Eins x Ernst | The Prince's Chambers Continuation

Continuation Part X

*eleventh day*

Ernst was confused.

Well, not exactly.

It was just maybe a little bit - or maybe more than a little bit - incomprehensible.

He remembered the previous morning hazily, not all in one whole piece. Just snatches, but that was enough to deduce that Eins might - might - be avoiding him.

Well, it was more like the purple-haired prince was ignoring him, blushing ever so slightly whenever he sensed Ernst in his general vicinity. The words exchanged between them were few and concise.

Even if Eins wasn’t avoiding him, Ernst must have at least did something.

Ernst had tried to talk to him during breakfast, but Eins had just stuffed his cheeks with food - delicately, he might add - as a way to not have to talk to his High Steward.

It was cute, Ernst thought, that Eins would go so determinedly through with ignoring him that he would take steps like that, since the prince almost always did things in a timely fashion.

On the other hand, Ernst was getting quite annoyed at being so childishly ignored.

So just after lunch when Eins was near finished with paperwork in his room, Ernst stood right outside of Eins’s door. He was sure that the purple-haired prince would call him in, thinking he was trying to eavesdrop on a busy, diary-writing Eins.

As he’d thought, the sound of writing soon stopped coming from Eins’s room, which was replaced with a quiet and resigned sigh after a few moments. Ernst was puzzled when Eins called for him with an exasperated “Come in.”

When Ernst entered, he found Eins sitting in his chair at his desk, turned slightly so he could see him. The questioning expression - it was actually more like the idea of an expression, not an expression itself - was enough to prompt Ernst to skip the usual small talk as he closed the door behind him.

“Princess, why are you avoiding me?”

“I am not avoiding you, countess.”

Ernst raised an eyebrow, stepping closer to Eins, who looks away. “Really, princess? We’ve barely spoken all day-”

Ernst stops abruptly in the middle of his sentence. Eins was blushing, his cheeks furiously red. Before he even knows what he’s doing, Ernst is in front of Eins and turning the prince’s face to look at his and kissing him.

Eins’s eyes widen and his usually oh-so-carefully guarded and composed mask slipped partway off his face, surprise and - that’s something you don’t see everyday, Ernst thought - happiness.

Ernst broke the kiss after a few long moments that altogether felt too short. He looked at Eins, who stared at him with lips slightly parted and red cheeks. Ernst was sure he looked the same.

“Ernst-”

“Shh, Eins.” Ernst lifts a finger to Eins’s lips. With his other hand he takes Eins’s into his own, lifting the purple-haired prince up. He takes a step backward, sitting down on Eins’s bed and pulling him down. Eins’s flushed cheeks grow even redder - if it is possible - as he falls into Ernst’s lap.

“Now, tell me what’s troubling you. Did I do something?” Ernst murmurs softly, his arms curling around Eins’s waist.

Eins is quiet for a moment, before letting himself sink into Ernst’s arms, leaning back against him. “Last morning, you- you weren’t-”

Ah. Ernst knows now. He must have slipped into one of his ‘morning episodes’ yesterday, and said something embarrassing to Eins.

“What did I say, princess?”

For once Eins shows no reaction to his nickname. He closes his eyes, cheeks becoming even redder. “You said you loved me.”

It takes Ernst a moment to process Eins’s words. Then his cheeks pink. His tone is quiet, almost too quiet, when he speaks. “I do love you, Eins.”

It seems that Eins’s cheeks can no longer grow redder, but they stubbornly defy Ernst’s predictions.

Eins mumbles something so quiet Ernst has to strain to hear. “I know.”

Ernst nuzzles Eins’s hair. “Do you love me?”

“Do you love me, countess?” Ah. His Eins is back.

“Eins.” Ernst’s tone carries a slight touch of sarcasm. “I just said I love you, princess. Twice.”

“I know, countess.” Eins’s whisper is light but quiet. It takes a moment until Eins says something, and a few more for Ernst to process the soft words.

“I love you.”

Ernst buries his face in Eins’s neck. When he thinks his cheeks are no longer pink - but he knows he is still blushing, no matter how he tries to hide it - he lifts his head and whispers into Eins’s ear. “I love you too, princess.”

Eins closes his eyes, and Ernst almost thinks - almost - that the prince has fallen asleep. Then the slight wind and sound of something being thrown and hitting the wall tells him otherwise.

“Eins! You threw my hat!”

(A/N): Since Ernst's birthday is soon on the 30th of June, I'll do my best to get a piece for his birthday written!