings they were having in the moment.

How good it feels just to feel without fear, to not have to censor myself.

He seemed to understand, taking her hand and guiding it between them as he leaned onto the mattress and held himself above her.

“You can touch me if you want…” he started, slowly moving her hand with his toward the fabric covered bulge she’d observed just moments before, moving so slowly as if he expected her to pull away at any moment.

She wouldn’t pull away. She wanted this, she wanted him too badly to even think about it.

“You have to tell me if I’m doing it right, I’ve never…”

“I know,” he said, “but God… Anna!”

She barely touched him, her fingers ghosting over his length, but the way he immediately reacted to her touch let her know that he, like her, wasn’t overly concerned with skillfulness tonight. He wanted her, she wanted him, and tonight they would just do their best to make the other feel good. They had many years ahead of them to worry about technique.

In response to her touch, he ducked his head down to her mouth and began pressing the most hot, longing kisses she’d ever experienced against her open mouth.

Not to be outdone, she stroked her fingers across his length again, this time wrapping her fingers around him experimentally and finding his groans of pleasure to be a great indicator of her success.

The hand that was not working at holding him above her, the one that had been guiding her, was evidently deciding that it would not be outdone. As he kissed her deeper, he worked at pushing up the hem of her chemise, and when his fingers brushed against the skin of her inner thigh she shivered.

He didn’t stop though, he just kissed her harder and she in kind returned his every advance. She kissed and stroked and as he did the same she parted her thighs for him until he brushed his fingers against her.

And she knew in that moment that even if this was the first night they spent together in this way, it would outweigh every single night where she’d brought herself to her own end.

***

He was grateful for the depth of their kiss, because the things his mouth would say if unoccupied were filthy and unfit for the ears of a princess. Perhaps though, his wife would enjoy hearing them, his feisty, beautiful wife who was rolling her hips into his hand as he touched her tentatively. He was absolutely on track to be undone by her before they even got close to the sex proper between the beautifully hungry way she was responding to him and the way she was growing ever more confident to stroking him through the fabric that separated them.

“Off,” she managed between their kisses.

He was amazed she had time to speak when he barely felt like he had time to breathe.

She was tugging on his underthings, but he decided first to pull away, for just a moment to remove her chemise.

She put up no resistance, and in fact leaned up for him to make removing the garment simpler.

She was breathtaking, always, but now entirely bare he wished that he had the lanterns lit so he could take in every detail of her in living color. In the dimness of the room, he could see the faintest trace of the freckles on her arms and shoulders and the soft tuft of curls that adorned the apex of her thighs, where he had just been and very much wanted to return touching her.  He would commit her nakedness to his memory, and he knew that while he hadn’t for months, he would never again think of a faceless woman when he touched himself. From this moment forward his every fantasy would be Anna, his Anna, naked and wanting and tugging on the fabric of his waistband demanding his nakedness in return.

He gave her what she wanted. He’d always give her anything she asked.

***

They’d both already been too close to bother with much more foreplay than the light touching and stripping they’d engaged in, and yet the actual sex was turning out to be achingly slow.

She’d thought that she’d be afraid. She had been on their wedding night, but now she just wanted him, trusted him, knowing that even if there was pain, he’d make up for it in giving her pleasure.

Of course, he had no such intention when it came to her discomfort, and as such she was pressed to the mattress, his hand on her hip keeping her from moving as he slicked himself with the wetness she could not manage to feel embarrassed about. Each pass of his cock against her entrance had her hips bucking, forcing him to press her down with firm pressure, which she had to admit had her feeling even more needy.

The things he was doing to her with just his mussed hair and dark eyes should be illegal for how intoxicated she was feeling, but she would be damned if she were to ever write up that law. In fact, the concept of doing anything with her mind ever again was nearly obliterated from her consciousness when he finally asked her, his voice deep and low, if he could press inside her.

“May I?”

“Oh God, yes! You may!”

He had the audacity to chuckle at her enthusiasm, and she may have held it against him if it weren’t for the gentle press of him inside her that had them both groaning.

It didn’t hurt. The first few times she’d touched herself she’d managed to make herself sore, overstretched by too much too fast, but Kristoff’s approach and likely her previous exploration of her own body had this feeling like nothing but pure pleasure.

She loved the sounds he made as he continued to press into her, aided by her hips shifting to meet him, only somewhat impeded by his hand pressing her into the mattress. He was cursing under his breath and she wished that she knew a few more appropriately naughty words herself because her heart raced with each and every movement and the feelings in her stomach were pleasantly electric when he bit back his moans.

“Gods, Anna…”

She bucked her hips up and he bottomed out. It was her fault that the stretch was a bit more uncomfortable now, forcing him to move faster, but she wanted it.

I want him. I want all of him, and I want him now.

The words hard and fast came to mind as well, but before she could even give them much thought, he was seemingly aware that she’d thought it.

“You have to tell me to stop if you want me to,” he said, pulling back a bit only to slide into her again with a groan, “because I don’t think I’m going to be able to if you don’t say so.”

His words were punctuated with more thrusts which she rolled her hips to meet with some success.

She moaned in response and when she met his eye, he didn’t stop moving in her but ducked his head down to kiss her.

His hair had long since freed itself from style, falling into his eyes as they kissed and if she thought that he’d looked amazing dressed up, it was nothing compared to watching him as he came apart for her.

She reached up to his shoulders and used him for leverage as she met his thrusts, trying and failing in trying not to dig her fingers into his skin. He didn’t seem to mind, capturing her mouth again for a kiss despite the awkwardness of it and swallowing her moans. The friction between them had her feeling closer to coming faster than she’d ever managed to bring herself to the edge before.

The orgasm blindsided her, as it barely had time to build before she just felt it roll through her like a thunderclap. He continued to make love to her through it, and she knew that if he continued for very much longer, it was only a testament to his will.

His thrusts grew more and more wild as she broke the kiss and moaned his name. She wasn’t positive of what all she was saying to him as he continued to thrust, she just rolled her hips and begged him to come.

I want to make him feel good. I want to watch him orgasm and know that it was for me… because of me. I need this, he needs this.

“Please,” she heard herself moan, “Please Kristoff.”

It may have been the most coherent she’d been in minutes, and whether that was what brought him to the edge, or the pleading sound in her voice, she wasn’t sure, but before she could repeat what she’d said, he’d pulled himself from her and she’d watched him over her lashes as he’d rubbed his hand over his length with fervor and spilled his warmth onto her stomach.

He'd come for her, cursing, and yet whispering her name like a prayer.

***

He’d cleaned his spend from her skin with cool water from the wash basin and she’d only laughed at the cold and squirmed. He’d been worried that it would have disgusted or upset her, but he wasn’t sure why he even thought to worry about something like that with Anna.

Her only question, with love and curiosity in her tone had been to ask him why he hadn’t come inside her.

It caught him fully off guard.

“Anna… I didn’t want … I mean I did want to, but… you do know that if I had then there was a chance…”

“I do know where babies come from Kristoff,” she said, her tone teasing and immediately melting his anxiety away.

“Well, we hadn’t talked about it so I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

She seemed thoughtful for a moment as he dried her stomach and pulled the covers over her. The room seemed to have grown far cooler than it had felt when they’d rushed in and stripped down and he wasn’t sure whether it was the cooling of sweat that had him feeling so, or if it had been cold and he hadn’t felt it in the moment.

“That’s kind,” she said, patting the bed beside her to beckon him down to the mattress, “I should expect that from you, to never force me into anything I don’t want.”

He nodded and was glad that she understood his intentions. He would do his very best, for as long as he may live, to never force her into anything, to never hurt her, to never put his needs before her own. Those were the vows he would have sworn to her if they had known each other that day.

“We can talk about it someday,” he said as he fell into bed beside her, “but tonight we’ll sleep and, in the morning, if anyone is brave or sober enough to come knocking on our door, we’ll pretend we can’t hear them.”

“Good,” she said with a tired laugh, “because I don’t plan on letting you leave this room until we do this at least twice more.”

Greedy. He thought with amusement, so he told her such.

The way she laughed and cuddled him close had him thinking that he’d let her keep him there for a fortnight if it were feasible.

They didn’t know that on the floor, in the pocket of his jacket, a small stone set in a simple band, glowed.

[boundinparchment]

Blasphemous Rumors - VIII

“Marry me.” He said it with such blasé that you weren’t sure you heard him correctly.  Silence surrounded the two of you and he leaned down and tilted his head, watching you like a specimen under a microscope. “Just for a year.  A marriage of convenience.  Consider it nothing more than a harmless experiment for the sake of curiosity.”

Il Dottore/Female reader with established personality.  Slow-ish burn.  Semi-enemies to lovers. Minors DNI.

On AO3 here, reblogs and kudos appreciated.

You stared at your desk, the office still dim and quiet this early in the morning.  Once pristine, polished, and neat, the space had apparently been turned into a floral shop in your absence, vases lining almost all of the surface area.  A stack of envelopes, some thicker than others, were neatly piled in your inbox tray.

It was a sight only slightly more improved than Lord Dottore’s quarters, which were filled with arrangements and boxes and a tea set from the Tsaritsa Herself.  Unpacking proved difficult when both of you were buried in a sea of congratulations that were just as fake as your vows. 

You tried not to consider them to be your rooms, even if that was where you currently slept.  After all, you wouldn’t be in them much longer than necessary.  Would your husband let you keep the house you chose after all of this, you wondered. 

In hindsight, perhaps you should have taken another few days.  Your thoughts swam with a list of names to send appropriate thank you notes to, laundry was still a burden, and you had yet to determine how to stash your notes securely.  But the Segments had expenses to track and your husband was diving right back into his most expensive project…someone had to keep Pantalone happy and off your backs.

“I hardly expected you in at this hour, my lady.  Most in your position would have gladly slept in.”

You hadn’t even heard the elevator doors chime nor the familiar footsteps of Lord Pantalone as he approached, congenial smile in place and eyes narrowed.  He bowed ever so slightly at the waist, as was customary for a lower-ranking Harbinger, but only enough to be polite; you still worked for him, marriage to a Harbinger or not.  You returned the gesture, shoulders aching from the tension settling in them.

Something in his words sat wrong, like a picture frame a hair out of alignment.  You expected certain insinuations from those who understood the gravity of your position, especially after Lord Dottore’s words on the ride back to the Palace.  Ironic, when you recalled that Lord Pantalone especially had a soft spot for the ethic of the working class he so lovingly exploited.  You smiled.

