Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

63.

To say that Athena was completely speechless as she heard the obvious well-covered threat that Yuzuru had just made to her mother couldn't cover it.

He said those words in a way that it was made almost impossible for it to be used against him but weirdly enough and even if her mother flinched slightly as she heard it, the queen dropped matters far more quickly than Athena expected.

"Is this what you want? Are you sure you want everything completely out in the open, Mr. Hanyu?"

Yuzuru knew exactly what the older woman was getting at. If she wanted, it was a matter of minutes before the whole world knew of his presence and it wouldn't take too long for everyone to question why.

What the queen didn't know was that he knew this and was prepared for everything that came with it.

Even if he was young, Yuzuru always considered things thoroughly before diving in and this was no different. From the moment Athena arrived in Pyeongchang until now he had considered every single possibility.

He had, after all, already made the decision to go public after the Olympics if that was needed in order for them to be together.

Not only this, he knew that Athena was on board with all of it as well, even if they hadn't spoken about this particular topic in a while.

"I'm aware of everything it entails."

Not only was he aware he had a few meetings with sponsors to make them aware that news like these could come out. He did all of those as a warning. If they wanted to drop the support, it was better to do it before anything was announced.

Maybe his whole trip had even been planned in a way that made all of this happen and force things to be different than what they were.

If there was one thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't keep being with Athena in secret, meeting once every few months in ultra secrecy and having to see her leave all over again.

"And you?" The Queen now turned to her daughter, in hopes that she would be more scared than the skater.
"You know what this can do for his career and reputation? You're sure you want to be the cause of the end of his skating life? Athletes are not royals."

Yuzuru couldn't handle those words anymore. He couldn't handle seeing Athena being guilt-tripped into anything because of him.
Still, Athena talked before he could say anything.

"That's what you don't understand Mother. Yuzuru doesn't have to be a royal."

"If he wants anything serious with you, he does."

"No, he doesn't."

He wasn't sure where Athena was going with this, but he didn't like her tone. Yuzuru had learned to be cautious about everything when the princess looked this serious.

"So what? You will always keep playing? No marriage, no future prospect of life? You're not young and attractive forever."

"No. I do want to marry him eventually, that's no secret. What I mean is that he doesn't have to become a royal for that to happen."

"Do you even hear yourself? How is that even possible? He doesn't just marry you, he married the family."

"Not if I abdicate my title."

The room fell in complete silence for a few minutes, tension filled the air as the Queen stared at her daughter with a stern and pissed expression. Yuzuru didn't know how to react, he certainly would never ask her for something like that.

"You? Are you out of your mind?"

"I don't even like this life either way."

It wasn't a lie, but Athena still loved her parents, even if her mother wasn't the best one she could have asked for.
Abdicating meant a lot of things, but the one thing that would hurt her the most would be going away from her father.

"You don't know how to live without all of this luxury. I don't know how rich you think he is, but not enough to handle your lifestyle."

What Athena knew was that she didn't need most of the things that her mother thought she did.
The time she spent in Canada with him allowed her to understand that maybe she needed the regular life, in a small house and a day-to-day job to earn her own living.

Obviously, it wasn't as easy as it sounded, and real life had other challenges, but Athena knew that with him by her side, she could do it.

"I guess I will have to learn to live without it."

"Athena" Yuzu warned, probably as affected by the conversation as everyone else.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, reassuring him and herself in the process.

"Trust me" she uttered almost silently. The thought of abdicating her title had been on her head even before meeting Yuzuru. The only thing that he gave her was a bigger reason.

"Can you imagine the scandal? The media would have a field day with it!"

"Well, Mother, I'm merely thinking of this because of your actions."

"For a boy? I think it's about time you have that appointment with your Psychiatrist."

"You think this is just about him? How about me? You forbidding me to study music or arts, forcing me to go to a more suitable field, constantly bullying me into thinking I'm not enough? Maybe it's time to adopt one of my dear cousins as your own, because they are all you ever wanted me to be."

"This is enough! I won't hear you speak to me like this! The boy can stay but you better think about this!"

"I will sleep on it."