Update 1: April 24, 2025
Update 2: April 26, 2025
Update 3: April 29, 2025
Update 4: May 2nd, 2025
Update 5: May 6th, 2025
Update 6: May 9th, 2025
Update 7: May 14th, 2025
Update 8: May 17th, 2025
Update 9: May 20th, 2025
Update 10: May 22nd, 2025
Update 11: May 25th, 2025
Update 12: May 28th, 2025
Update 13: May 31st, 2025
Update 14: June 10th, 2025
Update 15: June 13th, 2025
Update 16: June 17th, 2025
Update 17: June 23rd, 2025
Update 18: June 27th, 2025
Update 19: July 2nd, 2025
Update 20: July 9th, 2025
Update 21: July 12th, 2025
Update 22: July 15th, 2025 (Main Story End)
Update 23: Epilogue 1 – HatsuSaki – July 23rd, 2025
Update 24: Epilogue 2 – AnoSoyo – July 24th, 2025
Update 25: Epilogue 3 – UmiTaki – July 25th, 2025

Misumi Hatsune.

A dead name. The name of an unknown child that should not exist. Unknown to everyone except for the core members of the Royal Family of the Owl Castle.

Twenty-two years ago, Misumi Kaya gave birth to a girl. The first thing Misumi Sadaharu did was shake his head in disappointment.

“A house without men will not survive a patriarchy!” He was extremely angry, but there was nothing to be done.

The child was blonde, with beautiful purple eyes that she got from her father who rejected her existence.

Two years later, finally, a boy. He was then named, Misumi Uika.

Unfortunately, Uika was born prematurely, and always had a weak body. He grew up doted on by Kaya and Sadaharu, even though most of his life he spent being homeschooled, he was weak, but grew up smart.

Meanwhile, Misumi Hatsune, was raised by a head maid. She was trained to tend to the castle’s gardens, and with ample interest in swordfight, also studying it in secret. She lived in a small hut within the castle walls, and always recognized the head maid as her mother, with an absentee father. The King and Queen were kind to them… even though the King disliked seeing her.

On her 17th birthday, she was graced, no, bestowed a punishment: the reality of her birth.

Hatsune was then introduced to her younger brother, Uika, who mostly spent his time in bed. He was weak, and always needed assistance… and this is how the King’s assistant thought of a wonderful idea.

“Why not let Hatsune-san pretend to be the prince? She were to wear high grade red contact lenses to hide her eye color… She’s already trained with the sword, and was taught the basics of business.” The assistant turned to the King. “Not to mention, they look so alike they could actually be twins!”

A mere 17 year old was suddenly thrown into the pack of wolves. In only six months she was trained the manners of royalty, the trade. She was forced to bind her chest, and to keep her hair at shoulder length. She spoke in a voice lower than her natural one, which was already rather low, just to complete this disguise.

In just a year, Prince Uika, was then shown to the public. A handsome prince that all the ladies-in-waiting wished to meet.

All in exchange for… what? The safety of her adoptive mother who had loved her as if she were her own.

After Hatsune had been crowned the prince, the first thing she did was send a scout to find out how her adoptive mother, the head maid in exile was doing. She was glad at least that she was living well in a small village not far from the city.

At the age of 19, Hatsune had figured out the perfect routine and route to sneak out of the castle at night. She sent letters to her adoptive mother, who responded in kind.

Afraid that their contact might be discovered, Hatsune always burned the letters that she received, though she always kept them in her heart and mind.

And now, when the Prince was old enough to find a wife… being a 22 year old “bachelor” was the toughest time of her life yet.

Uika’s condition worsened, and the King and the Queen were now busy going from one kingdom to another with Uika… and all of the country’s affairs had been left to Hatsune and the daughter of her father’s assistant, Yahata Umiri.

“Are you sneaking out again?” Umiri’s voice surprised Hatsune who had one leg outside the window.

“Gwaaaahhh!” Hatsune flailed her arms, spinning them around to regain her balance. “Whew… Umiri-chan! Don’t surprise me like that… Yeah.”

“Are you going to the lake again, your highness?” Umiri shook her head in disapproval.

“…Yeah. I read in today’s newspaper that the stars tonight are going to be beautiful.” Hatsune grinned at Umiri. “I’ll be back before breakfast. Don’t close the window!” She then jumped down the window, into a pile of hay.

Umiri shook her head, then sighed. Knowing her circumstances, midnight was the only time she could regain herself. Unbound by endless hours of contact lenses, chest bindings, and the restrictive movement of being a man.

