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The first time it happened, it was an accident. You were both eight.
Their royal highnesses, prince Megumi and prince Yuji, were staying over at your family's estate as guests. Your mother was a royal through and through, having descended from the greater empire then married into a neighboring kingdom's duchy. After your father passed, she never remarried; choosing instead to focus on serving the kingdom as the perfect duchess.
She never forced you to take on too many responsibilities, despite her own workaholic tendencies. Your mother had simply let you be a child. Eventually, you learned to be extremely grateful she let you grow into your own person.
For now though, you were eight. And some kid just threw a pebble at your very pretty window.
You throw it back at him.
“Ow!” The kid cries as he rubs his forehead, on which a mark has begun to redden. “Hey! Mine was an accident!”
“You still did it!” You say, pointing at the dent he caused while looking down at him from the windowsill. “My response was your consequence.”
The both of you glower at each other until you realize how far he is. “What were you doing throwing rocks at my manor anyway?”
The kid suddenly looks sheepish as his eyes turn to anywhere but you. “My friend needed rocks for some game he made up, and he bet he could catch all of them.” You notice he starts glaring ahead of him at the ground level, so you lean down—out of the window, to follow his gaze. Your eyes catch a head of pink hair before it runs away.
Realizing these two were the royal guests everyone was fussing about, you scoff. “That's hardly very princely of the two of you.”
He bristles. “Is that how you act towards the prince of the kingdom you serve?!”
“I'll greet you properly when our interaction doesn't begin with a pebble being thrown.” You say as you begin closing the window, throwing on a smile just to mess with him more. “Have a pleasant evening.”
You got terribly sick not long after that, and you never saw him for the rest of that summer. The duchess had forbidden visitors unless absolutely necessary so that you could recover quickly.
Prince Megumi fades into your memory, turning into one that you recall only when you spot that dent on your window frame.
You never made the effort to have it repaired, for some reason.
❀ ♡ ❀ ♡ ❀
You're fifteen, hiding in your room as a ball rages downstairs. Your maids would be distraught if they caught you, donning your best clothes, yet curled up on the couch with a book. No matter, this was the perfect way to spend an evening, in your opinion.
When a pebble glides through your window and lands on the floor nearby, you look at it incredulously.
‘This feels strangely familiar...’ But you decide to ignore it, your position on the couch is much too comfortable to leave. You resume reading.
But another rock comes in. Then another.
“Tsk!” Snapping your book shut, you spring up and finally look outside the window. Your eyes meet a certain familiar prince, holding even more rocks in his hands.
You frown at him, crossing your arms over your chest. “This time's deliberate, then?”
“I'm sorry but I need to hide! Please help me—could I come up?” His voice is urgent, and it's only then that you notice the state of his clothes. They were filthy, and part of his coat sleeve blooms red.
Without thinking further, you push a mechanism hidden beneath a flower pot by your window. A rope ladder immediately falls to the ground outside. Megumi is stunned for a moment before reaching for it, and you wonder if he had planned to climb the vines painfully when he asked to come up.
You assist by pulling him once he's within arm's reach, and he collapses into your room with a loud groan. You slam your hand on the mechanism again, and the rope reels back into place.
He looks exhausted, but you have to make him get up. You're not sure how you would move him to the couch if he fainted.
“Stand up for me, please.” You plead with him. “At least to the couch.”
Megumi's breaths are labored as he glances towards the couch. He closes his eyes and groans louder as he gets up and walks slowly, leaning on you the whole time.
He's out like a light once he lies down. Your first instinct is to go get help, but it hits you that you have no idea who Megumi was running from. It dawns on you that if he could ask help from a professional, especially one nearer the palace, he would have. It could be dangerous for anyone else to know he's here.
You purse your lips as you think, and reach for a medical journal on your shelf. You must do your best to tend to his wounds on your own while he rests.
Megumi looks so peaceful as he sleeps. He looks the most relaxed you've ever seen him, and you're thankful he's at least comfortable. While his wounds weren't that deep, he was probably running for a while, which had exhausted and strained him further.
You're cleaning up the medical supplies you used when Megumi regains consciousness for a moment.
“...Thank you.” Megumi's eyes reflect how truly grateful he is. He croaks out the words despite the toll on him. He even grasps your hand dearly.
You clear your throat and look away, but your ears clearly turn red. “If you ever need my help again, just throw a rock. I'll be here.”
That brings a sleepy smile to Megumi's face. “What happened to ignoring me if the encounter starts with a pebble being thrown?”
It takes you a moment to respond. You're not sure what surprises you more, that he remembers your exact words all those years ago, or that he has the gall to crack jokes in his condition.
You stutter out a response lamely to cover up how flustered you are, “I—there can be exceptions, even if it's for you.”
Megumi laughs quietly, and lets out a soft sigh before falling asleep.
You drape a blanket over him as he rests, pausing only to brush his hair away from his eyes.
You don't notice, but the gesture makes Megumi's breathing still for a moment.
❀ ♡ ❀ ♡ ❀
When you're eighteen, your window is severely banged up with dents and scratches. The glass had already broken on more than one occasion, and while of course you had that replaced, the frame stays strong from all the rocks it's been hit with throughout all these years. And, on the day it finally breaks and shatters into spikes, you think you'll make a picture frame out of it.
‘Megumi and I don't have a single nice portrait together, though.’ The thought makes you laugh softly. Both of you weren't exactly exemplary at the frivolous details that come with being nobles, you often helped each other out to skip balls and escape from dreadful hours posing for portraits. But neither of you ever minded.