“Most in my position are unable to multitask due to never having worked a true day in their lives.  I believe I’ll manage, Lord Harbinger.”

“Of that, there is little doubt.  Anyone else would be a poor match for our dear Doctor.” 

Lord Pantalone tilted his head, leather gloves squeaking as he gripped the top of his walking stick.  The Electro delusion pinned over his heart winked in the dim light as he turned and walked away.

Your coworkers, polite though their gifts were, set your teeth on edge.  Within a few hours of the work day, it was impossible to miss the notable silence whenever you walked into a room, eyes averted, heads bowed in passing.  Many said your name when they knocked on your office door and then dropped their sentence, immediately correcting themselves. 

Worse yet were the exchanges you caught when no one thought you were around or could hear (or, more than likely, they didn’t care if you did). 

“She climbed the ladder, crazy thought he is; why is she even here?”

“Do you think they—”

“He’s unconventional but come on, even you can admit the Second is demure.  They went on honeymoon for practically a month and the maids said she looked a right mess when they left.  Give it three months, tops, before she resigns wearing looser clothing.”

You made a mental note to consider a private coffee pot in your office instead when you walked into the communal break room and topped off your cup without a word.  Hopefully no one noticed how flushed your face was (or if they did, they attributed it to modesty). 

On one hand, you were thrilled enough people seemed to buy it so quickly; on the other, did they really need to throw around…

Your stomach dropped as you walked back to your office.  Nonsense.  It wasn’t on the list and this wasn’t going to last.  Besides, there were specific actions required you doubted your new husband intended to follow through on.

He’d been candid thus far, after all.

Such thoughts eased your tensions just enough to stave off a migraine. 

A knock at your door brought them right back when your shoulders snapped back at the sound.  Pantalone’s assistant, one of them, stood poised with eyes skimming you.  Young, chosen for their shrewdness, charm, and efficiency; hardly without a brain but certainly void of personality, you learned, from your years in the department.

“Lord Pantalone would like to see you,” they said.  “Bring all of your documents and records pertaining to Lord Dottore.”

They walked off before you could confirm or question anything further.  Naturally.  Lord Pantalone preferred to keep one guessing, allow for the fear and anxiety to stir.  The weak-willed fell for it every time.  You were used to treading on eggshells and cleaning up loose ends.  The physical reactions would subside soon enough. 

You ran your tongue over your back teeth as you turned your attention to the bookshelves, where you kept your ledgers.  All of your documentation was a tall order; you had several years of bound ledgers, multiple books per year thanks to the Segments’ contributions to the account activity.  It would have been easier to simply tie a bookshelf to a handtruck and wheel it into Pantalone’s office.  Instead, you settled for the most recent finished records and a rough estimate of the number of books involved before you made your way towards your boss’ office.

Calling you in was more intentional than it seemed, you realized, when Lord Pantalone told his assistant to go on lunch after she brought in freshly brewed tea to the sitting area in the far reaches of his office.  He didn’t want anyone overhearing this conversation.  But why?

The double doors were shut with a soft click and you wished the too-soft sofa would swallow you whole.  It would certainly be easier to disappear into the cushions of a couch than layer lie on top of falsehood and then beside another untruth.  Yes, a day off would have been appropriate. 

Lord Pantalone stared at the single leather bound book on the table beside the tray before his gold eyes flickered to you.

“That surely can’t be all of your record-keeping, my lady.  I’m beginning to suspect my colleague married you for a different kind of cooking ability,” he said as he poured tea for both of you.

The smile that plastered itself across your face was the same one that pulled at your lips on your wedding day.  Just a tad too tight and you had to remind yourself to make your eyes crinkle.  Your eyes skimmed the tea cup placed in front of you

“There are several years’ worth of ledgers, given Lord Dottore’s projects and Segments.  This is the most recent one and the rest are filed in my office.  Anyone can find whatever they need quite easily, sir.”

And I wasn’t about to carry two armfuls of ledgers for no good reason.  I’m already humiliated enough as it is, you thought.

It would be rude not to take the tea in front of you, of course, and so you took it with a practiced carefulness.  There was a smokiness to it that made you pause when a pang of memories of snow creatures and sticky treats ran through you.  For a moment, you felt your face relax at the familiar scent as you glanced up at your boss.

Always impossible to get a read on him, of course.  Eyes closed, he was lost in savoring a sip of his own before he returned his cup and saucer to the table.

He wouldn’t drug you, not here, at any rate.  Too many people saw you go into his office and he wouldn’t risk his companionship with Dottore so early on.

A taste of home ran over your tongue, soured only because it was brewed for too long.  The cinnamon tingle lasted far longer than it should have and stung as it met your throat.

“I will speak to the rest of the staff regarding the loose tongues everyone seems to have,” Pantalone began.  “I made it quite clear before your return that such behavior would not be tolerated but most seem to have forgotten how much finds its way to my ears.”

“That’s not why I’m here though, is it, Lord Harbinger?” you replied, resting your cup on your lap.

“It’s not the only reason, no.  Given your new...arrangement, it would be unethical for you to continue monitoring your spouse’s accounts.  Although you’ve done a far better job than most have in centuries, to the point that your social status has changed because of it, it is still a conflict of interest I have no desire to foster.”

Not even a chance to prove that you wouldn’t commit such acts.  Not even a single day back.  You steeled yourself and picked up the cup again, taking another sip as you waited for the other shoe to drop.

“You’ll instead be the auditor in charge of my personal accounts and balancing my books.  Few have ever been able to keep any of the Doctor’s records straight between his projects and those of his Segments.  That you’ve been as thorough and steadfast as you have been is a testament to your work ethic.”

“And so someone else can learn how to do my Lord Husband’s books in the event I’m not here,” you surmised.

It was fairly logical, to say nothing of the fact that you were already prepared for such moves from Lord Pantalone in particular.  If you ever were indisposed, no one else would know how to balance the Doctor’s accounts and track everything properly.  The Second’s spending was rivaled only by the man before you.  Your work for various other accounts could be transferred to anyone (although it put you at a disadvantage, naturally).

This put you in a far better position, though.  The ledgers of nobles were helpful, sure, but what exactly was Lord Pantalone doing with his money?  That would be telling in comparison, wouldn’t it?

“It will also keep you out of earshot of the rumor mill, which I’m sure you’re sick of hearing.  Lord Dottore is a dear friend and although he was far from pleased to be on display for your marriage, I would be remiss to not look out for you in his stead.”

“Thank you, Lord Pantalone,” you replied.  “I will, of course, do my best.”

“I would expect no less.”

You knew that tone well, the same one used when terms could not be negotiated: polite but not without the sharpest edge pressed to the tender part of one’s neck, what you imagined an assassin’s kiss might feel like.

It took everything in you to smile and take another sip of home instead of throwing the scalding liquid and spitting venom.  All of this would pay off in the end.  You wouldn’t be under the Regrator’s thumb forever and you wouldn’t be married to Lord Dottore for the rest of your life.  This was temporary.

Your blood pressure disagreed but that was a problem for later.

As you rose to leave, dismissed to spend the rest of the day organizing your new office or leave to tend to other matters (how generous, you mused, resisting the urge to roll your eyes), Lord Pantalone returned to his desk briefly to leisurely browse through a stack of papers.  You watched his expression shift slightly as he located what he was looking for and held it out to you, a silent order to come fetch.

“I will be hosting dinner next month out at my estate,” he said.  “A cordial dinner between colleagues and friends to celebrate your nuptials.  The Tsaritsa and the Jester will not be present. The Segments have told me the schedule is free.”

How easily that might change, you thought, taking the sealed envelope carefully.

“I’ll be sure to let Lord Dottore know,” you replied mildly.

“Do be sure he arrives in an agreeable mood, won’t you?  He’s insufferable when he’s been cooped up for too long.”

As you left Lord Pantalone’s office to see to your own new accommodations, your cheek scar, faint though it was, burned at the insinuation.

To your surprise, dinner continued to held in private, the two of you shut away from the world in a suite far too large for either of your liking.  You left the invitation tucked beneath his dinner plate, already laid out when you returned from work, and were handed a letter from the serving staff that you opened as your husband broke Pantalone’s seal.

“I’d rather eat glass,” Lord Dottore said, looking at you and holding up the envelope for context.

“Maybe we can make a special request and have it added to the menu.  After all, we’re supposedly the guests of honor.”

Across the table, Dottore’s shoulders shook as he grinned, tongue pressed between his back teeth in thought.  You couldn’t help but give a small laugh as your shared secret floated in the air, that neither of you were pleased with Pantalone’s interference.

Your smile fell as you read cramped handwriting, loopy and quick.  Your father’s physician's.  Not a bill but hardly a new diagnosis, either.  Reiterations of the last message, with more urgency than your father used.  Management was beginning to no longer be feasible.  This coming year might be the last.

Immediately, you relayed your promotion, ignoring the crease that formed at the corner of Dottore’s mouth at your change of subject.  The rest of the meal passed as they usually did, filled with conversations you might otherwise have had in the walls of your office. 

Afterwards, you played chess with a strange mix of unease in your chest, wondering with every move how to navigate not just the board but the man before you.

The promotion was key but now both of you were in the loop and aware you would be under Lord Pantalone’s nose now.  The Segments needed to know, at the very least, but that was his business. 

How was that going to work now, anyway?  Should you be around them?  Hard enough to keep one Doctor in your sights…another thing to manage…

You could do it, keep going.  You had to.

“Are you going to move your rook, Accountant?  Or are you holding onto it like a magpie hording its treasures?” Lord Dottore drawled, resting his elbow on the chair’s arm and resting his head on his scarred fist.

When had he removed his gloves?

You blinked and tried to clear your vision, focusing on the board long enough to place the rook in a proper position, capturing a bishop in the process.

“We might as well stop for the night; you just set yourself up for failure.”

To prove his point, you watched a gloved hand position one piece, capture your queen, and put you into check.  At this point, it would be a standoff in three moves or less.  Damn him.

“Was your day back truly so awful that your focus is shot, dorogáya moya?  Usually you’re so sharp during these conversations.  That banker can be obnoxious and chatty but you’ve worked in the Palace’s accounting department for years.  You aren’t the type to be easily intimidated.”

Your skin prickled at the observation and you felt a twitch in your brow.

“If you were, you’d have departed the Fatui in Liyue and never returned and many of my projects would not have been financed,” Dottore said, arranging the board back to the starting point.  “The nation of contracts and commerce is always in need of book-keepers and accountants.  But you aren’t the type for easy work.”

“Don’t do that,” you snapped.

