The Maverick's Prince

Ch. 14 - Spouses

Nanami, who had left you speechless, dismissed himself and got lost in the crowd. Meanwhile, Suguru found his way back to you, placing a concerned hand on your shoulder to capture your currently frozen attention.

"Hey," his voice was soft, "you okay?" 

"Yeah," you shook your head to get yourself back on track, "Kento just confessed to me."

"That's..." he gave a single, pitiful laugh, "an intense thing to do on your wedding day."

"Hey," you turned to him aggressively, lying through your confident teeth, "don't get the wrong idea here." You hardly cared about your volume, though the commoners around you were too busy celebrating to pay any attention to begin with. You wanted to defend your friend. "I have a duty to my country. That's what this is."

"Spicy," he scrunched up his lips to hold back his tongue. 

"And you've got some secrets to spill," you pointed at him sternly. His expression softened with your request, nay - your command.

"That's strictly confidential," he shook his head, "you can't assist, so you don't need to know. The less that you know the better."

You squinted your eyes at him out of suspicion. "I don't like that answer, Suguru. I'm going to find out one way or another. And who says I can't help?" 

"We'll see," he charmed and grabbed your hands once more, "but for now, let's enjoy our night."

You gave your notorious pout and allowed him to whisk you away in yet another dance. The idea of whatever these strange creatures were stayed on your mind for a majority of the night. Suguru easily noticed your lack of ability to focus but chose to ignore it. He wasn't going to give into your pouts that easily.

The evening was completely wild and wonderful even despite the things you had on your mind. The night was spent dancing, drinking, eating, and mingling with not just your friends and family back home but with many new folks from neighboring towns. You heard many times how refreshing it was to have someone with your background now in leadership. It was hard to believe that just two, short weeks ago you were just a baker's daughter now only to be crowned queen. 
The next event on your agenda was the dual coronation ceremony in another two weeks, where you'd officially be rung in as royalty. 

You and Suguru found your way back through the castle doors with the streets clearing out and the sunset lowering even further than it already had. 
Castle staff were busy cleaning up in nearly every room and hallway that you passed through. It was honestly quite exhausting at that point. Though you were usually more outgoing, not having a break from any public eyes was absolutely draining. 

"I'm going to black out the minute I hit the mattress," you chuckled through a yawn as the two of you approached split hallway. One hallway lead to your chambers and the other to Suguru's. 

He held tight to your hand that he had been holding since entering the building. You released the pressure on your fingers as a signal to let go but he continued to hold tight.

"Listen," his face turned a bit pink as he looked away from you, "there's a lot still going on around the castle and they'll think it's...strange for a newlywed couple to sleep in separate chambers on their wedding night." His voice was relatively quiet as a few servants scuttled past.

"Right," you bit on your bottom lip, already knowing where this was going. "That makes sense."

"You...don't have to, but would you like to sleep in my chambers tonight?" He offered and then paused a moment for your answer. "You absolutely don't have to, and if you do - I can sleep elsewhere in the room. We don't have to share a bed."