Shadgirl2: Sorry for the delay.

Midna Azusa: We've had some...minor health issues to deal with, but it's all good now!

Shadgirl2: According to Midna, we're starting an update rotation schedule, so expect an update to this again in, what...3 weeks?

Midna: Given that you have two other stories going on currently and I've got one of my own to get back into, yes. Hopefully, this'll hold everyone over for a while! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX. Kenta and Hikari belong to Midna Azusa.


Judai's POV

A couple of days after Sho moved in, my dad called me to his study for some reason. When I got there, he and my mom were there, and they had a question for me: How did I feel about having a brother?

The question didn't make any sense at first, so I just looked at them curiously. Were they trying to say my mother was pregnant? That didn't make any sense. Typically, once the kingdom of Neospace had an heir, the king and queen tried to avoid having other kids. That might seem like a bad call since they'd have no heir if anything happened to their first-born, but my family had found long ago that having more than one child could lead to power struggles between brothers and sisters. With how advanced medical science had gotten in the past few hundred years, it wasn't like there was a huge risk of an heir dying young, anyway.

So, since this seemed completely random, I asked, "What?"

My mother answered, "Well, you see, son, your father and I have been talking, and—" She cut herself off and looked at my dad.

"We would like to adopt Sho so that he can have a real family that cares about him," my father finished sincerely. "What do you say? Would you like that?"

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised. If it was weird for the king and queen to have more than one child, it was twice as weird for one of those kids to be adopted. Given that Sho technically had a living family, one might argue that it wasn't even legal for them to do this. Granted, from what I'd heard, Sho's mother had all but disowned him when she told him to "get the hell out of here," so he might count as an orphan now.

"A-adopt Sho?" I stammered, surprised but happy for my friend. "I—Yeah! Yeah, sure."

What could be better? Sho would have a loving family for a change, and I'd have a brother. It was a win for everyone.

My dad nodded and said, "Alright. Then today at noon, I want you both to come to the dining hall. We'll ask him how he feels about it then."

"Okay."

"Good. You are dismissed. I'll see you at noon."

I left my dad's study, thinking that it made sense they'd want to ask Sho about it. After all, it wasn't like he actually had no family—his biological one just didn't want him. Well, except for his brother, who apparently really cared about the little guy. Still, Sho would be much happier with a family that loved him, not a family that mostly hated him.

Of course, there were a few key differences between having a brother and having a friend, differences that I wasn't thinking of at the time.


I found Sho asleep in the garden. If anyone ever found me sleeping in the garden, it was by choice. Sho, however, still didn't know his way around, so he was probably just there because he couldn't find his room and wore himself out looking. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done that.

Of course, another thing about me sleeping in the garden is you would never find me sleeping in the flower beds. My mother planted and cared for those herself, and she was kind of protective of her floral babies. One of those flower beds just happened to be where Sho had curled up for his nap.

"Uh-oh. Mom's not gonna like that," I said, heading over to him. "Sho!"

He moaned when I called his name. "Hmm?" Slowly, his eyes opened, and he blinked a couple of times before looking up at me. He yawned, stretching. "Morning, Aniki... What time is it...?"

I grinned and said, "Time to stop crushing my mom's flowers."

"Huh..." Sho slowly blinked twice, apparently still half asleep. Then his eyes widened as he realized what I'd said. "Oh! R-right!" He jumped up and stood beside me, then bowed his head as he apologized, "So sorry, Aniki! I didn't mean—"

"It's fine," I cut him off, holding up a hand. I was only teasing. Sure, my mom wouldn't be too thrilled that he'd been sleeping in her flowers, but she'd get over it. "By the way, my parents want to talk to us about something."

"Really? What about?" Sho asked.

Before I had a chance to answer that, a middle-aged man—one of the castle servants—came over and bowed to me, saying, "I'm sorry to interrupt, my prince. But I have strict orders from the king to take Sho for a while. I'm supposed to show him the time of his life."

