#too bad her husband only wants to dress like its 1600

[naoa-ao3]

My friend never understood my love of Gambit until she saw him in that crop top in X-Men '97. It was like an explosion had just taken place behind her eyeballs. She looked at me and in the most serious voice went: "No, listen I fucking get it. I fucking get it now." This is what solidarity is all about.

[crepezinhos]

Purity

POV: You just wanted to celebrate your engagement party with your friends and family in the 1600s, but as soon as you left the scene for a quick moment, your childhood friend, Scaramouche, appeared with a lot of complaints.

⚠️ WARNINGS:

— This is a slightly Yandere and corrupted NSFW piece

— Reader is FEMALE and uses SHE/HER pronouns

— 1600s / European Royalty AU

— There will be a lot of usage and mentions of toxic religion / culture towards women.

— There will be a whole NSFW part describing teenagers having sex

The party was going perfectly well as you planned it to be. Even without your presence at the main hall in a party that was supposed to be about you, you could hear the hundreds of voices and noises of silvers clicking. You thought that maybe making this party huge would distract your mind off from the most recent events of your life, and it did before your future husband ruined it for you and made you remind that you were just a loser in his game.

Of course it was him, it had to be him. Why did you even believe that he’d ever let you have that much of fun in a party? Now, you definitely did not want to party anymore, and luckily, you also couldn’t. Tears are a nightmare for eyes with mascara all around its eyelashes, the ink is strong. You looked a homeless woman as you crippled through each stair step in search of your room, stepping in the ends of your dress, defeated by the public humiliation he did to you. Why did he have keep making so many remarks about your excited manners towards the visitors, how you referred to him, and how much food you wanted to put in your plate? It made you wonder why did you ever accept marrying him the entire walk.

The story behind your marriage is simple. Your reputation in the city was bad, not enough to make your family miserable, but enough to make all the marriage suitors of your age refuse to take your hand in marriage. You were a girl who liked to have fun and take risks, not sit and chat for hours while drinking tasteless cups of tea in a time where all men wanted the complete opposite in their wives. You also had a very curious case in the past. You and your childhood best friend called Kunikuzushi, or Scaramouche just for you, had promised and announced a marriage that would take place as soon as both of you got inserted into society, but unfortunately, his school offered him a scholarship in France before you two could be inserted, and since you obviously couldn’t come with him, he was forced to choose between success or you. He ended up picking France, which was not a bad decision, but watching his departure was truly painful to your poor heart who had deeply fallen in love with him.

Because of this tragic love story that turned out to be a joke and your questionable personality, everyone lost interest in you and your family, which made you an unmarried woman for two years. In short, being unmarried at such age was a disaster. The only man that had proposed to you was the same one who shamed you in front of your whole family and all those hypocrite visitors. He was the double of your age, ugly, and had really strict standards for his future wife after the loss of his previous wife. After a few test dates with him, you realized that you really did not want to marry him and even repulsed the idea, not because of your love towards Scaramouche, but because he wasn’t ok in the head. He was weird to a point where he confessed he just wanted to make you his wife because he thought you looked very fertile and that you’d be an incredible mother for boys, since you ‘acted like one’, which would not be a bad thing if his eyes never seemed to linger in your crotch for too long and if he kept his hands to himself.

You did not want to spend the rest of your life stocked to such weird man at all. You didn’t feel anything for him and even felt sick in his presence, but your reputation was in such a terrible state that your parents pressured you with the worst and most disturbing threats ever to accept his offer during a huge argument about it.

You’ve always wished to marry a young man of your age, especially Scaramouche, but you had no right or power of choice in that situation. With growing tears in the back of your eyes, you accepted his act of putting a golden ring in your finger. The day still haunted your dreams and thoughts, making you want to cry every single day of your meaningless life just like today.

Luckily, all you had to do that after climbing those long, exhausting stairs was enter the first room at the right. As soon as you touched the golden, cold doorknob of it, you felt your body melt and your tears finally coming out of your eyes with freedom. You held them for so long, you just wanted to throw yourself at the bed and cry until you fell asleep. Still, as desperate as you were, you closed the door very gently, afraid of possibly calling attention.

You stepped out of your heels and finally ran to the bed you slept through your entire childhood. Due to the contact your face made with the sheets, you finally felt comfort to open your mouth and let all your whimpers out. Everything that led to your situation was hitting you again. Your affair with Scaramouche, his departure, the argument with your parents, the betrayal of society to you, the first appearance of that hag you were marrying, his proposal, and today. It all made you so anxious again that you really began to try shutting your mouth again multiple times and swallow all that voice down your throat again, but it only seemed to worsen.

“Y/N?” You suddenly heard a voice inside the room, slightly muffled due to your head being drowned at the wet sheets.

Oh no, someone spotted you.

The fear of it being your husband, an unreliable gossiper or your reputation worsening made you instantly jump up from that position, despite the weird feeling of familiarity on that voice.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll come down in a few—!” You tried making yourself look normal, but as soon as your eyes gazed upon the person’s shiny purple hair and eyes, you stopped acting.

It was the complete opposite of what your pessimism made you believe it could be, it was a miracle, it was Kunikuzushi. Although his face seemed to be very stressed and he entered the room without knocking, it did not make his appearance any less pleasant to you.

“Scara…” You called his nickname after those 2 years without speaking of it.

Your family made very clear to you that if you ever spoke of the man again to them or your husband, it would lead to your disownment, but calling his name out so passionately like that made all those threats feel useless to you. The first thing you did after realizing that it was really him, was begin walking to him. It was instinctual, so instinctual that your knees stopped trembling just for you to reach him and more tears started coming down. He looked so beautiful and mature… it made you feel even more bad about yourself. You wasted such a handsome man to one that probably has never even tried to look pretty to a lady.

“For how long have you…” You tried interacting, but as you soon as your hand managed to touch him, you broke down once again, this time in his embrace.

You felt so safe around Scaramouche and so hungry for him that you genuinely allowed your legs to stop working, and as expected, he held you with a warm embrace around your entire torso. When he realized you still were as light as a feather, he leaned one hand up to the back of your head and started cuddling it, his face still stressed.

“It was him, wasn’t it?” He whispered with that familiar angry voice of his you wished to hear again, slightly gripping tighter in your head.

The truth is that you secretly sent an invitation letter to the party to him, even if you believed that he would not be able to come or simply wouldn’t come. It was a normal envelope like everyone else’s, but you hoped he’d interpret it as a cry for help.

“W-Wha… what do you mean..?” You whimpered, looking up to his face.

Now that he was so much taller than you, the difference of height was surprising to you.

“I was talking to him, to find out where you were and to just know who the fuck were you marrying, and not only he said he didn’t know with the most careless tone I could hear, but he felt comfortable enough to confess a bunch of weird shit about his intentions with you and that he offended you in front of everyone in the dining table.” He told the story behind his arrival very angrily, but his voice was so mesmerizing to you that you barely paid attention to it. He still sounded like a twelve year-old boy before his departure, but now he sounded like an adult. “Did he really do that, Y/N?” He asked, pulling your chin to him to wake you up to reality, forcing you to go through all he said before again and stare at those addicting purple eyes.

Between all those whimpers and tears, you nodded weakly, making Scaramouche grit his teeth.

“And you’re really… marrying him?” You went quiet for some second in embarrassment after he made that question with the most disappointed tone you’ve ever heard from him yet.

But you had no choice rather than being truthful.

“Yes—”

“Why?” He asked instantly, some of his anger accidentally pouring out.

“I… had to… or I would be disowned and… and..!” You tried explaining, but the memories of the actual threat stopped you from venting too much.

Luckily, he understood your despair at that moment and embraced you again.

“I’m guessing this is all because of me, isn’t it?” He scoffed at himself, but you instantly nodded your head side to side, trying to tell him otherwise. “Oh, Y/N… I should’ve found a way to bring you to France with me…” He whispered in your ear and pulled you even closer to his body, truly seeming regretful of his decisions. “I thought I had forgotten about you over these two years, but here I am, raging over your marriage.” He vented, making your eyes finally open again, but in confusion.

“You’re… angry..?” You asked, leaning your chin up to him again.

“Way more than that, Y/N.” He said very directly, pushing you away from him gently, still holding on your shoulders as he precisely stared to the deepest parts of your eyes. “This has to stop.” He shook your shoulders, making you get even more confused and surprised at his sudden jealously. “I don’t care if it will ruin more of your little reputation, I can’t let you marry that prick.” He spouted more of his feelings, putting a hand back to reach the door behind him to bang it back to its place and spin the lock in knob, then going back to gripping on your shoulders tighter than before, making you slightly whimper at his firmness.

“W-What are you talking about, Scara..?” You asked, trying to believe he was not saying those things.

“Do you know why that man asked your hand in marriage, Y/N? I had a bit of hope that at least I lost you to a good man, but all he wants in you is your fertility and potential to be a mother.” He told you the details of it with a kind of disgust you had never seen on him, making you turn your face away from him in embarrassment of your decisions. “That’s fucking mental, Y/N, why the fuck are doing this?!” He shook your shoulders again, a little more aggressive as he tries to understand you the mentality behind your choices.

“And what else could I do, Scara?! If you know that it’s your fault that I got a bad reputation, why are you acting like this is unexpected?! I was unmarried for these whole two years, I had to accept this! You know how things work for women! If I don’t marry quickly, I’ll be forever stained with it like it’s written in my forehead! Do you know how much I had to fight and work to get this, huh?! Do you think I chose and love this?!” You vented it all out, screaming like you didn’t care about the possible consequences of it meanwhile Scaramouche looked at you in horror.

But you could see that you convinced him, now that he let you go and turned around, beginning to walk in circles in your room with his hands in his hips, thoughtful about you.

“I can’t let you do this, Y/N…” He whispered to himself as he nodded his head around multiple times and you stood weakly exactly where you’ve been this entire hug.

But after some circles, he started to slow down until he fully stopped in front of one of the room’s windows. He kept staring at the garden below the room through the glass, his back turned to you, but you could still feel the anxiety behind whatever he thought of.

His arms crossed firmly, his index finger tapping his arm, and at the same time he took a deep breath, like he was preparing for something.

“Marry me.” He stated, finally finding the courage to stare at you again.

You simply stared at him wordless in your shrunken position, completely vulnerable to his tall figure, although he was far from you. The room remained quiet because Scara needed a response to continue rambling about that brainstormed idea.

“I would’ve accepted losing you to a common man of our age, but not to an old hag with a simple wish to make an heir.” He commented as you thought of what to answer him.

“Scaramouche… are you nuts?! I already am engaged to him, all we need is the actual wedding! There’s nothing to be done about it unless you want to stain my reputation forever!” You finally spouted some of your emotions to him.

“Of course there is, Y/N! Listen to me…” He shouted at you as he approached to you again, holding on your arms again very firmly. “I just came back to this hellhole to see you, but I’ll be soon going back to England and most likely going to stay there for the rest of my life. If you dump this douchebag right now and marry me instead, I’ll take you out of here and implant you into a new society! See?! It really isn’t hard or risky and we will finally marry each other as we’ve always dreamed to! I still fucking love you so much, Y/N… You’ve grown so well and you look so fucking beautiful in this dress… I can’t lose you to that man at all.” He explained the plan to you in a desperate tone, and although you agreed with all of it, you kept your face as anxious as it was.

You definitely loved him back and wanted to run away with him, but how would he get rid of your husband or the church? How would you live knowing that you wasted two years of pure hard work because of the seduction of a man you’ve been lusting for, and who barely has a plan in his own? His plan seems so easily fragile… what if it breaks? You would most likely become the national shame for next centuries.

All those negative thoughts censored the good ones about his plan, making you look away from him as you nodded side to side firmly, making Scaramouche start breathing more nervously in despair.

“I can’t…” You initiated, thinking he’d instantly get mad, but when you realized he didn’t say anything back, and wanted to listen, you continued. “I spent two years fighting for this, Scara… I can’t just… drop everything for a plan that’s not even finished on its own…” You cried, trying your best to free away from his grip with ease.

“Oh, silly Y/N..! All I need now is to find out how will I get rid of that fucking prick, and then it’s done! You know it’s not a bad plan… I really just need to think about this part! I think I can safely state that we still love each other and crave for this… we can’t just pretend it doesn’t exist..!” He argued, banging your foreheads together with a sensible lust to bring your lips together.

“I cannot accept your offer until it’s fully completed, Scaramouche… I’m sorry. It still wouldn’t change the fact that you’ve broken my heart once.” You brought the topic back, which made him barely cry and tighten his grip on your shoulders in regret, feeling like he was losing you. “And… I’ve heard you’ve been seeing a woman named Kujou Sara… so how can I guarantee you’re not just playing with my heart and seducing me into carnal desires..?” You asked, making him genuinely scoff and giggle at your logic.

“Do you really think I’d go this far for carnal desires, Y/N? Wherever you heard about me and Sara, keep in mind that we didn’t work. Don’t you remember? Our mothers have always tried to push us together through our entire childhoods, but we repulsed each other so much that we preferred to bet on the luck of finding another partner! And trust me, Y/N, I had you in my mind this entire time.” He told his version of the story as he confessed his feelings for you. “I don’t wish to simply engage into animality with you, I want to be your fucking husband and the fucking father of your children.” He confessed, feeling the regret of his last actions hitting on him and the anger of your insistence of rejecting him, but you saw him stop for a moment to swallow everything down again and regain some self-control. “I love you, Y/N.” Those words came out of his mouth as easy as any other would, with a smile that you could feel was genuine, no matter how weird it looked.

The impact of his emotions on you made you weaken your body again, feeling safe in his grip no matter how weird he was acting. You felt like you were set back to his seduction, but you didn’t really care for it for that quick moment.

“I… I love you too, Scara, but I really can’t—”

…

!

In a blink of an eye, you saw the gap between your mouths close shut, finally making utility of the unnecessary contact between your foreheads. His lips were glossing yours, no matter if yours were supposed to belong to another man now. He had pulled you that close to him, no matter if you had or had not consented. He predicted that you’d simply accept it like a gift… and he wasn’t wrong.

Scaramouche’s tongue was invasive and hungry to get to feel more of your mouth, and that feeling just made you melt under his attack. Your back leaned backwards, making him have to hold you by your waist in a very hard angle while you held him by his cheeks, but it didn’t matter as long as he got to kiss you. Your tongue soon managed to join his rhythm, which made him groan. Everything between you got very hot and very quickly, only convincing you to kiss him more. It has been two years since you last saw, touched or kissed him, which means your hormones were surely acting higher than you.

You suddenly felt Scaramouche’s hands move to the back part of your tights and pull it up. You groaned in surprise but that didn’t stop you from savoring his lips. What truly made you two separate was the fact that Scaramouche started walking, and in a few steps, your back banged against a cold wall of your room beside your bed. That swift movement made a saliva chord come out from both your mouths, but was quickly ignored by you moving your hands behind his neck and hugging his waist with your legs to pull him to your mouth again, gripping on the back of his hair like you felt any sort of pain in that kiss.

You were almost feeling tears forming in the corner of your eyes as you felt all those years of longing being wasted, but before you could get any more emotional, you felt something gently rub in your crotch. It instantly made you feel uncomfortable, although you had no idea what it was, so you pushed Scaramouche backwards, separating your moths again, to see what it was.

Oh, lord. You two messed up.

It was a growing erection under his pants.

You instantly flinched away from it as a reaction, slightly screaming in fear of it.

“W-Wait..! No! We can’t do this, Scara!” You argued as you tried to push him away and kick the air with your feet.

“Why not, hum..?” He asked, not taking you seriously at all. “I thought you said you loved me too…” He joked, getting his face close to yours again for another kiss, but accidentally forcing the contact of his erection with your crotch even further.

“Seriously, Scara! Stop it!” You moaned as you felt him rub himself against your clothed clit, trying to push him away even harder.

Scaramouche grunted in frustration, but still decided to let you stand up in the ground again and step away from you. After some necessary breathes to recover, he finally decided to speak up.

“What’s wro—?”

SLAP!

You breathed in and out some extras times before using the same hand you used to smack his cheek to wipe the saliva away from your lips and speaking up for yourself.

“Don’t you ever do this to me again!” You argued, trying your best to not scream at him so loudly.

“What’s up with the sudden bipolarity, huh?” He asked in an ironic tone, caressing the cheek that has been slapped.

You had just forgotten how sarcastic and annoying Scaramouche was. It even made you wonder how did you befriend him in the first place.

“This is wrong, Scaramouche, even if I accepted your offer… it would be cruel to betray someone’s trust like this. Sorry if I fooled you by realizing this too late, but you know wives have to keep themselves pure before their marriage, so meanwhile we aren’t an oficial couple, I must keep myself pure for my future husband.” You argued in a more calm tone, rearranging your hair and dress.

“Pure?” He scoffed.

“Yes, Scaramouche. Pure as a saint.”

“There isn’t such thing as ‘purity’, Y/N, and you were never ‘pure’ too.” He ironized, copying your way to pronounce ‘pure’.

“What do you mean?” You asked, slightly losing your confidence as he made those two statements.

“Well… let’s just say I studied a lot about religion and science in France and stopped going to church or believing in God because I found science more logical—” He initiated, making you repulse him and his previous actions even more.

“W-Wha… what..?! Scara, this is devil’s work on you..!” You immediately replied.

“Quiet. I’m not done.” He tried shutting you, but you feared demonology too much to let him give you orders.

“I will not quiet down towards—!”

“Y/N, if you’re so loyal to your religion, why don’t you act like the submissive woman you’re supposed to be and let the man take lead?” He confronted in a harsh, cold tone, this time giving you a good reason to shut up. “When I say I don’t believe in God, I also mean that I don’t believe in Satan, hell or heaven.” He continued, completely ignoring your discomfort and fear.

You feared that Scaramouche you saw was just a demon morphing as him, or that he had allied with Satan, but you still felt like none of those negative thoughts made you like him less or feel less comfortable. According to his words, he really just seemed to have started seeing the world in a different perspective.

“Why would God want you to be ‘pure’ anyway? Why would he not want couples to know each other and be intimate before sealing their relationship as marriage?” He scoffed the logic behind that rule of your religion. “What would you do if that man you’re about to marry likes choking and hurting women physically during sex? I don’t think you’re into those things, so that’s why I’m asking… nor I think that man would be willing to adapt to what you like.” He crossed his arms as he confronted you again, but you didn’t want to say anything else. “And there’s also the fact that you still are not ‘pure’, Y/N, in fact, you’re one of the most impure women I’ve ever met.” He insulted you, making you gasp in shock with his audacity.

“How dare you insult me like this?!” You screamed back at him.

“Insult? It’s a mere fact, Y/N, unless if you consider what happened between us when we were 16, a day before my departure, something ‘pure’.” He scoffed, smirking as he saw your face stone in horror.

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no…

No, no, no, no, no…

He’s right.

You are not pure.

“You opened yourself so easily to me… I was so glad I got to experience sex with you before leaving this stupid city.” He commented, making both of you remember of what happened enthusiastically, but you were still horrified with the incoming memories.

That day, you were simply sitting in Scaramouche’s bed with him, talking about how you felt about his departure. Not only you knew he was going to leave you, but another girl you two knew as kids, Kujou Sara, was also moving to France, and that made you feel extremely insecure about your slightly romantic relationship with him. You asked him if he planned marrying her if he didn’t come back, but he took it as an insult and instantly spilled out that if he could ever marry you, he would, but it was impossible at the moment because you two were too young for the church to allow it. From that point, things got hot and romantic very quick, and you two lost notion of time and morality as you two made love to each other for the first time in your lives.

“Do you… really promise to- ah~! marry me if you come back, Scaramouche..?” You asked between moans and whines as you hugged and scratched his back and he forced his hips into yours like a starved dog.

“Of course, Y/N, of cour—” He was about to answer, but a sudden gasp echoed in the room in the spot of the door, making you two stone in horror and stop everything.

“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE YOU TWO DOING?!” Scaramouche’s mother, Raiden Ei, screamed at the both of you with a very noticeable disgust in her voice.

And you two were forced to stop.

“Yeah, right? How many slaps that costed you again? 50?” He asked as he realized you were having flashbacks of it.

Ei was not kind towards the situation you both were in and reported your sin to your family, which caused the biggest problems you had to face: your family’s scolding and not allowing that secret to spread. Your parents had gone so mad during their scolding that they instantly made you also receive punishment from the church to somehow recover what you lost that day. The sister who heard your forced confession betrayed your little trust and forced you to receive 50 slaps with a piece of wood in your bare nude buttocks. What hurt you most is that not only your lover couldn’t defend you but the sister did not forgive your sin and told you with the roughest voice tone she that you’d never get your purity back.

It was so traumatic and humiliating that your mind decided to blur those moments out of it to make your life less miserable, but now it has all been brought back by the man you wanted to defend you at that moment.

“You see, Y/N? We have stoped being ‘pure’ long time ago when we did that! We’re both screwed in this society, so if we stick together, nothing will change in our reputations! We’re perfect for each other, Y/N! Why can’t you see it?!” He whispered in your ear after walking up to you again, extremely desperate for your consent to kiss you one more time.

You didn’t want to admit that he was right about the logic of purity or you not being pure… you didn’t want to awaken those dark moments at all. What if someone was behind that door listening to it all..? It would truly be the end of your name in England.

“Come on, say it, Y/N… you know you still want to be my wife and get away from this hellhole of a city.” He begged with a petty voice, extremely lusty for you.

His cheeks were red and his mouth trembling to touch yours again.

You lowered your head, beginning to tear again as you resisted your desires, no matter how much it ached your heart.

But your need to cry was suddenly replaced by the sudden movement of one of his legs moving upwards, kneeing right under your crotch.

“No need to cry, my love… I’ll make sure that this guilt will vanish as soon as you agree to my plan of getting you out of this marriage… There is literally no good reason for you to say ‘no’..!” He whispered as he started rubbing his knee against your folds, causing to gently hiccup in tears and slight pleasure and try pushing him away. “See..?! You still like it when I touch you here… you want more, don’t you..? I don’t think even think I need to hear your voice to know it’s a ‘yes’!” He grunted under your neck as he begun moving a hand under your dress and kissing your neck.

No matter how much your memories made you feel horrible, you knew that Scaramouche would be the remedy of it. You knew that he would present you plenty pleasure if you accepted what he was trying to do with you right now, you knew he’d make you the happiest woman on Earth if things went well, you knew you’d love being the mother of his children, you could easily predict your future if you say ‘yes’ to him.

Your feelings are a mess, really. But now that they seemed to have finally stick with something, you didn’t want to let go.

“Oh, God! If you’re watching this, please forgive me for my sin ahead… I just want to feel him once again… I just want to spend some time with him!”

“Please don’t let this be a demon trying to take advantage of my weaknesses! Please let his plan be real and not an attempt to simply seduce me into carnal activities!”

“And if he really wants to be my husband… please let me have it! I really need it for my happiness!”

You said to yourself in your mind.

“Scara~…” You moaned out before he could your private spots.

“Yes, my love?” He answered excitedly, stopping his movements to hear what you had to say after moaning his name so perfectly.

“Please… get me out of here!” You begged, finally weakening your body for his benefit in that situation, making his purple eyes glow and widen in joy.

“Oh, Y/N, I will… I fucking will.” He groaned, instantly stopping his attempt in teasing your core and moving his hands to your tights to pull them upwards.

In seconds, you were spun around and thrown against your bed, but it really didn’t make you feel uncomfortable or any pain because the make-out session that begun was simply numbing your mind of everything around you. He was on top of you and perfectly positioned between your legs, making you able to feel his erection slightly poking and rubbing against your swollen cunt.

His hands were quick in beginning to push all the layers of your dress upwards as his mouth still pushed your head father into the mattress. He had no time to make a full preparation for the moment, nor did you want it. You just wanted to feel that man inside you already, anything blocking you from it was simply annoying, no matter if it was related to him making love to you.

His mouth suddenly separated from yours, making you open your eyes in agony of being too far from him, only to find him leaning his whole body upwards and his hands moving to your pantyhose like a starved dog. Unlike with the dress, his hands weren’t as gentle with your pantyhose, barely ripping it apart as he brutally pulled them down.

“S-Scara..! Be more careful, those were expensive!” You asked slightly stressed, trying your best to close your knees from him, but he held them like he’d die if you did that.

“S-Sorry.” He said absolutely careless about it, only focusing on the teasing view of your exposed tights and underwear. “Fuck…” He grunted as he moved his hands to his belt.

He was quick on undoing his annoying pants and you helped him by sliding your underwear down too, saving some time for him. He smirked at your will to commit carnal activity with him as he grabbed his own cock and pulled it out, beginning to stroke it gently in front of you. You were somehow too ashamed to look at it, so you simply threw your head aside and moved a hand to your wet entrance as your body relaxed, gently inserting two fingers inside it to also prepare yourself even more for him.

“God, Y/N… you never fail to make me as hard as a brick. Can you even guess how many times I touched myself for you?” He smirked as his cock twitched at the view of you preparing yourself to receive him.

He felt like he could cum already if he kept stroking himself with that view in front of him, but he really was just preparing himself for the moment too.

As soon as he felt a sudden hard pulse from his cock, he knew he was ready and leaned down close to you again, using a hand to take yours away from your cunt and properly position his cock in front of it.

Your hands went to the corners of the pillow under your head, gripping on them nervous about his length.

“Are you ready, my love?” He asked between some shaky breathes.

“Yes…” You whispered, and he finally begun slowly pushing his way inside you.

The scream that came out of you as a reaction to it would only get higher and higher the deeper he went, making your entire body crumble under him for a quick moment when he finally stopped at the tip of your cervix, successfully inserting all his length inside you. Despite knowing that in your religion sexual pleasure was sinful too, even in marriage, that heat wave his entrance gave you was too breathtaking to make you care about those stupid rules.

“Lord almighty…” He groaned and smirked at the sensation of being surrounded by your mushy, tight walls. “If only I had time and condition to see you naked again… thank God I’ll make you my wife, Y/N, because I want us to do this every single day of our lives.” His voice cracked multiple times during his speech as he begun creating a slow rythym to his hips, pleasuring taking over his senses too.

He was slowly pulling out and then rocking all the way in quickly, creating a tortuous rhythm that mostly explored your G spot, which only made you feel weaker and weaker under him. Unintentional plap noises were coming out from the rocking of both your hips and his balls every time he thrusted, which would be something you’d be worrying about if your mind wasn’t numbed by the overwhelming pleasure you received. Tears were beginning to form in ecstasy as your legs instinctively hugged his hips tighter, wishing for more depth into his movements.

“Do you really think… that man would or could ever… make you feel like this, Y/N?” He asked, pausing to moan and breathe sometimes, not minding the fact that you barely had any consciousness left to answer.

“N-N… no…” You moaned out, making his smirk widen.

“Only I can… and I fucking love it.” He whispered to himself as he slightly sped up his rhythm.

The way he whispered with that husky voice made you feel his dick suddenly get bigger and more invasive inside you, making Scaramouche grunt, although you didn’t understand what happened.

“Fuck… if you keep tightening like this, I might be unable to keep making my way inside…” He teased right in your left ear, making you throw your head aside even more.

His blood circulation felt like it had dropped all the way to his dick, because somehow he managed to get even harder than he was with the struggle of passing through such a tight space as your pussy.

Due to him getting his face so close to your head, Scaramouche moved his mouth to your neck, his harsh breathing tickling your warm skin too. Your legs twitched in surprise and Scaramouche grunted again, meaning that you probably tightened your cunt around him again.

And it was definitely the case since now you could hear some low, soggy noises whenever he pulled out from you, something that was not happening until this point.

“You still like it when I fuck you nice and slow like this, don’t you..?” He asked, making you face away from the moment in front of you. “Don’t be ashamed, I love making this to you…” He teased again before going back to his make-out session with the muscles of your neck.

Your hands finally got enough from endlessly gripping in a pillow and moved to his back, scratching it in the same intensity as his thrusts, making him slightly crumble on top of you too. But since he had his clothes on, his back was mostly protected from your nails unlike your poor, swollen cunt, being savored so relentlessly no matter how fragile and sensitive it is for his touch.

