The Last Night Event

After I accepted Suoh’s proposal, everything moved on so quickly. He brought me back to the royal palace in secret, to ensure that my father wouldn’t find me before I was officially declared the crown princess. After all, I was still a minor until I got married.

Suoh gave me a room right next to him, as well as several maids to look after me while I was staying in the palace. I’d wanted to greet the King and the Queen, but they were quite busy and it’d be bad if anyone saw me in the palace, so it’d have to wait until the preparation for marriage was finished.

Right—marriage, not engagement.

I was quite shocked when Suoh wanted to go straight into marriage, rather than starting with engagement like the norm. He said, “You’ve already agreed on marrying me and I’ll be able to protect you better if you’re part of the royal family, so I don’t see why we should delay the marriage.”

I couldn’t say anything in response to that, so I left everything to him.

Currently, I was lounging in my room after eating dinner alone. I was waiting for Suoh to finish his family dinner when someone knocked on the door.

“Akari, it’s me! Can I come in?” A familiar voice came from behind the door.

“Daichi-sama?!” I leapt to my feet and opened the door.

The son of Knight Commander stood on the doorway, grinning at me. He was wearing the royal knight’s uniform, which made him look even more dashing than usual. His usual carefree and easygoing attitude elicited a smile of my own as I invited him into the room.

“What are you doing here, Daichi-sama?” I asked as we sat across each other.

“I’ve heard everything from His Highness, and he sent me here to keep you company, since he figured you’ll be bored on your own.” Daichi explained.

“Ah…is that so?” My smile clouded over as I remembered today’s incident. “Um…is Otou-sama still looking for me?”

“Oh! Well…” Daichi scratched his head and looked away awkwardly. “Akari, you don’t need to worry about that…”

“So he’s still at it.” I concluded with a sigh. “I don’t really want to make him worry, but I also can’t forgive him for what he did. Should we really keep quiet about me being here? Won’t it make him angrier if he finds out later that the royal family is hiding me?”

“Uh…that’s…” Daichi groaned. “Sorry Akari, I’m really not good with this kind of complicated stuff. His Highness just told me to tell you that he’ll take care of everything, so you don’t need to worry. I don’t know the details, so I’m sorry.”

“No…it’s not your fault, Daichi-sama. I’ll just ask Suoh-sama when he gets back.” I swallowed back my anxiety and forced a smile. “Let’s talk about something else then—”

Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly found myself embraced by a pair of strong, muscular arms. It felt very different from Suoh’s slender arms, and I realized that Daichi had hugged me.

“W-Wait, Daichi-sama…!”

“Akari, you don’t have to force yourself to smile if you don’t want to.”

“…!”

“I really like it when you smile, Akari. It feels like the world is brighter than usual, and everything will turn out just fine. But I don’t like it when you hide your true feelings behind your smile. You can cry if you’re sad, or get upset if you’re angry. You don’t have to hide anything from me, because I’m always on your side.” Daichi gently patted my back, treating me like a fragile glass.

“…yes.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed his warmth.

Daichi might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he always knew how to cheer me up. He never put up any pretense or façade, and his blunt honesty made me comfortable. If it was him, I knew he would never betray me.

All of a sudden, the door swung open.

“Akari, sorry to make you wait—”

Suoh abruptly stopped talking and a heavy silence filled the room. The next second, the temperature drastically dropped as Suoh marched toward us and ripped Daichi away from me.

“W-Wait, Suoh-sama, this isn’t what you think…!”

“What the hell are you doing with my fiancée, Daichi? Hmm? Are you going to bite the hand that feeds you?”

Despite my attempt to explain things, Suoh ignored me and glared daggers at Daichi, who was clearly shrinking in fear.

“Y-Your Highness, I can explain…”

“I don’t want to hear it. You’re banned from coming within a hundred meters from Akari!”

With a smile so cold it could cause frostbite, Suoh kicked Daichi out of my room. The look on Daichi’s face before the door slammed closed was so pitiful that I could just picture him crouching in front of my room like a dog chased out by its master.

“U-Um…Suoh-sama, Daichi-sama didn’t mean anything by that. He’s simply trying to cheer me up!” I frantically explained to him.

Suoh sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms before sighing. “Yes, I know. That guy is too simple-minded. I know he won’t do anything as brazen as stealing you away from me. Even so, I don’t want to see you in anyone else’s arms. Akari is already mine, after all.” Suoh grumbled as he rested his head on my shoulder.

“S-Suoh-sama…” My cheeks blushed and I was terribly glad he couldn’t see my face in this position.

After taking a moment to calm down, Suoh finally let me go.

“Oh, that reminds me, I’ve prepared something for you.” He rang the bell and a maid promptly entered the room, bringing a tray with her.

“This is…!” My eyes widened when Suoh personally handed over a glass of drink to me.

“Yes, it’s the special milk and honey that you always drink before going to bed.” Suoh grinned, enjoying my elated expression. “I had the kitchen prepared it, so go on and try it out.”

I sipped on the drink and was instantly hit by a wave of nostalgia. Back when I first entered the ducal family, I was too anxious that I had a hard time sleeping. Chiyo, my maid, noticed my problem and brewed me a drink made of milk laced with honey to help me sleep. After I started drinking it every night, I was able to sleep soundly, and now I couldn’t sleep properly without it. I never thought I’d be able to drink the same milk in the palace.

“Wow…it tastes exactly like the one I always drink.” I emptied the glass and stared at Suoh in amazement. “Suoh-sama, how did you know?”

Suoh smiled. “Of course I have to know everything about the woman I love. Is it delicious?”

I nodded eagerly. “It is! Thank you very much, Suoh-sama!” I said as I put down the empty glass and threw myself into his arms.

We spent some time after that chatting about trivial things. I tried asking him about my father, but Suoh firmly convinced me that he had everything under control, so I gave up on probing further. Eventually, my eyelids grew heavier and I kept yawning. It seemed that this milk was just as effective as the one back home.

“Akari, are you sleepy already?” Suoh asked when he noticed me yawning.

“Oh…yeah, I think so…” I stood up from the couch, only to find that my legs had lost its strength and nearly fell down.

“Be careful!” Suoh quickly caught me before I hit the floor. “It seems you’re sleepier than you thought. It’s okay, I’ll take you to bed. You just need to close your eyes and go to sleep.”

He carried me in his arms and walked to the bed. I was too tired to argue and simply let myself be carried away. His murmuring voice and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat dragged me further into the slumber. I was barely conscious when Suoh put me on the bed and patted my head gently.

“Good night, Akari.” He whispered to me. “When you wake up, everything will be over.”

That was the last thing I remembered before my consciousness was cut off.