And the flames blazed

And the flames blazed

King Nagamasa Midori was not known for his friendliness. He always did as he wanted and as he knew. No, the way he wanted would be more correct to admit. So this time, he first did what came into his head, and only then he realized what it threatened him with. Kidnapping Princess Hotaru from the fortified castle of the Tachibana Kingdom was not difficult. Just why he did it in the first place, Midori didn’t know. This happened in a fit of emotion, but what emotion exactly? The girl turned out to be not a timid one. She started fights, threw tantrums and even got into hand-to-hand combat. Yes, he was in a hurry. There was no need to kidnap her and then publicly announce their engagement. Of course, with this statement Midori wanted to annoy the single ruler of the neighboring kingdom, because he knew that Matsuoka had a reverent attitude toward the young heiress of the glorious Tachibana family. And Midori also knew that Hotaru would never marry him of her own free will. To be honest, he was even ready to let her go, just to save the walls of his beloved family estate from another explosion of the emotional blonde. After all, when she was angry, anything - be it a book or a pen for writing – would become a real nuclear weapon of mass destruction into her hands. That was the level of her hatred towards him. Once again putting a cheeky mask on his pale face, King Nagamasa entered the captive's tower without knocking. To his great surprise, he did not find her in the room. Hotaru stood on the balcony and looked at the starry sky, humming some national song of her country. Such dramatic changes in her mood alerted the young man. He even had some hopes that the girl would finally come to terms with the fate of a slave and accept his marriage proposal, which had remained unanswered for a year now. “Hotaru,” he called her hoarsely and somehow rudely. “Is it you again, your Majesty?” without bothering to turn around, the girl asked indifferently. “You know, I’m already tired of you constantly bursting into my bedroom without knocking in the middle of the night. Is this how a decent groom should behave? What impression should I have about you, in your opinion?” The Invincible King (this nickname was given to him firsthand) was dumbfounded by surprise. It was really strange to hear those words from her mouth, because just yesterday the girl had kicked him out of the room with a filthy broom, sending a good portion of threats in an untranslatable Tachibana dialect. “Y-you.. you’re not going to hit me again for this?” Midori asked somehow hesitantly and even confusedly. “There’s no point in it anyway. No matter how much I ignore you, you still do the same. I'm already tired of this. And in general,” Hotaru said this and returned to look straight into his gray eyes, “if you really want to marry me, then take the trouble to go through the mandatory stage of courting. I need romance, serenades under the window, poems dedicated to me, a sea of flowers and chocolate, but from you I see only the dull walls of this tastelessly furnished tower and your face, constantly distorted with that nasty grin!” the princess’s emerald eyes lit with bright flame, turning all her knowledge into discontent. The man realized that the proud heiress of the Tachibana Kingdom was challenging him. Well... The Eternal Commander never fled from a worthy battle, and from what he could see, this girl was a strong opponent. Even the native kingdom did not have the opportunity to return its princess home. No one could defeat the Invincible King and his army. The United Kingdom of Matsuoka, which extended a helping hand to Hotaru's parents, was no exception. “ So, have you decided to connect your life with mine? I can’t believe so easily that you gave up so quickly,” he decided to retort, carefully testing the waters for pitfalls. Hotaru proudly shook her head in response, causing her thick golden hair to fall over her shoulders. Only now Midori noticed that Princess was dressed in a night gown. This discovery could not help but embarrass the battle-hardened monarch. And really, why did he come to the prisoner in the night?! His train of thoughts was interrupted by the culprit of the uninvited blush on his pale face. “What are you talking about, Your Majesty? I didn’t even think about giving up. I will admit my defeat only when you win my heart, and for this you will have to sweat a lot.” “What's the point” his eyebrow arched in intrigue. He began to enjoy communicating with this unbridled girl, when there were no screams and desire for reprisals on her part. “After all, I can drag you down the aisle by force even tomorrow.” “ By doing so, you will sign your name for defeat. For some reason, it seems to me that you are afraid,” the girl said