royally arranged

Library [chapter 11]

It had been a few hours since training, you having already taken a bath and changed clothes. Of course, you and Shoto fought over who would get to bathe first, you ultimately winning the argument when you threatened to tell his father he wasn't acting like a gentleman. You had also already eaten dinner and been through the daily summoning.

You sat at the table in the library, a few books surrounding you while you stared down at the blank piece of paper in front of you. You were preparing what you were going to write in your head, finally finding the time to write back to Nikos.

"Should I start out formally, or just do what he did and be informal," you mumbled to yourself, tapping the pencil softly against the wooden table. You let out a sigh, rubbing your temples with your fingers.

You eventually decided on not thinking about it, letting your hands move before your brain could decide what it wanted to do.

Nikos,
  
          Hi, I'm sure you already know this, but it's y/n. I have missed you, Mealonie, and Emily very much. I'm sure palace life is really boring without me. I mean, I am your favorite sister. (and your only sister, but that doesn't matter!) Sorry if dad is being a psycho like usual, I guess it just runs through his veins.
          At the Todorokis, it's kind of hectic. Overall though, they are much like our own family. Doesn't change the fact I don't really like them, but I definitely see similarities. I'm sorry I had to leave. I love you very much and hope you're doing well. I hate it here, but I'm going to have to survive.

—Yours truly, y/n ❤︎

You read over your letter a few times, checking for any spelling errors and wondering if you could add anything else. And after a few minutes, you gave up and neatly folded the letter over.

You grabbed the envelope you had sitting on the table, slipping the letter inside and folding over the envelope. You would have to seal it with wax later; that would be too much of a hassle to set up at this time.

You pushed the letter to the side, replacing it with a book that sat on top of one of your stacks. You had only been halfway finished with that one, a small corner of the page being bent so you could hold you place. You did that instead of using a bookmark since your mom used to do it, even though she would always tell you it was bad.

It damaged the books, yet she went against her own advice and bent the pages to leave bookmarks. You chuckled at the random fact about your mother, unbending the page to the book once opening it to your desired page. You resumed on reading the book, having no interruptions throughout the rest of the night.

________

"So what do you think of your future wife?" Touya asked, adjusting his hands that laid behind his head.

He, Shoto, and Natsuo were currently chilling in the lounge. Touya took up one of the window seats, the curtains open so he could look up at the starry night sky. Natsuo was sitting cross-legged in a chair while Shoto laid on his back and took up a whole couch.

"I hate her," Shoto answered immediately, making the two older Todorokis chuckle.

"What is so unbearable about her that you 'hate' her even though you haven't even known her for a month?" Natsuo asked.

"She is such a bitch. Has the most vulgar words come out of her mouth. She is always trying to boss me around. And don't even get me started on all the other shit she torments me with," Shoto answered, dragging a hand across his face as he let out a grunt.

"You just said she always says bad words and yet here you are calling her a bitch," Touya sat up, chuckling when Shoto sent him a glare.

"So she's just mean to you?" Natsuo asked, "She's mean to all of us. What do you expect? She got pried away from her brother to be sent off to a kingdom to marry someone she doesn't even like. Think about it from her shoes."

Shoto closed his eyes, draping his arm over his eyes to block out the faint glow of light provided from the lantern sitting on the table in front of him. He tried, he really did, but he just couldn't see why you were being so rude.

"I'm going to bed," Shoto sluggishly got up, walking out of the room without another word.

"Good night to you too," Touya rolled his eyes, sitting up in the window seat, He closed the curtains before looking towards Natsuo who was looking back at him since he was the only source of entertainment left in the room.

"Do you think they'll end up like mom and dad?" Natsuo asked his older brother, looking towards the door his younger sibling had exited out of. "I mean, Enji and mom did have an arranged marriage like Shoto and y/n."

"Yeah, but the difference with our brother is he sees how dad treats mom. He doesn't want to be like him. Ever," Touya answered, humming in thought for a moment. "I think the likelihood of them ending up like our parents is pretty low, but I won't say none."

"Hm," Natsuo hummed with a nod of his head, "Fair point."

"We should probably head to bed. You have actual school tomorrow and I have to train some new guards or something," Touya yawned, standing up and stretching his hands above his head with a yawn.

"Can we check the library first? The little runt Shoto's marrying won't go to bed if you don't force her to," Natsuo pulled himself up with dad groan.

Touya simply nodded, leading the way out of the room and into the corridor. He walked down the barren halls, taking sharp turns around each corner he had to round. Natsuo followed his actions, though he was being a bit more animated with his motions, finding it hard not to laugh.

Touya pushed open the doors to the library once arriving at the room, hearing absolutely no noise coming from inside the place. He strode inside, eyes scanning around the place until he eventually he found you surrounded by books.

"Go to bed," he said to you, furrowing his brows when he got no response from you. He got closer to you, lightly poking your arm, "Princess, you gotta go to be—"

Touya started to say, but stopped himself when he saw you laying your head on the book, soft snores coming from your mouth. The book was open on the page you last read, though you hadn't gotten the chance to actually finish it since you ended up passing out from pure exhaustion.

"She's asleep?" Natsuo tilted his head to the side, having come up on the other side of you.

"Appears so," Touya nodded. He was planning on leaving you, but then thought about the amount of discomfort you would feel in the morning. He thought for a moment before letting out a sigh.

He placed one hand behind your back, the other going under your knees so he scooped you up bridal style. Natsuo blew out the lantern that sat closest to you, letting the librarian blow out any other lanterns that lit up the place. They exited the library, the two brothers parting and going their separate ways.

Touya made his way to your room, which was in the opposite direction of his own if you started from the library. He silently pushed open the door, being mindful of his younger sibling who seemed to be knocked out on one side of the bed.

He gently set you down on the side of bed Shoto wasn't occupying, tucking you into the covers with steady hands. He looked down at you, pushing any hair that was in your face to the side and planted a kiss on your forehead. Just as he used to do Fuyumi and Shoto when they were younger.

He gave a small smile before making his way to the door. He took one final glance back at Shoto and yours sleeping figures.

"Good night, both of you."