The Last Princess

by Marissa Craig

  I sleep but wake up with the same questions on my mind. It’s like nothing happened yesterday. Yumi-chan has no idea I was missing. She’s chattering at the breakfast table with Chiyo-san.

  “W-what are you guys doing?” I ask looking over.

  “Chiyo-san is gonna help me with my collection,” she tells me. “I’m gonna design uniforms for my old high school.”

  “Oh, that’s great.”

  It’s just girls at the table for now. They continue talking like I’m not even here. It’s nice for Yumi-chan to have a friend with the same interests as her. They would have never met each other if not for the same love interest. I think they both love Kantarou-sama but they ignore him every chance they get. How does that work?

  The servant brings out the food without the others being present. Yumi-chan and Chiyo-san eat quickly while giggling with each other. Before I can speak again they get up.

  “We’re gonna head to the fabric store,” Yumi-chan tells me.

  “Can I come?”

  “You stand out too much.”

  “Oh.”

  “Why don’t you spend the day with Kyoya-sama? Give him a break from planning the wedding.”

  I guess I’m a bit jealous. Yumi-chan has another friend to play with. She’s stopped fighting the battle to get me to leave the house. I sit at the table alone and nibble on my biscuit.

  Is this how it’s always gonna be? We eat breakfast together and then everyone scurries off leaving me to wave at them from the window. Chiyo-san knows how to drive too; they can go everywhere without me.

  I grab the fruit bowl and head to Kyoya-sama’s office. The door’s cracked a little. I can hear him and Kantarou-sama.

  “I have to move everything up. I want the wedding to take place as soon as possible. Forget blessing the venue.”

  “I’ll call mother and father and make arrangements for Kira,” Kantarou-sama says.

  He’s pushing it forward. What’s the rush about? The door opens and Kyoya-sama looks down at me.

  “Y-you missed breakfast so I brought-”

  “Thank you for seeing me but I have to leave out.”

  I move aside and he steps away from me.

  “Have a good day,” I say bowing my head to him.

  He stops and walks back to me. I see his shiny shoes.

  “Go prep the car,” he calls back to his brother.

  We’re alone in the hallway now.

  “I think I will take some cherries with me. Thank you for being so sweet.”

  “Why are you pushing up the wedding date?” I ask him.

  “No use in waiting. I’m just the acting king at the moment. I won’t have any real power until we marry.”

  “You’re planning something worse for Highland Row, aren’t you?”

  “Have you been eavesdropping?”

  “No,” I tell him. “It’s just you’ve been too calm about the whole thing. You’re planning to get rid of all those people cause you want to punish them more. I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “I know what’s right. I thought you trusted me.”

  I keep my head down to him.

  “I’m sure you heard some pretty mean things about me while you were in there. But you know it’s not true.”

  He kisses my cheek and walks off. With everyone gone it’s just me. There are guards outside but only me in the house. I open the back door and a guard blocks my way.

  “I just want to sit outside,” I tell him.

  “I can’t permit that.”

  “Please.”

  “I’m sorry, princess. You can watch from there if you like.”

  He opens the door fully and I watch from the marble floor. The breeze is nice.

  “It should be fine so long as I don’t leave the gate, right?” I ask him.

  “Strict orders, miss.”

  “Orders from Kyoya-sama?”

  “Yes, miss.”

  Figures he’d tighten the leash.

  “So where are you from?” I ask him. “Han?”

  “Yes, miss.”

  “Do you like it here?”

  “I do.”

  “Han people and Morinaga people look alike; you can’t tell the difference until you discover their outlook. We share the same ancestors. We lived together as one people thousands of years ago. But there was a rift between brothers, Hanshu and Nagashu. One favored conquest and the other favored peace.”

  “They don’t teach that story in Han,” he tells me.

  “There was so much hate at one point that the countries went to war. But when so many Morinaga citizens were killed, the Han leader called a truce. A young princess came to him and told him to stop and he did only to make her stop crying.”

  “They married,” he jumps in.

  “Yes, but he abused her greatly. Her father pulled her back and declared Han the enemy that would never be fought. And the countries kept their distance for hundreds of years. Then my father choose to close the gap. Probably cause I’m the last of the Asahina family. And marrying a Han royal would keep the bloodline strong.”

  I have to take the sheltered treatment again cause everyone is counting on me.

  “What story do they tell in Han?” I ask him

  “There were two brothers. One planned a conquest and the other tried to sabotage it. So the people siding with Hanshu created a language to keep their secrets. Rather than killing his brother, Hanshu gave him a piece of land and told him to keep out of the way. They kept interfering so they went to war.”

  I speak to Nagashu. He’s my go to ancestor. I wonder that he would think of me. Maybe I should speak to Hanshu a bit to discover what he thinks about me too.

  “It should be fine for you to come out a little bit,” he tells me.

  “Thank you. I won’t go far.”

  I walk around the house and sit in a flower patch. I should have brought my sketchbook. This one is wilting; now’s the time to capture it.

  “You look so lonely sitting here.”

  I look beside me and see Captain Saki. He came back.

