Putting away the mop, you thought about how you would be able to even assassinate your sister. Sure, you could get Akuto to bash her head off, but you currently were probably already on his list to kill eventually since you pretty much treated him like he wasn’t even there. Even though you didn’t have to do much to gain some of his trust, you were pretty sure that that was all gone now after you had run away from him.
Earlier when you were wandering through the halls, you were eventually found by the Head Maid when you were walking through the halls and she forced you to come and help out the other maids with chores unfortunately.
You haven’t seen Akuto or your sister since you were taken into the large sitting area to clean, which gave you a chance to think, but you couldn’t help but feel suspicious since your sister would visit the maids whenever she would come visit you. That's how she eventually developed her ‘angel’ image and became known in the palace, because she helped the maids. Pathetic, right?
No one questioned you about Akuto’s whereabouts, but to be honest, it was better that way. If it stayed that way, then you wouldn’t have to make up a lie or explain everything that had happened about three hours ago.
You thought about it for a bit and realized that Akuto was your only hope and your only chance of getting out of here, so you’ve decided that you would apologize to him later.
You still didn’t want to be fed by him, but if that was the only way to obtain his odd way of friendship, then you would do it.
—-
Finally, it was dinner time. Which meant that you could go into Akuto’s room and apologize for your ‘actions’. Even though you would be the one saying you were in the wrong, you knew it wasn’t true. To be honest, you weren’t sorry at all. You personally thought that he was in the wrong and that he should be the one apologizing, not you.
“Go give this to Mr. Hiroshi.”
You annoyingly stared back at the annoying butler that you didn’t even bother to learn the name of.
You snatched the tray away from him and glared at him a little. Even though the butler was trying to be polite, you felt like he was looking down at you with the way he was ordering you around.
“I know that already.”
Walking over to the door and opening it, you suddenly felt a strong weight weigh down on your chest. Was it anxiety? Was it fear? You didn’t know, however you couldn’t be getting nervous over a simple apology.
Making your way over to the Butler’s dorms, you thought about your childhood. It was kind of insane since you’ve never had to apologize to anyone. It was always the other person that was in the wrong. Now look at you. Your uncle would be proud to know that you’re changing your ways, but in reality, this was all for survival. Have you really changed that much? Because if it were you a year ago, you would rather drink cheap tea made by peasants than admit that you were the one in the wrong.
Due to your background and the way you were raised, to be saying sorry to someone now was odd. How do people apologize anyway? Do they just say sorry and the other person accepts?
You thought about the maids and butlers that had worked for you in the past. They were always bowing down to you and babbling about something you didn’t really care about. Would it be weird to be formal with Akuto? The annoying butler said ‘Mr. Hiroshi’ so it wouldn’t be weird, right..? To be honest, you weren’t sure.
Your footsteps got quieter as you neared Akuto’s room. You didn’t want him to know that you were there yet since you wanted to collect yourself before you knocked on the door. Once again you were feeling nervous. Why? You were never the nervous type, even around your ex-husband..
Taking a quiet and deep breath, you knocked on the door three times.
While waiting, you noticed that his room light wasn’t on since the crack from underneath the door was pitch black. He had to be in there, right? Or was he already asleep? You haven’t seen him since lunchtime, so where else could he be?
Your brain quickly went blank when you heard footsteps approaching the door. This time, they weren’t as slow as before. They weren’t fast either, only slightly faster from the first time you came here.
The door slowly creaked open revealing Akuto in different clothes. This time he was wearing his pajamas, but they weren’t the cheap kind. You had a good eye and could tell that these pajamas were carefully made which led you to believe that your sister gave them to him.
Holding up the tray of food you brought, you forced a small smile upon your face, trying to appear a bit more friendly than before.
“Are you hungry..?”
Of course he didn’t reply or show any sign of agreeing. You expected this, but it was also quite annoying. I mean, come on- you were trying to be nice for once.
After a while of staring into your soul, Akuto moved out of the way so you could enter his room. You didn’t want to go into his room since you felt uneasy around him, but the thing was, it is also highly inappropriate for an unmarried maiden to go into a random man's room. You only did it before respectfully because he couldn’t pick up his food tray, but now that he was uncuffed, he could do anything that could possibly put you in harm's way. If the butlers or maids also caught you in his room, they would definitely spread a rumor.