Sho's eyes practically popped out of his head. "Huh!? What for?"

I grinned—I already knew, after all. "Alright. See ya later, Sho!" I said, giving away absolutely noting.

Sho looked completely lost and insanely nervous, but he followed the servant anyway as the guy led him out of the garden, Sho fidgeting anxiously the whole way.

Winged Kuriboh appeared beside me and looked at me curiously. "Kuri?" he asked, guessing what my dad had planned for my best friend.

"Yep," I answered him.

"So does that mean what I think it does!? That's a nice gesture," the little winged hairball said—at least, if you could understand Kuriboh. All anyone else would have heard was a couple of kuri's.

"Yeah, that's what it is, alright," I said, putting a hand on my hip and smiling.

My dad planned to expose Sho to some affection, given that I'd said nobody in his hometown had actually cared about him at all—well, except for his brother, but who knew if he'd cared when they were growing up or just started recently? Either way, Sho was about to learn just how much he could be loved in preparation for offering him a new, loving family.

An annoying female voice from behind me said, "Yeah. Uh-huh. Well, as great as that may be, prince, it's time for your lessons, so let's get going before Professor Daitokuji gets angry."

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Yubel, my purple-haired babysitter, standing there with her arms crossed and a grin on her face. Given how much she enjoyed making me miserable, it wasn't surprising that she was here to round me up for lessons. Of course, it didn't make me any less annoyed that Sho was off to play all day while I still had to deal with my tutors and Yubel.

I groaned. "Not fair."

"Well, look on the bright side," Winged Kuriboh said. "At least you're getting a new brother."

"Yeah, I guess," I answered.

"Come on, you whiner," Yubel said, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me off. "Let's go. You can't rule an entire country if you're poorly prepared."

"Yeah, yeah..."


I made my way to the dining hall—or dining room, if you prefer—around noon for lunch. When I walked in, Sho was already eating more dessert than I'd ever been allowed to have all in one sitting. At the time, he was eating a big piece of strawberry upside-down cake. He looked over at me when I entered, his mouth full of cake.

"Oh. Hi, Aniki. What's up?" he asked, talking with his mouth full.

You mean besides a serious lack of manners that would have gotten me a scolding?

I stared for a second, stunned and a little jealous, I admit. Finally, I asked, "Since when does dessert come first?"

Sho swallowed his mouthful of cake and asked, "Huh? Something wrong, Aniki?"

I didn't have a chance to answer that—my parents walked in just then, both grinning. Given that they were the ones with a surprise to spring, I sat down and just grabbed some food to eat—not dessert, of course. I could never get away with starting there.

"Well, now. That sure looks good," my mother said. She smiled kindly at Sho and asked, "You like it, Sho, dear?"

Sho nodded vigorously and said, "Uh-huh! It's the best!"

My dad laughed. "I see. And how would you feel if you could eat, play, and sleep like that all the time? Would you like that?"

Whoa, hold up! That was not what a prince's life was like! If my father thought that lying to Sho and tricking him into thinking that it was all fun and games being royalty was a great idea, then maybe adopting Sho wouldn't be such a smart move.

Sho stopped eating. "I, uh..."

"Sho? We'd like you to join our family. We want you to feel loved always," my mom said.

Now that part sat better with me. Other than when I'd had amnesia and couldn't remember anything but being yelled at, I'd never felt unloved.

My friend's eyes widened, and he stammered, "W-w-wha!?"

"Now, you don't have to answer right away," my dad assured him. "You can take your time to think about it, if you want."

Sho didn't say anything, but his eyes were still the size of dinner plates. I actually think he froze like that.

I might have said something to encourage Sho to say he'd love to be my new brother, but I was too busy wondering if my dad was serious when he said Sho would be allowed to basically do whatever he wanted all the time. If so, that was really unfair.

