So much for my plan of escape...

Germa soldiers, at every turn.

Hovering around the food vendors, flanking the pathways, stiffly conversing with the locals. Like overstaffed turnkeys straight from Impel Down, they were simply everywhere, no matter where I looked, and I couldn't help but feel like their eyes were stuck right on me.

So much for having a good time. I had always enjoyed a good festival, but the military presence was stifling, not to mention the overwhelmingly strong stench of Vinsmoke clinging to the air around the swell of music and laughter. It was like a cage, their pheromones acting as the balls and chains.

How could my parents think this is a good idea? Not even twenty-four hours in, and it already feels as though we've lost our freedom...

"There you are!" My hand flew to clutch at my heart, lest it flew from my chest when I heard that voice from directly behind me, and I turned to shoot a sharp glare at Corbin. He stayed a respectable distance from me, which was appreciated, and he gazed about with his hands on his hips. "These Germa guys are really anal about their security, huh?"

Reaching out, I gave him a bap to the chest, brow furrowing.
"Scared the crap out of me! But yeah, apparently so...One of the countless reasons why I hate them." I sighed, motioning my head for him to follow when I began to walk. "No sneaking off for us tonight, I guess. Food?"

There was always the option of stuffing my face until I became physically ill, then I would have an excuse to remove myself from the situation, and with it, the Vinsmokes. It wasn't ideal, but I wasn't the type to fear a little vomit.

"That Ichiji guy looks like an actual asshole. A bleeding one." Corbin spoke his unfiltered opinion, and I snorted, nodding in complete agreement.
"I'd rather a bleeding ass than having to deal with him. He's worse than he was as a kid, in a different way. More cunning than direct bastardry...and that's saying something. Freak of nature..."

I edged a little closer to my companion as we passed another cluster of Germa soldiers, and I watched them right back as their heads moved to follow our path. It was almost violating.
"He hasn't tried anything with you, right? Because I'll actually kill him."

You brave, sweet moron.

"You'd die, but no, he hasn't, and I really doubt he's stupid enough to try before the wedding...which will hopefully never even happen..." I sighed, ignoring his indignant little huff as I bumped his hip, directing him towards a food stall I didn't recognise.

It was a stark white and made of metal, unlike the rest of the wooden setups around the festival, but the smell wafting towards us was tempting.
"Wait, you wanna try food from Germa? It's probably packed with chemicals and poisons..." Corbin's nose scrunched up at the thought, and whilst I'd usually agree, nothing about it smelled toxic.

Fell Wilds was an organic country. The land was rich and fertile, blessing us with all we needed, almost all year round. All livestock was free range, and more often than not, from field to kitchen within the same day. I hadn't known anything different, aside from books and things travellers had mentioned.

"Hello! What do you guys have?" I ignored Corbin as I approached, and the young woman by the counter of the stall immediately went rigid, becoming a vision of complete panic.
"O..Oh my goodness..?! Your Highness?!" When she tried to throw herself into a bow she very nearly thwacked her head upon the counter, and I raised my hands to stop her.

"Easy, easy! I'm, uh, not sure how Germa does it, but here in Fell, we don't do much of that royal treatment thing. Only for special occasions, mostly, unless it's my father." I explained, hoping to stop her from bursting a valve. "What's your name?"

Nervously adjusting her ginger-blonde braid, the woman seemed hesitant to respond, but after a thick swallow she finally managed it.
"My, uh, my name is Cosette. I'm the head chef for the Vinsmoke family. We wanted to share some of the food we often cook on Germa tonight since it's a little different."

She seems sweet. I like her. Poor thing, having to work for such disgusting people...

When I took another sniff at the air I began to salivate, bouncing a little on my toes so I could try to sneak a look into the little kitchen area behind her where several men were cooking away.
"I'd love to try something, if I may? Honestly, I could stand here all night because if I have to breathe in any more Vinsmoke pheromones tonight, I just might die."

There it was; a faint but genuine smile as she turned to fetch me some food.
"Yes, the princes do have very...dominating scents...It takes a lot of getting used to." She explained, turning with a paper plate to present me with the source of the delicious smell. It appeared to be some kind of fancy, somewhat soggy looking sandwich with an egg on top. "This is a Croque Madame. It's toasted bread, ham, gruyère, and a rich mornay sauce, topped with an egg, over easy."

That sure is a lot of words.

"So this is the type of stuff those guys eat? All fancy?" Corbin asked as I picked the sandwich up, giving it a sniff before taking a big bite.
"Oh, this is more like a breakfast food for them, or in Prince Yonji's case, a light snack. I-"

"CORBS, OH MY GOD, TASTE THIS!" Interuppting Cosette, I all but smashed the sandwich into Corbin's mouth, my own still full of the divine creation. It tasted so good, and so different to our usual food, and I was ready to eat a thousand more on the spot. "Cosette, this is amazing!"

"Shit, it is pretty good..." Corbin agreed, wiping cheesy residue from his lips. Cosette's face turned almost pink as she attempted to wave off the compliments, twisting on the spot.
"R..Really? Wow, thank you! I'm really glad you both like it! Would you like some more..?"

My affirmative came out garbled, surrounded by cheese, ham and bread, and the sweet chef happily presented us with more, smiling as we stuffed our faces.
"Please let me steal you from Germa. Seriously, I'll do it. I need this every day of my life." I meant it, too. Not only would it be amazing to have new food options, but it would also get her the hell out of that awful place.

"I'm, um, not sure I would be missed in Germa, if I'm honest. Speaking of, I'm surprised to see that you're not with Prince Ichiji? Is he busy?" She asked curiously, pressing herself up closer to the bench as one of the other chefs passed behind her.

"Oh, no, I kind of-"
"She gave me the slip."

