Chapter 122: The Aftermath (and Pizza)

Chaos.

Absolute chaos.

We are hustled off stage by security. Not Kenichi's security. NEW security.

The Emperor sent them.

They take us to a secure room.

Fuji sits down. He is shaking. Just a little.

"I did it," he whispers.

"You did good, Rival," I say. I put my hand on his shoulder.

The door bursts open.

It's Hiroto. He is holding a bottle of champagne (it is probably fake, we are minors).

"RATINGS GOLD!" he screams. "DID YOU SEE THE TWITTER TRENDS?! '#RebelPrince' IS NUMBER ONE WORLDWIDE! '#BloodyPrincess' IS NUMBER TWO!"

"Bloody Princess?" I groan. "I hate the internet."

Daiki shuffles in behind him. He looks exhausted but smug.

"The servers crashed," Daiki says. "Too many downloads of the evidence file. I had to mirror it to three backup servers. You broke the internet, Prince."

Toujo and Rika run in last. They are carrying five boxes of pizza.

"VICTORY FEAST!" Toujo yells. "We figured you guys would be hungry after dethroning a corrupt regime!"

We eat pizza in a secure Imperial briefing room.

Fuji is laughing. He has pizza sauce on his expensive suit.

He looks... free.

His phone rings.

It is his father.

He looks at it.

He declines the call.

He looks at me.

"I think," he says, taking another slice of pizza, "my vacation is officially back on."