It was currently nice and cool noon, a perfect time for a tea party at the back garden of the Neville Estate, which was exactly what Edward and his fiancées were doing…
"…"
"*Humming*"
"…" *Rubbing her cheek on Edward's shoulder*"
"… " *Tightly hugging Edward's arm*
At least that was the original intention, but the little tea time they were having, quickly changed to surrounding and clinging onto Edward, as Lysette and Nanako both hugged one of his arms, while Atsuko sat on his lap, something that she was starting to do every day, whenever she could.
"… Atsuko-sama, you really like to sit on my lap, don't you?"
"Fufu. Of course, I do, Edward-sama. Why wouldn't I like to sit on the lap of the person I love?… Ah! B-But you better not b-blow onto my ear o-or n-nibble my neck!… A-At least, t-tell m-me first b-before doing it!"
"… … … So you liked it that I did that on you?"
"I-I didn't say that!"
"I see"
As Edward talked with Atsuko, the other two girls, Nanako and Lysette, both remained silent as their faces started to turn red. Nanako from the fact that she had been asking for Edward to nibble her neck in these past few days whenever they were alone, and Lysette from the fact that she had the unluckiness of receiving a love nibble from Edward a few days ago, and only now she had recovered from her shock, but she could still remember the sensation of Edward nibbling her on the neck, which was enough to make her blush.
Then as the four were enjoying their time together, a certain middle-aged man walked towards the gazebo.
"Princess… *Looks at Edward* Tch!"
The man was Kenichi, Atsuko's guardian, and someone who hated Edward for wooing Atsuko into becoming his fiancée. To the point that just seeing him, caused Kenichi to loudly click his tongue at seeing Edward surrounded by girls other than Atsuko, while all that Edward could do was weakly laugh.
"… Ahaha…"
"Ah! Kenichi-san, do you need me for something?"
"No, I just came to tell you that the king will be arriving tomorrow afternoon"
"Oh! So Father will finally catch up to us, understood. Thank you for informing me, Kenichi-san"
"Do not worry, princess"
Having done his task, Kenichi turned and began walking away as he bit his lower lips from seeing the envious sight of Edward surrounded by three beautiful girls flirting with him. Now that they were by themselves again, Atsuko opened her mouth to speak with Edward.
"Edward-sama, I look forward to presenting you to my father tomorrow"
"Ah… Yes, I will do my best not to embarrass you, Atsuko-sama"
"Thank you for understanding, Edward-sama. Also, Lysette-sama, and Nanako-san, would you two be okay with me being the only one standing close to Edward-sama when we greet my father?"
" "?" "
The two made confused looks at why she was making such a request, but considering Atsuko's position as a princess, they both decided to trust her judgment, especially when it came to dealing with her father.
.
.
.
The next day
"…" *Making a confused expression*
"…" *Cold sweating while keeping a smiling poker face*
"…" *Happily smiling while hugging Edward's arm*
At the entrance hall of the Neville mansion, silence reigned over it, on one side there was Atsuko's father, King Yuudai of Akeshi, and his entourage who were all showing a lot of confusion on their faces as they looked at their princess happily hugging the arm of a boy.
On the other side, there was Atsuko with a beaming smile on her face as she lovingly hugged Edward close to her, who in turn was doing his best to not scream from the pressure of standing in front of a king, who was also the father of the girl currently hugging his arm.
And finally, there was the Neville family of Hamilton and Lysette, alongside Nanako and their servants, as well as the entourage that had been accompanying Atsuko, all avoiding their gazes from the main perpetrators of this awkward situation, almost as if they were all trying to feign ignorance of their knowledge of Atsuko and Edward's relationship.
Then as the silence was reaching the peak of its awkwardness, Yuudai opened his mouth to speak something.
"A-Atsuko… May I know who is that boy standing next to you?"
"Of course, Otou-sama. This person is Edward Harding, and he is the person that I chose to be my fiancé"
"… Haa???"
