Illegitimate || Tokyo Revengers

- 10 -

Haruchiyo ripped his arm away from you, glaring at you. "You're lucky you caught that."

"Am I?" You tilted your head mockingly. "Or are you?"

He rolled his eyes before walking away. "Do you want to go to your room or not? There's no way I'm allowing Imperial blood to stay in some slimly duke's mansion."

You decided to ignore his comment this time, catching up to him and walking beside him.

"We'll be hosting a debutante ball for you since you never had your social debut." Haruchiyo said, not bothering to even look at you. "It's more of a welcome home ball than anything else, really."

"I understand," you said as he stopped in front of one of the doors.

"This is your room," he opened the door and revealed an incredibly large and extravagant room with a king-sized bed. "I'm down the hall if you need anything."

You held back the urge to roll your eyes, wondering to yourself in what instance you would ever go to Haruchiyo for help when he was one of the main reason's you've become a cold and disclosed person.

You took a look around your room, it had intricate designs and delicate patterns, it was just your taste. But did Haruchiyo do this on purpose? No, there's no way he could've known, right? It was probably just a strange coincidence.

You sat on the sofa by the window, gazing outward into the view of the palace gardens. You wondered what Rindou was doing before your thoughts drifted to the party Haruchiyo would be hosting for your return.

Would there be foreign delegation? If so, would there be representatives from the Sano Kingdom? You wanted to know but you couldn't bring yourself to ask.

Showing favor for certain people puts them at the risk of danger due to your position as a princess fighting for the throne.

Speaking of fighting for the throne, you were still coming up with your game plan in order to gain strength and you needed massive support in order to do that.

The first step was going to take place at the party, you needed to make friends with powerful and influential people and you had just the person in mind.

There were two factions in the social world, one sided with the second imperial princess, Senju, and the other sided with one of the four pillars of the empire, the daughter of Duke Tachibana, Hinata.

Senju obviously liked Haruchiyo more than you, heck she didn't even like you, so your target was going to be Hinata. You knew a bit of her background, she had a little brother named Naoto and she was dating Baron Hanagaki.

From what you knew about her, she was a nice girl and easy to get along with. That made it all the more easy for you to complete your mission. You also knew she was close to the princess of the Sano Kingdom, Emma.

A gentle look took over your expression as you thought of her and the Sano brothers. You missed them dearly and you could only hope they wouldn't resent you for something you were accused of doing.

But you couldn't get your hopes up, Takeomi was the person you held most dear to your heart and he turned his back on you in the blink of an eye. How could you trust the people you once cherished when they've only ever hurt you?

The only people you placed your trust on were Duke Haitani, Ran, Rindou, Mai and a few others. You wanted to have a little more faith in Shinichiro, Mikey, Izana, and Emma, but you were just too afraid to get hurt again.

You shook your head and decided to go out, hoping to find a dress for the party, and you knew just the place you were going to go to.

* * *

The carriage doors opened and a guard assisted you, giving you his hand as you took it and stepped out of the carriage. Many people were staring at you, some confused, others in awe of your beauty.

You could tell few had figured out who you were, quickly rushing away while others kept on staring. However, you paid them no mind, focusing solely on your objective for the day, which was to purchase a dress or have one tailored by a man you were familiar with.

When you entered the shop you were immediately greeted by a tall blond male with a scar over his eye that you could recognize instantly. "Seishu," you smiled.

He came over with his arms open, greeting you in a familiar hug. "It's good to see you, princess."

After the incident when you were kids where he had bumped into you, the two of you had actually become good friends, exchanging letters even during the time of your exile from the capital.

He believed you whole heartedly when you said you didn't poison the princess and he's stuck by your side, loyally sending you letters every month for over a decade.

It was only two years ago when he finally assumed his position as the official lord of the house and taken the title of Baron from his father. It was around this time already that most of your generation had assumed their positions in the nobility.

"Are you having it custom made or will you buy a ready-made dress?" He asked, letting go of the hug.

You thought for a moment before responding, "I think I'll have a look around first, will you help me?"

He smiled, "Of course, princess."

"Then, I'll leave it to you to lead the way."

He nodded, offering you his arm as you took it gently. "Right this way, princess."

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