The next day, Kaneki was very busy signing approvals and working on paperwork as he left his kingdom for more than two weeks. But no matter how busy he was, he still kept the promise he had made with his wife after their reconciliation a month and a half ago.

To have their meal together.

Due to her injury, Touka was not allowed to leave the chamber. So Kaneki went back to their chamber to have their meal together. Usually, the servant would help with her meal due to the bandage on her right hand, but Kaneki ordered the servant to leave them alone.

"Why did you order her to leave? How am I supposed to eat then?"

"I'll feed you."

She snorted.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not. Here. Open your mouth. Aah~" Kaneki raised the meat fork in front of his wife's mouth, patiently waiting for her to eat it. Pink shades started to appear on her cheeks.

'Are you serious?'

She opened her mouth anyway, and when the fork entered her mouth, she clamped them down, chewing the meat but her cheeks were still rosy pink due to his kind ministration.

"Why?"

"Because you're injured."

"No. I mean- you can leave it to the servant. You don't have to do this." He raised another meat in front of her.

"It's alright. Besides, I've promised your father to take care of you." Hearing that, Touka's eyes widened in realisation, and she looked away, feeling dejected.

"I see... So you're just fulfilling your promise." She spoke bitterly, with a hint of irony and hurt in her tone. Kaneki sighed, regretting his words.

"I told you, Touka. I want to take care of you. It's not entirely because of the promise with your father."

She still looked away nonetheless, so Kaneki put down the fork he was holding onto the plate before setting it aside and gently turned her head so that she was facing him. But her eyes were still not on him.

"Touka, look at me." Slowly, she looked up. His grey eye was tender and unyielding as he smiled softly at her.

"I care for you, okay? I-" He chuckled when he saw the black pepper sauce smeared at the corner of her lips. "You have something here." He swiped his thumb gently over the area, surprised when he heard small gasp escaped her lips. He didn't pull away, instead, he brushed his thumb over her lower lip, and she closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of his touch.

After a few seconds, he retracted his hand, embarrassed by what he was doing.

"S-sorry. I got carried away."

"I don't mind." She spoke softly, looking elsewhere, the blush reappeared on her cheeks.

Kaneki cleared his throat nervously and continued helping her with the meal until she was full.

After three weeks of resting and a week of being taken care of by her husband, Touka finally healed and was able to leave the chamber.

The first thing she did was visiting the assassin who caused her three weeks of boredom.

He was a tall man, around Kaneki's age and had a slight build. Touka stood outside of the cell, folding her arms below her chest. He smirked when he saw his queen visiting him. He remained seated on his bed even though by Anteiku rules he was supposed to kneel down and bowed.

"My Queen. Fancy meeting you here." He smirked, his eyes appeared dark with a hint of malice in it.

"I'm sending you back to Anteiku to have you being publicly executed there. Your death will be the mark of don't mess with us royal families, even when we're married and live in another kingdom."

He spat out saliva onto the floor.

"I fucking hate you. Why do you always execute people in public?"

"It's to warn the others not to repeat the crimes. I don't see anything wrong with that. Actually, I've promised my husband to not execute assassins in public anymore, but that only applies to Re. Unfortunately, you're from Anteiku. So the rules in Anteiku are still applied to you." She smugged, her face looked extremely satisfied by the idea of him being publicly executed.

"You have no idea how much I want to kill you and display your naked body on the main gate of Anteiku. You deserve the same humiliation as my brother!"

"What are you trying to accomplish by killing me? Satisfaction?"

"YES! By killing you, I'll be able to avenge his death."

"Your brother won't come back to life, you know?" She suddenly remembered her situation with Kaneki. She had long forgiven him about her father, but she hadn't told him yet.

"I don't care. I just want both you and King Ayato to die. That's what matters."

"How irony, when you are the one who's going to die soon. Also, why naked? Your brother was killed with clothes on his body, he wasn't naked. I still respect him as a human despite what he did."

He smirked while tilting his head to one side.

"My queen... I heard the rumours. Because of your beauty, Prince Rio, Prince Nimura, and several other princes asked for your hand in marriage. But you turned them down. You only want a King, huh? Don't you know? You have a very, very nice body." He licked his lips sensually, while his gaze lingered on her body. The royal velvet dress hugged every curve of hers, only a small part of her breasts were visible but the assassin slipped his hand into his pants anyway, pumping himself.

Touka remained unfazed, it wasn't the first time she had seen something like this. When she was interrogating other prisoners in Anteiku, a few of them did the same thing. She despised them, but Yoshimura stated that it was normal for them to behave like that because they knew they were going to die soon and had nothing to lose. So she bore with them, most of the time.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

He paused his action, staring sharp into her eyes.

"I wish some other assassins will kill King Kaneki soon so that Re is left heirless. Then when another kingdom conquers Re, I hope that you as the previous queen will be executed in public too like my brother and me." He spoke with a very wicked tone in his voice and laughed as maniacally as he could.

Touka left the prison, saying nothing. However, his words kept ringing in her ears over and over again. She may appear strong, but any mention of her husband dying would always cause a deep pain in her heart.