Atsuko then flashed a really cute smile after saying so, while her father and his entourage all showed surprise at the sudden bomb that Atsuko dropped on them, meanwhile all that Edward could do was only sweat even more as he continued to look away almost as if he was reaching his wit's end.
"…"
Silently, Yuudai looked slightly to his right, exactly where Kenichi was standing as he avoided looking at his liege. The two didn't need to open their mouths to talk with each other, and the longer Yuudai glared at Kenichi the more he started to sweat fearing what would happen to him, but to his luck, Yuudai went back to paying attention to his daughter.
"*Deeply breaths in*… Atsuko, why have you decided to engage with someone, without my permission"
"Hm? But I have your permission to such decisions, Otou-sama. Did you forget about it already?"
"… Huh? What do you mean?"
"I am, of course, talking about this, Otou-sama"
And then Atsuko took out a folded piece of paper from her sleeves, and unfolded in front of her father, the very same paper that she used to justify her signature in the document engaging her to Edward. Seeing this, caused Yuudai's face to turn pale, as he hadn't thought that Atsuko would use it to justify her independent decision to engage herself with someone.
"As you can see, Otou-sama. You wrote that I could make any decisions in any negotiations and talks in your stead if you showed to be absent for any given reason. Now then, Otou-sama… Do you have any complaints about my decisions, made in your stead?"
"… … …"
Yuudai looked at Atsuko with a stern gaze. Yes, he knew that he was the one who made such a document for Atsuko and that it was his fault for not going with his advisor's words of going aboard the ship Atsuko was on and instead choosing to remain with his entourage until his ship's repairs had finished.
But, just because she had already done all the procedures necessary to officialize her engagement with Edward, Yuudai couldn't just back down here, and let his beloved daughter do as she wanted without his permission. Yes, Yuudai would never let Atsuko marry someone without his consent!
"…" *smiling*
"…"
"…" *Smiling*
"… Very well. Edward-kun, you better take great care of my daughter, and never make her cry"
"O-Of course, your majesty!"
Yuudai was unable to go against his daughter, especially when he could feel a very heavy pressure coming from her smile.
.
.
.
After the initial greetings, Yuudai, Atsuko's father, and Atsuko herself went to have a short meeting, mostly to discuss what she would be doing from here onwards, and also to have the two catch up to what they were doing while away.
Sometime later, the two finished their meeting, and went in different directions, Atsuko went on to return by Edward's side, while Yuudai went to have a meeting with Hamilton, Lysette's father, both agreed to have a meeting in Hamilton's office so that they could have talks about more sensitive matters.
"King Yuudai, I must apologize for the problems that my son-in-law may have caused you regarding Princess Atsuko"
"Do not worry about it, Duke Hamilton. Although this matter will force me to make some changes to my schedule, it can also be said that it also saved me some time and risks as well"
"Pardon my rudeness, but may I ask you what you mean by that exactly?"
"Of course, as you may be aware. I am currently on a royal tour to the various nations that share good relations with my homeland"
"Right"
"And as part of said tour, it also involves meeting with the leaders of the nations I am currently visiting, such as your king. And as you may already know, when two politicians meet it is bound to have deals occurring behind closed doors"
"…"
Hamilton opted to remain silent as Yuudai spoke, not wanting to interrupt him way too much with unnecessary comments.
"As such, one of the potential talks I planned on having with King Robert, was on the possibility of engaging Atsuko to the crown prince, Ludovic, who as far as I am currently aware, is still without a partner, to help solidify the friendship of our two kingdoms
"I understand, and now that Princess Atsuko engaged herself to Sir Edward, you technically achieved said goal, correct King Yuudai?"
"That is correct, Duke Hamilton. But since her engagement is now to a count, it means that other actors will not see it as something as worrying as creating a union between the royal houses.
And with Sir Edward being engaged to your daughter as well, he can technically be considered a duke as well, which makes Atsuko's engagement to him more acceptable in terms of ranks, while removing her from the succession process, and also making the relationship between our houses an indirect one. That I believe you see as something beneficial as well, right?"
