Week One, Tuesday
The day starts with Raibaru’s questioning. Really, Ayano shouldn’t have expected anything else…
“The head chef said he was insulting,” Raibaru recounts as she pulls out a dress for Ayano, this one pink with white ribbons. “Apparently he didn’t even eat half of his meal before rushing off to who knows where!” Her tone is harsh, eyes narrowed, and Ayano finds herself defending the prince.
“He left to find me,” Ayano states, and Raibaru’s mood switches immediately.
“Really? What did he say? What did he do?” She sets the dress on the chair, giving her full attention to Ayano.
“He apologized.” Ayano puts on a smile, looking to Raibaru. ‘Osano isn’t much of a morning person, and he was worried that he had upset me.”
Raibaru freezes, frowning slightly. “O...sano?” She gasps, face lighting up as a grin stretches across her face. “Oh, the prince! You two have already bonded, haven’t you?”
“I showed him around the palace.”
“So you spent a lot of time together already! What was he like? Is he sweet?”
Ayano reaches for the dress, and Raibaru quickly stops her questions to help the princess put on the garment. “He was kind. Polite, too.” Contentment fills her. “Easily flustered, as well.”
“Do you like him?” Raibaru asks bluntly, and Ayano forces a chuckle out.
“As a friend, yes. Very much.”
“And as a husband?” A giggle follows the words, the smaller girl eagerly leaning in to hear the answer as she ties Ayano’s dress snug to the noirette’s body.
Ayano looks into her mirror, looks into her eyes; she sees nothing special. Sighing faintly, she pastes a smile onto her dull face, watching how her lips tug up. “I suppose we shall see, won’t we?”
-----
The first time she sees him isn’t until lunch. She’s called away from her studies by a servant, and is greeted with a rather pleasant sight when she reaches the dining hall. Osano sits across from her parents, chatting away happily. The young male is wide awake and much more cheerful than he was yesterday morning
‘It seems that the extra hours in the day truly help,’ Ayano thinks, missing the way her own mouth tugs up into a miniscule smile. Osano spots her and greets her right away, and then she takes a seat.
Lunch is...nice. Her parents seem happier, knowing that Prince Osano isn’t stuck up like they feared. They have no qualms with talking to him now.
“So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?” Her father asks.
“I have to finish writing a letter to my father, but then I hoped to spend some time in the library- if the princess permits it, of course.” He looks to her, eyes bright with hope.
“I’m sure she would be happy to have the company,” her mother assures immediately. “May I ask what the letter is about?”
“He’s thinking about forming a new trading deal with a group of traveling merchants, and wanted my advice.” Osano shrugs, then looks to Ayano again. “Would you truly like my company in the library?
Ayano… likes (?) how he looks to her for permission. Not her mother, and surely not her father either. The simple action makes her feel content, and so she nods. “I’d be more than happy to have your presence around.”
And so he heads to the library when he is done with his letter. Seeing her deep in her studies, Osano grabs a book and begins to read beside her.
It’s peaceful, and Ayano cannot help but smile as she reads.
-----
Hours pass in silence, the only noise being the sound of pages turning. The day passes as Ayano studies, disappearing until Ayano finds herself tired and hungry. At last, she sets down her book.
It’s been a productive day, at the very least.
“It should be time for dinner soon,” Ayano says to Osano, who hastily looks away from his book. “Would you like to stay here for a while longer, or would you rather join me on the walk to the dining hall?”
“Join you!” He blurts, shoving himself out of his seat. Then he coughs, cheeks pink. “I mean, I would like to join you.”
And so he does, her arm wrapped loosely around his as he tries to lead her to the dining hall.
He gets lost quickly, and Ayano ends up taking the lead. She points out the path as they go, and Osano nods along with every direction change.
Because of their delay, her parents are already seated at the table by the time Ayano and Osano arrive.
“And I was starting to wonder if I should send for you,” her mother comments. “I thought you two may have been distracted.” A smile on her lips, the unspoken words ‘with each other’ are clear.
Osano blushes, face darker than his orange hair, and Ayano schools her face. Best to play clueless in times like these, she supposes. Best not to show favoritism to an idea like that , lest she gives the prince false hope too soon. Best not to think of the idea, and to assume that the prince won’t, either.
But she feels his eyes on her, his gaze that stays on her face even when she isn’t looking back...and she wonders.
And she wonders all through dinner.
And she wonders as she lays in bed, hours later. Because it’s clear, all so crystal clear that he has fallen for her, that he is still falling for her with every passing moment they spend together. (As if the blushing could mean anything else.)
But can she fall for him ?
She truly does not know, and that makes her feel… discontent.
960 words.
YOU ARE READING
Ten Weeks
Romance"Ten weeks. Ayano Aishi has ten weeks to choose her husband. Ten weeks to feel, to fall in love, to choose her future partner with whom she will rule over all of Akademi Kingdom." A story in which Ayano is a princess trying to fall in love and break...