“You’ll need to be more specific.”

“Act like you know me.”

“I know a version of you.  It is inevitable we will come to know others over the course of this year.  Would you rather I not engage you at all?  Treat you as others in my position would, leave you to your own devices?”

Dottore leaned back in his chair, his work on the board done as he rested an ankle over his knee. 

“Who was it that made the case for being meaningful with one another?  I do not benefit from your mind being cluttered, Accountant.”

He was giving you a chance, that much was clear.  But a Fatuus was still a Fatuus; if you gave an inch, he would take a mile and a half and your kidney for good measure.  Lying wouldn’t do you any good, you well knew, even if your extracurricular hobbies were for the benefit of others. 

And something in the way he tilted his head and seemed at ease before you seemed to only encourage you to trust him.  Something that was slowly beginning to be less and less of an option and more of a necessity.  Especially here, back at the Palace, with eyes everywhere. 

“My father’s physician wrote.”

“Your post from dinner?”

“He is encouraging my father to spend time with loved ones and advised me that this winter has been particularly brutal on him.  It always has been, as I mentioned before, but his lungs are heavily scarred and aren’t working properly.  In his professional opinion, his physician does not think he’ll see next spring.”

Your words hung in the air like a held breath after an executioner’s blade fell.  When Dottore didn’t respond, you pulled out the letter between two fingers and extended your hand so he could inspect the letter himself. 

A jolt ran through your finger and up your arm as his bare finger brushed yours, slightly cold but not unpleasantly so.  He was rarely without gloves of any kind, even back at the beach, and you were immediately reminded of sticky honey and flakey dough

Silly, wasn’t it, to want that moment back.  Both because of your tiny slip-up and because you wished you’d admired his hands more.

He was quiet for a long while, contemplative for so long that you wondered if he fell asleep beneath his mask. 

“The Regrator’s country estate is out to the north.  It seems quite inefficient to make two trips when we could suffer through the dinner and then continue further north to visit your family.  Certainly takes care of several items all at once.”

At least three, four if the dinner counted as a private event, you recalled.  That he was so quick to plan caused a pit to grow in your stomach.  What should have eased the anxieties for most seemed to only amplify them.

He continued on.  “In the meantime, I will rearrange my schedule to accommodate property visits to find a suitable living space.  Does this sound agreeable, Accountant?”

Your heartrate increased ever so slightly, just enough to make your stomach churn, when you noticed the corners of his mouth turning upwards.  Different than the vicious grins he loved to terrorize people with when he was feeling particularly playful and miles apart from the variations you saw at your wedding.

He needed to stop doing that.  But he was right.  You were the one who had asked for some attempt at making this…at least have a believable foundation.  Who agreed to ingratiating him into your life, your family. 

And when things inevitably came to an end…

“Yes, it does,” you said at last, a weak smile crossing your lips.  “At least one matter will be settled long enough to…refocus on ensuring our shared success.”

[catreginae]

This Ring is a Shield

As far as the others knew, Warriors' ring was just something he wore to make sure other people didn't flirt with him to much. What they don't know is that Warriors technically married and that the platonic nature of his marriage actually works great for both him and his wife. It should have been easy to explain the nature of his marriage but in truth, he's just tired. He's tired of the comments, tired of the advice he didn't asked for, and tired of the pity. AKA the "Warriors and his wife are both aroace but Warriors takes his sweet time telling the chain" fic. I wrote a one-shot! A long one but it's a one shot and I finished it just in time for the aro and ace prompts for the @queering-the-chain event. You can also find this fic on AO3!

When Warriors saw the collection of buildings ahead of them signifying civilization, he pulled his ring out of one of his many pouches and slipped it onto his ring finger. The ring was slightly too big when he didn’t have his gloves on but seeing as he only really wore it in uniform, he didn’t have any reason to complain about it. Getting it sized down a notch wouldn’t be difficult but the thought only ever crossed his mind when he happened to be somewhere he couldn’t get it done.

“Why do you only put the ring on when we’re around other people?” Wind asked as he sped up to keep up with Warriors.

“Because he wants people to think he’s married,” Legend answered with a shrug. “It lets people know that they don’t have a chance with him. It helps when you’re in an era that isn’t your own and you don’t want to complicate whatever this is even further. The timeline is fragile enough without becoming your own great-grandfather or something stupid like that.”

Warriors hummed, wondering if it was wise to correct Legend. The veteran was definitely correct about one thing – he didn’t want people to be interested in him. However, he was technically married. He didn’t blame the others for thinking he was single, seeing as he called Time’s wedding ring a shackle and he didn’t treat his own ring as a symbol of love and devotion. Warriors didn’t think that the others would give him a hard time if he told him that he was married and why but in his experience, trying to explain his feelings on romance and intimacy was an exercise in frustration.

“You’re on the right track,” he said after a moment of hesitation. He didn’t have to explain it all now. Warriors could just give them something to think about and leave it at that.

“Right track?” Legend huffed. “Where am I wrong?”

Warriors chuckled and ruffled Legend’s hair, dislodging his hat from where he usually kept it on his head. Legend responded with a growl as he swatted the captain’s hands away and readjusted his hat.

Thankfully, they went the rest of the day without anybody asking about the ring on his finger.

-

“Thanks for coming, Link,” Zelda greeted as Link dropped the salute and she motioned for him to sit in the chair across from hers. “I have a big favour to ask of you and you’re going to hate it.”

Link didn’t say anything, electing to let Zelda continue speaking.

“I’ve been negotiating with the Arlet family for more support in the court,” she started. Link nodded along. From what he knew of the court, a lot of the nobles were giving her some trouble regarding how she was getting and allocating funds for the ongoing reconstruction effort, which was further behind than Zelda wanted. Getting the support of any of the noble families for this issue, and any future concerns, would be a massive relief for her. The less people she had to argue with, the better. “They are willing to support me and fund some of the reconstruction themselves... in exchange for your hand in marriage with one of their daughters.”

He gulped. Oh, she was definitely right when she said he was going to hate it. Zelda knew he wasn’t interested in marriage but he supposed that when he pledged allegiance to Zelda and Hyrule, that was out of his hands. She said it would be a favour but Link knew there wasn’t actually a choice in the matter. After all, she didn’t actually ask him.

“Do I at least get to meet her?”

“That can be arranged. Link... look, I know you don’t want to be married but...”

“It’s politics. I know.”

-

“Gah! Where is it?” No matter how many times Warriors looked through all of his bags and pouches, he couldn’t find his ring. It wouldn’t be missed or hard to replace thanks to the fact that he married into nobility but he didn’t want to have to admit to his in-laws that ever lost it in the first place. His wife wouldn’t care because she wasn’t all attached to the rings whatsoever and she only wore hers when she had to leave the villa. He couldn’t afford to be an embarrassment to Athena though.

Maybe it was on the ground? He swore he had it before they set up camp, so it couldn’t have gone too far away.

“What are you looking for?” Four asked. Warriors was so engrossed in his search that he jumped slightly when he heard Four.

“My ring. I can’t find it in any of my bags.”

Without question, Four got down on his hands and knees and started patting the ground for it. As far as the rest of them knew, it was a cheap ring he used to prevent people from flirting with him too much, but it was kind of Four to help him find it regardless of what he might have thought it was.

“Oh, here it is!” Four announced as he held up the ring. “Huh, this is good quality gold and I think I see engraving... Are you sure that this is just-”

“Thanks for finding it!” Warriors said as he plucked the ring out of Four’s fingers and put it back in his satchel where it usually stayed when he wasn’t wearing it on his finger. He really ought to find a better place for it. Maybe he should use it for its intended purpose more often and just wear it on his finger, even if he didn’t care for the symbolism behind it.

“Maybe you should have a small pocket for it in your satchel. Maybe with some sort of button. It would suck if you lost it in another era.”

“That’s not a bad idea...” It wouldn’t be hard to make a pocket inside of this satchel. He just needed some more material for it. Why didn’t he think of that before?

-

Link sat in one of Zelda’s meeting rooms with his heart drumming in the pit of stomach. He was sitting at a small, rounded table with a pot of tea and some biscuits in the middle. He already poured himself a cup and ate one of the biscuits in an effort to calm his nerves a bit. It didn’t help. He found himself wishing he was outside fighting something big – at least he was confident in his swordsmanship.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Link shifted so that his back was straight. A guard in full uniform opened the door and walked in, followed by a tall yet slim woman with chestnut coloured hair pinned into a bun. Her dress was plain, yet well-made from what Link could see, and the green and brown colour scheme matched her green eyes. When she approached the table, Link realized she would be taller than he was if he stood up. She took the seat opposite of his.

“I take it you’re Captain Link?”

“Yes. Just Link is fine.”

“You can call me Vivienne,” she said as she held her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

Link took it. “Likewise...” he said as the guard walked out. Once the door was closed, Link let her hand go. “Before we start talking, I just wanted to say that I’m not actually... interested in couple things. I don’t really like romance and I never had the desire for intimacy and no offense, but I don’t think that will change any time soon. If I had a choice, I would probably never get married or hook up with anybody.”

He was the man who stared death in the face several times in his life so far but telling a stranger who was going to be his wife how he actually felt about being married was one of the most nerve-wracking things he had ever done. He was less nervous when the fate of Hyrule was resting on his shoulders.

“I just didn’t want you to get your hopes up...” he added slowly when she didn’t respond at first.

“Link, it’s... it’s fine. In fact... I was trying to figure out how I would say the same thing to you. I’m glad you said it first,” she said with an awkward chuckle but she also had an easy smile that actually made Link relax a little.

“So... we want the same thing. Am I hearing that right?”

“Yes. It seems as though we make a good match, though not for the typical reasons noble families arrange marriages for their children. We can make this work, I’m sure. After all, I doubt either one of us would get this opportunity to marry like minded people again.” She relaxed her shoulders as reached for one of the biscuits. That was when it finally sunk in for Link – he had nothing to fear. Zelda wouldn’t know it but her favour was actually a blessing.

“No kidding. Just to think I was so scared,” he said with a deep sigh, putting a hand on his chest. “If nothing else, I know how to put on a show.”

-

Spending time at the ranch was sometimes a bit of an odd affair for Warriors. It wasn’t that he hated doing hard work that often involved him getting dirty somehow, as much as the others like to make assumptions about his current life that happened to be close to the city. He didn’t mind any of the work Time gave them just to keep them busy and tire them out because collectively, they needed to burn some energy. None of them were really good at just sitting still.

