"I thought you said no bitching? I knew you were a dirty rotten liar."
We hadn't even reached our destination yet, and Ichiji was already voicing his complaints in typical Vinsmoke fashion.
"This is hardly bitching. I just don't see why you would choose to spend your free time surrounded by civilian children It's-"
"It's what? Beneath me because I just so happened to be born royal?" I stopped walking, turning to point a stern finger towards his chest. "I enjoy their company, and they enjoy mine, so sometimes I take a group of them to Sylveneir Dell to play and familiarise themselves with the forest. It's how we do things here in Fell."
Was I possibly the greatest moron to ever live for letting Ichiji around children? Inarguably, but he had insisted that this be his two and a half hours, and I couldn't disappoint the little ones.
"Sounds like a job for their parents, not the Princess, but you're quite the unconventional type, so I guess it tracks." Ichiji muttered, trying to step around me, but I wouldn't allow it.
"Hang on! There are some ground rules!" I knew I had to drive these home in his head before even considering moving forward. "No swearing, no violence, no insults, no...I don't know, no genetically altering the kids!" Ichiji deadpanned for a few moments before likely rolling his eyes.
"Damn, and here I was hoping to somehow magically alter the genealogy of your hoard of brats in the span of two hours and seven minutes."
Why does he sound hot even when he's being a sarcastic little shit?
"I..I thought you agreed not to talk?!" I snapped, flustering myself a little too much to respond with equal levels of sarcasm. Raising his hands in mock defence, Ichiji mimicked a zip of his smirking lips, which did nothing to quell the parasitic butterflies in my stomach.
As we arrived at the Dell a group of children: twelve or so, were gathered around one of the caregivers. It took hardly a few seconds for one of them to spot us and alert the others.
"It's (Y/N)!" That was all it took to trigger them all to run at top speed to greet us.
"Yay, you came!"
"Can we hunt for pill bugs?!"
"You brought your almost husband!"
"Hi, Mr. Binsmock!"
As the children swarmed around us I hurriedly glanced to Ichiji, preparing to send him packing if he so much as thought about glaring at a single one of them, but much to my absolute surprise he simply looked...perplexed.
That flat, neutral expression was still stuck on his face, but there was a telling scrunch of his swirled brow, and a slight twitch of his jaw. It was like I could tell exactly what he was thinking by a single glance, and that unnerved me.
"Thank you both for this." The caretaker approached us with a kindly, closed-eyed smile. "The kids love spending time with you, dear." Usually, that would have made me so happy to hear, but it only made me worried. I had to find a way to keep them safe from the consequences of Judge's plan.
"And I love spending time with them!" I lifted one of the smaller little boys up and onto my hip, immediately receiving a big squeeze around the neck. "Go, Bethalee, take the day off! We're perfectly fine here!" It took a while to finally shoo her off, but once I had I was left with an issue I wasn't sure how to tackle.
"Ichiji, come play with us!" One of the little girls tugged on Ichiji's shirt, and he looked down at her, face blank.
"Play?" He sounded so confused, and silence spread like a yawn amidst the children.
"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY?!" The chorus of shouts echoed throughout the surrounding forest, causing birds to panic and fly away to safety. Dumbfounded, I couldn't hold back my scoff of disbelief.
"You never played with your brothers growing up?"
YOU ARE READING
GAMBIT - Vinsmoke Ichiji x Reader
Fanfiction"Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop." For twelve years, Princess Arden (Y/N) of Fell Wilds had known she was to marry Prince Vinsmoke Ichiji of the Germa Kingdom. It was her duty, to ensure the l...
