An Arranged Marriage

Dungeon Adventure Begins

You scrunched your brows together and groaned. You shifted only to realize you couldn't move because of Kouen's arms wrapped around you. You felt a blush creep onto your cheeks and snuggled closer to his chest, hoping that it could last a bit longer.

Unfortunately, life had other plans which included Kouen waking up. "You're going to be leaving soon," he commented, fixing his messy hair from being asleep. You nodded and got up from the bed to pin up your hair with the hair stick you had angrily thrown.

Kouen's brows raised in surprise at the hair stick in your hair. He opened his mouth to say something until the door opened revealing his siblings. Kouen didn't seem too surprised, but you, however, were.

"What are you all doing here?" You asked, a bright smile on your face.

"We needed to see you one last time!" Said Kougyoku and Kouha. Meanwhile, Koumei shook his head with a sigh.

You giggled at them, "you make it seem like I'm going to die," you said, almost falling back as Kougyoku and Kouha ran from the door to hug you.

You rested a hand on both their heads and sighed, "I can't promise I'll be okay, but I can promise that I will try my hardest to make it out alive for all of you," you said, bringing them in closer. You glanced up at Koumei and grabbed him to also bring him into the hug.

You felt tears in your eyes as the siblings began shaking in your arms, soon enough you felt Kouen's arms wrap around you from behind. You let in a deep breath and let yourself relax in their arms, you hoped that this moment would last as long as you'd want it to. Unfortunately, you knew that it wouldn't.

At some point, all of you let go of the hug and spent the rest of the time you had left spending time together. Kouha did your hair in a dutch braided bun and pinned it with the hair stick. Kougyoku held your hand while Koumei talked to you about several effective strategies. You felt right at home as they spent time with you.

It was then time for them to go and you got in one last, long hug. When they left you went to the bathroom to change into your clothes for the dungeon, you were wearing the dress you wore during your fight with that monster. (A/N: If any of you are confused then I'm talking about the dress from the Royal test chapter)

When you finished Kouen looked down at you sternly and you rose a brow at him. "Are you going to let Kazue see you?" He asked, "I noticed you haven't asked to see him the entire time you were here."

You flinched and looked down at the ground, "I..." You stopped, you didn't know what to say or what to do.

"Well?"

You sighed and gripped your arm tightly. You didn't want to say why. You didn't want Kouen to know why because it seemed so pathetic when you thought of it. You tried turning away from him but you felt him grab your arm and make you look up at him.

"Tell me..." He paused, "please..."

You took in a deep breath, "I... I'm too scared to see him," you whispered. Kouen raised a brow at you, waiting for you to explain this sudden fear.

You took a moment to collect yourself and reached out the grab Kouen's hand. "The last time this happened my father wasn't happy at all, but I didn't care about him..." You trailed off as memories came back, "I knew Kazue didn't want to show it, but I saw how upset he was..."

You stopped and your grip on Kouen's hand tightened causing him to look to your eyes in shock, you were blinking back tears. You quickly wiped them, "Kazue was worried during all those days and disappointed in me for losing control. I don't want to see his face when he catches wind of what happened," you explained, letting go of his hand and turning your back to him.