He just felt awkward around Malon and Time sometimes. It wasn’t anything they did together or even separately – he loved them both. He was happy for both of them because they truly seemed to fit well together. Time deserved to be happy after everything he went through.

The problem was that he couldn’t get his brain to shut up. Sometimes, it was hard to watch Time and Malon enjoy their marriage without all the ‘life advice’ and the persistent questioning about his nonexistent dating life racing through his head and weighing him down. He could imagine all of those people pointing at Time and Malon, setting them up as the prime example of everything he was supposedly missing out on.

Aren’t you lonely without a partner? You just have to find the right person, then you’ll fall in love. You’ll settle down later in life, you’re just busy right now. Won’t you regret it if you don’t have any kids?

Those weren’t even the worst. The worst was the pity, the way they looked like they were sorry for him.

Like he was broken.

“Warriors?”

“Hm?” It took him a second to realize that somebody was trying to talk to him. It also took him a second to realize that his wrist was sore from holding his head up as he lounged against the horse fence. How long did he zone out for? His brain, his current worst enemy, helpfully reminded him that getting distracted like that in the battlefield would have gotten him or somebody else killed. Thanks, brain, he really needed that.

“Wow, you really are distracted,” Legend mumbled. “What’s going on? You look upset.”

Legend was good at teasing and poking fun but he was also good at knowing when it wasn’t welcomed. He must have zoned out for longer than he thought if Legend was frowning at him like that.

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? You’re all tense. I know the ranch will never be completely safe but you can relax a little bit.”

“I... yeah.” Legend was right, though not for the reason he might have thought. He shouldn’t let a bunch of people he could barely remember ruin his time at the ranch. How often do people get to travel through time and visit their now giant little brother’s home? Time and Malon did absolutely nothing but be welcoming and kind to him. It wasn’t them who tried to give him advice he never asked for. “I think I’ll just head inside.”

He heard Legend huff as pushed himself off the fence and walked inside the house.

-

Link woke up with the sun as he always did but it still took him a moment to remember just where he was waking up. He wasn’t used to the soft bed sheets, he wasn’t used to sleeping with more pillows than anybody actually needed to sleep, and he wasn’t used to being vaguely aware of another body in the same bed he was in. Luckily, his bed and sheets were so large that he had yet to really feel Vivienne moving around, but that didn’t stop him from being aware that she was there.

This morning though, she wasn’t there and if his head didn’t pound so much, he would have gotten up to go look for her. He always woke up before she did.

No, he should get up anyway. He had to go to the training grounds. The army had a lot of new recruits and he was one of the captains responsible for training the recruits who started to show some promise with a sword or at least seemed interested in learning how to use one. He sat up and a wave of dizziness struck him, forcing him to settle his head into his hands with his elbows digging into his thighs. His head was still pounding. His stomach felt like it was going to betray him.

Suddenly, the door opened. Link didn’t lift his head up to see who it was but only Vivienne would be around at the moment. The only other person who spent a lot of time in the villa, a women they hired named Clarissa who helped them maintain the villa, didn’t come in until much later in the morning. Usually, Link only saw her when he returned home and she was just getting ready to leave.

“Go back to sleep, Link,” Vivienne said as she guided him back down to the mattress. “I’ve already pulled a couple of strings to make sure that anybody who was expecting you knows you’re not available for the foreseeable future. You have quite the fever there.”

Oh, yeah, that would explain things.

However, it was also putting it mildly.

He was barely able to keep anything down except for some plain toast and water and even then, sometimes the toast was too much. His head never stopped aching or spinning so he had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. Vivienne was concerned enough to call for a doctor, who was constantly trying new medicine or new dosages. Sometimes he could keep the medicine down, sometimes he couldn’t. The doctor came daily to check for any signs for change for better or for worse. He supposed that was a perk to being married into a noble family – they had the extra rupees to pay for a doctor’s full attention.

No matter how bad it got though, Vivienne and Proxi, who dropped into their home at some point and declared that she was staying until he felt better, were always around for him. Proxi helped with encouraging words or translating his mumbled speech to Vivienne or the doctor. Vivienne was always there to help him feel more comfortable, like washing his face and back, changing the sheets, or holding his hair back when something upset his stomach too much. Sometimes, she even rubbed small circles into his back until he drifted off to sleep for as long as his body would allow.

All in all, it took nearly three weeks before Link was well enough to return to the barracks. They weren’t married for that long and once he was well, Link found himself a little embarrassed that one of her first impressions of him was him being violently ill.

Vivienne simply smiled when he said as much. “Link, we might be stuck together but I consider you to be a friend nonetheless and when one of my friends is suffering, I try my best to make it better. I’m glad you’re alright now and I’m glad I didn’t catch whatever that was.”

“You should be. It was awful.”

-

“I didn’t know you liked cats,” Twilight said with a grin as squatted down to scratch one of them behind the ears while Warriors was busy petting one down the length of its back. It was a creamy-white colour with long, fluffy fur that seemed pretty well taken care of if it was truly a stray. All the cats he saw had soft and shiny coats, seemed to be of a healthy weight, and he didn’t see any signs of illness. Maybe somebody did take care of them all. There were a few people in his own Castletown who took it upon themselves to make sure the strays were doing well.

He felt like he ought to be doing more, since they were in a large city and not every era had a big city to explore. Twilight’s Castletown felt much like his own, busy and bursting with life, including the very many cats he found in one of the residential side streets. However, he was busy petting cats and he didn’t think the cats weren’t going to let him go anytime soon even if he did want to leave. The cats were the perfect distraction for his very busy mind and they seemed to sense that he needed a distraction because they surrounded him in an instant. He was petting one or two at a time but the rest were doing their own thing, simply content to bless him with their presence. How could he possibly leave them to go do errands?

“Oh, I love them! I have one of my own, actually.”

Warriors always did enjoy cats but his parents never allowed one in their home, since it was attached to their store and well, his parents didn’t want fur all over the clothes they were trying to sell. He didn’t like it but his parents had a point. It wasn’t until he moved in with Vivienne that a pet was feasible – they had the room and she spent most of her time indoors, so Penelope was never alone for too long.

“Really? You have a pet? Aren’t you busy being a big shot in the army?” Twilight asked with the grin that always accompanied his playful jabs to Warriors’ career choice.

“Well, I don’t live alone. I have a roommate who takes care of her when I’m not around. That’s why we picked her out together from a neighbour’s litter. She looks kind of like this one,” Warriors said, gesturing to the cat he was petting, “but she’s all white and her name is Penelope.”

“Penelope!” Twilight was practically squealing. “Fucking adorable.”

Thankfully, Twilight didn’t ask about his roommate. He didn’t feel like explaining that his roommate was actually his wife and Penelope was regarded as their child and she was even introduced to his in-laws as such. Link inquired about putting Penelope in their will to inherit their estate should they both die suddenly and tragically young but her parents only begrudgingly called Penelope ‘the furry grandchild’, so they wouldn’t find it as funny as they did. Unless they adopted a Hylian child or brought more cats into the house, Penelope was the only ‘grandchild’ her parents were getting from them. Maybe they won’t care – Vivienne wasn’t their only child to get grandchildren from and she wasn’t inheriting the main estate anyway.

“I hope you know that if we’re ever in your neck of the woods, we’re going to see her. You’re not allowed to hide a cat from me.”

Warriors found himself laughing. “Twilight, I know better than to get between you and an animal.”

-

Link was grateful that his in-laws didn’t try to parade them around or throw extravagant parties on their behalf that often. Their wedding was mostly just friends and family from both sides and it took place in the Arlet estate garden, so it was out of the view of the public. Vivienne said something about how they were glad she got married at all, so maybe they were afraid to rock the boat too much. Maybe that’s why they didn’t argue when Penelope was introduced as their child.

For their first anniversary, her parents decided once again to forgo something fancy and just gifted the two a bunch of wine that they definitely drank too much of that night because he couldn’t really remember what they did besides drink a lot. He did remember waking up on the bedroom floor with Penelope sleeping on his back. Her parents didn’t leave Penelope out of the celebration either, giving her a bed that she went on to use a lot.

But Link knew that one day, his in-laws would drag him to some sort of function where they would show him off. He was the hero and a noble now.

He couldn’t say he was surprised when his father-in-law showed up at his door unannounced, thankfully when he was actually home, and told him and Vivienne that he was hosting a party and he expected the two of them to be there. Luckily, he already had clothes for the occasion that Vivienne said were nice enough – a gift from his tailoring family when he got married – and he went to fancy dinner parties before as a bodyguard, so at least he wasn’t going in blind.

“Vivienne and Link!” They spent maybe all of five seconds at her father’s before he found them near the entrance. Link wouldn’t have been surprised if he was waiting for them. His father-in-law gestured towards the rest of his estate with a grin on his face. “Link, let me show you around. This is your first time inside the main estate, yes?”

Link looked back at Vivienne. She simply shook her head. They were stuck following his father-in-law around his estate. Link couldn’t tell if it was because he was proud of his estate and actually liked showing it off to people or if it was some clever way to show off Link himself to the guests that were already there. He was certainly recognized as the hero even though his scarf was missing. At least he was used to getting looks from strangers all the time.

But it was made tolerable with Vivienne being close by, offering some sort of comment about what trouble she got into as a kid when her father introduced them to a new wing of the estate. Apparently, she was quite the fan of climbing when she was a child and he could see it in her father’s face that he wasn’t sure if he should have been amused or exasperated by the memories. When her father let them go to hang out and eat in the dining room, the two of them stuck together in a lonely corner of the room, watching and making quiet comments about the other guests. Vivienne knew most of them and had some juicy details to share.

If Link had to summarize the party, he would call it two friends suffering together. He had a decent time but it wasn’t because of anything that was offered at the party – it was spending time with a friend and engaging in gossip.

It made him think of all the people he could have been stuck with, all the people who would want more than he was comfortable with offering or just couldn’t offer at all. He couldn’t reciprocate romantic feelings as he didn’t feel them and the thought of being intimate made him deeply uncomfortable.

But being friends and sharing a space with Vivienne was easy. They were two friends who had to pretend to be more sometimes, but the important part was that they both knew that it was a game.

-

Warriors frequented taverns and pubs, not just to have a drink or two with those he was close to but because drunk people were a fountain of information. It was less helpful in his own era since people knew who he was and were more guarded around him, but in other eras where people had no idea who he was? They saw no reason to filter their words and they told him all sorts of things. Sometimes it was useful but sometimes he just got sucked into whatever gossip there was and he didn’t learn anything that would help them.