Hatsune rolled out of the hay, removing random strands from her black pants and black boots. She made sure there wasn’t anything left as she simply walked out of the back gates. Her white long sleeves and a long black coat were enough for her stargazing adventure.

The back gates were always open at night, then closed once the food stock delivery was finished by dawn. Every now and then, Hatsune used it to escape to go up the mountains, towards the lake.

The lake had an abandoned treehouse with a great view of the sky. She always spent her time there as a child, and it was always her safe haven as an adult.

She had memorized the path to the mountains, especially the one without a lot of bugs, and had almost arrived quickly.

However, instead of the stars, something more captivating surprised her in the lake.

The pristine white skin, submerged into the lake’s clear waters, and the long and wet light blue hair that cascaded over those pale skin.

Hatsune wouldn’t have been surprised if this were a dream. There was no way that such a pretty woman was right there in front of her, naked.

There was no way. This lake was something that only she and Umiri knew about… there was no way… that something so…

“So pretty…” Hatsune breathed out as she stared.

Should she:

Update #2: April 26, 2025

Poll Win (40.3%) – Hide.

  • Hide.

“AAAHHH! I shouldn’t be watching!” Hatsune immediately closed her eyes then looked at the ground. She searched for somewhere, something, anything.

Purple eyes set their sights on a large boulder. She immediately but carefully walked towards that boulder and sat behind it. She looked up at the beautiful clear sky that showed all the stars and the bright moon… accompanied by the splishing and splashing of water from the lake.

“Such a beautiful lady… Who is she?” Hatsune concentrated as she tried to remember every single woman in the city that’s close to her age… and having spent most of her life interacting with them, she had no idea who this lady was. “Is she from the neighboring city? Why is she here? Why is a lady out and about at midnight by herself… Bathing naked in a lake…?”

The light blue haired lady turned to the large boulder, golden eyes narrowed as blonde hair stuck out at the top, a black coat near the back, and a pair of boots near the front. She smiled. “Surely, a pervert or a person with ill intentions would have attacked me by now considering my lack of dress…”
Thus, she deemed this person harmless. Even more so… Now there is curiousity. Who is this person? Why is she here? She quickly wrung her long blue hair of water then she picked up her towel and quickly dried her body as she got out of the lake to dress up.

Hatsune suddenly opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep in the fetal position behind this large boulder, and the sun was already rising and the sounds of water were no longer there. “Eh!?” She quickly stood up and looked around.

It was definitely sunrise… and she was still there.

“How did I fall asleep?!” She shook her head of the grogginess of having just woken up and immediately rushed to run back to the castle. If nothing happens she should still make it back safely to the castle.

Given that she knew these paths by heart, she soon was able to slip in the back door and back inside the castle via a small window in the study she always kept open.

“Whew…”

“You’re late.”

“GWAAAHHHH!” Hatsune took a step back, hitting her head onto a nearby lamp attached to the wall. “Umiri-chan!!” She held her head in pain as she crouched on the floor. “Don’t surprise me like that…”

Umiri held a fist in front of her mouth and faked a cough. “My apologies, your highness. It was amusing.”

“I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest…” Hatsune held a hand over her chest. “Do we have any important stuff today?”

Umiri shook her head. “You can go to sleep.”

“Thank you. Uh… I want to ask something.” Hatsune put a hand over her face as she tried to think of the lady from last night. Not the white legs, not the nice hips… “A- Ah. Do you know of any ladies from the city that has long light blue hair and gold eyes?”

“Ooh? Are you finally ready to choose a spouse, Your Highness?” Umiri raised an eyebrow as she looked at her in amusement.

“Don’t tease me! I just want to know! Besides…” Hatsune looked outside the window. “I don’t want to choose a woman for my own sibling.”

“That’s true. The answer is, no. Who could this lady be?”

“Well, anyway, good night.” Hatsune left the room and held the door. “Well… if you find out anything, don’t tell anyone, but let me know.”

“Acknowledged. Good night.” Umiri bowed at her and the door closed.

Though Hatsune was always prepared to sacrifice some sleep to see the stars, that day she wasn’t able to get any sort of shuteye.

“…If I went tonight… Would I see her again?” Hatsune stared at the empty ceiling of her room in the castle. She never liked to stay in it, but she would have to admit that the bed was comfy… and yet sleep wouldn’t come to her. “Who was she…?”

Even if Umiri mentioned that there wasn’t going to be anything important that day, Hatsune was rudely awoken by a knock on her door. Often, Hatsune wondered why paperwork can’t just pile up on its own, and then she could just look over them later.

Without the King and the Queen, and the real prince in the castle, everything was left to her, and she should be careful not to cause any problems.