You bought the most wonderful chair when you were sixteen, you simply melt into it while reading. The best part of it, however, was that you could put it by your window; with the ladder mechanism easy to reach nearby.
Megumi visits less often these days, though. His responsibilities are becoming far too great to leave the palace for too long. He even leaves for other nations and kingdoms sometimes.
But you keep waiting, and he always comes back to you.
A rock clatters into your room and you smile absentmindedly at the sound. You continue reading as your hand moves to trigger the ladder down.
Megumi enters through the window. You'd look at him, but the novel you're reading has suddenly taken an interesting turn, and you're absolutely absorbed into it.
If you had looked up, you would have seen the softest of smiles on Megumi's face.
He approaches and kisses your forehead. By the time you process what happened, he's already walking away as if that was the most normal thing to do. You blink at him in surprise. Megumi only sits on your desk, as he's done so many times before, and begins to do some paperwork he's brought with him.
“What was that?” You ask, still stunned.
“What was what?” Sounds of paper shuffles as he sifts through documents.
“That kiss.”
He pauses.
Your heart seems to rattle in your chest. Were you too blunt? Was it really a normal thing that people like both of you did? Both of you? What were both of you? Does he—
Your thoughts come to an abrupt halt when Megumi smiles, and you finally see that soft and caring smile he saves only for you.
His next words, however, make you throw a pillow at him.
“I'll give you another one later if you liked it that much.”
❀ ♡ ❀ ♡ ❀
It's late into the evening after Megumi has left. You don't speak of the kiss again, and he doesn't either. Though you already had an inkling of your feelings for Megumi, you've never spoken of or acted upon it.
But tonight suddenly made you question if you should start to.
As you retrieve it, your fingers trace a rough texture on the rock Megumi threw earlier. Turning it over, you read something that seems to be etched into it.
‘TWK—p.402, q.1'
Is it some sort of code? What could this be? Surely Megumi was the one to carve this, but how do you decipher it? You stare at the rock and return to your chair. Before you sit down, however, your eyes catch the cover of the book you were reading...
The Wicked King.
The puzzle pieces click into place. A title, a page number, and a quote! Your fingers flutter to get to page 402, not caring that you haven't actually reached that part of the book yet...
The first line makes you gasp and your heart stutter.
“You are my daylight.”
As you trace the line delicately, you wonder if he's always been doing this. But you would have definitely noticed if he was. The jagged texture of the letters are obvious no matter what way you hold the rock. The others before were always perfectly intact.
Your heart skips a beat again. ‘Then... Does this mean that this is the first, and that he'll leave another code next time?’
❀ ♡ ❀ ♡ ❀
A month passes, and Megumi has visited you exactly three times since the first rock with a clue.
Though he's visiting less, you're certainly thinking of him more. The messages you decoded all engraved into your mind at this point, with how many times you've read them.
“You are my daylight.”
“May your day be filled with happiness and warmth, as much as you have given to me.”
“My mind has not forgotten how you smiled at me so.”
“Thank you, for being my home.”
You never let on that you cracked the ciphers, however. He hasn't ever mentioned their existence either, but you suspect he knows that you're aware. Especially since he's been acting so much more dearly during his visits.
After writing all the messages down on a sheet of paper, you realize you should give Megumi a reply. But, how should you do it?
Your eyes find the four small rocks on your desk...
Ah, of course! Of course that's the most perfect way!
Your mind whirls with excitement as you rush outside to find a rock. Once you find one, you realize Megumi is the only person you would do this for...
Because you love him.
And that's it, you've decided. That's what you'll tell him, no code needed.
You love prince Megumi.
❀ ♡ ❀ ♡ ❀
‘Is this how he felt, all those times before?’ His window seems so far and almost out of reach. ‘Was he ever this nervous? Nervous that I wouldn't respond?’
You tighten your grip on the pebble. Megumi never had to worry about that. You'd always respond to him no matter what.
And yet, you're nervous as hell, and shaking like a leaf. If you weren't so anxious, you would have laughed at how baffled the palace staff were when you arrived but didn't enter the palace at all.
The head butler looked so confused when you asked to be led to Megumi's window, but you assured him your intentions meant well.
The pebble suddenly feels heavy in your palm, but you hold yourself firm. You blow a kiss on it softly, before beginning to aim.
The pebble flies from your hand. It was a perfect throw that collides with his window loudly before rattling along his balcony floor.
Megumi peeks out carefully, but then brightens up the moment he sees you. He laughs as he waves at you. “It feels so strange to be on the receiving end of the rock.”
You smile shyly up at him. “But, you haven't just been giving me rocks recently, haven't you?”
He suddenly looks nervous, and starts to search your face for any sign of rejection. When he finds none, he looks cautiously optimistic.
“Pick up that rock now, would you?” You say, acting impatient, but your heart is beating eagerly to see his reaction.
He turns this way and that looking for it, and you stop breathing when he finally finds and reaches for it. Once he reads it, he looks at you with a dazed expression. The rock falls from his hold as he quickly jumps over the balcony edge, and lands safely in front of you.
You're about to nag that he nearly gave you a heart attack when he slowly gets on one knee. Your words die in your throat.
Megumi laughs at how stunned you look. “I'd throw this rock at your window, but my family might actually kill me.”
His smile widens as he jokes, “I don't suppose I need to write a code to express what this one means...” He opens a small box to reveal a stunning ring that suits you perfectly.
“Will you marry me?”