Today, he was at a pub with Sky and Twilight. He didn’t drink with them often, just once or twice in Time’s era when Time dragged them to Castletown. Time was his usual drinking buddy but he seemed pretty tired so he declined his invitation. It was times like those where he truly lived up to his ‘old man’ nickname.

Alcohol didn’t change Twilight that much. His accent was definitely coming out more and he was a bit louder but otherwise, Twilight was acting mostly the same. Sky was quieter after a couple of drinks, like he was contemplating matters of existence. The chosen hero wasn’t the chattiest to begin with but after a few drinks, he didn’t start conversations anymore. He needed to be roped into it.

They were only a few drinks in when a woman slid into the seat beside him with a wide grin on her face. Great, he knew exactly where this was going. Before she could say anything, Warriors held up his hand with his ring on it. “Before you say anything, just know that I’m already taken.”

“Oh, are they here right now?” she asked, her eyes scanning the crowd before her gaze settled on him again. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“I’m not a cheater,” Warriors snapped back. “I’m happy with my wife.”

“Is she happy with you? You’ve got the look of a military man. When’s the last time you’ve gone home to see her? Are you sure she’s been as loyal to you as you are to her?”

Warriors wasn’t sure what her goal was. He never had anyone who wanted to sleep with him insult him and his wife in the span of a minute. Was she mad that he rejected her?

“You don’t know anything. If you’re trying to get me into bed with you, you’re failing miserably,” he said as he stood up. Sky and Twilight caught him and he spotted Twilight fishing out his wallet as Warriors found the shortest route to the exit. He didn’t look back as he headed to the one familiar spot in town and stepped into the room he was sharing with Four and Hyrule. He must have looked a mess because the two took one look at him and stayed away from him for the rest of the night. Just as well, he didn’t feel like talking.

He knew he couldn’t avoid it though. He wasn’t surprised that Sky found him in the morning as Warriors chugged down some water, hoping that the minor ache in his head would disappear if he had more water. At least, Warriors hoped that the minor headache came from alcohol and not because that woman at the bar made him so angry that he had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep.

Though, if he was honest with himself, it wasn’t just the encounter at the bar. His mind raced constantly, dredging up experiences and memories that he wanted to bury and never look at again. Ever since he was asked about his ring, he couldn’t stop thinking about all of the unhelpful and unwarranted advice he got when he was single or all the pity he got when people thought he was stuck in a sad, loveless marriage. Warriors just couldn’t stop thinking about it even when he wanted to or needed to focus on something else.

He hoped they weren’t travelling. He was pretty sure he wasn’t fit for it.

“Why did you storm out of the bar last night? Was it the woman?”

“Of course it was the woman!”

Sky smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck. Shit, he shouldn’t have answered his question like that. He wasn’t mad at Sky.

“What did she say that set you off? Twilight and I didn’t really hear it.”

“She wanted me to cheat on my wife and when I rejected her, she start insinuating that my wife was cheating on me and before you ask, I actually do have a wife.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant when you said Legend was on the right track,” he mumbled as he titled his head slightly. “You are actually married, huh?”

“It’s a political marriage. Athena needed extra support from a noble and she got it when I married the noble’s daughter. Through marriage with the hero, that family is now closer than ever to the royal family and in return, Athena has more weight to throw against other nobles.”

“So you didn’t marry for love?” Sky asked with a slight pout on his lips that often came with confusion. Warriors could feel his frustration bubble under his skin but he took a deep breath. It wasn’t Sky’s fault that Warriors had this conversation before with a bunch of other people who didn’t understand that not everybody wants to date or be in a marriage or be intimate.

“I’m actually happy this way. I don’t care if it’s a ‘loveless’ marriage. We both knew what we were getting into before the documents were drawn up and before we were actually married. I made it clear to her the first time we met that I wasn’t interested in sex or romance. It turns out she feels the same way. We’re just roommates who occasionally have to pretend that we are more than just roommates. We share a home, we share a bed that’s so big we barely know there’s somebody else in it, and we share custody of a cat named Penelope. I’m not interested in anything more than that.”

Sky hummed for a moment, then smiled. “Well, if that’s what you want, then that arrangement sounds perfect for both of you. As long as you’re both happy, nobody should get a say about what the two of you do or don’t do together.”

For a moment, Warriors was taken aback. In his experience, it generally took a lot more convincing before somebody backed off and switched topics. He didn’t know why it was so hard to convince people that was actually happy.

“Why didn’t you say this before, though? Everybody would have understood.”

“Because it’s tiring... before I got married, everyone and their grandma would tell me that I just had to meet the right person, then I would want to date and get married and have kids. If I met the right person, I would be ‘normal’. Now that they know this marriage is political more than anything else... they fucking pity me. They think the fact that I didn’t marry for love is something to pity. Some people even tell me I’ll learn to fall in love with my wife. They just can’t fathom that somebody just... doesn’t care about any of that. It’s so tiring. I’m tired of trying to explain it and people looking at me like I’m broken or something. No matter how many times I tell them I’m happy, they just don’t believe me.”

Sky frowned. “Has... this been on your mind for a while? We all noticed that you seemed distracted lately.”

He only nodded. The thoughts probably would have started bothering him at some point, even if nobody asked about his ring. They seem to come and go, more often when he was in town and people tried to talk to him. However, the current cyclical nature of his thoughts was because he was asked about his ring and he had to think about how to answer.

“Do you ever plan on telling the others that you’re married?”

“If we end up nearby, yes.” He did tell Twilight he could meet Penelope and even if he didn’t, the villa would be a nice break for them and their wallets. They were always maintaining guest rooms that didn’t get used so it would be nice if the villa was full of people for once. It was far too large for a family of three and their hired help. “For now, I just need to collect my thoughts.”

Though... it helped that Sky took it so well. Maybe he wouldn’t have to explain it to them more than once. They would probably believe him if he said he was actually happy with his arrangement.

“Okay. Just let me know if you need any help.”

“I will. Thanks, Sky.”

-

Warriors thought there would be more time between his conversation with Sky and the conversation he knew he needed to have with the others before they set up in the villa for a few days. It was only a couple of weeks after he talked to Sky that a portal took them to a battle and it was when he was wiping the black blood off his blade that he realized that he recognized the castle in the distance. His villa was only about a half an hour from the castle.

“To the castle?” Twilight asked.

“Actually, there’s a place we should go first. Athena can wait until tomorrow.”

“Oh, so this is your era,” Legend said with a nod. “What’s this stop you plan on taking?”

“My place. It’s big enough to fit all of us comfortably.”

Wind raised an eyebrow. “How big is your place?”

“It’s...” Was this how he was going to start explaining who Vivienne was? By explaining why he can comfortably host them all? His gaze met with Sky’s, who gave him an encouraging nod. “It’s a villa. I moved in when I got married.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Legend glared him. “Is that what you meant when you said I was on the right track? You could have just said so! It was bugging me ever since you said it.”

Warriors rolled his eyes. “I didn’t feel like explaining it back then. Even now, it’s a little difficult...” He took a deep breath. “I got married because Athena asked me to. I didn’t pick my wife but it’s pretty convenient for both of us because we are both just happy being friends. If I had to get married to somebody else, I wouldn’t be able to return any romantic feelings and being intimate would be out of the question. We have to put on a show sometimes but that’s a small price to pay to able to say I’m married and not have to do anything I’m uncomfortable with.”

He had no doubt that there were questions but the others simply nodded, except for Sky who offered two thumbs up instead. Maybe they were just saving questions for later but he wasn’t going to complain about the break. They probably cared more about having a roof over their heads than about his odd but convenient marriage.

Wind hummed for a moment before putting a hand on his chin. “So your wife won’t mind if we stay at your place then?”

“I doubt she would care. In fact, she might even be happy that we’re using the guest rooms as guest rooms for once.”

“What are they being used for now?” Time asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Decoration.”

“Wait, this means we get to meet Penelope!”

“Who?”

“His cat!” Twilight answered with a wide grin. “C’mon, butts in gear! We have a cat to meet!”

There were some grumbles but the group started moving, following Warriors as he led them to the villa. It was nearly sunset by the time they got there so he wasted no time in opening the front gate and letting everybody in. He stopped them as soon as they got into the front doors and he couldn’t immediately see her nearby. He didn’t think she would get upset about the villa being used as an inn for a few days, he wanted to give her a little bit of warning.

He found Penelope first in one of their many hallways so he scooped her up and kept looking for Vivienne until he found her in her plant room, which was the room in the villa with the most windows. She was bent over one of the pots trimming the plant inside of it. He cleared his throat to let Vivienne know he was coming in so she didn’t startle and drop the trimmers.

“Oh, you’re home.” She straightened her back and turned around to face him.

“For a bit. If there’s another lead, I’ll have to go again. I have company though!”

“Oh, those heroes you mentioned in the single letter I got?” she asked with a smirk. Warriors winced internally – they were still friends and he should really let her know more often that he was still alive and her father didn’t have to find a new husband for her. “I’m not upset, by the way. I can only imagine that time travel complicates things, to say the least.”

“Yeah. I got busy. I didn’t realize I only sent one letter,” he mumbled as he ran a hand through Penelope’s fur. “But they’re in the lobby if you want to meet them. I told them they could stay here for a few days since we have the room.”

“It would be a shame not to use it. It might be the only time we’ll fill all four guest rooms at the same time. Let’s go show them their rooms, then. My parents didn’t raise me to be a bad host.”

Warriors’ heart pounded in his chest was they walked back to the lobby. He couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. The others would be nice to Vivienne and they knew she was his wife, so there wasn’t anything to hide. Vivienne was generally pretty nice and she got along with the people he was close with before. It should go well but his nerves were still getting the best of him.

Finally, he saw the other heroes, who were all studying Vivienne.

“Wow, she’s tall!” Wind gasped. Vivienne was a bit taller than Time, as it turned out and she wasn’t even wearing shoes. Her entire family was tall – taller than he was – so he wasn’t exactly surprised that she beat them all.

“We’re just kind of short,” Time chimed in, shaking his head.

“This is Vivienne,” Warriors started, gesturing with his free arm, “and this our daughter, Penelope. Vivenne, you already know their names but they’ll introduce themselves with their nicknames sooner or later.”

“Can I hold Penelope?” Twilight asked, arms outstretched.

“Just keep her belly down, she hates being on her back,” he warned as she gently passed her over.

It was a good thing that Penelope enjoyed a lot of attention. Once she was settled in Twilight’s arms, it wasn’t just Twilight who was petting her – half the group was reaching around and crowding Twilight to get a chance to pet her. Warriors could hear her purring over the excited cooing coming from the boys.

