Eren softly giggled as Mizuki pulled him deeper and deeper in the hallway. He couldn't believe that he was actually out of his room but somehow Mizuki managed to send the guards off for a whole hour and then he grabbed Eren's hand and announced that he was going to take him to see the garden.
Mizuki was acting as if they were running away and deep inside Eren wished they were.
"Shh, we're going to get caught." Mizuki whispered but another laugh left Eren when Mizuki turned a corner and continued his hurried step.
He didn't know why he was laughing so much but he figured it was because of all the fancy chocolate croissants he had been eating all day.
He had never consumed as much sugar then he did today.
"Even if someone sees us they're not going to say anything." Eren said amusedly.
"Way to ruin the thrill of secrecy Eren." Mizuki pouted and Eren rolled his eyes at him but the large smile was still present on his face.
Mizuki had also grabbed Eren's violin with him, he was yearning to hear another melody again after yesterday.
When they finally made it to the back of the castle where the doors that led to the castle were, Mizuki slowed down. He pushed open the door and walked out with Eren following curiously.
Eren's eyes widened at the sight that laid before him. The garden was magnificent and he couldn't believe just how beautiful all the flowers were. It was so big, the biggest one he's ever seen and the whole place was filled with all sorts of colours that Eren was starting to feel overwhelmed. There was even a fucking water fountain. It felt otherworldly, enchanting, magical.
"Woah..." Eren whispered, still in a daze not noticing the way Mizuki was staring at him.
Mizuki was staring at Eren the same way Eren was staring at the garden. His gaze full of awe, adoration and wonder. To him Eren was even more enchanting then any garden could be. Then anything could ever be. He felt his heart squeeze with an emotion he didn't dare even think.
"Do you like it?" Mizuki asked as he raised his free hand to cup Eren's cheek and turn his face towards him.
"I-I love it." Eren breathed out. "I've never seen a garden as big, as pretty as this one. Thank you so much for showing it to me before.." he stopped talking when he realized he was going to say before I leave.
"Come on, we can sit there." Mizuki said after clearing his throat. He knew exactly what Eren was going to say but tried his best not to let the reminder dampen his mood.
After all, they surely still had a bit of time before Eren left.
Eren followed Mizuki to a large cherry blossom tree and Mizuki pushed Eren to sit down against it, handing him the violin case, before raising his hand and pulling a flower out of it.
He sat across from Eren and handed it to him with a blinding smile before repeating the same words he had said the previous day. "Play for me?"
Eren's throat closed up and he felt his chest constrain with pain as the memories he had managed to block out earlier came slamming into him with no way of stopping them this time around.
"Eren?" Mizuki asked worriedly when Eren stared at him with his wide honey eyes, filled with pain he had only seen once before on him.
When he woke up from that nightmare.
"I-I can't." Eren whispered as he pushed himself away and pulled his knees to himself, burying his face in them and taking deep, shallow breaths.
"Hey, hey it's okay, you're okay." Mizuki said as the flowers fell from his hands and he crawled over to Eren and softly rubbed his head through his hair.
When Mizuki saw that Eren didn't pull away from his touch he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him to his chest while he continued to whisper soft words of comfort in his ear.
"I'm sorry." Eren mumbled into his chest as he felt his breathing return to normal and his heartbeat somehow slowed down compared to the fast pounding it was doing a few seconds ago.
"Don't apologize, sweetheart." Mizuki told him as he pulled away and cupped his face. "Will you tell me what caused your panic?"
"L-last time I played the violin it was in a setting exactly like this. I played it for E-Elias after helping him with bullies. If I hadn't played for him or accepted his flower then maybe-maybe he would have never been hurt and I guess seeing you do something so similar just made me freak out." Eren confessed and Mizuki's eyes widened.
"I don't want you to be hurt." Eren whispered as tears filled his eyes. "I dont think I would be able to handle it if you got hurt because of me."
"Nothing is going to happen to me,Eren." Mizuki told him firmly. "And if something even does it will not be your fault. Never your fault."
Mizuki leaned closer to Eren's face and pressed a gentle kiss under his eye, where a traitorous tear had spilled he let his lips linger on the spot before pulling away.
"This isn't like last time. I don't want you to remember that memory with pain. I-I can't speak for Elias or anything but I'm sure that day with you was a wonderful day for him. You told me you helped him from bullies and spoke up for him. You probably made him feel as though he was worth helping. You accepting his request and playing the violin for him and even accepting the flower must have made his whole day, or even his whole week so much better." Mizuki was so scared of saying the wrong thing or setting Eren off again but when he received a shaky smile he felt himself relax.
"Do you really think so?" Eren asked.
"I do." Mizuki said.
"You didn't do anything to cause what happened, Eren. It wasn't because you played the violin for him or accepted his flower. You were both so young and innocent just enjoying each other's company. There was no way you could have known." Mizuki added and Eren finally let the tension leave his body as he realized that what Mizuki was saying was making sense.
"Thank you." Eren said as he hugged Mizuki and hid his face.
"You don't ever have to thank me for something like this." Mizuki told him, pressing a kiss against his head before fully pulling away.
He grabbed the violin case and handed it to Eren and with a smile asked, "Will you make more memories to remember with a smile with me?"
"Okay." Eren whispered and opened the case, getting ready to play as Mizuki sat next to him, both their backs leaning against the tree.