boldly, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t argue, I’m a prisoner and it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to escape from the forced wedding, but you won’t get any pleasure from this union, knowing that you evaded the challenge that I threw at you.” “You are cunning, Hotaru-chan,” Midori switched to a seductive whisper. This princess drove him crazy with her conclusions! Stressful situations always gave him strength and the will to win; they, like living water, rejuvenated him and charged him with energy. He didn’t even want to remember with what noble thoughts he walked into this room today. Tachibana was up to something, he could feel it, but he didn't want to think about it at the moment. The spirit of competition had already settled in his heart, and the Invincible King was ready to give everything to win this competition. With an imposing gait, characteristic only of purebred and very spoiled cats, the young monarch came close to his captive and leaned his hands on the handrail of the balcony, which was located behind the girl. In just a centimeter away from the beauty’s face, Nagamasa asked in a very low, but for some reason, unusually velvety voice: “How do I know that you won’t deceive me, Hotaru-chan? After all, I may be courting you forever, and you will never respond to my efforts.” The excessive closeness of their bodies frightened the girl, but she still found the strength to look into his impudent oily eyes and answer in a firm tone: “ I always keep my word. I give you three months. If you can’t fall in love with me, grant me freedom! Is it clear?” “Heh,” the young man grinned, touching the princess’s cheek with his warm breath, causing a barely noticeable shiver to run through the latter’s body. “Do you dare to dictate terms to that? Aren't you afraid that you'll lose? After all, then you will definitely never dare to run away from me. Your pride won't let you to.” “ I'm not afraid. But there will be at least some clarity in the relationship,” Tachibana responded less confidently, thinking how she could quickly slip out of the cunning trap of his hands. “Okay,” the king generously agreed. He, as if by chance, took a strand of her blond hair and began to twirl it around his long finger. “What will I get as a reward? Hotaru looked at him with amazed eyes. What impudence! “I said that I would put out my hatred and willingly marry you if I fall in love with you. What else do you need?” “Well,” Midori said thoughtfully, theatrically looking somewhere upward, “it’s too simple. I can marry you even tomorrow. I need something more. Something that would fuel my interest in the game. Hmm, I don’t even know what to come up with...” His sassiness angered her, but the girl decided to abandon military actions, which did not help her gain freedom during these two years. The Invincible King had to be played cunningly. “I will give you an heir!” she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, and then she got surprised at her impulsive statement, covering her mouth with her palm. Midori's gaze instantly returned to her face, that was already turned crimson with embarrassment. Suddenly the monarch remembered that not so long ago he was thinking that it would be nice to plant a sprawling garden next to the castle and also give birth to a son, no less smart, no less handsome and powerful than his father. Of course, by doing this, Nagamasa Midori wanted to amuse his vanity, but the Eternal Commander could not find a single contender for the great role of the mother of the glorious heir, since all the girls with whom he tried to start a conversation about the possibility of creating a future alliance ran away from him, like from the fire. The young man even calmed down a little and resigned himself to such an unfair fate, convincing himself that there would never be another like him, because he was the one and only... And then this wild rose offered to make his secret wishes coming true out of blue! The girl could no longer withstand his discouraged and at the same time maniac gaze and averted her eyes to the side, mentally reproaching herself for being careless in her words. However, after a few seconds, the princess felt her captor pull away from her and, falling on one knee in front of her, he took her hand in his and brought it to his warm lips. The game had begun. “I’ll be waiting impatiently,” Midori said meaningfully, flashing the hypnotic gaze of his seductive eyes at Tachibana, who had turned pale and numb with surprise, “my dear bride and future mother of my heir.” Swallowing nervously, Hotaru Tachibana realized doomedly: there will be more to come. However, she was still very curious to play a dangerous game called “love” with this green-haired despot... The game had begun. And the flames blazed...

The End