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"Shio!"

"Your Majesty!"

Realising the target showed herself, the assassin charged straight at her, aiming his sword at her heart. Touka dodged the vital point just in the nick of time but the sword pierced her left shoulder instead, pinning her to the wall. She groaned at the pain, the sword she held earlier for self-defence fell onto the stony ground, making a loud clanking sound.

Through the corner of her eyes, she could see Shio was sneakily heading towards them. So she gripped the sword blade using her right hand, preventing the assassin from pulling it out. Blood was dripping from her hand but she couldn't care less about it, not when their lives were at stake.

The assassin seemed to notice their schemes, so he quickly turned around. Shio was intending to pierce his heart but his aim went to his right chest instead. Nonetheless, the assassin choked, Touka kicked the back of his knee so that he was tumbling forward, then Shio was quick to seize him.

Touka was asked to rest for several weeks, much to her disappointment. On that night, the patrolling guards were quick to inform Hinami and Miza about the assassin's presence. They arrived a bit late but they aided Shio in imprisoning the assassin and summoned Dr. Shiba to treat their queen.

Tsukiyama relayed the incident to Kaneki using Hetare, the messenger bird, and Touka just smiled softly reading his reply.

"Dear Touka-chan,

Are you alright? It must have been a terrifying experience. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you. Because of me, you- I'm very sorry. I'm glad you're alive. Please rest well. Just leave Re matters to Tsukiyama.

I'll be back as soon as we have obtained the new fertilisers. Sunlit Garden is very busy at the moment due to the upcoming wedding of Princess Hairu and Prince Koori in these few days. They said it's an arranged marriage, but when I look at their faces, it seems like they truly love each other. I... I really wish we could be like that someday.

Take care, Touka-chan.

-Kaneki"

"Onee-chan, how are you feeling?" Hinami asked as she entered her queen's chamber. Despite being the main spy of Re, Hinami was still the daughter of Anteiku's royal doctors, and the childhood friend of both Touka and Ayato. Touka insisted that the name addressing should be 'onee-chan' like she used to call her when they were young.

"Bored, Hinami. I've been resting for several days. My body feels stiff." She tried to sit up using her elbow to lift herself but it wasn't an easy task for her yet. Hinami saw this and she immediately assisted her queen.

"You're not fully healed yet."

"But I'm bored. I want to join the meeting."

"Tsukiyama-san is doing a great job. Don't worry."

"Yes he is, but I want to prove Kaneki that I can rule up to his standards too."

Hinami bit her lower lip hearing her words. 'Once His Majesty dies, you will have plenty of time ruling this kingdom.' She shook her head at the depressing thoughts and decided to inform the new information she had gathered.

"Onee-chan, we have identified the assassin's identity." Touka's eyes lit up at her statement, no longer looking bored.

"He is the brother of one of the illegal opium dealers that Ayato-kun and you executed in public last year. Apparently, he had intense swordsmanship training in order to get his revenge. He wanted to assassinate Ayato-kun but his bodyguards were too many. So he arrived in Re last week, waiting for the moment when His Majesty is not around to attack you."

"I see. Well, drug trafficking is a serious issue. I believe what we did was right."

"But, I'm scared. If it wasn't for Shio-kun, who knows what could have happened to you? I don't think I can face Ayato-kun..."

Touka just smiled gently at the young spy. She decided to finally ask her the question she had been wanting to ask years ago.

"Hinami, what do you think about being a queen? Would you like the role?" Hinami's eyes widened as she was too shocked by the unexpected question.

"W-what are you saying, onee-chan? His Majesty loves you, not me!"

"...Huh? I'm not talking about Kaneki. And no- he doesn't love me, Hinami."

"O-oh." She blushed heavily at her misunderstanding. "But he does love you!"

"He doesn't."

"Yes, he does. You may not know it, but he always asked me what kind of things that you like, would you be happy if he does this and that. He also requested me to work with Ayato-kun to relocate your pets."

"He just wanted to make this marriage works, Hinami. He doesn't feel that way about me." Touka lowered her gaze, her indigo eyes filled with sadness.