With her chopped off sleep, and head in the clouds, she was still thankful that someone as skilled as Umiri by her side. She would tell her if she had missed anything, or if there were decisions she should reconsider.

However, her sneaking off occasionally at night to go see the stars, was something she was also glad that Umiri forgave of her. She could only take solace with the stars, and it was truly the only moment of her life where she felt that she had freedom.

That midnight… she still found herself going towards her favorite lake, and as expected the lady was there once again. This time she wasn’t fully naked (to Hatsune’s mild disappointment) but she had her back turned to her with her feet dipping into the clear blue waters.

Quickly, Hatsune hid behind the same boulder.

“What should I do? Do I talk to her? Am I just going to hide here forever???” Hatsune covered her face with both of her hands. “I want to at least know her name…”

Without even looking at the stars, Hatsune continued her turmoil until the water splashing stopped once again. She peeked from behind the boulder and noticed that the lady was already gone.

“Haaaaahhh…” Hatsune let out a big sigh as she looked around and confirmed that she was nowhere to be seen.

As if angered, the sky suddenly cracked of thunder, followed by lightning.

“Ahhh…” The sky had no stars, no moon.

Hatsune hurriedly went back the way she came, and today too, there were no stars for her to enjoy.

The next time she was able to sneak out was five days later.

Due to bandits trying to steal from the traders going in and out of Owl City, the castle’s been busy stationing different soldiers and volunteers to stop them.

Likewise, Hatsune had been plagued by worry for this lady who had been bathing (naked!!!!) in the lake.

In a hurry, but not catching her breath, Hatsune arrived at the lake at the wee hour of one in the morning. She looked around, and no lady was in sight.

“Ehh…” She looked down, dejected.

“Were you looking for somebody?” A soft voice spoke from behind her.

“Yes… A pretty lady with light blue hair, and gold eyes who always bathes here–” She turned around to face the owner of the voice. “Gyaahhh!” Hatsune took a step backward and covered her mouth.

“You mean, me?” The lady with light blue hair leaned forward at her, both hands behind her in a teasing manner. “Have you been watching? What a pervert.”

“P- P- Pe–” Hatsune stuttered as she tried to look for words. “Pervert!?!? Wh- Who!?!?” Her face was so red, a tomato would look pale.

The lady giggled in amusement. “Don’t be so scared. I’m not angry of any sort… or would you prefer if I was angry?”

“I- I think a normal person would be…” Hatsune put a hand over her chest as she calmed down. This time she took time to properly take in the lady’s features and appearance. “I- I’m sorry…”

The lady wore a long dress, it was red and white. Her long light blue hair was bundled up in braids above her shoulders.

“It’s fine, I did not mind.” Her golden orbs were captivating, and playful.

“I- I’m still sorry about it…” Hatsune frowned like a sad puppy. “A- Anyway. It’s dangerous around this area lately! There are bandits so I came to warn you…”

Suddenly there was the sound of a broken branch inside the forest. Five men with machetes emerged from the darkness.

“Seems like I’m too late.” Hatsune stood in front of the lady, to shield her.

※One of these options could lead to the injury of one character. Make sure to consider the backgrounds of the characters.

Do they:

Update #3: April 29, 2025

Poll Win (48.6%) – Fight.

  • Fight.

Hatsune eyed the bandits. Her versus the five men was going to be easy, however, five men versus her, and a lady she does not know may lessen her chances of winning. She softly reached for the lady’s wrist as the two of them slowly took a few steps away from the approaching men.

“Hey.” Hatsune whispered, and the lady responded by standing closer to her. “Do you know the flower bed southwest from here?”

“Yes… Yes, I do.” Her voice was clear. Fright was in her tone, but aside from that, she was holding herself together well.

“Good.” She lightly squeezed her wrist. “I’m going to throw this coat over you… and once I do that, run towards the bed of flowers. As fast as you can. Hide somewhere. I’ll meet you there, all right?”

The lady pried her hand from Hatsune’s wrist. “Be safe.” Her soft voice was caring.

Hatsune nodded.

“Heeeyyy~ What are you two chatting about?” One bandit with a bandanna on his head took a step forward. “We haven’t seen a woman in a while, and you’re holding a catch in your arms… Are you able to protect her?”

“GO!” Hatsune quickly removed her black coat and threw it over the lady. She smirked at how well she caught it as she sprinted for a run.

One of the bandits tried to chase her, but Hatsune was quick to take a step forward for a quick step kick disarming him of his machete. She then spun around for a round house kick, the heel of her boot hitting the man who was just running behind her. She took a step backward, now only fighting against four.

