Chapter 89: The Rival's Resignation

The Imperial Hotel.

I hate this place. It is too quiet. The carpet is so thick it feels like I am walking on moss.

I am wearing my school uniform. It is my battle armor.

A man in a suit bows. "Isuzu-sama. Right this way. Kusanagi-sama is waiting."

He leads me to a private room. It has a view of a perfect garden.

Lady Mariko is sitting at a low table. She is wearing an elegant blue dress. She looks perfect. She looks bored.

She is the girl from the Palace event.

"Isuzu-san," she says, her voice like silk. "You are late."

"The bus was slow," I say, which is a lie. I am exactly on time.

I sit down. I do not wait to be asked.

A server pours me tea.

Mariko watches me. Her eyes are sharp. She is analyzing me.

I stare right back. Game on.

"Let's cut the crap," I say, ignoring the tea. "You called me here to tell me to stay away from Fuji. The answer is no. Save your breath."

Mariko just stares at me.

A small smile plays on her lips.

"You really are exactly as he described," she murmurs.

"What?"

"Why would I tell you to stay away from him?" she sighs, taking a sip of her tea.

"Please," she says, looking at me with deadly serious eyes. "Take him. He is all yours."

I am stunned. This is not the plan. This is not the evil rival.

"What...?"

"Isuzu-san," Mariko says, leaning forward. "This is an arranged marriage. A business deal between our two families. I have met Prince Kenji exactly four times in my life. He is polite, smart, and a terrible bore."

She is wrong. He is a jerk. But not a bore.

"I have no interest in marrying him," she continues. "He has no interest in marrying me. Especially since he is utterly, disgustingly in love with you. It is very inconvenient."

My brain is trying to catch up.

"You... don't love him?"

She laughs. A real, sharp laugh. "Heavens, no. I do not want a husband. I want to run my father's European shipping division. This marriage is ruining my five-year plan."

This girl... is just like me. But with better clothes.

"So... why am I here?" I ask.

"Because you kissing him was the most brilliant thing that could have happened," she says, her eyes gleaming. "It shook them. It gave my father pause. It gave me an out."

"But it backfired," I say. "Fuji is gone. His father is forcing it."

"Exactly," Mariko nods. "The Crown Prince is old-fashioned. He thinks he can solve this by sweeping it under the rug. He doubled down. He has imprisoned Kenji in the Palace. He is forcing the engagement announcement for next week."

"Next week?!"

"So," Mariko says, setting her cup down. "We have a common enemy. The Crown Prince. And a common goal."

"Getting Fuji out," I say.

"Getting me out," she corrects. "And getting you in. You do not get one without the other. Not with that family."

She is my rival.

She is my ally.

This is so weird.

"So," I ask her, my mind racing, "what do we do?"

Lady Mariko smiles. It is a cold, calculating, beautiful smile. It is a Bloody Twilight smile.

"We do not fight his father, Aoi-san. We outsmart him. He wants a wedding? He will get one. He wants a perfect, suitable bride for his son?"

She looks me up and down. My uniform. My combat boots.

"Then that is exactly what we are going to give him."