  “I keep telling you flowers can’t talk back-”

  I hug him and he goes silent. I haven’t seen him in so long. He’s okay; I was afraid he wasn’t. He’s tough so he’ll always be okay. He’s back in uniform just like I remember him. Smells just like I remember him.

  “Ayato-san,” I say to him.

  “D-don’t call me that.”

  He pushes me away and hides his face. I felt so alone this morning; he came back at the perfect time.

  “Did you just get back today?” I ask him. “How was your vacation?”

  “I went back to Han.”

  “Oh….you miss it there?”

  “Not really.”

  He turns back to me.

  “I can live anywhere,” he continues. “But…I wanted to visit my mother’s grave.”

  He never talks about her; I don’t want to pry. He lost his mom just like I did.

  “Her name was Yuna. She died when she was thirty five; I can only picture her youthful face. She was nice…a bit of a slob but smiled often.”

  He’s speaking without me asking.

  “She was a secretary for some local real estate agent. Didn’t make a lot of money. Wore the same clothes every day and the same hairstyle. She wasn’t glamorous at all.”

  “I would have loved to meet her.”

  “I wish you could.”

  He seems sad talking about her.

  “You’ve accomplished a lot. She would be really proud of you. Both your parents would be.”

  “My father died at the same time but I don’t care about him so much. He’s buried right next to her but I never pay him any mind. I see you talk to the dead so much so I wanted to try. Wanted to say I fell in love with a girl.”

  “Did she speak to you?” I ask him.

  “No, don’t think she wants to. I’m not like she remembers. Probably didn’t know I was her son.”

  He lies back on the grass. I’m temp
ted to lay with him but don’t want to get too comfortable.

  “I never told anyone my mother’s name. Just you. You’re a good person. I just want her to know that I’m surrounded by good people, people she would like. Even if I’m no good, figured she would be happy with that at least.”

  “You’re a good person.”

  “I’m not. But I’m done soul searching. Done searching for answers I already know.”

  He seems different after his time away. I can’t put my finger on it but there’s something different about him. Maybe a little more mature.

  “How have you been?” he asks me. “I heard about your little scare yesterday.”

  “More than a little scare. I was terrified; thought I was gonna die.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “Only cause…”

  I’m not supposed to mention that.

  “You’re a tough girl,” he says to me. “Tougher than any of those normal girls you aspire to be. No one could have handled that situation better than you.”

  I smile. It’s good to have him back. I lie back next to him and look into the sky.

  “I missed you a lot,” I tell him.

  “I missed you too. Don’t you think that means something?”

  I take a deep breath. It definitely means something. Feeling uncomfortable just like I thought I would. I hold my ring to my heart and breathe out again.

  “There aren’t enough flowers here,” he says. “Why didn’t you ask for more?”

  “There are bigger concerns than that. Like the upcoming wedding.”

  “I hear it’s soon.”

  “Yeah.”

  “If you choose me-”

  “Don’t bring that up-”

  “Just listen,” he quiets me. “If you choose me I would buy us a small house with a big yard. You could get the dog you wanted to play with and the cat you wanted to watch over you. You’d be able to go to school if you wanted to and make friends. Wear whatever you want and go anywhere you want. One choice could lead you to infinite choices.”

  “There are bigger things at stake-”

  “And you could come home to me every day. Greet me with a kiss.”

  I think he’s talking to himself more than he’s talking to me. He continues on smiling. It’s making him happy just picturing it. It’s making me smile too.

  “You wouldn’t be able to see Kyoya-sama again,” he continues.

  “B-but-”

  “You should know why.”

  Having infinite choices sounds great but I can’t imagine not seeing Kyoya-sama again.

  “You can’t see any of them ever again.”

  They’re my family. Kira-kun, Kantarou-sama, Tomoko-sama….the Niwa family is my family. Yumi-chan is like my sister. I can’t leave them all behind.

  “I can’t,” I say to him.

  “I know. Just knowing that you love me is enough.”

  I wipe my eyes clear. Thinking about leaving them was enough to make me cry.

  “But you’ll always have me and you’ll always have the choice,” he says. “I won’t stop loving you and I won’t leave your side.”

  He rolls on top of me and I immediately look to the house. There are people here. What’s he doing? Before I speak he puts his finger to my lip.

  “I want to give you this before it’s too late.”

  He leans down and kisses me. He grips my face and doesn’t let go. My heart’s spinning. I feel so much from him. He needs me and he wants me. And I….feel so free with him. We part and I’m breathless.

  “Ayato-san,” I speak.

  His face immediately blushes.

  “I said don’t call me that.”

  “I love you.”

  He leans down to kiss me and I turn my head away.

  “I can’t,” I say to him. “Please don’t.”

  “I have something else to give you.”

  “I said-”

  “Most of your things belonged to someone else so….I wanted you to have something of your own.”

  He holds a hair pin out his pocket and puts it in my hair. He rolls off me and we both sit up. I wanna know what it looks like. I pull it from my hair.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  It’s a pink flower; a cherry blossom. He actually got this for me.

  “I can’t give you a ring but I wanted you to have something to show that I love you.”

  I hold my lips thinking about our exchange.

