Chapter 88: The Unlikely Ally

Three days.

Three days of silence.

The media frenzy is still going. But it is changing.

"WHERE IS PRINCE KENJI?"

"THE IMPERIAL SILENCE: HAS THE PRINCE BEEN PUNISHED?"

"AOKI ISUZU: GHOSTED BY THE CROWN?"

Ghosted.

That word stings.

"He hasn't read my texts," I mutter, staring at my phone. For the hundredth time.

I am in my room. The war room.

Rika and Toujo are here. They are my emotional support idiots.

"He is just busy, Aoi-chan!" Rika insists. "He is a Prince! He probably has to... joust! Or something!"

"Or maybe he was a ghost!" Toujo gasps, his eyes wide. "A handsome, sad ghost prince! And your kiss set him free! He has passed on!"

"I am going to murder you, Toujo," I growl.

My phone buzzes.

A text from Daiki.

DaikiJerk: "He is a coward. Told you. He used you for PR to defy his dad. Now he is done. Forget him. Let's go to the arcade."

He is wrong. He has to be wrong.

Fuji is not a coward. He is a jerk. And a nerd. And an idiot. But he is not a coward.

So where is he?

My fear is starting to turn back into what I know best.

Rage.

I am in full Bloody Twilight mode. I am pacing.

"That is it," I snarl. "He is not ghosting me. He is trapped. His father has him. Operation: Storm the Castle Part 2 is a go."

"Aoi, no!" Rika shrieks. "You cannot storm the Palace again!"

"I can and I will!"

A new sound.

A doorbell.

"Aoi! There is a man here in a fancy suit!" my mom calls upstairs. "He has an envelope for you!"

I freeze.

I run downstairs.

There is a man at my door. He looks like Kenichi, but scarier.

He hands me a thick, cream-colored envelope.

It has a wax seal. A different one. Not Fuji's family crest. A different one.

The man bows and leaves.

I stare at the envelope.

"Is it from him?" Rika whispers from the stairs.

I open it.

It is not a letter.

It is an invitation.

It is printed in perfect calligraphy.

Lady Mariko Kusanagi requests the honor of your presence for tea. Tomorrow. 3 PM. The Imperial Hotel. Private Lounge.

Lady Mariko.

His fiancée.

Toujo peeks over my shoulder.

"It is a trap!" he shrieks. "The evil witch is luring you to her castle to poison you!"

He is right. It is a trap.

She is going to tell me to stay away from her man.

I smirk.

My rage has a target now.

"Fine," I snarl. "She wants a war? She gets one."

"Aoi-chan, no!" Rika gasps. "Do not fight your boyfriend's fiancée!"

"This is not a fight, Rika," I say, my Bloody Twilight grin back in full force.

"This is a negotiation."