AN: Hi! I'm Alive and have returned to fanfcition! :D

Unfortunately I had some medical problems earlier this year and had to have an operation and everything, but I'm much better now!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my absence! I shall be doing my best to get back into updating my stories! :)

hateme101, KxZ fan girl, BleedingJoyAndSorrow, animefunlover23-bree, kuroh, FreelancingAbstractGirlXxAkott, TheWomanWithAMessedUpMind, Mi-chan, jayyfallen, guest, TrBeauty, ShadowsOfPenAndPaper, VampireKnight123, Royano, Secret Admirer: Thank you so much for your reviews. I love reading your thoughts and recieving so much support from you wonderful people! :D

Secret Admirer: I got the chapter up before 1/1/2016! Yay! Thank you so much for your review and happy new year! :D

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Please read, review, fave and follow! But, most importantly, please enjoy! :D

Chapter 25: The Events of the Past – Part 1

"I was a romantic. I had always wanted to find someone I was destined for. Although I wasn't exactly lucky when it came to women…"

Rido's first party as an adult, to celebrate his coming of age, is where the problems began to become apparent. He had been looking forward to the night as he would finally be able to try some wine and to express some of the opinions he had begun to form for this land's future to the ministers, who would now have to take his opinions seriously.

But, it turned out to be more of a viewing of potential brides than a party, much to his dismay…

A gaggle of girls, at least seven of them, made a beeline straight for him as they entered the room. They trampled over one another, practically begging for his first dance. Bluntly, he walked straight past them, as he would never let such rude creatures darken his presence longer than necessary. He certainly wasn't about to dance with any of them.

The next contenders were two women, a few years older than himself. They were tall, relatively thin, wealthily dressed, caked in make-up and rather, well, boob-y. Naturally, having just entered adulthood, their well-endowed figures did attract the notice of his many hormones…and eyes. However, the fact that they were older than him, had a little too much make-up on and were getting far too touchy-feely with him far too quickly for his taste made him feel very uncomfortable. Then one suggested in quite a heavily lust-laced tone that she could give him the best night of his life…

He hastily excused himself from their presence (he ran as fast as he could without actually running or making a public display for the sake of protecting his virginity).

He spied the refreshments table and felt the need to hydrate and hopefully then blend in along the edge of the room where he could compose himself after having to deal with those two temptresses. There was water, juice or a variety of alcohol. And, although he had wanted to sample a few alcoholic beverages as he was now entitled to do, as an adult, that last encounter had put him quite on edge. He decided instead to partake in a glass of water as he moved to the side of the room, hoping to avoid attention.

However, he was once again shocked. As he turned to face the crowd from his position against the wall he noticed that everyone was looking at him. It was just as his mother had said, this party was all about him. In other words… everyone wanted to get his attention and he had just foolishly backed himself up against a wall with little to no room to escape.

A young lady and her father were the next to grace his now rather hesitant presence. Her father introduced her and they at least gave Rido some breathing room. The father was one of the ministers so Rido was looking forward to talking with him. He relaxed a little, thinking that things may finally be going his way. But he was wrong. As soon as casual greetings had been exchanged the minister decided to leap straight past any other matters of conversation, and asked Rido to consider his daughter for marriage.

"U-um…" Rido really didn't know what to say.

The girl was blond and clearly not an adult yet, even though her father was trying to arrange her future. She was certainly not Rido's type and such arrangements would never sit well with him. He dodged the question and rapidly excused himself to the bathroom as that seemed as if it might be his only place of solitude this evening.

After relieving himself, he washed my hands in the basin and began drying them with a towel as someone approached Rido from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see who it was and locked eyes with a well-groomed gentleman who possessed platinum blond hair and deep brown eyes. The man was also at least a foot taller than Rido and was built with muscle that stretched his dress shirt. Rido felt like a lanky twig in comparison.

"How are you coping with your first party as an adult, Rido-sama? You certainly have a lot of female attention, don't you…" He broached the topic that had been causing young Rido quite a bit of grief all evening.

Given his rather impressive appearance Rido rather naively assumed that the man received his own ample dose of female attention. He thought that the man may be able to offer some advice on how to deal with them, and so he decided to respond, expressing his discomfort.