There wasn't any way to properly describe the full body shudder that voice sent through me. Suddenly, the delectable scent of Cosette's cooking gave way to that dark, rich spice I had come to dread. Turning to look up, instead of meeting Corbin's face, I found my reflection in Ichiji's sunglasses.

Fuck.

One, two, three, four, his fingertips spidered their way from my lower spine to curl around my waist, pulling me closer into his side. The action had a dual effect on me, nearly causing me to both pass out from how fast my blood was pumping and lose my dinner.
"You weren't possibly going to try and escape me, were you, sweetheart? Without so much as a dance?"

Oh, I despised that word coming out of his mouth, and even more so that it made my face heat up. Choking down what had been left in my mouth from my last bite, I stiffened my jaw, trying to subtly pull away from him.
"Need I remind you, darling, that you were the one to walk away from me. I gave you no such slip." Nose turning up, I took another bite, if only to stop my jaw locking.

"At least let the Princess finish her dinner, Majesty." Now, why would I have been stupid enough to believe that Corbin would have kept his trap shut? It was in his nature to be protective, especially when it came to me, but right now, it was a stupid move.

Whilst not exactly stiff, I could feel a strange sort of tautness through where Ichiji's hand had homed itself on my waist, and I could have sworn I saw his lip attempt to curl back over his teeth.
"Who are you, exactly?" The prince asked with a frosted politeness, turning in a way that forced me almost behind his frame.

Corbin was positively bristling, but much to my relief, he took notice of my less than subtle head shaking.
"A friend of the princess, Your Highness..." He did a pretty decent job of keeping his oure hatred out of his tone. I knew that took a lot of mental strength, especially for a hardhead like him.

"If that's all you are, then you should perhaps reconsider the next time you're thinking about opening your mouth." Ichiji looked back at me from over his shoulder, lantern light reflecting off of his tinted lenses, making them seem as though they were burning. "Come. You can eat on the way, if you must."

There was no point in trying to resist when he tugged me away from Corbin and Cosette, the firmer glowering as he tossed me the remainder of my fancy sandwich.
"You had no right to speak to him like that, you asshole." I muttered, agitation further shown in the way I tore another bite from my food.

"If Fell Wilds is, in fact, a free country, as your family so often preaches, then yes, I had every right." He responded, finally releasing his grip so I could put some much needed space between us. "Just as I suppose you have every right to shovel food into your face like a half starved pig."

I took great pride in hearing the blatant disgust in his voice, at the very least glad that our stupid 'fated mate' crap wasn't making me upset by the insult.
"That I do, Bitchiji." I nodded in agreement, just knowing he rolled his eyes despite not being able to see it.

"Clever girl. You've been wanting to use that one for a while, haven't you? Or did that mongrel servant of yours you've been fucking suggest it?" The moment that passed Ichiji's lips I stumbled in my step, nearly choking on the final crust of my sandwich.
"Corbin isn't a...I'm not fucking him? What? Where the hell did you pull that from?"

Normally, I wouldn't care if the man I hated most knew I was screwing someone else, but I had to think about Corbin. He wouldn't stand any kind of chance against any one of the Vinsmokes, and whilst Ichiji cared not for me, I could tell he didn't like the notion of sharing.

Curling an unwanted arm around my shoulders, Ichiji forced me off the walkway and past a pair of Germa soldiers, resulting in us being alone and mostly out of sight from curious eyes and ears. Back, back, until I was trapped between the trunk of a tree on the outskirts of the clearing and his intimidating self.

"You reek of him, just like you did when I arrived. His stench is all over you." He leaned down so close that I could almost feel the brush of his lip against my ear, and I held my breath. "What do you think I do to those who dare to play with my toys, hmm?"

I need to be more careful.

"First of all, Vinsmoke," I mustered up the courage to shove him off of me, knowing full well that he chose to step away, since I could never hold a candle to him regarding strength. "I'm not your toy, and second of all, if you harm a single hair on his head my-"

"What? Daddy will get mad and cancel the arrangement? Yeah, no, he won't. He has the future of his whole country riding on this, so the decimated corpse of some farm boy his pretty little daughter is fucking won't change a thing." Even in the dark I could see the curve of Ichiji's smirk, somewhat crooked, and it chilled me right down to the bone.

"Wh..Why do you even care..? We hate each other. We have all our lives, so what difference does it make?" I could confidently say I wouldn't care if Ichiji was romping around with anyone else, even though a strange twist in my guts at the thought tried telling me otherwise, so I wanted to know what his deal was. There was no reason for him to care.

Reaching out, Ichiji used a single, almost delicate finger to tilt my chin up, taking a moment to study my expression. The simple action had my throat bobbing, and nausea swelled in my guts when I started to think he kind of looked attractive in the dim light.

"I may just be doing what I'm told, but that doesn't mean I'm content with sharing your body, especially with common filth. Could just be that fated crap as well, who knows?" He hummed, cocking his head to the side a little, smirk stretching out. "You don't want him to end up with the same fate as that pathetic little rabbit, now do you, pretty princess?"

He's serious. He'll kill him.

It took so much willpower to fight against my instincts to remain where I was with his finger beneath my chin, but I managed to slap his hand away, my shoulder bumping his arm as I passed him by, back towards the lights of the festival.
"I don't feel well. I'm going home."

I could feel his sharp, calculating gaze upon my back, even long after I had rejoined the so-called celebration. It was like he'd infected me with a part of himself, and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't shake the feeling.

I need to figure something out, and fast...I can't spend the rest of my life with him, and I can't let him hurt Corbin. There has to be a way to get out of this...but how..?

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***Back on my Ichiji shit. Again.

I've been adding to my Vinsmoke collection, in my absence.

I only need a Yonji mugi mugi plush to complete it because I have the Yonji WCF on the way 🥹

Next time: Familiar***