Possible trigger warning: Heavy alcohol consumption {nothing bad happens, there's just some heavy drinking}
~~~
"Um... y-your majesty, are you alright?" Shuichi shyly asked, which snapped you out of your daze.
"Oh! I must have got lost in thought for a second... Now, why I summoned you here..." You sighed as you blurted out the first excuse that you could think of, "I would like you to join me for a feast tonight."
Shuichi's eyes widened in surprise at being invited to an event that you reserved only for the highest nobles, especially because he wasn't even a count. He was just a plain nobleman.
"I-I'd be honored, your majesty," Shuichi sort of stammered out.
~~~
You chuckled as Emperor Oma, a much more energetic and mischievous emperor {and with his entire kingdom pretty much the same}, started egging on Shuichi to drink more wine. Everyone knew he was pathetic in status compared to everyone else in the room, so he was easy prey for teasing. After all, if he didn't go along with it, that would be an outright disgrace.
"C'mon little guy, is that all you can drink~?" Emperor Oma snickered, ordering your servants to give Shuichi more wine. Shuichi seemed hesitant to drink so much, but whether it was the wine already in his system or him just decided to go along with it, he started to drink more and more wine. The formal setting of the entire feast was ruined {as Emperor Oma usually accomplished}, though nobody seemed to mind. A few other nobles with more colorful personalities joined in on teasing Shuichi, and you simply kept watching.
"Eugh... I don't know if I can... drink any more..." Shuichi finally admitted, his words heavily slurred because of the alcohol. The room burst into laughter with mostly everyone teasing him or calling him names.
After Shuichi drank a lot, the night sort of calmed down and everyone simply chatted at the table for a while. You could tell that Shuichi was trying hard to not do anything stupid, but was having trouble because of how much he'd drank. Well, this was certainly an entertaining night...
~~~
"Ahaha... you look so prettyyy..." Shuichi randomly slurred out once everyone else had left, making you laugh. He was funny when he was under the influence of alcohol- you weren't even mad that he hadn't properly addressed you.
"Why thank you, Shuichi~" You playfully chirped just to get a reaction from him. Sure enough, his cheeks flushed red like he was embarrassed. With a smirk, you got closer to him to see if being closer to him would get more of a reaction. For some reason, in the back of your mind you felt an urge to-
"Ah!" You gasped in surprise when Shuichi suddenly stood up on wobbly legs and kind of fell onto you, though you quickly caught him out of instinct. This looked awkward, and you could feel your own cheeks turn a light shade of red. Shuichi actually noticed it.
"Hahahaha... you liiiike meeee~" Shuichi sang in his slurred voice, and after that he randomly passed out. What the hell?
~~~
"Oh... so that's what I did last night? I-I'm sorry, your majesty, I-"
You laughed, and without even thinking about what you were doing you pat Shuichi's head, "It's fine, don't worry about it."
As you withdrew your hand you realized what you'd just done and how natural it had felt. Shuichi also very obviously felt awkward about what you'd just done, and he looked away as red flooded his cheeks from the physical contact. It was eerily quiet for a few seconds before an emotion almost akin to anger overtook you. You were the empress! You didn't have to feel awkward about anything you did!
With that reassurance, you placed your hand under Shuichi's chin and gently made him look into your eyes. Very bluntly, you asked, "Do you love me?"
Shuichi's entire face turned red from your question, and he grew kind of uncomfortable, but after a few seconds he managed to give you a shy nod.
"Good," You chuckled, and you kissed Shuichi on the lips.
~~~
Word count: 681
Writing flustered Shuichi gives me ★life★