"Kaneki! Open the door! Kaneki!" The guards who were stationed to stand outside the king's chamber were just staring at their queen, unsure of what to do. When their king returned to his chamber, he ordered the guards to send his wife away if she were to come. But the sound of her pleading voice made their hearts ached.

Being the chamber guards, they were well aware of the relationship progression between their king and their queen. Furthermore, High Chancellor Tsukiyama visited them every single morning asking whether did their queen spend her night there, or did their king spend his night somewhere else. There was always a disappointed look on his face when they reported the status to him.

After knocking the door for about 10 minutes, Touka felt her hand becoming numb, but she didn't give up. Finally the door was opened, revealing a very gloomy Kaneki. He didn't even look at her, his eye seemed lifeless and dull, as if it was void of light and his hair was a mess. He was still wearing the black eyepatch on his left eye, but his black tears were wiped clean.

Touka immediately stepped in and closed the door, wanting to have privacy from the guards.

"What was that behind your eyepatch?"

"...Have a seat."

She reluctantly sat down on the wooden chair in the middle of the chamber then asked the same question again.

"What was that, Kaneki?"

"They're... black tears."

"Why do you have black tears?"

"It's a long story, Touka-chan."

"I'm all ears."

"I have to go to Sunlit Garden Kingdom tomorrow morning."

"Don't give me that excuse. You can sleep in the carriage." She insisted.

"I'm going by horse."

"Then use the carriage!" She yelled. Her stubbornness as a former princess was showing through.

"Listen. I really want to tell you, but now's not the right time."

"Why? When's the right time then?"

"...I don't know." She closed her eyes, feeling defeated by her husband's answer.

"What's the use of being your wife if I can't share your pain with you?" She sounded so bitter, she lowered her head, covering her face with her hands.

"Touka-chan..." He paused, his teeth gritted hard, uncertain if he should tell her. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"...Alright then."

She perked up, partially disbelief that he decided to tell her. She immediately sat up straight, waiting for him to begin the story.

"The rumours were wrong. I didn't gouge my eye."

He stared at the table in front of him, his eye still seemed lifeless.

"I got... injured. The injury damaged my eye. I can't see through my left eye anymore."

He closed both of his eyes, trying to forget the repressed memories that kept on haunting him every time he thought of that one night. He started to tremble a bit, unconsciously cracking his knuckles.

Realising this, Touka took his hand in hers, giving him a light squeeze while smiling warmly at him.

It's alright. Please continue. Her expression said it all.

"About a year and a half ago, black tears started to fall out of this eye. Even Dr. Shiba doesn't know what's causing it. I usually don't wear the eyepatch when I'm in the castle as everyone here knows how my eye looks like, but recently it's swollen very badly. It's... hideous. I don't want you to see it. So I wear my eyepatch to hide it from you. I'm sorry." He lowered his head, staring at her small hands that enveloped his.

She was itching to ask, "is that all?" but decided not to. He was willing to share this with her, and that was enough for now.

"Kaneki. You don't have to hide your eye from me."

"It's hideous, Touka-chan."

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable having to wear an eyepatch all the time."

"I feel more uncomfortable exposing my eye to you." He admitted, his voice was low but harsh in her ears.

She gasped. She thought that being a married couple means sharing everything, including vulnerabilities and insecurities. Hearing those painful words came out of his lips clutched her heart in an icy grip.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's alright. I'm glad you shared this with me." She gave him a gentle smile, his expression was full of guilt but he managed to return her smile softly.

They had their dinner together in his chamber that night, but for some reasons, Touka kept on striking simple conversations with her husband, not wanting to go back to her own chamber.

"It's late. You should be heading back." She pouted her lips hearing that.

"How long will you be leaving?"

"Around 10 days or so. Sunlit Garden Kingdom is pretty far from here. Come on, I'll walk you back." He took her hand and started to walk but she didn't move, her feet were still glued to the floor. Her other hand fiddled with her velvet dress.