Even though he had moved, you hesitated. You didn’t want to go inside at all, especially since it was so dark in there. The room was accompanied by a little moonlight, but nothing else to ease you further. As silly as it sounds, you felt as if a monster could jump out of the shadows any minute. Standing there with the tray in your hands you felt like a small child again that was begging to be comforted by their parents.
You brushed those thoughts aside though. You weren't a child anymore, so remembering the plan and holding your breath, you walked in. You just hoped that if you screamed, someone would come to your rescue, just this once.
Akuto on the other hand was calm, just like he was the last time you saw him. But the events that happened that morning couldn’t help but sneak up in your mind. You were currently alone with a fugitive.
You put down the tray on the same night table from before and thought about ditching this stupid plan and making a sprint towards the exit, but you were too late. Akuto already closed the door.
Luckily, some of the clouds moved from the moon, so now you could see the room better. Now that the door was closed and Akuto was standing near it as if he was guarding it, you opened his drawer trying to see if you could find a lighter to light a candle. In other people's eyes, you were being disrespectful by going through his stuff, but right now you were desperate to try to get another source of light in the room.
After looking in the last drawer, you found a hold box of matches containing only a few. Opening the box, you never thought you would be so thankful for literal sticks, but certain things work in many situations. Taking out a lighter, you lit it and put it by the candle. If anything, Akuto was the one being rude right now since he could have shown or helped you look for the lighters. You tried not to show your annoyance at this thought.
As always, it was cold in his room. You couldn’t really tell since you were currently sweating from the amount of nervousness that was piling up, but now that there was another source of light in the room, you felt the goosebumps due to the cold making its way onto your arms.
Sitting on a chair and looking over towards the door, you realized that Akuto was still standing in the same spot like a statue.
“Uh, could you sit down please?”
You pointed towards the bed.
Once again without realizing it, you were treating him as a child, like he didn’t know what a bed was. You didn’t realize this until after you had said this.
Slowly he walked over without taking his eyes off you for a second. You only looked right back at him in response. You would not be scared by an average height man.
You wanted to know. You wanted to know what really went on in his head. You were good at reading people, but whenever you tried to guess what was going on in his head, the result was always nothing.
He sat down and waited for you to say something. Or was he waiting for you to do something? You weren’t really sure.
“So uh..”
You stared back at him, trying to remember all of the times your servants in that past always muttered a pathetic ‘sorry’ to you if something didn’t go your way which happened most of the time.
“I’m sorry about being rude and leaving you this morning. I just wanted to apologize since you seemed really upset earlier.”
He only looked at you back, but this time you could see there was a little light in his eye. Directing his gaze towards his food, he leaned over and picked up the spoon full of soup and held it towards your mouth.
You knew that he was going to do this again and you were dreading it the moment you came up with this plan. Even though you wanted to lash out on him for treating you like you were not capable of feeding yourself, you put the spoon in your mouth and ate it.
It was unpleasant, but you needed his trust back. If it meant that you would get out of this hell in three months, then you would do it.
You tried not to make a face as you swallowed the cheap soup. It was better than nothing, but honestly, after years of eating rich and exquisite foods, anyone would scrunch their face up in disgust if someone tried to feed them mushroom soup.
Gathering a little bravery, you dared to look at Akuto. He thankfully didn’t have that scary expression on his face. This time his eyes were a little brighter and if you squinted, you would notice that his lips were lifted up into a barely noticeable smile.
Pulling your head away, you thought about what to say next. Now that you have apologized, now what? What else could you possibly say to-
“Akuto, I need your assistance and cooperation in something..”
‘Great..’
You wanted to facepalm due to the question you just suddenly blurted out, but what’s done is done and there is no turning back now.
Akuto studied you carefully, waiting for you to continue. You didn’t know why he was so concentrated on your words all of a sudden, but in reality, it was because this was the first time he actually heard you say his name.
“So we both know that our execution date will be arriving soon. I will be getting executed in three months while you will be getting executed sometime at the end of the year.”
This time your mouth was moving without you wanting it to.
It was almost as if you had become a puppet and someone was controlling every word you said. As if gaining control back, you asked him the question that you had been wanting to ask him since he had arrived two days ago.
“Akuto, do you want to get revenge with me?”