In The End, All That Matters Is That Lady Shitoen Falls For Me

“Because that guy can’t appear before you anymore, right, Shitoen? He can’t tell you he loves you, or hold you in his arms. Go traveling on horseback, either.”

“That’s… true.”

Lady Shitoen nodded.

“Then that makes me overwhelmingly advantaged. I’ve got unlimited time.”

I puffed out my chest with a smug little hmph.

“At this point, it doesn’t matter what the trigger was. I’ll use all the time I have from here on out to make you fall for me.”

I told her that plainly.

That was right.

That was what I had wanted to say.

But.

In order to say this, I had first needed to determine who Atsuhito was.

And for me, the pain of having to ask that first was already… well, anyway, I hated it.

I could have skipped over that part and just said, “Fall for me,” but that would have felt somehow cowardly, and like I was only postponing the problem. In the end, I had the feeling it would come back around and cause something bad.

So yes, it hurt, and I was disappointed, thinking, “I see, so after all, it’s Atsuhito you love, not me,” and why was I getting rejected right before my wedding?

But starting today, I would reset and begin again.

In short, as long as Lady Shitoen fell for me in the end, there was no problem.

“That’s not it, Prince Saryu.”

“Hm?”

And yet.

Lady Shitoen shook her head vigorously, and I stared wide-eyed. Huh? What?

What wasn’t it?

“…Do I really have that little chance?”

I asked timidly.

Was this dead man really that formidable an enemy? I had never heard of the title “nurse,” but did it surpass a prince? Was it some kind of emperor-level thing?

“I-I…”

Pat-pat-pat, Lady Shitoen hurried right over in front of me.

She was leaning forward so much she looked like she might trip, so I quickly reached out my hands, but she did not fall.

Instead— she seized both my hands firmly.

“I love you so much.”

“…Atsuhito.”

Why did I have to keep confirming it over and over?

But Lady Shitoen shook her head at high speed. Ahh, if you shake it that much, you’ll get dizzy.

“Prince Saryu!”

She declared it loudly, and I froze.

For that matter, I might have stopped breathing too.

“Prince Saryu!?”

Before I knew it, I had dropped to one knee on the floor, coughing and choking.

Lady Shitoen dropped to both knees and rubbed my back, so I told her, “Th-thank you,” and drew in breath in ragged gasps.

“It’s true that I thought you resembled him, and I thought you were kind just like Atsuhito… But when I talked with you, and lived with you, there were so many ways you were different…”

Lady Shitoen continued while rubbing my back.

“Like those glass earrings. You chose those for me, didn’t you?”

“…Ahh, those. The blue ones.”

My throat was scratchy from coughing too much. Lady Shitoen kept gently stroking my back the whole time while I kept coughing dryly.

“Atsuhito would never have chosen them.”

“…What?”

I looked at her blankly. Lady Shitoen narrowed her violet eyes gently and smiled with delight.

“Atsuhito was kind, or maybe it was just the way he was… At times like that, he always said, ‘They both suit you. They’re both lovely.’”

…Damn it. What a perfect answer… I should have said that too.

“But Prince Saryu agonized over it and chose ‘blue’… and I thought, ahh, this person only resembles him, but he’s completely different. And yet I love him so much.”

Before I noticed it, she had wrapped her arms around me and was clinging to me.

“I love Prince Saryu.”

Her trembling voice brushed against my eardrums.

“I… love you so much, Shitoen.”

I rose onto both knees and embraced Lady Shitoen.

When I pulled her slender, supple waist tightly against me, she smelled of soap and rose-scented oil.

“I’m so glad you love me so much.”

Lady Shitoen pressed her lips to my neck.

And some dizzying, intoxicated sensation seemed about to overtake my whole body.

Before I knew it, I had pushed her down onto the floor.

So that the back of her head would not hit the floor with a thud—

I placed one hand beneath it, gently and carefully.

She did not resist.

I looked down at her from above as she lay on her back.

She was a very beautiful girl.

Silver hair. Violet eyes. Pure white skin.

As if being drawn in, I lowered my face.

And then I pressed my lips to hers.

When I kissed her over and over, almost nibbling at her lips, they tasted soft and sweet. Ahh, honey, I realized. Perhaps she had eaten some sweet with honey in it.

She wrapped her arms around my back. She was trembling just a little. Her fingers clutched my shirt tightly. It felt almost as though she was clinging to me, and without thinking, I asked,

“Are you afraid?”

Instead of answering, she shook her head.

I trailed my lips along her slender neck. A breath even sweeter and more melting than honey spilled from Lady Shitoen’s lips. I wanted to hear that voice more, and more, and more.

I touched her chest through her nightclothes. Lady Shitoen trembled sharply, and when she let out a little “Ah,” I kissed her again. As I kept touching the soft, faintly yielding curves of her chest— three crisp knocks rang mercilessly through the room.

“My apologies, Lady Shitoen. Young Master is nowhere to be seen, but surely he could not possibly be here?”

The steward…

I raised my index finger and pressed it to my lips. Lady Shitoen, pinned beneath me, also seemed flustered and nodded rapidly, but— then came another series of knocks.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

“Captain? Captain? Captain? Captain? Captain?”

“Young Master, I must tell you, since you appear to be mistaken, that the wedding is tomorrow.”

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

“Captain, Captain, Captain, Captain. Captain. Captain. Captain.”

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

“The king and His Highness the Crown Prince instructed me to protect Lady Shitoen’s chastity to the very end—”

“Ca-a-a-ptain! Ca-a-a-ptain! Ca-a-a-ptain!”

Aaaaaaaaaah!

“You’re so damn loud!! I get it, I’ll come out, I’ll come out!!!”

I sprang up from the floor and flung open the door.

There stood the steward and my adjutant Raul, both planted firmly in place and glaring at me.

“One truly cannot let down one’s guard for even a moment.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Captain. Tch.”

“Raul, you just clicked your tongue!”

“I did not. Tch.”

And so, I was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and tossed into my own bedroom.

And thus— the night before my wedding came to an end.