『once upon a time...』

FOR YURIKO'S FIFTEEN BIRTHDAY, the entire kingdom celebrated by hosting a hunting competition per the first princess's request.

     of course, that had meant that the princes and princesses from other kingdoms were invited to join in on the fun as well.

"it's pitiful, naoya. a kingdom with only daughters. when you marry one of them, make sure you have her birth you many sons", naobito — the ruler of the zen'in kingdom — instructed.

     "of course, father", the twelve year-old prince respectfully replied.

     "but father, what about us?", one of naoya's older brothers (naoruko), questioned.

     "it'd be best if you three married all of chimon's daughters, so that we would have ultimate control of the japana kingdom upon his death", naobito brutally stated.

     "naoruko, since you're only one year older than princess yuriko, you best impress her at this birthday event and swoon her", their father commanded.

     "I won't disappoint, father", naoruko responded with great confidence.

     upon greeting the japana family and engaging in some polite talk, naoya's eyes evaluated the second and third princess with heavy judgment.

'princess atsuko's the timid type', naoya deduced, for the girl shyly fiddled with the hem of her handkerchief.

'she would make a good wife for brother naofuto'.

"by the way, where's princess yuriko? the star of today?", naobito asked, as the queen of japana had spoken up much to the former's dismay.

"she's on her way", danuja smiled.

'the third princess is outright not fitted to be my wife. I'll have to mold her into shape before this attitude sticks with her through—'

"greetings, your majesty, father, and mother", a voice delicately said, breaking naoya from his thoughts.

upon looking up, he was met with eyes as red as rubies and skin as pale as snow; hair as black as ink, and a smile as alluring as sirens.

young naoya was completely mesmerized.

"ah, there's our little star of the day! let me introduce you to—"

"the zen'in family", yuriko interrupted, "zen'in naoruko — the oldest — zen'in naofuto — the middle child — and zen'in naoya — the youngest but the one with the most potential to inherit the throne".

naobito lightly chuckled, as naoya's eyes widened with slight shock.

"I'm impressed with your daughter, chimon. did you teach her all this?"

the king of japana gently nudged his firstborn, to which yuriko had answered with ultimate confidence.

"it is my duty as the heiress of japana to know every single one of my guests. it is merely the bare minimum", she recited.

"hm, that's a good quality to have. wouldn't you agree, naoruko?", naobito asked his eldest, who was just as smitten as naoya.

"indeed, father. I'm sure we'll make a great match", naoruko accidentally spilled out.

     yuriko's lips twitched with disdain, as naoya suddenly noticed the menacing aura behind the first princess. at first it triggered his fight or flight instincts, and upon closer inspection, it shook him to the core that it looked like it was simply just two fairies — when in truth, they were so much more.

     "oh, suguru, satoru! do the clothes fit? I had them custom made for this occasion", yuriko informed, turning around and ignoring the first prince of the zen'in kingdom.

     "yuko's the best at picking clothes out for us", gojō complimented, hastily reverting back to his charming smile.

     "and these two are...?"

     "ah, they're yuriko's fairies. she didn't summon them, but rather handpicked them. they're very close", chimon briefly explained.

     "princess yuriko has people make them custom clothes?", naoruko curiously asked, as his fairies dressed as well as the servants at their palace.

     "they're not just my protectors. they're my most valued friends", yuriko answered, as she smoothed out getō's black button up.

     "interesting...", the oldest prince commented.

     "anyways, let's get on with the hunting, shall we? yuriko, dear, won't you do the honors?", danuja encouraged.

     "of course, mother".

♚

     perhaps entering the forest without staying beside his siblings was a wrong move on his part. however, naoya wasn't fond of his brothers anyways. they were walking headaches.

"who dares to step foot on my territory?", a strange voice suddenly spoke up.

"who—"

     a faerie had then appeared in front of the twelve year-old, causing naoya to choke on his breath and stumble backwards.

     grabbing the hilt of his sword, the youngest prince drew his weapon and pointed it at the threatening creature.

     "you think you'd be able to kill me? you foolish human! I've been gracious and warned you, yet you continue to jeopardize me!", the faerie scowled, his wings flapping angrily, as he conjured up a scraggly sword out of thin air.