Hinami sighed lightly. Her queen could be right, since her king was a kind-hearted guy that seemed like he would do anything to please someone, even by sacrificing his own happiness. Deep down she really hoped she was right, and her queen was wrong.

After a long silence between them, Touka decided to ask the question again in more specific words.

"Hinami, will you be the queen of Anteiku?" She gasped, then blushed once again.

"Onee-chan! What are you talking about? I'm just a lowly spy, and I think Ayato-kun has the rights to choose his own queen..."

"Trust me, I'm her sister. I know who he's in love with." She smirked. "And you're not a lowly spy. You're the daughter of our royal doctors. But if you think the responsibilities are too heavy, then you may decline. Just- think about it."

"Alright, onee-chan. I'll think about it."

Touka realised that she was no different from her father. Her father asked Kaneki to marry her, and she was asking Hinami to marry her brother. But she could finally understand her father's request, he just wanted her to be happy. And she wanted her brother to be happy too. Even by being selfish.

By the sixteenth night after Kaneki left to Sunlit Garden Kingdom, he was finally back in Re, panting heavily as he dashed like crazy from the horse stable to his wife's chamber.

"Touka-chan!" He shouted as he opened the door and strode as fast as he could towards her. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking a couple of minutes to catch his breath. Touka took her time staring at her husband. He was panting, dark circle under his eye, and she could see the sweats on his face and black leather tunic despite the cold night. 'Did he run all the way here?'

"Are you alright? How's your shoulder? Sorry that I took so long to come back."

"I'm fine, Kaneki. Nice to see you too."

He saw bandages covering her right hand, he felt betrayed by his High Chancellor.

"Tsukiyama only told me about your shoulder... he didn't mention anything about your hand." He held up her wrist, inspecting the bandage around her hand.

"It's alright. I'm fine now."

"But-"

"Don't worry. It's been two weeks."

"Hirako!"

"You called, My King?" Hirako suddenly appeared at the door, his face was expressionless as usual.

He never ceased to amaze Touka by how fast he responded to his king, even when he was outside the chamber.

"Call the remaining of Squad 0 here."

"Yes, Your Majesty." With that, Hirako left to call on his boys.

Kaneki turned his gaze back to his wife, waves of guilt immediately washed over him.

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"What?"

"Because of me, you-"

"The assassin was from Anteiku." She cut in. He paused- long, trying to process her words into his mind.

"What do you mean?"

"I executed his brother publicly last year for illegal opium trafficking. He was seeking revenge, that's all."

"But he was able to sneak in here, and he found your chamber too-"

"My King." Greeted three boys inside the chamber. Two boys aside from Shio were panting as they did not expect to be called by their king in the middle of the night. One of them had pale lavender hair, cut into a chin-length bob with straight bangs and another one looked a little bit like Kaneki when he was young, but with a wavy hair instead.

"Ihei Shio, Souzu Rikai and Arima Yusa- I order the three of you to be Queen Touka's royal bodyguards."

The three boys widened their eyes hearing their king's statement.

"Kaneki! There's no need for all three of them-"

"Yes, there is! Your safety is the highest priority-"

"No, Kaneki, not mine. Yours is."

"I can protect myself, Touka-chan. But I want to protect you too, you need more bodyguards."

"Kaneki, if I die- you can just marry another princess. I'm alright with that. But if you die, I-", she paused, biting her lip, "I don't want to remarry. I want only you..." She confessed.

He quickly embraced her, wrapping his arms around her body, being careful not to aggravate her injured shoulder. Shio, Rikai and Yusa just stared at the scene in front of them awkwardly, then looked at each other before turning their gaze towards Hirako. Unsure whether they should leave or just remain silent.

"Touka-chan... I don't want another princess either..." Hirako gestured his Squad 0 team to leave the chamber. Once they left, Kaneki kissed the top of her head before pulling away.

"How's your injury? Let me see."

"Um, I can't untie this robe. My right hand is bandaged."

"Oh. May I?" She nodded.

Kaneki gulped. He had never done this before, but he was trying his best not to show his nervousness. Slowly, and carefully, he untied the velvet silk robe his wife was wearing, slipping it off her shoulders, revealing her usual sleeveless chemise as her undershirt.

