Royals. (Prince! Komaeda Nagito x Fem! Reader x Prince! Hajime Hinata)

35. A Cottage Confession.

I was not sure how much time passed underneath that forest tree.

Time seemed to stand still, the entire forest left deafeningly silent. It was as if everything stood still the moment the prince had begun to. All I could hear was the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze as I stared down at his face, the color seeming to fade with every fleeting moment.

I did not even realize I had been crying. I simply sat there cradling the prince in my arms, clinging desperately to the hope that this was all just some terrible dream.

I looked down at my hands, the silvery glint of Princd Nagito's engagement ring catching my eye. I felt a wave of guilt roll over me, my stomach turning at the very sight of it.

Where was there to go? Miles of endless forest surrounded us, and I was only to blame for all of the destruction in our wake. It was my own selfish decision, or indecision, that caused us to end up here, and all that seemed to come of it brought pain.

I was startled out of my train of thought by the sound of a gasp. I nearly jumped as my eyes darted down to Prince Hajime, watching as his fluttered open.

"You are awake!" I exclaimed, forgetting to mind my volume as the words jumped out of me.

The prince's lips slowly cracked into a smile. After a moment, he spoke. "Miss me?"

I bit my lip as I felt a wave of tears pass over me again. The prince's eyes widened at my distress, him weakly reaching an arm up to me as if to comfort me. "No, no, I am sorry. I did not mean to make you cry..."

"It is I who should be comforting you!" I cried in response. The prince let out a small chuckle at this, though I was just relieved to see him alive and happy again. How he was able to put on a happy face after the events in the garden was beyond me. "How is your leg feeling?"

"Oh, this?" Prince Hajime asked, gesturing towards the injured leg haphazardly wrapped in my dress fabric. "It is hardly a scratch. Should be healed up in no time at all."

"How am I supposed to believe that?!" I exclaimed in response. "I was so worried about you..."

The prince fell silent, the joking tone fading from his voice. His gaze then traveled away from mine to the injuries on his body, and the gravity of the situation seemed to finally hit him all at once. For the first time, he seemed scared. Even in the face of danger, in the darkest corners of the dungeon, the prince seemed to keep his cool, but he seemed newly vulnerable as he laid in my arms under the tree.

"Well, at least we are away from it," the brunette prince muttered after a short pause.

"For now," I replied softly. "Who knows how long until Prince Nagito sends for us..."

Prince Hajime fell silent, his olive eyes focused on the silvery engagement wring adorning my hand. I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment once I noticed, but I did not dare to say a word about it.

"Well, I think we should get to moving, then," the green eyed prince responded. "The forest is deep and vast, but it is no match for the castle staff if he sends them after us. The sooner we escape, the better."

Escape? As far as I could tell, there was no way out of here. Miles of endless forest seemed to enclose around us, and I could hardly tell my left from my right. "Do you know how to escape?"

Once again, my words were met with silence. Eventually, the prince spoke with confidence, although it was not the answer I was hoping to hear. "No idea."

I bit my lip to hold back a laugh. The situation was so horrible, it was almost comedic.

"Hey," the prince interrupted. "I am sure between the two of us and Dahlia, we will be able to find a way out here. I just need you to try for me, ok?"