The Untouchable Prince | A Norenmin FanFiction

九十二

Ninety Two
Updated: August 21, 2023

"You're here!"

The moment Shotaro stepped through the doors, he was greeted with a man excitedly grasping his arm and leading him to the table, where tea and desserts were presented neatly on its surface. "Your Highness, this-" he was sat down almost forcefully.

"Hai..." Yimu sighed, shaking his head, "Your Highness this, Your Highness that. You're my closest friend, we should be on a first name basis now. We've been friends for years and years. It's only proper."

Shotaro forced a smile, chuckling, "but, you're a prince consort now, and with the empress's condition, you may be emperor. I don't feel like I have the right to be calling you by your first name."

That was the best way he could describe this feeling within him. First names were sacred, Shotaro knew that as clearly as he could see the sun in the sky. To call someone by their first name, well, they had to be family or extremely close friends or even of higher rank, and well, Shotaro was family and he did at one point have a similar rank. When he was picked up by this humble noble, he was so very thankful. They grew close, almost like brothers, and Shotaro was even given an honorary title. If it were him from then, Shotaro wouldn't hesitate to call out this person by his first name.

However, now...

Shotaro, although still held that honorary title from years ago, he had no power with it. And, since then, his power and influence within Kang never once grew, while Yimu, on the other hand, got married to the crown princess of Kang and became the prince consort. In the blink of an eye, it was like Yimu's power soared to the sky. Shotaro didn't even think he knew this person anymore; he felt distant. After what he talked to Sungchan about back in Huang, Shotaro felt there was more that this former noble was hiding from him. The stories, the files. Everything he had heard about Yimu's past while in Huang, Shotaro felt almost disgusted. And, calling Yimu by his first name felt even more foreign and impossible.

Yimu leaned over the table and poured some tea for his invited guest. "It's okay! It's okay! I swear!"

The Japanese only watched silently. "I just-"

The other rolled his eyes as he sat down in the chair across from Shotaro. "Fine, fine. Call me what you want."

So quick to change...

"Anyway! Anyway!" A smile sprouted on Yimu's face. It looked almost unreal, eerie even. "Welcome back! It's been so long since I've spoken to you. I hope things weren't hard when you were gone."

"It was just fine." Shotaro picked up the cup of tea he was offered, sniffing it carefully for poison before taking a small sip. "A few troubles here and there, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"Oh, that's right! That Huang was on your tail, weren't they?"

You act like you haven't heard... "They were."

"I hope they didn't give you trouble on the way back." Yimu's focus was on the tea when he said this, happily sipping away as if what happened to Shotaro didn't matter as much.

Shotaro bit the inside of his lip. With hindsight of his crimes, Yimu didn't seem as grand as he did before. In fact, he seemed almost worse. Every little mannerism, every word spoken out of his mouth, and every expression made on his face. Everything seemed slightly off, even wrong. "Your Highness shouldn't worry," he chuckled, "I got away just fine."