Chapter 20

“Then… how does being a king sound?”

I fell silent at the question. I could no longer pretend. It was as close as a proposal it could get.

“... You mean, as in… like… marriage?”

Me and Emori sat together in the school’s empty cafeteria. It was already past eight, past the time for curfew. The place was dark, only the pale moonlight illuminating the area. We should have been in our rooms a long time ago.

Emori was concerned with her future, especially after using the sacred spell, White Void, to rescue Nayala back in Nanawak. Becoming a queen is no easy task, thus I decided to accompany her for a while. Since I did force her to take this role in the past, now that she was willing, I have responsibility to support her.

I had no idea that would lead up to this question, though.

I thought Emori would back off, maybe get embarrassed or something, but she continued staring at me. “Yes.”

Bright red colored her cheeks, her body shivering. I decided against mentioning it and took a deep breath, thinking about an answer.

When I realized we skipped some steps.

“... Aren’t we supposed to at least go out first?”

“Huh? Oh, huh…”

Emori’s head practically went poof from the heat. She stood up, turned around, and ran away. “I’m sorry!”

“Emori!” I stood up and tried chasing after her, but I moved too slowly. She disappeared from the cafeteria before I could do anyhing. I let out a sigh.

Did she mean she wanted to date me, or is she seriously wanting to marry me?

Only five months had passed since we first met each other. Not a lot of time, especially when you consider that in this world, there are only twenty four days in a month. At the same time, we spent most of our time together. We definitely had a closer relationship compared to others.

… Nah, she definitely meant to start dating first.

If she was serious about going directly to marriage, she wouldn’t falter when I brought that up.

But me and Emori…

I let out a deep breath and began making my way back to my dorm, thinking about what had just transpired as I walked.

Saying that I never considered it would be a lie. I noticed the advancements she made, I really did, but it was hard for me to believe that she had those kinds of intention. It would also be a lie if I say I have no feelings for her.

But… just how much?

Being friends is one thing, but marriage is a lifetime commitment. Do I really like her enough to spend my entire life with her?

Although, to be fair, it's not like Emori’s going to be inaugurated tomorrow. Even if she insisted on skipping directly to that part, not like tomorrow will be the big day. I still have some time to talk things over with her.

… I’m overthinking this…

All things considered, there was simply no way Emori wanted to skip the steps. I'm sure, as someone from Earth, she knows the proper way to do these kinds of things.

Any more thinking would be pointless, and I'm not even thinking straight right now. I rushed to my room, heading straight to bed.

•••

The next day, me and Emori sat in the principal's office after being called. The principal left because he had something to do, leaving me alone with Emori. She took a deep breath, before finally speaking, explaining what she actually meant yesterday.

“So… yeah, that's what I meant,” Emori murmured, shaking slightly.

“Well… please take care of me.”

Half of me wanted to look the other way as I said that, the other half wanted to look at her embarrassed and cute face.

The door opened with a slam, Maya standing behind it.

“Flirting so early in the morning?”

“No!” we both replied at the exact same time.

Maya shook her head, the disappointment clear in her face. “You two are terrible actors.”

“I don't want to hear that from you! Besides, what do you mean by flirting? We're not doing anything,” I retorted. Maya tilted her head seemingly unconvinced, looking straight at Emori, while Emori’s head practically went poof from embarrassment. She covered her face and looked away.

She talked about it, didn’t she?

Typical of Emori, I guess.

The door opened once more. “Aren’t you two dating?” Solicea walked inside.

“Couldn't you start with something like ‘good morning’ or ‘hello’?”

“Oh shut it. No need to be embarrassed. I want the details.”

“No, no, no, and no.” I shook my head.

“Ah, you're no fun,” Solicea said in exasperation. “Do some lovey-dovey stuff. Come on, no need to be embarrassed.”

“Oh, yeah. This way, we can use the family excuse for real!” Maya said.

“Would you two stop?” I let out a deep sigh. We were here for important business, not to play around.

“Oh, why did you call us again?”

“Earlier today, after waking up, I got a Connect from Nayala. She said she still wanted our help in taking on those monsters. Now that the political condition has stabilized somewhat, it should be fine for us to work.”

“We’re going back?” Maya asked.

“Yeah. We’ve thrown away the student exchange excuse, though.”

