Encounter
Aya Oosawa. The pretty princess adored by many. To her peachy pink hair that matches her eyes, her fair skin with a couple freckles that were scattered across like stars in the night sky. But no one truly knew who she was. Except for her close friends of course. Her true identity hidden by her status, hidden by a front to protect the reputation of the kingdom. The perfect pretty princess. Anyone like her would find someone so easily and get married, right? Wrong. Aya refused to marry a man for her kingdom, she had to stay at least a little true to herself, right? This led to her refusing every prince’s hand in marriage. Of course, this worried the king and queen, so they scheduled a ball, 2 months from now. Where Aya would have to choose a prince that attended it, whether she liked it or not.
Recently, news had spread through the castle about some new wanted prince from a faraway kingdom. Naturally, Aya was curious and sent her best servants, but also closest friends, Chizuru and Mao, to find out what was causing so much commotion. Eventually, they came back with a rolled in their hands. “Princess Aya, this is him, the wanted prince.” Said Chizuru, handing her the poster.
Aya grabbed the poster and unrolled it, and there he was. A prince with grey eyes, a mole under his right eye. He has black bangs, but the rest couldn’t be deciphered. Unfortunately, he was wearing a hood and mask. But.. despite half of his face being covered.. Aya found herself feeling off. Was she.. attracted to the wanted prince? No. She shouldn’t. He’s wanted in her kingdom. She pushed the thought down and spoke. “Why is he wanted?”
“Apparently it’s because he stole a sword of the king during the night. The king woke up to him running off in the forest.” Mao answered. Aya was a little surprised. ‘How brave, to steal from one of the strongest kingdoms..’ Aya thought. Oh well, he’ll probably get caught before the upcoming ball. She rolled up the poster and put it on her bed. “Thank you ladies, you can leave now, I kept you last sundown.” Aya commented, saying her goodbyes before they left her room. That entire evening, even through dinner, her thoughts were corrupted. That damn prince. He was so charming to her! And half of his face was covered!
Aya couldn’t take it. That night she had snuck out of her window, still wearing her dress. She wasn’t allowed to do this, not in the slightest. But she needed a breath of fresh air. Take her mind off of the prince that has taken over her mind. She carefully climbed down from her window and landed on soft grass. She carefully started walking, not making sound. She made her way to the forest. I calming place she often found herself sneaking off to. She liked this area. It was so peaceful.. she sat down on a log, looking up at the glowing full moon. The stars scattered across the sky beautifully. How relaxing. Much better than the view of her bedroom window. She smiled and closed her eyes, basking in the peaceful nature. Until it wasn’t.
Aya heard swords. She quickly stood up and a behind the tree, scared out of her mind. What the hell?! Who was here.? She peeked her head out from the tree. There he was. The so called wanted prince, fighting with a guard. Aya stood by and watched silently. Not being able to move, mostly because she was scared but also because of how entranced she was the sight in front of her. The wanted prince, he clearly had some skill in his technique. He skillfully evaded attacks while attacking back diligently. It was almost graceful to Aya. She couldn’t deny it. She had fallen in love with the wanted prince.
Oh goodness, what was she meant to do? She had finally fallen in love. And bad. But it had to be with an enemy of her kingdom goddamnit! Her mind started going crazy. She shouldn’t be feeling like this. It was wrong. She can’t. She’s supposed to fall in love with a prince of a kingdom she was allies with. She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when the prince started running away after the guard was knocked down.
Uh oh. Her head was still poked out. She made eye contact with the prince, his eyes widened as he ran towards her. Yep. She was sure she was going to die right then and there. She was preparing herself for the prince to take the sword he stole from the king and kill her with it and deliver her bloody corpse to the front of the castle with a note that said, ‘Killed your daughter with the sword I stole from you hehe!’ But surprisingly, that didn’t happen. The prince silently grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the forest. Aya willingly ran with him. It was better this way. Therefore she wouldn’t have gotten caught for sneaking out, and she wouldn’t die for refusing! Eventually they stopped, out of break and hid behind some rocks and trees.
The prince spoke up. “Why are you out here this late princess..?” Aya was caught off guard. He even sounded pretty! “Uhm.. j-just wanted some fresh a-air..” Aya cursed herself out. Why was she stuttering at a time like this?! “That’s dangerous y’know. What if you got hurt from something out here?” The prince asked.
“Like what? A wanted prince who stole the sword of my father?” Aya retorted. That’s it. If the prince didn’t want to kill her before, he definitely did now. Instead, the prince laughed. Aya’s face became flushed. “You’re funny. You should get back before you get caught.” The prince stated, standing up. Aya stood up with him. “Wait, how did you even sneak in to steal the sword.?” Aya asked, genuinely curious. The castle was always on high security. Well actually, not really considering how easy it was for Aya ro sneak out. But the King’s swords were definitely guarded! She was sure of it. The prince only put his finger over his mask, “I have my way.” He laughed before speaking again. “Don’t snitch on me alright? The king has too many swords anyways.” Aya laughed. “He does doesn’t he? Don’t worry, you’re basically harmless.”
They both started walking back to where Aya escaped. During the walk Aya asked a question. “Why are you here anyways?” The prince paused for a little bit before continuing. “The sword I stole.. it’s actually from our kingdom. Your father took it from us a couple years back. We are just taking back what’s ours.” Aya raised a brow. “Isn’t that kind of petty? Stealing a sword back from a couple years ago?” The prince laughed. “You can blame that on our king.” Aya laughed too as they both continued to walk.
Eventually, they made it to the outside of Aya’s bedroom window. Aya carefully climbed back in leaning against it. “Thanks for helping me not get caught.” The prince smiled. “Back atcha.” The prince was about to start walking away when Aya quickly stopped him. “Wait!”. The prince turned around and raised a brow. “Yes?”. Aya’s face turned a little pink. “I.. I never got your name..”. The princes face turned into a smile. At least she thought so, it was hard to tell with his mask on but she could safely assume that because of the way his eyes curved a bit. “It’s Mitsuki. Mitsuki Koga.” The prince answered. Aya smiled. “Goodbye, prince Mitsuki.”.
“Gooodbye, princess Aya, till we meet again.”
Aya closed her window and jumped on her bed, kicking her feet. Oh no.. she was in love. So hopelessly in love. The breather, originally meant to get her mind off the prince. Just made her think about him more. She shouldn’t feel like this. But the prince.. she wanted to get closer to him. To be able to stay at his side. She couldn’t help but think about him. The way she fought, moved with such diligence, his technique, the way he held the sword he stole.. the way his eyes narrowed when fighting the guard.. his eyebags.. his slender, almost feminine frame, he was perfect. Aya Oosawa. The perfect pretty princess. Had finally fallen in love. What will she come across next time?