Hatsune put up both her hands in front of her an open handed boxing position. Purple orbs observed, who will strike first, which one of them would move forward, sidewards. In a flash, she ducked into a leg sweep, and one of them fell over, weapon clattering away on the muddy ground.

She turned around quickly into a spinning back kick, pushing one bandit towards the one behind him as they both fell. She looked around. Hatsune picked up the small smoke bomb from one of the bandits knocked out near her feet and throw it at them as she sprinted away, arm over her nose.

The bed of flowers wasn’t too far away, but the road to it was hidden by tall bushes. If the lady knew where to find her secret lake, then it was safe to assume she’d know exactly what she was talking about.

Hatsune ducked below the long bushes and made it into a clearing of white and blue flowers. The moonlight shone a beautiful circle at the center of the flowers in full bloom. No matter how many times she’d seen it, the view was always captivating, breathtaking. Not to mention the view of the beautiful light blue haired girl sitting at the center of it all.

At the center of the flower bed was a path Hatsune had made herself. She walked slowly towards the flowers, the lady turning to look at her with a smile. She had her black coat wrapped around her shoulders. It was quite chilly in that area at that time, and she was glad she had given it to her.

The lady stood up and met her half way. “Are you all right?” Her golden orbs and warm hands looked at her face, turning her face left and right as she looked for any sort of bruise or injury.

Hatsune closed her eyes in her warm touch. “I’m fine. I’m glad you found this place.”

“If I knew where the lake was, of course I’d know where this place was.” Her smile was electric, and it sent the young ‘prince’s’ heart in a riot. “Although, I’ve not gone here in a while. I thought the view was better near the lake.”

“That’s true.” Hatsune nodded. “But now this place is even better with you here.”

“Ah. Maybe I should introduce myself to my little knight?” Sakiko smiled at her, those golden orbs glinting with her bright grin. “My name’s Togawa Sakiko.”

“Sakiko… What a pretty name.” Hatsune murmured under her breath.

“…Are we going to first name basis right away?” Her pale cheeks were suddenly tinted pink. “That’s very forward of you, mysterious knight.”

“A-Ahh! No, I’m sorry. Um… You can call me, uh… Hatsune.” Hatsune scratched the back of her neck as she shyly looked away. “Th- Then… May I call you… Saki-chan?”

“That’s adorable.” Sakiko giggled. “Yes, you may. It’s nice to meet you, my perverted knight in shining armor, Hatsune.”

Hatsune looked at her, conflicted. “I- I’m definitely not a pervert! Nope! No way!”

Sakiko ran towards the center of the flower bed. “I think people who watch others bathe is a pervert, are they not?”

“I- I’ll apologize!” Hatsune took a few steps towards her.

“It’s all right.” Sakiko took a few steps backward as she gave Hatsune a teasing grin. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yes–W- Wait! I mean… I can’t even say no to that.” Hatsune shook her head. She was entirely getting swept up by this lady’s energy, and she couldn’t fight back properly. “Ah, S- Saki-chan, there’s a branch…!”

“Kyaa!” Sakiko closed her eyes as she braced herself for impact.

Hatsune was quick to move as she lunged forward and cushioned her fall with her whole body. “Ow, ow…”

Sakiko laid on her body, her head onto her chest. “Eh…?”

“Eh…?” Hatsune sat up as Sakiko sat on her stomach whose hands were on top of her chest.

“…You were a woman, too?”

“Eh? Ah…” Hatsune looked down at her white shirt and where Sakiko’s hands were at. “Y- Yeah…?” She had completely forgotten. She was so used to everyone looking at her like she was a man that she had completely forgotten that she was also one.

Sakiko then looked at her in curiosity. “Do you also go to the lake to wash up? Why do you bind your chest? Now that I’ve looked at you closely… You do have a feminine face… but ah, I do understand why anyone would mistake you to be a man.”

“Um…”

“But watching a woman bathe in a lake is still the behavior of a pervert, is it not?” Sakiko smiled at her playfully. “However, I must thank you for saving me today, twice… Ah… but because of that the flowers around this area were trampled. My apologies.”

“I- It’s fine. I can just plant and water them again.” Hatsune touched her head that hit the ground when she caught her.

“You planted these flowers!?” The lady looked at her with extremely curious amber orbs.

“I’m sorry… I think my mind isn’t working properly…” Hatsune was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea as her head throbbed. “Was it when I fell…? My lack of sleep…?” Then suddenly everything was black.