“Tell me, Y/N… who’s your husband..?” He asked, stopping his attack in your neck again just to lean up and stare at you with those hungry, shining purple eyes, unintentionally getting your hands away from his back too.

“Y-You…” You answered, still staring at him with your pathetic sex face.

“Who’s ‘you’?” His menacing voice made you remember of just how Scaramouche liked to explore everyone’s limits and capacities just to make himself more proud.

You had fallen for these tricks multiple times as a kid, so you eventually learned how to avoid them. And although you knew he was doing it again now, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to make him more invested in your capacity of being submissive.

“Scaramouche… or… Kunikuzushi… Raiden…” You used all your energy to make your response the most teasing it could to fuel his pleasure.

And it worked, since you saw his eyes and smirk widen in lust as he heard you perfectly answer him.

“Yeah… that’s right. I am your husband and will soon be the father of your children… it’s just very unfortunate that I can’t afford to cum inside you and impregnate you right now… because I really wanted to.” He answered in a low tone, his constant breathing taking over his voice, speeding up his thrusts to a more tiring one, like he was beginning to get seriously involved with the moment.

You felt so sinful on allowing yourself to be so kinky and aroused with Scaramouche’s kinky personality too, but God would forgive you for this, wouldn’t he? He is such a nice person… he can feel that you’re just trying to feel your loved one again, right?

“You’re mine, Y/N… mine, mine, mine…” He grunted, leaning down again, but this time to kiss you with all his hunger and passion.

And before you could hug him again, he grabbed both your wrists who were gripping the pillow again and locked them right there, having full control of you. And you, in pleasure at feeling so confident to let him deal with you as he wished, arched your back up and widened the gap between your legs, allowing the mess of the sex between your hips to have even more depth.

It didn’t matter if your brain barely had any oxygen to process everything that was going on, Scaramouche still knew exactly how to bring you to ecstasy even if he got the chance to have sex with you once without even having an orgasm. Did he really study that much in France? It even made you jealous for a quick moment before your mind went numb again because of the lack of air that passed through your mouth in that kiss.

And Scaramouche was mean enough to force your tongue follow his in the deepest corners of your mouth, taking over anything that you had control of at that point. But don’t worry, Scaramouche was struggling on his own. He was giving the job of keeping himself on top of you only to his arms, which was causing an agonizing pain that he was trying to ignore. His sloppy socks were also making hard for his feet to keep his hips at that perfect angle that gave sharp thrusts at your weak spots, needing to crawl up again multiple times.

Luckily, he was feeling something build up inside his crotch, meaning that both your agonies would be done soon.

He sped up his rythym, causing you to clench around him once again for that momentary peak. It really felt like you were simply sucking him in rather than him thrusting.

He suddenly separated your tongues and leaned up his entire torso at the same time. His hands also moved back to your hips, pulling them up to successfully thrust you rough and fast as he smirked in pleasure of miring your defeated body shaking and trembling in rythym of his violent sex with hungry, widened eyes.

Due to the new position and rhythm, the bed begun doing the classic cranky noises whenever it moved up and down too. But, honestly… you guys had locked the door, in a took at second floor of a mansion where music was taking over everyone’s ears in the first floor… why the fuck would you care about it?

Your hands, no matter how weak they felt, moved to his wrists, simply hugging and caressing them in acceptation of his control over you, almost telling him that you desired him to keep controlling you until it ached. Your head was also thrown back as a reaction to his brutality, also feeling something build up inside your crotch.

“You’re gonna cum too, aren’t you? It’s getting way too sloppy down here…” He scoffed as before finally allowed himself to also fully focus on bringing an orgasm to both of you like a dog in heat.

His head arched all the way up too, beginning to also focus on feeling every single curve of your wet walls surrounding him perfectly. He was so focused on pleasing himself with your defeat rather than your pussy that he didn’t realize just how well you were taking him inside you.

“So fucking tight and warm f’me… it’s addicting, I’ll be honest..!” He used all his remaining energies to make that comment, and you accepted it like he had complimented your dress.

That peak felt like heaven to the both of you, but before you two could turn off your minds from each other and appreciate the perfection of the sex happening between your hips, all the orgasm that had been built up to this point suddenly bursted out disastrously from both your systems, causing a deep groan to come out of him and a loud scream to come out of you.

Scaramouche was still paying attention to the moment because he knew he couldn’t finish inside you, so as soon as he felt his dick pulse hard because of his seed aching to come out, he pulled out from you and covered his tip with a hand, twitching in the agony of it wishing it was still shoved inside you as it spilled seed inside your womb while you simply allowed your own fluids to overcome your insides until it was tipping on your entrance.

Scaramouche was so shaky that it actually brought him to stop smirking and hiss with his teeth gritting on each other, still miring the scene of the disaster you two created and the cream pie in your entrance, swollen in red.

“Fuck…” He grunted, taking his hand to his eyes when his dick finally stopped spilling cum, getting annoyed at the mess it was. “Stay right there… I’ll take care of this mess.” He said, back to his normal voice tone as he crawled away form your body.

And now that fresh air could reach your body, you could finally feel just how sweaty you had gotten. You still had dress on, so you knew that the maids of the home would not have a fun time cleaning it up. Your makeup was probably also completely ruined too but you couldn’t confirm it. Scaramouche was probably feeling it too, since he also had clothes on, even more than you.

You couldn’t even tell where Scaramouche had headed because you all did was focus on staring the rooftop, but he soon came back with his hands rubbing each other under a cloth, another one in his pocket, and with the clothes he had taken away from you.

“I’ll tell the people downstairs you suddenly got sick, okay? Don’t worry, they have no idea what a person looks like after sex, they like to keep themselves ‘pure’ after all…” He explained as he wiped out your cream pie and put your panties and pantyhose back to their places in you.

And right after, he pulled out the other cloth in his pocket, folded it some times, rested it on your forehead and covered you with the sheets of the bed to make the play of ‘being sick’ more believable to whoever would come in to check on you.

“Expect me to knock on your window every night from now on, ok? Just like I did as a kid. I’ll be coming up to tell you how our little plan is doing and how it will work and to also check up on you.” He said with a surprisingly cute smile as he patted the top of your head and kissed your forehead, even it was covered by the cloth. “See you soon, my love, I love you.” He said before leaning up again and walking towards the door while rearranging his tie, closing it so gently that you couldn’t even hear its knock.

“I told you it would work, Y/N… if only I could show you the face the priest made when I gave him the money to make a fake marriage certificate… it was hilarious..! But it doesn’t matter to you now, does it? I know it’s hard to keep up with me, but this is the only way we can go for a fourth kid…”

Don’t forget to like and comment if you liked it <3

Taglist: @kindofscenic @kindofshyent @the-stinky-winky @amoyanderes

[feral-oya]

His Knight in Shining Armor

𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘒𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘹 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳! 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘹 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵! 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘶, 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘶, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧/ 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘺? 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨: 27k 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘦

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘠! 𝘈𝘛 𝘓𝘈𝘚𝘛, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦- 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥- 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘹𝘹𝘹

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:  𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 1500𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 1600𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘉𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘈 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 18𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦

𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨:

𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘢 | 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪 | 𝘠𝘶𝘶 | 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 | 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 | 𝘈𝘴𝘢𝘩𝘪 | 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

'It has been 10 years already'

Sugawara Koshi, the one and only heir to the throne, was standing right in front of his bedroom window. The tall glass allowed him a fairly good sight upon the castle's garden all the way to the gates surrounding the royal grounds, in the distance there could even be seen the peak of nearby houses. 

The castle's garden was most certainly the most beautiful place around town and it was very traditionally different from what other kingdoms may consider as a proper garden. It was not constantly pruned by the gardeners; in fact the cuttings were done once a year, in the late winter as trees are dormant, to clean up dead or sick branches. Flowers are chopped off in fall to allow them a fresh start when spring comes.

The king, Sugawara's father, had always insisted the garden grows naturally, that was despite the queen’s disagreement- and even after his royal majesty died, the queen had never been able to tame the garden to be uniformly shaped. So the royal grounds were charmingly asymmetric; scattered weeping willows and oak trees around the castle, year round of blooming flower bushes. The garden always smelled much like a delicate perfume- mayhaps gardenia ?.. 

The prince and his family would often enjoy breakfast sitting in their gigantic solarium full of luscious plants when they could not lounge on the royal terrace; just so they could admire the beauty nature gifted them in return for their patience and dedicated care. Sugawara had grown to adore everything about the garden; the sight of it was reassuring, it felt like delicate nostalgia and home. It became one of the prince's coping mechanisms to look outside to soothe his nerves when something huge was going on in his royal life.

However, today, although he had been staring at the garden for hours, Sugawara felt sort of restless. The burden was such a deal that the young heir to the throne could not even focus on the gorgeous scenery standing right outside the window. His grey eyes showed nothing but emptiness- as if he lacked of any emotions of some sort. Truth to be told, it was only an illusion while inside his mind his thoughts were scattered and screaming in distress. 

He knew it would have been inevitable. It would have happened sooner or later.... the coronation. When his father passed away, Sugawara was only a few years old and so it was decided by the royal advisers that the queen would take upon her husband's responsibilities to the throne upon the wait of her son reaching adulthood. It was only increasingly more apparent that his 18th birthday was approaching at a rather fast pace and the silver haired boy felt less than prepared for what was to come. 

Being a king may have its perks, however it certainly does not balance the crushing weight of duty. Being a king means that you have to constantly make crucial decisions for the best of your kingdom, it means making sure your people are safe, it means being fair-minded and most importantly, being the king means insuring someone will take on after you and continues what you have started as a ruler. It means marriage.

To Sugawara all of these listed things were making him feel as if he was too small to play such a grand role. He had always been a caring boy throughout his childhood, he would always get concerned about anyone that seemed feeling wrong. The queen had often told him to be careful of how much he cared, as this might be a blessing but likewise a curse when you rule over people. His emotionally investing personality always pushed him to exhaustion as he had to make sure everyone around him was fine. He could not even process the thought of doing the same thing for thousands of other people, might as well die now before it happens.

Sugawara imagined the society hiding behind the walls as needy and reckless creatures, his mother made him believe so in order to scare him from going outside the royal gates for she has been terrified her husband's killer would find a way to kill her son just as she killed the king. To the young heir, the fact he had never seen beyond these concrete walls was frightening. It became obvious to him as he spent more and more time staring outside that he had to get out there, as he had planned it the night before, and face his citizen before his crowning. Do not understand his motives wrongly, it is not that the prince wanted to disobey his mother by going outside. In fact, if he had not be the heir, he would have probably never left the comforting feeling he felt by staying in the castle. He had no choices... plus, not that he wanted to admit it but he was fairly curious as to what was going on behind the gates. 

Oikawa Tooru, his childhood best friend and also his personal butler, had told him stories about the town in the past. He would talk about the fresh smell of bread when you passed in front of the bakery, the summer festivals which was coming up soon and other stuff that sounded appealing to the boy. Yet what really piqued his interest was when Oikawa mentioned the flower market going on through spring and summer. It was smart of him to address the topic of the seasonal markets with Sugawara as he had tried for a long time to convince him to go out. He knew this would be the last push that would encourage him to cross his mother's order.

As the sky turned from a shady orange to a pinkish glory, Sugawara finally snapped back into reality and dressed himself as a meek citizen with the help of his friend that had just arrived to show him some emotional support. It was a rather rare sight for him to witness the prince derogating to one of his mother's formal rules. Nevertheless, it was clear to Oikawa as of why the prince wanted to see what was going on past the drawbridge and he judged it was only fair for his friend to know.

Now dressed in a citizen casual way, Sugawara nervously looks up to his partner in crime, it was as if he suddenly regretted the whole idea. Though Oikawa knew his childhood friend was not a scaredy cat, he knew it must cause him stress to do what he was about to do even if he tried to act all tough and rough. 

"Don't sweat it Suga, you're just going to see what normal people do with their lives and acknowledge they're definitely not as bad as the queen says. Plus you'll finally get to see the flower market that I've been talking to you about!"

The teenage boy still seemed unsure even with his friend's encouragement but he nonetheless nodded along, straightening his back in an attempt to boost his confidence which only earned a grin from Oikawa and not so much assurance. 

"Well... let's head out before mother sends a butler to fetch me for my hundredth crowning rehearsal."

⚜

'It has already been 10 years'

It was around six thirty in the morning when the sun started peeking through your window which woke you up from your slumber. For a few minutes your stared at your ceiling and took in every details that made it different from another ceiling. As ridiculous as it seemed, it allowed you to properly wake yourself up and slowly realize today was the big day.

Today you were leaving to follow your father's steps and become a member of the royal guard. Ever since you were a child, even before your father's death that particular night 10 years ago, you had always been so focused on becoming a musketeer just like him- you aspired to live the adventures he lived as he was the captain of the royal troops. The fact he died succeeding his duty as a musketeer only enforced you to become one as well. Everyone had a dream, some dreamed to be wealthy or to have bigger lands but your dream was to follow your father's path and make sure his sacrifice in the name of the royal family had not been in vain.

As your eyes finally adjusted to your surroundings and time only grew older by the second, you finally decided it was time to get up for you had to get ready to leave. Even though you had been preparing for days now, realizing it was time to finally leave the family nest was a little overwhelming.

 Standing in front of a mirror, you stared at your reflection. Not doubts you had to do something about your appearance before leaving. The curves of your hips and breast are clearly showing even if you are in a nightgown. Although you have to credit this nightgown for being quite tight and small since you have had it ever since you had your first period when you were 12 years old. You were now a young woman about to celebrate her 18th birthday, it was obvious as of why the robe did not fit you as much anymore.

Your eyes drifted to the corner of your room where your wardrobe stood waiting for you to come pick your outfit for the day. You knew your mother had left a few of your father's clothes newly tailored to fit your body and something to bind your chest before leaving to care for the farm. Any other women at that period of time would have refused to do what your mother was doing for their daughters, society was much of a patriarch and the idea of a woman cross-dressing as a man to become a soldier would have been absurd. Of course, your mother is certainly not like any other women at that time. In her younger years, she had gone on many adventures with your father and she was quite a rebellious young lady. Your mother was strong and had always considered her husband not only as a lover but also as a friend and equal, just as your father considered her to be all of these things as well. If it was not for you, your mother would have probably left to join the royal guards when he died. 

Overtime, her need for seeking revenge toward your father's killer had slowly died down and she grew older. She knew it would not be good for her to enroll now as her heart sometimes collapsed but she knew you could pursue what she aspired to do. Seeing you were so determined to become a musketeer and honoring her husband's legacy made her fondly smile at you, you reminded her of her younger self and she wanted you to be what you felt you should be. That was why she kept and re-tailored each of your father's clothes. She wanted you to look at yourself in the mirror and feel confident in your dreams... so you did.

You opened your wardrobe and picked what you would wear. Which was mainly a pair of dark trousers and boots, a white shirt and black jacket, accompanied by a rapier carrier and a cloak for the road. Following dressing up and struggling in binding your chest, you carefully styled your freshly cut (h/c) hair in a manlier fashion and topped it with your father’s hat to complete the look. It was obvious you still had some pretty feminine facial features but regular people were so not used for women to wear something else than long dresses in this age that there would not even be questioning regarding if she was a male or female. 

You spared one last look towards the reflecting glass and grabbed the bag you had packed with some food, money, more men clothes and one dress in a secret compartment in case you wanted to dress as a woman when you would be off duty. Your hand then reached for the carefully sheathed rapier your mother had bought you a few weeks ago as an early gift for your 18th birthday and you made your way out of your house to the stable so you could fetch (Horse name) and be on your way to the grand city. 

Just as you expected, your horse was waiting for you already saddled up and your mother standing beside the animal softly caressing its mane. She gently looked up when your marched in and she enveloped you in a warm hug.

"You have not left yet and I already miss you."

"It is not for eternity mother, I will be back to visit you once I am promoted musketeer"

You felt her head nod in the crook of your neck as you both let a comfortable silence speak for the emotions you felt. As you said, it was not as if you would never see her again but you and her knew that it was risky business to cross-dress as a man to join the royal military. You could get imprisoned if someone figured it out. However you would not let that happen and would make sure to come back home again to see your mother once you have finally became an official member of the royal guards. 

Shortly after that, you both parted and bid goodbyes to your mother. You climbed on your horse and slowly but surely, you went on your way to the capital.

⚜

It was dusk of the second day that you had been travelling when you arrived in town. You were more than glad to hop off (horse name)'s back to walk by yourself. The capital was gigantic, although you had expected it to be quite large you did not think it would be as huge. It might have been because of its immensity that you were feeling a crushing weight upon all of your body. It felt as if something was prying on an invisible shield over your head and the gravity of it resonated through your members. You decided to not insist too much as to what was that sensation in your heart, so you would not be bummed out. Moreover, you needed to focus on finding a place to eat and drop off (Your horse name).

As you walked your way to the metropolis's communal stables, you took your time to notice the scenery it offered you. The streets were far different from the ones you grew to know in the countryside; they were constructed by meticulously placed stones to create a somewhat straight road. The borders of the paths were framed by little ditches filled with water and it seemed to be ingeniously structured to water the trees that stood around. The markets and other buildings were covered in delicate growing vines full of blooming flowers, you recognized one of the vines as being what your mother called morning glories. You could clearly remember them growing on the side of the barn and their trumpet like frames only opening when the sun came out in the morning. You also noticed the presence of many glass like lanterns with glowing little flames inside hanging around the streets which was perfect as the sun was setting already. The gentle music played by street minstrels only added charm to what you had already seen and it was astonishing to you how everything seemed so properly cleaned.

You had visited other towns and cities before but none were as beautiful and lively as the capital. Generally there would be rats running around and the side of the roads would be filled by food garbage and horse crap. You had heard many times people calling the metropolis the Blooming City in reference of its beautiful gardens and city structure. While you had never seen it before today, it was hard for you to picture what the saying meant, however now that you see it with your own eyes it is clearly apparent as to why it deserves such a nickname. 

Directly after dropping off (Horse name) to the stables, which were as clean as can be, and making sure your horse was in proper hands, you headed off to a tavern the stable owner advised you to go for their cheap and tasty food. It was a big cottage like establishment, the smell of freshly cooked bread, meat and vegetables hit the rim of your nose. You hoped no one heard the growl your famished stomach was making as your eyes scanned the room for an open table. Unfortunately, it seems the pub was indeed as famous as the stable owner told you it was as there was not any open table to sit at.

You were about to leave as a peculiar fellow with brown hair that had only a flash of blond in the fringe seemed to call out to you. It was a young man sitting at a table of four with two other guys, one with long flowing brown hair and the other one having short black spiky hair. It appeared as though all three of them were around your age, about 17 to 19 years old, you had never seen them before and were most definitely not used to be called upon like that. Despite being unwanted attention you still marched their way curious as to know what he wanted of you.

"I'm glad you noticed I called out to you!" said the guy with a wide smile on his face, "my comrades and I noticed there weren't any places left for you to sit, we thought you seemed enough of a nice feller to invite you over."

"If you want to sit with us of course," added almost immediately the one with black short hair, the corner of his mouth raising in a half smile.

You nodded promptly as you could not believe how nice these perfect strangers had been inviting you over to their table. If you were not so adamant on not believing in luck, you would think it was your lucky day. The one who called you over squatted farther on the bench so you could have a place to sit as well.

"My name is Yuu Nishinoya," he said as he gestured proudly towards himself with his first.

"I'm Daichi Sawamura," added the guy with the spiky hair as he then turned toward the last man in the booth, "his name is Asahi Azumane, he is not much of a talker but I assure you he is not as bad as he seems."

Asahi nodded at you, an embarrassed blush slowly forming on his cheeks as you could not help but smile at how weirdly contrasting this reaction was compared to his physical appearance which gave the impression he would be much meaner than how he acts. 

" I am (your guy name) (L/n)," you lied in assurance as you had practiced saying your male name about a thousand times as you would be looking at yourself in the mirror. 

" (L/n) as in (Your father's name) (L/n)? The bravest captain the musketeers had in the whole history?" questioned Nishinoya, his eyes gleaming in interest.

"Do not swarm him in questions Yuu, let him at least call for a meal before you do so."

Being referred as a him was fairly weird to you and you had almost corrected him but you obviously could not do that. Especially if they were musketeers in training and relying on Nishinoya’s enthusiasm concerning your father and the rapiers attached to their belts, the possibility they were here to train as well was pretty high. Nevertheless, you laughed the guy's enthusiastic behavior off which seemed to surprise all of them.

"It's fine, I don't get fervently asked about my father every other day."

Your response was perfect being that it got a wider than ever grin from the small guy, an agape mouth from Asahi and seemingly caught all of Daichi's interest. 

"It must be so weird to be the son of such a great man," said Daichi thoughtfully as if he was trying to picture himself as being the son of (Your father's name) (L/n) himself.

"It was him whom inspired me to train and become a musketeer!"

Your eyes shone brightly in pride.

"It is exactly why I'm in town right now. I have the intention of dropping my candidature to become a musketeer in training and follow his legacy in protecting the royal family."

You had never quite thought of how people saw your father outside your home. You could never have imagined he would be inspiring to people as far as the metropolis. It felt like euphoric to finally meet someone other than your mother that understands the impact your father has. Contrary to popular belief, meeting someone that shares your thoughts and opinions is not annoying. It creates a connection that makes you want to know more about this person and to know how similar you really are.

Because Nishinoya and you engaged the conversation of becoming a musketeer, Asahi and Daichi soon enough opened up about what they thought as well. It turned out to be that all four of you wanted to become musketeers. You also learned the three of them had grown up in the same village not so far from the capital and that Nishinoya’s enthusiasm concerning becoming a knight in training had become contagious, giving the musketeer fever to both Asahi and Daichi. They had just arrived the day before you for the same purpose you came for. As a result, you all decided that, after wrapping up supper, the four of you would head down to the recruitment building and propose your candidature to the current captain of the musketeers and hopefully be able to start training altogether. 

⚜

It was only a few days after your arrival in the capital and Sugawara’s interestingly  eye-opening visit in town that a strange situation occurred. The blue irises bloomed out of rotten plants and he could not resist going out in the garden to look at them from up close. Truth of the matter, blue irises had not bloomed in many years on the royal grounds. They had been probably one of the king’s most cherished flowers in his living days. There used to be dozens of pots filled with these gracious and peculiar looking blooms in the castle, but ever since the king died, these plants refused to grow any successful buds whatsoever. If any stems tried to produce one, it would start rotting down. 

When the prince had seen blue spots sprinkled here and there between the white roses from his window he assumed he had gone mad and was seeing things. It had been 10 years since any irises had produced flowers and now the whole garden is covered in blue petals. 

Upon further investigation, Sugawara realized there were not only irises that increased in popularity. Another bluish flower he had never seen grow on royal grounds before had also bloomed in the garden. He recognized them as hydrangeas, flowers he had seen only once in his life before and it was at that moment the prince realized something wrong was going on. He bent down in front of the most glowing and elegant hydrangea to carefully break its stem. Once he had the flower in his hands, he hurried on his way to show his mother. He felt she might have an answer to his sudden awakening panic.

Bursting through the doors opening on the sunny solarium, Sugawara found the queen pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut tight. He could not tell if she was angry, had a migraine or if she was about to burst into tears. Her breakfast remained untouched and so did the cup of her favorite tea, she sat there on her wooden chair, a hydrangea laying on her lap. 

The tense feeling that had already crept in the royal heir’s stomach had began to increasingly churn. His palms felt clammy and a painfully heavy headache was growing from his tightly clenched jaw. The hair on his neck is rising and his heart rate quickens so fast he puts his hand on his chest as if the sudden rush of adrenaline in his veins made it harder to breath. So. He was right. This flower did mean no good. 

“Mother.”

The queen remained silent which only worried her son more than he was already. She slowly opened her eyes after a few seconds and looked right where the prince stood but she could not gaze up to meet his stare. Her eyes were watery and a tear ran down her cheek as she frowned seeing the prince was also holding a hydrangea. She raised up shakily and only now does Sugawara became aware of how frail and exhausted his mother looked. She walked closer and closer, the dark circles below her eyes and wrinkled skin on her face became progressively more apparent. She softly caressed her son’s cheek with the back of her fingers as her other hand goes to choke a sob, quickly embracing him without saying a word.

It was an understatement for the least to say Sugawara was shocked to see her normally composed mother in such a state. She had never been so upset before, even while his father’s funeral she had only stoically accepted condoleances, not even shedding a tear. A flower should normally not have that effect on someone, even if it was the most alluring or the most unsightly of all. All the son of the queen could think about was that moment. That one time he had seen that same inflorescence of blue ovals before.

He had seen her, a woman so beautiful she could bewitch men. He did not know how she managed to get past the gates and enter his home. He did not know her purpose but he clearly remembers her long silver hair full of delicate ivy leaves and gardenia blooms, her tall slender figure as she stood in the moonlight. She was humming an oh-so familiar lullaby while plucking flowers off the hydrangea stem. At first, Sugawara had thought his mother was unable to sleep again and came to sing the lullaby she used to sing him to sleep when he was a baby. But why would she be plucking petals in his room? Would she not go outside for that? She hated making a mess. 

At that time he was so naive and innocent. He did not know what this woman would do to his father. He swore that if he knew, he would never have listened to the woman’s voice when she called upon him. He would not have let her stroke his cheek gently with such a sickeningly hypocritical caring gaze. It was too late. At first it was only commander (L/n) whom entered the room in a frantic panic. He froze when he saw her and then walked toward her. Addressing her as his queen. Sugawara was puzzled as… he thought his mother was the one and only queen. 

 For when the king abruptly entered the room and also froze in place, he seemed lost and perplexed.

“Who are you?”

A tear rolled down her cheek as the king said those three little words that seemed so meaningless. The pain in her soft gaze said it all. She was utterly heartbroken. 

Why?

Why was she- this utter stranger, this viper, this sorceress- why would she be heartbroken? 

It was then, when the queen barged in... The hydrangea the woman held had faltered all too quickly. The room grew cold and Sugawara did not understand why no one was saying or doing anything. He remembered the way the woman had bent down to kiss his hair, the queen shrieking in rage. The silent whisper of a foreign language he had never heard before chanting what he thought was a curse. He remembered everything happening slowly; his father snapping out of his trense turning towards the queen and then his eyelids grew heavy. The prince’s limbs were limping and so he felt gentle hands lay him on the floor. The split second before falling into unconsciousness he remembered the agony in his father’s last cry as a blinding light shone in the room. 

These hydrangeas blooming in the garden surely did not mean anything good. Sugawara was sure it was somehow linked with that woman. The alluringly beautiful silver haired lady. And he was more than determined to figure what exactly was it that connected the hydrangeas to this woman so he could stop her mother from suffering this way.

“Do not worry, mother. I will not let her hurt you again.” 

He embraced her tightly as she sobbed in his neck.

⚜

You certainly did not expect training camp to be as energy draining as it was. Of course, you did expect a few tiresome exercises to get you in shape and ready for eventual combats, but you did not expect heavy training from eight to six, five days a week with field labor on Saturdays to help farmers in their crops. Not to mention, it was also fairly hard to continuously wear that awfully uncomfortable binder on your breast; ever since you arrived here, you barely had enough alone time to be able to take it off without anyone noticing.

Obviously, you understood the importance of making recruitment camp as hard as can be since the men that would be selected to become actual musketeers had to be la crème de la crème. The royal family’s security was not to be taken lightly… You knew the commander committed to make a point on strengthening the royal guards so incidents such as what happened to your father would not happen again when a musketeer had to intervene in a dangerous situation.

Though it was a much needed sacrifice to follow your father’s legacy, you had grown highly exhausted over the past month and it was gradually starting to show in your mannerism. On Sunday mornings, you found yourself being unable to actually get into the normal course of action which would consist of going for a shower, then breakfast and shop for the much required needs the commander has sent your to fetch. 