“I hope she doesn’t expect that much attention from now on,” Vivienne mumbled before she turned to the others. “I know Penelope is amazing but I should show you to your rooms. Penelope doesn’t leave the house, she’ll be around for more petting later. She may even pick one your rooms to spend the night in later.”

“We’ll be back,” Twilight said quietly as he pet her on the head one more time and set her down on the floor. Warriors watched as everybody followed her, looking around the villa as they did so. Penelope purred and rubbed her head on his leg so he picked her up once again.

“That went well,” he mumbled as he looked down at her giant green eyes. “Especially for you.”

She meowed.

“Yeah, you are spoiled. You deserve it, though.”

Instead of following everybody to the guest rooms, he headed towards the master bedroom to change into something more comfortable. He set Penelope down on their bed – neither he nor Vivienne cared if Penelope got her fur all over it – and slowly stripped off all of his equipment and gear, dropping everything on the floor by his side of the bed to deal with later.

One loose shirt and clean pair of trousers later, he left the master bedroom to find that everybody was gathered at the kitchen table that he and Vivienne usually used for their own dinners. The only person not at the table was Wild, who was poking around in the oven to warm it up. There was a more official dining room in the villa but they only used that one when Vivienne had family over and it had one of those long dining tables that made Warriors wonder if anybody actually wanted to eat together. The table in the kitchen was a little small for the size of the group but they were all used to butting into each other’s space all the time.

Warriors decided to stay on the periphery of the conversations, joining only when their conversations were directed at him. He wanted his brothers and his wife to get along, so he wasn’t going to intrude when it seemed like they were actually bonding. Vivienne was relaxed, talking to the group in the same way she spoke to him or the few times he saw she had a couple of the neighbours over for some tea. It was also the same way she spoke to Clarissa, as the two of them became friends pretty quickly. She spoke more formally with some of her family members than she did with the other heroes.

As for the heroes, they were behaving as he expected – they were asking Vivienne for embarrassing stories about him. Oh, well. If that was the price of peace, he would let it slide. It wasn’t like she had a lot on him in particular.

Once they all had dinner and tea, the group of heroes all headed to their rooms, except for Sky. He helped himself to the last of the tea in pot and started to headed to his assigned room but he made sure that he passed Warriors.

“You did a good job today,” he said quietly, adding a small but sincere smile before leaving.

Once he was gone, Vivienne tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s right, you did a good job. I know it’s not easy to tell people we’re married,” she started before gesturing toward their own bedroom, “but we should go to get some rest too if we’re hosting this many people.”

“They can be a handful,” Warriors mumbled. “I’m sure Penelope is waiting for us anyway. Let’s go.”

[seongwars]

ardently | ii

Pairing: Viscount!Choi San x Countess!Reader AU: non-idol | regency au Summary: After falling victim to one of Choi San’s many wagers, you vowed to a life of eternal spinsterhood. However, when the Choi family faces the imminent threat of losing their estate, the very man you swore you would never forgive re-enters your life.  Word Count: 6K Warnings: angst, use of firearms, mentions of fox hunting, broken limbs, incorrect use of regency terms (sorry history buffs)

Fic Masterlist

The late summer air felt stifling to San as he rode toward your family’s estate, a place he had visited many times before, though now it filled him with a growing sense of dread. The annual hunt hosted was an event of grand tradition—one that the ton anticipated. Yet for him, the weight of this particular invitation was heavy, almost suffocating. It wasn’t the hunt itself, nor the pressure to perform that unnerved him. 

It was you.

San had always been someone who commanded attention, whether he sought it or not. His charm, once something he wielded effortlessly in your presence, was now a weapon that had turned against him.

He had spent countless nights over the years replaying that moment in the garden, as if by thinking about it enough, he could somehow undo it. But no matter how many times he revisited it, the outcome was the same. Whenever you were near, it felt as though the air itself had grown colder. You would sweep past him at gatherings, head held high, never sparing him a second glance. 

The worst part was that he deserved it.

He had turned something precious—a genuine connection—into a game, a fleeting moment of amusement at the behest of his peers. And in doing so, had ruined any chance of earning your trust or your friendship, perhaps even more.

The Kang estate came into view, an impressive silhouette against the sky, and the knots in San’s stomach tightened. Your family’s grounds stretched for miles, the rolling hills and dense forests an ideal setting for a hunt. As they approached, the sounds of hounds baying echoed across the grounds, mixing with the distant chatter of arriving guests. 

The Choi family’s carriage came to a halt, and as San dismounted, his eyes scanned the scene before him. Servants and attendants hurried across the grounds tending to the horses and greeting guests, while members of the ton gathered in small clusters, discussing the day's upcoming events. 

It was then that he saw you, standing a short distance away with your shotgun, its polished barrel gleaming in the morning light. San froze as you lifted the gun with ease, pointing it directly at him, as though you were sizing him up—not just as a target for the hunt, but for something far more personal. 

Your expression was unreadable, but there was a glint in your eyes, one that sent a chill racing down his spine. His heart skipped a beat, every muscle in his body tensing as he wondered if you were serious or simply toying with him. 

You cocked the shotgun with a sharp, mechanical click, testing its weight as you held his gaze. For a moment, the world seemed to stop. San swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry, unsure whether to laugh it off or raise his hands in surrender.

"Y/N, put that thing down!" your mother chided, hurrying over to meet the newly arrived guests. 

You slowly lowered the gun, your expression still unreadable, but the glint in your eyes sent a chill down his spine, making it clear your aim had been intentional. A subtle hint of a smirk tugged at your lips before you turned to greet San’s parents. 

"Viscount Choi, Viscountess!" your mother greeted warmly, gliding forward with her customary elegance. "It’s so good to see you both. Thank you for coming."

"We wouldn’t have it any other way!" Viscount Choi chortled, though his eyes flickered briefly to you, still holding your shotgun with a quiet air of defiance. "It seems your daughter is eager for the hunt."

Your mother let out a light, practiced laugh, though San could see the subtle tightness in her expression. "Yes, well, she’s always been spirited." She turned toward you, casting a glance meant to remind you of the decorum expected today. 

"Viscount, Viscountess," you greeted smoothly, your tone polite but detached. "I look forward to your participation in today’s events," you continued, your tone betraying no warmth, only obligation. "I wager we’ll have a successful hunt."

It was clear to San that, for you, the hunt was a game, but not in the way it was meant to be. It wasn’t about the thrill of the chase or the spoils—it was about proving a point. And today, it seemed, that point was directed squarely at him.

His mother, Viscountess Choi, sensing the strain, stepped forward to fill the silence. "Your estate is as breathtaking as ever, Lady Kang," she said with a warm smile, her eyes sweeping across the expansive grounds. "The weather is truly remarkable—we are very fortunate to be here!”

She turned slightly, gesturing toward the gathering of other guests, who were milling about near the stables, chatting and preparing for the hunt. The sharp glances of attendants could be seen, tending to the horses and ensuring all was in order for the event. Lady Kang’s expression brightened, her words now carrying the unmistakable energy of a seasoned hostess eager to see the event unfold smoothly.

"Come," your mother said, motioning toward the main group. "Let us join the rest of the guests."

Your mother, ever the perfect hostess, shifted her attention toward Viscount Choi with a smile. "Viscount," she said, her tone warm and accommodating, "we have arranged for an attendant for both you and Mr. Choi to ensure that everything is to your liking during the hunt. They will be available to assist with anything you need."

San nodded appreciatively, returning the smile. "You are too kind, Lady Kang. It is always a pleasure to be here. I look forward to the hunt."

You rolled your eyes, unable to hide your irritation as you turned on your heel and headed toward the stables. San’s words echoed in your mind, hollow and rehearsed, like lines from a script. His charming smile felt disingenuous—just another part of the game he was playing.

"Pointing a gun at your guests? Bold, even for you,” came a familiar voice from behind you, dripping with amusement.

You turned to see Duke Jeong Yunho striding toward you, his eyes sparkling with amusement, as if he had just caught you in the middle of some mischief he couldn’t wait to comment on.

"He’s lucky I didn’t pull the trigger," you said lightly, your tone playful but carrying an edge that let Yunho know you weren’t entirely joking.

"You’ve certainly mastered the art of making a memorable impression. Though I have to wonder—were you aiming for him or his pride?"

You shot him a sideways glance, though it was more amused than annoyed. Yunho had always been this way—playful, quick-witted, and never one to miss an opportunity to tease you. Yet he was observant, capable of reading between the lines. It was part of the reason you found yourself oddly comfortable around him.

"He needed a reminder of where he stands."

Yunho laughed, a rich and infectious sound that drew the attention of a few nearby guests. "Don’t you think you might be pushing him a little too hard? Poor Mr. Choi looked like he was about to faint."

You scoffed, though your lips twitched in a small smile, betraying the hint of amusement in your eyes. "He’s not that delicate, and you know it."

San stood a few paces away, watching the casual banter between you and Yunho, his jaw tightening involuntarily. He told himself it shouldn’t matter. Yunho was a close friend of your brother, someone you’d grown up with. Of course, you’d be close. It was all perfectly innocent. Rational, even but still—why did it bother him so much?

"The future viscount has arrived!" Seonghwa’s voice rang out with unmistakable enthusiasm, cutting through the buzz of the gathering crowd. His face lit up in a wide grin as he spotted San approaching the rest of the hunting party. With open arms, he strode toward his friend, his usual air of refinement momentarily replaced by genuine warmth.

San’s tension eased, if only slightly, as Seonghwa approached. There was something grounding about his friend’s presence—steady and dependable. Seonghwa was always able to read the room, and his welcoming embrace was a reminder that not all the interactions today would be as strained as those with you.

"What kept you so long?" 

San managed a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Just... got held up." His gaze briefly flickered to where you stood, chatting with Yunho a few yards away. 

"Well, you’re here now, and just in time." Seonghwa gestured toward the members of the ton gathered near the stables, their horses saddled and ready, attendants bustling about to ensure the guests’ preparations were perfect. The hounds barked excitedly in the background, eager to begin as their handlers worked to keep them in check.

The attendant led San's horse over, reins in hand, and with a curt nod of thanks, he vaulted into the saddle with practiced ease. From his new vantage point, he could see the rest of the hunting party more clearly. There was a certain energy in the air—the guests were buzzing with excitement for the hunt, eager to prove their skill and prowess.