She headed straight to the study chamber, and Kaneki was there, revising some constitutions. He saw her troubled expression and he immediately stopped what he was doing.

"Touka? Are you alright? You visited the assassin earlier, right?" he stood up and walked towards her, wiping the tears from her face with his thumbs.

She said nothing and just hugged him, burying her face into his chest while sobbing quietly.

"Did he say something bad to you? Do you want me to execute him instead of Ayato?" he kissed the top of her head, while his hands were rubbing her back.

She just shook her head and pulled away from him.

"No, it's okay. It's nothing. I'm used to it."

"Really? Are you sure you're alright?" He caressed her cheek, his expression was so tender, she couldn't help but felt touched by his actions. His deep concern for her always made her feel weak, and loved. Even when she knew he didn't love her.

She nodded.

"Are you free after this? I want to visit my babies, with you." She missed her rabbits, for she hadn't played with them for three weeks. But she also wanted to spend her time with her husband, as he was always in his study chamber when she was recovering from her injuries.

"Sure. Anything for you, my queen."

"Hey, Miza."

"Yesh?" She answered while taking a bite of an apple that they have plucked from the tree in the garden earlier.

"Our king and queen are very happy these days, aren't they? They go on dates, sleep in the same chamber, and now they're being lovey-dovey in front of us. See?" Naki pointed out his finger towards a specific location in front of them.

Miza stared at the scene not far from their usual fish pond spot where she saw her king tucked his wife's hair behind the ear and planted a kiss on her forehead. The wife blushed at the contact and lightly punched her husband's chest, but he reacted by grinning and pulling her into his arms, whispering words that made her buried her face deeper into his chest.

"Gosh, they're so cheesy, I want to puke." She continued chewing her apple a bit roughly, secretly jealous of them, Naki and her were not even that affectionate with each other despite being in a relationship for six months. "But I don't think it's a bad thing." She continued.

"What do you mean?"

"I think, being able to show affection like this is a good thing. At least, we know they're in love with each other. And it's just a matter of time before our queen gets pregnant. Our kingdom will be saved by then."

Naki could see the relief in his girlfriend's eyes. He felt bad for his queen. His king married her just for the sake of saving Re. But he felt relieved too, because he wanted to save the kingdom as well. He loved his king, and his girlfriend, and the kingdom, so he was trying his best to keep them safe.

He stared longer into his girlfriend's eyes who was still looking at the scene in front of them, that was when he saw something else apart of relief.

Longing.

"...Do you want to be like them?"

"...Huh?" She turned to look at him, waiting for him to repeat his question.

He stared at the tall grass around his feet, took a deep breath, then looked up, staring deep into her eyes, his face looking determined.

"Will you marry me?"

She dropped the apple from her hand, too shocked by her boyfriend's unexpected question.

"...Yes."

Touka entered the training hall, patiently waiting for her husband as he mentioned Naki would like to have an urgent talk with him. The training hall was spacious, with no sign of candlestick, only a few pillars with body figures as targets carved on them and some martial pose arts hanging on the walls. At the end of the hall was where swords, bows, arrows and several other training weapons organised neatly on a long table.

She realised she hadn't practiced her bow skill for so long, thus she took a bow along with several arrows and began shooting at the targets. She hit the head and the chest easily. She smirked in triumph, her bow skill was still very good after all.

Soon after, footsteps were heard and Touka turned around to see her husband arrived at the training hall. But he was stunned to see her.

She wore a white tunic that covered until just below her ass. There were straps and belt on it along with leather arm-guards, also a leather vest that hugged every inch of her curves. Sure, he had seen her in dresses that hugged her curves, but what appealed her appearance the most was the tight leggings with knee-length boots on her legs. He rarely saw her legs apart of the time when her chemise had ridden up when he woke up earlier than her, or when she came out of the bathroom in only a towel that left him blushing like tomatoes in front of other servants who helped her bathed due to her injury.

Her hair was tied in a ponytail, but her bangs still covered her right eye. She didn't look like a queen at all- in fact, the bow she held in her hands made her looked like a huntress instead, ready to hunt some animals for dinner. Even so, she was still beautiful in his eyes. And he just couldn't stop staring at her perfection.

"S-stop staring, idiot!" She blushed from the intense stare he was giving her.

"R-right. Sorry." He was blushing too from being caught. She put the bow and arrows back onto the table and stood in front of him.

"Let's start now. Are you ready?"

"Y-yeah." But neither of them moved. Shio and Rikai just rolled their eyes staring at their king and queen from the corner of the training hall. As royal bodyguards, it was their responsibility to remain as stealthy as possible to avoid other people sensing them. Shio was very excited when he heard that his queen will be having a sparring session with his king just like how it was years ago, but the fact that he had to remain quiet upset him. Nevertheless, he was still able to witness the scene, so he was happy with it. It was better than unable to see it all.

Kaneki, on the other hand, was mentally arguing with himself whether he should hold back or use his full strength.

"Here I go." Touka tried to land a punch on him, which he blocked easily. He then turned her body around and strangled her neck from behind, "What if someone attacks you like this? What would you do?"

