𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 & 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫

Three years [4]

I woke up, hearing someone whispering behind me. Without opening my eyes, I observed my surroundings.

I smelt alcohol wipes and medicine. I was cushioned in something soft, probably a bed. I wasn't sure though. After all, I had forgotten how it felt to lay on a bed.

"They keep saying he's hideous," I heard a voice say. It was the prince. "Clearly, they're jealous. Either that or they're blind to beauty," he chuckled.

I kept my eyes closed, but I could hear his footsteps get closer to me. He sat down beside me.

"I know you're awake,~" I heard. "You don't need to hide. It's just me," the voice whispered. 

I sighed before opening my eyes. My vision was still blurry: I wasn't wearing my glasses. Squinting, I saw a tall man with black hair and pale skin.

I put my hand over my injury, prepared to feel pain. However, I felt nothing.

"Heyy~ What's your name?" the man asked quickly, kneeling down to me so that he was at eye level. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I couldn't even feel my throat. It started hurting after a couple seconds. 

"Shy, eh? It's fine~ You've gone through a lot, right? I'll just stick to calling you cutie," he chuckled with a noticeable smirk. "I'm Tetsurou Kuroo. Nice to meet you, cutie."

My guess was correct. He was the prince. That is, I thought he was anyway. 

I looked the man in the eyes: he smiled at me, closing my mouth slowly. Another nurse came in with a tray full of food. They bowed as they saw his highness beside me, and handed him the food.

"Thanks, Miyu-chan,~" the messy haired male said happily.

The nurse simply nodded and went back to work. 

The dark haired male placed the tray on my lap gently, making me slightly confused. 

"..What'd you look so confused for?" The man said, raising an eyebrow. "Eat up!" 

Why was he even giving me food now? Does it have poison in it or something? I thought to myself.

I picked up the spoon, feeling my hand shake a little bit. I hadn't used a spoon in a long time. I held the spoon properly after 2 attempts and successfully scooped it up. I inspected it. It looked normal. At least it I thought it was normal compared to my other food. It was slightly awkward when the man watched me eat; however, it didn't bother me too much.

The food was the best food I had ever had in ages. I could feel the flavours explode in my mouth as I chewed. My eyes slightly widened at the unfamiliar yet incredible taste. As I tried to swallow, my throat hurt, making me cough a little, making me instinctively cover my mouth. 

The dark haired male gently pat my back. 

"Cutie? You okay? Was the food bad?" He asked quickly, one after the other. 

I shook my head in response before taking the glass of water and sipping on it, decreasing the pain a little. 

"S-Sorry," I finally spoke.

"No need to apologise, cutie. Is your throat sore?" He asked, receiving a nod from me.

I couldn't even bother being mad at being called 'cutie.' I didn't even care at that point. 

The dark haired male stood up again, taking a medicine bottle from the desk and coming back over to me. He took one of the spoons from the table beside me and filled it with the medicine. 

"Open wide,~" he smirked as he brought the spoon in front of my mouth.

I pouted a little, pissed at being treated as a kid. Heck, I didn't even know how old I was at that point. 

"You really are a cutie~" the man chuckled, looking at my expression.

I simply rolled my eyes and opened my mouth, not bothering to complain. I drank the medicine. It hurt my throat still, but it wasn't too bad. 

"Good boy~" the man giggled as he closed the medicine jar and put it aside.

"Don't need to comment," I said in a pissed kind of tone softly. 

The man chuckled and his grin expanded. He lifted the tray off my lap and placed it on the desk before carrying me like a princess once more. 

"O-Oi! Put me down!" I complained, wrapping my arms around his neck again for support. 

"Nope!~" the man called before taking me up a heck-load of stairs. He didn't even seem tired when we got there, which was impressive. Once we were there, he took me past the neat red carpet and into one of the rooms.

It was a huge room with a fancy bed, with white coloured curtains coming down from the top and reddish-brown highlights. There was an elegant carpet in the room, making the room brighter, adding onto the exquisite golden chandelier illuminating the room. There was a wooden desk on the opposite side of the room, holding candles and a stylish chair along with it, all following the colour scheme of the castle. On the back wall, in the centre was a debonair balcony, showing a view that people would pay millions to see. There was a fancy piano in the corner. Well, fancy for the time. 

My eyes widened at the sophisticated and high-class bedroom. 

Confusion flooded my thoughts, barely being able to comprehend what was happening. 

"Welcome to your new home, Cutie~" the man said with a smirk. 

I opened my mouth, speechless as he took me over to the bed and gently placed me down.  Behind him, another person with dark hair, slowly fading to yellow and a bored expression wearing the traditional servant's uniform with dark hair came in. He bowed as he walked in and handed his highness a tray with food. It had steam rising from it, so I could tell it had been warmed up again. 

He thanked the servant then took the tray and placed it on the table beside me.

"I'll leave you to get used to your new room," the prince winked before leaving. 

I looked around at the view. Even with the blurry eyesight, I could tell how fancy it was. The servant bowed before beginning to leave.

"W-Wait," I called to the servant.

The servant turned around to look at me, his long hair waving a little. "Yes, sir?"

"..What's the date?" I asked with a slight nervous tone. 

"A-Ah. It's the 9th of August, 1422, sir," the servant replied.

My eyes widened. Three years. Three years I had been in that prison. Three years of suffering like that. 

I watched as the servant bowed and quickly left the room, closing the door behind them. I made an emotionless expression, feeling liquid drip down from my cheek. Something weighed me down in my chest.  

I felt myself cry the pain away.