Sasuke shared a look with his uncle at dinner that night. Sakura had refused every meal for the past two and a half days, not to mention every visitor. He'd only seen her for moments after she first woke from her coma, so he couldn't positively say if whatever was wrong was from before her family visited.
The king had approached him after lunch, stating he'd forced the pink-haired woman to join him for tea and that something was obviously severely upsetting her. That look he shared with the man just now was him confirming the notion. The woman lying upstairs in that dark room was even more closed off than when he first met her.
'She really hates me for what happened. I can't even get her to face my direction,' Sasuke poked at the meat on his plate, not having much of an appetite. He was desperate to know what happened to her while she was kidnapped because he couldn't try to mend their relationship without the details, but the few moments in her presence earlier were enough to confirm he wouldn't be receiving anything.
"Sakura has always been a quiet and sensitive girl. I'm sure she'll be back to normal in a few days time," Kizashi offered, his two children making short sounds of agreement. They obviously picked up on the serious aura of the room and were trying, and failing, to remedy it.
Itachi tried to help their efforts, "She asked for her youngest sister, yes? Would a visit from Lady Hana cheer her up?" The Haruno family shared glances before Kizashi lowered his head, "I told Sakura that Hana has a fever, but the truth is that she chose not to come on her own." Sasuke's eyes lifted from his meal to the speaking man, who added, "She said she wishes not to see her eldest sister."
Hihara added when no one said anything, "Hana rarely asks for anything and is well-behaved, so we didn't attempt to force her." The green-eyed man locked gazes with Sasuke, and a highly amused glint arose that confused the prince.
"Perhaps the stress of marrying into the royal family is too much for my big sister to bear," Haruka said in an obviously faux-considerate tone. She batted her eyelashes at the prince, "Since I care so much for her, I'd be willing to take her place so she can properly rest and await a more leisurely proposal of marriage."
That's when Sasuke realized what the bratty girl wanted. It was to steal her sister's position as his fiance. Disgust met his tongue.
Madara said, "Well, that's definitely something we can-" "Absolutely not," the second prince bit, eyes narrowing on a surprised Haruka. Everyone's eyes turned onto him, but he didn't falter. Frowning, he looked around to give each person a moment of eye contact before looking back down to his plate and speaking with finality, "I'll hear nothing else of exchanging my fiance."
'She's not a sword that you send off to a blacksmith to be replaced with stronger metal. She's a human being. A compassionate one that I don't intend to leave in this traumatized state.' He took a bite of the meat before the sound of the others returning to their meals met his ears. A tiny bit of his stoic facade slipped, his shoulders threatening to sag, 'It's my fault she's hurting right now, so I have to be the one to make things better. After that, if she wishes to annul this engagement, then I'll allow it.'
After the meal, Sasuke went for a walk around the estate, a bottle of whiskey in hand to help ease the tension in his mind. After some time alone, he heard someone approaching and turned to see Hihara, who raised a hand in greeting.
The prince could've cursed, 'This brat has to know I don't like him, yet here he is, seeking me out in his free time.'
Hihara was breathless when he finally caught up, smiling sheepishly, "My Lord, you're quite the fast walker."
"Hn," Sasuke returned.
For a while, they walked in silence before the Haruno man seemed to reach his threshold for tension. He gestured toward the bottle, "May I?" The prince handed it over, accepting it back once he'd taken a drink. Hihara sighed, looking around the grounds warmly, "This reminds me of my childhood. Sakura used to take me for walks when I was very young."
Sasuke spared him a glance while taking a sip of whiskey.
He seemed to take that as encouragement because he continued, "Would you like to learn more about your fiance? I can tell you all her favorite things, the things she hates, and even-" "Can you tell me about your relationship with her?"
Hihara's face paled, making Sasuke want to punch him, "What?"
"Better yet, tell me about any of your family's relationship with her," he couldn't stop himself from half-drunkenly unloading on the nineteen-year-old, "Tell me where each of her scars came from. Tell me why she wasn't introduced to the public at sixteen. Tell me why your younger sister thinks she deserves better treatment than Sakura."
"Well, that's because she's an illegitimate-" "Does a child being born out of wedlock mean that it's acceptable to abuse and neglect them? At what point did she choose this life? Did she reach out from beyond this realm to create the means necessary for her conception?"
Hihara stopped walking, so Sasuke did, too. The men stared one another down, the redhead finally dropping the friendly facade. Moments later, Sasuke handed over the bottle of whiskey but leaned in to threaten the Haruno man, "You and your family will not contact her outside of formalities after the wedding, understood?"
The redhead looked stunned.
After holding his glare for a minute, Sasuke rolled his eyes and returned to walking, though back in the direction they'd come.
When he was further away, Hihara called after him, "You're too late!" When the prince turned to figure out what he meant, he saw the man had turned and begun walking the other way.
