Empire 《Mikayuu/YuuMika》

⥈ Chapter Fourteen ⥈

"I cannot believe that boy!" Queen Krul exclaimed as she paced the consolation room, the click of thick heels on the stone floor following her steps.

"The insolent youth nowadays," Ferid mused as he watched her, her hands buried in her light hair tightly as if she were to rip it from her skull.

"I've taught him ever since he was old enough. I took time out of my busy schedule to give him a courteous education instead of ordering a servant to do it, and he acts like this."

"He's always been an advocate for the common folk."

"Why doesn't he understand that this kingdom relies on us putting our citizens to work to help trade and economy? We're reliant on them, but they have to adhere to us, their Queen and soon-to-be King, or else our kingdom will fall."

"Of course it will."

"It's always been like this. While there's no doubt Mikaela-kun is kind, there has to be a boundary that separates the kindness of a ruler from the kindness of a companion. A peasant girl! I can't believe it!"

She buried her face in her delicate hands as she sat on the silken cushion of her chair, her grand dress pooling beneath her.

"When do you think this affair began?" asked Ferid, who studied his filed nails as he sat on a plush chair that was pushed against the wall.

"I'm not sure. He wouldn't tell me about his love life, let alone what he does out in the village all day, when he should be studying."

"Then he should have a chaperone."

The Queen considered it. "I'm not sure, Ferid. He would abhor me until his coronation day."

"Perhaps, my Queen, if I may suggest," he began, flashing a malicious smile at the back of her head, "he could be a knight, or someone that appears to be a bodyguard."

She stared at the floor for a moment, remaining silent as she pondered over his suggestion. "I will allow it."

His smile widened. "Of course, Your Highness."

Prince Mikaela's eyes widened from the other side of the door. He heard footsteps near the door, the telltale click of his mother's and Ferid's heels, and he panicked, sauntering off down the long hallway back to his bedchambers, where they thought him to be sleeping.

He paced his room, apprehensive about the consecutive decision his mother and royal advisor—or, as he liked to address him, "royal annoyance"—had discussed. He held his hand to his lips as he thought of preventive measures. Would they inform him of it, or would he have to pretend not to know? Would the selected person tell him, or inconspicuously follow closely behind? He would have to wait until the morning. He thought it safe to avoid Yuuichirou for the meantime until his suspicion had been cleared. He would talk with peasant girls and offer them kindnesses, like how his mother thought he spent his afternoons.

As Tsuki-san opened its watchful eye on the darkened earth, Yuuichirou stood from his bed, cloth wrapped around his chilled hands. He ventured out in the cold, snow crunching beneath his scuffed boots, and eyed his horse, who stood in his stable, waiting patiently to be escorted out and rode throughout the hills.

He reached and carefully stroked Asuramaru's snout, assuring him that the endless winter that plagued the kingdom would be over soon.

---⥈---

Mikaela sighed as he lounged in the warm water of the bath, the heat seeping slowly into the air. The only sounds that touched his ears were the abrupt splashing of water with every slight movement he made.

How could he face Yuuichirou if he knew that he was destined to marry someone else, of his own class, someone that wasn't the one he loved? Every moment he spent with him was another he risked Ferid or another discovering them. The consequences would no doubt be at Yuuichirou's expense.

Mikaela couldn't imagine a world without Yuuichirou now, after all they'd been through. He couldn't imagine never again feeling his soft lips pressed against his own, or his warmth absent from his skin. A world without him was one in which he'd feel nothing but sadness and longing.

But, if he were to never speak to him again, the outcome would remain the same. A colorless, bleak world where Mikaela was fated to marry someone he didn't love and never could interact freely with him again without the air being different around them.

Winter was a long, terrible season, with nothing but the immense cold, a white wasteland muting out the beauty of the grass, the trees, the flowers, the expanses of blue, crystalline water. Nothing but bleak, despondent thoughts crossed his mind. He felt that his mind was forgoing a winter of its own source. Only when he would see Yuuichirou's green eyes and bright smile would it be spring again.

Knowing that Yuuichirou has his duties, and he had his own, it was going to be a long, endless winter for them both.

Yuuichirou trudged through the deep snow as he passed Mikaela's window, covered with a film of frost, eyeing it yearningly. A shred of hope that the prince would open the window and greet him lingered inside him, but he never did. The cold nipped his nose and ears.

With a sigh, he grabbed a handful of snow and compacted it into a ball with his fingers. He flung it up at the window. The snowball hit the window with a thud. He waited for a few seconds before attempting it again.

Eventually, the window flung open, and the bundled prince looked down to find the perpetrator that assaulted his window.

"Mika!" Yuuichirou shouted. "Where've you been? I missed you."

Mikaela cheeks reddened, although he didn't know if it was from embarrassment or from the cold.

"I've been busy," he shouted back.

"Uh huh," Yuuichirou said. "So have I, but I still want to see you."

Mikaela debated climbing down the balcony, but it would be too slippery. He didn't want to hurt himself, and no doubt Yuuichirou, who would attempt to catch him if he fell.

"Come down, Mika!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I'll fall."

"Not that way," Yuuichirou told him. "I'll meet you at the entrance."

With that, he ran through the snow towards the front of the castle.

Mikaela rolled his eyes lovingly and promptly closed the window so the warmth of the castle wouldn't escape into the frigid outdoors before fetching his boots and racing down the stairs to meet his beloved.