"To be honest none of the women I have seen so far are to my taste. They come on so strongly and then have the boldness to ask for marriage after having only just met them, even though I am sure I have shown them no indication of interest in return. I'm just not really interested in that right now…" But, his words were cut off by the man's finger pressing gently upon his lips, and immediately alarm bells started ringing in Rido's head.

"Well, isn't our meeting fortunate then? If you aren't interested in the attention of those women, perhaps I could give you a more entertaining time…" The man revealed his true intentions, moving to undo his top button.

Rido quickly backed away. Relationships between men were common and happily accepted by society. He even had a few friends in such relationships that made, quite frankly, adorable and well-matched couples. However, he had never been inclined that way…

"Please excuse me I have a headache!" Rido exited the bathrooms at speed and this time, now out of sight of those still in the ball room, literally ran to his room, locking the door behind him.

He sat on the bed and placed his face in his hands. He was next in line to be king… prime meat in other words. It certainly felt as if everyone: the men, the women and their families were after him and his future position.

"Will I ever be able to find a woman who doesn't see me as a future king?"

"What is this?" Rido's father asked him the next morning, placing a newspaper on the table in front of him.

He picked up the newspaper and read the first page…

PRINCE RIDO – POPULAR

Prince Rido Kuran of the royal family and the next in line to the throne held his coming of age party last night at the palace ballroom. But, he didn't stay for all of it! After being surrounded by some of the land's most notable, wealthy and beautiful women and men from high society, he vanished. So far, we don't know who went with him. But we're sure he had his first exciting night as an adult with one (or more) of last night's love interests.

"Surely you don't believe this do you?" He asked his father. "I was mobbed by so many squealing girls I got a headache and went to bed early. I did not have an 'exciting night' of any kind." He explained honestly.

"Even if I don't believe it, you should still have stayed for the duration of the party. If you performed your public duties properly such rumours would not be spread. You're already known for your rebellious attitude so you should at least try not to draw too much attention to yourself." He scolded Rido's actions.

"My attitude isn't that rebellious." Rido rolled his eyes.

"It is far more rebellious than what is necessary." His father insisted.

"Sorry for being generous?" Rido shrugged sarcastically.

He honestly didn't see what the big deal was. He just wanted things to be fair. But, that's the way it is. Any normal person would not be scolded for choosing to go to sleep early rather than getting intoxicated and raising the hopes potential brides, but Rido did. The argument ended with his father throwing his hands in the air with exasperation and storming out of the room.

A few years had passed and Rido still hadn't found the woman of his dreams. At least his little brother was having better luck than he was. These days Haruka was all but inseparable from Juri and he had recently become engaged to her.

Rido congratulated him, truly. However, there were one or two days when he admittedly wished that all the happy people would blow up. One of these days came shortly after Haruka and Juri had announced their engagement…

"It's absolutely unacceptable." Rido's father proclaimed in front of him. "You are next in line to the throne yet even Haruka has found a suitable marriage partner before you! Something must be done and soon for the sake of this land's future."

"I have been trying to find someone around my royal duties, but I just haven't found the one yet. Love can't be forced, can it?" He replied.

"You are far too relaxed about this, Rido. You've been avoiding as many parties as you can and are surrounded by women wherever you go…" Rido's father spoke his frustrations.

"I don't ask them to follow me. They're pests really." He objected adamantly.

"For someone who thinks they're pests, you seem to be smiling an awful lot in the photos which so often grace the front page of the newspapers." His father argued.

Yes, Rido's father often believed the press over his word. Being busy with work he didn't exactly spend a lot of time with Rido. He had never appreciated Rido's tasteful sarcasm. He also disliked the fact that he wore his hair long and wavy, with very little tending to, not to mention that he wore my shirts with a few buttons undone for the sake of being able to breathe properly.

Rido did want his father to like him more than he did, so he always did his best to explain his actions. However, he knew that he was never going to be his father's ideal son. The prim-and-proper look was not to his liking and Rido refused to change his personality for the sake of his father's pride.

"We both know that the press is just after a juicy story. I only smile because I reject them politely. Or, would you rather I growl at them and tell them that I find their heavy make-up distasteful, their perfume suffocating, their fake laughs painful, and their overall presence repulsive? Would that make better press for me?" Rido retorted.

"Of course not!" His father hastily rejected his proposition.