"B-b-but—that would make me a p-prince, right!?" Sho panicked. "I-I don't kn-know if—"

"There's no reason for alarm," my mom assured him. "Here in Neospace, only those with royal blood can be king. You're a peasant boy with no real connections to the royal bloodline, so you wouldn't be burdened with the same responsibilities as a real prince would."

Yeah, lucky him.

"You will, however, have to learn a whole new set of rules and ethics if you agree," my father added, and I'm not proud to say that I felt a bit relieved to hear Sho would have to take some kind of lessons. "Nothing too difficult, though, if you work hard to learn them. So? What's it going to be? The choice is yours, my boy."

Sho didn't say anything. For a second, he just kept staring at my parents. Then he looked at me and asked, "W-what do you think, A-Aniki? Sh-should I?"

I shrugged and said simply, "It's up to you, Sho."

His eyes roamed the room, not really landing on any of us for a bit. "...I...I..."

We just waited, giving him a minute. Hey, it was fair that he was so freaked out. A king and queen of a distant land who he'd always heard were horrible people had just offered to adopt him as their own.

"...I... Okay..."

My parents smiled at Sho's answer, and my father held out a hand, saying, "Welcome to the family, Sho."

Sho took my dad's hand shyly, blushing. "Th-thanks..."

Releasing Sho's hand, my—our—dad said, "Well, then. Why don't you boys go play now? Get to know what it feels like to be related."

"Okay..." Sho said as he got to his feet. "Let's go, Aniki..."

He started out of the room, and I followed.

"Oh, and Sho? Feel free to call us Mother and Father," Dad said behind us.

Sho stopped for a second, unresponsive. Soon, he nodded. He glanced at me and said, "Race you to, uh...the library? I think?" And he ran off in the direction he thought would lead to the library, me running along after him.

And, with that, a very complicated chapter in my life began. Somehow, having a brother was a hard adjustment for me, and not for the reasons most people struggle. It was one thing for Sho to be there as a guest, but...when he became family, suddenly everything about how he was treated compared to me just rubbed me the wrong way, innocent or not.


The next two days found Sho learning about Neospacian culture for two hours in the morning and taking dueling classes—Duel Monsters, not swordsmanship, obviously—for an hour in the evening with my instructor, Professor Kabayama. Other than those three hours a day, he was free to do whatever he wanted, which was basically the opposite of my schedule.

Supposedly, the reason for this light amount of classwork was so that he could adjust to his new life as a prince. Beyond that, if there was anything Sho wanted to learn, he just had to ask. After the first day, he signed himself up for horseback riding lessons because he wanted to learn to play polo. He didn't really strike me as a polo kind of guy, and I didn't see how he planned to learn to ride a horse while he still had a broken hand, but whatever.

It's not fair for me to compare the adopted prince's schedule to that of the legitimate heir to the throne, but it didn't stop my brain from going there, anyway. While Sho had three hours of mandatory lessons and an hour or two he'd chosen to take on, I had mandatory lessons in sparring, swordsmanship, etiquette, economics, political intrigue, history, Neospacian law, diplomacy, war tactics, ballroom dancing, several musical instruments, dueling, horse-back riding, some sports, and hunting. Honestly, some of those felt like they should have been optional, but all my tutors always said it would make me a more "well-rounded" ruler someday. I personally thought they were full of it, but that didn't get me out of learning tennis, so I doubted it would get me out of any of my current lessons, either. Sure, not all of those lessons happened every day, and a lot of them were things I'd learned in the past that had been replaced by something new, but I still had around 9 or 10 hours of lessons including several of those each day while Sho only had to learn three things, one of which he'd picked.

In simpler terms, I was way busier than Sho, and I was jealous of him because of it. Even worse, there were a few other minor details that were different—things that wouldn't have bothered me under normal circumstances.

I walked into one of the rooms of the castle while I was on a two-hour break between my classes and found Sho building a house of cards. That in itself didn't bother me. However, there was a maid there, helping him—a young woman with black hair. She was helping him, given that his right hand was still in a cast, holding one of the two cards he was trying to stick on top.