Nishinoya, Daichi and Asahi had began to notice your lack of motivation and it worried them much considering you were usually the most cheerful and hard working person they had ever met before joining the military recruits. Your whole current mood would constantly scream ‘give me a break!’ despite you continuously working vigorously all week. It was strange to them how you seem to detach from your feelings when you were training, it was as if your resolve was so strong that it over passed tiredness- and it did- but it was clear that you needed to have a break from the tough work and finally have time to just have fun. 

By the end of June, after a particularly rigorous Friday of training, you only wished that you would have the weekend off for your whole body crying out in pain. On 19 O’clock sharp, you and the other trainees had come in as per usual to have supper before being released for the night to rest or do as they pleased. It was one heck of a surprise when the commander in charge of training you had announced throughout lunch that you would have Saturday, Sunday and Monday off for the summer festival. 

You had never felt so grateful for a few days off before. Hopefully, you would be able to excuse yourself from your friends while the break and dress the way you want without having your chest painfully bound flat. You decided that as soon as you would be dismissed after eating you would try to rest so you could enjoy the following day, however when you finally had the chance to slip into your bed your eyes would not remain shut. 

Although your body felt more than worn out, it was impossible for you to sneak off to wonderland; you felt sick. As if you knew something weird was going on or that you had done something wrong but could not remember what exactly was it that you did.

You twisted and turned in your itchy cotton sheets in an attempt to shake off the feeling but it was to no avail. You had to witness everyone but you falling asleep. Much earlier than you expected, soft snores were echoing through the room, you knew you would most definitely not be able to doze off now for the sounds were startling you awake.

It was pitch black outside, every street lantern had been blown out for hours now and only the moon along with the stars were illuminating the metropolis. You found yourself looking out the nearest window, wondering how the world looked up there. It was not the first time you had looked at shines in the sky, taking into account that you had experienced many sleepless nights in the past. It would usually calm your nerves enough to let you sleep, yet this time it was definitely not enough to chase away the choking feeling in your throat. 

You did not know if it was only the lack of sleep that made you feel so on edge, still you tried to find a way to at least tone the sensation down. So you started focusing on the details the front street was composed of and it was then that you noticed a woman dressed in a pale dress and cape slowly walking down the street. Stopping right below your dorm window.

She was as graceful as can be; a tall ballerina like frame with long flowing silver hair sprinkled in gardenias. You could not clearly see her eyes from where you stood but you knew she was staring right at your face. It was as if she wanted to tell you something that would turn out to be crucial information. 

Your heart was throbbing against your chest and somehow you felt you had to go down there and know. Following your instincts, you grabbed your booths and rapier, silently hurrying down the stairs. You stepped outside, only a few meters away from the bewitching stranger.

“May I help you?”

The raving beauty only giggled softly, which sounded much like little bells shimmering on Christmas day than a laugh. The more you looked at her, the more she reminded you of a fairy or an enchantress. She was as fascinating and charming as a siren and you knew better than to fall for trickery siren like sorceress. You instinctively grabbed your rapier’s handle tighter, not letting her a second out of sight.

“No need for such treatment dearest child,” she said, “I have not come to hurt you, only to  seek for your services.”

“My services? I am not even a proper musketeer yet, I don’t see how I could be of any help to you.”

“Nonsense, I have seen what you are able to do. (Your father’s name) was right when he told me you were not much of a bragger but I did not expect you to deny your gifts.”

“How do you know my father? You do know he has died years ago and he could not have told you about my current capacities, right? This makes you extremely suspicious in my book.’’

“I am fairly aware of his passing away child for I was there when he was slain.”

“It is impossible. Unless…” You took a step back as a thought crossed your mind, “Unless you were the sorceress. Which also means you killed him.”

“Wrong. I did not kill your father.”

“But you do not deny being the sorceress? I think I might be misinterpreting some of what you’re saying, you will have to develop more than that for me to believe you.”

“The night your father passed away, I indeed snuck into the castle, however it was not to do the wrongs that I have been associated with for years now.”

“What were you doing in the castle at night, sorceress?” 

“I had intended to see my son.”

“Excuse me, did you say your son? This is impossible, I heard you had snuck in the prince’s room-” 

Then it hit you. She was saying that the heir, Sugawara Koshi, the son of the king… was her own son. 

Ridiculous. Her lies were incredibly ridiculous. Inconceivable even.

“You are lying.”

“I wish I was, dear.”

“How..?” You questioned in disbelief. This woman must be a fraud, it was impossible for her to be the prince’s biological mother. Her sayings were so delirious you were starting to consider she was not the sorceress at all and was only trying to cause anarchy.

Seeing your astonishment, she knew she had not convince you at all. For the purpose she intended you to accomplish she needed you to know the truth as of what happened to your father and to the king years ago. She knew you would have to go way back and see for yourself the context that led to such acts that particular night.

You eye her carefully as she knelt to the ground, for a moment you thought she would beg you to believe her but she did not. Instead, she silently murmured a few words, her hands covering a small part of dirt and slowly but surely you began to witness the growth of a sprout as she raised her hands. You were amazed to see the sprout gracefully growing into a beautiful baby blue hydrangea, a flower that seemed to invade the market these days. 

“I can understand how you might think I am probably just some crazy woman babbling about your father. I could’ve just told lies to confuse you or even just to hurt you, but I am no sadist,” she handed you the bloom gently, “when you will be ready to see the truth,  pick any of these blue petals and slip it under your thong before you sleep. The hydrangea will show you the truth. Then I will be able to address which services I wish you to do.”

You curiously gazed at the sorceress’s gift and took it from her hands as she wanted you to. So many questions were tickling your mouth, questions you wished to ask her for your confusion to be cleared… but when you looked up to question the woman, she was already gone.

⚜

“Come on Suga!” Said Oikawa, “you have not gone out in days! I know the queen has not been feeling well but you gotta get out of here and have some fresh air…”

“I don’t have the time for that Oikawa,” he said firmly, sighing, “Mother has been feeling unwell for a reason and I finally have a lead as to what might make her sick.”

Oikawa turned toward his childhood friend, a gleam of worry in his eyes. He walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders tightly to have his attention. Sugawara looked up at him, startled.

“One day. One day at the festival for you to relax and enjoy yourself. That’s all I ask.”

For a moment, the prince looked into the man’s eyes, wondering what he should do. He could see it; the worry in Oikawa’s eyes. He knew he could not say no to those eyes, especially if it meant that his friend would stop worrying about him.

“Fine,” he muttered, “but only one day. I have to investigate on mother’s illness as soon as I come back.”

The young butler grinned in victory as he excitedly walked over to his bag and handed Sugawara a festival attire similar to his so he could also dress appropriately for the situation. As soon as they were both well groomed for the event, they snuck out of the castle to the town’s flower market where a crowd was already having fun.

Dancing men and women dressed in their finest wears in honor of the festival, flowers strings hanging around the fair along with carefully designed lanterns. Cheerful music playing in the background and the sweet smell of food cooking as street marketers were selling freshly baked goods.

Sugawara had never gone to a festival before, all he was bothered with were royal meetings and if his mother felt like it on that day, he would be allowed in the party room for a ball. The sight of such event was rather new to him and it apparently occurred that he liked it. Everything about the festivities screamed of joy, he suddenly wished he had left the darkness of the castle years ago so he could see this every year.

Oikawa tapped his shoulders lightly and the prince turned his head to look at him. He was smiling.

“ Your majesty,” he said teasingly in a quiet voice so no one else would hear, “I think you already have yourself a fanclub.”

He then turned away toward a group of girls of all ages going from fifteen to nineteen, giggling as they looked their way.

“Nonsense, my friend. We both know they are looking right at you. Do hurry up and talk to these ladies before one of them decides to chase you around,” Sugawara rolled his eyes, yet a smile was tugging at his lips.

His friends pouted, “you are no fun, I swear. Do try to enjoy yourself while I’m away though. I know you will miss me!” 

The prince laughed softly as his butler walked away already sending charming smiles toward the maidens. He knew his childhood friend was a hopeless flirt as he was always flirting with the maids around the castle, Sugawara could not blame him; Oikawa knew that he was beautiful and that women generally found him quite appealing- surely he could not let his beauty to waste.

As for himself, the prince was standing on his own now. No one knew who he was and no one was around to call him majesty. It felt good to be free again, although he felt slightly insecure for he still did not know much about the town’s folks after his first visit. He only hoped that he would find some other people to hang around since he knew that hanging around his friend along with surely enough horny teenage girls would not be particular fun, however for now he did not have much the choice so he tagged along.

⚜

Dearest forbid the stress you were currently in. It has been an hour or so that you had been trying to sneak out of the dorms along with your bag without your friends noticing it. However it was of no use to even try. Yuu, Daichi and Asahi had already in mind that you would accompany them to the fair, Yuu had been very adamant on your presence for he wanted you to be further introduced to his fiance, Kiyoko. 

It was only after managing to distract them by saying you had to do something before joining them at the fair that they let you off the hook. In a quick haste, you picked your stuff and made your way to a young maiden’s house whom you had acquainted yourself with when you were younger. Yachi Hitoka used to be your neighbor and best friend before her mother decided they would move in the city so she could see her husband, whom was a flower merchant, more often. 

Both of you exchanged letters for years to learn how one was doing- your last sent letter was the one in which you announced her you would finally follow your father’s legacy and that you would be around to see her soon. You knew that your secret was safe with Yachi and that she would gladly let you stay at her house as well as help you prepare for the festival- moreover she was the only one who knew that you were in fact a woman. 

Your walk to the Hitoka’s was not as long as one would expect to be- especially with your tief-on-the-run demeanor; you only walked quicker to get to the safety of Yachi’s house, you almost felt followed. You knocked on the door, sparing a few glances on the sides as her neighbors eyed you carefully for your friend had almost never men showing up at her door besides Hinata Shoyo, whom was probably her closest friend in town. To your relief, you soon enough saw familiar blond hair and brown eyes appear as she opened the door to welcome you. 

At first, she seemed confused as to who you were for she had never seen you cross-dressed as a man but when you took of your hat to bow your head like a proper gentleman and looked in her eyes intently, a joyful smile appeared on her face.

“Come in! I’ve been expecting you for ages.”

As soon as the door closed behind you, Yachi embrace you in a tight hug and hushed you to tell your adventures at the training camp. You told her about your blooming friendship with Yuu, Daichi and Asahi, how harsh the schedule was but also how glad you were for actually pursuing what you had always wanted to do. 

She made you sit down in front of the mirror to comb your hair and style it properly, she scrunched her nose softly when she noticed how tangled your hair was from training camp and sent your for a bath before actually doing your hair. 

It felt pretty nice to be clean of that awfully stinky onion sent you carried for weeks now, it was finally replaced by the smell of roses and gardenia and you were glad to see your hair was not dirty anymore. You realized that you missed having the possibility to pamper yourself like any other woman even though you were satisfied with becoming a musketeer, it was as if you lost a part of yourself by trying to be someone else.

You gazed at your face in the reflecting glass as Yachi was fumbling to find a pair of shoes that could accompany your flowy (color of your choice) corset dress. 

“So you’re telling me you haven’t been able to actually have fun and go out?” she questioned eyeing a pair of white heels.

“I haven’t… The boys have always been with me since I arrived, except for bathing time- I managed to have some time to bath by myself.”

“Huh… That sucks,” she frowned before smiling brightly your way, “you’ll see (Y/n), we will make up for all that time you lost while training and have fun at the festival- Ah! Found it.”

She grabbed a pair of delicate white satin shoes, similar to hers, and gestured for you to take them. Your hands gently got a hold of them and your eyes glimmered in interest.

“Are you sure you want to lend me these shoes? I might dirty them at the festival- they are so beautiful.”

“A beautiful pair of shoes for a beautiful woman,” she winked.

Your cheeks faintly blushed as you muttered a quiet thank you. You then slide your feet inside them and Yachi did the final touch to your hair by putting dried hydrangeas in your hair to form a flower crown. You could not help but to let your thoughts diverge to the lady of the night before when you noticed your friend had done your hair with the particular flower she had given you. You did not want to concern yourself with her at the moment so you did your best to dismiss your thoughts, as Yachi proudly admired her work.

“Voilà!” she exclaimed, her hands on your shoulder, “now we’re both ready for the festival! We should be on our way though. Hinata said he’d be waiting for us at the flower market- isn’t it exciting? I’ll finally introduce the both of you. You’ll see he’s quite the happy-go-lucky kinda guy.”

“I’m sure he’s amazing,” you mischievously grinned toward her, “afterall he must not me that bad if you like him so much.”

You watched in amusement as your friend’s face turned in about fifty different shades of red in a matter of second. She only nodded shyly at you before pressing you to head downstairs so you could both be on your way to the party.

You could only the festival would be as fun as Yachi said since you were not as much of a fan of crowd but nonetheless left her house with a positive mindset on the question. However, upon your arrival at the fair, you did not expect to be greeted by two familiar faces as well as a flaming orange haired young man- whom you assumed must be Hinata since Yachi seemed so eager to be embraced in his welcoming arms. Asahi and Yuu were standing along which means they both probably would stick around as well- that was one surprise… then you noticed Daichi was not with them. For some unknown reason, a chill ran down your spine and it felt off. You quickly brushed the feeling off as your blond friend turned toward you to introduce your welcomers.

“(Y/n) this is Hinata, Hinata this is (Yn). She’s the childhood friend I talked so much about.”

Hinata grinned towards you and extended a hand for you to take cheerfully. You took it, smiling back;  you had never met someone with such a contagious happiness before. It was clear as of why Yachi liked him so much; he must make her feel joyful a great load of time.

“Hey! It’s good to finally meet you!” he exclaimed.

“So is it to meet you, I was starting to wonder who might make my best friend so happy while I was away,” you could feel Yachi’s glare in the back of your neck, following suit was a cloud of red forming on the newcomer's cheeks. The situation was only more amusing.

“I mean-,” he coughed slightly to cover up his nervousness but it was already too late; both you and Yuu had noticed his shyness.

“Aah poor guy,” Yuu interrupted, dropping a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, “you know I was just like you before I asked my delightful little Kiyoko to marry me. You’ll see everything goes after a while!”

The redness on the small man’s face only brightened and spread to his words, so did Yachi’s cheeks. Yuu only laughed at their reaction, patting both of their backs.

“Come on, lovebirds! Do be on your way to enjoy your evening together, Asahi and I will take over your friend,” he said to Yachi’s intention, “ She’ll be safe with us, I’m sure Kiyoko and her will get along just fine.”

The blonde turned her gaze toward you, as if asking for permission to go ahead but also clearly showing she would not leave if you did not feel up for it. You knew better than to ruin her moment, you could see her the next day for some girl time after all. 

“Go ahead,” you told her with a reassuring expression, “these guys seem like a fun time anyway.”

⚜

Sugawara did not know for how long he had been staring into blankness; his head was about to burst of pain and he was desperately trying to center himself again. It was because of those loud girls surrounding Oikawa that he felt this way. They were constantly squealing at his every movements and the prince could not believe how annoying women could be around his friend.

Sure, the brunet was a sight. He was not gonna lie about that fact; with his stunning smile, tall and fit figure, he was hard to resist… just not enough to make you squeal every god forbid thirty seconds or so. 

It was only when he started feeling nauseous that he told Oikawa he would be back after getting a drink. Of course, he did not have the intention of getting himself that could make him feel sicker but he knew his friend would probably not let him off the hook otherwise- he would probably get him back to the castle right away so he could rest. Truth to be told, Sugawara did not want to be on his way back home already. He wanted to see more of the festival, he could not deny that the festivities were captivating and seeing how the people he would soon reign over are actually as human as him comforted him a lot.

However, for now, he would just walk away towards center town where a wishing fountain had been erected on his parent’s wedding day. Oikawa had shown him the place the first time they had visit town together, the fountain had struck Sugawara as magical and fascinating. He did not know if it was for the delicate lilac flowers floating around the water, the shiny coins in the pool’s depth, the background melodies coming from the fair or just the symbolism of marriage the structure held itself with. 

Sitting by the borders of the pool, he could not help but notice the water was not covered in lilac blooms like the last time he had come around. His friend told him purple lilac had always been the only flower floating around the pond because it represented the first love between the queen and king. His throat tighten as he noticed hydrangeas were floating instead.

 A whiff of the gentle smell of gardenia flew by his nose, he felt as if he was not by himself anymore. His eye started scanning the area, trying not to look as afraid as he felt deep inside his heart. Was she here? For a moment, his breath stopped when he saw a figure sitting on the stairs of a nearby house. It seemed to be a woman in a long pale (color) dress looking thoughtfully up to the sky. 

For a moment, he thought it was the sorceress. Sitting in plain view. But no, when the stranger turned her head toward him, it appeared clear to the prince it was not the sorceress- it was you. You were sitting there in all your glory;  short (curly/straight/wavy) (hair color) hair, smooth and gentle (skin color) skin, (eyes color) eyes hidden behind feather like lashes… you were certainly not the witch he had thought you to be- although it was inevitably certain your beauty was just as bewitching as the woman that stood by his window, hair full of vines.

“Beautiful night isn’t it?’’ he asked, surprised to hear his own voice for a split second. He had not intended to speak to you at all, in fact you were making him feel so nervous for some unknown reason and he had never felt his heart tighten this way before.

You seemed just as surprised but smiled nonetheless, turning your gaze back to the sky for a few seconds.

“It is, we are lucky the festival started this evening,” you gestured to the seat beside yours so he could come sit. 

“Did you have the chance to enjoy the fair?” you asked.

“I have, although I am not quite accustomed to loud festivities… My head is throbbing.”

“Mine is too, not gonna lie I’m fairly new to being in town. I’ve never been to a festival as big as this one before. It’s surprising the amount of people that showed up. Luckily I had some friends with me earlier so I wouldn’t get stuffed by the crowd. Were you accompanying anyone? You said you weren’t used to fairs so I can imagine you wouldn’t show up alone.”

“I was tagging along with my friend Oikawa, unfortunately for me- he’s a total womanizer. I just could not stand the squeals anymore.”

“Well that sounds about as similar to my experience tonight,” you gave him an empathetic smile.

“ What happened?” He asked, his eyes perking up.

“Basically all the people I came to the festival with found themselves some partners to dance and have fun. After a while, it gets pretty lonely by oneself on the side chugging drinks, I guess.”

Sugawara laughed slightly.

“Understandable. Although I have to admit... that I wouldn’t usually think a lady as beautiful as you are would be left on the side.”

Your cheeks turned flaming hot and you glanced back at the silver haired boy. He also had a faint blush on his face and you could see in his eyes he was trying to figure out how you would react to such an openly frank compliment. The truth was that you were unsure, a part of you was telling you that you could not trust a man you just met- that him complimenting you was a way to get to you. On the other hand, there was something in his grey eyes and the smell of newly bloomed lilac lingering on him… His silky silver hair softly moving from the light blow of the wind. In the distance, you could hear a woman’s voice whispering softly to trust him. On ordinary basis, you would think you were going crazy but for some reason you knew that you could trust him- it just felt right. Nevertheless, you could not bring yourself to show it. It was too early yet- you did not believe in love at first sight or any of those fairy tales. So you just sat there, staring at him for a good minute.

“Pardon me, that was probably inappropriate since we don’t know each other,” Sugawara said, your silence worrying him. It was true that he had not been taught to say such things to a woman he just met, the words kept dangerously slipping from his thong tonight. He wondered if Oikawa had made him drink more than he thought he did. Maybe he was just drunk or something- hopefully he would regain his prince ways soon enough.

“Don’t say sorry, it’s just that… I haven’t been called beautiful before. I was taken aback by your words that’s all,” You paused, “You’re not so bad yourself,” you added quietly- his back immediately straightened up, the point of his ears almost glowing red, “What’s your name?”

“You can call me Suga, may I know yours?”

“I’m (Y/n), pleased to meet you,” you extended a hand for him to shake.

“The pleasure is all mine,” a small smile tugged on his lips as he shook your hand.

For a split minute, you both held each other’s hand as you would stare at one another. Aside from the music coming from the fair, a few streets away, center town was completely silent. Sugawara wish he had the courage to actually ask you to get back to the festival with him so he could dance with your or even just propose a real rendez-vous in the near future. He knew his friend would probably soon come to look for him so they could get back to the castle before the queen noticed his rather unusual absence. He knew that if he truly wanted to ask you out he had to do it now. It was to no avail; his mouth was nailed shut.

“(Y/n)!”

You jumped as you heard Yachi’s voice calling you around. Her date with Hinata must have come to an end and she worried about you, after all the moon was high in the sky- you assumed it was midnight by now.

“I have to go… my friend is calling me,” Sugawara raised, helping you up as well. You could see his mouth twitching like he was about to say something, but what he said sounded rather disappointing. You figured by the look on his face that he would maybe say something else. Maybe… the drinks you took earlier were starting to be effective after all.

“Of course. Be safe on your way home. It was good meeting you,” he kissed your hand gently as a farewell. 

“It was good meeting you too,” your heart rippled against your chest, so much you feared he could hear it.

Yachi’s voice once again echoed through the streets, although this time it seemed to be much closer. You both knew it was the time to part ways, Sugawara let go of your hand and bowed at you politely- as any gentlemen with manners would. You bowed back a slight smile on your face, then were on your way.

The prince was looking at you, trying to capture the moment so it would be forever inked in his mind. He would like to remember the gentle swaying of your dress in the night, your hair dancing in the wind, your flushed cheeks as you turn away. Something was tugging at his heart to move and call you back, it was only when a gentle breeze murmured in his ears to do so that he gained enough boldness to do it. It did not appear to him that you could refuse his advances or accept them. All he wanted was to maybe get the chance to see you again. If you said no- he would move on surely, however for now the fear did not cloud his mind- he was not thinking of your response. Only to ask.

“(Y/n)!” he called out which made you spun around quicker than you would have wanted to show. Your eyes were reflecting the moonlight, his heart dropped to his heels and went up again so fast he almost felt dizzy.

“Yes?”

“If you’d like to, I wish for us to meet again tomorrow, here.”

A joyful expression appeared on your face, so… he did wanted to tell you something earlier.

“Sundown, don’t be late.” 

⚜

An hour and about later, after you told your friend about your curious meeting and dressed up as a man again, you exited Yachi’s home and told her you would be back tomorrow for the festival. You had to get back to the dorms so you could eventually face the boys after not showing up at all. The fact that you had been right under their noses the whole time out of your man’s disguise made you feel strange. You even thought, at some point, that Daichi had figure out your little secret.

He arrived only a few minutes after your own arrival. When he first saw you, he looked distrustful. His eyes scanned your whole body and you could see in his eyes he was ruminating. You could almost hear Asahi’s voice telling him his staring at you lacked of respect, only then he excused himself and beamed at you, shaking your hand. 

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, at least that was what you thought. You did not know, at the time, the suspicious glances the brunet had send your way throughout the night. Even now, thinking about his reaction was making you nervous. Your stomach churned painfully. What if he did catch up onto my secret? you thought. That would be the ultimate cherry on top. Keeping up your act was already a ton of pressure on your shoulders… What would you do if Daichi knew? Would he tell everyone? If he did, you would surely be on thin ice- the queen could order your exil or to be beheaded. 

A loud sound of rattling metal falling from a nearby inn’s garbage can startled you out of your train of thoughts, you looked back, a chill ran down your spine. You knew better than to call for strangers deep in the night, even disguised as a man, so you just looked toward the alley you heard the sound. The hair on your neck ruffled up and goosebumps formed on your arms. You were being watched. Your eyes were searching from rooftops to the darkest corners surrounding you, you could not see anyone but you knew they were there, carefully following you with their piercing gaze.

The sudden flash of a shadow jumping out of the alleyway only confirmed your suspicions and you started running the opposite way. Your mind was spinning as you were trying to figure out which street to take in order to escape your pursuer. You could not help but ask yourself what someone would want with you at such a time of the night, was it a thief? An assassin? You did not know and not cared enough to look back. 

Your concern grew further when you noticed two other shadows joining in in  your pursuer’s haste. You kept turning corners of streets and houses frenetically, you hoped they would lose track of you but when you thought you would finally be able to get rid of them you unluckily ran to a dead end. Panic was choking you, you knew you could not let it take over your mind for you knew they were too close behind to let your mind be clouded. You grabbed the handle of your rapier and spun around to face whoever was out for you.

The three of them stopped at the edge of the alley and seeing your were holding your weapon they immediately did the same. Tension was growing.

“What do you want with me?” You asked, breathless from your run as you felt your legs shaking- full of adrenaline.

None of them said a thing, only the tallest of them three looked back on the shadow of his partners. You could not see their faces since it was too dark and none of the street lanterns were shining still at such hour. 

“Speak before it gets out of hands,” you pressed, slowly unsheathing the blade of your rapier.

“Let’s not blow… this out of proportion shall we, (Y/n)?” Said a familiar voice.

Your breath stifles abruptly and your whole body feels like ice. How does this person know? Your chest is binded, you are wearing men’s clothings… Yachi had even help you taking off your makeup and did your eyebrows in a manlier way, as beforehand so you would not be recognized as- well, a woman. As yourself.

“Who are you?” 

“This hurts me (Y/n), I thought we were friends,” said a second voice you also knew. 

“Stop messing around and get out of the shadows, cowards!” you gave up the act, your voice came back to your feminine one. It did not matter anymore. These people were a danger to your secret. Your nerves were thin and if they did not want to come to you and discuss like proper beings, you would come to them far less welcoming.

It was the taller man that stepped forward first. Although his partners had try to stop him, he walked your way first into the moonlight. A tall brunet with a goatee slowly came into view and it took you a split second to realize that one of these strangers was Asahi Azumane, one of the comrades you always hung out with. Your eyes widened as you guessed who his two acolytes were. 

“Asahi,” you said tensely, “I thought we were friends.”

“So did we (Your boy name),” Yuu came out as well and sure enough a defeated Daichi followed suit.

“I am your friend,” you answered.

“Friends don’t lie or hide stuff from one another,” cutted in Daichi, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Tell me you wouldn’t hide things from others if you were in danger of being killed,” you said in a quiet voice so anyone else than you four would hear.

“Why would you even do what you did if you knew the consequences of being found out?” asked Yuu, voice dripping of suspicion, “would you, by any hazard, want to hurt anyone by using the privileges of the royal guards?”

“How dare you think such a load of crap about me Nishinoya,” you barked back, “never, for the sake of my father, would I hurt any hair on their royalties’ heads.”

“Is (Your father name) (Last name) even your father? We are not so sure if we can trust you anymore (Your boy name),” muttered Asahi a pout visible on his face.

“If you could let me explain instead of making assumptions that would make the situation a whole lot easier,” you sighed, fingers pinching the bridge of your nose angrily.

“Look,” you added looking back at them, “give me a chance to tell you my side of the story. Then you decide what you think of it. If you do not believe me? Fine, go ahead and tell our superiors so they can deal with me themselves. If you believe me then… we’ll see if that even happens.”

They exchange a gaze and seemed to be thinking altogether about what they should do about you. Of course, you knew it would not be easy to convince them you were about to tell them the truth, you had hidden a crucial detail from detail for a long time now. They might judge you as mistrustful, however it was the only choice you had left. You would sure as hell not let yourself be turned in or something similar without having a chance at explaining yourself.

“Okay,” finally conceded Daichi, “let’s get somewhere safer. We’ll let you talk for yourself.”

⚜

You were sitting at a table in the corner of the nearest inn you found yourself to be. Asahi, Yuu and Daichi soon joined you with their drinks. You were all much calmer than before, most of it due to Asahi admitting he did not want anyone to fight tonight- no one liked to see the gentle giant sad so you came up with an armistice to cease the hostility between the rest of you.

“Go ahead (Your boy name,” said the tall brunet, “we’re listening.”

You eyed Yuu and Daichi carefully, they nodded as well, showing they were all ears.

“As I told you the first time we met, I’ve come here to follow my father’s legacy… that much is true. My father was (Your father’s name) (Last name) and he was captain of the musketeers at the time.”