"Can I- can I sleep here tonight?" She stared at the marble floor, light shades of pink were visible on her cheeks, but she was determined to spend the night with her husband before he went away for several days.

Kaneki blinked, thrice. Not long after he started to blush too.

"Why?"

"Why not? We're husband and wife after all. There's nothing wrong with that." She sulked, looking away from him to hide her embarrassment.

"Uh- alright then. But I'm going to the study chamber, I have some documents I need to approve before leaving."

"I'll wait for you."

"...Okay."

She lay on his bed, taking in the scent of his pillow. It smelled just like him, vanilla with a mixed of book's pages and scrolls. She sighed into the pillow, thinking about her marriage.

Kaneki was a kind husband. Too kind, she may say. But he was hiding way too many things from her. And seeing his black tears earlier made her worried. He was wearing an eyepatch ever since she first met him eight years ago. He had always hidden that mystery eye from the world. She wanted to see it so badly. She wanted to gain his trust, and ease his insecurity too.

Suddenly her thoughts drifted to her parents. They had an arranged marriage as well. But her father mentioned that it was a first sight love for him, so he went through a lot to make his wife fall for him. In the end, she did fall for him, albeit slowly.

'Father... am I doing a good job?'

When Kaneki finished signing approvals and returned to his chamber, it was already past midnight.

His wife was sleeping peacefully on his bed, hugging his pillow. She had discarded her silk velvet dress, leaving her with only sleeveless linen chemise as her sleeping attire.

'Are you trying to entice me again?' He sighed, drinking in the sight of her body. Not only her face was beautiful, but her curves too were alluring. His gaze drifted to her wide hips, then to the long creamy-smooth bare legs of hers. A warm blanket covered her skin from her shin downwards.

Carefully, he lifted the blanket up to cover her body. His hand accidentally brushed her bare shoulder while doing so. She was... soft. He couldn't stop his hand from trailing up her neck, jaw, then his thumb rested on her lower lip. He hesitated, but proceeded to run his thumb lightly along her lower and upper lips. Her lips felt full, soft and soothing against his thumb.

'What am I doing?' He groaned. There was no couch in his chamber, so no matter what he must sleep on his bed. He scratched his head before lying down as far as possible from her. However, the lack of pillow made him uncomfortable. His wife was hugging his pillow, he didn't think he could take it away from her without waking her up.

But he felt at ease looking at her sleeping figure, she looked so peaceful. He felt guilty for hiding his dying condition from her. He wanted to tell her badly, but he was afraid. He didn't want her to leave him. Maybe he was slowly falling for her just like Tsukiyama had mentioned, but he wasn't sure. Lately, he wanted to spend more time with her. To see her smile, to hold her hand and to get to know her better. He wanted her to stay by his side, rule the kingdom with him and be there for him when he was at both his best and his worst moments.

Sighing quietly, he scooted closer to her, retrieving his own pillow in the process. His hand reached out to caress her right cheek then he leaned in to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Good night, beautiful." He covered the blanket over his body as well. He placed his arm around her waist, and he fell asleep listening to her soft, constant breathing that sounded like a sweet melody to his ears.

"Mother, can I- have a horse toy?"

"What did you say?" She turned to look at him with a cold glare on her face. She cracked her knuckles. He flinched.

"I saw Hide has it. I want it too..."

"Why can't you keep your eyes to yourself, Ken?! Do you think I have time for you? I don't!"

She pushed him down onto the marble floor, raised her hand and hit him.

"Mother, I'm sorry!"

But she ignored him. He pleaded for forgiveness over and over again. But she kept on hitting him.

"I won't look at other kids' toys anymore. I'm sorry, mother!"

"This is the third time you asked this year! How about I seal your eye for good, huh?"

"What? Mother, no!" His body shivered hearing her words. He knew his mother very well. She never joked around. Never.

