Our Strange Duet (Yandere Modern Princes x Reader)

Chapter 56: Secrets Rarely Have Maps

There was a melody tingling throughout a certain bluenette's body. The male opened his eyes, his body enveloped in a field of seemingly endless flowers. They sparkled endlessly, their glowing auras radiating warmth. As he reached out to touch their soft petals, the landscape changed, a sunlit forest surrounding him. Flowers fell from the trees, the wind carrying them down to become entwined in his hair. Ichiro didn't recall how he arrived in such a place, but he felt as if he never wanted to leave.

The male stood up and trudged through the wildflowers, gazing ahead of him left and right. He wasn't sure where he was supposed to be going, continuing to saunter forward like a vagrant. The air was ever-flowing, perfectly warm like a summer that never ended. Flora and fauna were abundant, deer and squirrels in the forest, greeting the male and following after him on his journey.

In the distance, Ichiro's eyes lit up on gazing at something glowing a stunning gold color. It was like the color of Kazuki's radiant locks, and the bluenette wasn't sure if he wanted to follow after it or not. Yet, he was still strangely compelled to run forward. His hands reached out to it, wanting to grasp at it. Furrowing his eyebrows in concern, he felt as if it was slipping away faster and faster.

However, as he blinked, he had arrived and stared down at his hands with surprise. With confusion, he looked ahead of him at the glowing gold object. It gleamed curiously, pulsating as if it were a heart beating. The sight was one he didn't expect. A golden sapling glowing as if it were the sun itself, it prompted a strange feeling in the bluenette. At first, it was peaceful and he felt of some kind of connection, but then he fell to the ground, writhing in complete agony.

His back burned as if it were being scalded with a hot iron, the fire licking at his skin. The suffering he experienced was unbearable, but his screams wouldn't come out. He was muffled by something or other as everything around him withered. The animals ran away, fleeing as if something with a truly evil aura approached. All the while, the trees' leaves fell off, each one freezing the ground beneath them.

Eventually, everything was frozen, the golden sapling was blocked by the view of someone the bluenette recognized all too well. His eyes shrank, his muscles tensed in fear, and he felt the pain on his back increase a hundredfold. He felt as if acid had been poured onto him, searing through his flesh, muscles, bones, and blood vessels at a torturous rate. Clenching the tear-soaked soil beneath him, he let out another scream, feeling his throat close up, ice seeping through him and freezing every part of him except his scalding back.

"Well now. I never thought you would ever come back here."

. . .

(Y/n) had found that she was enjoying the noble ladies that Rei had introduced to her. She wouldn't have thought she would be able to make friends. It had been so long since she'd spoken to another girl. She had missed it and though her fear of others had hardly faded, it helped settle her back into the castle. They were kind, but not overly so to make her feel uncomfortable. Grateful for her newfound friends, she made her way through the hallway with them, enjoying a nice chat.

"And that is why you never let the young Countess of Panceno Expanse borrow your pearl necklaces," one of the older noble girls chuckled, holding her hand over her mouth with delight, "She'll just use them as a lasso. Her poor brother!"

"I swear, she is only three, but her imagination is that of a ten-year-old!"

The (h/c) haired girl blushed, giggling freely as the noble ladies included her in the strange things nobility did. She would have thought they were all perfect all of the time. Then again, there seemed to be a surplus of anything but perfection, many times amusing. It was refreshing, especially as the noble girls were no more serious than a laughing hyena. They adored silly stories as much as she did.