“How can we know if this is true?” asked Yuu.

“Well…,” you took a medallion from your shirt and handed it so they could see what it contained.

Inside was a folded paper of a picture that was drawn by a professional when you were a child. It showed your mother and father holding you in their arms with a joyful smile. The picture had been taken in honor of your father’s rising as a captain of the guard, which was one year before his death, so he was wearing his official uniform. Anyone could clearly see how proud you and your mother were of him by the way the artist had draw your eyes looking up at him.

“This is a picture that was drawn the year he was promoted when I was about six years old. Can we move on from this point on?”

They nodded.

“I was told, as a child, that girls were forbidden to become soldiers. Apparently, some girls did try before but were beheaded by their ruler at the time. My father knew the law about women and was very adamant on me crossdressing as a man if I indeed decided to be a musketeer. I grew to understand the importance of what he meant when I informed myself about the law. As much as I’d like to be the first female to become a musketeer- I don’t wish to be killed.”

“Why would you even follow this path then?” questioned Daichi, taking a sip of his beer.

“I believe my father’s killer will come back for the prince. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve always felt as if this person never totally left. They did spread the news the murderer escaped the castle. I,” you paused, thinking if revealing the last part was really necessary. You wanted to tell them about the woman that appeared in front of the door the other night but you did not know if that would destroy the logic you had build so far for them to believe you.

“Go ahead, no more secrets, remember?” told you Asahi as he smiled sympathetically. 

“I met a woman about two nights ago. She was tall and gracious with silver hair full of gardenia blooms. She told me she wanted to use my quote on quote services…She apparently is, get this,” you looked around you before lowering your voice, “the mother of the prince.”

“How could you have met the queen? Her majesty and her son barely go out of the royal grounds, if they ever do,” daichi seemed doubtful and you shook your head softly.

“She wasn’t the queen, that’s the thing Daichi. There were two women in that room on that night. The queen and the sorceress. I’ve seen the queen in the past, she had ebony hair- no way she’d have her hair silver by now…”

“How can you be sure of what she told you?” hummed Yuu in curiosity.

“I doubt her words very much so. If the sorceress was the prince’s mom why would she try to assassinate her own child?”

“Maybe out of jealousy that she could not have raised him herself,” proposed Asahi.

“She would probably just kidnap him and raise him in some cottage in the woods. The real question is how would her child be prince if she’s not the queen? I mean, someone has to labor that child, yes? So it is either the bastard of the king or something bigger than we thought happened…” reflected Daichi, “but how can we figure that out? It’s impossible to know what happened in the past aside if we were there.”

“That is where I was coming to… The sorceress gave me a flower, a hydrangea. She said that by slipping any of its petals under my thong before sleeping I would see the truth,” you looked back to your drink and took a swig at it desperately, “ to be honest although I’ve had the flower for a couple of days now I’ve just constantly been pushing the night I would slip a petal in my mouth. I’m scared it’s poisoned or enchanted in some sort of way.”

Daichi’s face twisted in a thoughtful expression, you knew he was analyzing what you just told him. Probably trying to sort the truth to the lie. Problem is, there is no lie. Everything you told them was the truth. You were risking yourself by telling everything, they might say you’re crazy and get you locked up. 

“Do you have it with you? The hydrangea?”

You nodded and reached for the inside of your cloak, then handed him the ever so good looking bloom. It did not even falter after a few days without water- anyone could guess it was enchanted. 

The brunet examined the plant; he made it twist and turn between his finger, smelled it, touched its petals… Asahi and Yuu were also curiously, but seriously looking at the flower. Then they exchanged a glance and nodded gingerly. 

“If you do decide to try the sorceress’s enchanted flower tonight, we won’t let you do it alone,” he handed you back the flower.

“But what if it’s poisoned? You will all die and I couldn’t bear to think you would die because of me,” you said refusing to let people you cared for risk their lives for your responsibilities.

“It’s out of question (Y/n),” paused Daichi, you noticed it was the first time he called you by your name unironically, “I think both Yuu and Asahi will agree with me on the matter, although you did do some mistake, I still consider myself as your friend. We- well at least- I won’t let you go through something like that alone. You say that what concerns you the most is if the flower is poisoned but I know this tears you apart deep down because you will learn the truth of your father’s passing.”

You looked down, trying to hide your eyes already tearing up. His words were too gentle and forgiving. He spoke the truth. You have always been told one and unique story concerning your father’s death, never before had you considered that something else could have happened on that night ten years ago. You did not know if you were ready to learn about something as huge as your own father’s death.

You felt a finger slide under your chin to raise your head back up. You could see the concern in Daichi’s eyes. Then your gaze met Yuu’s and Asahi’s and you understood that even if you did not want them too, smart as they are, they probably picked themselves a petal already while you were not looking.

“You’re right,” you sighed, “I’m frightened to learn the truth. I don’t want the way I picture my father to be distorted.”

“I know you do not agree with the idea (Y/n),” started Asahi, his cheeks flushing red, “but as Daichi said, as a friend, I will go through it with you. You know I’m not the most courageous… many would say I lack bravery to become a musketeer. However, I would do anything for my friend,” he nudged Yuu to add his own thing so you would feel reassured by their support.

“I’m not as good of a pep talker compared to these two goofballs, but you said you wanted to follow your father’s legacy in protecting the royal family. It is a necessary evil to know what happened, so you won’t make the same mistakes as he did.”

You replaced a strand of hair behind your ear, something you used to restrain yourself from doing when you were around them. You had not been here for years now, but you felt it in your heart; you knew you could trust these men. Heck, even after what you hid from them they were ready to help you. The sorceress did not tell you to not share the hydrangea with anyone else. It was their choices to accompany you through this journey. You decided you were grateful for them and that you would stop shutting them out on everything you were experiencing.

“Alright then. Let’s see what the sorceress has to tell us. Tonight.”

⚜

It began with blurry vision of a castle. As floated closer and closer, your eyes slowly adapted to your surroundings and you figured the castle in front of you was the one by the edge of the city you had come to to do your training. 

You did notice it seemed different than it did now. The neighborhood seemed livelier and the plants greener and prosperous. More importantly, the crushing weight glooming over the city was gone. 

“That was about fifteen years ago,” echoed the sorceress’s voice, startling you in your sightseeing. You turned your head to the side to see her right beside you.

“It feels different.”

“It does. Do you know why?”

“No.”

“Because it was a different ruler at the time, let me show you.”

She gestured for you to take her hand, so you did. You were still mistrustful when it came to her but you had to let her tell you her side of the story and you wanted to know the truth on your father’s doing in this whole story.

You both appeared in a large elegant room full of chandelier, people of diverse money incomes were valsing cheerfully around you and beautiful music was played by minstrels. The silky red curtains hanging by the grand windows were indicating you were not any party. You were not surprised to see King Shohei Koshi, his child sleeping in a wooden cradle by his chair and finally the queen… hold on a second. 

The woman beside the king was not whom you would have expected her to be, instead of a queen with straightened ebony hair and a severe expression, you saw the gentle face of the enchantress with her long silver hair joyfully clapping along the music. You turned toward the her confused. Was Daichi right when he said everything could be far more than you could expect?

“I see you are confused, dearest child,” a charming but sad smile to her lips, “I was sitting on the throne because I was the queen.”

“How? What happened?” you asked, her gentle hand guided you to a corner of the ball room where two chairs were resting. You sat down now ready and curious to hear her story.

“My sister, the current queen, was jealous of me. Shohei, Sayuri and I had known each other’s since childhood for our father was the king’s magical counsellor. We both lived yearly at the castle with our father and received royal education as the queen, Sakura the gentle, wished for us to be treated as an equal. As the years passed, Shohei and I grew closer to one another through interacting in royal classes. We enjoyed learning French, reading, poesie and even the tough botanic lessons my father used to teach us. Our free time was constantly spent in the garden or out in town to see the freshly cut flower at the market, never did we let Sayuri tag along with us...” She sighed, closing her eyes to recall these memories better.

“She, of course, tried to spend time around with us. Shohei was not to inclined to do so most of the time. He thought my sister was acting suspiciously strange around him, the truth is that she was falling in love with him and unlike me she did not know how to deal with her feelings. As her older sister, I knew what was behind her acts and… I did the mistake to promise Sayuri to convince Shohei to give her a chance. For a few months, it worked. My sister and him would go on dates at the flower market, he would always buy her a yellow rose… she knew the meanings of the yellow rose, but she always assumed he gave her one because he cared for her. She could not bear to think a second it might have been because Shohei saw her as- well, a friend…”

“You said her dates with the king worked for a few months, what happened then?”

“On the day before his coronation, Shohei had told me to meet him in our secret garden by the borders of the woods after his sword fighting rehearsal- he said he had something to announce. I agreed upon it, thinking he would announce he finally fell in love with Sayuri and that he would propose to her while the crowning ceremony. My sister found the letter he sent me and figured out where our little rendez-vous would happen.”

“Oh no,” you muttered, your hand going to your mouth as you could imagine the suite of events.

“Yes, dear… When I met with him, Shohei confessed his love for me. Over the years, I had also fell for him but never told him for I wanted my sister to be happy with the man she loved. When he told me about his feelings I was shocked. I remember clearly telling him I could not do such thing to my sister…”

The enchantress raised her hand softly and a cloud formed before you, showing 18 years old soon-to-be-king Shohei kneeling in front of a young silver haired girl.

“I know she’s your sister, Kushinashi,” he said pleadingly, “but I do not love her. I love you. I have our parents’ benediction-���

“Shohei!” interrupted the girl, “I cannot marry you. It will break her.” She sounded resigned and hurt. Her head turned away, unable to look in his eyes.

“Kushina. Look into my eyes and tell me you do not love me in the slightest. If you do, I will leave you be and ask Sayuri to marry me, as you wish me to.”

The enchantress looked back in his eyes, you could see the pain in her gaze. She did not flinch, however. She straightened her back confidently and gulped before saying the forbidden words without a single tear or frown.

“I do not love you, Shohei. Now go on and ask for the hand of a woman that loves you,” she tore her hands away from his smoothly and as she went away the cloud showing the scenery disappeared.

The sorceress was pinching the bridge of her nose, frowning. You could clearly guess how painful of a memory it must be. 

“You must have guess by now that Sayuri had heard the whole thing. Of course she was pained to learn the man she loved did not love her back although she was surely reassured he would ask her to marry him. Everything was going to go perfectly fine and I would not have my little sister’s heart break on my mind. The issue with all that is that Shohei did not stay true to his words. The next day, while the coronation ceremony he knelt before me. I could remember the horor on Sayuri’s face. I could not bring myself to say no in front of the crowd and I won’t lie to you, dearest… My heart was longing for him. I selfishly wanted my happy ending.”

You softly took the sorceress’ hand in yours and gave her an sympathetic look.

“It is not selfish to wish for personal happiness.”

“Even if I knew my sister’s feeling regarding him? Even if I stole the love of her life right under her nose for my own?”

“If the king had asked Sayuri as wife, you and him would have both been unhappy for her own selfish happiness.”

“Maybe Shohei would have grown to love my sister if he wasn’t so stubborn,” she insisted.

“Enchantress, I may not know much of love but there is one thing that is clear to me, your husband only had eyes for you. After months of courting your sister he never fell for her. He tried to do as you wished, one cannot simply close their heart on their feelings.”

She locked eyes with you and for a moment you could see the remorse being replaced by a feeling you did not quite know. Peace, maybe? Whatever it may be, you could not have instigated further for she looked back to the valsing people.

“Sayuri did not make a scene when he proposed… but she vanished the next day leaving a note to expect her to return for revenge. I never told Shohei about this letter, I never thought my sister would hurt me and I figured those were hateful words from a heartbroken teenager. The next three years had gone peacefully and I was sure Sayuri had forgotten the incident,” she pointed toward a lady in a red gown, long ebony hair braided in her back, entering the ballroom, “I was wrong.”

It was happening in front of your eyes, the queen was murmuring words in a strange dialect, evil words only the darkest of all would use. You did not know their meaning but its effect was devastating. The room grew quiet, the candles went out. People stopped dancing and their eyes emptied. Only the enchantress was wide awake, crying out loud for her sister to stopped. She watched helpless as the brightness in her son’s eyes was fading away. 

“By the time they woke up again, Sayuri had sent hellhounds on my heels. I tried stopping her at some point but as you could see my powers were to no match back then. Never had father taught me magic that could hurt someone.”

You watched as the sorceress from the past tried tying her sister up in strings of growing vines but she only seemed to grow each time she was thrown a spell on.

“You knew I love him. You took him away from me. Now I will take everything from you. I feel generous enough to give you a few minutes ahead before I unleash my dogs on you. Do not worry, dearest sister. They won’t even remember your cowardice when they wake up. It will be just as if you were never here,” the woman laughed as she made appear a golden crown on her head, from all over the corners of the room, black wolf like dogs eyed the true queen in a new found hunger.

“When I fled that night,” the decor slowly changed to a cozy cottage kitchen, it smelled of chamomile tea and freshly baked bread, “I conjured a spell I was taught to only use in dear situations. You might have noticed that although Sayuri has taken over, her power doesn’t seem to have touched the environment. I wanted to protect the civilians from terrible living conditions and starvation. So I made sure she could never destroy any of it. It felt horrible to part from my husband and my son, I knew I would have to be stronger to protect them from her.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, your majesty,” you said politely as she handed you a freshly broomed cup of tea, “but what business did my father have in all of this? Was he on your sister’s side?”

Kushinashi Koshi, as you remembered her name to be from the flashbacks, smiled at you reassuringly. The way she comfortably sat in her swinging chair was subconsciously making you feel lighter. 

“The night my sister took over, your father was patrolling in the streets and I was fortunate enough to cross his path. He helped me get rid of the hell hounds and that was before he even saw my face, your father was an utter knight in shining armor and there is no denying to it.” you could not help but smile proudly at her words before she continued.

“The second he understood who I was, he immediately asked what happened. I was curious as of how he still knew who I was. Sayuri’s spell was powerful and if I understood her words correctly, it would have normally spread to the entirety of the people living in our kingdom. It’s only then that I noticed your father was wearing a black tourmaline medallion much like the one you are wearing right now. Your mother was witty enough to have a protection spell cast on his jewelry which shielded him from my sister’s incantation.”

The enchantress moved her hand gently and a cloud, much like the one from earlier appeared, your father was making her climb on his horse and he made his way to the house your mother was currently living in. Your mother had open the door in a haste, your baby form sleeping in her arms.

“He brought me to his wife, your mother. Unfortunately, she had not done a protection charm for herself and (Your father’s name) figured she had no idea who I was at all. So he introduced as a friend that was in trouble and needed a shelter upon the time he finds a safe place for me to live. (Your mother’s name) was an absolute angel for she welcomed me in her house for about six months before your father heard there was a cottage deep in the woods by your house. I lived there for many years…”

“Weren’t you suffering from being apart from your loved ones?” you asked, saddened by what you had heard so far.

“I was. I kept studying any spell books I could find to reverse her curse so I could finally live on again. One night, ten years ago, I finally found it. I immediately sent a raven to tell your father I found a way to reverse the spell and that I was on my way. I had gathered all my bravery and flew to my child’s room, my only luck in breaking the spell was to make someone remember me without enchanting them into it. So I sat by the window and softly hummed the song I used to sing him to sleep when he was a baby as I plucked hydrangea petals nervously. I just hoped this could work”

The cloud changed form showing the prince’s bedroom on that night. It was just as the enchantress had told you to be.

Her long flowing hair was full of ivy and gardenias as she plucked flowers. Her voice was chanting a delicate lullaby, one that only mothers would charmingly sing at night to soothe their children to sleep. Her voice might have intrigued the little prince for he sat up in his bed and got closer to the sorceress watching her curiously.

“Brace yourself, dearest child… This is where everything turns vinegar.”

Only a few minutes later, your father busted through the door. He was out of breath and his eyes laid on the enchantress. He softly closed the door after looking around, in the distance you could hear the voices and steps of guards frantically searching for something- or someone.

“My queen, she already knows you’re here, they are searching for you.”

“Oh,” her voice sounded disappointed and her heart stung but she did not give up just yet. She needed her son to remember so her life could be normal again, “how much time do I have (Father name)?”

“Not long… I saw her barely a few seconds ago as I was going through the stairs. Shohei is also awake and he is helping the guards in searching you.”

 It was exactly as your father finished his sentence that the king ran in the room. He was alone. God only knew how long it would take before Sayuri made her entrance as well.

“Who are you?” he asked, sword out. To your surprise, Shohei Koshi did not seem furious at all, he was intrigued. His frown brows could speak the confusion itself, it felt like a déjà-vu.

A tear rolled down her cheek as the king said those three little words that could seem so meaningless to someone that did not know her pain. Her heartbreak was so great you could feel it in your own soul; it was the loud sound of shattering glass as it exploded and every little pieces of it were piercing through your own heart.

The ultimate cherry on top was seeing Sayuri enter the room. Everything felt colder and by her only presence the, once alive, hydrangea faltered to its death and turned an ashy black. She began yelling at her sister to get out but the sorceress could not bring herself to do so. Instead, she bent down to kiss her son farewell as the king watched his eyes subconsciously tearing up as well. The false queen shreaked in rage and began whispering dark incantations.

The prince slowly fell limb against Kushinashi for her kiss was to make sure he would not see the horrible things that could happen next and be protected from any spells that could hurt him. Sayuri grabbed the sword from the king’s hands and it was then that he was startled out of his trense, he turned toward his wife- the urge to stop her was pushing him to act. 

“Sayuri! No!”

But it was too late. When he stepped in the block the sword from reaching the enchantress the sword slashed right through him. (Your father’s name) seemed angrier than ever, the false queen only tore her sword out of Shohei Koshi emotionlessly and turned to face your father as he stepped in to protect Kushinashi.

“You won’t touch a single hair of her, witch. Not as long as I still stand.”

The sorceress’ sister only laughed loudly.

“I’m impressed Captain (Last name), your bravery and your resistance to the curse are spectacular. However neither of them will help you kill me tonight- prepare to die. Traitor.”

She lunged at him whispering some incantations as their swords crossed violently. The enchantress was petrified, she never thought her acts would have ensued to people dying for her.

“Please your majesty, you must flee. I don’t think I will be able to hold on to long,” the musketeer said as a blackness began to spread on his hands. Sayuri was cursing him.

“I cannot let you die for me,” she answered, then whispering a soft incantation that could maybe help protecting your father.

“You must find (Y/n) and (Your mother’s name), your highness. Please tell them the truth as to what happened tonight. It is my dying wish.”

On these words, he pushed Sayuri backward and skillfully swung his sword at her as she warded off almost each of his blows, sending them back. However, with any amount of bravery or strength your father could have had, his arms were once too weakened by the witch’s spell. His arms were wobbly and as much as he persevered, the false queen finally stabbed him to his death. He coughed blood and his face changed to a ghostly white.

“Go!” He bark, his eyes meeting Kushinashi’s, “please.”

Sayuri huffed and puffed as she withdrew the sword from your father and turned to her sister, she was wounded and was weaker but the resolve in her eyes told the enchantress she would never stop. It was when her sister ran at her that she decided to flee, like your father had wish you to.

She exploded in tiny hydrangea petals, leaving the false queen yell in rage as the sorceress escaped through the wind, the last thing the vision showed was the guards bursting through the doors to find their queen spilling crocodile tears over her husband’s body.

Your cheeks felt wet and hot. Salted water dropped from your eyes, your vision was blurry. Your throat burned and your hands were shaking slightly. You did not thought or said a word. You knew your father had been gravely wounded on that night, ten years ago, but you never imagined his wounds were made by such hateful selfish hands, they seemed even more hideous now that you knew. 

The enchantress tenderly embraced you and caressed your hair, waiting for you to stop sobbing quietly. She, of course, had expected the truth would hurt. She was confounded to see that your heart had not grown darker whatsoever, you did not feel the need to revenge. Your resolve to take over his legacy and accomplish his duty only grew and Kushinashi knew that you had grown to be the brave and kind woman (Your father’s name) seemed to always take pride of when he was still alive. 

She could remember the man’s voice when they last sat together, the day he was promoted captain of the royal guards. He told her that he was so proud of his daughter, that (Your mother’s name) an him raised you well and that once you would be an adult he had faith you would be there to take over him, that you would be able to help her break the curse and protect her son. He was right, your pure heart told her right away when you both first met.

 She gave one last caress down your hair before cupping your cheeks to look you in the eyes.

“It is now time to wake up, (Y/n),” she said faintly, “your friends will wake up as well. I cannot stay longer in your dreams, in case Sayuri senses magic and comes for you. Meet me at the flower market when sun rises, I need to discuss one more matter.”

You nodded, as your eyes sleepily closed until you fell into a gentle slumber.

⚜

As you agreed with the enchantress, Daichi, Asahi, Yuu and you all went to the flower market to meet with her. You had your doubts that she might tell more about the need for your services she told you about the night you met. She was already standing there when you arrived, a welcoming smile on her face. 

“I’m glad you have all decided to come, I’m sure it must be quite the knowledge to know. Unfortunately, you might have guessed I don’t go around telling stories and that if I gave (Y/n) the hydrangea was that I wanted outside help in my quest to get things back as they were.”

“What do you expect of us?” asked Daichi inquisitively, but not impolitely.

“I would like for the four of you to protect my son,” she gestures to create a cloud similar to the ones from her vision to show the prince’s face so you would all have a visual of what he resembled. 

You momentarily felt your heart drop to your heels when you recognized the face of the man you had met the night before at the fountain. You felt lied to and tricked but you could also understand why he could not just yell around he was the prince. After all, he was the prince. Who says someone would not try to hurt him if they knew his identity? So despite your bitterness, you gulped down your pride and opened your ears for what was next.

“While the coronation banquet, in about a month. I have reasons to believe my sister’s eagerness to be powerful grew bigger over time, especially since my husband’s death.”

“You fear she might try to hurt your son, your highness?” asked Asahi quietly so no one could overhear.

The enchantress nodded solemnly.

“Didn’t she love him in the slightest,” questioned Yuu pensively, “ after all she did spare him when she murdered captain (L/n) and the king ten years ago.”

“Sugawara is the last hope I could ever have to get my life back, to reverse the curse someone that cared or loved me deeply has to remember me. Ever since I returned in town, hydrangeas and irises have grown increasingly more in the royal garden, she has sent creatures of all shapes and forms to retrieve me, she knows I’m back.”

“In honor of my father’s sacrifice and also because I believe you deserve to be happy again, your majesty, I will protect your son on his coronation day,” you bowed your head politely, she gently caressed your hair.

“Thank you. I know how meaningful it is to take over your father’s steps and I’m grateful for your support.”

Your friends also bowed their heads to the queen and offered their services.

“(Y/n) is our friend, my lady,” began Daichi, “if she risks her life by agreeing to protect your son, we will stand by her.”

“And we do have to mention we are not overly fond of the uncaring current queen,” added Yuu which earned a fervent nod from Asahi.

“All of you have my gratitude,” she murmured, “of course, I won’t leave you without any protection for this service; it is a very dangerous one I ask of you. On the day my son will be crowned, I will sent crows to give your tourmaline charms that can block any spell or curse from affecting you. Wear it while the banquet in case she tries to use magic over you,” her gaze turned to the East. It was dawn.

“The sun will soon rise, hence I will have to leave you at that. Be careful of who you trust, my dears. Keep a watchful eyes around in case Sayuri hears about you,” she kissed each ones of your foreheads before disappearing in a whirlwind of petals through the wind.

⚜

Following the meeting with the queen, the four of you had gone back to the dorms and discussed of everything you had gone through in one night until the sun had gone high in the sky. You also took the time to admit you had unknowingly met the prince the night before and that he also asked you to meet again later on that day. They seemed just as baffled as you were but the truth was that after the revelations you were blessed upon tonight, no one was truly surprised. All you felt was sleep deprivation and so it was agreed that you would all rest before going to the festival . 

It was already late in the afternoon when you and the others woke up to get ready. You told them you would join them there after getting ready at a friend’s house and they told you to be careful on your way there.

On the course of getting to Yachi’s place, you remembered that you had also given a hydrangea petal to your friend last night. You had completely forgotten about it because of the whole fiasco that followed as soon as you had left her house. It was her whom had convinced you to actually take one of them so you could see what the sorceress meant by yourself, she told you that she would also try it that night so you would not feel alone. Little did you know at the time that all your guy friends would also follow you in this crazy adventure.

You expected Yachi to swarm you in questions when you arrived, instead you were surprised by a strong embrace the moment you stepped in. She made you promise to be vigilant on your quest and you guessed that the enchantress had told her for the sake of sparing you the explanations. By all means, you did promise your best friend that you stay on your toes when you would attend the banquet.

Once satisfied with your promise, she hurried you to the bath so she could get you all dolled up for your evening with the prince. You looked like you had a rough night, which was the case, and Yachi could not allow you to go on your date looking like a scarecrow. In a matter of time, she had done her magical transformation and you looked like you again. You were grateful for her help and support, although it would seem like any regular festival glam up, Yachi’s meticulous attention to making you feel better was rather relaxing. She joked around, messed with your hair, boosted your confidence by telling you thousands of times you were the best friend she ever had… She was the real thing, a friend.

Knowing that sundown was only getting closer by the second, she teasingly rushed you to leave the house before getting late to your date and so you hastily made your way to the fountain to wait for the prince.

Your heart was beating furiously against your chest, it was both from the fact that you knew his secret and last night’s charmingly addictive impression you had of him. You had never accompanied someone anywhere as some secret rendez-vous or something before. Seeing him coming back after last night’s moment you shared together under the moonlight was making your hair rise in a good way.

“For some reason, I thought you might not have come today,” he said, cheeks a warm shade of pink, “I’m glad you’re here, (Y/n).”

“I was scared you might not show up as well,” you admitted as he offered you to take his arm like the gentleman he is.

“Shall we be on our way?” he proposed as you linked arms with him, grinning.

“Yes.”

The both of you headed to the flower market where the party was already going strong. The whole market was illuminated by a grand bonfire and cheerful music played in the background, encouraging people to dance.

The crowd was cheering for a group of young girls of about six to eight years old. Linking arms or hands they danced in rounds singing along the rhythm of the drums and horns. The sight was heartwarming and you could not help but to cheer along. Sugawara glanced at you as he clapped his hands as well to encourage the little girls, seeing you happy for so little pleased him very much so- the tender grin on his lips said it all. 

When the little girls finished their carole, the crowd roared in admiration, leaving them blushing and laughing happily. It was their turn to choose who would be dancing next and one of them seemed to have caught interest in your unusual duet. She turned to her friends, whispering something in their ears as they all mischievously cackled.

They went toward you and as you realized you were next  in line to dance, you panicked and looked at your companion for help. Except his eyes were full of mischief and he circled your waste in one arm, grabbed your opposite hand and carried you to the middle of the dance circle.

“I don’t know how to dance!” you whispered which only made him smile wider.

“Just follow my lead, you’ll see,” he said as the music changed.

From slowly spinning you around to moving his feet from left to right, you could not lie, Sugawara was an amazing dancer. Feeling his confidence, it was impossible to resist not having fun. Following his lead was easier than you had expected and a few steps on his shoes later you were laughing along as you danced in unison, encouraged by the same crowd that had been standing for the little girls only a while ago.

“Come on folks, join in!” 

Emboldened by Sugawara’s invite to dance, more and more people joined the two of you in your rather ridiculously fun dance. You felt less nervous that less people were observing you and could focus on your partner’s lovable grey orbs. His gaze meeting yours halfway there, he was radiant. 

You did not know how long you had been dancing and staring at one another like that, but the moon was high up in the sky when you both decided to have a break for a drink. Stopping by the nearest stand, you paid and grabbed your drinks to head back to your meeting spot.