You were mounting your own horse, your posture elegant and composed, with the shotgun you’d teased him with earlier slung over your shoulder. San’s eyes lingered on you a moment longer than he intended, tracing the lines of your frame as you adjusted in the saddle. Yunho was, of course, right beside you, making a comment that drew a laugh from you—one that felt too comfortable, too familiar.

"I don’t blame her for fancying him," Wooyoung sighed dreamily, his voice laced with mockery. San shot him a pointed glance, his irritation clear, but Wooyoung just grinned, completely unapologetic as always. 

“What? If I were her, I’d rather be a Duchess than a Viscountess,” Wooyoung continued, his grin widening.

It’s not like that between them, he told himself firmly, trying to quell the unease rising in his gut. He wasn’t one to let Wooyoung’s jabs get to him, but somehow, this one lingered, leaving him uneasy and more unsettled than he cared to admit.

“I see you lot are still making my sister the topic of all your conversations,” a voice interrupted, sharp yet amused.

San's heart dropped, and Wooyoung froze, his easy grin faltering as both of them turned to face Earl Kang. Yeosang, perched on his horse with the quiet authority he always exuded, regarded them with a knowing look. His sharp eyes—so much like yours—flicked between San and Wooyoung, his lips twitching in a faint, almost smug, smirk.

"Earl Kang!" Wooyoung chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck as he shifted uncomfortably in his saddle, clearly unsettled under Yeosang’s sharp gaze. "We were just... discussing how Ms. Kang is bound to have a successful hunt. Nothing serious."

Yeosang’s eyes narrowed slightly, his expression unreadable, though his tone remained deceptively light. "But of course," he mused, voice smooth but edged with warning. "My sister does have quite the shot. We wouldn’t want any foxes slipping away now, would we?"

The subtle threat hung in the air, and San and Wooyoung exchanged a quick glance, both knowing full well not to push their luck any further.

“Well then, gentlemen,” Yeosang said after a moment, his tone polite but the undercurrent unmistakable. His eyes lingered on San, a beat too long, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. “Best of luck to you both.”

The hunt master’s horn echoed in the distance, its deep, resonant call signaling the start of the chase. The party moved smoothly into action, the steady rhythm of galloping hooves and excited murmurs weaving through the forest as they ventured deeper into the woods. Birds scattered from the treetops, startled by the thundering riders, while the crisp scent of pine and earth filled the air.

San rode just ahead of you, his posture effortlessly confident, flanked by Seonghwa and Wooyoung. The group was focused, each rider scanning the dense underbrush with sharp eyes and heightened senses, poised to react at the slightest hint of movement.

Tension filled the air, the thrill of the hunt creeping into the silence. Earlier, lighthearted banter had filled the morning, but now it had faded into a hushed anticipation. The excitement simmered beneath the surface, growing stronger with each passing minute. Even Wooyoung, typically the most talkative, had fallen silent, his gaze sharp and calculating, tracking every rustle of leaves and shadow in the trees.

The pace of the group slowed as they approached a small clearing, the riders fanning out to search for any signs of movement in the brush. There was a hum of anticipation, the soft murmur of voices as everyone prepared for the hunt to truly begin. San guided his horse forward, keeping to the edge of the group, his eyes scanning the treeline intensely. 

“The hounds have picked up a scent,” Yeosang muttered beside you, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the distant trees. “There’s something close.”

The horses were growing restless, sensing the change in atmosphere as well. Then, suddenly, from the front of the group, the hunt master called out. A flurry of motion erupted as a fox darted from the underbrush, its red coat flashing in the sunlight as it bolted toward the far side of the clearing. The hounds sprang to life, their barks rising in excitement as riders urged their horses forward.

San was among the first to move, kicking his horse into a swift gallop. He tore ahead with ease, his figure a blur as he charged into the chase, flying across the field. You followed close behind, urging your horse to keep pace with his. Adrenaline coursed through your veins as each stride brought you closer. When you finally caught up, a surge of satisfaction spurred you on, driving you to push even harder. The two of you were neck and neck, the thrill of the chase electrifying the space between you.

But just as you burst through the clearing, a sharp shout pierced the air.

You whipped around, eyes widening in shock as San’s horse reared violently. For a split second, it seemed like San might regain control, his hands gripping the reins tightly as he fought to steady the stallion. But in a wild flurry of dust, the horse bucked again, more violently this time, and San was thrown from the saddle. He hit the ground with brutal force, the sickening crack of bone ringing out as his arm twisted unnaturally beneath him.

Your breath caught in your throat as you watched San hit the ground, the sound of his fall resonating in your ears. Time seems to slow for a moment, your mind struggling to process what just happened. The sight of him lying there, unmoving, his arm twisted at a terrible angle, sends a wave of panic crashing over you.

You glance around desperately, searching for someone—anyone—to help. But it’s just you and him, and the terrifying silence between. You dismount quickly, hands trembling as your feet hit the ground. For a moment, you hesitated, the bitterness that had long simmered between you both rising to the surface. But it feels distant now, irrelevant in the face of his pain. 

"San?" you whispered, your voice barely audible over the rush of blood in your ears. Your hand hovered above him, shaking as you reached for him, desperate for any sign of life. "San, can you hear me?"

He groaned softly, the sound weak but laced with pain, and you instinctively reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. San tensed, a sharp, pained wince crosses his face, and he goes still again, clearly unable to move with his arm twisted unnaturally beneath him. His breaths are shallow and rapid, each one shaky as if he’s fighting just to hold on.

“It’s going to be fine,” you whispered, voice trembling but desperate to sound steady, though you weren’t even sure if he could hear you. “Help will come.”

The clearing was empty, the woods eerily silent, and you were alone with him. You swallowed hard, forcing down the fear that threatened to swallow you whole, as you gently gripped his uninjured hand.

“Hang on, San. Please, hang on.”

San’s eyes met yours, and for a moment, neither of you moved. Despite the agony coursing through him, he managed a slight nod, though it was more instinctive than conscious. This wasn’t how you imagined your next encounter would go—you had always thought there would be words, sharp and cutting, arguments that would drag old wounds into the light. But now, none of that seems to matter. 

“Y/N!” Yeosang’s voice broke through the haze, sharp and desperate, yanking you back to reality. “What happened?” he demanded, kneeling beside San, his voice steady despite the urgency in his tone. 

Yeosang was never one to panic. He was always composed, steady, the one you could count on to think clearly when everyone else faltered. But now, the fear in his voice was unmistakable. It hit you hard—reminding you that even he wasn’t immune to the gravity of this moment.

“Something must have spooked his horse,” you replied, your voice shaky but determined. “He fell—I think he broke his arm and hit his head. He can barely move.”

The rest of the hunting party worked quickly, their voices rising and falling in a flurry of urgency as they attempted to stabilize San. Yeosang barked orders, directing members to fetch bandages, splints, and whatever they could find to tend to his injuries, while others hurried off to locate a physician. 

“Stay with him, Y/N.”

You blinked, the request jarring you. "Stay with him? Yeosang, what am I supposed to do?" Panic threaded through your words, uncertainty swirling in your mind. The idea of being alone with San, especially after everything that had transpired between you, filled you with hesitation.

Yeosang placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, his voice gentle but firm. “Just be there for him.”

Taking a deep breath, you stepped closer, forcing your legs to move even as doubt gnawed at your mind. You reached out, your hand trembling slightly as you placed it on his uninjured arm.

“Breathe. Focus on my voice.” With every word, you pushed through the discomfort, allowing your instincts to take over. You could do this. You could be here for him, even if it felt strange and uncertain. How could you admit that despite everything, despite all the resentment and hurt, seeing San like this tore at something deep inside you?

"You’ll be fine, I promise," you whispered, your thumb brushing gently against his arm. You weren’t sure if the words were meant for him or for yourself.

“A broken arm, likely a clean break, but the concussion is worrying. He’ll need to be monitored closely for the next few days,” Dr. Song said, rolling his sleeves down. 

You stood on the outskirts of the room, watching as the viscount and viscountess hovered anxiously while the doctor wrapped his arm in a sling and applied a poultice to reduce the swelling. There was a knot in your stomach, a strange feeling of guilt that you couldn’t quite shake. You hadn’t wanted this—hadn’t wished him harm, no matter the bitterness between you.

“We must send word home! We need to retrieve our belongings—anything that might make him more comfortable,” Viscountess Choi was frantic, her footsteps echoing across the wooden floor as she paced around the room. Her eyes darted from her son lying motionless in the bed to the doctor, who was wrapping up his examination, a reassuring calm contrasting sharply with her spiraling anxiety.

“What he needs right now is rest, my lady.” The Viscountess stopped mid-step, her mouth opening as if to protest, but Dr. Song, though young, didn’t waver under her gaze. 

“He’s sustained a broken arm, which I’ve set, and the concussion, while concerning, will heal in time. Moving him too much or worrying him unnecessarily will only delay his recovery. There’s no need to rush for additional belongings. His most important treatment is rest and a calm environment.”

“But he needs—”

Dr. Song remained unflinching, standing his ground despite the weight of her title and her fear. “I’ll be checking on him daily, my lady. He’s in capable hands and I can assure you Earl Kang will see to that. There’s no immediate need for anything beyond what he already has here.”

“It’s too dangerous to move him in this condition,” your mother’s calm, authoritative voice broke through the heaviness in the room. Though gentle, there was a firmness that left no room for argument. “San should stay here and recuperate at our estate,” she declared, the decision final.

Viscount Choi glanced up from the sofa, taken aback by the offer. “We couldn’t possibly impose,” he said, the surprise evident in his voice.

“Of course not!” your mother replied, her voice soothing yet resolute. “We have more than enough room, and it is the best course of action for his recovery! Dr. Song will ensure he is closely monitored and I’ve arranged for his meals to be brought to his room. If there is anything else he requires, we can send for it first thing in the morning.”

There was a brief pause, and for a moment, it seemed as though the Viscountess might continue her protest, but your mother’s reassuring presence and the doctor’s unwavering certainty seemed to quell her panic, if only slightly. She nodded, though her movements were stiff, reluctant.

“Very well,” Viscountess Choi murmured, though her voice was still tinged with worry. “But first thing tomorrow! He’ll be more comfortable with his belongings.”

You watched the exchange with a sinking feeling, knowing full well that once your mother made a decision, there was no changing her mind. Even though your brother was technically the Earl, wielding the title and all the responsibilities that came with it, there was an unspoken rule in the household—one everyone followed without question: when mama spoke, her word was law.

Though you wanted to protest, what could you say? To speak out would only make things worse—more awkward, more tense. And deep down, you knew your mother wasn’t wrong. San did need care, and this was the most practical solution. 