She took the nearby quill pen on her desk, smiling sinisterly before stabbing it repeatedly into his left eye. He was desperately trying to close his eye but his mother forced it open using her seemingly cold fingers.

"Mother, it hurts! Stop it! Mother, I won't ask for anything anymore! I'm sorry! It hurts!"

"Kaneki! Kaneki! Ken!" He opened his eyes and saw his wife's concern face staring at him.

"Are you alright? You were tossing around and screaming. Did you have a nightmare?"

Kaneki panted heavily, his heart was beating very fast like crazy, and he was sweating a lot. His horrible nightmare suddenly flashed through his mind and he quickly embraced her as tight as he could. She felt as if his hard bones were crushing hers, but she bore with him. He was crying, loud, his crystal clear and black tears were staining her chemise, but she didn't care.

"Shh... I'm here..." She rubbed her hands up and down his back, occasionally kissing the top of his head, doing her best to calm him. Nevertheless, he was still shaking furiously in her arms. Whatever nightmare that he had, it was definitely one of the worst ever.

"I'm sorry... Don't hurt me..." He buried his head deeper into her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I won't hurt you, Ken." She was hoping that by calling him 'Ken', she could ease his distress form. She knew she was wrong when she felt him stiffened. He pulled away and looked up, "w-what did you- call me?"

"Ken." She whispered. He flinched. Only his mother called him Ken. His mother. His nightmare.

"No. No no no! Don't hurt me, mother! I'm sorry!" He thrashed around, then scooted back to the corner of the bed, hugging his knees. It hurt Touka to see him like this. She had never seen this side of him before, but she was determined to soothe him as best as she could.

She crawled towards him slowly, reaching forward to caress his cheek. He recoiled at the contact.

"Kaneki. Look at me, Kaneki." She gripped his wrists, strong enough to force him to look at her in the eyes.

"I won't hurt you."

He shook his head aggressively.

"I'm your wife, Kaneki. I won't hurt you." Slowly but strongly, she pulled his head onto her chest and held him tight. Her hand rubbing up and down his back in a slow motion, hoping to calm him down.

He seemed to come to his senses after a while, he looked up and saw his wife smiling tenderly at him.

"T-Touka-chan?"

"I'm here." She spoke gently, as if he was a fragile being.

"Don't leave me..." He pleaded.

"I won't." She said without hesitation. She was determined to stay, to spend the rest of her life with him.

He fell backward onto the pillow, pulling her together on top of him. Touka shifted a bit and rested her head on his shoulder. Kaneki in response just wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, never wanting to let go.

When Touka woke up the next morning, her husband was no longer in bed. She spotted a note on the desk written, "I'm sorry for the stains. I'm fine now. Thanks for being here last night. I owe you one." She saw the stains on her chemise, the black tears had dried off and seemed to leave a smudge on her white fabric.

'You don't owe me anything, idiot.'

"My Queen, since the crops are not producing much, the farmers do not have enough money to get their basic necessities." Tago reported.

"Where do these farmers reside at?"

"Ward 20, My Queen."

'That's quite near from here compared to the 1st ward...'

"What if we provide them free food? What do you think, Tsukiyama?"

"We certainly can, but it can't be for a long period. Our castle's resources will deplete early and need to be restocked more frequently if we do that."

"True. We can only provide food for a short period of time. Long-term wise, the crops need to be treated. Let's hope the fertilisers from Sunlit Garden Kingdom work. Banjou, ask our chefs to prepare lunch for these farmers. Make the meal simple, there's no need to provide fancy food. Half of the crops are still fine, they still have some money after all."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"The meeting today is dismissed. Banjou, Tsukiyama, please stay for a while." Banjou and Tsukiyama shared a puzzled look towards each other before responding to their queen.

"Tsukiyama."

"Yes, My Queen?"

"How long have you known Kaneki?"

"Shortly after he became the king. It has been 12 years now. The previous High Chancellor resigned after Queen Sayaka's death, and I was appointed."