You sat on the same stairs you had sat on the night before, one and the other looking up to the stars quietly. It was not awkward or unpleasing, you would describe it as those rare moments when you are with someone you feel an unexplainable comfort whenever they are around. Usually, you would feel this way around Yachi, your mother or Daichi when you would not be able to sleep.

You felt his hand delicately taking yours, you side glanced at him to see if his face had changed or if he was in distress. You found him peacefully admiring the sky, suddenly aware of how warm his hand was against yours. You tangled your fingers with his gently and mimicked him.

Over the course of the next month, the prince and you found each others every Sunday evenings. You quickly established a strong friendship and you looked forward every moment that you could spend in his company. You tried not to mix duty and friendship but it eventually caught on, what was once the wish to follow your father’s legacy was now closely followed by the fond feeling your felt for Sugawara. You apprehended his crowning ceremony both because the risk of him getting hurt was high but also because it might affect the relationship the both of you had.

Yet, every beautiful thing has an end, three weeks ahead of the crowning day the captain of your division announced there would not be any breaks from training for fourteen days previous to said date. He wanted everyone to be ready for the event so he could select the best ones to help guard the castle. As much as you wanted to keep your dates with the prince, you knew would not be able to physically keep up.

So Sunday before the beginning of intense training, you met up with him as per usual but you were deeply preoccupied. You did not know what you would tell him, what excuse you could tell him that would be valuable enough to miss your weekly meetings. You were so deep in your thoughts all throughout your date that Sugawara was growing anxious. He asked a couple of times if you were fine and each time you told him you were doing great, a sad smile on your (lip color) lips. 

Later that evening, when you were making your way back to center town, it was only then that you addressed the topic.

“Suga,” you began hesitantly.

“What is it (Y/n)?”

“I meant to tell you this all night long tonight, I was unable to before now. I won’t be able to show up to our Sunday nights for two weeks.”

“Oh. Is everything alright? Did I do something wrong?”

You immediately stopped in your track and took his hands, “no, of course not. It’s just that I… I’ve been keeping something important from you. I’m scared you might be disgusted or distrust me if I tell you.”

“I’m all ears, (Y/n). I’m aware we are not long time friends, but I promise I react the way you think I will,” he looked serious and expecting, you dared not to stare in his eyes.

“My father’s name was (Father’s name) (Last name), did you know that?”

“(Last name) as in the famous captain of the guard that died protecting the prince years ago? What business does he have with you being unable to meet me?” he seemed confused, but his words did not sound unkind.

“Well, I decided to follow his legacy a while back. My arrival in town was to become a musketeer and so… we were told by our captain that we would be on intense training for the fourteen days ahead of the new king’s coronation.”

“Wait, hold up,” he said quietly, sparing glances around, “I don’t understand. Even if what you are telling me is true, how could you train as a musketeer? You are a woman.”

An embarrassed blush flushed your cheeks, he raised your head so he could see if you were lying or not.

“I cross dressed as a man.” You braced yourself for the frustration or disdain but nothing came, he looked concerned and worried.

“What if you get caught?”

“What?” you asked, dumbfounded by his reaction

“You heard me, dummy! What if you get caught? They could behead you if they find out,” he cupped your cheeks, “look in my eyes. Tell me.”

“I have people that watch for my back,” you pitifully tried to resonate his concern, “if I get caught, they will make sure I escape safely.”

He frowned and closed his eyes, reluctant.

“You’ll be careful, right?”

“I always am.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise Suga.”

“Good. It’s late now, we should be on our way home. Will you be alright?”

“My friend’s house is just around the corner, I’ll be okay,” you stayed silent a few seconds, “will you be fine? I know I dropped something big on you tonight.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen worst. Tell me, (Y/n).” You hummed in response.

“The night of the coronation ceremony, would you be available to attend it as- well you know, yourself? Or will you be on duty?”

“I suspect I won’t be chosen to secure the palace, first years rarely get picked. Why?”

“I also have something I’ve been hiding from you. Unlike you, I can’t get myself to say it now. So please, join me for the banquet. I heard it was open to civilians as well and so I wish for us to meet there so I could tell you my secret.

He did not know you knew his secret. You knew it was better for his security that he did not know you knew. So you played dumb and acted as if it was not already planned for you to be there to watch over him throughout the night.

“I’ll do my best to come but I can’t promise, just in case I’m picked to stand guard.”

“Fair enough. I guess we have to say our goodbyes until then?”

You nodded, “ Until then.”

⚜

It was like thunder had rippled through his body, Sugawara woke up in a cold sweat. For a moment, he did not know where he was and what was going on. His surroundings were spinning and his stomach was violently protesting each time he tried to move. He kept hearing faint voices echoing in the night, his head was throbbing from them.

Flashbacks of his dreams were haunting him; your beautiful shining hair was gently dancing along the wind as you were standing in the royal garden. You had raise your head toward him as the sorceress appeared behind you, hand on your shoulder. Both of you had look in his deep grey orbs intently.

“Watch out for the orange lily, Suga,” you carefully placed a flower crown made of statices and snapdragons on his head, before lightly kissing his cheek. 

‘Orange lily?’ he thought, massaging his temples, ‘it makes no sense… and the witch’s presence only make it more confusing.’

 It was as if the both of you were trying to warn him about something without getting caught. Sugawara was desperately wracking his brain, trying to find out what you were trying to tell him… He knew the orange lily was the key to his guessing- he just did not know where to start in his research.

All these thoughts were making him uneasy, he slowly breathed through his mouth in attempt to calm his nerves before going to sit at his desk so he could scribble his thoughts. After lightening up a few candles, he began writing down his dream on his journal, sketching around lilies, statices and snapdragons. He knew the meaning these flowers held. Statice usually represented remembrance, sympathy or success; snapdragons could either represent positively, graciousness and strength or negatively, deception and presumption and finally orange lilies could represent passion. 

‘Watch out for the orange lily…’

The issue was that he did not understand why he would need to be careful of something that was passionate or any passions of some sort. There was something missing, his understanding was limited. To know what the flower crown you gave him meant he needed to know what role occupied the lily in his dream. 

Could it represent anything else than the actual meaning of orange lilies? A realization crossed his mind, it became apparent you were talking about someone- this person must have something in common with the meaning of lilies but where to start looking? Perhaps it had other meanings he did not know about? 

He grabbed a few books about the meanings of flowers around the world from his bookshelves and started going through each one of them. By sunrise, Sugawara knew the meanings of lilies in each countries of Europe and a few of western Asia, however nothing sparked as an important information. He was about to give up when Oikawa knocked on his door to get him breakfast.

“Oh, oh. You’re awake- you had a bad dream again?” he asked, laying the tray on the corner of the prince’s desk. 

“Yes. One that I can’t get myself to understand at that.”

“Do tell.”

“Remember that girl I’ve been meeting up with at the market ever since the festival?”

“Mmh, what about her?” he said pensively, pouring the both of them a cup of tea.

“In my dream, she was standing in the gardens accompanied by the woman that killed father years ago. She told me to be alert and watch out for the orange lily. Then she gave me a flower crown made of statice and snapdragon then kissed my cheek. I woke up completely panicked. My mind hasn’t stop obsessing over the lily part… I don’t know what it means. There are not any meaning from any places around the world for what I’ve seen so far, that could make sense in these circumstances.”

“I see,” he paused passing a hand on his face in attempt to wake himself up better, “what if you tried translating orange lily in other languages? It’s popular in almost every culture to name their children after flowers. Perhaps the lily isn’t philosophical at all- it might be just a way to hide a name or something.” 

Sugawara’s eyes lit up in excitement, jumping up to hug Oikawa tightly, then ran to the door to be on his way to the library.

“You are a genius, you know that?” he called out loud enough for his friend to hear as he disappeared in the corridor.

The young butler just stared at the door for a minute, still stunned by what just happened. He then chuckled quietly to himself as he looked down upon Sugawara’s journal, gazing over his doodles. Oikawa wondered what could link your appearance as well as the king’s murderer in Sugawara’s dream, something fishy might be uniting the both of you. A tense sensation formed in his chest the more he thought of it, he needed to think about something else before the feeling got worse.

He reached for the book that remained unopened on his friend’s desk and admired the details of its cover; the title, Hanakotoba, written in golden kanji pictograms was surrounded in meticulously detailed flowers of various colors and shapes. He opened it, flipping pages after pages, reading about the languages of flowers in Japanese culture. He finally stumbled upon the pages addressing lilies and cautiously read their descriptions until he wound the one about orange lilies.

 小百合 (Sayuri, romaji form.), also known as orange lily in common English, has both a positive and negative quotation in the Japanese language of flowers. When moderately present in a bouquet, orange lilies represent moments of splendors and happiness. On its  counterpart, if abusively present in a bouquet, their meaning quickly transforms to hunger for more, haste, hatred or even revenge. 

Oikawa frowned slightly as he doubted you meant to watch out for moments of splendors and happiness. Revenge, haste, hatred… eagerness, they would all be suitable things to warn someone of. Who, in his friend’s inner circle, could be able of such things? He read the paragraph two or three times again, as he reflected on who could wish evil upon Sugawara. He scrutinized every written words continuously until he stopped on one of them, solemn.

Sayuri. 

⚜

Oikawa hurriedly threw on a cape and scribbled a note for the other servants to cover for him while he was gone then left for the market, hoping to find you. You had appeared in his friend’s dream and he was convinced you knew something about it- he did not know exactly why but for Sugawara’s sake he would find out. He feared that without the knowledge of what this warning meant that the prince was not safe anymore and he could not let him get hurt… or worse, murdered. Not under his watch.

Entering the gates of the fair, he wondered where he should start searching. Eventually, he figured he might ask the merchants around if they knew you and if they had any idea where you could be found. The day was passing by faster than he expected, soon enough it was dusk. Oikawa decided he would go to a tavern and set himself a drink before returning to his main quest, which was to find you. 

He sat at the counter ordering himself a beer, enjoying to finally be sitting after a long day of walking endlessly. The boy was beginning to believe you were a ghost girl, he had never seen you before and so the only idea he had in mind concerning how you look was when Sugawara described you in his romantic late night banter. Maybe you had passed by him today and he would never have known. He chugged the golden liquid quickly and asked for another drink. In the meantime he waited for his second fixing, Oikawa’s ears picked up a conversation. He heard someone say your name.

Of course it might have been any (Y/n) in town, but he was desperate to find you. He discreetly looked behind him to see who the voice belonged to and his stare met deep brown orbs. They belonged to a man he would judge to be around his age, he was sitting with two other guys. All three of them seemed to be musketeers in training. His companions might have noticed his staring because both of them turned around to see what was the matter.

“What are you looking at?” Snapped the shortest of them three, which surprised Oikawa. Apparently, they did not like to be gawked at and he did not blame them.

“Forgive my manners,” said the brunet, “I might have heard you nice fellers mentioning the name of a woman I’ve been searching for all day. Her name is (Y/n), she has short (hair color), (eyes color) eyes, she’s supposedly around this height,” he gestured with his hand how tall his friend had told him you to be, “fairly (skin color) skin…”

The trio exchanged a gaze momentarily then turned their attention back toward the young butler. They seemed wary of the newcomer, almost no one knew your female identity- in fact only your friends did. The fact that this random person know how you look and who you are was particularly unusual.

“Who’s asking? I’ve never seen you around before,” asked the one Oikawa had first set his eyes on.

“My name is Oikawa, I’m a friend of one of her friends.”

“Oh yeah? Mind telling us who that friend might be?” asked the little man.

“Suga. They met while the festival about a month ago.”

“What do you want with (Y/n)? She’s a nice girl, I promise she would never do any wrong to your friend,” spoke up the one that had stayed quiet so far, Oikawa realised by his words that he might have sounded threatening as he did not explain why he was looking for you at all. Those guys were probably just cautious and careful friends that were protecting you from someone with ill intent.

“I fear my friend is in danger and I feel that she might know how to help me protect him, I know that sounds crazy but I really need to find her before tomorrow night.”

The inn’s door opened and closed, a fresh breeze that smelt of gardenia slipping in. Oikawa raised his gaze toward the new customer and saw a man approach their table. It was you, in your man’s disguise. That, the butler did not know and it briefly shocked him seeing (Y/n) male copycat.

“Well, here’s a fun ambiance,” said the newcomer with a welcoming smile, “why so tense boys?”

“That guy’s been searching for (Y/n),” the shortest said, shooting you a meaningful glance, “he said he’s a friend of Suga and he believes she could know something about his safety.”

Your facial expression turned grim, your lips pressed together gently and you looked back toward the brunet, eyes cold.

“How can we know you’re not just some fraud? I mean, no offense. You look like a pretty nice guy, not gonna lie but you must understand we have to watch over another and we don’t have any idea who you are…?” 

“Oikawa. That’s my name. I don’t have any proof of my friendship with Suga, you would just have no choice but to believe me. Still, if you don’t intend on telling me where I could find her- I would like to be told now so I can just enjoy my beer and be on my way to find someone that will tell me where she is. I don’t have any time to waste.”

Once you heard his name, you knew he was probably not lying. Sugawara mentioned his name time to time when he said he had to go because he had to meet with him. You sighed, relieved and also slightly nervous. You did not know how you figured you had business with the prince’s safety but you intended on knowing more about it. 

“Fine,” you said, “come on, I will show you where she lives.” 

“You’ll be fine on your own (Last name)?” asked Daichi, pressing on the last part, you knew he was trying to know if you wanted them to tag along just in case the guy would be a fraud. 

You nodded at your friends, and walked out of the tavern, Oikawa by your side. You strolled down the streets of the metropolis in silence, you could see the man beside you kept getting tenser by the second. You huffed quietly as you arrived in front of Yachi’s house, where she was already waiting for you by the window since you had ask her to help you getting ready for your later rendez-vous with Sugawara. 

She opened the door and was surprised to see you were not alone but did not question it. On the other hand, Oikawa could not keep his mouth shut and immediately asked her if she was (Y/n), to which you just shook your head desperately. You hurried him inside the house before he could have any response from your blond friend.

“Alright Oikawa, let’s talk,” you said sitting down, legs cross with a severe look on your face.

“I thought you were taking me to (Y/n)? I’m not saying anything before she’s here.”

You scoffed, went to the pot of water on the counter, grabbed a glass of water and a cloth to scrub your face. Your scruffy brows washed off quickly, showing more feminine facial structures. You took off your hat and unbuttoned your shirt to show your binder, which both made Yachi and Oikawa yelp in surprise. People were definitely not used for people to just start undressing before them.

“My disguise seemed to have fooled you too. I am (Y/n), I’d advise you to not press for further proofs as I did risk a lot by bringing you here without knowing you in the slightest.”

A billion of thoughts crossed the brunet’s mind but by the tone of your voice, he guessed this was not the time to assault you with any of his concerns. He quickly regained his composure and nodded politely.

“I’ve come to you because I think my friend is in danger.”

“What could I do even if he was indeed in danger? I’m just a musketeer in training.”

“We both know you are not only that, (Y/n),” you cocked a brow at his words as your heart anxiously beat against your ribcage. 

“Is that so?”

“I’m sure you know far more than you allow most of us, regular citizen, to believe. You and the sorceress that murdered the kind ten years ago are linked, a way or another. That much, I’m certain.”

You were frigid and it must have shown because Oikawa smirked proudly.

“How could you have come to these conclusions?”

“Last night, Suga dreamed of you and her warning him about a certain… orange lily. You gave him a crown of snapdragon and statice, which are both flowers recognized for their meaning; statice for remembrance and snapdragon for strength or maybe presumption?” 

“What do I have to do with the way he pictures me in his sleep, Oikawa?” you said cautiously, not to show how stressed you really were.

“Suga never dreamed of things that meant nothing. It’s a secret of his, we could say. He often jokes about being farseeing because every time he dreams of something, it somehow rubs off on his awake life. Now, drop the act sweetheart- we both know you’ve been keeping it up for long enough. I’m concerned for my friends and I need answers.”

You sighed, massaging the back of your neck tiredly, “you’d be surprised of how much you don’t know which pushes me to believe you won’t accept the story that comes with my business in this whole affair.”

“I’ve seen a female crossdressed as a male musketeer today. Pretty sure I can handle stories that involve the king’s murderer.”

“See? This is already going wrong.”

“How is it wrong? The sorceress did kill the king and (Your father’s name) (Last name) at the time.”

“This is where you’re wrong,” you reached for the inside of your cloak and go out the enchanted hydrangea, “I was once just like you, I believed every word I had been told about that night, I never doubted it a second. You know why?”

He shook his head in negation so you could go on.

“Because the story I was told satisfied me, the captain of the guards was a hero and I oh-so desperately wanted to be as brave and chivalrous as him so I could also protect the royal family from dark and bewitching sorceress as well.”

“Then what is the truth if what we were told wasn’t?”

You plucked a petal from the flower’s stem and handed him, he took it- brows furrowed. He did not understand.

“Might as well let her explain for herself then, she at least deserves that. Slip the petal under your tongue as you take a nap, wake me up when you’re done” you were barely raising up from your chair that Oikawa already seemed to panic.

“How do I know if you have not poisoned that crap?”

“As you said, Oikawa, you will just have to trust me,” you were now out of sight and he just stared at the delicate thing in his hand. 

He smelled it distrustfully but it did not smell of poison. He could not believe he was about to do as you said, still he slipped it under his thong and laid on the kitchen’s floor. The love he had for his best friend was far greater than the fear of being poisoned, moreover he was convinced that despite your rude mask you were not as bad as you led to believe. He knew Sugawara would never like someone with a wicked heart, that was unless you had put a spell on him.

He nonetheless followed your instruction and closed his eyes, slowly but surely he fell asleep. It was then that he saw her, a woman with long silver hair resembling his friend’s hair and a gentle smile on her lips sitting in her cottage kitchen preparing tourmaline charms. When their eyes met she did not seem surprise, instead she invited him to sit and proposed him a cup of chamomile tea.

“You’ve been a great friend to Sugawara for all these years, I was expecting you to eventually catch on. I guess you deserve to hear the truth if you’ve been so willing to protect him. Sit tight, dearest child, here it goes…”

⚜

It must have been almost morning when Oikawa shook you awake. In your whole life never had you felt so attacked before. If you were not so quick on your thoughts, you might have just slapped the poor guy. Luckily for him, you only frowned and opened your eyes. Sighed when you saw it was him and knew you had to get up since he probably wanted to address the vision.

You raised from Yachi’s bed, careful not to wake her up as well, and made your way down stairs to heat up some tea. Oikawa just sat at the table in utter silence and the fact his nosy mouth was not rambling already was rather unsettling. Once you finished brewing some tea, you handed him a cup, to which he thanked you quietly.

“You’ve been noticeably quiet, what’s on your mind?” you began, taking a sip of your cup.

“Well, I’m sure you understand how overwhelming learning about something as big as that can be. Besides, it’s not everyday you learn your best friend could be killed at his own crowning ceremony,” his eyes looked out to the rising sun, he seemed contemplative. “I heard you and your musketeer friends were assigned to his security, if you don’t mind I would like to have ins on what’s going on, tonight.”

You nodded comprehensive, “sure. I cannot deny you this request after all, I would want the same if it was my best friend in danger.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Daichi, Asahi and Yuu are assigned to stand guard in the banquet room, I will attend as a civilian just as Suga requested me to come. We will keep an eye on Sayuri and anyone that could come in contact with him through the evening.”

“That sounds too easy. What’s the trick?”

“The queen’s magic,” you scratched your neck in discomfort just by thinking of it. Even with the enchantress’ tourmaline charm, the fact Sayuri could use magic on everyone was a possibility. You did not want to see anyone hurt for pride and power, her values were contrasting against yours- you promised yourself no one would have to undergo the same fate as your father or the king.

“Could queen Kushinashi not protect with you with any of her powers?”

“She will. By the time it will be time to attend the ceremony, each one of us will receive a packet from a raven. Inside will be your protection charm so you could be shield from any spell or curse. The issue there is that only the boys and I will have one, if Sayuri decides to cast a spell on everyone else in the room to counter us- we will surely be outrunned.”

“Sly, very sly at that,” he hummed, passing a hand in his hair thoughtfully, “do you think she will use magic as the banquet begins? Or just as last resort?”

“She knows queen Kushinashi has created alliance with some people, she will stand on her toes all night long but I doubt she will use magic in beginning. With further discussion with my companions it became obvious she might try to hire someone that could do her dirty work and only use her powers as last resort.”

He shook his head approvingly before rising up, “thank you for telling me the truth (Y/n). I will have to leave now, someone might wonder where I’ve been since I left the castle early yesterday.”

“Of course,” you bowed your head in departure and he does the same, “be cautious Oikawa.”

“I could only tell you the same.”

He opened the door and was on his way. You exhale calmly, trying not to stress yourself over this evening. You needed to get back to the training building, you knew soon enough the commanders would come in the dorms and wake everyone up for the last training. You scribbled a note for Yachi’s attention saying you would be back later on to get in your ball dress and left for the dorms unhurriedly.

⚜

Later that evening, Oikawa entered his friend’s room. He was fidgeting and nervously stepping around- something was bothering him.

“Hey, are you alright?” 

“I feel nervous. I told her to come tonight so I could tell her the truth, that I am the prince.”

‘If only you knew,” thought Oikawa, dropping a hand on his shoulder, “don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll take it well. Everyone has some dark secret for others to find out eventually anyway.”

“You think so? I mean this is not like any secrets.”

“Yeah I think so.If I was you, instead of worrying about what she might think, I would be concerned of who might show up to my ceremony.”

Sugawara frowned and looked at his friend, “What?”

“All I’m saying Suga is to watch over yourself tonight, alright? I have a weird feeling about tonight,” he said trying to cover up for his slip up.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, mother made sure the place would be secure.”

‘That’s exactly that the problem,” Oikawa thought to himself as he tried to act like everything was going to be great. He knew that telling Sugawara about his mother’s plan would make him look crazy, plus he did not want to risk the plan.

“Anyhow, they’ve sent me to tell you that they were about to announce your presence. I hope you’re ready.

“I don’t have a choice now, do I?” he asked, faintly smiling.

The butler shrugged, “come on now, your majesty.”

His friend only scowled at his words and walked his way to the entrance of the ballroom where the banquet would be held. As soon as he arrived, trumpets and a servant announced his arrival. The room fell quiet as the prince went down the stairs, his back straight- he felt oddly aware of the stares he was given. He desperately tried to find some familiar face to focus on until his coronation was over. When his eyes laid on you, he felt a peace to his furiously beating heart. You smiled at him encouragingly. He knew that with you around he could do it.

He walked up to where stood the queen, waiting for him already. By her side was a lady around his age holding a cushion that supported a golden crown. Once he was in front of her, the ceremony began.

“Sugawara Koshi, first of his name, heir to the Koshi family, are you willing to take the Oath?” said the queen.

“I am willing.”

“Do you promise and swear on your name that you will care and govern the people standing under the flag of your family?”

“I solemnly promise I do.”

“Will you assure judgements and laws are fair and merciful of the innocent?”

“I will.”

“Sugawara Koshi, I, queen Sayuri, first of her name, proclaim you king of my lands. You are now responsible for my people as I were before you and have the obligeance to honor your promises. Long lives the king.”

“Long lives the king!” Everyone repeats, applauding and cheering as the queen carefully putted the crown on his head. Sugawara stood proudly in front of everyone, bowing politely until the crowd finally calmed down and went for the banquet. 

He made his way toward you, nervously. You could see it in his eyes and in his movements, he was building up the courage to face you. Seeing him this way was rather quite adorable and even though you had known his secret for a long time now, it felt strange to see him all dressed up this way. He looked stunning.

“My lady,” he said teasingly, kissing your hand just like the first time you had met.

“No needs for such formalities, majesty,” you responded with the same voice.

He could not help but smile, “I’m glad you came.”

“I am too. Congratulation for your coronation by the way.”

“Thank you… How are you taking it? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier…”

“Well I’ve always known you were too polite and delicate to be the son of any merchants,” you responded jokingly, in hope he would feel better, “but it doesn’t matter. King or civilian, you are someone I care for and that won’t be changed by some ceremony.”

“You make it sound as if it didn’t matter much to you,” he said, surprised.

“Well, your coronation is important, yes. Thing is, however important it is- it doesn’t have to interfere between us and that’s what I live by.”

A faint blush appeared on his cheeks and he passed a hand in his neck, relaxed.

“Thank you (Y/n).”

“No need to thank me, you accepted the way I was too. You mind having something to eat? I haven’t ate since lunch.”

“Sure, come on.”

He grabbed your hand as you both walked to sit at a table to enjoy the banquet. On your way there, people of any social status congratulated him for his new role and Sugawara would always reply he was thankful for their support and grace them with one of his beautiful delighted face.

As you sat down side by side, a butler came to give you both a plate of food and a goblet, that he filled with delicious smelling liquid you assumed to be nectar. 

“Queen Sayuri sent me fetch the most delicate nectar we had in our reserves in your honor your majesty. We hope you like it,” said the man.

“I’m sure I will, it smell lovely. I appreciate it,” the prince curtly nod at the servant before he left the table.

“Cheers (Y/n),” he said grabbing his goblet to raise it to you, you gestured to do the same.

“To your coronation Suga,” a sickening feeling grew in your stomach as you drinked the sugary drink. It felt strangely thick in your throat for it looked to be much more liquid in your glass. The tourmaline medallion hidden under the top of your dress started burning uncomfortably. You turned to look at Sugawara in horror as you saw him drink as well, your gaze turned to meet Oikawa’s and he seemed to immediately catch on. 

The newly crowned king dropped his cup only a few seconds after you reached to grab it, completely panicked. His face turned white and he stretched his hand your way to touch your cheeks. 

“I don’t feel so good (Y/n),” he said, his fingers as cold as ice, “I feel cold. Hold me, please.”

You caught his limping body as it fell off his chair, you faintly heard people gasping at the sight but could not get yourself to move from your position. You grabbed the rope of your medallion and passed it over his head in a way to keep the both of you shielded from any other magical attacks and hopefully to cease the cursed nectar’s spreading.

“Seize him!” yelled Oikawa, pointing toward the servant that served the drink as he was about to escape the room, “he poisoned the king’s drink!”

Daichi immediately jumped on the guy as he was the closest, Yuu and Asahi came to help him keep the man from escaping. 

“She told me to bring them this particular bottle!” the servant cried out as he was to be taken away, “I swear on my daughter’s head that I did not poison that nectar!”

“Who told you to serve it?” Asked Yuu harshly.

“The queen! The queen told me too! Please I have a family to care for.”

“Impossible!” interrupted one of the monarchs in the room, “why would the queen poison her son butler? This doesn’t make any sense, you fraud! Someone must have paid you full price to poison the prince.”

“Except the drink wasn’t poisoned,” you called out, snapping out of your trense, “it was cursed. How would you explain that sir?”

“How would a woman such as yourself know it was cursed?” he retorted, “How do we know you did not poison him yourself!”

“Because I was sent to protect his highness while the coronation, someone had reasons to believe the queen would abuse of her magical knowledge to keep the throne for herself! I was given a charm of protection that could protect me from any sort of magical danger, when I drank the nectar- the necklace burned my chest so badly my skin is blistered.”

“Let us say it was cursed,” interjected the queen, “how dare you put the blame on me, his mother? I have carried him in my womb and cherished him all his life.”

“Liar!” Oikawa shouted, “you stole the child from his real mother and cursed your people to believe you were the true queen.”

“Nonsense!” she screeched back, everyone could see she was losing her cold, “such clowneries will not be tolerated in my court, young man.”

“Enough of your lying,” cutted off Daichi, with a grim expression, “if you did care as much as you are saying about your son you would have already been trying to heal him with your magic. Do not try to cover it up with a bunch of sweet words.”

Guests began to exchange glances and murmuring, the queen was fuming. She tried to make them stop but no one listened. In a fit of anger, she started whispering words in another language and almost every people around you halted, their gaze turning empty. The scene was oh-so familiar from the vision and it was horrible to live it once again.

“Get Sugawara out of here, (Y/n)!” called out Daichi as him and your two other friends reached for their swords. 