She grabbed his arms, bent her body and pulled him so that he fell in front of her. "I'd do that."

Kaneki lay on the floor, panting lightly. 'No holding back then.'

He then stood up and punched her cheek, she groaned in pain while rubbing her cheek. He immediately regretted his action.

"I'm sorry! Are you alright?" He wanted to inspect the bruise that she may have, but she was quick to jab his stomach.

He stepped back, recomposing himself.

"Touka, should I hold back, or should I not?"

She snorted hearing his question. "Are you kidding me? You never hold back, Kaneki. Remember you broke my nose once-" She tried to kick him, but he caught her leg, causing her to lose balance and fell hard onto the floor. "I was a princess, you jerk. I had to cover my face for two weeks." She glared at him for what he did just now and also for what he did seven years ago.

"You did worse to me, Touka. You broke my leg-" She stood up and tried to punch him, but he stopped her, "-I had to use a crutch to walk." He softly slammed her onto the floor. He felt guilty for doing this to her, he wasn't sure why. Back then, sparring with her and never holding back was something he enjoyed immensely. But after marrying her, doing this made him feel uncomfortable. He was supposed to protect her, not injuring her body more. He knew that this lesson was necessary, as he didn't want to lose her, ever. But he still felt guilty, and worried that he might hurt her.

"If I remember correctly-" She tackled the back of his knee, but he held out his arms onto the floor, preventing his body from landing flat onto it. She was fast to flip him on his back, so she could pin him beneath her, "-it was because your hand was groping my breast." She panted, her hands pinning his, preventing him from attacking her.

"It was an accident. They were small anyway." He said with a straight face, but Touka smirked mischievously hearing his witty retort.

"Oh really~? I was 15 back then. You were eyeing them so many times after we got married, Kaneki. You think I didn't realise that?"

She pushed her body up a bit higher, making sure his eye was on the same level as her breasts. The gravity made them appeared larger than they originally were, and she could see the heavy blush on his face. It was different than the face of prisoners when they started to jerk off to her. The prisoners had a lewd expression on their faces that she felt like slapping them and cut off their dicks, but Kaneki was different. He had a look of embarrassment as he was trying his best to look elsewhere, but failed miserably.

"I may be a king, but I'm still a man, you know. And your dresses are always revealing, so, um-"

"I don't think they were that revealing, Kaneki." She teased him even more.

"Y-you're my wife anyways. I didn't look at Hinami's or Miza's, only- um, only y-yours." She gave him a conceited smile before giggling to herself.

"Thanks. I'm flattered." She laid her head on his chest, he was so warm, as usual. She felt comfortable lying on top of him, especially before falling asleep at nights, and Kaneki would always wrap his arm around her body.

"I'm sweating, Touka. Please get off."

"No."

"You really love lying on my chest huh?"

"Just shut up for a minute." She could hear his rapid heartbeat in her ears, and it soothed her, so she closed her eyes, cherishing the peaceful moment.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her head. Kaneki was brushing her hair gently. Her hair was sweaty due to the sparring, but he didn't mind.

His hand travelled to her cheek, then his thumb traced her lower lip. He didn't know what came over him, but all in his mind was he wanted to feel her lips, just like on that day when he first helped her with her meal. She unconsciously leaned towards him when he retracted his hand.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Touka frowned, she had enough of this. His action just proved that they both sought after the same thing. She propped herself up on her elbows, her eyes staring deep into his. She closed her eyes as she leaned in closer.

"Tou-"

Kaneki's lips were captured by hers, they were softer than she expected, so she deepened the kiss. It was a bit clumsy as they both lacked experience.

She pulled away to catch her breath, but Kaneki was fast to flip her on her back, with his hands pinning her shoulders and he stared hard into her eyes, then at her parted lips, still in disbelief that she had just kissed him.

"Hirako, Squad 0, leave." His voice sounded husky and breathless, and he was panting slightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Touka blushed furiously hearing their voices. Too caught up in her emotions, she didn't even realise that they were there, standing at the corner of the training area to guard them.

'That was so embarrassing!' But her thought was cut short as Kaneki dived in to kiss her again, and again, and again. It was as if all those days he held back from kissing her were being claimed at that moment.

"I need to report this to Tsukiyama." Hirako said as he walked outside of the training hall with the Squad 0 team.

"I can't wait to see his reaction!" Shio squealed, his hands clapping with joy.

"Me too." Rikai responded, but Yusa just remained quiet, he didn't seem interested at all in their progression.

"Your Majesty. I was looking for you-" Nishiki stopped as he saw the scene in front of him. His king was sucking his queen's neck while both of his hands were at her breasts.

"MY APOLOGIES!" He quickly bowed before his king, begging for forgiveness at the intrusion he had just made.

'Out of all people, it has to be shitty Nishiki?!' Touka mentally buried herself due to the unbearable embarrassment she was feeling.

"Explain why you are here, Nishiki." Kaneki's voice was deadly, as if threatened to kill the main knight, but of course he wouldn't. And they both knew that.

"Again, I apologise for intruding, Your Majesty. But Nico from Aogiri Kingdom is here to see you."