"Almost got it..." the maid said as she and Sho carefully put the last cards on the top of his card house.

His tongue was poking out of his mouth slightly as he concentrated, trying his hardest not to knock the whole thing down. Admittedly, it was a decently sized house of cards, and I'd have been impressed...if Sho were a guest, not my brother.

"...How long have you been at this?" I asked, curious.

They got the cards in place on top and let go, and the maid clapped and cheered. "Yay! Well, done, my prince! Well done!"

"I did it! Alright!" Sho cheered, thrilled with his accomplishment.

Apparently they didn't hear me. Oh, well.

They clearly saw me, though, because they both looked at me after their short celebration, and the maid asked, "Did you see that, Prince Judai? He's a natural!"

I hated being called "prince," but at least she'd used my name with the title.

Sho laughed, proud of himself. I get the feeling he was also feeling more loved than he ever had back in Tiller, and it was surely a nice change of pace for him. I just stared for a moment, trying to decide if I should answer at all.

Sho was breaking one of my family's rules. He was distracting the staff from their own duties and getting them to help him amuse himself. Somehow, I also got the feeling that he was allowed to do that. It was probably just because he was still new to the family and needed more time to adjust, but I didn't think about that at the time. All I thought about was the fact that he could get away with things I'd be reprimanded for if I even tried. But saying anything about that would be unfair. It wasn't Sho's fault that I was feeling slighted. On the other hand, I'd been watching him just do whatever he wanted for two days now, and I was tired of faking a smile when I wanted to rage at someone. It wasn't Sho's fault, though, so I didn't want to snap at him.

Since I couldn't figure out an appropriate response, I did the only thing I could—I turned around and left without another word. Looking back, I'm pretty sure the mature thing to do would have been to find my parents and ask why Sho was getting away with so much, but I was dumb and 16. The thought never crossed my mind.

"Huh? Aniki? What is it?" Sho asked as I retreated, but I didn't stop to answer him as I shut the door behind me.

Winged Kuriboh showed up as I walked down the hall, sulking. He asked me what was wrong, saying that my behavior back there wasn't very nice.

Instead of answering, I muttered to myself, "Wonder how much time he wasted building a house of cards with that maid when playing with him's not her job."

I vividly remembered the last time I'd tried getting anyone on the staff to help me entertain myself. I'd been six, and my mother had gently chastised me by saying that the chef had her own responsibilities to worry about and couldn't spend a lot of time playing with me. When I'd asked who I could play with, she didn't have a very helpful answer since there weren't any other kids in the castle. She'd offered to play with me for a bit, suggested I play with my nanny, and encouraged me to "make friends." That last was easier said than done, especially given that the only kid who eventually moved into the castle never wanted to play.

"Something on your mind? You're mumbling to yourself."

I sighed and said, "No, nothing."

"Ah, Prince Judai," said a mustached man with black hair hanging down just below his chin—Kabayama, the dueling instructor for both Sho and me. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."

He was my next teacher of the day, but I wasn't supposed to see him for a while yet. The fact that he'd been looking for me immediately irked me. "Oh, come on! We don't have class for two hours!" I protested immaturely.

"I know, my prince. But I wanted to talk to you about today's lesson. It's very important."

Two things that were bugging me at this point: 1) I have told everyone that I don't like being called "my prince" so many times that it's getting really annoying that so many people still insist on doing that. 2) Why was everything so important that it had to interrupt the scant amount of time I was given to myself?

I groaned. I don't get breaks, and Sho only has two hours of class in the morning? Sheesh...

"See, it's about Prince Sho," Kabayama continued, apparently taking my reaction as an okay to continue.

"Yeah? What about him?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking of putting him in your class with you."

