Selfless Love (Akagami no Shirayukihime x Reader)

Chapter 9: The Fiancee

"So this is where we will part, I guess."

"..."

"Come on, you will meet each other again." A loud slap came along with Alexios's wince, as Mother continued to slapped him not so lightly on his back, with obvious effort to lighten the solemn atmosphere. With a heavy sigh, I ignored the horses and carriages passing through the busy gate and climbing down from my Favourite black horse to start of the string of farewells.

"Brother!" All of us froze and turned towards one direction simultaneously to see a blond silhouette coming towards us on his majestic white horse. Since we reported about our return to the castle the next day, the sudden welcome party stunned us as we turned to look at the younger prince who also had the same confused expression.

Before anyone could get a word out, the white horse had long stopped and Izana was in already in front of me. With obvious concern in his aqua blue orbs, he looked over me and his hands cringed away at my wince when he touched my wound.

"Does it hurt?" Izana's soft whisper of concerns along with the heat radiating from his body to the fragrance in his breath left me oblivious with the watching crowd. His slender fingers gently pushed my hair behind my ears as I avoided his soft gaze by staring at my shouting feet, knowing that I am blushing furiously. At this moment I am thankful that Shirayuki being an angel, took the liberty to dye my hair back to blond last night. Most importantly, I was thankful that I will not have any chance to be alone with my parents later, as I watch smirks forming on their lips in unison. However I only stepped away from the fair-haired prince upon seeing the awkwardness in the rest of my companions. Alexios and Louis suddenly found their hands really interesting and could not stop fiddling them while Zen and his aides were looking away awkwardly at the intimate scene.

"I am sorry," Obviously unhappy with the widening gap between us, Izana finally faced the audience and spared no effort in showing his displeasure at their presence. However he immediately smiled warmly at the fresh faces although the sudden shock in his eyes were most probably from the resemblance I had with the new companies. "Pardon my rudeness. You must be Luna's parents, my name is Izana Wisteria and my brother had been in your care."

"Nice to meet you," Father nodded stiffly in acknowledgement of his greeting, yet the stern look in his eyes did not pass. He had always been the one pampering us unlike the usual norm when the Father is the stricter one, but a guy being affectionate to me in front of him is a little hard to swallow. Elbowing him, Mother decided to take over and continued in place of him. "Hello, yes we are Cyn-Luna's parents. Thank you for taking good care of her."

After a quick chat and some formalities, my family departed as the rest of us stood there seeing them off; despite knowing that I will see them once again I could not help feeling lonely in this foreign land. With a heavy sigh, I was about to mount my horse when an arm encircled my chest and pulled me away from it. Realizing it was Izana, I struggled fruitlessly against the iron grip as he dragged me to his horse. After positioning me comfortably with my back leaning against his chest, the older prince immediately set off after throwing an order at his younger Brother. "Zen, get someone to bring back her horse."

For the next few days at Wistal Castle, I was treated like a glass doll to the extent where leaving the bed would also cause a big fuss. I had to repeat the same routine eat, rest and sleep. With five meals a day, including the tea time and supper, I will be surprise if I did not put on weight. After my bath without fail, there will be books and teas prepared to assist me in getting a good night sleep. Apparently all these books and tea were personally chosen by Izana in the morning thus my lowered animosity towards them.

However there is one thing that happened every night without the knowledge of the maids. Every night without fail, soft foot steps would enter my room for the adjoining door and it will always stop by my bedside silently. Not knowing that I was awake, the intruder's fingertips gently stroked my cheek and would just stay by my side quietly. The short visit would be the time I looked forward to, with him my side I was able to throw out meaningless thoughts and only think about us. Just Izana and Luna. Towards the end, he would always end it with a 'Sweet dream and love you' along with a parting kiss on my lips. Again without fail, i would always think about the kiss with my heated face buried deep into my pillow and sleep would come to me soon after.