In Sickness And In Health (Yandere M. Genius x F. Reader x Yandere M. Prince)

Chapter 26: Empathy

The last thing the (h/c) haired girl expected was for Haru to feel guilt. Of course, he always had that emotion, but it was few and far between to see him actually giving into it. What was even more interesting was that he wasn't feeling remorse for something he had done to his family (or to her, for that matter). From what she gathered, he was feeling bad about his prejudice against Orion. Though, she supposed it was because he finally figured out that he was deathly ill.

She spent a while consoling him, but, just when she thought it was over, the next few mornings, it was the same deal. He rambled about how bad he felt and how painful it must have been for the prince. And though his father and Sona did their best to ignore him, she couldn't help but listen to him. It was just so fascinating. Haru was talking about his feelings. He wasn't punching a wall or scheming to blow a country off the face of the earth; he was just talking.

"If you feel that bad, just get him a present," the girl huffed, munching on some grapes, "That's what you do with me."

"I don't love him."

"Well, no, but, when you feel guilty about something, you give gifts. Like when you accidentally ripped Bastien's favorite jacket. Or when you stole the last pancake from your father."

"But he's not my family."

The girl sighed, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere with Haru. To him, his family was a different breed. They were something special amidst the simpletons that were "other people", so, in his mind, he didn't have to treat others with the same calliber of consideration. And while the (h/c) haired girl was also a "special person" to him, it was because she would be his family. Of course, there were instances before where Haru had done something wrong and apologized to the other party. Still, it never came from guilt. It always stemmed from necessity.

When he was younger, if he hurt another kid, he didn't care. In his mind, it was an accident and that was that. They wouldn't die, so he didn't have to care, and, in truth, because he was an Akahito, it was so easy for him to get away with that kind of behavior. Not many people stood at his level, including his friends. Though he liked them, only one of them could stand on similar footing. That was because that friend was the youngest son of the second princess. He was Orion's cousin. She took this into consideration when explaining it to the brunette.

"I don't really have any specific examples or anything, but," A pause, the girl crossing her arms over her chest in preparation for the brunette's incoming fit, "just think about Rei."

It was obvious the second she thought of it that Haru would be mad. He didn't like it when she thought about other people, but, even more so when those other people harbored attraction to her. And though the fact was that, now, the blonde prince would kill her on sight if he saw her, he didn't get that. All he understood was that the girl he loved was talking about another male, possibly with romantic attraction to him.

As a result, he moved to grip onto her shirt, only for him to suddenly (and unexpectedly pause). She saw him count to five before following through with it. Though, thankfully, he didn't grab her as forcefully as he would have before counting. It was multi-use. The brunette moved his chair closer to her, but said nothing. He was just warning her. That much was acceptable for her, so she continued.

"Your family might own pretty much everything, but you can't own a person's heart. And, unfortunately for you, a lot of people's hearts belong to the royal family. You can't offend them."

"I can."

"But you shouldn't. If you did something wrong to Rei, you would then apologize to Rei. The same goes for Orion. And though you should think about that for everyone, let's just stick with that, okay? If you do something bad, you apologize."