Groaning with irritation, he ran a hand through his hair, 'If a hundred years pass before I see these Haruno animals again, it'll be too soon.'
The next day, Sakura finally began to accept meals, though she took them in her bedroom. Two days later, she finally came out from her seclusion, if only to tell the prince that she no longer wished to be at the castle anymore.
'Even The Curse can't get her to talk,' Sasuke thought while eyeing his fiance. They were nearly back to the manor, and neither had said a word the entire carriage ride.
Sasuke recalled how beautiful Sakura had looked the night of their engagement party. Her emerald-colored eyes had sparkled with emotion. Her hair had flowed beautifully with curls down her back and over her shoulders. If he were a weaker man, he'd have run his fingers through it at least once.
'She'd been so full of life,' he frowned, remembering how confidently she'd helped him escape the ballroom so he could go through the shift without on-lookers. 'Now she barely seems present.'
Sakura's eyes were directed out the window, though they were dull and sad. Her lips were in a thin line as though she'd been pondering something very seriously for hours. It was dark under her eyes, and Sasuke realized that she hadn't been sleeping well despite being locked in a bedroom for a week.
The prince's eyes left his fiance's face to land on her hands, only to narrow. She wasn't wearing the engagement ring. He didn't dare ask her where it was because he felt one wrong word would send the woman spiraling further.
'I just hope that coming back to the manor was the correct decision,' Sasuke thought, averting his gaze out his own window, 'I'm beginning to question if she still wants to proceed with the plan.' As selfish as it was to think about such a thing, he couldn't help it. That said, she hadn't spoken a word about leaving, so he tried to convince himself not to dwell on the idea.
Sasuke didn't know what else he'd do if returning to the Winterlands didn't comfort Sakura in some way. He was too awkward to approach her with the intention of talking things out and didn't want to pressure her if the issue she was facing was indeed serious. He also didn't want to just let her deal with it alone because she'd done so much to help him since they met. She deserved to have someone worry about her like she does him, and he'd unintentionally become that person.
That night, Akuma did what he'd done the past few days, and that was to lay silently beside his sacrifice while she slept. He watched as she groaned and turned onto her side, facing him with a disturbed expression tugging at her brow. 'She's as restless as ever.' For her sake, even though he wouldn't admit it, the demon gave up trying to get her to talk. 'It's been days. I've grown tired of this confusion.'
As if on some sort of cue, Sakura's eyes shot open, filled with fearful tears as she slowly comprehended that whatever horror she'd been experiencing was simply a dream.
Akuma searched her pale face, leaning closer despite her obviously becoming skittish, "Pet, you're plagued with nightmares."
She tried to scoot away, but he grabbed her hands and held them tightly. His brow furrowed when real terror met her face because she'd never looked at him like that. He still didn't let go, though. No, he wordlessly pondered what to say because he'd never tried to comfort a human before, nor had he wanted to. This game of waiting for her to return to her shy and blushing form had grown tedious, so he had no choice.
Soon, he said, "You reek of fear. Have you abandoned trust in your master?"
Sakura's chin quivered, and she averted her gaze to his chest. Finally, she spoke, though quietly, "I'm not…I-I'm just…." She closed her eyes, took a calming breath, and asked quickly as though worried she'd lose the courage to say the words, "You said you wanted to make me yours before."
'Of all the things to bring up, that's what she wants to talk about?' Akuma made an affirming sound.
She kept her eyes closed. She hesitated momentarily before asking in a much weaker voice, "I-I've recently discovered what you meant by that." In this type of situation, the demon would expect at least a slight blush on her cheeks, but there was none. Green eyes slowly opened to search his face as Sakura asked, "Why would you want to do such a thing to me?"
'She seems genuine,' Akuma was beyond confused. He thought that sex was something normal between those attracted to one another, and in his case, sometimes even when only one was interested. He was a demon, after all, and they don't follow human rules most of the time.
Akuma's fingers loosened so he could interlace them with hers, and he smirked, deciding to answer honestly, "The way you tremble and blush. I wish to feel it happen instead of just see." His eyes dropped to her lips, narrowing as he imagined their taste, "I want to make it so you can't control your body or voice. I want a complete surrender so I can devour every piece of you."
Tears flooded Sakura's eyes, dripping quickly down and taking the demon by surprise. He opened his mouth to ask why, only for the woman to tear her hands away, covering her face and scooting away, "You're a monster."
For some reason, The Curse's mouth went dry at those words. Anger arose at her disrespect, but it wasn't alone. An unfamiliar emotion joined it, one that stopped Akuma from shouting or hitting the woman. 'I thought…. I thought she saw me as a person all this time, didn't I?' He got out of bed, staring at the sobbing young lady with wide red eyes, 'But I was wrong. She's just like everyone else. All she sees when she looks at me is a demon.'
A fiery sensation flooded Akuma's chest, and he left the room, slamming the door behind him. If he didn't get far away from Sakura, he'd end up murdering her with his bare hands.