Chapter Text
“Hey hey hey if it isn’t the two lovebirds!” Mizuki slings an arm around each of the couple, grinning mischievously. They lean closer to Mafuyu’s shoulder. “Say… if you want to make our beloved prince happy, then here’s a secret.” They whisper into Mafuyu’s ear, but Kanade catches it anyway. “Kanade loves teatime, so why don’t please him with one?”
Mafuyu wants to wrinkle his nose at the thought of “pleasing” the Prince, but maintains his decorum. Sure, he may be married to him, but it was an arranged marriage, between the Prince of the Sun Kingdom and the Princess(ugh) of the Moon Kingdom. A marriage only meant for diplomacy. Obviously there’s no love between them. And there never will, if Mafuyu gets his way.
Mafuyu sees Kanade making a desperate pleading face at him. “Please be nice.” He mouths. How pathetic. But fine, he has to keep the pretense of a happy couple for the mission, after all. Flashing a sickeningly sweet smile, Mafuyu turns to Mizuki.
“I would love nothing more than to please my Prince with his favourite hobby. How should I go about doing it?”
Mizuki snickers, dragging Mafuyu over to a corner where Kanade can’t hear them. “So you see, his favourite tea is carnation flower brew, but that’s not even a tea! Our silly Prince, right? And then for pastries, you shou—”
Mafuyu did not get carnation flower brew for Kanade.
Kanade grimaces at the display in front of the table. A fishy smell steams from the Pu’er tea. Another stench comes from the durian puff pastries. Everything that Kanade hates. Mafuyu had asked Mizuki about the Prince’s dislikes, and clueless Mizuki, thinking Mafuyu was trying to avoid getting Kanade something bad, had spilled all the beans to him. The tiniest of smirks from his lover makes it clear that this was not a mistake.
It’s okay. Play it cool, Kanade. He can still salvage this, somehow. He takes a sip of the tea, and tries not to choke. Right, he needs to attempt conversation. “So, Mafuyu…”
Mafuyu darkly stares at him. Saying nothing. Kanade gulps. “How are you?” He tries.
…
…
…
Oh god, would a hole please swallow him up already? Mafuyu continues her stare, arms crossed, doing absolutely nothing else. Kanade fidgets in his seat. He tries again.
“Um… what’s wrong?” He says in the gentlest tone he can muster.
A twitch on her face. A good sign? He presses forward, leaning his arm over the table, to touch Mafuyu’s hand, before he thinks better of it and retracts his hand. Umm…
“You can tell me anything, I’ll listen.” His eyes softens.
Anything? Anything really? Mafuyu has a million secrets to bear and none he can expose. The nerve of this Prince… Still, his soft eyes… Hm. Perhaps he will test him.
“I hate this dress.” He splats.
“Oh? Would you like to change it for something else then?” He stands up, ready to assist him.
“To another dress?” Mafuyu says lowly.
“Eh?” Kanade looks surprised, but is quick to recover. “No, it doesn’t have to be a dress. We have a great selection of pants and shorts in the closet upstairs.”
Hm. He isn’t affronted by the thought of his “wife” not wearing a dress. Interesting. Kanade gestures for him to follow, and he decides to listen to him for once.
He leads him to a giant closet, full of male garments and accessories. The clothes were impressive, lined with the signature gold of the Sun Kingdom, along with baby blue motifs. He is not used to the sheer brightness of the Sun Kingdom’s clothing, he’s more used to something more fitting of the Moon Kingdom’s… darker, perhaps…
From the depths of the closet, he fishes out a black long-sleeved shirt, a dark blue vest, black trousers, black gloves and a pair of black boots lined with gold. At the sight of these clothes, a little tingle runs through him. He has never been allowed to wear pants, not since he was little.
A memory flashes through him. His mother ripping his last pair of pants into two, chiding him. “A girl must always wear a dress! You’re older now, so you have to dress up like a proper lady.”
Girl. Lady. He wants to rip his chest apart and just disappear. He shakes his head, getting back to his senses. He still has his duties to perform.
He begins stripping in front of the Prince, who starts spluttering and covering his eyes like a cowardly child. “M-Mafuyu!! What are you doing??” What a pissbaby.
He finishes changing his clothes, and bores his eyes into the Prince’s. “What, we are husband and wife, aren’t we?”
“S-still!”
Kanade shakes his head, trying to get the image out of his mind. Wanting to change topic, he leads Mafuyu in front of the mirror.
A boy, no, a man stares back at him in the mirror. The collar goes all the way up to his neck, accentuating sharper features. A more blocky figure greets him. He’s wearing pants. Something starts pricking his eyes, but he resists it.
“You look good, Mafuyu.” The Prince smiles fondly at him. She looks so much more comfortable in wearing these. Against his better instincts, he takes a hold of Mafuyu’s gloved hand and brings it to his lips, in a soft, soft kiss.
Mafuyu… doesn’t hate it.
“Hey, Mafuyu…” The Prince looks into Mafuyu’s eyes gently. “If this is what you prefer to wear, then we can certainly commission more clothes of this sort for you. It’s no trouble.” He says in a soft tone.
Mafuyu’s heart hitches, before it sinks again. “Your subjects won’t mind?”
An uncharacteristic smirk forms on the Prince’s mouth. “I’m the Prince, who dares to go against me?”