"Well, then I think the best course of action is just to ignore the press. I know that my virginity is intact and that I have done absolutely nothing to disgrace my character." Rido stated confidently, wanting to reassure his father and hopefully stop this arguing which was getting on his nerves.

"Nothing to disgrace your character!?" His father scoffed at this. "Then how come last Friday night a woman came running out of your room, crying and in a state of undress?" He challenged.

This was one of the more dramatic stories that the press thankfully hadn't gotten a hold of…

The lady in question was a pureblood, introduced to Rido by his father. She at least seemed somewhat well-mannered and gave Rido a bit more room than most. He didn't feel any attraction to her at all, but in his desperation to find someone he liked he convinced himself that he should at least give her a chance to make him like her more. He conceded grudgingly that perhaps love could form over time…maybe. So, he took her out to a nice place for an evening meal and then took her back to the palace to play a game of chess.

She had mentioned that she was rather fond of the game and Rido's parents had given him a new chess set for his birthday last year that he was quite keen to show off. It was a truly beautiful custom-made set, the only one of its kind in existence. The board was polished marble and the pieces were made of cut crystal. Yet, rather than the traditional chess piece colours there was a sapphire or a ruby embedded in each piece to show its loyalty.

Naturally, given Rido's fondness of it, he kept the set in his room rather than in one of the main areas. He didn't want it getting broken by anyone. But, this was a mistake. It seems that even though he had clearly stated that they were entering his room for the purpose of playing chess, she conjured up her own delusions and thought that Rido had different intentions…

The chess set was already set up in front of the window in plain sight. He gestured for her to sit at the chess board before turning his back to her and pouring them each a glass of wine that they could sip whilst playing. However, when he turned around she was not sitting at the chess board. Instead, she had the boldness to sit on his bed.

Then, the trademark fake-laugh that all those other women made slipped through her lips, identifying her as one of them. Her hands began undoing her own buttons as she looked towards Rido. It seemed that although she had seemed more decent on the outside, she was just as rotten on the inside. She was definitely not his type.

Yet, even though he thought that his face made it quite clear that he was not amused, she seemed to think that she had some chance of swaying his thoughts.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked in a quickly-souring tone.

"What do you think I'm doing?" She asked in her now playfully-fake tone that contrasted with her former image.

"Making a fool of yourself." She had to be stopped, so he decided to be blunt about it.

She then pouted and got up off the bed, now partially undressed and sauntered over to Rido. As she outstretched her hand he stepped back, not allowing her filthy form to touch him. He had already decided that this woman was not for him and he would not tolerate doing such a thing with her.

"But this is so much more fun than some boring chess game. Besides, I'm a pureblood. Surely I'm better than any of the other girls you've had." She whined.

It wasn't surprising that she had read the newspapers and thought that he was such an indecent person. But thinking that he could be swayed so easily, and boasting of her status so blatantly made Rido feel ill. This woman truly repulsed him more than any other woman he had had the displeasure to meet.

"Get out." He instructed her.

She hesitated.

"But-" She tried to argue, but he was not in the mood.

"Get out!" Rido raised his voice at her and pointed to the door.

And then, as his father had said, she ran out of his room in tears, causing a big scene. She called Rido a horrible man because he didn't sleep with her.

Shizuka was always far too greedy for her own good. She always wanted things that she wasn't entitled to…

Rido had explained the details of what happened to his father, but he could see why his father didn't believe him. After all, why should he believe his rebellious son over word of the sickly-fake-sweet Shizuka Hio. And of course, she had told his father a completely different story than what was true.

This story naturally placed Rido as the one who pursued her. But, she was strong enough to fight him off. She then told his father all about what a responsible, pure-blooded queen she would be. She even told him that she thought she could bring an end to Rido's 'womanizing', and that she would be happy to marry him to do so. Rido was sure that she worded it in a more subtle way whilst batting her eyelids at his father, but you get the idea.

Only he seemed to be able to see her for the rotten woman she was and he was not pleased when he heard of the engagement agreement that had been made behind his back…

Even Haruka naiively thought that Rido should give her a chance. But, he knew that there was no chance that he would ever marry Shizuka Hiou.

A few days after the engagement had been announced, his father had instructed Rido to take her on a date in the public eye, probably in the hopes of getting good press. But, he had other plans. He walked straight past the meeting place his father had organised for them and kept walking down the street. Since his father had so generously given him some time off of his royal duties to 'settle-in' to his engagement he thought that he would make better use of the time by relaxing far away from wherever that lying witch may be.