“Hatsune?! Hatsune!” Sakiko immediately grabbed the blonde’s shoulders with both of her hands to not let her fall backwards. She stood up from on top of her and carefully, not to let go of the unconscious woman. She sat down on the bed of flowers and put her head over her lap.

She put her hand below her nose, and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was breathing. She started inspecting her head if she had hit it hard enough to cause her to fall unconscious but didn’t find any bump or any sort of injuries.

“Whew… Is she okay…? I didn’t bring anything with me…” Sakiko looked around her as she tried to search her pockets for anything that could help this unknown blonde on her lap. “Maybe she’d wake up after a while…?”

She looked down at Hatsune’s peacefully sleeping face as she softly caressed her head.

Misumi Hatsune grew up a busy child. Every staff person in the castle doted on her, because she was kind, bright, and smart. She loved helping out for nothing in return, because she simply was that kind of person.

Her favorite time of the day was taking naps in the middle of the castle’s flower beds. Often times, she’d be caught by her adoptive mother, the head maid who would chase her around with a stick. Once she was done tormenting her, she’d slow down her running and be caught on purpose.

Then, she would fall into lulling nap. Her head being patted at what she thought was a stick, was actually a folded hand fan that she used to make sure her nap was comforting and not too hot.

How many years has it been?

Since the last time she felt warmth.

Everything was blurry, as purple orbs focused on her surroundings. Right above her was the light blue haired woman’s face. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was even as if she was sleeping. A comforting hand was on the top of her head, and another was on her arm.

“W- Wait… Am I… sleeping on her thighs…?!”

What should Hatsune do?

※All outcomes are positive, but one of them includes a ‘happy accident’.

Update #4: May 2nd, 2025

Poll Win (82.9%) – Watch her sleeping face.

  • Watch her sleeping face.

Misumi Hatsune watched the beautiful woman who lent her her thighs. Her features were beautiful, and her skin was pale even though there were some bags under her eyes. One would wonder how someone could fall asleep in such a position.

“Maybe she’s just really tired…” Hatsune smiled as the temptation to touch the woman’s face grew inside her.

Purple orbs noticed the glint of tears near the lady’s eyes and she slowly got up from Sakiko’s lap. Sakiko’s body swayed as Hatsune swiftly caught her in her arms. Hatsune smiled at her as she smoothly removed the tears that fell from those pretty eyes.

Togawa Sakiko, the daughter of Togawa Kiyotsugu and Mizuho, lived in a middle size but not lavish concrete home in the City of Gardens. A city about three hours away from the Owl City. She grew up surrounded by books, flowers, and strawberries. Her love for a book in her childhood had made her a fan of the noble ladies and stuck with her all the way through the years. Now she speaks with the proficiency of a noble lady. The cityfolk found her adorable and kind, helping her grow in a society of positivity.

The City of Gardens was a place where vegetable farming and flower selling was substantial. The Togawa family’s farm and gardens produced plenty of strawberries, even during the offseason because of a well-founded greenhouse garden that Mizuho worked hard at.

However, a month after Sakiko’s 19th birthday, her mother suddenly collapsed due to an illness, followed by an ongoing investigation by the neighboring nation’s councilmen claiming that the greenhouse was illegal.

Due to the investigation, the greenhouse was forcefully shut down, decreasing the production of strawberries in the city, as well as the Togawa family’s overall value. They had to confine Mizuho at home instead of the hospital, and the medicine she needed was far too expensive.

On her 21st birthday, following the death of her mother was the council ruling against her father that resulted in the ostracization of her and her father by the City of Gardens. With only their personal belongings and clothing, Kiyotsugu and Sakiko were forced to move into a small village away from the city.

Left with the mere memory of Togawa Mizuho, Sakiko kept a small notebook of her mother’s handwriting that contained her secret to beautifully growing strawberries.

Lulled by a sudden sweet scent, golden orbs opened only to find white clothing right in front of her. Beneath her head was a muscular arm that cushioned her head, and under her body was a familiar black jacket she had around her body moments earlier.

She observed the person next to her. Her knight in shining armor who had luscious blonde hair and the gentlest purple eyes focused on the night sky. Sakiko decided to scuttle closer into that body’s warmth as she turned to look at the stars as well.

“Saki-chan… You’re awake?” Hatsune turned her body to look at her, unconsciously pulling the lady’s body closer to her as she moved.

Sakiko, who had turned to her side to answer, underestimated the distance, and now it was gold to purple orbs, their noses touching as they stared at each other. She felt her heart beat faster as she felt Hatsune’s breath over her lips. Was it normal to be this attracted to the same gender?

Hatsune swallowed as she searched those golden orbs for an answer to her silent question. Would it be all right to kiss her? Would it be too fast to kiss her now?