Tsukiyama was in a good mood the whole day. He found out that his king and queen have been sleeping together the night before. Even though the guards reported that they didn't consummate their relationship, he was still happy because they shared the same chamber. The progression was slow, nonetheless it was building up.

"How about you, Banjou?"

"I've known him ever since he was born. My father was King Keiji's personal butler."

"I see. Tell me more about Queen Sayaka." Banjou felt a bit uncomfortable with his queen's question. Why ask about the previous queen, all of a sudden?

"She was a kind queen. She put her people before her, which caused her to be overworked sometimes. She was very stressful ever since King Keiji died on the battlefield with V Kingdom. She has to rule Re alone when King Kaneki was just six months old."

"Did she love Kaneki?" He was taken aback by her question, but he pretended to stay calm.

"Every mother loves her children."

"You didn't answer my question. Did she love Kaneki?"

"I believe she loves Kaneki." Touka furrowed her eyebrows hearing his answer.

"How did she die?"

Banjou gulped. It was a secret known only to him and Kaneki. Or, to be précised, only his king knew how it happened. When he arrived at the scene, the queen was already dead, and Kaneki was hugging his knees. He cried, his left eye was bleeding but beneath those cries there was a guilty smile on his face.

"She was overworked." He lied. 'Overworked' was the fake news that spread throughout the kingdom.

Touka observed his expression, as if trying to see the truth behind his words. She didn't believe him, at least not completely, but she let it go for now.

"Another question. How did Kaneki's eye get injured?"

"It was... an accident. I wasn't there when it happened, so I can't give you any details about it. My apologies, Your Majesty."

'They're useless.' She frowned. 'I need to find out from Kaneki himself then.'

Touka was spending her leisure time with her rabbits when she noticed Shio was watching her from afar.

"Shio!" She called. He had no other choice but to move nearer to her for easier communication between them.

"Yes, my queen?"

"Come. Play with us." She held Maka- one of her rabbits- in her hands and made a wave gesture using its front leg.

"But I was told not to-"

"Are you disobeying the queen's order?" She stared at the boy, and he gulped.

Slowly, he stepped into the cage and sat in front of his queen. She could tell that he was nervous just by his expression and body posture.

"Kaneki and Hirako are not here, don't worry. Here, hold her." She shoved Maka onto his lap and he carefully held it, not long after he played with its ear. He had a joyful smile on his face, no longer looking nervous. Touka smiled contently looking at him. From the close distance, he looked even younger.

"How old are you, Shio?"

"I'm 14, will turn 15 next month."

"You're very young. Why are you a bodyguard?"

"Well, I'm an orphan who came from Sunlit Garden Kingdom but Hirako-san noticed that my friends and I have some potential, so he adopted us to become a strong bodyguard one day. We are called Squad 0."

"But you're still a kid, what is Kaneki thinking?" She sighed, it wasn't a question to Shio, but more like a question to Kaneki.

"Actually, I volunteered."

"Huh...?"

"Many years ago, Hirako-san would sometimes bring me along to Anteiku kingdom. I saw you and our king sparring, and you were very strong. I have been admiring you ever since."

"I wasn't that strong, Shio-kun. I always lose to Kaneki, remember?"

"Really? I can't really remember." He tilted his head, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration trying to recall the old memories but failing.

"Yes, really. Are you disappointed now?"

"No. I still adore you. You're beautiful. Our king is so lucky to have you in his life."

"Well, I'm lucky to have you as my bodyguard." She pinched his cheek playfully, and he blushed. He never expected to be having this kind of interaction with his queen, the one that he had been admiring for six years.

That night, Touka woke up to the sound of swords clashing outside her chamber. After reaching the dagger she kept underneath her pillow, she immediately went to the corner side to pick up a sword before opening the door slowly, quietly.

Through her eyes, she saw Shio was having a battle with a figure clad in black.