The Doll and The Prince - v3 Chapter 62, v3 Chapter 63, v3 Chapter 64

Naruhito (67)
Somehow, everyone went quiet, and it made me feel awkward. Even though I was trying to speak in a small voice, only my voice could be heard.

"Do you need to talk to Hiiro? Finish it quickly."
"Oh, oh yeah."

Rikimaru nodded with a strange expression.

"Hiiro, if you have something to talk about, make it quick."

I tugged on Hiiro's clothes, shaking them a little. For some reason, Hiiro took a deep breath.

"... No touching from now on."
"Uh, uh, what?"
"One hundred matches, three days. That's it."

Suddenly, everyone around started talking normally again.

"I prefer the smaller ones to eat."
"Ah, yes. For Naru-boy's, I knead it with tofu instead of water. It gives it just the right chewiness. Once he can chew a bit better, I’ll reduce the amount of tofu."

I could hear Otoha and Hirosue chatting cheerfully.

"U-Understood."

Rikimaru answered in a trembling voice and bowed his head.

"Your Highness."

Hitachimaru bowed deeply.

"Hitachimaru, come with me for a bit. Naruhito, eat plenty."

Hiiro said that to me, then left the room with Hitachimaru. I guess Hitachimaru didn't have to eat the dango? Well, nothing I can do about it.

"Rikimaru, let's eat."

I pulled Rikimaru's hand and sat down by the table. I sipped my mixed juice through a straw. Maybe I’ll try one of the small bowls.
Rikimaru roughly rubbed his eyes. Was he crying?

"Did you hurt yourself? Does it hurt? What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You know, I think you'll like this. It's fruit shiratama. It’s sweet and smooth."

Rikimaru handed me the dish with clear liquid, fruit, and dango floating in it. I scooped up a bit of the liquid with a spoon and licked it.

"Tasty."
"Right? That’s mandarin."
"Mandarin."

I put a bit of dango, mandarin, and syrup on the spoon and put it in my mouth.
Wow.
The dango is so smooth.

"If you smile like that while eating, your drool’s going to drip."
"Do you want some, Rikimaru?"
"I’ll eat some. I’m gonna taste everything."

Rikimaru finally smiled.
Phew, I'm glad.
I also tasted everything, but the sweet red bean soup was a little too sweet for me. The kinako powder made me cough, and I couldn't eat it properly. The mitarashi dango was delicious. But my favorite was definitely the fruit shiratama.
Just like Rikimaru said!

----------

Naruhito (68)
I ate so many dangos that I didn’t need dinner. But Ikumatsu and Hirosue both praised me for eating a lot. Since I ate too much, I couldn’t move and just rolled around lazily.
It was fun.
It was delicious.
I feel so happy.
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open roughly. Hiiro had returned.

"Welcome back."
"I'm home."

He picked me up and sat down on the sofa, hugging me tightly and not letting go. He smelled a little different than usual.

"Bath?"
"I will if you go in with me."
"Let's go."

He let out a relieved "I see," and nodded.

"I haven't sweated this much in a while."
"What were you doing?"
"Training with Hitachimaru."

Hmm. It seemed like the bath time had already been reserved, so he quickly got up and started preparing a change of clothes.

"We're going to take a bath, right?"

He asked again for confirmation. Yeah, we are. After seeing me nod, he headed to the bath.
Even when we got to the bath, he kept staring at me as I undressed.
What is it?
When I tilted my head, he said, "It's nothing," and went into the bath.
It was probably something, though.
He must have sweated a lot because he started washing himself right away. I put the towel on the floor and rubbed soap on it. It might be the first time I’ve used soap myself. Before I was taken in, I never used things like that, and since then, Hiiro has always washed me. It was fun to make the soap foam up. I played for a while before remembering what I was supposed to do.
I scrubbed Hiiro's back with the soapy towel. His back is so big.

"Put more strength into it."
"Okay."

I scrubbed harder.

"Does it hurt?"
"It feels good."
"Did something happen with me in the bath?"
"... No?"
"Did I forget because my head’s messed up?"
"Your head's not messed up. Don’t say it like that."