Sakiko held her breath as she opened her mouth. “Th-… The sky is beautiful tonight too.” She turned up right to look at the beautiful night sky.

“Y- Yeah.” Hatsune answered, as if broken out of stupor. She shifted to look up as well. “It’s been rainy nowadays, but thanks to the large trees around here, sometimes this bed of flowers stays dry.”

“That’s true.” Sakiko agreed. She moved her hand next to her shoulder as she softly touched Hatsune’s hand that was wrapped around her shoulders.

Hatsune responded in kind by softly taking those fingers into her own as they watched the stars.

It was fact that the Owl City must solve the ongoing bandit problem, but most of all…

“I can’t continue meeting Saki-chan if they just pop out of nowhere.” Hatsune stared at a mountain of paperwork namely ‘Reports of Stolen Goods’ and ‘Injury Sustained Due to Bandit Attack’. She shook her head of disappointment. “This hasn’t happened since the City of Gardens big scandal about malicious trade a while back.”

“Although that was suspected to be foul as well, no one can investigate it nor outrule it until King Hiroshi of the neighboring town allows it to be.” Umiri entered the room with a handful of papers. “I’m glad to see that you are taking your duties seriously, Your Highness, but may I ask who is ‘Saki-chan?'”

“No, you may not.” Hatsune answered sternly as she put an elbow on her desk, her head atop her hand. “What is this about King Hiroshi?”

“Rumors from printing presses say that he wanted the Gardens’ strawberry farm, so he orchestrated a deliberate bullying towards its owners. He drove them out, but none of his people knew how to grow strawberries.” Umiri shook her head in disappointment. “If you do not tell me who this Saki-chan is, I will be forced to find out about her.”

“King Hiroshi is an idiot and I will deal with him one day. Any news about the bandits?” Hatsune massaged her temples with a hand, it was definitely going to be a headache. “If you find out about her, tell me, too.”

Umiri raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“You have news about the bandits, right?”

“The other one.”

“Cute girl is very mysterious and barely gave information about herself.” Hatsune returned to her work as she picked up a pen and turned to the mountain of papers.

“You do know her name, right?” Umiri walked towards her and set down the papers in her hand.

“Uh… Sakiko.”

“Last name?”

“…I don’t remember. I was distracted, okay? Girl, pretty.” Hatsune hung her head in disappointment before turning to the papers handed to her.

Umiri shook her head. “I am disappointed, Your Highness. Normally you’d be so attentive. To think that your weakness is one girl… The other nations are going to have a party.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hatsune sighed as amethyst orbs went through the new stack of papers. “A grand plan by the bandits to attack Owl City?”

Umiri nodded. “They seem to be under the misunderstanding that we have an unlimited supply of bread.”

“When?”

“In three days, at midnight.”

“Ahh…” Hatsune looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. “Do we know how many?”

“About fifteen or so.” Umiri nodded.

“Aahhh… Haaah…” Hatsune sighed. “All right—

※While there is no chance of Hatsune getting hurt in this encounter, the outcome will cause a change in other future events.

Special Note: Lucky Sukebe Hatsune option was going back go sleep. Hatsune will go back to sleep, instead of Sakiko crying in her sleep, a bird will fly by and surprise them both. I will leave the rest to your imaginations~

Update #5: May 6th, 2025

Poll Win (52.8%) – I’ll go.

  • I’ll go.

“All right, I’ll go.” Hatsune put down her pen as she looked at Umiri with determination. “If I go, it’ll be easier, right?”

“But Your Highness…” Umiri raised an eyebrow, and Hatsune only shook her head. “Is it all for this ‘Saki-chan’?”

“Yes, it’s all for– wait. No, it’s for the kingdom. What are you even talking about, Umiri-chan?” Hatsune shook her head as she picked up the pen once again and got back to her mountains of paperwork.

Umiri sighed. “I don’t think it’s so bad to fight for something you wanted to protect.”

The pen scribbling stopped for a moment, then it continued. “…You might be right.” She realized that Umiri was right. All her life, she’d been putting the kingdom’s interests first before her own. However, after meeting this beautiful lady, for the first time, she wanted to do something that she desired, herself.

“Hatsune-san.” Umiri suddenly mentioned her real name, causing the blonde to look up at her. “I do honestly think it is a good thing, which is why I will go with you.”

Hatsune smiled at her brightly. “Umiri-chan…! Then… I’ll introduce her to you.”

“Then, it’s a deal.”

Sakiko sighed as she hiked up the familiar mountain. “Why are you here?”

