Travel The Distance

Chapter 12

*Shoto's POV 1 month before the previous chapter*

"Shoto, my son. How is your relationship with Princess Momo?" My father asked me in the privacy of his office. We weren't alone, mind you, as always, Aizawa was stood by my father's chair, a look of absolute boredom smeared across his face. I doubted whether the man truly even wanted to be my father's advisor. He wasn't very enthusiastic and there had always been a mysterious air around the man. Like he was hiding a vital secret. "Everything is going fine, father," I replied, looking directly into his eyes so that he had no reason to accuse me of lying. I was used to lying and covering up the truth by this point. Momo and I had been in our fake relationship for a year by this point and we were yet to come up with a solution to the inevitability of our marriage. Nobody but us knew about our relationship being fake. Momo thought it was too risky and I was inclined to agree. The more people who knew, the more likely the secret was to get out. Only Momo and I could truly understand the severity of the consequences should the secret get out. Not only would we be forced into a loveless marriage, but we would also both feel heartbroken. We weren't sure what it was, but we both felt as though we could be with no one else but some mysterious person.

These mysterious people haunted our dreams. Momo confided in me that the woman, for she was sure by the person's figure that she was a woman, in her dreams was quite a bit shorter than her. Her face was blurred, the only thing that she could see clearly was the woman's hair. According to Momo, the woman had short purple hair which fell around her chin. Apparently Momo went on various dream adventures with this woman, though she never spoke. I must admit, I was rather jealous of Momo. She could see the woman who haunted her dreams who had claimed her heart despite never meeting. She had pleasant dreams which involved them living their best life. For me, however, I couldn't see a single feature of his face or body.

The only reason I could even guess that the figure in my dreams was a male was that I could smell them. They had a natural foresty musk which I associated with masculinity, yet the scent had a sweet undertone. Like caramel. The scent which wafted through the annual festival when I was allowed to attend with my family as a child. It was nostalgic. I was extremely attracted to the smell alone. My attraction didn't stop there, I could hear the man's voice. It was familiar but I couldn't place where I had heard it before. The man's voice was husky and always had a hint of anger to it, especially when he spoke to some of the faceless people who would sometimes show up. But when he was speaking solely to me, that anger ebbed away. I'm not sure what it was, but something about his voice just drew me in. All of this combined with the aura he emitted made me fall in love with a man I had never met. All I knew was that when I met him, if I met him, I would be head over heels.

"Shoto, I think it would be best if you took Princess Momo on a tour around the Kingdom. After all, she will be the part of our family very soon." my father said, authority shining through in his voice. He phrased the sentence as if it were a suggestion, but I knew that it wasn't anything of the sort. It was a demand. I had to take Momo around the Kingdom unless I wanted to fall victim to my father's rage. "Whilst you are giving Princess Momo this tour, I want you to head up to the north-west. That barbarian is doing something up there, I can tell. I don't know if he has amassed a small gathering of followers or not, but I need you to go up there and report back your findings. None of the men I send are competent." Father growled, his fist clenching on the arm of his chair. I chanced a look at Aizawa as my father spoke, the man didn't look as though he was listening, he looked as if his head was in the clouds. "Of course, you don't need to concern Princess Momo with the true nature of your journey, I doubt the poor girl would understand the intricacies. Just go up there, see what's happening and come back, or send word by bird and continue your tour. As long as word gets back to me, I don't care what you do." Father said, waving his hand dismissively. It really showed just how much he cared for me. He didn't care what I did as long as I served my purpose. I doubt it would be much more than an inconvenience if I were to die. After all, I'm not heir to the throne. Touya is. "You can take those peasants with you if you like. They should serve you some sort of purpose." Father continued with the same dismissive air. I gritted my teeth. It really pissed me off how he could talk about them with so little regard. They were human too. "Do you understand, Shoto?" Father asked, staring directly into my soul as he spoke. "Yes, Father.".