a knight's promise | iwaizumi hajime

2

"What is the meaning of this," you exclaim, bursting through the doors to your father's room, "You know of my relationship with Hajime, so why am I being betrothed to another."

"Calm down, it has already been decided, you cannot change anything now with your temper tantrums," he responds.

"Temper tantrums!" you scoff, "I have the right to be upset, you decided my entire future without asking me. Our nation is doing well, we don't need any help from Fukurōdani, so why? If it was for the betterment of our country, I would have agreed to it, but we are not in dire need of help."

"Fukurōdani is one of the most influential kingdoms on this continent. We only have power in this small area, and even that is overshadowed by the overwhelming dominance of the Shiratorizawa nation. This is a preventative measure, in case anything happens, we will have Fukurōdani to help us."

"So my happiness means nothing to you," you ask.

"Of course it does, they are one of the best nations in the continent, you will be taken care of for the rest of your life!"

"That doesn't matter if I don't love him!" you shout.

"Clearly, this is my mistake. I have let that relationship with Hajime happen because I thought it would not lead anywhere. Listen, his father is one of my most trusted advisors and he is a fine, noble knight, but he is no match for a prince. Forget about him! You will be marrying Prince Keiji," he states, "Now leave, I will not listen to this temper tantrum for a second more."

He calls for the guards, and they forcibly escort you out of his room, and into yours. The doors of his room close before you can say another word. Despite your efforts to escape from the grasps of the guards, their hands held onto you tighter the more you struggled.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing to the princess," a voice shouts.

You turn to see the familiar face of your lover and let out a sigh of relief.

"Sir Iwaizumi, we have orders from the King to deliver the princess to her room," one of the guards responds.

"You could be gentler about it," he scolds them. With one hand, he pulls you from the grasps of the guards and protectively stands beside you. "I'll take the princess to your rooms, go back to your usual posts."

"B-but Sir, the King's orders," a guard nervously says.

"He only said to bring her to her room, he didn't specify who had to bring her did he? Now stop defying orders from your superior and go back to your posts. I've taken the order the King gave you, so you have no reason to be around here anymore."

"Y-yes Sir," they all say, "We're going back to our posts now."

Iwaizumi continues to stare at the guards until they are out of sight.

"Thank you," you quietly say.

Iwaizumi doesn't respond, and instead starts escorting you to your room.

"You're not gonna ask what I was doing?" you ask him.

"I already know what you were doing," he responds, not looking at you.

"Then why do you seem so nonchalant about this!"

"Because it is none of my business, I don't have the authority to question the decisions of the King," he states.

"None of your business?"

You stop in the middle of the empty hallway and pull Iwaizumi until he is facing you. His eyes were puffy and slightly red. A small bruise was also forming the left side of his face. Your anger softens into concern upon seeing his face.

"What happened to you," you ask, cupping his face.

He winces a little when you touch the bruise on his face, but the pain soon goes away as your soft hands graze over his cheek.

"Nothing happened, don't worry about it," he smiles, "Let's just get you to your room."

You reluctantly agree and the two of you start walking towards your room. When you reach the doors to your room, you see a familiar figure standing in front.

"Tooru?" you ask.

"Oh you're okay," he says, letting out a breath of relief when he sees you. He rushes over to you, but notices Iwaizumi behind you and harshly asks, "What are you doing here?"

"I was taking her to her room, I'll be leaving now, don't worry," Iwaizumi states. He turns around and starts leaving.

"Tooru, what was that?" you ask once Iwaizumi is out of earshot.

"It's okay, it's nothing you have to worry about. He's not going to be bothering you anymore."

"What do you mean," you question, taking a step back from your cousin, "What did you do?"

"He did it himself, I didn't want to hit him," Oikawa trails off, "He's always hitting me when I do the wrong thing, so I did the same."

He brings his hands up to his face and harshly runs his fingers through his dark hair. Looking at him closer, you could see that he also has redness around his eyes. His usual perfect hair was ruffled and out of place.

"I'm sorry," he says, voice trembling, "I tried talking to him. I tried talking to my dad. I even tried talking to the King, but nothing worked. I failed you."

As your eyes watch your cousin fall apart, your brain digests the words he says. Nothing anyone was saying made any sense anymore. Ever since the announcement regarding your marriage was made, your brain worked in pointless circles, trying to find a way around this marriage. Now, seeing your only cousin, and closest friend, break apart, the emotions you held in came pouring out. Tears freely streamed down your face, ruining your pristine makeup.

"It's not your fault," you say between sobs, "I'm sure you tried your best."

"He'll be here tomorrow," Oikawa states, once he finally calmed down a little, "Fukurōdani's prince and his entourage are coming here tomorrow to finalize the engagement."

"So it's really over, just like that," you cry out.

"This is what I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't get the words out. Leave the castle tonight, don't let them take your freedom away. I'll help you escape if you want."

You stare into his eyes and see the seriousness and severity of what he's saying.

"If I'm running away, I'm leaving with Hajime. If I'm with him, I'll gladly stop being a princess."

Oikawa looks away and doesn't say anything further. He then looks back into your eyes once more and says, "Think about carefully, if not tonight, then I'll help you some other night. I just want you to be happy."

"Thank you Tooru."

He smiles, wipes the remaining tears on your face, then leaves without saying another word. You retreat to your room, and get ready for sleep. The curtains Iwaizumi opened in the morning still showed you the beautiful view of your country. You walk over to the window, the moonlight illuminating your face, and quickly close the curtains, leaving you alone in the dark.