“Like I said, I’m just a little worried.” Shiina Taki, the younger of the Shiina siblings, hiked up with the light blue haired lady, a sword on her hip. “Your dad said you kept on disappearing at midnight, so he asked me to keep an eye.”

“I’ll tell you where I’m going, but could you just leave me alone for next time?” Sakiko sighed again as she went through the safer path that Hatsune had told her about the last time they were at the flower bed. “This place was supposed to be a secret, so you should keep it a secret, even from Tomori!”

Taki was taken aback by the glare. “F- Fine.”

Shiina Taki, a guard from the City of Gardens. Her sister, Maki, had been promoted into the Royal Guard and people expected her to climb the ranks soon enough. However, the pressure was uncomfortable, and Taki struggled to keep up with the people’s expectations, so now she ended up working part-time in the Adventurer’s Guild as an adventurer.

“I’ll just meet whoever you are meeting, say hi, or something, then leave.” She shook her head and shrugged. “Girls these days.”

“Last time I checked, you were one also.” Sakiko pouted as she crossed her arms in front of her. She ducked under a pile of branches and finally arrived at the flower beds.

Taki did the same and was mesmerized at the sight. A patch in the middle of the bed had been pulled and dug, as if ready for a new batch of flowers to be planted in it.

“What happened there?”

“I tripped.”

“Aaaand…?” Taki raised an eyebrow.

“Things.” Sakiko answered nonchalantly as she walked behind the large tree and picked up a bucket of gardening supplies from inside its trunk.

“Things?”

“I am not telling, Taki.” Sakiko shook her head and walked around with the bucket of gardening supplies. She crouched near a fenced area that seemed to be a crop bed. She took out the small shovel and dug around the area as she set the bucket near her. “Hmm~ If I had brought gloves, I could check if I could plant anything here…”

“Here.” Taki crouched near her and handed her some disposable gloves she had on her person.

“Thank you.” Sakiko accepted it and picked up some soil in her hand. “Hmm. I think with a continuous path of water, I could probably grow a small patch of strawberries here.” She smiled at the good soil and patted it.

“You sure do like gardening.” Taki stood up from next to her and looked around the place.

“…If only we could get a plot of land, I’d love to work on gardens once again.” Sakiko stood up next to Taki and gave her a wry smile.

“Do you not enjoy that thing you do now? Not that I know what it is now… There’s only so much I could learn from the city…” Taki sighed.

Sakiko could only smile at her. “…Maybe.” She then clapped her hands together to cut the conversation. “Now… Hatsune should be here soon but where is she…”

Hatsune finished tying up the last bandit as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Whew…” Dressed in her usual white long sleeves, black coat, and boots, her hair was up in a ponytail, and a sword at her hip. “Take them back to the barracks.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” A handful of royal guards saluted and left in three carriages with all of the bandits.

Another guard approached the young prince with a salute. “Your Highness, what shall we do with the bandits?”

“Question them. Find out if they’re set here by King Hiroshi, or any of the other cities. If not, make them sign contracts, turn them into our loyal men, feed them.” Hatsune commanded as the soldier saluted and left.

“Your Highness. Are you all right with the time?” Umiri approached her, hand outstretched as if to receive something. She was dressed similarly to Hatsune, but instead of a long black coat, it was a simple leather coat.

“Ah?” She looked at the sky and noticed it’s quite late… “Saki-chan!” She quickly removed the sword from her waist and handed it over to Umiri. “You going?”

“Yes.” Umiri took the sword and tied it around her waist as the two of them immediately dashed for the mountains.

While Hatsune’s favorite spots were places Umiri knew about, she always knew to give her the privacy she needed. Hatsune had given up hiding her spots from the raven haired assistant because of her tracking skills. The young ‘prince’ knew to yield, especially when she knew that it was a losing battle.

The two of them soon arrived at the clearing, and to Hatsune’s surprise, Sakiko was laughing while a black haired female stood next to her.

“Saki-…chan?” Hatsune blinked, and Sakiko immediately turned to her.

Sakiko’s golden orbs glinted as she smiled and ran towards her. “Hatsune! You’re finally here. I was so worried…” The other person took her time and walked towards them.

“Who is this person…?” Hatsune asked calmly, but admittedly, her heart was beating quickly, and her stomach was in knots.

“Shouldn’t you be introducing yourself first?” The long black haired lady crossed her arms in front of her and asked sternly.

Purple orbs mildly looked surprised as she caught Umiri’s green-blue ones. “I’m sorry for my rudeness. I was expecting only one person in this spot I treasured to be just mine, and Saki-chan’s. My name’s Hatsune.”