I raised an eyebrow. That didn't really seem like a good idea. I'd been dueling since I was just a little kid, and Sho claimed he wasn't a duelist. If dueling wasn't a big part of defending yourself in this world we lived in, he probably still wouldn't duel. "Really? Isn't he knew at this?"

"Yes, he is. See, Sho's got a lot of potential, but he's so unsure of his skills that he can't even make a move correctly. Since you two are such good friends and you're an excellent duelist anyway, I was hoping you could help Sho come out of his shell. What I mean to say, my prince, is I want you to train Sho for me. Can you do that?"

I stared at Kabayama for a second, annoyed. Was he seriously asking me to be Sho's dueling teacher? "Isn't that supposed to be your job?"

What did my father pay this guy for if he was going to pass his duties on to me?

"It is," Kabayama admitted. "But he doesn't seem to trust me or believe me as much as he does you. Every time I tell him he can do it and to keep trying, he...well..."

As he trailed off, I got the picture. Sho did lack confidence, after all, if that karate incident where he'd broken his hand was any indication. "Yeah, okay," I relented. "I can try."

Kabayama bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, my prince. I appreciate it."

Sho came running then, looking freaked out. "Aniki! Big trouble! Huge, even! Oh, this is so bad, it's not even funny!"

Given Sho's state of panic, I knew it was probably something at least moderately important, so I asked, "What is it?"

"I overheard some of the guards talking, and Johan's at the front door!"

My eyes bugged out. Yep, that was important, alright, and definitely trouble. "What!?" I didn't wait for him to say anything else—I took off for the front entrance, hoping I could stop Johan from being skewered for trespassing.

Sho ran after me, calling, "Aniki! Wait for me!"

As I ran along, I apparently caught the eye of a certain green-eyed girl, who grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Don't know where you two think you're going, but your father demands your presence in the throne room immediately," Yubel said.

"Oh..." I thought about it, realizing that Johan wasn't going to be murdered without my father having a chance to interrogate him, at least. "Yeah, that figures."

"Should I come, too?" Sho asked.

"Sorry, kid. Blood royals only. Besides...I...don't think you're gonna want to be there for this one," Yubel said, hesitating a bit. "Go play somewhere else."

Okay, condescending attitude aside, she was right. Sho wouldn't want to be there for this. My parents could be pretty monstrous when it came to the Andersens.

"But—" Sho started.

I cut him off, "You should listen to her, Sho. My—our parents aren't going to be happy about this one."

How could it be so hard getting used to saying "our parents" instead of just calling them my parents?

Sho, as usual, listened to me easily. "Okay. See ya around!" he said, and then he ran off, presumably to hide somewhere until our parents' wrath had been quelled.

"So?" Yubel said to me, waiting.

She wasn't going to drag me to where I was supposed to be for once? That was a pleasant change. I headed for the throne room of my own volition, Yubel doing nothing to force me to obey.


My parents were already seated in their thrones with Johan and another visitor in front of them when I arrived. I walked over and took my place on my dad's right, staring intently at the second unexpected visitor. Sho hadn't mentioned her at all.

Standing next to Johan was a girl around my age with long blond hair and beautiful hazel eyes. Her head was bowed, so I couldn't really see her face, but I knew exactly who she was, regardless.

"I don't recall inviting you to come here, Prince Johan," my father said coldly as I joined them and stood by my father's throne. "You had better have a good reason for trespassing."

"Please forgive my intrusion, sir," Johan said, bowing at the waist. "I know how you feel about my presence here, but I wanted to bring Prince Judai a gift. To show my thanks for last time." The last was added like an afterthought, as if he realized he should elaborate on why he wanted to give a gift to a supposed enemy.

Asuka looked up slightly, apparently startled. She glanced at Johan like he'd just sprouted a second head. "What?"

I blinked, confused. Had he not told her that was his plan? I mean, I wasn't complaining about the fact that he'd brought her, but it might go over better if he clued her into what he was doing.

"Sir, I—" Johan started.