As Eren started playing, they felt a gush of wind and then some cherry blossom petals started falling from the tree and on them making them both smile widely at how magical this moment truly felt.
Mizuki couldn't help but rest one of his hands on Eren's thigh, needing to touch some part of him and with his hands busy the next best thing was his thigh.
Eren's hand faltered for a moment but then he regained his composure and continued to play as the petals continued to fall on them and both of their heart raced with only one emotion consuming them but both too scared to acknowledge it.
-
When they were walking back to Eren's room they bumped into an unexpected guest.
"Where have you been?!" Rin exclaimed at her brother and both men stared at her with wide, panicked eyes.
"Around." Mizuki said with a panicked chuckle as he discreetly tried to motion to Eren to run to his room.
Eren was too frozen in his spot to notice and then Rin turned to stare at him with a quirked brow especially since his hands were very much untied and one of them was enclosed in her older brother's grip.
Mizuki seemed to realize what she was looking at and hurriedly let go of Eren's hand with another nervous laugh.
"Eren, why don't you go back to the room, yeah?" He said and Eren gave him a quick nod before basically running back inside the room.
"What were you doing with the prisoner?" Rin asked and Mizuki tried not to glare at her.
"He's not a prisoner." He said, and maybe his tone was a bit harsh because Rin frowned at him.
"Mizuki he's literally from Yarisha. He's a royal member!" She said and Mizuki could hear the hate laced in her tone.
"Rin." He said, much more softly. "I know you must hate them for what they did but Eren isn't anything like the ones who hurt us. I promise you."
"How can you know?" She asked, her voice also losing the anger.
"Because I know him." Mizuki said and then an unintended blush coated his cheeks making Rin's eyes widened.
"Oh." She mumbled to herself before exclaiming much more loudly. "Oh my god, Mizuki!"
"Shhh!" He hushed her before she could start screaming about his affection towards a certain prince to the whole castle.
"You like him?!"
"Maybe." He said coyly.
"I have got to officially meet him." Rin declared and Mizuki stared at her with panic.
"No, no! You'll scare him." He wildly shook his head and she pouted, staring at him with her wide eyes that always made him cave with her requests.
"I promise I'll be nice. Extra nice." She said and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Let me talk to him first." He said.
"Okay!" Rin grinned as she bounced on her toes in excitement.
Mizuki walked towards Eren's room and entered it, closing it behind him.
"What happened?" Eren asked as he stopped pacing in trepidation.
"Uh...she wants to meet you." Mizuki blurted out and Eren's eyes widened.
"What? Why?!" He exclaimed.
"She-she found out I like you? She promises to be nice." Mizuki said with a nervous smile and Eren stared at him with disbelief.
"She knows?" He asked.
"About my feelings towards you, yes." Mizuki said. "She doesn't have to know if you return them if you don't want her to know."
"Alright but please don't tell her I-I like you too." Eren asked and Mizuki smiled at him and gave him a nod.
"Thank you for agreeing." He murmured and then he kissed him softly before leaving the room to fetch his sister.
"What did he say?" She asked as soon as she saw him.
"He said okay. Don't act weird because he doesn't know I like him." Mizuki lied and Rin gave him a comforting pat.
"It must be hard to like someone you can't ever be with." She said sadly and Mizuki tried not to let her words get to him because it's even harder to like someone who likes you back and yet you could never fully be together with the rift of war between you.
"Yes, well I've accepted the fact that I'll have to let him go soon." He lied again.
He was far from accepting it.
They entered the room to see Eren fidgeting from his spot on the bed and Mizuki resisted the urge to grab his hand to comfort him knowing if he did something like that Rin would suspect Eren liking him back and he was never going to do that without making sure Eren was completely comfortable with it.
"Rin, this is Eren. Eren, this is Rin, my little sister." Mizuki introduced.
"H-hi." Eren said nervously as he raised his hand to shake hers.
"Hello!" She grinned at him and shook his hand.
"How did you land here?" She asked him as she plopped on the bed and Eren glanced at Mizuki with panic and the latter just gave him a grin and shrug.
"Well... Mizuki kidnapped me." Eren said and Rin laughed.
"I'm surprised he managed to do that. He sucks at being mean to people." Rin said and then a smile came on Eren's face.
"He sucked at kidnapping me! He even hand fed me the first night because my hands were tied." Eren said and Rin started laughing loudly while the smile dropped from Mizuki's face.
He hadn't expected them to bond over his lack of kidnapping skills.
"Hey now-" he tried to stop them but Rin interrupted him by addressing Eren again. "Tell me more!"
And Eren did.
He told her about all the things they did while they were still in the middle ground, leaving the affectionate moments they had shared out. Eventually they told Rin about what was going on now by informing her about the letters they had found and the deal they were planning to make with Yarisha.
When Rin had found out Eren was the crown prince she had been very shocked but quickly moved on by asking more questions.
They didn't know how long they spent all three of them sitting on the bed and talking and laughing together but Mizuki wished they could stay like this forever.
Unfortunately a knock came on the door and Emilio entered, shattering their happiness and uttering the words that Mizuki hoped he would not hear until a couple of more days.
"They're here, Your Royal Highness." He said grimly, his gaze stopping on Rin. "The royals from Yarisha have arrived and all three of you are asked to come to the throne room."
Hello!
Thoughts?
Well shit is about to go down ð
-till next time <3