“I can’t let you guys fight her by yourselves!” You insisted, still holding Sugawara against you.

“Don’t worry,” said Yuu with a wink, “you’re not the only one that topped the best scores in sword fighting. Leave it to us and protect the king! We’ll catch up soon enough.”

You hesitated but Asahi confidently nodded in your direction and you decided that you would trust your friends with the matter at hand. You grabbed the boy’s waist and spared one last look toward Oikawa, frozen in his daze. A sad lump fell in your throat and you hurriedly made your way to the nearest door, hands nonchalantly trying to tear Sugawara out of your grasp.

It led out to the garden where you marched a good distance away from the ballroom. You laid the boy in the grass and reached for a secret pocket in the skirt of your dress. You carefully plucked the petal of your hydrangea and forced it under his thong. 

“Hear me call upon you, Kushinashi,” you chanted softly, invoking the enchantress, “crucial times has come, I ask for your guidance.”

A gentle breeze caressed your hair as a tornado of delicate baby blue petals formed in front of you, slowly metamorphosing into the sorceress’ tall and slender form. Once she opened her eyes, she choked a sob and immediately knelt by her son’s side.

“I was too late to stop him from drinking cursed nectar,” you said, ashamed. 

“Do not blame yourself my dear,” her voice was wavering, “every curse can be undone. I just have to find the right spell.”

The woman positioned her hands over his stomach and murmured different incantations one by one. A loud explosion echoed behind you and you turned to see the ballroom flaming, Sayuri coming straight towards where you stood. Your heart felt heavy in guilt and pain realizing your friends were nowhere to be seen, you unsheath your sword preparing to cover for the last people you had to protect. 

⚜

Sugawara felt icy, his body did not obey to any of his orders; it did not flinch or moved. The faint sound of voices resonated from somewhere he did not know. For a moment, he could not tell what they were saying, he kept trying to focus on their words but his mind was growing tired. He was not able to think straight anymore, could not form coherent thoughts. He was dying.

All he could see was darkness and it was swallowing him whole. Warm hands pressed on his chest lightly and it seemed to do nothing at first. Second by second, darkness was replaced by flash of colors which slowly transformed into pictures of his memories and sounds.

He saw the angelic face of a woman happily looking, she shared his grey eyes and silver hair. She was humming a peaceful lullaby he knew so well, the warmth of her gaze was tender and motherly. A strange heat spread through his chest the more he stared at the memory. He did not know this woman, but he loved her. 

Memories only popped more and more, in each one of them, she stood there with that same loving expression. She cooed at him, made him laugh, fed him, sung him to sleep… but he still could not figure out who she was. Maybe he had reborn already and this was his new mother? No, it could not be. Everything he saw, it felt like years of worth of sight. 

‘Remember me.’

‘Come back to me Sugawara.’

He now understood the whispering voices in his head. They repeated on and on the same phrases, but he still did not know their meaning. The boy grew angry with himself as he could not recall who the woman was- he knew she was important. He searched his thoughts for a name, anything that could hint him away. 

The scene changed to show his bedroom, the woman was now by his window, plucking hydrangeas. He saw captain (L/n) enter the room in a frenzy. They exchanged a few words only to be interrupted by the king and queen following only a few seconds later. Déjà-vue. 

‘Remember.’

The woman bent down to kiss his head but he realized she was actually murmuring in his hair, words he seemed to not have heard in his memory.

‘I love you.’

He felt his eyes fluttering open out of nowhere, he was snapped out of his dreams violently. Instead of warm lovely arms to welcoming, it was the cold grass under him, the smell of burning wood and glass, clashing of swords. He painfully managed to sit up, noticing the lifeless body of the woman he was dreaming of only a breath ago and then the presence of three guys as well as you facing his mother, the queen.

You were all bloodied and surely deeply wounded. His concern was focused on you, he could see how heavy you were breathing, your once beautiful dress was torn apart, your face was covered in blood and sweat. Your knuckles were white form holding your sword too tightly, your attention was on the queen’s every moves.

“Stop,” his voice was hoarse, he raised up weakly. Your eyes turned to meet his and you seemed as shocked as someone would be to see a body rise up from the dead.

It was a pitiful mistake of yours to look away, Sayuri only smirked and shoved you brutally against the ground with her power. Air knocked out of your lungs, you tried to breath so badly but you could not. Daichi tried running to your side but was powerfully propulsed away against a tree, madness submerged Nishinoya as he sprinted the queen’s way blindly. His foolishness only resulted in getting knocked out of cold. 

“Mother, stop!” but she did not care of his words, she knew her sister had already given him the hydrangea. She could not go back; sooner or later he would realize what she did as well.

Asahi was the last one standing except for Sugawara, he resisted the urge to cower back- he could not allow himself to. Someone had to stop that woman from hurting people further than she did. Unlike Daichi or Yuu, Asahi did not rush in. He tightened his hold over his weapon and stared at his opponent. The queen gestured him to get closer, so he readied his blade and engaged with her in a dance of swords. 

The long haired brunet skillfully dodged her hits, calculating every movements and actions. Not fully entering the danger zone so he would not get furtherly harmed. He spared you a few looks to see how long he would have to hold off still. It was the only error he could have done, the one time he saw you raise up he felt so relieved that he momentarily forgot to watch his side. 

At the last second, Sugawara saw the treacherous blow your friend was about to take and instinctively jumped on him to get him out of the way. You took the moment to charge in Sayuri’s back and she barely managed to block you. Her face was now crisped and her eyes were full of hatred. She could not believe someone as meaningless as you could have almost gotten to her.

“You need to remember Suga!” You yelled, as you kept holding your sword against hers.

“Remember what?” he was huffing and puffing from the shock his lungs suffered when lunging to protect Asahi.

You were not able to respond for Sayuri succeeded in tackling you against the ground, both of your blades way too close of your face to be comfortable. The king, alarmed and anxious to see you in danger, searched his mind for what you could mean. He recalled the voices from his dream telling him the same thing as you did- he closed his eyes, trying to focus on images he saw in his slumber. Flashes of the enchantress’ face appeared in his head, her mouth was moving- she was telling him something. He peered at her lips, trying to read the words without hearing them. 

‘I love you, my son.’

The realization hit him like a brick wall and he was stunned. How could it be? His gut feeling was telling him it was the truth and he could not believe it. Yet, when he opened his eyes again to see the witch holding you down, he was convinced. 

“You’re not my mother.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the false queen had turn to look at him. She screamed in pain as her body slowly distorted to separate and metamorph itself in orange lily petals. The wind grew strong and carried the blooms away, the burning ballroom rebuilt itself as it had been built beforehand, the garden only got greener and flowers bloomed. 

You sighed in relief seeing Sayuri was gone. Your head felt heavy and you allowed your body to simply lay on the grass, completely drained. The last thing you saw was Sugawara trying to tell you something, but you only faintly smiled before falling into obscurity.

⚜

You must have been sleeping for a while now, when you woke up you were wrapped in comfortable bed sheets and was laying on a soft mattress. Close to you was sitting the enchantress, she was patiently doing embroideries waiting for your  awakening. Once she noticed you were looking at her, wide awake, she laid her tissue on the side.

“How are you feeling dearest child?”

“My whole body feels bruised,” you said with a faint smile, “but I think I feel fine somehow.”

Kushinashi chuckled, “I see.”

“How are you doing, your majesty?” you asked back, “I remember you were gravely hurt while the battle.”

“Fairly well,” she responded, “I’m glad this whole story has been dealt with. Finally being able to talk with my son was a great alleviation.”

“How is he taking it all?”

“Surprisingly well. I had to tell him the whole story from point A to Z, including your participation in all of this and what happened on the night of his coronation. He told me he was glad you were there to watch over him even though he would’ve liked you or Oikawa to tell him the truth.”

“And the others, is everyone alright?”

“When Sayuri faded away, every curse she casted were undone. The fire was only an illusion so the people in the ballroom were not actually hurt, just confused as to what had happened after their bodies were taken over.”

You relaxed slightly, “I’m glad then.”

A soft knock echoed and you turned your head to see Sugawara standing at the door. The enchantress tapped your arms gently.

“I will leave you both to discuss,” she left the room. The both of you remaining behind stayed silent for a while, just until he quickly closed the distance between you two and embraced you.

“You don’t know how relieved I feel to see you awake,” his head was resting against yours, you caressed his back lightly.

“I could tell you the same, you scared me shitless back then when you drank that cursed nectar.”

“I’m sorry,” he simply replied then parted so he could appreciate your awaken face.

“Look, I know I should’ve warned you about your mother’s sister before instead of hiding from you-”

“Don’t worry yourself with trivial details (Y/n). I understand why you and the others did it, I would’ve probably not believed you anyway at the time.”

You nodded, falling silent. Sugawara cleared his throat after a moment, you could see he had something else to add, so you playfully nudged him.

“Come on, your majesty. You cheated death, you crossed blades with a malefic queen and saved the whole kingdom from a curse, I’m sure what you have to say isn’t as hard as any of those things.”

The corner of his lips raised slightly, he seemed to be less tense.

“You’re right, but it asks a different kind of guts to say these words. You don’t have to tell me what you think straight after I tell you because I understand it may be overwhelming after what you went trough.”

“Go on, tell me,” you encouraged.

“I grew to like you a lot,” he began nervously, “if you don’t mind, I would like us to have a fresh start and get to know one another better, you know… to see where this could go.”

Your cheeks were now flaming hot, the answer was already clear in your mind and it only needed to be said.

 “I would love to Suga.”

⚜

As peace was reestablished, Daichi Sawamura, Yuu Nishinoya, Oikawa Tooru,  Asahi Azumane and you, (First name) (Last name), were awarded and promoted for you bravery in protecting the royal family and their civilian.  

It was understandable to say the least that breaking a fifteen years old curse that was casted by a very powerful sorceress was a life changing experience and it did influence the choices you all made in the future.

To begin with, you had figured that keeping the royal family safe was not only apart of your legacy but also something that tied you closer to Sugawara. Living through the experience together created a special bond and you lived in the palace with him for as long a he reigned over his people.

Oikawa decided to resign from his butler duty to live a peaceful live as a flower merchant. Of course, he did keep contact with his childhood friend and said friend understood Oikawa’s leaving. Every now and then, the brunet would come back to visit him for old times sake.

Finally, Daichi became a member of the king’s personal guard along with Asahi and Yuu to highlight how much the royal family trusted in their capabilities to keep them safe and it was an honour for the three of them to live up to that.

But more importantly, although peace had been restored, you remained partly restless, as though you had unfinished business to keep an eye out for. Little did you know, deep in the woods of a far away land grew an orange lily, awaiting for her time to shine.

⚜

Sources: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Youtubers/ artists that inspired me through hours of continuous work: ChilloutDeer , Ludovico Einodi , Adrian Von Ziegler & BLUME

[normalwitch]

listen i’m so in love with the owens’ house. the production designer describes it as literally a cauldron, having a whole world in both the house and garden, and that it’s a sanctuary for the family, who are outcasts. they aren’t the only ones. the black cats they collect over the years are all from a shelter on the island. nobody wanted any of them because of superstition, fear of bad luck and wickedness ( black cats historically have been seen as omens of evil, suspected of being familiars of witches ) , so eventually they all gravitate to the owens’ house --- and then the women there accepted and take care of them. i love the symbolism of that alone. it’s just so poetically beautiful, outcasts finding refuge with outcasts !

there aren’t any clocks or mirrors inside the house. in the back there’s a henhouse, a potting shed, a large padlocked greenhouse, and a garden described to be so lush and green it’s dizzying. a gate leads to a bluestone path up to the porch, where the ivy and climbing wisteria grow, and the light is always turned on after midnight. this is the light the desperate townsfolk from jealous house wives to angelic women in the choir go when they want to visit the aunts for something they desire. a charm, a potion, a spell, a tea, a spell. during the daytime they’ll avoid crossing the same side of the street as the women living inside but they’ll still arrive to sit at the table and hand over cash ( though the aunts favor cameos and have a drawer stuffed full of them ).

when you step inside and over the threshold it seems like time moves at an entirely different pace removed from the outside world. even just trying to get  a peek within, there’s a current of discernible energy on the air, but good luck !! the damask curtains are almost always drawn, and the glass is old and thick, tinted with a green that makes everything look watery, almost like a dream. so maybe you’ll doubt what you see, if anything. or maybe you won’t, knowing the rumors swirling around the island and uttered since the 1600s.

the manor is so old that some of the wood used to make the paneling and mantels is extinct. a total of fifteen different types of woods have been used, including pine, golden oak, silver ash, and cherry fruit that gives off the scent of ripe fruit even in the winter. none of the woodwork itself ever gets dusty or needs polishing ( but sally takes it upon herself to dust and polish anyway ). there are three floors, a cellar, and two staircases. the one in the back is chillier, twisting like a puzzle, and the other is elegant and crafted from mahogany, leading all the way up to the turret that is like a single lighthouse tower. above the velvet-cushioned window seat on the landing of the front staircase is a portrait of the beautiful maria owens herself. her hair is pulled back with a satin blue ribbon and she’s wearing her favorite blue dress. sometimes it might feel like her eyes are watching you ( which might make sense, since when she was alive she fearlessly looked people straight in the eye, even if they were older or came from a higher class ).

it’s always cool, like a crisp autumn day. bats live in the attic, mice live in the walls. this changes after michael, sally’s husband, moves in, as i have discussed with @liminalchaos, despite the manor not needing the upkeep, it appreciates the efforts and dedication sally has always put into taking !! care !! of it ! because after michael moves in, the house becomes and stays cheery and warm. the bats move out of the attic and into the garden shed. roses begin to grow along the porch’s railing and choke all of the the weeds. the teardrop chandelier in the parlor tinkles back and forth on its own. through out the night a tranquil sound reminiscent of a flowing river fills the interior, glittering and trickling. it’s so sweet and melodic the mice come out to make sure that the manor is still in one piece, and a meadow hasn’t taken the house’s place.

the house. is. magic. even the bluestone path outside of it, which stops getting cold and icy during the winters after michael and sally get together. speaking of the stones !! maria brought them with her from ireland years ago to form the path in the garden. they’re protective, some would say lucky. extras are stored in the shed, along with maria’s rope. maria owens herself took matters of protection and luck very seriously. that’s why she planted so many things that still remain in the garden to the current day; fruit trees in the dark of the moon, hardy perennials, lavender, lilacs, roses, and strong onions and more. the owens will get down on their knees in the dirt and weed but never have to worry about earwigs. rabbits come to eat the mint, parsley and lettuce. aunt jet and frances are the ones to nail the skull of a horse on the fence to keep out gutsy and hungry neighbouring children.

the grimoire shifts back and forth between the conservatory and greenhouse. it’s a thick, black, tome that is cool to the touch, filled with layered pages that fold in and out; only, it will burn your hand if you touch it  and you’re not an owens. the conservatory has its glass beakers, tubing, vials and rows of potted plants, which is next to the potions room; the greenhouse outside holds bulbs and flowers, waiting to be planted in the autumn, along with those requiring special care. there are no mirrors in the house itself, but there is one hidden behind a black cloth inside of the greenhouse. it’s a curse or blessing ( undeniably magical ), however way you want to look at it. if an owens dares to remove the cloth to take a peek, she will see her reflection, along with shining images of the future to come.

back when maria owens was still alive and not too long after the victorian manor was built, a hurricane damaged all of the houses on magnolia street --- except for hers. not even the laundry hanging out on the line was disturbed. this incident helped fuel fear and rumors of her and her bloodline’s powers. it didn’t help when greenery on the island would brown and wilt and the owens’ garden flourished. any stroke of bad luck or mundane misfortune was swiftly blamed on the women living inside the house. while the garden was gated by a smaller fence, an even larger, black and spiky one circled the vast property. it looked like a snake to any outsiders. folk grew up and passed along superstitions. don’t walk past during nightfall, it’s not safe. only the most foolish would try to peer over the iron gate and into the yard. you risked being hexed or cursed, and being sorry for the rest of your life.

so this is long, and i bet i forgot details, i know i forgot details. like how the roof is a favorite place to go and lay out on to star gaze, look out at the ocean. the house, the property, it’s all spacious and rich with history. it’s a good thing it’s so big so that the women living inside it along with all the black cats that come and go have room to live and be free, even if it doesn’t always feel that way for them. it’s their safe place away from any prejudice or misunderstanding that might await them off their property. the owens women have largely always been envied and misunderstood. barely have any outside of blood dared to step inside the manor, since it's always been seen as too risky to do so !!

[louismirage]

And My Heart Is A Hollow Plain~ XV

Its the 1600s and all Louis wants is the freedom he knows he will never taste again.

He knew happiness, knew a good life and love. Had dreams and reasons to see the good in people, to expect good things from life.

Forced into a marriage he will never get out of, all he’s looking for is a breath of life. Maybe something or someone to come save him from the hell he knows.

I am so so sorry for taking forever to post this, but I just finished it just now! This is the last chapter before the epilogue so I hope you guys like it. Enjoy!!

~XV

A week after the twins were born, Harry didn’t expect to see his sister Gemma walk through the door. She was holding her husband’s hand and a woman who Harry assumed was the nanny was following behind holding a baby boy in her arms. While Harry was sure Gemma was fine with letting someone else take care of her son while she attended to her duties, he knew it wasn’t going to be like that for Louis.

His lovely husband refused to let anybody else that wasn’t himself or Harry take care of their babies. He spent all day with them and it was like a dream for Harry. He never thought he would have his own family.

“Alexandre, Gemma.” Harry greeted them. “It’s good to see you.”

“Harry, it’s good to see you too. How are you? How’s your husband and your children?” The man asked with a thick French accent. He was a tall brown-eyed man with blond hair down to his shoulders. Harry considered him to be handsome, but would never be comparable to his husband’s beauty.

“They’re doing wonderful.” Harry smiled. Everytime he talked about them, his heart soared with love.

“I cannot wait to meet them.” Gemma smiled as she wrapped her arms around her younger brother.

“And I cannot wait for you to meet them. They’re my everything, Gemma.”

“I can tell. Your eyes sparkle when you talk of them. Father and mother?” She kissed his cheek then held his hands in hers.

“They’re in their bedroom. They did not tell me you were coming. It was a great surprise.”

“They do not know either. I wanted to surprise you.” Gemma said, then looked at the woman holding the small child in her arms, opening her own gently taking her firstborn. “And this is Noé.”

“May I?” Harry asked.

Gemma nodded and let the future king hold her child. Alexandre wrapped his arm around Gemma’s waist, watching his firstborn look at his uncle as he settled down comfortably in the man’s arms. It now came so naturally for Harry to hold a child, especially when he would hold his own children all the time. He and Louis would take afternoon walks with their babies and every passing day, Harry’s feelings for the blue eyed beauty only grew stronger. It was safe to say Harry couldn’t live without Louis. He slept peacefully at night when he was sure Louis felt the same way. He felt it every time Louis kissed him, every time Louis let him hold him and the way he would hold him too. As if Harry was his lifeline. Harry was so in love with him.

“I’m sure they will be delighted to see you three. They are finally going to meet their grandson.” Harry said.

“My Gemmaline!”

They looked up and saw their mother walking down the stairs with Louis, Lucy and the babies. Anne quickly gave her grandson Adam to Lucy then rushed to hug his daughter. Louis carried Elizabeth in his arms, being careful and making sure Lucy was being careful too as they walked down the stairs. Louis started feeling nervous out of nowhere when he was about to meet his husband’s sister for the very first time. He knew Harry had told her about him in the letters he had sent her, but it still scared him that she might not like him.

Now that all three of them were together, Louis could see the similarities between the three of them. They both looked like their mother. Louis smiled at the way Anne was holding her daughter then when she finally got to meet and hold her grandson who was only a few months older than his children.

“Gemma, Alexandre, this is Louis, my queen.” Harry wrapped his arm around Louis’ waist, bringing him closer to him and his sister. “Lou, this is my sister Gemma and her husband Alexandre.” He introduced them, seeing Louis nodding once and shyly smiling at them.

“You are even more beautiful in person. Brother did not do you any justice when he described you in one of his letters.” Gemma grabbed his hand. “May I?” She opened her arms, asking for a hug, and smiled when Louis hugged her.

“Gemma is right.” Louis heard Alexandre say, seeing him squeezing Harry’s shoulder.

Gemma let go then looked down at the baby Louis was holding, asking for permission to hold her. Louis nodded and gently placed his daughter in Gemma’s arms then his son, knowing Gemma wasn’t going to drop them. Louis could see how happy Anne was now that all her family was there, and smiled even brighter when Desmond joined them.

“Alexandre.” Desmond greeted him then looked at his precious daughter and hugged her. ”Darling, what a beautiful surprise.” He hugged Gemma then kissed her cheeks.

“We wanted you and mother to meet our Noé. It is finally safe to travel long distances now that he is older.” Gemma smiled when Desmond took his oldest grandson in his arms.

“We would have traveled sooner, darling, but we had quite a lot of things going on here.” Des explained with a smile on his face. He looked at his newborn grandchildren with a proud smile, letting Harry and Louis know not to take it the wrong way.

“You must be tired!” Anne exclaimed. “Why don’t you go rest for a few hours then we can have dinner together. It will give the cook's time to make a special dinner for tonight.”

“Sounds lovely.” Alexandre returned her smile then looked at Harry and Louis. “It was lovely to meet you, Louis. Harry.” He smiled then grabbed his son from his grandfather’s arms.

Gemma gave the newborns back to their parents then grabbed her mother’s hand and let her walk with her to the bedroom Lucy had requested someone else to start getting ready. Harry looked down at his daughter then at Louis who was giving all his attention to their little Adam. Harry wanted to tell him how beautiful he looked with the rays of the sun caressing his hair, the strands changing to a lighter brown. He was just about to open his mouth, but his daughter’s cries interrupted him.

“She probably needs to be changed.” Louis said as he watched his husband trying to see if she smelled.

“I do not smell anything.” Harry wrinkled his nose, holding the baby up to get another whiff.

“We have to go see.” Louis chuckled at Harry’s antics.

“After you, my love.” Harry grinned, dimple and all.

Louis walked back to their bedroom, watching the way Harry was cooing at their daughter to get her to calm down. Harry was the best with their babies, having gotten used to fatherhood quite fast. Louis felt butterflies in his stomach every time he looked at Harry, and he felt so happy when Harry would give their babies all of his attention. It turns out Elizabeth was just fussy when the absorbing cloth covering her bottom was still dry. Louis felt bad for whoever had to wash them.

“We should probably pay more money to whoever washes their clothes.” Louis suggested as Harry made his way to the bed to lay down with Elizabeth. The prince happily took his son and heir when Louis laid the baby down on top of his chest.

“I’ll make sure she gets paid more, love.” Harry kissed Elizabeth’s little fist then the top of Adam’s head. “Come lay with me. I haven’t had the chance to hold you.”

“You did this morning.” Louis said, quickly making his way to his side of the bed. He picked up their daughter then laid down next to Harry, placing his head on the man’s chest and making sure his daughter was comfortable on top of his chest.

“But I want to hold you longer.” Harry said as he rubbed his son’s back.

Louis looked up at him and kissed his jaw. “And I want you to hold me too. As long as you want.”

“I will. Everyday for the rest of my life.” Harry looked down at Louis, reaching to kiss his forehead.

Louis bit his bottom lip trying to suppress a smile, but he couldn’t when Harry was looking at him that way he always did. It made Louis feel butterflies in his stomach and he didn’t know what to do with himself, always ending up losing his train of thought. If Louis had to do everything all over again to end up here where he was, with the man he was in love and their children, he would do it all over again. He wouldn’t hesitate.

“We should nap before dinner so we are well rested.” Harry suggested, just as the babies started whimpering.

“Sounds good, but after I feed them.” Louis sat up and started unbuttoning his shirt, knowing Harry was staring at him.

When he was ready, Harry helped him by placing the babies in his arms. They liked to eat at the same time and Louis was not going to deny them that. Louis looked down at them, smiling when Elizabeth opened her eyes only to close them seconds later. When they were done, they took a much needed nap, waking up just in time for dinner.

The next day the news had already spread all over London and nearby towns. The king would be hosting a banquet to celebrate the birth of his three grandchildren the next day. Then it would be followed by a celebration later that day where everybody in town was invited. During both events, the king would be introducing his children’s spouses and then their children.

Soon the castle and the whole town had been decorated to celebrate the arrival of the new heirs. The market and many other businesses had closed for the day to give chance for the commoners to get ready for the celebration. They were wearing their best clothes and mothers tried to keep their children from dirtying them when the celebration hadn’t even started yet.

That same day, Louis found himself dressed in his best clothes and sitting next to Harry at the long table filled with the finest people in England. Their meal consisted of roast lamb with roasted butternut squash and herby new potatoes. It was Louis’ favorite meal so far. He could see many of the guests staring at him as he ate, but he could care less when he could do whatever he wanted. He was the soon to be queen. He could see many of the jealous faces glaring daggers at him whenever Harry would feed him and encourage him to eat whatever he wanted.

When Dinner was over, Des slowly sat up at the head of the table and started giving a speech. He then introduced Gemma and her husband Alexandre and finally their son Noé who Des was now holding. He was the proud grandfather of the future king of France.

When it was finally time to introduce Louis and their children, Harry stood up and helped Louis up as well. Louis held Elizabeth while Harry had Adam in his hold. Both parents looked proud of their little blessings and the guests had never seen multiples born in the royal family, which meant those children were destined for greatness.

“I would like to introduce the future king and queen of England, my son and heir Harry and his consort Louis.” Des announced to his subjects with a smile on his face. “And their children. Our heir to the throne prince Adam Edward, and princess Anne Elizabeth Charlotte.” Des proudly introduced them just like he had introduced Gemma’s son.

The guests smiled and clapped, welcoming the new members of the family. After that was done, the celebration continued in the gardens of the castle where the town was celebrating. Harry and Louis stayed near the entrance, sitting in front of a table with their little ones in their arms. There was music playing and many people dancing in the middle of the garden. There were tables full of food and drinks for the guests as well as sweets especially made for the children. Louis still could not believe Des and Anne had done all of that to introduce his children.

“They love you and our children.” Harry told him, moving his chair closer to Louis’. He could see the small smile forming on his lips when he knew no one had ever told him that except for him.

“I know they do, Harry.” Louis told him, a warm smile on his face.

However, there was a part of him that was a bit sad. Harry always talked about how much the kingdom loved him and even his family, but Harry had never said the three words to him. Deep down it hurt Louis, though these feelings seemed silly in his head. Harry had shown him so much love over these past months that Louis shouldn’t have a doubt in his mind. But there he was doubting him despite everything Harry had done for him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed that his lovely husband was frowning and it worried him. “Louis, my darling. What is wrong? I thought that would make you happy knowing that everyone loves you and wants you as their queen.”

“Of course it does.” Louis was quick to take his hands and reassure him.

“Then why do you frown?” He asked, concern echoing in his deep voice.

“Because, I don’t want to know if they love me or not, not when that is not important to me.” Louis confessed, his voice soft and gentle but honest. Then he took a deep breath and looked directly into Harry’s eyes, searching for the truth. “I want to know if you love me.”

Harry was speechless. Even though he had not said the words, he had thought that he had made it overwhelmingly clear. He wrapped his arms around Louis and brought him even closer. Then he raised his right hand and stroked his queen’s soft cheek. “Remember that day we posed for our first portrait together? When you were still pregnant with my heirs?” Harry asked him. “You looked so beautiful sitting there with sun shining perfectly on your face. Your eyes looked so blue that day and your hair looked like it was spun out of golden threads.”

“I remember,” Louis blushed. “You looked handsome too, my king.”

“That was the day I realized that I was falling in love with you.”

Louis’ breath hitched and his heart soared.

“By the time you agreed to marry me, I knew that I had found the person that I wanted to rule over all of England with.”

Harry tilted Louis head back, his lips brushing against his husbands. “I love you.”

