"Today, pretend as if I'm not here." Kaneki announced at the start of the meeting.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Naki inquired.
"We don't know what the future holds. In case I'm not here any longer, Queen Touka will rule this Kingdom before the next Prince or Princess comes of age."
Tsukiyama gasped and let out a quiet sob, he couldn't take this. He wasn't strong enough to live if that day were to come.
Banjou saw his reaction and he lowered his face as well. Touka noticed the change in atmosphere. 'Is there something I'm not aware of?' She wondered.
"Queen Touka has been participating in our meeting for three weeks now. This is a practice to see if she is ruling up to my standard." Kaneki explained. Touka raised her eyebrow.
"It sounds more like a test. I have experience in ruling Anteiku, you know."
"Then prove it."
"I will, Your Majesty." She spoke each syllable mockingly while rolling her eyes.
"Pretend Queen Touka is your lone ruler. Report everything to her. I will just be the spectator."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Said everyone in the throne room.
Tago stepped ahead and stated his first report to Touka.
"My Queen. The assassin we caught three months ago begs you to reduce his punishment."
"What was his punishment?" Touka asked.
"To become a labour for eight years. He wants to reduce it to five years."
"Kill him."
"WHAT?!" Nishiki was almost shouting.
"Touka-chan, what are you saying?" Kaneki stood up from his seat due to disbelief.
"You're too kind, Kaneki. Your naivety will get back to you someday."
"We don't execute people here. Even if they're bad people. Unless they killed someone."
"So you want to wait for someone to be killed first?" She glared at her husband, her expression was a mixture of hurt and angry.
"No, I didn't mean that. But if we killed someone, the people will be scared of us. They will obey us because they fear the king and his court, not because of respect and admiration."
"If we don't make it strict, there will be lot more assassins in the future. We need to show them what the consequence of trying to assassinate us is. I don't want them to attack and kill us."
'Like what happened to Queen Hikari and Hinami's parents.' Kaneki thought. Touka bit her lower lip, she was trying to hide her grief but he saw through her.
Queen Hikari was assassinated 17 years ago, ever since then they made their rules stricter. Even so, it was also an assassin who killed Hinami's parents.
"No. Don't kill him. Tell him that if he's showing good behaviour, I will reduce it to six years." Kaneki intervened.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"What are you doing, Kaneki? I thought they all should pretend as if you're not here?" Touka frowned. He just sighed.
"After this meeting ends, can we talk?"
"...Alright."
"What is it?" She asked as they both entered her chamber. His chamber, to be précised. But he hadn't been here for almost two months. He missed his chamber. Tsukiyama kept on reminding him to consummate his marriage, but he didn't want to force his wife. And he didn't want to take advantage when they both do not love each other.
"I don't blame you for making that decision, but you need to understand that Re operates differently from Anteiku. We rarely execute people here."
"I know. But I just can't bear to lose another important person in my life. First, mother. Then, father. I don't want-" she paused, she didn't want to lose him, but she could not admit it, "if you die, I need to rule this kingdom alone, idiot."
Kaneki smiled, there was sadness in his eye.
"I'll try my best to live longer." He spoke softly that it sounded like a whisper, his uncovered eye was showing misery. It raised confusion in her mind. She had been wondering for weeks, thus she decided it was time to clarify her curiosity.
"Kaneki, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Are you hiding something from me?" His eyes widened, but he immediately laughed somewhat nervously.
"Why are you asking me a weird question, Touka-chan? I'm not hiding anything." His hand unconsciously brushed his chin, and she knew. She knew he was hiding something from her. His bad habit never dies.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"I'm here for you, Kaneki. Your pain, your grief, your secret, you can share those with me. I won't judge, and I will accept everything about you. If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears." He gritted his teeth and returned her embrace even tighter as if to hold himself from breaking down.
'I'm sorry...' He felt guilty for hiding so many things from her. But he was scared. What if she left him? What if she felt disgusted looking at his damaged eye? What if she looked at him as if she was sympathising him? What if she hated him after knowing how her father died? What if she knew how his mother died? Would she be afraid of him? Would she see him as a monster?
As if sensing his insecurity, she ran her hand across his back continuously while her other hand was patting his shoulder.
"Thank you, Touka-chan." He pulled away only for a bit to caress her right cheek, and she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. He had a strong urge to kiss her but he rested his forehead against hers instead. They stayed that way for a while, eyes closed and arms still wrapped around each other.
"Would you like to have a walk with me?"
"Sure."