  “Your lipstick is fine,” he says to me.

  “It’s not that. Thank you.”

  “You’re not mad I kissed you?”

  I shake my head.

  “Does that mean I can do it again?”

  I shake my head. I get to my feet and reach my hand out to him.

  “Let’s go plant some flowers. I’ll have the guard pick up the stuff. And I’ll make lunch for all of us.”

  He takes my hand and I help him up for a change.

  “Really…knowing you love me is good enough for me.”

  “Same with you, Ayato-san.”

  “If you want to call me that, it’s fine. I suppose you know me well enough.”

  Chapter 83: Kyoya

  “Are you kidding me with this small house. Why can’t I go to the hotel with mother and father?”

  “It’s Setsuna-san’s idea. She wanted to entertain house guests. You’ll be sharing a room with Kan-nii,” I tell him.

  I kind of like the idea. We’re so use to living separately in a huge palace. Now it seems like we’re a regular family. Kan-nii slaps Kira on the shoulder and he goes into his normal pout.

  The wedding will take place tomorrow on the lawn of the old palace. The same place we had the funeral will be the venue for the wedding. That’s the one thing Setsuna-san insisted on. Before that I get to spend a night with my brothers. I keep thinking about her so it’s hard to be present.

  She’s at her family’s crypt again. It’s the only place I’ll allow her to go. She wanted to take Ayato-san and I couldn’t deny her. Wanted to show that I don’t see him as a threat. Still…I hate how they look together. He puts his hand on her shoulder just like I do. She was beaming when I agreed to let them go; he was too.

  “Kira, I heard you got yourself a girlfriend,” I say to him.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s about time,” Kan-nii says slapping him again.

  “How would you know about that?”

  “There’s very little I don’t know.”

  “Anyway she’s not my girlfriend,” he says collapsing on the couch.

  He hides his face in a pillow. First time Kan-nii heard of it; he’ll give him a hard time.

  “She’s just my partner.”

  “Sounds a lot like a girlfriend,” Kan-nii teases.

  “She’s not. We study together and eat together-”

  “Does she make future plans for you?”

  “She wants me to join the black ops with her and be in her unit.”

  “Hmph-”

  “She’s not my girlfriend! I don’t like Naoko-san like that.”

  “Hmph-”

  “Stop it!”

  “What’s the big deal if she is your girlfriend?” I ask him.

  I don’t think anyone has had “the talk” with him. We all assumed he was smart enough to figure things out on his own. We sit across from him and he tenses up. He grips the pillow harder at his chest.

  “I saw her picture,” I tell him. “She’s pretty. She’s from western Han, right?”

  “She won’t tell me where she’s from.”

  “That’s where you’ll likely find blond hair. Her family runs a farm. She has two younger sisters that still live there.”

  “How do you know that?” he asks me.

  “Why don’t you know that? She’s your woman after all,” Kan-nii says.

  Kira sighs and sits up to meet us. Finally he drops the pillow and stops hiding.

  “If I did want to make her my woman,” he starts. “How would I do it?�
�

  “Women like a show of strength,” Kan-nii tells him. “And they like to be bossed around a bit.”

  “Don’t listen to him. Women are sensitive. You have to show you understand them. A good pat on the head helps-”

  “You’ve been engaged since you were thirteen. What do you know about courting women?” Kan-nii asks me.

  “A lot more than you. I know how to keep women happy.”

  “With your hard to reach approach?”

  “Leave Setsuna-san out of this. Is your “you’re worthless to me” approach still working?”

  “Leave Yumiko-san out of it.”

  “At least my ways didn’t make her sleep with someone else-”

  “Don’t speak just yet.”

  I look at him sharply. I’m not in the mood for comments like that. Especially not when those two are alone.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Kira asks.

  “Just don’t mess things up,” I say to him. “Be yourself and see what happens.”

  “Naoko-san’s a bit scary. It’s hard to get used to. She runs faster than me and throws knives for fun. She’s stronger than me too.”

  “I like her already,” Kan-nii says.

  I need a drink. The two of them can entertain each other. In the dining room I sit with a bottle. Just what are they up to? It’s just the two of them in a dark crypt; it’s hardly romantic. Is she really going there to pray? Maybe it was some excuse so they could run away together.

  I dial his number quickly then hang up. She loves me more. She wouldn’t do anything stupid. And he knows I’ll kill him if she does. Well….I guess that’s an empty threat. I could never kill him. That’s the problem with all this. He’s my best friend. He’s like a brother to me. There’s nothing I can do to stop him. Not with my normal way of doing things. And Setsuna-san…I can’t blame her at all.

  He’s calling me back. I pick up.

  “Hey, you checking in?” he asks.

  “Kira’s asking for her. He just got in.”

  “Little brat can wait. It’ll probably be another hour before we return.”

  “What are you two up to?”

  I take a drink and wait. I can tell he’s smiling. I want to know why.

  “We went to the crypt but then she wanted to go into the palace. Said she wanted to see her parent’s old wedding pictures.”

  “I see.”

  “She really likes it here. But I think she’s anxious and trying to distract herself.”