He inspected her shoulder carefully. The sight of bandages boiled his insides, and she noticed the change in his expression.

"It's healing. Don't worry." Touka reassured her husband, placing her non-injured hand on top of his.

He kissed the exposed rounded edge of her shoulder lightly.

"Once you've gotten better, let's have sparring and sword training sessions like we did years ago. I'll train you."

"Oh, why not Nishiki? Isn't he the main knight of Re?"

"Well, he is. You- want him to train you?" He looked upset, as if he wasn't good enough for her.

"I was just kidding, Kaneki." She pinched his nose. "I miss our sparring sessions. We were almost the same height back then. You're much taller now." She frowned.

"Well, we both changed a lot in six years." He smiled, nostalgic memories engulfed him.

"Now that you mentioned it, I've been wanting to ask this ever since I saw you on our wedding day. Why did you dye your hair white? It's a very unusual colour."

Kaneki widened his eye as he was stunned by her question.

"W-well, uh- why uh- why did you dye yours light blue?" She blinked several times at his deferment, but decided to answer his question anyway.

"I wanted to move on from my father's death. New hairstyle, new life, people said. Does it look weird?"

"Nope." He shook his head, but his gaze was still on her. He seemed mesmerised, and there was a tint of blush appeared on his cheeks.

He reached upwards, gently winding his hand through her hair to curl around her ear to have a better view of her eyes, and also her whole face.

'Beautiful.' He thought, but after staring longer, he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You only do makeup on your left eye. But for your right eye, you didn't put anything on it. It's- so funny!" He still laughed, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Shut up!" She jabbed his stomach but straight away winced from the injury she had.

Kaneki held her wrist, his expression instantly changed to deep concern. He knew he had just assigned two extra bodyguards for his wife, but somehow he still didn't feel safe. Bad feelings, he called it.

"I'll sleep here from tonight onwards."

"W-what?"

"I know I've just appointed all Squad 0 kids to keep you safe, but I want to do it myself too. I can't sleep well knowing you might be in danger."

Touka smiled, half smirking.

"You don't trust them?"

"I do. I just- I-" she raised both of her eyebrows, urging him to continue, "Those days in Sunlit Garden Kingdom were like hell to me. Not knowing how badly injured you were, and how I wasn't there to protect you. At that time, I thought- I never want to leave your side anymore. I was afraid if you'd die without my knowledge."

"It's alright. You're here now. And I'm fine thanks to Shio."

"But- you could have-"

"Kaneki. I'm here. Alive. That's what matters."

He smiled softly, but the look of worry never left his face.

"Guards!"

"At your service, My King." Two guards who were stationed to guard their queen's chamber opened the door and went inside, kneeling to their king and queen.

"Ask Banjou to bring in my changes for tonight, and tell him to move all my belonging into this chamber tomorrow."

The guards looked at each other briefly and had a wide smile on their faces. 'High Chancellor Tsukiyama will be very happy', they thought.

"Yes, Your Majesty." They closed the door and went to carry on their orders.

Kaneki went into the bathroom, cleaning himself from all the dirt and sweat he accumulated from his journey. When he lathered the shampoo in his white hair, he suddenly remembered Touka's earlier question. His conversation with Dr. Kanou last year flashed through his mind.

"You're aging. At a fearsome speed." The middle-aged doctor stated, his eyes seemed worried about the young king. Kaneki, however, wasn't even surprised. He could feel it sometimes.

"Is there any way to stop the aging?"

"I can't promise the rate of success but... if we could perform a surgery by removing the damaged eye then you might be able to live normally. Since the eye is acting like a parasite, slowly destructing other parts of your body. It explains why your hair is turning white too. The sooner you have the surgery, the longer you will live."

"How much does the surgery cost?"

"It won't be money, Kaneki." King Tsuneyoshi interrupted. "It will be your army. Help me conquer V Kingdom. Then I will allow you to have the surgery."

Kaneki changed into a loose white shirt, a towel hanging on his head as he returned from the bathroom. Banjou had transferred his belongings for the night, and he saw Touka was hugging his pillow while staring at him.

"You're still awake?"

"I've been resting for two weeks. I'm so bored." But Kaneki just yawned widely.