"Here is your horse. Do you like it?" Touka's gaze averted to the horse that Kaneki was showing her. It was brown and had a masculinity charm around it. For some reasons it reminded her of the horse she had back in Anteiku.
'Did Kaneki choose this based on my horse in Anteiku?' She wondered.
"It's beautiful..."
"I'm glad. Here's mine." His horse was white in colour, and it was quite tall. She could see that it was a rare breed.
"White, huh? Contrast with your black uniform."
"Come on. Let's go." Kaneki led the way and shortly after they were already outside the castle area. This was the first time Touka saw other parts of Re Kingdom aside of the castle. It was beautiful. Peaceful. The road was carved in pavements and there were shady trees everywhere. She thought the rest of Re would look black like the castle, but she was wrong. Houses were white and brown, almost the same as the houses in Anteiku.
"Let's stop here."
Touka took a look at her surroundings, there were stalls and people everywhere, and there was a lot of chattering around the area too.
"We're going to the market?"
"Yes. This is the largest market in Re. It's very crowded sometimes, especially during festivals. Let's tie our horses here." They both jumped down from their horses and tied it to a massive tree nearby the market entrance.
"Shall we?" He held out his hand, which Touka shyly accepted. They rarely hold hands, and holding hands in public made her anxious. He sensed her anxiousness and squeezed her hand in an attempt to calm her, which he succeeded.
"It's our king and queen!" The crowds at the market were all delighted to see their king and queen visited them. They gave a slight bow and then straightened their body back immediately. Touka was very surprised seeing their behaviour. People in Anteiku kingdom had to kneel and bow to them, and they could only stand up when Ayato gave his permission.
'So this is how Re citizens greet their king. Interesting.'
They walked until the middle of the market and Kaneki hurriedly pulled her hand to a simple yet huge stall that had a 'MUTTON STEW' written on a board.
"Let's have our dinner here. This stall has the best stew. Even better than the one in the castle." She nodded and followed him to one of the tables.
"My king, it has been awhile. Congratulations on your wedding." The stall owner bowed at Touka, acknowledging her.
"Thank you, Amon. How is Akira?"
"She's on her 38th weeks now. I told her to just rest at home and let me and the rest take care of the stall."
"But what if her water broke?"
"My father-in-law is at home too, taking care of her."
"I see. Hopefully both the mom and the baby will be fine." He smiled, and Touka noticed how his eye was almost closed while smiling.
"Yes. Please visit us again after the child is born."
"I will. You serve the best food after all."
"Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty. Then, please excuse me to prepare your stews."
"Take your time, Amon." With that, Amon left and Kaneki turned his gaze to his wife, explaining to her about the stall owner.
"I've known them ever since they started their business. I offered them to work at the castle but they kindly declined, saying they preferred the lifestyle here. It took them four years to have their first child though."
"I see... child, huh?" She stared at her lap, wondering when they will take their relationship further. It had been almost two months since their marriage and the most intimate act they ever did was... hugging. Or forehead kisses. Kaneki was always very careful with her. As if he was afraid to proceed further. She could see it earlier that evening, of how his eye was staring at her lips, she even closed her eyes, welcoming him. But he did not kiss her. He just rested their foreheads together. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly upset with his action.
During this market tour, she realised that the people of Re really love Kaneki. He kept getting free food and item, but Touka could see through him. Despite his act of being a caring king, he was lonely. He never smiled genuinely, though he was good at hiding it. She knew how his real smile looked like, as she would always steal a glance at him whenever he was reading a book during her study session. She saw how he smiled back then. It was real.
She decided to be his source of strength, to be there for him whenever he needed her. To accept and love all of him. He needed to know, he was not alone. She would be there for him. Always.
They walked until the end of the market, near to a secluded area to have their own privacy. Sunset had long gone by then. The stars couldn't be seen as they were obscured by the clouds. The moon was also barely visible, but the lamp posts were bright enough to make them able to see their surroundings.
"Do you see now? I don't want these people to be scared of me, or you." He stood in front of her, both of her hands were in his.
"They all truly love you... unlike people in Anteiku. They have fears in their eyes whenever Ayato and I execute assassins in public."
'Scary.' He gulped.
"I understand now, Kaneki. I'll be less harsh from now on. However, if it is a very serious issue, I still think an execution is necessary. But I won't do it in public."
"Good. Thank you, Touka-chan." He patted her head, she blushed at his action.
"Also, I-"
The sudden sound of thunder made them both looked up at the sky. The clouds looked heavy, a sign that it will rain soon.
"We should head back. It's getting late anyway." Kaneki suggested.