     "watch how you speak to me, you imbecile! I am to be king one day, so bow down and I'll think about letting you go this time", naoya stubbornly retorted, his hands shaking slightly, as he's never fought a faerie before.

swallowing his nerves, the young prince engaged in a duel which could been marked as one-sided, for naoya wasn't holding his ground very well.

with his hands all sweaty, the sword flew out of his grip upon the faerie attacking naoya with his.

and just when the faerie's sword was about to stab through naoya's heart, his head was cleanly sliced off, causing a spray of blood to splash unevenly across the prince's face.

"pft, weak ass", gojō insulted, as getō elbowed his best friend in the stomach.

"shut it, satoru. he's a prince", getō reminded.

yuriko sheathed her sword, as she made her way over towards the third zen'in prince, kicking the dead faerie's body across the ground.

without saying anything, the princess had taken out her handkerchief, kneeling down and wiping the blood off of naoya's face.

still stunned, naoya could only stare, as yuriko tilted his chin up with her pointer finger.

"no worries. I won't tell anyone", the girl grinned, "I know how much the zen'in kingdom values their manliness".

it was clearly a mockery, but naoya couldn't help but breathlessly blurt out, "marry me".

the dark-haired princess raised a brow, as gojō's jaw dropped to the ground.

"did he just—did I hear correc—suguru??"

getō glared at the zen'in prince, as an evident frown had fallen upon his face.

"what are you proposing with?", yuriko calmly asked, to which her two fairies had listened with disbelief.

"yuko! you're not actually considering marrying that twerp, are you?!", gojō loudly questioned, not even caring that he had insulted a royal member.

"funny you call him that when you three are the same age", yuriko rebutted, to which gojō could only cross his arms in dissatisfaction.

"so, tell me. what are you proposing to me with?", the princess repeated.

the dark-haired zen'in wasn't sure how to respond, for he didn't think this through like usual.

"w-well, what do you want? a ring? chests full of gold and jewelry? a lavish wedding gown? I can provide it all!", naoya confidently announced.

a teasing smirk appeared on yuriko's face, as she stood up and returned back to gojō and getō's side.

"I want...your kingdom", she boldly declared.

"if you become king like the rumors predict, then gift me your kingdom as a proposal. maybe then I'll consider marrying you".

leaving naoya speechless on the ground, yuriko grabbed getō and gojō's hands, leading them away.

"I'll do it", young naoya whispered to himself.

     "I'll become king, and marry her".

♚

     the hunt ended with yuriko bringing back some dead boars and a bear. much less to say, aratani was amazed by how strong her oldest sister was, aspiring to be just like her.

     "how'd you kill it, sister yuko?! tell me, tell me, tell me!!", the youngest japana excitedly demanded.

     "it was nothing really", yuriko casually brushed off, as she glanced over at gojō and getō, who were still bitter from before.

     before aratani could question yuriko even more, the first princess had sauntered over to her two fairies, who were away from the human gathering.

     "you two don't want any cake? the icing's not too sweet", yuriko stated.

     the two twelve year-olds huffed, turning their heads, as yuriko hummed to herself, suddenly gasping and successfully gauging the two's attention.

     "ah! I think I hurt my hand when fighting the bear...goodness! the blood's going to—"

     "BLOOD?! WHERE?", gojō immediately intercepted, breaking silence, as he held onto the princess's hand, where there was no wound whatsoever.

     "you liar", gojō grumbled, as yuriko softly laughed in response.

     "quit being mad at me, you two. it's my birthday today", the girl sighed, pulling them into a hug, as getō soaked in the delicate scent of honeysuckles with a mix of mahogany.

     "you can't marry him", gojō grumbled, "even if he offers you his entire kingdom, which I doubt that little turd would do".

     "satoru's right. you can't marry him. there's better options out there", getō added on.

     "oh yeah? like who?", yuriko questioned, pulling away so that she could see the two's conflicted expressions.

     'like us', they wanted to say.

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: some naoya content,, kid naoya >>> adult naoya

     also, my goal is to make you all hate yuriko by the end of this story. and just in case you're confused by her nickname:

     yuriko —> YUriKO = yuko