Louis felt like his face was on fire when he heard Harry said those words, words that had been longing to hear. He leaned forward and kissed Harry, locking their lips together, showing him how much he loved him.

Louis pulled away, wanting to voice how much he loved Harry too. “I love you too. Always and forever.”

Harry smiled and hugged him tighter. ‘Even after death. No matter how many lives we live after we go, it will always be you.” He promised him, kissing him again when Louis’ eyes shined with tears.

~*~

Gemma and her family ended up spending three weeks with them, something that made Harry happy when his whole family was together. As the days passed, he had started doing more duties after his father had let him know it was time to learn how to handle everything. Harry was next in line to the throne, and he needed to be well prepared to be worthy of the crown.

After they were over by noon, he would sit down with Louis and their children out in the garden to have their newest portrait done. Both he and Louis had let out a relieved sigh when the artist had finally announced that he was finished. A few days later, their portrait was hanging on the wall in the main hall, next to the many others of Harry’s ancestors. They had on the biggest smiles, and they were brighter than the sun.

During August the days were hot and humid. Louis would spend them with their children outside, where he could be under the shade of the many trees they had. Sometimes a nice breeze would blow by to help cool them down, but it wasn’t enough. It was hell for Harry when he had to dress properly to attend to his duties. He found himself walking down the long corridor in the stable looking for his horse. He was so hot that he hoped the horses were outside and not in the hell they called stable. He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks at the same time Zayn and Liam pulled away from each other as if they had been burned.

“Harry!” Zayn exclaimed as he fixed his clothes.

“Your majesty.” Liam greeted him. His face was as red as a tomato and their hair was a mess.

“Call me Harry, Liam. No need for formalities.” Harry smiled.

“Did you need something?” Zayn asked him.

“I do.” Harry nodded. “Where is Niall? We have places to be and I need you three to accompany me.”

“I’ll look for him. He was with Lucy last time I saw him.” Liam excused himself then walked out of there as fast as he could.

When he was gone, Harry stared at Zayn. He smirked when Zayn blushed when he had never seen the man do that in all the years he had known him.

“Are you happy?” Harry asked.

“What?” Zayn gave him a confused look.

“Does he make you happy?” Harry asked again.

“We have only been … together for a few months.” Zayn answered, then smiled when he started thinking about him. “But I am happy. He makes me happy.”

“That’s what matters.” Harry squeezed his shoulder. “Lets go before it gets dark. Louis does not like it when I am out so late.”

“How is he doing? The babies?” Zayn asked him.

“Doing wonderful like always. You should visit more often.”

“I would, but I do not wish to intrude or interrupt.” Zayn shrugged.

“Zayn.” Harry stopped walking and looked at the man. “We grew up together, you and Niall are like my brothers. You are always welcome.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Zayn nodded with a smile on his face.

Soon enough they were on their way to visit a town nearby, where there were many people in need of help and a lot more hoping their Prince would help them come to an agreement on issues they had. Their stop was Doncaster, a town that brought many memories to Harry. He was going to meet the Earl, the man who had stripped Louis off of everything that was his. He would never say he had also taken everything from their children when that was not true. His heirs had everything they needed and more, one day his little Adam would be crowned king. He would rule over all of England.

He was welcomed by a multitude of people showing him their respects and was given gifts. But even though they had made an effort to conceal their poor, those who needed help, Harry could still see through everything. When he finally met the new Earl and saw the smile on his face, he knew he would soon wipe it off completely.

“Your majesty.” The Earl bowed down to him. “It’s an honor to have you here.”

“Thank you.” Harry nodded once. “It’s been quite a while since I was last here.” He looked around, then started walking around and greeting people who would come to him.

“Shall we go inside?” The Earl interrupted him. “I understand the journey was long and you must be exhausted and hungry.”

“We would like to rest before we eat.” Harry told him.

The Earl nodded then ordered a few servants to carry Harry’s things to a guest room. Harry made sure Liam, Zayn and Niall were close by. When he finally walked into the room that had been given to him he paused and looked around, then grinned when he realized it was Louis’ bedroom. He looked around the room where he had impregnated Louis. It looked different now, but Harry did not mind.

He got a few hours of sleep before he absolutely had to attend dinner. It was nothing new nor exciting and he wanted to get it over with and go home the next day. He did not like traveling during the night and expose himself the way he used to before. When he got tired of being in bed, he got up and walked around the room then made his way to the window that faced the street.

The first thing he saw were the dirty streets, then the many people going on about their day. He would no longer flinch whenever he saw the homeless and thought to himself how there shouldn’t be that many. Doncaster was not a poor town, and everybody should have a place to live. Harry made sure his father always remembered that. As Harry slowly took over, he always made sure to do everything possible so his people had jobs. So his people didn’t suffer. He could see Liam walking down the street with Zayn, and a smile made his way to his lips when he saw him and Zayn helping them out as much as they could.

Later that day, as he cleaned himself up to attend dinner, Harry knew what he was going to do. He walked into the room with authority, even when he was only visiting. He looked around and smirked when he found the Earl sitting at the head of the table. As soon as the man saw him, he stood up and offered him the seat next to him. Harry thanked him and sat down to eat. They ate in silence until they were done, then Harry made sure to ask for a tour of the city.

“A tour, you say?” The Earl asked.

“Why not? I want to see how things are going here. It is my duty after all. To make sure everything is going well and if not, then it will help me look for a solution to the problem.” Harry explained, arching an eyebrow when the Earl was about to protest.

They stared each other down until the Earl ws clearing his throat and looking away. “Very well, I’ll have someone get the horses ready.”

“Wonderful.” Harry gave him a smile then drank the wine he had left in his wine glass. He licked his lips as he looked out the window, pretending he couldn’t see the Earl glaring at him.

When the horses were ready they set out to look around town where the more poverty Harry saw, the more he was sure about his decision. He spent another two days in Doncaster, and the more he stayed the more he missed Louis and their children. On his last day there before he was due to leave, he delivered his final message. New changes were needed and new people were necessary.

Liam Payne was to be the new Earl of Doncaster per the king’s orders. The reactions had been exactly what he thought they would be like. A hopeful one for the many who wanted a better life and outrage from the old Earl. It didn’t take long for the man to completely lose it and charge at Harry with a dagger in his hand. The sharp end of it was inches away from Harry’s chest, right above his heart when the older man stopped short. Harry laid on the ground panting as he tried to figure out what had just happened. When he finally did, the older man coughed out blood then fell next to Harry.

Harry stared at him as he fell, then looked up again to see Niall looking down at the man with wide eyes, holding a dagger in his hand. His hand started shaking then quickly dropped it on the ground and stumbled back.

“I did not– I…” He struggled to speak, looking at Harry with eyes full of fear.

“You’ve saved his life.” Zayn was quick to grab him before he could take off. “You saved the prince’s life.” He repeated.

Harry got up and slowly made his way to Niall, and as soon as he was close enough he placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed for comfort as he nodded. He would forever be grateful and would never forget it.

“Let’s go home.” Harry said then looked at Liam. “If you accept, you’ll have to move back in a few days.”

“It would be an honor.” Liam bowed down. He then looked at Zayn with worried eyes, only to find the man he had come to deeply care about already looking at him with a smile on his face.

~*~

The door to the warm bedroom was slowly opened, revealing Louis asleep on the bed and his children asleep next to him. A smile made its way onto Harry’s face at the sight in front of him. He slowly made his way to the babies and gently picked his son up placing him in his crib with a kiss to the forehead then did the same with his daughter. Once they were settled, he took his clothes off then washed himself, all without waking Louis up who was probably exhausted. When he was done, he climbed in bed with Louis and wrapped his arms around the smaller man, bringing him close to him. Louis continued sleeping, and soon Harry was in a deep sleep after the long way home back from Doncaster.

The following morning he felt drowsy and tried to move away from the harsh rays of the sun, getting comfortable when he could feel Louis next to him. He could feel him running his fingers through his hair then his gentle kisses along his jaw.

“You didn’t wake me up.” Louis murmured. “And no one told me you were coming back so late. I do not like when you travel at night. Makes me nervous.”

Harry licked his lips and tried to open his eyes, but had to close them again when the light bothered him. Instead of answering he wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist and brought him close to him. He didn’t say anything when he knew Louis liked to welcome him home as soon as he walked through the door.

“You looked comfortable and I didn't have the heart to wake you up.” Harry explained, not saying anything else when Louis stayed quiet. They looked each other in the eyes and Louis got comfortable next to Harry. Words weren’t needed at all except for one little thing.

“I love you.” Harry kissed the top of Louis’ head, his lips lingering more than necessary.

“I love you too.” Louis closed his eyes to continue sleeping, but it was impossible when the bedroom was too bright and the babies started crying.

Louis loudly sighed and got up to get them. He grabbed Adam first and set him on the bed, seeing Harry picking him up, then grabbed Elizabeth and made his way back to the bed. He let Harry help him so he could feed them, then sat comfortable on the bed with Harry laying next to him, his arm wrapped around his waist and his face buried on the space between Louis’ back and the headboard. Adam kept unlatching and crying no matter how many times Louis would help him latch on again as he started getting worried.

“Is something wrong?” Harry asked and seconds later sat up.

“He is just having a little trouble eating. She was doing the same yesterday but she is fine now.” Louis told him.

“I can get the doctor if you want.” Harry suggested.

“There is no need for that, Harry.” Louis told him as he kept his eyes on his son.

“Fine. I won’t have anyone bring him over.” Harry said, then started biting on his bottom lip wondering if it was the right time to tell Louis what his father had told him a while back, then decided it was best to do it now when the date was getting closer. “Father wants us to be crowned soon. He said he’s getting old and tired and would like to spend the rest of his days with mother.”

Louis looked at him with a small smile on his face. “If that’s what he wants. And we know your father will live a long life.” He said, looking down when Elizabeth stopped eating to sneeze then continued eating without a care in the world.

“I hope so, love.” Harry said, reaching out to place his hand on Louis’ cheek, feeling the soft skin on his fingertips.

~*~

The big day finally happened a month after that morning. Harry was in his best attire and wearing his coronation robe, looking like a proper king. Louis sat beside him dressed up to the royal’s standards, looking like a proper queen to be. He had told himself many times that he was ready to rule over England along Harry, but the truth was that he was not ready at all. He had not been born a royal, and he had not received the training that he knew Harry had received and that soon their children would too. All his life he had been told that as a the bearer of the mark, his only role in life was to please and listen to his husband as well as birth his babies.

He had always been told that he was not worth a thing, that he was only there as if he was one more piece of furniture. Going from being told that every day of his life to being told that he is important and worth it, that he was capable of anything he wanted was overwhelming for him. Harry made him feel loved and important, like everything was good in the world. Harry made him feel human.

He looked at Harry whose hair was being combed back, making him smile when his stubborn curls kept escaping no matter how hard the man tried to tame them. He ended up leaving it alone and down, letting it curl around Harry’s shoulders. When he finally left them alone, Louis got up from his seat and slowly made his way to stand next to Harry and stood behind him, placing his hands on Harry’s shoulders. Their babies were with Lucy and Edith so they were not worried about them.

“You look very handsome, love.” Louis kissed the top of Harry’s head, smiling when Harry grabbed his hands in his then kissed them each twice.

“And you look gorgeous. You always do, and today more than ever.” Harry turned around to look at him. He started leaning down to kiss him, only getting to peck his lips before they were interrupted by Zayn who had traveled all the way from Doncaster with Liam to watch the coronation.

They followed him to the coronation room still holding hands and never letting go. When they got there, Des and Anne were standing their respective thrones and an assistant of the court showed the future king and queen to their respective places. The Archbishop of Canterbury started the ceremony right away after the congregation had accepted Harry as their new monarch, he then started saying a few prayers for the soon to be former monarchs of England and a few others for the new ones. He wished them a long, healthy and successful life and monarchy.

Louis’ hands were starting to shake as soon as Des and Anne walked away from the thrones and he and Harry were motioned to get closer. It calmed him down when Harry never let go of his hand, even when they were standing in front of the congregation and the coronation chair for Harry.

“Harry Edward Styles.” The Archbishop started. “Do you swear to maintain and preserve the doctrine, worship, discipline, and the Government of Great Britain...according to its respectives laws and customs.”

“I swear to maintain and preserve the doctrine, worship, discipline, and the Government of Great Britain…” Harry repeated as the Archbishop anointed him with holy oil as the choir sang the coronation anthem Zadok the Priest . “...according to its respectives laws and customs.” Harry finished, taking a seat in the coronation chair and Louis stood next to him.

As Harry sat in the coronation chair, the Archbishop presented him with the Regalia: the Orb, the Sceptre that symbolizes power, the rod with the Dove symbolising justice and mercy and finally the Coronation Ring. The moment was ethereal when the Archbishop placed St Edward’s crown on Harry’s head, hearing the congregation acclaimed him with loud and repeated shouts. Harry watched with a proud smile as the Archbishop anointed Louis with holy oil, gave Louis the Consorts Ring then a crown specifically made for him was placed on his head. Harry had ordered it to be specifically made of gold and blue topaz stones.

Louis looked beautiful and worthy of being a queen, worthy of ruling England with him.

When Louis’ coronation was over, Harry grabbed his hand and together left the Coronation Chair and moved to the throne, in full sight of the whole congregation and sat in it, taking possession of the kingdom. Louis sitting next to him in his own chair.

The Archbishop gave his blessing then Harry and Louis withdrew to St Edward’s chapel. There he put on a robe of purple velvet and exchanged St Edward’s Crown for the Imperial State Crown before finally processing through the Abbey to the annexe at the west end. The four and a half mile return to the castle was a chance for the crowds to get the best possible chance to see their new King and Queen Consort.

When they were back, Harry was given his son to hold and Louis was given their daughter. They once again took a seat in their thrones, greeting people who would get close to give them gifts and their blessings. By the end of the day, after the biggest celebration, they were finally allowed to retire to their bedroom. Their children were being taken care of by trusted people, giving Harry and Louis the chance to be alone. Louis had made sure to feed them first and bathe them with Harry’s help. Lucy and Edith had a place to sleep in the babies nursery whenever they were required to take care of the children, and it made Louis feel better knowing they were close by.

As soon as they were finally alone, Harry stared at Louis who was no longer wearing his crown. If he could, he would have Louis wearing it every day, just so his eyes would shine in contrast with the blue topaz decorating the crown. The blue topaz stones were a pretty blue color, but Louis’ eyes were bluer and prettier, like sapphire. He wanted to look at them for the rest of his life, and it was exactly what he was going to do.

“What are you thinking?” Louis cut through his thoughts. He was standing right in front of Harry, just watching the man who had been deep in thought.

“You.” Harry answered easily and slowly started getting closer to Louis.

A long time ago, Louis would have backed away in fear at the sight of a man approaching him. Even more when it was only them in the privacy of their bedroom. But now it wasn’t like that anymore. Now he took a few steps forward and met Harry halfway, letting the man wrap his arms around his waist.

“I remember when I first saw you.” Harry smiled against his neck, kissing the sweet skin as he spoke to him, his words genuine and soft. Louis leaned into the touch, always craving more. “Even then I thought you were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. And every morning, I wake up and feel like I’m still dreaming.” The king complimented him, both ignoring the fact that the first time they had met, Louis had threatened him.

Louis blushed. “Stop Harry, your words are too much, too flattering for a boy like me.” He whispered shyly.

“A boy like you?” His husband questioned him. “Louis, you are my queen. You are everything to me. If you do not believe me, let me show you.” Harry slowly guided him to the large bed, laying his body down on the feather-filled mattress. “All queens deserve the royal treatment,” He told him as he gently undressed him, taking off the expensive clothing and kissing the exposed skin. Harry gave special attention to his stomach, making sure to worship even the scarred skin that had protected his twins while they were inside of him.

When Harry got to his member he kissed the tip and then trailed kisses down the side, loving how his lover released soft moans and shivered under his affection. Harry kept kissing until he reached Louis’ bum. He kissed each cheek and then spread them to peck his fluttering hole. But when he stopped to grab the oil, Louis spoke up.

“No. Harry.” Louis suddenly grabbed his wrist and brought it back to rest on his hip.

“What is it? Have I done something?”

“No! I just... I just do not want you to stop. I really love it when you kiss me there.” Louis turned bright red at his confession.

“Don’t worry my lovely Lou, I just wanted to get some oil. I do not want to hurt you.” Harry poured some oil on his fingers and then swirled them around his lover’s hole. He pressed his index finger in, gently massaging Louis’ walls until he fit that spot inside of him that had the queen crying out. Harry leaned down and added another finger along with his tongue. He sucked on the rim as he curled his fingers making sure to hit Louis’ bundle of nerves every time, his screams getting louder and louder. With his other hand, Harry alternated between pumping Louis’ cock and fondling his balls.

“Oh, Harry. Feels so good my king. But I–” Louis let out a loud moan as he arched his back, “I want you inside of me. I want to come on your cock.”

“I would like that too,” Harry smirked and then removed his fingers and tongue from his hole. He undressed and then climbed on top of him, draping himself over his lover’s tiny body. He lined his dick up with Louis’ loose entrance. Harry felt Louis wrap his arms around him as he entered his tight heat, shivering from the feeling.

“Louis, you feel so good darling.” Harry told him as he pounded into him, then he kissed his lips, enjoying their sweet taste.

Louis ran his fingernails down Harry’s back, crying out when Harry changed the angle and went faster, continuously hitting that special spot inside of him. “I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you,” Louis chanted overwhelmed by the glorious feeling. He never wanted it to stop.

“I love you so much too, darling.” Harry told him as he softly stroked his hair. “Now come for me, sweetheart. Come for your king.” Not even a moment later, Louis released his seed onto his tummy, painting it white. Harry followed him soon after burying his head in his lover’s neck crying out as he did. Louis smiled at his husbands blissful expression when he as finished, only waiting a few seconds before Harry pulled out and then laid beside him.

Louis quickly scooted closer to him and laid his head on his husband’s chest at the same time Harry reached for something. He showed the small black velvet box to Louis before telling him to take it. He watched Louis open it and studied his reaction. He knew he had liked it when his blue eyes shined and he hurried to take the gold pendant out of the box.

“I love doves.” Louis murmured as he traced his finger over the small gold doves.

They were two small doves joined together by their beaks, as if they were kissing. One of their legs were joined together by their breasts and the other one stretched below them as if they were holding hands. Each Dove had a stone on their breast; blue and purple.

“I wanted mine to be green, but I was going with birthstones and it turns out mine is amethyst.” Harry explained. “You are lucky to have gotten blue topaz.” He teased.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you, Harry.” Louis gave him a kiss then gave Harry the pendant. “Can you put it on for me?” He asked.

Of course, love.” Harry smiled, and while he put it on, he asked him a question. “Do you know what doves symbolize?”

“I know they symbolize peace and love.” Louis answered.

“They do.” Harry nodded. “They also symbolize purity and freedom.”

“Freedom…” Louis trailed off as he held hands with Harry and looked down at his pendant.

“We will always have that.” Harry lifted his hands and kissed them. He looked into Louis’ blue eyes with his green ones and spoke the words he had always wanted to say. “We will always have love, peace, purity and freedom. We are equals, and we are free.”

Louis thought he wouldn’t ever hear those words, much less believe them if he ever did. But looking into Harry’s eyes made them real.

He believed them.

I will post the Epilogue as soon as I finish it. *For the coronation part, I googled how it was done then tried to keep it as close as I could. I hope it wasn't disappointing.*

[txnystarkimagines]

Paradox (Part 1/?)

Disclaimer: This story contains triggering content that includes: violence, abuse (both domestic and sexual), as well as emotional trauma, anxiety, and PTSD. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED. I repeat, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED,OR TRIGGERED. I apologize for inconveniences caused by me.

Pairings: Peperony, eventual Tony Stark X Reader

Words:1600

Author’s Note:So here it is! The first part of the fic I have been planning since the last two years.

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Things the reader needs to know before reading it:

This is an alternative universe where Iron Man 3 takes place before Iron Man 2 and before the Avengers.

Consequently, Tony does not get the reactor taken out before the Battle Of NewYork.

In addition, Pepper’s EXTREMIS was not fully cured.

Tony Stark is younger in this story, approximately 36-38.

The age difference between the male and female protagonists is slightly more than usual.

Eleanor is 27.

Eleanor stood at the reception of Stark Tower, drumming her fingers against the granite top. It was February, almost March and NewYork was so god damn cold. Even as she stood in the fully, centrally heated reception area, gusts of cold air could be seen coming out of her mouth as she breathed. The glass walls of the tower were all fogged up, and almost everyone had a cup of coffee on their hands, and scarves wrapped around the necks, cocooned in thick warm coats. Eleanor too was no exception, while she did not have the cup of coffee with her, her clothing choices were quite similar. Though she regretted dressing to impress today with only sheer tights cover her legs, she was still shivering. Eleanor had been out all day applying for and giving job interviews. But no she wasn’t here to apply for a job in Stark Industries. She was actually here at the request of her long time and only friend Pepper Stark wife of Tony Stark, better known to the world as Stark’s PA,with a different last name. It came as a shock to her when the couple decided to not reveal the information to the world and settle on a small wedding, with only close family and friends in a private island. Even more so when they decided to hide their new born son Exton, now six months old from the world.

“How may I help you miss?” The lady at the desk snapped Eleanor out of her thoughts.

“Oh hey, I am here to meet Ms. Potts.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No I don’t, but I am sure she has the slot booked."She replied.

"Yes, you do. Sorry for the inconvenience, here is your pass. Please make sure to keep it with you at all times and return it when you are leaving.”

Eleanor only smiled in return, making her way down to the elevator, fortunately empty. Some old rock music lightly played in the background, as the lift made its way up to the top most floor, the penthouse Stark suite. She wondered what was so urgent that Pepper wanted to talk to her about, the last time she met her was three weeks ago.

The elevator doors opened right into the living room.Right opposite was a whole wall made of glass, giving a view of the foggy New York skyline and the Empire State Building right adjacent to it. The sitting area was a huge circular step down portion where a couch wrapped around on one side, with huge chairs on the opposite side, and a cocktail table in between. A modern abstract chandelier hung up, with the fire place reflecting off of it.

“Look what the cat brought in."Tony greeted Eleanor as she entered. In his lap rested the little bundle of joy, better yet Exton, as he previously cooed and played with him.Tony Stark, a father and a good one. Who would have thought? She scoffed internally.

"Stark,"Eleanor nodded at him."Where is Pepper?"She asked, deciding to take a seat in the sitting and have a little talk with him.

"In bed, where else?"He looked at her.

"What about the reports?”

“Not better, if not worse."He stated cynically, with an undertone to his voice.

"How much time does she have?”

“She is not dying.” He snapped.

“Stark,” She sighed.

“No, she isn’t. I have got the best doctors on spot, I have research projects going on down in the lab with various others around the world. She will not die."He seethed. "Anyways why do you care?”

“Why do I care?” Eleanor got up,“She is my friend. For fuck’s sake, Tony!”

“It’s Mr. Stark to you.And no you aren’t. Why don’t you stop pretending that you are here for her and not for the charity?”

Eleanor’s heart panged at the thought, but she ignored it, there was a lot worse she had endured.This was nothing.

“You are unbelievable!” Eleanor exclaimed, storming out of the room and up the stairs that led to the bedrooms floor.

Is that what he really thought of her? That she was a gold digger, only caring for her best friend’s bank balance. It was true that Pepper had helped her settle down after the divorce, buying her an apartment and all, because she had nothing except her clothes at that point in life. And honestly she had tried to refuse the offer but Pep was just so damn persistent! But she had promised herself that one day she will pay back each and every single penny, even if it is ten years down the line she will, Eleanor promised herself.

Reaching the door of the master bed, El knocked loudly.

“Come in."A frail voice came from the other side.

Just as the precaution she peeped her head in before entering. "Hey!"Eleanor greeted.

There she was, the great Pepper Potts, bed ridden since the past few months. She was almost half of what she used to be, with even thinner frail hair than before. Her eyes seemed sunken, and her collar bones jutted out of the top she was wearing in an unhealthy manner.

"How are you?” Eleanor asked for Pepper’s well being, taking a seat in the lounge chair next to the bed.

“Dandy,"Pepper mumbled, as Eleanor placed her purse down on the floor.

"So..”

“So..” Pepper imitated her but ended up in a coughing fit.

“Here take some water."Eleanor immediately got up from her seat.handing her the glass from the well-organized nightstand.

As she waited for Pepper to settle down Eleanor played with the loose threads hanging from her black scarf.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"She asked.

"Yeah, we kind need Tony here for that too."Pepper replied.

"Pep.What is it? You are worrying me."Eleanor spoke.

"Uh..”

“Pepper, it’s ok. I am pretty sure it’s not that bad."She assured.

Pepper took a deep breath.

"IamgoingtodivorceTony.”

“Huh?”

“I am going to.Divorce Tony. My Husband."Pepper stated with pauses in between, waiting for Eleanor to take in the information.

"WHAT?"Eleanor stood up in shock."Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Did he do something? Did he cheat? Because I swear if he did I am going to kick his ass and not even his Iron Man suit will be able to save him."Eleanor rambled.

"No, it’s nothing like that."She coughed."Take a seat El, please.”

So Eleanor plopped back in her seat. “Pepper, seriously what the hell?”

“Look, El. I was gonna tell the both of you at the same time, but I think telling you beforehand is better."She took a deep breath, not used to speaking so much in her condition.

"Pepper, honestly I am honoured that you decided to tell me before anyone.But I am not at all glad about what you are doing or why even? And all things aside, why would you wanna tell him as well as me at the same time?"You asked."But most importantly why?”

“I wanted to tell the both of you at the same time because when I divorce him, I want you to marry Tony.”

Eleanor’s eye’s widened in shock. She didn’t even have the temperament to process what she was saying and stand up in shock.What the actual hell? Was Pepper out of her god damn mind? She admitted that the redhead was sick, but not this much.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I want you to marry my husband.”

Eleanore broke out into hysterical laughter. “Rea-lly?"She spoke in between laughs. "Nice one Pepper. Glad to see you still have your humor."She stated, calming down.

"I am serious Eleanor.”

“You have got to be kidding me."She calmed down.

"No, I am not.”

“But why?”

“Becuase I am dying.You honestly don’t think I  don’t know that?"Pepper’s voice broke."The pain gets worse every day. I know that the EXTREMIS is killing me. Tony doesn’t know but I have asked  JARVIS to tell me about my vitals every three hours and they get worse every passing second.My organs are literally eating each other and a point will come when every nerve, every vein, every vessel in my body is going to burst. And there is nothing that can be done about it.Even right now as I speak it hurts so much, but I am doing it. I am doing all of this for the sake of my child and husband. When I die, I need to know someone will be looking after them, that I am leaving them in the right hands. And you are the only one I trust enough to do so. So I am asking you right now, as a mother, as a wife, as your friend, as a sister, and as the person who saved you all those months ago, will you do it? Will you marry my husband?” // thoughts? //

[movieswithkevin27]

The Stepford Wives

Idyllic Stepford, this small Connecticut suburb is a place of open space, freedom, fresh air, and quintessential American families. Quaint to its very core, Stepford is the kind of place that everybody envisions as being the embodiment of having achieved the American dream. Quiet with a two-story home, a dog, a couple kids, a spouse, and a white-picket fence, the people of Stepford smile from ear-to-ear at the success they have been blessed with. The men all meet up at the Stepford Men's Association, while the women stay at home, cook, clean, care for the kids, and tend the garden. When the men come home tired from working at the local technology or biochemical company, they have a full plate of food on the table thanks to their wife, who has joyfully slaved away to put together a meal for her hard-working husband. Later, they will retreat to the bedroom where she will present herself and quickly succumb to his studly ways. To the men of Stepford, this is a dream. To the women, however, it is a horror only worsened by watching their friends slowly be turned into robotic housewives. Thrilling with strongly executed messages, Bryan Forbes' The Stepford Wives may be far too slow to be a great film, but its themes and scares are so effective, it is often impossible to look away.

