———

"Dia! Dia!" Her (h/c) head of hair flowing behind her, a young girl raced down the stone halls of the Brodian castle, her innocently eager beaming face ever radiant with childish glee. "Let's visit the training ground! Come on! Come on!"

She flung the door to the crown prince's, Diamant's, study room open, her poise victorious once she located her dearest friend.

She skipped over to where the child heir sat in front of a desk, workbooks and papers scattered everywhere. "Heya, (Y/N)." The red-head replied, mirroring her wide smile.

"You're doing boring work again?! No fair!" (Y/N) gasps once she reads the first few lines of one of the papers nearest to her. Even at her young age, her status as a noble provided an excellent education, second to that of the prince's, and so she was all too familiar with being assigned work — all in order for a future that her little mind couldn't comprehend.

Diamant chuckles. "Yeah, it's the worst. Just my duty to take over for the king one day and all that... Oh! But don't tell my father!" He adds urgently, then continues. "I'd rather be anywhere but here."

"Then let's run away!" His fellow wealthy youth cheered without any hesitation.

His ruby eyes light up. This was a game they played often, and it didn't ever involve actually leaving the palace grounds, never mind the Brodian border. The majority of the time, they made it to where the knights were sparring, and, in awe, they would watch until mealtime.

Today wasn't an exception, as it was just another one of those times that all wished they could relive once childhood was far behind them in their path of life.

"Yes, let's!" Diamant agreed earnestly and stepped out of his chair as (Y/N) began to run towards the door, as hasty as ever.

Never a moment of time was wasted when she was around, and Diamant loved every minute of her energy. She was so much freer than most noble and royal children, and he knew it was likely because — just like his little brother, Alcryst — (Y/N) wasn't firstborn. Still, though, he spent many days at her side during their early years.

"Woah! Someday, are you going to be like that, Dia? A hero?!" (Y/N) exclaimed, jabbing her pointer finger at the Brodian warriors that were currently engaging in practice duels against each other in order to keep their blades from dulling.

Diamant slowly nods. "I guess so. But right now, I'm still using wooden swords, y'know." Little did he know, that in the times to come, he would grow up to be the wise and brave king that all would look up to and honor.

"Yeah, but someday." She grins cheekily. "And I wanna be there with you, your lovely consultant, yeah? And you'll parade into battle to save me — although, I guess I'm not a princess."

He thinks for a moment. "You could be." It appears to dawn on him. "You could be my princess, and then the queen."

"Really?! You think we could do that?!" She gasped, her excitement ever soaring as she thought up elaborate fantasies of her all grown up, mature, and wrapped in dazzling silk skirts and luscious velvet accessories, both adorned with pearls and jewels of all assortment. While a child's dreams most likely wouldn't become a reality,

"Shall we make a promise?" Dimant suggests, tearing his eyes away from the knights and to his ecstatic companion. "Once we are of age, we shall marry each other, and we'll be together forever."

(Y/N) holds up a pinky, linking it with his. "It's a promise!" She agrees with a vigorous nod.

- - -

-Your POV-

Years since that day, and it still remains close to my heart, burned into my memory like the most precious moment I'd had yet to live through. I could still recall the innocence in our vow, the purity in our shared smiles, and with that in mind, I remained fast to the solemn oath I had pinky promised to.

While now it may seem silly if I put it into words, Diamant's assurance meant more than the world to me, both then and now. And still, to this day, we were practically inseparable, despite how our responsibilities that come with our high status often came between any free time together.

In addition to that, there was also the matter of suitors.

Diamant, being the crown prince, was the destination of affection from numerous girls from all corners of Brodia and, dare I say, even across the entire continent of Elyos.

Anyone in their right mind would want a shot with him, would want to aim for the throne on which Diamant was destined to one day sit. Of course, that doesn't exclude me, but please note that my efforts for his attention weren't nearly as desperate or pathetic.

And it would also be important to note that Diamant isn't the only one with a stampede of suitors. Unfortunately, I was also prone to gathering a crowd of admirers. Had I not already pledged to spend my life with Diamant one day, I likely would've had a fiance. But still, I held fast to my childhood dream — not of being a queen anymore, but of being with him — and I adamantly refused all who proposed.

Finding clever ways to avoid going out on dates became a reluctant pastime until Diamant found out about it.

"You're getting requests weekly?!" His eyes grew wide in astonishment, and per usual, he didn't care to cover his genuine shock. Even though our days of innocence were long gone, Diamant was stubbornly honest, although never to a negative extent.

I nodded reluctantly, a little sheepish to admit the truth. "Near daily."

"Have you gone out with all of them?!" Diamant exclaimed, jumping to conclusions all too quickly.

"No, no. Not at all." A bit embarrassed by the situation, I hurried to reassure him. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if he remembered the promise we made all of that time ago. "I have denied all of their offers so far."

"Oh." His panic recedes. "...You did?"

I merely smiled and held up my pinky, hoping against hope that he recalled our vow. It was something I had stuck faithfully to, and now, as a bachelorette who hadn't even received her first kiss, I wished for nothing more than for him to hold onto our bond too.

Diamant shakes his head, backing off. "But still... it's gotta be tiring, right? And I'm sure there are many who go pretty far. I mean, you're gorgeous, who wouldn't?"

