Several weeks passed after that day, and they soon accumulated into collections of months. There was something thrilling about it all, biding time until there was none left for fun. We walked along cracked panes of glass and waited to fall between the metal supports. Each time, though, we sidestepped and avoided that fate.
With all the worries and promises brought upon the two of us, there was a multitude of adjustments accordingly. The largest of these was that I was, well, dating the princess—from the other kingdom.
*Things work out like that sometimes.*
We often snuck around the Sun Castle in search of new things to see and do, and when we were bored, Koharu would sometimes bring me to the courtyard and twiddle her fingers to create a display of lights much like the fireworks the castle shot on certain occasions. They were glamorous and exquisite, switching the colors that highlighted our faces on a whim.
The only skill I had to show her was that I could shoot an apple off the head of a statue about fifty percent of the time with a bow and arrow, which she found great amusement in despite it not being nearly as showy as her abilities.
*I'm pretty sure a monkey would be more accurate than me according to that old theorem.*
Spending time with her under our new label brought about a shift in my personality. I was always nonchalant, seemingly uncaring, but seeing her saddened face that day made me protective and slightly paranoid in a way. I had a way of hovering over her when we were together in the more public areas of the castle, almost like a guard or servant. In more private settings, I often did the same or draped an arm over her so that she wouldn't fly from my grasp, whether that be figuratively or literally. She was certainly capable of either.
Sinclair also seemed to crash in on castle briefings more often, which was likely due to Leo's continued requests. However, even his puppy eyes couldn't have been persuasive enough to ground an oblivious wandering spirit for up to several hours each day, so I quickly suspected that Sinclair found some kind of twisted amusement in either setting off a chain reaction or chatting with the loquacious fairy.
And although the initial deal between Leo and Koharu was upheld, Inei got sick of any further intrusions; after that one lucky time that Sinclair brought the box, the rarely docile horses always left feces in his cup and ruined the finish of the table.
At some point, Inei asked the messenger to stop barging in like that, but they shrugged and came the next morning in the same fashion. Inei couldn't do anything about it. Sinclair was far more powerful than him, and he was glad they and Leo were getting along.
Inei sighed one day. As he rested his face on the table, he said, "That Sinclair's a double-edged sword sometimes."
Nobody opened their mouth to argue with him.
***
Akiyoshi changed in the strangest way, for I never got a logical explanation regarding him.
Shining gold, Jisoo knocked on his bedroom door.
"Sir," the general said. "The king has requested your help in planning an infrastructure project in Altair. May I come in?"
I sorted through a pile of papers Inei, Jisoo, Seiji, and I drafted earlier in the day. It was already evening, and I yawned as I glanced over them, checking for any anomalies. The inscriptions were already blurry and blended after hours of staring at them.
"Sir? Is everything okay?" Jisoo asked as he continued banging on the chunk of wood. He turned to me and muttered, "Does this damn prince ever take a break from his novels to listen?"
I shrugged. "Is the door even locked? Maybe he's not in there."
He snapped at me before reaching for the handle. The shining platinum turned despite its slickness, and the large bedroom was exposed before the two of us.
I gasped at the sight, while Jisoo's eyes went wide.
"What the fuck?" he exclaimed.
Even though Akiyoshi was known for being organized, not a single piece of his room remained upright. The shelves were knocked over on the floor, spilling guts full of books on every possible topic. His coffee table was shattered with its untouched carvings exposed like bones, and it laid at an angle. It was held up by a misplaced desk. Quills, ink, and papers spread over the floor, staining his fine carpet and leaking onto the delicately colored oak. Even a simple dinner was overturned as ants clustered around their feast of crumbs. In a line, they carried bits of bread through a new crack in the window.
Splayed out on a gigantic, messy bed was Akiyoshi. He faced away from us, examining the night sky as he curled in a ball. His hair appeared dirtier than usual, shining from a distance. It was knotted in mats atop his thin clothing. I never saw him before without the castle uniform, but he looked somehow feeble and boyish without it.
A weak face turned and glanced over, weary eyes bloodshot as the pupils shook like he just cried.
"Sir, is everything okay?" Jisoo ran to him in alarm, leaning against the bed.
He reached out a bruised and bloodied hand to Jisoo as I swallowed and stepped through the shrapnel. Akiyoshi then nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just feeling sick."
*So how does that explain your hands?*
Jisoo frowned at him. "Sir, do you need to talk to Leo?"
"No," Akiyoshi said sharply. He played with a blanket pooled around his feet. "I'm just useless. He can't fix that."
*You're not the type to have a harsh ego, but I didn't expect the opposite from you.*
"Do you need to talk to your parents?" I asked him as I bumped against the mattress.
I considered myself successful in not mauling my foot with a shard of glass. Whatever the issue was, he was very dismissive of it, trying to get everyone to ignore the ravaged state of his room.
He snorted. "Ophelia, I know you mean well, but nothing they can or will say is ever going to help." He spun his head to gaze back outside, that broken expression of his hiding from view.
Though I knew he couldn't see me, I nodded behind him.
"Do you need those wounds bandaged up?" Jisoo asked. "I can get the army first-aid kit."
In silence, Akiyoshi raised his hand. A purple light encapsulated it, making the cuts vanish until the pale skin was no longer even reddish. The glow spread from his fingers to the rest of the room. In a spider's web of strings, it dragged the piles of displaced objects back into their respective positions. He removed the food entirely while mending the cracked window. No traces of the damage were left besides those residing within Akiyoshi.
"See. I'll be fine. I said I'm sick right now. Leave me alone."
Jisoo and I stared at each other, faces clearly conveying the same doubtful thought as we backed out of the newly organized room.
*What happened to Prince Akiyoshi?*
When we asked Inei right after, he claimed his son was upset about the short supply of crops from the farms, but that still didn't explain the crazed look, shaking hands, and damaged knuckles I witnessed that day. I told Inei that, but even he didn't know what to say besides advising us to leave his son be. He was more gentle and lenient than usual towards me—which I chalked up to me moving up the castle hierarchy from a newbie to a frequent face—but sometimes, his stubbornness came out when I pried at him for answers. I then left him alone.
I proposed explanations in my head as I remained confused for days. (And to have an excuse to ignore Inei's rambling.) Perhaps it had something to do with Leo, who attached himself to Sinclair at all times as if they became best friends. Akiyoshi seemed particularly fond of him, and I wondered if he felt lonely and isolated from the rest of the castle. He hardly left his room on normal days; however, he never let himself and his surroundings fall into complete disarray.
That was the best belief I held, yet my speculations had little grounding in facts. I might as well have tried pulling sticks from a cup to form a hypothesis.