Ryuko was sitting in her and Shinya's room quietly as guards and ladies and waiting surrounded her. It had been a few days since her encounter with her family, and they still weren't allowed within fifty feet of her, which was great.

They had scheduled the wedding to be that week. She had to pick out her dress that week, and they had many things to try. The cake was vanilla, the entire kingdom had been invited, and the theme had been planned by the wedding committee. It was nothing that Ryuko exactly wanted. If she got to plan, she would invite her best friends, her small village, a raspberry or caramel flavored cake, and a fairytale theme.

Ryuko was upset about her not having any choice in the matter, but whatever. No time to mope over it.

"My lady? I've been thinking about something, and I believe you may have something to do with it." Keigo said, entering. She placed her book down and patted the seat in front of her.

"What is it? I can most likely tell you. Do I have the right to say no if I do get uncomfortable?"

"Oh, of course! It's a simple question!" Keigo said, sweating bullets quite a bit. "The night of the ball, you appeared, but then... my dead wife appeared out of no where."

Ryuko blinked and was taken aback. He was talking about Rumi.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You know, everyone's been calling you a witch. Even the common people did. No one knew who you were," Keigo said, not looking at her, "only Shinya. I need you to confirm to me right now, that you are a normal person, and my wife's appearance has nothing to do with you."

Ryuko could either

A. Tell Keigo about Rumi and Nejire being fairy godmothers and be placed in an asylum, or be accused of witch craft and burned at the stake.

Or

B. Say "no" and say it was a coincidence.

"Keigo, I'm a normal person. Shinya and I met by fate after my friend's funeral."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware. But, there are reports that your friend, Nejire Hado, was at the ball. Isn't this weird? Two dead women randomly showed up, along with you, one of them coincidentally being in close relation to your fiancé, and one being your best friend. Isn't this weird. The same residue from my wife was found tracked throughout the halls of where you and Shinya traveled. Glitter."

"You're very smart Keigo, but no, it truly must've been a coincidence."

Keigo frowned. He actually thought she was innocent. Ryuko was looking very suspicious. Whether she was a witch or not, she was up to something. Keigo was going to question the Grand Duke next. He believed Rikiya was actually right to question her.

"Thank you for your time Ryuko."

—————

"Your Grace, I want to speak with you about Ryuko. She's very suspicious." Keigo said. He didn't know what Shinya would say if he found out that Keigo was conspiring against his fiancé, but he needed more information before he truly did anything.

"Finally you succumb to this. It's about time!" He laughed. "Don't you think it's weird that she would want my guests gone? I'm a good person, my guests would be too."

"You have made it very clear that you dislike her though. She says her family has mistreated her, maybe it's justified that she dislikes them."

"Great. So that's understood, now, why was his majesty immediately in love with her?"

"She is rather beautiful, and no one heard what they were talking about when they were alone. She's also The old grand Dukes daughter. So they may have met before." Keigo said, desperately trying to get both sides.

"Toshinori! It's like everyone needs to compare me to him!" Rikiya shouted. Keigo looked around.

"What? I literally just said they were kin..." Keigo said, noticing how awkward everything was. "Wait, is that why you hate Ryuko? Because her dad was your rival?"

"I have more!"

The Grand Duke went on a tangent about why Ryuko was so untrustworthy.

"Thank you for your time Your Grace."

—————

Keigo had to decide to trust Ryuko, who was obviously in a hard place when she decided to lie to him. Rikiya let the words flow.

He would have to get more out of Ryuko before picking a side. Ryuko was a nice woman, but there was so much evidence pointing to her being a spy or being a witch. The spy route was kinda closed off, since it was proved she was the daughter of Toshinori.

So witch craft was most likely the case.

Or something different.

—————

"So what're you thinking? You're not allowed within fifty feet of Ryuko, so how are you going to do anything?"

"I'm thinking, we hire an assassination attempt, on you." Chitose said back to the Grand Duke. "But they purposely miss, causing the palace guards to protect you, leaving Ryuko completely alone. Do this on the day of the wedding, so that she doesn't have a chance to get help." Chitose said, plotting out the entire plan, with his little remarks every now and then.

"So, what are you going to make her do?" He asked.

"His majesty, the damned fool he is, would easily forgive her. He wouldn't care if she tried to stab him, he's a hopeless romantic. That's why, she's going to attack the person the King cares about so much, that he wouldn't be able to forgive her." Chitose said, smirking.

"Ryuko is going to attack Princess Reiko."

"Fabulous plan. On her wedding too, where the entire kingdom will be. She'll be arrested for treason and beheaded."

"This will be interesting."

✨✨✨✨✨

I love that Keigo is no longer the best friend character and instead he's trying to figure out whether to trust Ryuko or work with Rikiya and Chitose. I also like that Ryuko is incriminating herself by not telling the truth, cuz, uwu my plans are 👁👄👁 interesting.