"Oh. You should have a rest, Kaneki. You must be tired from the journey."

"Sorry- I guess, yeah- I really am tired." He yawned again.

He took his pillow away from her- much to her disappointment, then tucked the blanket up around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my queen."

"You're so cheesy."

He grinned, then walked to the couch located on the other side of the chamber.

"Um- Kaneki, what are you doing?"

"Preparing to sleep." He answered while lying on the couch, positioning the pillow below his head.

"On the couch?"

"Yeah."

She blinked several times, dumbfounded by his response.

"We're married, Kaneki."

"But you're injured." Again, he yawned.

"It has been two weeks. I'm fine now."

"No you're not."

"Fine. Do whatever you want." Kaneki fell asleep a few seconds after that, he was too tired from rushing his journey from Sunlit Garden.

Touka was so disappointed with her husband. She was determined to wait for him to fall asleep before plopping herself on the couch where he was sleeping on. Luckily for her, she did not have to wait long as loud snores were heard instantly. She giggled. 'He's definitely very tired.'

As soon as she plopped herself on the couch, Kaneki felt intrusion of his personal space so he immediately pinned the suspicious person beneath him.

"Touka-chan? I thought you were an assassin. Why are you here?"

"What does it look like? Can't I sleep beside my husband? You seemed alright with it before you went to Sunlit Garden. You even hugged me so tightly that I couldn't breathe." She recalled that night, he almost suffocated her, and she could hear his fast heartbeat.

He sat up and let out a sigh. He didn't want to remember that night at all. He hated the nightmare, it kept on haunting him sometimes. "Go back to your bed, Touka."

"Don't want."

"Go."

"This is my chamber. I can sleep wherever I want."

"As the king, I order you to go back to your bed."

"What if I refuse? Are you going to execute me?" She teased.

Kaneki groaned, frustrated with his wife's stubbornness. With one swift motion, he lifted her up bridal style, doing his best to avoid her injured shoulder.

"Hey, put me down!"

When he finally put her down, it was on the bed. But she was quick to wrap her arms around his neck, preventing him to leave. She hissed due to the injury on her shoulder.

"Let me go, Touka. You're hurting yourself."

"As the queen, I order you to stay." Her eyes pleaded with him, he sighed heavily before agreeing.

"...Alright then."

"Don't take your pillow. You might deceive me-"

"I won't deceive you. Don't worry." He assured her, and she finally released her arms.

He took his pillow from the couch then went back to her, slowly lying down, facing her direction. She scooted closer, decreasing the space between them.

She reached for his hand, and he was quick to intertwine their fingers together.

"Good night, Touka-chan." He yawned for the millionth time that night.

"Good night, Kaneki." She smiled. She looked so blissful. 'Beautiful' was his thought before sleep overcame him.

Touka fell asleep not long after him. When she woke up, his arm was wrapped protectively around her waist, his head rested in the crook of her neck. There was a content look on his sleeping face.

She caressed his cheek and her fingers were starting to play around with his black eyepatch. But as soon as she had a contact with it, Kaneki grabbed her wrist, stopping her from exploring any further. His eye was wide opened, and he was scowling.

"What are you doing, Touka?"

"I just- want to see it." She sat up, her uninjured hand was still in his grip.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's hideous? You'll get nightmares from seeing it." His voice sounded harsh yet bitter to her ears.

"I'm sorry. I was just curious. And I- I want to accept all of you."

He gritted his teeth, 'Should I?' He wondered, but then decided it wasn't the time yet.

"I'll show you one day. But not today, okay?" She nodded.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Um- you called me Touka just now. Without honorific. Last night too."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright. You can call me Touka."

"Okay… Touka." She smiled, shyly.

"Touka... Touka..." He practiced. She was smiling the whole time. Her fluffy bed hair made her look more attractive than ever.

"You're beautiful, Touka."

"Hah?! Where did that come from?" She blushed furiously with embarrassment.

He just laughed and pulled her into his arms as he lay down again. As usual, he planted a kiss on her forehead, but fell asleep again shortly after. Touka looked up, his handsome face looked so peaceful. She inhaled his scent as she closed her eyes, resting her left hand on his chest.

'When can I call you Ken..?'