Hiiro turned to me, grabbed the hand I was scrubbing with, and pulled me forward into a hug.

"I'm covered in bubbles."
"People don’t break. Got it?"
"Okay."
"Give me the towel. I'll wash you."

I handed the bubbly towel to Hiiro.

"I want to know what happened yesterday."
"......"
"If I don't, I’ll stay like this."
"... Do you remember Rikimaru inviting you to take a bath?"

I didn't. I shook my head. Hiiro gently scrubbed my body and said, "I see."

"When Rikimaru invited you to the bath, you apparently had a panic attack."

Sometimes I fall out of bed, right? I don’t remember that well, either. I feel exhausted when I wake up, and my body aches. That’s why I couldn’t work today.
So that’s why you kept asking if I’d take a bath?

"Do you like baths now?"
"Yeah."
"Did you dislike them before?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Well... because when I washed my body, I had to... do it. It hurt, felt gross, and made it hard to move the next day."
"I see..."

Oh no, did he think I didn’t want to do it with him?

"I only like doing it with Hiiro."
"What?"
"Doing it with Hiiro feels good."

Hiiro looked up at the ceiling with an exasperated "Ah."

"I'm still hyped up from the full-on combat training. Don’t provoke me."
"I want to feel good."

Before I could say more, he kissed me deeply, almost like he was devouring me. After that, things felt so good that I don’t remember much.
I just remember how happy I felt and how much I slept afterward.
But the next day, Ikumatsu hooked me up to an IV I hated, and I had to take the day off from work.

----------

Hiiro (55)
It takes about ten minutes to walk from the detached palace to the royal palace, at least at my pace along with Hitachimaru.
Naruhito, however, walks slowly and gets easily distracted, constantly looking around, which makes it hard to make progress. While it seems like he's having fun, I wish he'd hurry up already.

"Naruhito, you can’t be late for work. Can I carry you?"

He reluctantly nodded, and as soon as I picked him up, he leaned his full weight on me.

"If you're tired, just say so."
"Okay~”

Although he responded, he still seems to struggle with expressing when he's not feeling well.
As I carried him, he started to nod off. He had worked hard all morning, so it made sense for him to be sleepy after lunch. He had insisted on coming along, and since Murashige was with us, I thought it would be a good walk for him, figuring I could send him back soon after reaching the palace. I didn’t expect him to fall asleep on the way. The thought of having Murashige carry him back the whole way was unpleasant.

"He fell asleep.”

Hitachimaru said as he peeked at Naruhito’s face. By then, we were already in front of the palace.

"Well, nothing we can do. I'll have Mother look after him."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Couldn’t you just have Murashige take him back?"
"... It’s been a while, so I’ll pay her a visit."

Holding the sleeping Naruhito, we entered the palace. With me wearing the red royal military uniform and Hitachimaru in his, no one stopped us. Naruhito was also wearing a red hat, symbolizing his status, so no one cast disrespectful looks our way either. At some point, Murashige had disappeared without us noticing.
It had been a while since I had set foot in the royal family’s residential quarters. I always liked the quiet, with few people around. Occasionally, we passed servants who bowed politely. I figured it might be my Mother’s naptime, but I knocked on the door anyway.

"Mother. It's Hiiro."
"Come in."

I left Hitachimaru by the door and entered.
My Mother rose from her rocking chair to greet me without any sign of surprise. She must have already been informed of my arrival by the servants. She glanced at Naruhito’s sleeping face and said, “Oh my,” with a soft expression.

"It’s been a while, Mother."
"It really has."
"I’d like you to look after this one."
"You’re always so sudden. What’s his name?"
"He’s called Naruhito. He’s, uh... very important to me."
"I see. Little Naru, is it?"

Mother had the servants prepare a futon right next to her rocking chair. She planned to let him sleep there.
As soon as I placed Naruhito on the futon, he shifted uncomfortably, but my Mother gently patted his back, soothing him. Seeing him breathe deeply in his sleep, I felt a sense of relief. Mother, smiling, lightly draped a cover over him.

"Well, off you go."

I was practically shooed out of the room. Taking Hitachimaru with me, we headed to the meeting room.

Next: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113340008