My dad cut him off, furious. "What is this? Some kind of joke!? She's your sister, isn't she?"

"No, sir. She's—"

"Your fiance?"

"What!?" Asuka asked, her eyes widening further still as they snapped to the king.

"No. Of course not!" Johan answered. "Please, just hear me out. See, Judai met her when he was living in my kingdom, and—"

"And what!?" my father cut him off once again, clearly too angry to actually get the story straight. "You thought you could form an alliance with her just because Judai knows her? That's—"

"Your majesty. May I speak?" Asuka interrupted calmly.

My father stopped talking, apparently deciding to give her a chance to say what was on her mind. He glared at her, just waiting.

"Sir, I—didn't come here planning to offer myself up as a peace offering."

"Alright. Then why have you come?"

"Well, sir, you see..." She looked down again as she trailed off.

Given how hostile my father was being, I couldn't blame her for being afraid to say, so I decided to help her out. "She's a friend, your majesty," I said, using my dad's title only because of the business at hand. "Although I can't say why she's here, she's one of the friends who helped me against the Light."

"Really, Judai? Which one?" my dad asked me.

My mom gasped, the first sound she'd made this entire time. I couldn't blame her—she was smart, and I'd told them all about the battle with the Light and the people who helped me win by this point. She'd probably figured out who this was already. "Y-you don't mean—"

Asuka bowed her head again and said, "I just wanted to see Judai again..."

Well, that was nice to hear. Given how our relationship had started out, I hadn't thought she'd really want to see my face again. When had she started liking me, anyway?

My dad stared at her for a long time, debating whether she was telling the truth, I'm guessing.

Johan, however, couldn't resist the urge to open his big mouth and say something rather unnecessary, all things considered. "Uh, besides that, sir, I, uh, don't have a fiance yet. See, in Kalmar, we're allowed to choose any girl we want, regardless of how we met her, and we're not required to marry until we turn 30."

"30?" my father asked, shocked. "Why wait so late?"

Johan shrugged and answered, "True love takes time to find sometimes? Anyway, sir, I speak the truth here. I only came to deliver Asuka. I owe it to Judai to help him out whenever I can, sir."

I barely resisted the urge to cringe when he didn't use my title. No, I didn't care if Johan never used the word "prince" when talking to or about me, but I figured my parents would throw a fit about it.

My father stared at him for a moment, and I was worried that Johan was about to be called out for disrespect or something. Finally, he said, "Fine. Your task is completed, then. You may go now. But I warn you, if I ever hear of you wandering around in my kingdom uninvited, I will throw you in the dungeon and warn your father. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Johan answered, bowing his head respectfully. "Have a nice day." Head still bowed, he backed away a few steps before turning around and walking out of my family's throne room.

I was watching Johan leave when I heard my dad humph. "Waiting until they're 30 to find a queen for them. Ridiculous. Judai will be wed when he turns 18. True love or not. I've already got a girl picked out for him."

"Wait, what?" I asked, turning my attention toward my dad.

Was he seriously telling me that I was engaged and didn't know who my fiance was? I thought I'd get some say in who I married! It wasn't normal for the king to just pick somebody these days.

"Now, about this girl..." My dad turned his attention to my other friend, the one he didn't have any reason to hate. "You're Asuka Tenjoin?"

"Yes, sir..."

My father looked at her for a second before asking, "And you're the one who saved my son three times from the Light of Destruction?"

She looked surprised. "Wait, what?"

"He told me that you saved his life three times while you were fighting. Once when his friend Sho was hurt, once when he needed a partner to defeat two well-prepared Lights, and the last time you did it by helping him break free of the Light's tight grip on him just before he lost control completely. Is that true?"

Asuka blushed and said, "Well, I..."

Seeing as she didn't seem like she was going to answer truthfully, I said, "Yeah, it's true. This is her, Dad."

Asuka just stared, making me wonder if I'd said something weird. It wasn't like anything I'd said wasn't true.