So, he travelled to a corner of town that he had never been to before. It was much farther from the palace than where he would usually wander due to the time restrictions often imposed on him because of his duties. Thus, Rido had new things to see, and it would take him longer to return.

No one in this area of town would expect to see someone like him walking around. Most of the people here were not of noble lineage and so even if they did recognise him, no one approached him. Occasionally he would feel a few of the people staring, but it was so much more relaxing than normal. He found that he quite liked it here.

He decided to take a break inside a small, rather homely, café. The inside was a simple wooden design, yet it was clearly very well looked after. There were only two other customers so I guess you could say that its quietness also attracted him. As he approached the counter the shop's owner, an older lady with glasses, looked at him like a stunned goldfish.

"Y-your highness…" It seemed that she was quite surprised by Rido's presence in such a humble place.

"Could I have a long black coffee and a slice of banana bread, please?" He politely placed his order.

"Of course your highness." She hastily replied. "Please take a seat anywhere you like and I'll bring it to you when it's ready."

The lady was clearly somewhat stressed and excited by Rido's presence. It was probably the first time that her café had been graced by someone of royal blood. How he wished that people wouldn't make such a fuss of it. Rido may have been a pureblood, but on the inside he was still a simple man.

It was at times like this that he envied Haruka. Haruka may have also been royal, but he certainly looked more 'normal' than Rido did. Unfortunately the fact that Rido possessed a blue eye and a red eye made it quite difficult to mistake him for anyone else when viewed up close.

He sat by himself at a two-person table near the window. It was a lovely day and it was so pleasant to look out at this area of town. Since it was near the edge of the town everything was more spaced out and there was so much more greenery than could be seen in the inner-city. The shops were more modest, with chalkboards and simple displays, rather than the garish, fairy-light covered displays one would see in the more central parts of town. Even the people were more modest. They wore what they wanted to, not what was in fashion at the time. Rido decided rather quickly that he would have to come back again soon.

Rido's thoughts were only interrupted when his coffee and food arrived. It was placed on his table before the owner bowed deeply to him.

"It is such a surprise an honour for you to grace us with your presence. I hope that you enjoy what we have prepared for you, and please let me know if you have any problems." She spoke sincerely, it made him smile.

Rido motioned for her to raise her head and she quietly returned behind the counter. Turning his eyes to the table in front of him he looked at his choices, deciding to take a bite of the banana bread while waiting for the coffee to cool.

*nom*

The amazing freshly-baked flavour filled his mouth instantly. Rido was never a strong sweet-tooth but banana bread was definitely one of his favourite foods. Even though it was a treat and had some sweetness to it, it wasn't an overpowering sweetness. Banana bread was perfection, and this banana bread was the most perfect perfection he had ever tasted. An unstoppable smile came across his face.

Even though he was still really annoyed about his father deciding on his engagement for him and dreading the future in general, today was turning out to be a good day. After finishing the last mouthful he went to the counter and made sure to pay the full amount, with a very generous tip. Rido told the owner how impressed he was, and thanked her sincerely, especially for the banana bread. With his compliments the old lady seemed overjoyed. It was then that she insisted that he meet someone.

"You see, my daughter is the one who made that bread. I'm sure that she would be overjoyed to know that someone such as yourself enjoyed what she baked. If you wish to thank anyone you should thank her, not me." She explained.

"Of course." He agreed without hesitation.

The old lady took Rido behind the counter and into the kitchens. The kitchens were fairly narrow, and they were warmed by the heat of the ovens. Family pictures adorned the walls, whilst baking tools and freshly-baked goods adorned the benches. However, he only noticed all this in passing, as his attention was drawn to a young woman, who appeared to be working in this café.

She wore an apron to protect her dress, although a small amount of flour was still upon her. Her long brown hair was tied in a messy bun for practicality whilst she worked. The woman looked up as they entered the room. It was then that Rido saw her eyes, a striking yet serene pale blue. They were breathtaking. And, although she wore no heels and no makeup at all, she herself was simply breathtaking to him. Rido felt as if he had been slapped in the face with love, longing and want, and a good selection of other emotions he had never experienced before.

This woman was Sakiko, the love of Rido's life.