"...Yeah."
They walked hand in hand to the entrance of the market to get to their horses, however, the horses were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are our horses?" Touka asked while looking at Kaneki. He was wondering the same thing.
"Hirako."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Hirako appeared out of nowhere. Touka's senses were somewhat dull as the market was full of people. She knew Hirako was following them, but the fact that he showed up right after Kaneki called his name amazed her the most.
"Our horses are missing. Apparently yours as well."
"So it seems."
Kaneki couldn't believe thievery was happening in his kingdom... and he was the victim as well...
"I'm sorry Touka-chan. To think that I took an hour to choose your horse..."
"It's alright. What about you? Your horse was very rare."
"Well, I'll do something about it. But it's getting late. Let's just rest here and return to the castle tomorrow. Are you alright with that?"
She nodded.
Kaneki whistled, then about ten seconds later a big yellow bird with grey wings flew by and landed on his hand.
"Whoa! What's that?" Touka ducked her head, but she stood up straight again afterward, nonetheless her hands were still covering her head.
"Hm? It's Hetare. Our messenger bird. Are you scared of birds?" He smirked, teasing her.
"Well, I used to. But I managed to overcome it for this purpose as well. Except our bird is a lot smaller compared to this one! I thought it was going to attack me just now." Kaneki laughed hearing her statement.
"You're cute, Touka-chan."
"Hah?!" He giggled, then scrambled some words into a paper before rolling it and tied it to the bird's leg.
"I'm informing Tsukiyama and Banjou that we're not coming back tonight."
"O-oh. Okay." She blushed. 'Darn it what am I blushing for?'
There was only one inn in the 1st ward market area, it was mainly for travelers from other wards to come and visit the huge market thus the inn was quite exquisite.
"Your Majesty! It is a great honour to have you and our beautiful queen as our guests. Please kindly stay in our biggest room. We will attend to your needs as best as we could." Greeted the innkeeper.
"It's okay. Just give us a normal room. And probably a spare of clothes? Since we weren't planning to stay the night, we don't have extra clothes..."
"Leave it to us, Your Majesty. My staff will guide you to your room and prepare the clothes as well. Please enjoy your stay." She bowed slightly, with a cunning smile on her face.
Tsukiyama, Nishiki, Miza, and Naki finally arrived at the castle, riding the stolen horses to their respective stall in the barn.
"Where are our king and queen?" The guard asked.
"They told us to return their horses. They will return to the castle using other means."
"I understand, High Chancellor Tsukiyama." The guard bowed. Tsukiyama winked at Nishiki, and they all shared a knowing gaze.
Truthfully, when Tsukiyama saw his king and queen were walking towards the barn, he knew they were going somewhere. Thus he hurriedly gathered Nishiki, Miza and Naki to carry out his devious plan.
He only wanted his dear king to have an heir. Everyone knew how lonely he was, and by having a child, hopefully it could fix his loneliness. Of course, he wanted the child to save their kingdom's future as well. He could see that his king had slowly changed ever since he spent more time with his wife, but the change was minute. On the other hand, he saw the way his queen looked at her husband, and he recognized that gaze. She was in love with him. Or, he could say, she never stopped loving him, ever since seven years ago. She reminded him of Kanae so much.
The four of them walked to the castle entrance when Hetare suddenly flew over and landed on Tsukiyama's shoulder.
He took the rolled paper and read it.
"Tsukiyama, our horses are missing. Ask the search team to look for them. Especially Queen Touka's horse.
Also, ask Banjou to fetch us by cart tomorrow at the 1st ward's inn. We're staying the night as it seems like it will rain soon.
-King Kaneki"
"Yes, our plan is working! They're sleeping at the inn tonight." Tsukiyama raised his arms which Miza and Nishiki slapped each of his hand with theirs.
"What plan?" Naki, as usual, was a bit left behind in understanding his friends' devious plan.
"To ensure our king has little princes and princesses. I even bought the sexiest nightdress at the market and gave it to the innkeeper. Hopefully our virgin king gives in to the temptation of his beautiful wife. Ho ho ho ho!" Miza laughed mischievously.
"I hope Hirako brings us good news. He needs to guard our king's room after all... so he should know."
"Poor guy, having to listen to all the sounds coming out from the room." Nishiki smirked.
"Yeah, poor guy."
"Wait what are you guys talking about? Is our king making children right now? Can I see?" Naki pleaded, he looked like a lost puppy begging for a bone.
"NO!" Shouted both Tsukiyama and Nishiki in unison. Miza smacked her own forehead. Poor Naki...