As the film was heavily influential on the recent Get Out, it is not hard to figure out what is going on in Stepford. In the pursuit of having a quiet, docile housewife, the men in the town associate with one another, build a preferable version of their wives, and then kill the old one. In her place is the housewife extraordinaire, who does the housework and raises the kids without bitching or asking the men to help. In other words, she is the sexist's ideal version of a woman. The man gets to do whatever he wants and she gets to do things she "enjoys" like being his own personal sex slave. So quaint. With the arrival of city wife Joanna (Katharine Ross) to Stepford, it seems as though this world may be altered. Teaming up with fellow Manhattanite Bobbie Markowe (Paula Prentiss) to investigate their little town, the two quickly realize just how many women have succumb to the joys of housework over the years, but nobody believes them. I mean, who could not want to do housework the whole day?

These smart themes regarding these subservient women who succumb to the will of their husbands makes for brilliant satire that may not be thinly veiled, but nonetheless gives the film great meat that allows it to really be enjoyed on multiple levels. What is perhaps most intriguing, however, is how it shows that even the men are brainwashed. Slowly convinced their wife needs to be fixed by the men in charge of the town, the men acquiesce to the will of the patriarchy that oversees the town over time and eventually turn on their wives. Though not bad men initially, the hivemind and small efforts made by the Men's Association to reveal the extent to which their life could be better if their wife was more of a worker bee demonstrates the damaging impact the patriarchy even has on men. Even when men view women as equals, the patriarchy slowly beats them down until they eventually view women as the patriarchy does: employees with benefits.

One of the more compelling elements of The Stepford Wives is certainly costume design. For both Joanna and Bobbie, the pair often walk around in incredibly revealing clothing. From low-cut necklines that reveal cleavage to short-shorts to shirts that bare their midriffs to not wearing a bra, the pair seem like they come from another world compared to the women of Stepford. Yet, it is just that, these are two are still free thinking. Their clothing is progressive, designed for comfort and freedom, rather than docile attire of the women in Stepford. Wearing full-body dresses that likely have a tight corset underneath, the other women in Stepford seem cut out from an old poster showing women in the 1600s. It is a style of clothing that reveals very little and appears prim and proper, while very lady-like to wear in public. Joanna and Bobbie, meanwhile, seem like the poster children for the sexual revolution with great pride for the bodies and sexuality with no fear of demonstrating this. For the film, it certainly seems to equate the clothing to whether or not a woman has been captured by the men. In essence, women's clothing in the film is an act of rebellion, flaunting their right to choose to wear what they want, when they want.

In this regard, the film seems to be highly cognizant of the male gaze as it seems to weaponize this stare from the male characters in the film. In a scene where husband Walter (Peter Masterson) plays host to a meeting of the Stepford Men's Association, Joanna is allowed to sit in with the men. Wearing no bra with both nipples prominently poking through her shirt, the men in the room seem captivated by her every movement. One of them begins to draw her - which will come back in a big way later on - and the camera seems to doggedly follow her around the room, with eyes only on her during this meeting held by solely men. Feeling the judgmental looks of both scopophilia and of scorn (for how she keeps the home), the men in the room seem to judge her every move and compare it unfavorably to how they wish a woman would act. By the time we see her large breasted replacement who is wearing a see-through night gown with nothing underneath, the sexual perversion and dark desires of the men come to fruition. The women of Stepford are nothing but a piece of meat for the men to take pleasure in seeing or being with, not the other way around.

One of the biggest problems facing the film is its slow, methodical pace that really takes the viewer out of the film a bit, allowing our minds to wander significantly. Add in how the film is not particularly funny nor scary, it is hard to really come away entirely impressed by the film. However, the film nonetheless ends on a real high note. As Joanna goes into the Men's Association and sees her nude double for the first time, the dimly lit old mansion serves as a fantastic location for horrifying climactic showdown. With her shadow running quickly after her and the leader of the Association hidden off in a room putting the final touches on New Joanna, the scene builds tremendous anticipation and suspense, as we eagerly await what she will find in this building. Furthermore, the follow-up scene that serves as a bit of epilogue takes a similar approach. Set in a supermarket, we see the women of the town thoughtlessly and robotically go about their shopping and saying hi to one another. Panning through the store, the slow pan allows the audience to really move to the edge of their seat waiting to see if Joanna is among these women or if she somehow managed to escape. This explosive finale that sends shivers down your spine is a terrific way to end the film, even if the build-up often takes far too long to get to the point.

Smartly written with strong performances across the board, The Stepford Wives is a slow-burn horror film that really packs a punch, but is far too long to be a truly great film given its methodical pace. That said, its well-executed themes that really hit on important social issues of the time (and even now) make this a film that is entirely impossible to ignore. Thrilling with an ominous finale, The Stepford Wives is a rather ingenious film that executes its ideas with far better precision and less cliches than its spiritual successor, Get Out.

[wristic]

Lost in a Viper Nest

Pairing: Oberyn X Reader

Word Count: 1600

Warnings: Your husband telling you you need a chill pill

The youngest Lannister, you were promised a long time ago to the Dornish prince Oberyn Martell in hopes to ease the feud between houses. Unfortunately your sister Cersei made sure the transition will be anything but easing.

You let out a slow drawn breath, white noise in your ears while you and your father stared at each other in the uncertain future. Years ago you’d been promised to a prince far away, to Oberyn Martell, in hopes the rift between houses could end. And now was the time to own up to that debt, like a true Lannister.

The rumors hadn’t ever been kind to you. Cersei would talk of his cheating warrior ways, with poisons on his blade, in the drinks, even in a person's sleep. About his hundred mistresses and thousand children he picked up and tossed woman with such carelessness. And worst of all, she warned with horror in her eyes, about the blood thirstiness Martell’s had for Lannisters. That you had to be careful lest you angered him and he’d beat you to death.

Only a week after the announcement your hands and legs shook while the tailors readied your dress and the maids braided your hair. Cersei walked in with a chalice of wine to examine the garment. When she walked within reach, you grabbed the wine and downed it all. Anything to ease this painfully sickening feeling in your stomach.

Cersei gave a wry smirk. “Are you scared sweet sister?”

“How can I not be?” you whispered, no wind able to make it past your stiff chest.

Holding out her now empty chalice, Cersei waited for it to be filled and handed it back to you. You were slower to drink it this time, finding the heat in your stomach course through the veins of your neck, easing your muscles and finally letting you take a deep breath. “He’s...he’s not so bad right? It’s all just rumors? He’ll just be bored of me right?”

“You’re a Lannister. Never forget that. He won’t.”

“But I’ve never hurt anybody!” Fists clenched and eyes pricking with heat, you prayed to the Seven to let you cry, and at the same time make you strong.

The ladies brushed out of the way as Cersei stepped on the small stadium you were decorated on. Cradling your head she kissed your temple, the least she could do to not ruin your appearance. A hiccup escaped your throat but you still held back the tears.

“Will I ever see you again? Or Jaime or Tyrion? Will I see anybody?”

Dropping her hand to your shoulder, Cersei held you close. “Maybe. I won’t lie to you, it will be very rare, if not impossible.” your trembling hands rose up to cover your face, only to drop when you remembered your painted face. Cersei instead wiped the tears away for you. “When you feel weak and lost, think of the blood that flows through your veins. You are a Lannister. A lioness.”

You nodded, sucking in your breath and forcing up a wall in your throat to stop the ease of crying. I can be strong you told yourself. I can be brave. I am the blood of the lion.

Through the whole ceremony you were too terrified to speak. The most Oberyn could get out of you were nods and tense smiles. He was older than you, much older. He was calm and quick witted but you couldn’t stop trembling under the table. This was all an act wasn’t it? Charming people could be vile behind the door right? Was he getting irritated with your not answering? Would it be more entertaining for him to hear your weak replies? Play stupid and boost his ego? Gods save you you didn’t know! You didn’t know a single tangible thing about him!

Late in the night, the music died down and his hand appeared, presented for you to stand. Fear burned its way through every nerve and made you sick again. Taking it, you caught the twitch in his brow, no doubt feeling your trembling that still hadn’t died down throughout the night. The guests all cheered, all save for Cersei and your father. They both watched on, Tywin only giving his stiff grin when Oberyn caught him. Cersei gave a sullen nod, reminding you to be strong.

The bedroom was beautiful and masterful. Gold and red and vaulted, the ceiling painted, every corner of the marble floor decorated in lion statues or simply the sigil imprinted. A room you didn’t remember being in the Keep of Casterly Rock and honestly, it was kind of laughable how over the top Lannister it was. 

Oberyn seemed to enjoy just taking in the scene, wondering casually and aimlessly around, but not saying or acknowledging you. Not sure how to appease him, you started to untie your dress. Somehow it was harder to breath when you started to tug the dress from your shoulders and the warm air touched your bare skin.

Before you could pull lower Oberyn turned and noticed what you were doing. With a smirk and a shake of his head, Oberyn marched over to you and you flinched. He gripped the sides, and where you thought he was going to savagely rip the dress in two, he gently pulled the ends back up your shoulders.

Somehow, this scared you even more. “D-do you not des-desire-”

“Do I not desire you?” His voice had a humor in it, reflected in his calm composure. “You are a stunningly beautiful woman. A man would be a blind fool to not desire you.”

You looked up at him with wide eyes, broadening his smile. It was genuine and almost kind, not at all what you ever imagine on him. “But...you will not have me?”

His finger teasingly tapped under your chin, urging you to look more confident. “I’ll have you when you’re ready for me to have you. Instead,” he gestured to a table full of snacks. “Given you haven’t eaten all night, perhaps you’d like to now.”

Cautiously you walked away, your eyes not leaving him till you were a good distance. Adjusting your dress, not sure how to retie it, you found him to be more of a curiosity than you could ever have thought. And like he predicted, now that the fear had subsided just a fraction, you were starving.

Leaving the next morning was a feat of strength to pull yourself through. By the end, sailing away, watching your home drift into the distance, crying till your heart was good and empty. Wiping away the last tear, you retired for the evening, taking days to reappeared again.

Walking around, looking out into the calming endless blue horizon, you naturally found Oberyn. He was talking in his native language with some of the crew, a man nodding in your direction leading Oberyn. Your stomach may have flipped but you forced a smile, your hands clasping nervously in your front.

He met you at the railing, leaning on it and offering you an orange slice which you rejected.

“How are you feeling? Nevermind, that was a stupid question. But it is a lovely day isn’t it? Only one more and we’ll be home.” You didn’t give much in the way of a reply. Oberyn sighed. “...I know we don’t know each other yet. I know arrange marriages have a reputation...as well as the hostility between our families.”

You tensed, your knuckles tight while you tried to hide the discomfort. You’d annoyed him, you knew you would, why couldn’t you just hide your fear.

Oberyn scooted in closer to you, making himself even eyed. “I want you to know I will never hurt you.” He took your hand, clammy and trembling, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. “If you want me to never have you, then you will never see me in your bed. Say the words and once I show you your room, that will be the last you ever see of me.”

Instead of comforting you, the words made you nervous. “But what about the consummation? Do you really not want to unite our houses that badly?”

A sly smile took Oberyn as he adjusted, your hand closer to his lips but not touching. “Are you asking if I don’t want to consummate the alliance or if I don’t want to consummate it with you? Because if it’s the latter I can assure you, despite how fearful you were on our wedding day, your lips were still the sweetest I’d ever tasted.”

Your eyes went wide and your cheeks burned. With your free hand you tried to cover the smile forcing it’s way through, “I-I’m sure it was just the wine.”

That got a chuckle out of Oberyn. “Have you had wine recently?” you shook your head. Oberyn then pulled himself up your arm, smoothly placing his lips against yours. It was the softest kiss you’d ever received, a hidden trepidation in the way he left you so open to running away. When he pulled back, taking your breath with him, he licked his lips and shook his head. “No, no it wasn’t the wine.”

The girly giggle escaped you, covering your burning beaming face with both hands you felt so abashed. When you found the courage to look at him again, he pulled a stray hair behind your ear, letting his fingers trail down your neck till they rested, cupping comfortingly. “Please don’t be afraid of me. It would break my heart if my wife was always trembling just because I entered the room.”

You pondered for a moment, watching him, waiting for the slightest flicker he wasn’t being sincere. “I suppose only time can change that.”

His half smile was relaxed but morose, “I suppose that's true. I do hope I can surprise you.”

[louismirage]

And My Heart Is A Hollow Plain~ II

Its the 1600s and all Louis wants is the freedom he knows he will never taste again.

He knew happiness, knew a good life and love. Had dreams and reasons to see the good in people, to expect good things from life.

Forced into a marriage he will never get out of, all he’s looking for is a breath of life. Maybe something or someone to come save him from the hell he knows.

~ II

Harry along with the men he considered friends, could feel the cold air in the middle of the night as they rushed through the dark and dirty streets of Doncaster. They were trying to escape the men he was supposed to be closing a deal with before heading back to London. He made a sharp turn into a street, trying not to breathe in the pungent smell of piss that seemed to be everywhere before daring himself to look back, making sure his friends Niall and Zayn were still behind him.

He stopped out of nowhere, making the other two men who had been accompanying him all the way from London collide against the other when they couldn’t stop on time. Their gazes followed his own noticing the wall in front of them. A dead end. They looked back in panic, watching the men getting closer and just like that, Harry threw himself forward. He climbed the wall without a problem, followed by the other two who didn’t hesitate to follow him when the trust between them was unbreakable.

As soon as they were at the top, they jumped down and ran straight to hide in whatever place they could find. They ended up up squeezed together in a narrow crevice below the steps leading up to a back door. They were still trying to catch their breath when Zayn let out a muffled noise filled with pain, making the other two look at him trying to see what was going on.

“Malik? Zayn, are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Niall.” Zayn answered, trying to hide the pain on the side of his stomach. He felt a warm wetness knowing he was bleeding, that was it for him.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked, trying to move so he could be closer to him. “Zayn, you need to tell me what’s wrong!” He hissed, then looked around to make sure no one had heard him.

“Nothing, they grazed me with one of their knives before we got out of there, but it’s nothing.” Zayn said, and when Harry reached to touch it he pushed his hand away.

“Jesus Zayn, you’re bleeding!” Niall exclaimed a little too loud, making the other two hiss at him to shut up.

Harry’s eyes widened when he felt the sticky warm liquid seeping out of Zayn’s side, gasping when Zayn let out a sharp cry of pain. And when the light he hadn’t seen before got closer, he thought it was all over. He tried to get away but soon a man had his arm around his neck in a tight lock while he tried to set himself free. He gasped for air, seeing a few other men grabbing Niall then Zayn, making him scream.

“Let go!” Harry shouted, landing on his hands and knees when the man pushed him forward.

“Who are you and what are you doing here? You’re trespassing property, the property of Lord Clark to be exact.” The man who had pushed Harry said, still pointing a sword at them while the other two men still had a tight hold on Niall and Zayn.

“We didn’t mean to...we were trying to escape.” Niall quickly said, hoping they would let Zayn go, now seeing how bad the wound was. He had been stabbed and hadn't said a thing, “Just let us go and we’ll be on our way.”

“Not so easy.” The man pointing his sword at Harry spoke, then turned to another one who was holding an oil lamp, “Lord Clark is gone, get Liam.”

Zayn groaned and gritted his teeth together when he was lifted up and taken into a dungeon. Harry and Niall struggled in their hold wanting to help Zayn, seeing the way he was quickly losing blood already looking pale. They were thrown into a cell while Zayn was put into another on a cot as gentle as they could before a girl no older than twenty started working on him. They watched her give him a bottle with a clear liquid which he drank from and minutes later let out an ear piercing cry, making Niall and Harry flinch and get closer to the bars wanting to see what was going on.

“You’re going to ruin your teeth.” The girl told him, and handed him a rag. “Bite into this, it will help.”

Zayn’s olive skin was glistening with sweat and his eyes were red. His lips were trembling as he grabbed the rag and bit into it. He nodded at the girl and then looked up at the ceiling, his screams were muffled by the rag and his hands grabbed fistfuls of the old but clean blanket the girl had brought with her.

“Hey! You!” Harry shouted over Zayn's screams, “Do you even know what you're doing?”

The girl looked him up and down, and without saying anything turned to look at the wound again. Harry started shaking the iron bars, desperate to know if she was qualified to do what a doctor should have been doing.

“I’m talking to you!” Harry continued shouting.

“My name is Lucy.” She finally looked at him with an angry expression, one Harry wasn’t used to receiving, “And my mother is the town’s healer. I know what I’m doing, but right now I can’t concentrate with your screams.”

“Let her do her job.” Niall pulled him back by the arm, “We’re lucky they’re helping him, they’re not going to let him die.”

“I need to talk to this Lord Clark...or whoever is in charge. Maybe the wife.” Harry looked at the dirty walls with disgust.

They watched Lucy until she was done, giving Zayn some water after. He ended up falling asleep while Harry and Niall paced around in their cell, desperate to get out of there and go back home.

****

As soon as Liam had taken a step towards Louis, he stopped halfway not moving at all until Louis started walking and grabbed his hand pulling him towards the bed. Louis could feel him shaking, yet said nothing the moment Liam closed his eyes when he started taking his clothes off, moving onto Liam’s as soon as he was done. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again and lowered Liam’s pants down, blushing when he saw what was underneath.

“Do you– Do you want me to..?” Louis trailed off, knowing Liam knew what he meant. His face felt too hot and his hands were starting to sweat.

“No! Just close your eyes okay, close your eyes and I’ll do it myself.” Liam quickly said, blushing when he saw Louis fully naked standing in front of him.

Louis nodded and got on the bed next to Liam, quickly closing his eyes, trying to convince himself that it was for the best while Liam was already regretting it. Liam wrapped a hand around himself, trying to get hard but it was impossible when he kept thinking about what he was going to do. After a few minutes, he forced himself to think of something else, someone else, quickly forgetting that Louis was in the room right next to him and soon he was hard trying not to make a noise.

“A– Are you ready?” He asked Louis, hearing a small yes in return.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes seeing Louis already on his back, silently thanking him when he saw he had put his shirt back on and his privates were covered even though he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. He wanted to say something when he noticed Louis wasn’t even hard but bit his tongue, and instead sat up then crawled towards Louis already hesitating a bit.

He was already in between Louis’ legs when he started going soft again as soon as Louis wrapped his legs around his waist. He quickly scrambled off of him and to the other side of the bed where he started crying, covering his face with his hands.

“I’m sorry! I can’t– I can’t!” Liam wailed, tensing up when he felt Louis’ warm hands on his cheeks, making him look at him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay...you don’t have to, I’ll figure something out. I’m so sorry I made you do this, don’t cry.” Louis quickly said, shedding a few tears of his own. He felt horrible for what he had put Liam through and shed a few more tears fall, having already accepted his fate.

Liam was still crying, unable to stop while Louis tried to calm him down when they heard a knock on the door and Louis was quick to put his hand over Liam’s mouth to keep him quiet. He gestured for him to keep quiet and once Liam nodded, he got up and put his pants back on. He opened the door seeing Andrew, one of the guards, standing in front of him with a nervous expression.

“Yes?” Louis said, using the same cold tone his husband would use.

“Sir, I apologize for interrupting you, but I was looking for Liam and he’s nowhere to be found.” Andrew quickly said, watching Louis tilting his head to the left.

“And what does that have to do with me?” Louis asked, crossing his arms over his chest, feeling bad when Andrew fiddled with his clothes but it was the only way he would get respect when Howard was gone. Well, as much respect as he could when they already knew the way he was treated. The many abuses going on behind closed doors late at night.

“Frederick and the rest of the guards caught three men hiding by the steps in the backyard, one of them was injured but Lucy managed to patch him up before he could bleed out. Lord Clark is not here and Fred thinks Liam will know what to do with them, especially the leader who already tried to escape and set the others free.” Andrew explained, seeing Louis nodding.

“Go back to the dungeons and wait for me there, Liam went out but he’ll be back soon. I’ll handle it, now go back and have their leader ready for me.” Louis ordered, and as soon as Andrew nodded, he closed the door and hurried back to Liam who only had the bed sheets wrapped around his waist.

Liam’s eyes were red and his face was wet with tears as he watched Louis looking for warmer clothes.

“It was Andrew, Frederick caught a few men and I’m gonna go see what’s going on. Get yourself together then get there, get dressed and wash your face.” Louis kissed the top of his head, then got up putting his coat and shoes on before he left his bedroom.

He grabbed an oil lamp and made his way outside and into the dungeons, hating to be there but he had to know what was going on. As soon as he stepped inside, he wrinkled his nose at the smell, and followed the light until he was in a room with Frederick and Andrew standing in the middle with a man kneeling on the ground in between them.

He carefully observed him, taking in his black shirt and pants already dirtied almost as if he had been rolling around on the dirt, then his dark brown and curly hair pulled back by a black bandana. As soon as they heard him, the stranger lifted his head up and that’s when Louis saw his red plump lips and his bright green eyes already glaring at him. Louis did not let him intimidate him.

“What’s your name and why did you think it would be a good idea to break into my house?” Louis asked, stopping a few feet away from him, feeling a bit awkward when the stranger observed him from head to toe then back up again in a calculating manner before he smirked.

“And why’s a pretty thing like you so rude to their guests? Have you no manners?” Harry asked, taking in his bright blue eyes and pretty face, too pretty for a place like the one they were in.

“I asked you first.” Louis retorted, taking a step closer as soon as he noticed his hands were tied behind his back.

“Look, we were just trying to escape a few men that were trying to kill us, I led my men here when we got stuck at a dead end. We did not mean to trespass but we had no choice.” Harry explained, hoping he would let them go.

“Hmm, and why should I believe you when you won’t even tell me your name?” Louis raised his brows, expecting him to give him his name, making sure he was making eye contact with him.

“Edward. Now, do you believe me?” Harry said, seeing him flickering his eyelids and some sort of emotion pass through his face before he took a step back, almost as if he had been burned.

Harry furrowed his brows and observed him as best as he could. For a moment, the boy standing in front of him looked pale. His eyes became watery before he looked away to wipe the tears away. When he looked back at him, it was as if he didn’t almost have a breakdown right there.

Louis wanted to run away and hide in his bedroom the moment he heard that name, a name he hadn’t dare to say outloud or even think of for the past four years. He blinked a few times trying to make the tears that were threatening to come out go away, and when he looked back into his jade green eyes remembering how his used to be a pretty aqua, he realized the stranger in front of him could help him end his main problem. Something Liam sadly wasn’t able to do.

Louis looked back at him, figuring out he was nothing but a thief along with the other two and in exchange for their freedom and money, he wouldn’t mind doing him a favor. He really looked at him finding him attractive, and so sure of himself that he would be able to give him what his husband never could and would never give him.

“Out.” Louis said, looking at Frederick and Andrew whose eyes widened at the order.

“I- I’m sorry?” Frederick stammered, not sure if it was the right thing to do knowing Lord Clark would have his head if something happened to his husband.

“Get out and make sure the rest do too, I’m going to question this thief and you’re only making him nervous. Now sit him on that chair and make sure he’s tied up.” Louis ordered, watching how they scrambled to do as he ordered, “Now get out.” Louis ordered as soon as they were done.

“But sir–” Frederick nervously took a step forward.

“Get. Out.” Louis said through gritted teeth, watching them walking out followed by the rest.

As soon as he was alone he slowly made his way to Edward, stopping right in front of him then walked around him wrinkling his nose at how dirty he was. He wanted to tell him to take a bath, but he could care less when he was going to get dirty again. He stopped in front of him again, watching him, not really knowing how to even start then decided to get straight to the point. He needed to act fast before Howard could get back.

“I could let you and your friends go, you know.” Louis said, carefully observing him.

“Then do.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Oh but why would I do that, what’s the point then? I will let you and your friends go in exchange of something.” Louis said, and when the man expressed curiosity he continued, “I’ve been married to this pig of a man for four years and like his three former wives I can’t give him children, of course he thinks it’s my fault and doesn’t get that the problem is him, not me.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Harry asked, “If he can’t give you children then that’s not my damn problem. Divorce the pig and be done with it.”

“You know that’s not allowed.” Louis said, taking a deep breath when he was starting to get frustrated.

“Like I said, not my problem.” Harry glared, “I don’t even know what you’re getting at? Why am I even here?”

“I think you know what I want.” Louis rolled his eyes.

“No I don’t, now let my friends and I go.” Harry started fidgeting in the chair, trying to untie himself.

He stopped when he felt his warm and soft hand on his left cheek making him look up at him. That’s when green met blue. One pair of green eyes, defiant and wild. Another pair of blue eyes, desperate and cunning.

“I need you to get me pregnant. It’s that easy, then I’ll let you go.” Louis said, hoping to convince him. Hell, he didn’t even know if the man in front of him was into men, but he had nothing to lose.

“You are crazy! Why would I do that!?” Harry pulled his head away.

“He’ll kill me if I don’t get pregnant soon. If you don’t help me then I’ll have no choice but to keep you and your friends here, and without the proper medical care and living in a filthy place like this I’m sure your friend will die soon and you won’t be able to save him.” Louis tilted his head to the left, giving him the most innocent look.

He had to act fast to convince him, and out of nowhere straddled him and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“Get off, you’re crazy!” Harry started fidgeting again, trying to shake him off but he only held on tighter.

“You have nothing to lose.” Louis said, slightly rolling his hips, smirking when he heard the small intake of breath coming from him, “You get to fuck me all you want and in exchange I’ll let you and your friends go, send you on your way with your pockets full of money.”

“Get off.” Harry said through gritted teeth.

He felt his cock twitching the moment the crazy man in front of him once again rolled his hips, then moved them back and forth as he trailed kisses down his jaw to his neck then back up again.

“Do you really want me to get off?” Louis stopped moving his hips, “When was the last time you got to fuck someone?” Louis fiddled with his collar, then leaned down to nip at the skin of his neck leaving a red mark behind.

“That’s none of your business, now get the fuck off of me.” Harry growled, swallowing his spit when the man sitting on his lap looked down then back up at him, fluttering his eyelashes before he let out a frustrated sigh and got up.

Harry watched him walk towards the exit, his eyes trailing down to his bum then back up when he abruptly stopped before he turned around giving him a sorry look.

“My condolences, I’m sure you’ll miss your dear friend but it won’t be for long. We’re all going to follow him soon, but I’ll make sure you go last.” Louis said, then started walking again when his deep and desperate voice stopped him.

“Wait!” Harry called after him, sighing in relief when the blue eyed man turned around and gave him a questioning look.

“Yes?” Louis asked, trying to fight his hopeful smile.

“You promise you’re going to get him a doctor then let us go?” Harry asked, watching him getting closer until he was standing in front of him.

“You have my word.” Louis nodded, watching him until he slowly started nodding.

“Fine, but I don’t want to be tied up. I know you’re going to.” Harry glared at him, “I am trusting you, you gave me your word.”

“I’m not stupid! What guarantees me that you’re not going to try to escape or kill me.” Louis snapped.

“If I’m going to do this at least let me enjoy it! Need I remind you that I will be leaving my child behind to be raised by some old bastard. That’s the least you can do.”

“Like you care.” Louis rolled his eyes, “You probably have a few too many bastards all over England. One more is nothing.”

“You don’t know me.” Was all Harry said, before he looked away towards the hallway that led to the cells where his friends were.

“I’ll get someone to come get you and take you to my bedroom.” Louis said before he walked out, running into Liam who did nothing but stare at him with a nervous and somehow angry expression.

“You can’t be serious Louis! He’s a complete stranger.” Liam grabbed him by the sides of his arms shaking him a bit.

“I already made up my mind.” Louis pushed him away, “I’ve lived the past four years in misery and I’m not gonna let him end me like that. I don’t care that he’s a stranger as long as he gives me what I want.”

“Louis–” Liam started.

“Take him to my bedroom and tie him up, preferably to my bed then make sure no one interrupts us. Distract Howard if you must when he gets back. Do whatever you can but keep him away from my bedroom.” Louis ordered, then walked away with the knowledge that Liam was going to do as told.