Yandere Prince × Magical Reader (Book 2)

His Brother.

You feel somebody shake your shoulder. Your eyes flutter open, the sunlight from the window filtering in through the sheer curtains is the first thing you see.
The second thing you see is Dahlia leaning over you, her deadpan expression shadowed by her hair in her face.

"I made you breakfast. Come eat."
She stands up straight and exits the room, leaving the door slightly cracked open.

You sit up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. The blankets are so warm that you don't really wanna get up. However, the smell of whatever Dahlia is cooking is too tempting.
You pull the covers off of yourself and stand up.

After using the bathroom and rinsing your face, you go downstairs. You pass your dirty shoes at the bottom of the stairs. Dahlia is already at the table. There are multiple small dishes on the table.

She motions you over to sit down.
The food looks really good. Dahlia must be a good cook.

"I already finished eating, so you go ahead and eat. I'm gonna go get your brother after I finish my tea."

"Oh, thank you. It looks amazing."
You really want to break the ice. She seems like a nice girl. So you hope a compliment works, which does earn the faintest of smiles from her.

Turning back to the table, here's so many things on it. On the plate in front of you is a small pot with what looks like an egg dish of some kind. And on the table are a couple of things to go with it. Fresh cheese, Pan grilled Mushrooms, spicy pickled greens, some kind of cooked eggplant and some sort of soup.

Your family always made individual plates instead of making a table like this, but you have to admit, it's actually kinda nice. Maybe you'll do something like this with the others at some point.

As you're tasting the mushrooms, Dahlia sets down her empty tea cup.
"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit with Cherri. Just stay inside and finish your food."
With that, she picks up her coat, slips on her shoes and leaves through the front door.

You do as you're told, and finish eating. Rather quickly, actually. You guess the adrenaline last night gave you an appetite.
With that done, there's not much else to do. It feels weird being in somebody's house without them around.
You glance around and spot their mop leaning against the kitchen counter.

You stand up and pick up the mop without much thought about it. Your muddy shoe prints from last night are still tracked across the floor. Mopping the floor will probably pass the time until Cherri gets here anyway.

By the time you've finished cleaning the floor, the front door opens.
You turn to see Cherri barge inside, concern all over his face. He immediately rushes towards you, almost slipping on the freshly mopped floors, and wraps his arms around you. His grasp is as gentle and warm as ever.
"I was so worried.." He says as he pulls back from the hug. He looks over your face, the scratches on your skin making him worry even more.
"What happened..? Did the soldiers.."

You shake your head no.
"I dunno. I-"
Behind Cherri, two other people step in through the front door. Dahlia, of course, and Caster.

Your eyes widen when you see him.
He sends you a friendly wave.
"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. Feel free to ignore me."

Almost out of instinct, you point the handle of the mop in his direction as if it were a weapon, and use your other arm to shield Cherri, making sure he's behind you.
"What's he doing here?!"

You know you saw the two of them together before. And that he seemed nice enough then. In your logical brain you know that. But being this close to him sets off some odd fight or flight response in you.

He holds up his hands in front of himself in mock surrender. "Woah, Woah, it's okay. I won't tell you to calm down or anything. Last time I told a woman to calm down, I got stabbed." He lets out an awkward chuckle. He's obviously trying to lighten your mood, but it's really not working.

"And that's the last thing any of us need right now.." Casters voice is calm as he lowers his hands back down.
You glance at Cherri, to see that he's more worried about your state than anything else.

You lower the mop. Not like you could've done much with that anyway. Caster literally has a sword strapped to his hip.

Suddenly you feel a hand touch your cheek. Startled, you turn your head to see Cherris worried expression. He's looking at the scratches on your face. His Lavender eyes scanning over your skin, his hand carefully doing the same, tracing over the little wounds on your skin.
"W.. What happened..?" His voice audibly trembles as he speaks.

It's not that bad, why is he so worried? Is it worse than the doctor said it was?

"I'm fine, really. It scared me, but I'm okay. I promise." You Pat his head, gliding your hand across his soft wool.
It doesn't seem to ease his concerns at all.

Caster steps in and places a hand on Cherris shoulder. You hadn't even heard him walk up.
"Hey, let's get her somewhere safe first, then you can interrogate her." The smile on Casters face seems to knock Cherri out of his worrywart mindset. Though, his expression is replaced immediately by a grumpy glare. He swats Casters hand away. "I'm not interrogating!" He huffs, hitting Casters chest as if it were a locked door. Though the taller man doesn't seem to mind, his smile remaining strong.
"Haha! Okay, okay!"

It feels weird, standing by, watching Cherri come out of his shell like this.
You've never seen him acting quite like this before. Were you really only asleep for a month?
But, still.. You can't help but smile.