"Yes, King Yuudai. This arrangement is perfectly fine to me since it helps me to avoid as if I am trying to acquire some form of foreign support, through you. And to the royal family as well, since this will help avoid the second prince faction from feeling scared and turning desperate in their actions"
"I am glad we both see our situation similarly"
After he finished saying that, Yuudai sighed as he looked outside of the window, after all, in either his current situation or his original plan, Atsuko was to be engaged to someone else, something that as a father, he wanted to avoid doing. But seeing how happy Atsuko seemed to be while standing next to Edward and the fact that she would be kept away from the royal court intrigue, he felt that this was the better option for her, which made him feel a little happy at the fact that his daughter would be able to live as happily as possible.
Though, it needed to be said that Yuudai was also feeling rather bitter towards Edward for stealing his daughter like that, and for making her unable to return home anytime soon.
.
.
.
Edward and his fiancées were now all having tea together at the usual place, under the shade of the gazebo in the back garden of the Neville Estate. There, Edward was making a tired expression after finally being freed from the oppressive atmosphere of greeting a foreign king, with who he had accidentally entangled himself in an engagement with his daughter.
"*Sigh*… That was tense…"
"Thank you for the hard work, Edward-sama"
"Thanks, Atsuko-sama"
"Fufu, Edward-sama, I look forward to having you taking care of me from now on"
"Don't worry about it, Atsuko-sama… … … Hm? Just to be sure, but what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Is it not obvious, Edward-sama? I mean that from this point forward, I have decided to be relieved from the royal tour and my royal duties so that I can continue living with you and devote myself to honing my skills to become a suitable wife for you"
"Ah, I see. I'm glad that I'll be able to continue having you by my side, Atsuko-sama"
"Fufu! Me too, Edward-sama"
Hearing Atsuko say such maidenly goals of giving up on her duties as a royal so that she could continue to live with him and train herself to be a wife instead of a potential throne candidate, caused Edward to start stroking Atsuko's curly yet soft hair. However, as he did so, he began to think a little bit about what she said.
After all, Atsuko was a princess, and it wasn't uncommon for girls like her to be engaged with a foreign royal so that their parents could get a better deal, or a friendly relationship with other realms, or simply obtain the prestige from marrying another royal. And if she was on a royal tour with her father, which would involve a meeting with King of Robert, and as a consequence…
"… … …"
"Ah! Now that I think about it, I think I once happened to overhear my father talking about the likelihood of King Robert accepting my engagement to the crown prince or the second prince with his aide. But now that I am engaged to you Edward-sama, that will not be happening anymore"
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
"I see"
"Edward-sama"
"Yes, Atsuko-sama?"
"Again, I look forward to living with you, and working hard on my bridal training to become a suitable partner for you, Edward-sama"
"… *Gently smiles* I already think you're more than suitable for me, Atsuko-sama"
"Fufu! I see"
Hearing that, Atsuko went to sit beside Edward and hugged his arm as she rested her head on his shoulder with a happy expression. In turn, Lysette and Nanako who had been watching the two talk in silence began pouting in a small fit of jealousy, so just like Atsuko, they went closer to Edward as well.
Lysette hugged Edward's remaining free arm as she also rested her head on his shoulder, while Nanako without any other option sat down on Edward's lap, the only remaining thing that she was able to do was rub her cheek on Edward's cheek, almost like a cat.
Being surrounded, from practically all sides, by soft sensations that he was keenly aware of where they belonged to, was almost enough to make Edward ignore the dull pain of a headache he was feeling, that as usual, brought the mysterious sensation that he had once again messed up with something he wasn't supposed to involve himself with.
However, any feelings of regret or concern that he might've had were now being occupied by his desire to feel those soft sensations surrounding him, and by his willpower to hold himself back from falling into his desires, while trying to prevent his body from showing the usual reaction a man would have from being surrounded by three beautiful girls who were honestly in love with him.