My cheeks turned bright red, and I could feel the heat creeping up my neck. Was he... was he serious? Gorgeous? That wasn't something I heard from him every day. "I... I suppose... but I've been able to hold my own so far."

"If you're sure that you'll be all right... but if you're ever not, please don't hesitate to tell me. Any unwanted suitors can answer to the crown prince of Brodia."

I offered him a warm smile. "Thank you, Dia." The nickname hadn't left with the years, despite it being cutesy and childish.

It wasn't long before the Divine Dragon, Alear, awoke, flipping the world on its side. While it was a fact that we were at odds with Elusia almost constantly, now we fought side-by-side for the legendary deity who slept in a castle in the sky for a thousand years.

Brodia joined with some hesitation, but after the current ruler, King Morion himself, fell to a force yet to be uncovered, we were forced to show our cards to the enemy, and as a result, we joined Alear in her quest to unite Elyos and defeat the Fell Dragon, who was a foe to the entire continent, and beyond — even to other worlds and alternate dimensions that I could only begin to imagine.

After a great many battles, the thoughts of possible lovers were pushed to the side. Sure, I hadn't given up on the prospect, but when you were dodging arrows and blades that rained from the sky, there was little room for romance.

When that final battle was over, no one knew what to do. The Emblems had left us, left Alear, and now, the only thing left to do was rebuild our ravaged countries.

I had tried once or twice to gain an audience with the newly ascended king of Brodia but failed. I understood — he was busy trying to restore our region which had been trampled by the warfare. Unfortunately, I hardly caught a glimpse of him until the day of his official coronation.

Everyone was rejoicing, and rightly so. At last, their homes were no longer battlefields. No more lives had to be lost at the hands of our foes.

The day that Diamant ascended the throne made me realize. My fairytale wedding with Dia was a joke. He was the king. The king. And I was nothing more than a noble, a childhood friend of his. I was holding out on a fantasy from my youth.

I should've faced the truth years ago. But if I had known it would hurt this much to let him go...

I hadn't even realized that my eyes were so full of tears that I couldn't see through my glassy, blurry vision, and I had slumped against a wall of my room in the palace — where I was staying at the moment, still delusional that I had a chance. Before I knew it, I had buried my face in my hands and was sobbing.

"Hey, (Y/N)?"

I froze at the voice, then hastily wiped at my tears. "J-just a moment, Diamant!" I reluctantly called back, but my voice cracked and I tumbled back into my misery once more.

Before he came in, I needed to look presentable. I needed to say goodbye to my dreams because that's all that they would be: dreams. Memories of a childhood crush. He was too good for me, and that was a fact.

"I'm coming in, and don't protest, you're crying, aren't you?"

Before I could rush to stop him, the door was opened, and the sight of the dashing crimson prince I could never have made the tears flow faster. In mere moments, he was at my side, pulling me into a tight hug.

I clung to him, unable to control the bawling. Diamant gently stroked my head, his worry evident in his eyes. "What happened? What's wrong? You never call me Diamant. And- and you're crying."

"I was a fool." I whimpered.

"No, you're the smartest woman I know."' He denies it immediately.

I shook my head fervently. "That is not true. I am hopeless. And to think... to think I..." I trailed off when it hit me that if I elaborated, things could only turn even more sour than they already were.

"(Y/N), please, did I do something wrong? You must tell me, so I can fix it." He insisted. Burying my head into his shoulder, I let the tears fall, wanting to remember this moment. I was going to tell him.

"Diamant–"

"Please, (Y/N), call me Dia... like you would before the war."

I paused, then relented. "Dia, you're the king now. Even though you're not the kind of person who holds status over others, it's something I cannot deny. You remember our promise, right? When we were still just kids? But you're the king now. I should've realized this earlier... I should've given up on you... but I can't..."

"The promise to get married one day?" A faint dusting of pink on his cheeks told me that he, indeed, remembered. It made my heart flutter back to life for a fleeting moment before it fell back into despair.

Braving on, I continued, saying, "I love you, Dia. I always have, and I still do. But it's all too real to me that there's no way you could marry me of all people."

His grip tightened, and I lost myself in his embrace, although internally, I feared rejection more than any opponent I had fought over the last year. Diamant was the hero he always wanted to be, but that only made me something far less.

So, the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth was exactly what I heard. "I love you too, (Y/N)."

My head snapped up, our eyes locking together. Had I misheard? There was no way... that he just said that. "A-are you sure...?" I whispered, not wanting myself to become lost in wishful thinking once again.

"A promise is a promise. And besides, we've been waiting all this time. Don't argue against it — you're the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with, (Y/N)." Diamant releases me from his gentle embrace, searching my eyes for any hint of reciprocation.

Having no way to stop the smile from spreading across my face, I let hope overtake me just as quickly as I had abandoned it. He meant it. Our promise.

———

Author's Note:

Hi! This is a request for Soleil-Lovely

Honestly, this came out longer than I thought it would. And this is my second time writing for Diamant, by the way.

Today's question: A little off-topic, but do you have a favorite country in Elyos? Mine is likely Elusia.

Thank you,
Lillian

Word count: 2260 words

———