It had already been announced there that the student exchange was canceled. The students that came here wouldn’t be returning until the end of the period, but we weren’t going to be studying in Nanawak. Our school life was practically in shambles the second we decided to care about the demon king, so I expected it. I honestly don’t care that much anyway.

“Will His Highness be with us?”

“Prilus will be staying behind. It’s like the original plan, except we won’t be attending school.”

“But how about Emori’s throne?” Maya asked. It was supposed to be the most important change.

“I’ll discuss it with my family later.” Transfering such rights needed time, after all. I wasn’t expecting her to suddenly be ruling. Plus she needed to continue learning a lot of things that she stopped after she abdicated the throne.

As for me? I honestly have no idea. Being a king didn’t seem like something someone like me should be doing. But Emori took a big step in that direction. It wouldn’t be fair for her if I didn’t support her.

I clapped my hands, bringing the attention to myself. “We should stop discussing this and begin preparing for our return to Nanawak.”

“So what did you call us here for?”

“To tell you that?”

Maya tilted her head. “Just that? Are you sure you couldn’t tell us through Connect? You’re here to show off, aren’t you. My, Fortis has a girlfriend, I’m so envious.” Maya let out her tongue, saying all that with an annoyingly flat tone.

“Stop it. Not like you can feel anything for me.”

“Oh, that reminds me, Emori. Do you have any news about what happened to him?” Solicea asked.

“Him? Mister Akareseki you mean?”

Akareseki was the Bearer of Nanawak, the person that held the highest position in Nanawak’s military. He was held in prison after his supposed coup. It wasn’t actually a coup, though, more of a call to arms, I guess.

“Miss Nayala said that he’s been removed from his post, but there hasn’t been any further sentencing.”

“I see…” Whatever sentence they decided didn’t really affect us, to be fair. He did mention that he was willing to go extreme lengths for his people. I doubt he’s the type to hold grudges, especially when Emori won fair and square.

How fair using a sacred spell in a duel is debatable, though.

“I don't think you have to worry about him. I'm pretty sure he won't bother us.”

“If you say so.”

“By the way, you girls can depart today?”

They looked at each other and nodded.

“Alright, I'll tell Nayala.”

“We'll get to preparing then.”

The three left the room. I leaned back on the sofa then used Connect to contact Nayala.

“Hey, Nayala, I asked the rest. We can come today.”

“Alright then. I've already prepared a new place for you. Feel free to Teleport to the Wolves’ base. I'll be waiting in my office. We'll proceed from there.”

“Alright.”

I cut off the Connect. Just then, the principal returned. “You'll be going again, Fortisbel?”

“Yes, Sir. I hope you don't mind.”

“I can't believe we're putting this much weight on you children. We're sorry for that.”

“Ah, it's alright.” I waved my hand. Besides, me and Emori weren't exactly children.

I then returned to my room and prepared for the trip back to Nanawak. Now that I had no trouble with teleporting back and forth, I didn't need to worry as much. I packed my stuff as needed, deciding to bring only a few key items that I constantly used.

After I finished, I returned once more to the principal’s room and waited for the rest.

It didn't take them long to arrive.

“Good luck out there.” The principal waved and we teleported to Nanawak.

“Welcome back,” Nayala greeted us after we arrived.

“You're alone?” I asked. There was no one else in the room. No Mister Vorak, no Regus, no Amira.

“They're out for missions. Come, follow me.”

Nayala took us to the front of the Wolves’ base, where some horses were waiting. There were some Wolves waiting near them, with a single person with a unique hooded cape among the group. He had the Nanawak army symbol on his cape with little visible armor, so I assumed he’s an army mage.

“I've learnt my lesson. We're teleporting there,” Nayala said with a wry smile. I do have to wonder how things would have been had we used teleportation instead. Would we be stuck in the castle with the rest of the imperial family?

Regardless, that's in the past. There are still a lot of things we need to face in our future.

“Is it alright for him to be with us? Shouldn't he be fighting monsters?” Emori whispered. She had a point. Nanawak didn't have many mages, and they didn't have unlimited soldiers either. By regulating the ones that were able to use Teleport to us, we would be bringing them off the field.

“Don't worry. One mage isn't going to make that much of a difference.”

“If you say so…”

“Your Highness and friends. Are you ready to depart?” The mage asked. We all nodded in response. We held hands, and with the mage, moved to a different location.