They’re back at the tea table again. Even though Mafuyu feels more comfortable now, he still hates the Prince’s guts. He’s still married to him. Awkwardness surrounds them again.
Still, the poor prince tries. “How… has your day been?” He wants to add ‘dear’, but believes Mafuyu would get even more angry at him.
“…”
“I hate this marriage.”
An arrow pierces the Prince’s heart. His eyes brim with tears. He subtly wipes them away with his sleeve. Voice shaking, he tries to be calm. “I am very sorry to hear that. Do you…not like me very much?” His voice trails off at the end, frail.
Something shifts in his heart when he sees the Prince cry. He should be happy, no? But he just feels… disgusted at himself. It’s like making a child cry. He won’t lie, but he won’t sugarcoat the truth either.
“It’s not that I hate you. I just hate this arranged marriage I’m stuck with. It’s not personal.”
The Prince chokes back a whimper, tries to school his features to that of a proper Prince. He tries not to take it to heart. “I understand that. To be honest, I’m not sure why my father arranged this marriage either. But… can we start over, instead of being enemies? Could we get to know each other and be friends?”
Friends? Pfft. Don’t make him laugh. But he doesn’t want the Prince to cry more.
“Sure, I guess.” He shrugs.
The prince gives a watery smile. He takes a bite of the durian puff and pretends to like it. Shyly, he asks. “So, uh… what are some things you like to do?” Maybe if he learns Mafuyu’s hobbies and interests, then he will get to know her better.
“I don’t know.” Ouch.
The Prince flusters in his seat again. “Ah… That’s fine. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” He smiles shakily once more.
“And... How are you enjoying your tea?
Mafuyu scoffs. “I can’t taste it. I can’t taste anything at all, actually.”
“You can’t taste anything?” Kanade’s eyes widen in shock. He can’t understand why she can’t taste anything. Concerned, he asks: “Do you have a cold or something?”
"No, it's always been like that. As far as I can remember. As a child I could taste things, but one day I just couldn't. It's not a big deal, don't pity me."
He’s not pitying Mafuyu, he swears! He’s just worried for her but he tries not to let it show, considering the shaky terms they are on. But hearing that she’s can’t taste for such a long time makes him feel very bad for her. He wants to comfort her.
“Even if it’s not that big of a deal, it has probably been very difficult for you, yes?”
Mafuyu shrugs. “It doesn’t bother me.”
Kanade has a feeling she’s lying. But he doesn’t want to upset her further, so he tries to change topic. “I was wondering… Can I ask you one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Umm, it’s a bit personal, are you sure you’re okay with answering it?”
So annoying. “Just ask already.”
The Prince squirms. He takes a deep breath and keeps eye contact with Mafuyu. “Can I know the real reason why you agreed to this arranged marriage?”
The real reason. The real reason is to kill him. Mafuyu obviously can’t say that, so he decides for a half-truth. “Because my mother said so.”
Kanade senses something more than that, but decides not to probe her further. He will let her tell him the full truth, in her own time. “And you agreed to it… Just because your mother told you to?”
Discomfort swirls in him. "Yes. A child is expected to be filial to their mother, is it not?"
Worry fills Kanade. “It is. But, don’t be mad at me when I say this… Is it really okay to listen blindly to your mother?”
Mafuyu stiffens. He never wants to think badly of his mother. “I-I… my mother loves me. There’s no doubt about it.”
Kanade is surprised by her defensiveness. Still, he pushes on. “You’re right, your mother loves you. But does she really know what’s best for your happiness?”
Mafuyu is tired of this conversation already. “My mother knows what’s best for me. What I want… doesn’t matter.”
Kanade’s horrified. “Doesn’t matter…? Your happiness doesn’t matter?”
Mafuyu feels ready to snap back. “Duty comes first before anything else. I can’t just do something out of a flimsy feeling such as happiness.”
He touched a nerve there. He has to back off, no matter how much his heart twists at how she thinks this way. He feels that she’s not going to change her mind anytime soon, so he should try a different approach. "You said that you used to be able to taste things as a child, right?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
"I have to ask, but... What was it like? What did things taste like?"
Mafuyu frowns. "I remember... liking my mother's home cooking. How savoury and sweet it was. That's all I can remember."
Her mother’s cooking, huh… The Prince is silent for a few moments. The fact that she can’t taste saddens him. He wants to help her. "Can I ask you one last question?"
“Yes.”
"Do you want to regain your sense of taste one day?"
Didn’t he already say it doesn’t matter already?
“I don’t c—… yes.” His traitorous mouth blurts out.
Kanade hums. "If I told you there might be a way to get it back… Would you like to hear it?"
What is he going to suggest to him? “Yes?”
Kanade takes a sip of his tea once again. “There was a recipe in a spell book that I once secretly read as a child, in the grand old library. There was a man who was gravely injured by a magical attack, and he lost all five of his senses. But then a witch cured him.”
Mafuyu’s skeptical. “I guess I can try.”
Kanade beams at her, happy that she’s willing to try. He’s about to continue the conversation when a servant comes up to him. “Prince Kanade, your meeting with the nobles for the East trade begins in 10 minutes.”
Oh. Opps.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Kanade stands up and takes a bow. “My apologies, Mafuyu, but I must depart. Let us talk more later.”
Mafuyu watches as the Prince disappears into the castle. He is panting from walking such a short distance.
Mafuyu still hates Kanade. Yes he does.