My father smiled, finally warming up to her since she wasn't Kalmar royalty. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, child. Judai has told me a lot about you."

"He has, has he...?" she asked, shifting a bit and looking uncomfortable. She glanced at me, her gaze asking what I'd told them.

Of course, since my dad was talking to her and she hadn't actually asked me, I was under no obligation to answer, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"Come. You must be tired from your long journey over here. Let's have the maids see about getting you cleaned up. We can talk more after that."

Asuka nodded, still looking pretty nervous, but she hid it fairly well. "Okay."

My dad called over one of the servants and had her take Asuka to a guest room so she could get settled in for her visit. After that, with the business all dealt with, he dismissed the other servants and guards who'd been lingering since Johan had arrived, and they went back to their work. My mother headed out to tend to her garden, one of her favorite pastimes.

I, however, had something more pressing on my mind as my father rose from his throne and headed for the door—my dad's choice of a fiance for me. I'd be 17 in just a month, so it wouldn't be much longer before he'd expect me to get married. I needed to know who he had in mind.

"Dad?" I asked, still standing by the throne.

He stopped and looked back at me. "What is it?" he asked.

"You...said you found a fiance for me? Who is it?"

"Well, son, assuming you haven't found a suitable bride by the time your 18th birthday rolls around, I was going to have you wed Yubel."

Shit. That was the worst answer he could have given. I could feel the color drain from my face as horror set in. Marrying Yubel? I could hardly stand living with her as a servant. How did he expect me to have her as the mother of my kids?

Apparently oblivious to my discomfort, my dad continued, "She's a perfect candidate. She's mature, well-rounded, highly intelligent—"

"And she hates me," I cut him off.

"Now, Judai, I wouldn't say she hates you."

"No, of course, you wouldn't," I said sarcastically. "What would you say, then?"

My father looked at me sternly and said, "Judai? Your tone's out of line, young man."

Okay, yeah, not the best idea in the world to get snarky with your dad, especially when he's the king, but there was a reason for it!

"Yubel and I... It's a wonder we haven't killed each other yet!" I explained, hoping to make him see sense. "I'm telling you, we get along like oil and water! That's not a good combination!"

Not if he ever wanted to be a grandfather, anyway. Like I'd ever sleep with that.

"That's enough," my father said, more sternly than before. "Yubel's the only one qualified for this job, so, if you don't like it, find someone else who's as qualified as she is. Otherwise, you better quit whining. Love isn't always a requirement in this kingdom just so long as it has its rulers. Do you understand?"

Yes, I knew that. I'd known it since I was a little kid. It had never bothered me before, but I also hadn't thought my dad would hook me up with the one person in the world that I hated. There were many I liked well enough or felt completely indifferent about. Why did he have to pick the only one I hated!?

Besides, I'd been stupid—I'd gone and fallen for someone who probably wasn't interested in me in the first place while I'd had amnesia and not known that I had to be married by the time I was 18. Somehow, I doubted that Asuka would be eager to just dive into an engagement when we hardly even knew each other, so I was starting to wonder how it was fair that I had to somehow find someone I loved by the time I was 18. That didn't really give me a lot of time, now that I thought about it.

Regardless, I kept all of that to myself. My father was the king of Neospace, not me. If I had a problem with these rules, I'd have to change them myself when I was king in a little over a year. And, boy, did I plan to change them.

"...Yeah. Got it," I said shortly, not trusting myself to stay respectful if I said too much.

"This discussion is over," my father said firmly. "Move along."

"Yes, sir," I responded, and I made my way out of the throne room.

I hated being a prince. You could never tell who your friends were, you had to be wary of assassins or kidnappers, the fate of all the people in your kingdom depended on your decisions, and even your love life was unimportant. What moron in my family history thought that it was a good idea to force a teenager to be married and crowned as the new king or queen just because they were legally an adult? Talk about ridiculous.