An hour past before the gold doors opened again, but they opened with a slam. Ghetsis and Dmitria were fuming, the council followed like a herd of sheep. Ghetsis and Dmitria glared intensely at Hilda; Hilda stiffened in response. N wrapped an arm around Hilda's waist protectively and straightened up in his seat.
"Dmitria, father, is there a problem?" N asked innocently, "I only did as the council asked." The council of sages all nodded in agreement.
"That may be true, but why is she in the throneroom? Shouldn't she be in the dungeon?" Ghetsis snapped.
"Well father, the council left Hilda in my charge. She did plot to foil my goals and end my reign. It seemed only natural that I be the one to deal the consequences." N said smugly. Ghetsis grit his teeth and had the council removed from the room; they were to meet later.
"Natural, as your queen, I do not approve of this. She's a risk to your rule, she'll distract you with her foolish ideals." Dmitria chimed in.
"Dmitria, you are not queen yet, let me remind you. Even if you were, my say is final, I am the king. As for your other point, I've already defeated her. Hilda is no threat to me." N said softly. N leaned closer to Hilda, "She will never be mine, Hilda. I want you to be mine, I'll you'll allow it." he whispered. A single hot shiver shot down Hilda's spine. 'Did that arouse me?', she thought.
"Something you wish to share, Natural? We are not school children." Dmitria retorted. N rolled his eyes and stood up, taking Hilda with him.
"If anyone needs me, for official business only, I'll be in the guest chamber connected with mine." N grumbled. N then took Hilda and stormed out of the throne room, doors slamming behind him, "Despicable, all of them." he continued.
"Did you say I'm going to be in your room?" Hilda asked.
"Not exactly. As you can imagine, as king, I have a rather luxurious bedroom. There's actually a door that leads to a smaller room bedroom; its strictly connected to my room. You couldn't escape even if you tried." he clarified.
"You can't do this, you're violation your most basic rule; freedoom! You're keeping me trapped in here!" Hilda shouted. N stopped just feet from a tall, dark wood door and turned to face her. He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the wall. His green eyebrows knitted together in anger, his eyes radiated an icy sensation.
"You don't think I fucking know that? Hilda, I'm not the innocent, naive boy you knew anymore. After you left, Ghetsis stripped my naivety away instantly! He believed that when you were out of the picture, I could finally 'learn'. Don't you get it? You kept me safe! I don't want you back just because I'm desperately in love with you, I need you to protect me! All my goals have had some sort of negative backlash, all because of Ghetsis! I just wanted pokemon liberation, I don't want to produce a whole bloodline to continue this dirty work!" N screamed. He was panting by the end of his rant, "I want Ghetsis out of the palace and out of power, the council does as well. Without Ghetsis...I'm free, Unova is free. I can finally work with the council without fear, and I won't need to marry Dmitria. Hilda, we could be together. We can save Unova from Ghetsis' power." N pleaded. Hilda was stunned by N. He really had no more innocence, he was just as competent as she was. There were no more illusions for him, the truth was revealed.
"N, take me into the room. If we're going to discuss this further, it has to be in secure privacy." She whispered. N took a deep breath and nodded. They entered N's room and sat on his bed, "Now then, N, first you need to calm down. I'm sorry about...everything. If I had known, I would have stayed." Hilda sighed sadly, "But Getting rid of Ghetsis, that's huge. Do you know how long that'll take? We'd need to accuse him of something and find evidence for that accusation." Hilda thought for a moment. What could they accuse him off? Everything he did involved N; they could arrest him without N. They'd have to get Ghetsis to do something without N, and soon.
"What about us being together? You didn't have any thoughts on that." N asked quietly. Hilda looked down at her feet in shame, what did she think? Hilda did care deeply for N, but was it love? She definitely felt jealous that he was to be married to someone else, that he was out of reach. Perhaps she did love him. Maybe, just maybe, Hilda was in love.
"N, I don't know what love feels like. I don't have anyone like Anthea and Concordia to explain it to me. I know I feel jealous that Dmitria is marrying you and not me, but aren't I supposed to feel some big explosion in my heart?" Hilda questioned. N lifted her chin so he gaze into her fragile eyes.
"I'd never thought anyone would be asking me what love felt like, especially you. In fact, I thought I'd be asking you that." N laughed softly, "But that's besides the point. Hilda, love is...putting someone else's happiness above your own. Love is missing someone whenever they're not around. Love is doing what's best for them, even if it hurts you." N said almost blissfully, "Feelings are different from person to person. For me, I feel like I'm at home when I'm with you. I feel light and warm, just from looking at you."
"I feel...like I don't have to worry about the outside world when I'm with you. You make things seems okay for a moment, I love that feeling." Hilda mumbled. N smiled softly and kissed Hilda's forehead.
"That is love, Hilda." N said. He peered out the grand window beside his bed; the sun was about to set, "It is time you rest, I have a few meetings. The moment you were taken into custody I notified Anthea and Concordia, they bought you numerous things. Your new belongings are in the guest room. Your bed should be made and ready for you, or if you like, you may sleep in my bed." he disclosed.
"Thank you, N. I'm going to change quickly, so don't leave yet." Hilda directed. She rose from the bed and headed for the guest room. When she pushed the door open, lights clicked on automatically; the room was painted a pale green and had a white trim. A queen sized bed was pushed against the back wall and centered perfectly. Next to the bed was a white, wooden dresser. It wasn't a big room, it was quaint; Hilda rather liked it. She rummaged through the dresser for some pajamas; there was a blue tank top and sweatpants with an Oshawott stitched on the hip. A melancholy smile crept onto her face, N remembered.