Aloof King and Cold (Acting) Queen - Chapter 43

It was in the evening of the next day that Leo-sama came to pick me up.

"Sorry, I kept you waiting. How is your body feeling?"

"It's alright. This morning, Elias told me about what had happened when I had been asleep. Thank you so much for all of the things you've done for me. I heard that you had also worked to resolve the matter with the Royal Prince peacefully."

"Yeah. It's not the best idea for the Caspar of today to jump into war. Don't think any more of it."

"Even so, I'm still very grateful. Thank you."

Leo-sama, who once again told me 'Don't worry about it', seemed as if he was a bit shy.

"Like I said yesterday, there's something that I wanted to show you, Haruto. Will you be alright if we walk a little?"

Because of the magic that Alex had put on me, my physical condition was completely free of problems. "Yes," I replied to Leo-sama, and followed after him.

I went walking together with Leo-sama through the royal castle. The path we took really felt as if we were going through a secret passageway, for after going past a moving bookshelf, we entered what seemed to be an underground waterway. I would never be able to get through this place again on my own, I thought, and then I saw a blurry light at the end of the dark passageway.

There, I saw the heaviest and most massive set of doors that I'd ever seen, along with magical lights illuminating either side of them.

"We're here," Leo-sama uttered briskly, and with his right hand he traced some kind of word over the doors. It seemed that this action had the same effect as using a key. A heavy creaking sounded, and the doors opened inwards.

"This is what I wanted to show you. Come inside."

At Leo-sama's urging, I went inside. I didn't mention a single thing about how mysterious this all seemed.

Beyond the doors was a place filled with lush greenery, with small white flowers blooming here and there. And then, in the center was enshrined an enormous tree brimming with purple flowers. Those were the flowers which were my absolute favorites of all, but which I had given up on ever seeing in this world.

"How could there be wisteria in a place like this?"

I asked this question, stunned.

"So this really is the flower that you'd told me was the one you loved most, earlier. The reason I was surprised when you showed me that picture was because I was happy that I would be able to show this to you. This place was created by the first King for the first Prime Minister. The Prime Minister had also loved this flower, so he had raised the condition that in order for him to agree to marriage, this flower would have to be found. From then on, this place was passed down as the location where each successive King would pledge their love to their one and only."

For him to have brought me to such an important and significant place, it was impossible for me to feel anything other than happiness flowing through me.

"Haruto, for now and forever, stay with me."

"Of course I will."

I was finally able to give him my answer. Tears naturally started falling from my eyes.

For a while, I gazed at the wisteria without saying a word.

After a while, the tears stopped, and I was finally able to bring myself to look at Leo-sama.

"Leo-sama, in that pitcture book, each and every flower depicted is said to have its own unique meaning. It's called 'the language of flowers', and in that language, the wisteria means 'Never shall I leave you'.1 The first Prime Minister surely knew this, and that's why he asked for this flower."

"So that's it. This is the reason why everybody came here to make their vows, huh."

And then, another long while of quiet passed between us. To me, this time I spent held within Leo-sama's arms was something that I would surely never forget.

Translator’s Note

This is the finale of the story; the main plot has finally wrapped up.
Thanks to the author Kasumi Ritsu/霞律先生 for writing this story, and thanks to saekichi of Wisteria Translations and BlackMaskedPhantom for their work in bringing us to this point