San woke up the next day in a haze, the sharp scent of herbs filling his senses. His entire body ached, but the searing pain in his arm was the worst of it. A dull throb pulsed through the limb, which was tightly wrapped in bandages and immobilized in a sling. He blinked groggily, trying to focus as the events of the previous day came rushing back—his horse, the fall, the crack of his bone hitting the ground.

He glanced down at his arm, the sight of it twisted in an unnatural position still haunted him, but the worst part was the helplessness. How long would it take for him to heal? How much strength would he lose in the meantime?

San recalled the moment after the fall, when you rushed to his side. He could still feel the weight of your hand on his shoulder, the quiet urgency in your voice as you tried to keep him conscious. Despite the pain, gratitude settled in his chest. You could have left him there or walked away but instead, you stayed.

“Mr. Choi?” a soft knock sounded at the door, followed by the voice of one of the house staff, tentative yet concerned. “Are you awake, sir?”

Gritting his teeth, he tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but the moment he put any weight on his arm, a sharp, excruciating pain shot through him, causing him to falter.

Before he could muster another attempt, the door creaked open slightly. “Oh! Oh goodness, Mr. Choi is awake!” the staff member gasped, clearly startled to see him moving. They turned quickly, hurrying down the hall. 

"Viscountess! My lady!" they called, their voice carrying through the estate.

Within moments, the hurried sound of footsteps filled the corridor. “San,” she breathed, rushing to his bedside. “Why didn’t you call for someone? You should be resting!”

San opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say a word, she was already by his side, adjusting the pillows and fussing over him in a way that was both comforting and overwhelming. He winced slightly, trying to move his arm, but her sharp gaze caught it immediately.

"Don't," she scolded gently, yet firmly. “You’ll only make it worse.”

He sighed, his pride stinging more than the injury. “I’m fine, mother. Really.”

As Viscountess Choi settled into the chair beside his bed, her fingers hovered over his good hand. “You gave us all quite the scare,” she said, her voice quieter now, laced with an unexpected vulnerability. “How could this have happened?”

“I don’t… I don’t know,” he murmured, a shadow creeping into the back of his mind. His fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket, his body tensing beneath the sheets. There was a whisper of doubt that refused to leave, no matter how much he tried to ignore it. 

The horse had shown no signs of distress. None. Not a flicker of agitation, no warning before it suddenly bucked, sending him crashing to the ground. It had been a reliable animal, well-trained. Something about its reaction just didn’t add up—not in the way accidents usually did.

His thoughts darkened, the suspicion growing like a slow-burning fire: What if it wasn’t an accident? What if someone had tampered with his riding equipment? The idea wasn’t fully formed, but San could no longer shake the unsettling possibility that this had been no mere accident at all.

“I should let you know that you will be recovering here for the time being,” she said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “The physician insists you rest, and I won’t have you rushing back home before you are fully healed.”

San frowned, shifting slightly under the weight of the blankets. “Mother, I—”

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” she interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. “But consider this a blessing in disguise.”

“A blessing?”

The Viscountess smoothed a hand over her gown, her eyes narrowing with that calculating look San knew all too well. 

“Yes, a blessing. You will have the time you need to heal, and…” She paused, her gaze drifting toward the door before returning to him. “You will also have the opportunity to grow closer to Y/N.”

San felt a knot tighten in his stomach, realizing where this conversation was headed. The subtle shift in his mother’s demeanor, the way her lips curled into a knowing smile, made it clear that she had plans for him—plans that involved you. 

“Mother, she has nothing to do with our debts– ” he began, but she held up a hand to silence him.

“You may not have received a response to the proposal yet, but that does not mean the matter is closed. In fact,” she continued, her eyes gleaming with purpose, “this is an excellent opportunity for you to spend time with her.”

“I’m not sure Y/N wants anything to do with me,” San muttered, his voice low. He looked away, his mind racing. He wasn’t sure what would come of this—whether you would even want to see him, let alone get closer. But in his current state, there was little he could do to resist the plan his parents had set in motion.

And despite everything—the pain, the tension between the both of you, and the mounting pressure from his parents—a small part of him couldn’t help but wonder if this was an opportunity to make amends with you. 

“Viscountess, I have this morning’s newspaper… for you,” your voice faltered as you stepped into the doorway of the guest room, holding out the latest edition. The words died on your lips when you saw San, awake and sitting up in bed.

The years had changed you—San could see it in the way you carried yourself, with a quiet strength in your posture that hadn’t been there before. You had grown and matured. The light in your eyes was different now—more knowing, more self-assured. In this moment, everything about you shone brighter, and he found himself looking at you with admiration and something deeper, something he hadn’t allowed himself to feel until now.

"Y/N!" Her face lit up at the sight of you, bringing warmth and softness to the room. "Thank you, my dear," she said, taking the newspaper without even glancing at it and turning her attention to San with a determined expression. 

"I must speak with the staff about the upcoming arrangements if San is to be here for the next few weeks!" Her voice brimmed with enthusiasm, clearly thrilled at the prospect of her son’s recovery and the plans that lay ahead.

As the door closed behind her, the air in the room thickened, the sudden quiet almost suffocating. You shifted uncomfortably on your feet, unsure of what to say—or even what you should feel. For a moment, neither of you spoke. The silence carried the weight of all that had brought you to this point. It almost felt like the room was closing in around you as unspoken words hung between you. 

“Y/N, I… I mean Ms. Kang.”

“There is no need for formalities, Mr. Choi. Consider yourself a welcomed guest here at the estate.” You forced the words out, each syllable tinged with an edge of irritation. The formality felt like a barrier, a way to keep your emotions in check.

San shifted slightly, wincing as he tried to ease the discomfort. “I um…thank you for staying with me,” he murmured, his voice low and almost uncertain. “I can’t tell you what it meant to me, having you by my side.”

Heat rose to your face, the sincerity in his voice catching you off guard, unsettling you in a way you didn’t want to admit. How could he say that? How could he look at you like that, with those eyes—eyes that once made you feel everything—now making you feel the exact opposite?

“Your mother would have been upset if something terrible happened to you,” you stammered, as you quickly glanced away. “I’m not sure my family could sustain that level of wrath.”

There had been a time when you would have rushed to his side without hesitation, when the thought of him in pain would have driven you mad. But the truth was, it was the sight of him, vulnerable and in pain, that stirred something in you you didn’t want to acknowledge. 

“I’m glad to see that you are well. I must attend to other matters now, Mr. Choi. Please excuse me,” you said, refusing to meet his eyes, knowing that if you did, it would only make things worse.

“Wait,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper but sharp enough to stop you in your tracks. 

“Please disregard the letter from my father,” San continued, and this time his voice was more steady, though there was an unmistakable edge of desperation beneath it. “You don’t have to…you should not feel obligated to respond.”

You paused, your hand hovering over the door handle as his words sank in, your heart pounding in your chest. Slowly, reluctantly, you turned back to face him. He wasn’t looking at you—his gaze was fixed on his cast. 

The letter had arrived only days ago, a formal proposal, neatly sealed with the Choi family crest. It wasn’t filled with declarations of love or hope for a shared future—it was a promise. A transaction, born out of loyalty between two men, your late father and Viscount Choi, who had once been the closest of friends. But the reality was far more bitter. 

To the Choi’s this wasn’t about preserving friendship or honoring old promises—it was a cold, calculated move to clear their debts, using the goodwill between your families to their advantage.

They weren’t looking for a union—they were looking for an escape.

For San, it wasn’t even his mess to fix. He was trapped in this arrangement as much as you were, and yet somehow, that didn’t make the sting any less painful. But the voice in the back of your mind, the one that always seemed to grow louder in moments like this, fed into your worst fears. 

San was asking you to disregard the proposal, to reject it like it meant nothing. But his words took hold of your insecurities, dragging them to the surface. You were nothing but a game, a challenge to conquer. Your chest tightened, anger and hurt bubbling up in a way that you hadn’t expected. You clenched your fists at your sides, trying to keep your composure, but the frustration—the unfairness of it all—was too much.

“Are you mocking me?” The words came out before you could stop them, your voice trembling with a raw hurt you hated yourself for feeling. “You expect me to simply disregard it? As if it means nothing? As if I do not deserve a say in my own life?”

San’s head snapped up, his eyes wide with shock at your accusation. “No, that is not my intention, Y/N. I–I don’t want you to feel trapped or forced into something you do not want,” he insisted, desperation creeping into his voice, as if he were pleading for you to understand.

“Do you mean something you don’t want? Saving me from yourself, is that it? How noble of you,” you spat venomously. A bitter, hollow laugh escaped your lips. You narrowed your eyes, voice dropping to a cold, biting tone. 

"That's not what I meant!" he pleaded, his good hand twitched as if reaching for something he couldn't grasp. "I just—"

“Do not act as though you are granting me a favor when it is you who has already shown that I am not worth courting, let alone marrying.”

San flinched, your words hitting harder than any physical blow. He opened his mouth to speak again, but you turned, walking away before he could find the right words. The door slammed shut behind you, leaving him alone, staring at the empty space where you’d stood.

You knew it was unfair to bring up the past, to remind him that he had only courted you for the thrill of the chase. The shock in his eyes, the disbelief, didn’t matter anymore. You had spent too much time living with the knowledge, wondering if he had ever seen you as more than a game.

As you stormed down the corridor, you heard a shuffling behind you. You spun around, your eyes widening in surprise as you saw San, pale and breathless, following after you. His injured arm was cradled close to his body, but his steps were determined, his face etched with pain and stubborn resolve.

Your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him risking further injury to catch up to you. "What are you doing?!" you hissed.

"I think the world of you," he rasped, his voice low and strained but filled with a fierce conviction that made your chest tighten. “And I will not let you become a pawn in my father’s machinations. I could never live with myself if I stood by and let him—let anyone—trap you in a life that doesn’t reflect your desires or dreams," he continued, his voice softer now, almost tender. 

A moment of silence lingered between you, brimming with unspoken emotions. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, and you could see the exhaustion in his eyes, the weight of everything he wasn’t saying.

What did he mean by that?

The question echoed in your mind, yet your attention was drawn solely to the intensity of his gaze and the unfiltered honesty woven into his words. It felt as though he was offering you a glimpse of his heart, laying bare his thoughts and feelings in a way that made your own pulse quicken.

And it terrified you.

<< i | iii >>

[gojoest]

lowkey had a very scandalous idea earlier this week, still very undeveloped though