Sakuno took a deep breath, holding the pillows tight. She had returned for her old chambers. The atmosphere between Ryoma and her was terrible.

She had asked for a separate room at the inn and spent the last night of their honeymoon trip crying, feeling alone, rejected and deceived.

He tried to talk to her a lot of times, but she refused, continuing to give him the silent treatment.

When they arrived at the castle, she walked directly to that room, locking herself in there since then.

The princess turned around and put an arm in front of her face. What else was he hiding from her? What other decisions was he making for their marriage on his own? She remembered the gentle tone of his words, saying she would be a good mother and her heart hurt again.

"Liar." She whispered to herself, sadly.

#######

Syuusuke had a deep worried look on his face. He was standing in front of Sakuno's room, guarding her door. She asked him, with tears on his eyes, to not let Ryoma enter and the kitsune obeyed his queen, even if he didn't know what had happened.

"She is not eating properly for a while now, it is not good for her body." He talked to himself.

He was surprised when seeing the young king walking towards him again. Ryoma would come to her room at least once a day. His humor was horrible since they had returned. It has been a long time since the kitsune saw his master with such a displeased expression.

"Syuusuke." He greeted him, before standing in front of her door.

"My lord." He made a quick reverence.

"Sakuno, it is me." He said in a commanding voice again. "This is ridiculous, you are inside this room for three days now. Come out so I can talk to you."

Silence again and the fox youkai was sure he heard his king growl in frustration.

"I have tried to be patient and wait, but I will give you five seconds to open these doors to me on your own free will, wife, otherwise I will destroy them!"

Nothing.

Ryoma was about to kick the doors when Syuusuke was in front of him, with a serious look on his face.

"Do not, my lord. Please."

"Get out of my way, Syuusuke." He showed his fangs.

"If Hime-sama does not want to talk to you, forcing her to do it will only make things worse." A blue aura was around the youkai's body and his body changed. Syuusuke was taller and his tail became nine. His smiling face transformed into a deep menacing expression and his mouth was full of a sharp set of big teeth.

"Are you threatening your king, kitsune?"

"Before your wedding day you gave me the task to take care of Hime-sama. I had failed once when she was attacked by your father, but I will never do it again. If you try to enter, I will stop you, my lord."

Ryoma looked at him for a while, before taking a deep breath.

"Your devotion is annoying, Syuusuke." He said, before leaving.

#########

"Hime-sama?" Asami opened the door of her room a little and smiled at her. Sakuno was sitting down at the outside porch. "Can I talk to you?"

"Asami-san, you are up." She said, surprised to see the tengu. "Yes, please."

The youkai sat by her side.

"Are you well? What about your morning sickness?"

"I am finally well, my lady, thank you for your concern."

"I am glad." The human showed her a small smile, but Asami noticed her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Kunimitsu told me you and the king were not in good terms. Everyone is worried about you. Could you tell me what happened?"

"He lied to me." She lowered her head. "About something very important."

"What was it?"

"He was talking some medicine so I would not be with child." The tengu noticed when the princess held her hands together tightly.

"Oh, Hime-sama." Asami touched her hair, trying to comfort her. "Did he explain his reasons?"

"He did not. He decided by himself, without even asking my opinion on the matter." She looked at the tengu with the scarlet eyes glistering with tears. "He completely disregarded my feelings."

"The way he did things were completely wrong, my lady, but our lord treasures you deeply. I am sure he has his motives."

"Are you taking his side?!"

"I am not, my lady." She smiled, gently. "But, you have to take in consideration that he is probably worried about something. You are human, after all."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there was never such union before. Ryoma-sama comes from a long lineage of the most powerful youkai in our country. There are no precedents of a child from a union between a human and an oni." She touched the small bump on her belly. "Kunimitsu and I are both youkai and we worried too, about this child. I am relieved this pregnancy is running its course smoothly. Up to recently, he was very concerned about me, since I was so sick."

"Asami-san…"

"Although we are the ones who carry the burdens of a pregnancy, it is not easy for a husband as well, my lady. Kunimitsu told me how useless he feels. It is our child, but there is not much he can do. At the end, I am the one who will be bleeding and in pain, bringing our child into the world." She touched Sakuno's face. "Do you love Ryoma-sama, my lady?"

"I do." She answered sincerely. "Very much."

"So, give him a change to explain himself. Nothing will be solved without talking. I am sure Ryoma-sama is also suffering for being away from you. My husband told me his mood is awful and he is not even able to concentrate on work properly. He is probably missing you a lot."

"He should suffer! That stupid oni!" she crossed her arms and scoffed, making the tengu giggle.