“Shiina Taki.” Taki scrutinized the blonde. She looked familiar, but at the same time… she didn’t look familiar. Where had she seen her before?

“Umiri.” Umiri introduced herself and offered her hand to Sakiko.

Sakiko was surprised to find the hand and the introduction directed towards her. “Togawa Sakiko.” She calmly took the hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Umiri-san.”

Umiri then offered her hand towards Taki who only stared at it, then walked away. She raised an eyebrow at the long haired female’s behavior, but she really was being completely ignored. “What’s with her?” In a quest to figure out the answer to her question, she decided to follow her.

“What?” Taki asked. She eyed the unknown person before her. She had short black hair, and a very casual get up… but unusually two swords around her waist. Did she wield two swords? Or was she carrying it for somebody else? Her purple eyes turned to the blonde.

“My name’s Umiri.” Umiri tried again for the handshake.

Taki raised her eyebrow. “Shiina Taki.” This time she finally accepted that handshake then went back to keeping her arms crossed.

Umiri tilted her head to one side but didn’t say anything else. She just stood there next to her as the two of them watched the pair not so far from them.

“Why were you late? Did something happen?” Sakiko’s worried golden orbs watched Hatsune as she observed her. She looked for scratches, or any sort of injury until her eyesight landed onto her left sleeve. “Are you injured?!”

“Eh? Ah.” Hatsune turned to look at her arm and noticed the torn sleeve. She turned to Umiri with a leer who only shrugged at her. “No, no. I’m fine. Something grazed me but I’m not hurt, see?” She showed her arm and let Sakiko touch her skin.

Sakiko sighed in relief. “Okay, that’s good. Did something happen?” She took a step forward into Hatsune’s personal space as she looked up at her. “You took some time, I’m glad Taki was with me so at least I didn’t go crazy…”

“I’m sorry to have worried you.” Hatsune swallowed as those golden orbs stared at her. “There were bandits, but Umiri and I drove them out. It should be safer from now on.”

“I see. I’m glad that you’re really safe.” Sakiko wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s neck as she hugged her.

Hatsune froze as she blinked and stared at Taki and Umiri who only emptily watched her. She wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s waist as she returned the hug.

When was the last time she was hugged so tightly, so warmly, like this? Was it before she was a teen… before she was pretending? Was it really okay for her to bask into this warmth?

Taki then took out a pocket watch from her jacket pocket and looked at the time. Umiri briefly turned to look, and it was almost three in the morning. “Sakiko. We need to go.”

“Ah… Was it that time already?” She unwrapped her arms from Hatsune’s neck and turned to Taki. “We weren’t able to do anything to fix the flower bed today.”

“It’s all right, I was late too. Next time?” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko.

Sakiko leaned in to whisper into Hatsune’s ears. Hatsune leaned in. “Is the lake safe?”

Considering that they had barricaded the entrances with guards, it should be.

“Yeah.” Hatsune turned to Sakiko then knotted her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me…”

Sakiko smiled at her, then stuck a tongue out. “We’ll see.” She then took a few steps backward and went towards Taki. “Taki, let’s go.”

Taki nodded and met Sakiko halfway. “It was nice to meet you two.” She nodded at Umiri, then at Hatsune as the two of them left.

Sakiko waved goodbye then bowed at them before turning around to leave.

Umiri walked towards Hatsune as they both marched back to the Owl City after seeing the two leave.

“It seems that Taki-san is a guard in the City of Gardens.”

“I noticed the crest.” Hatsune nodded. “Also… I just realized that… Saki-chan…”

“Is the daughter of the strawberry farmer, Togawa Kiyotsugu.” Umiri nodded. “What are you planning?”

Hatsune looked conflicted.

It was true that they had received a letter of asylum to the Owl City from the family. It had arrived very recently, and their offering was knowledge of gardening and cultivating fruits and vegetables, which Hatsune already knew that Sakiko was very skilled at.

However, being the pretend ‘prince’ she surely could do something about it, but what would it look like to Sakiko if she found out who she really was?

“The Prince is ruthless, cruel, and heartless.” These were the rumors going around the city for Prince Uika.

They are both true, and false. A prince should be ruthless, cruel, and heartless… Because if he isn’t, then is he truly ruling this kingdom? Countless dukes, other nation’s kings and lords praise the prince for his power.

The crime rate at Owl City is close to only 5% with most of them including only petty crimes of food theft. However, what did the prince do that made the townsfolk think that he is ruthless, cruel, and heartless?

He treated the townspeople evenly. He bestowed punishment to the poor, to the rich, to the men, and women. It was not the poor who called him ruthless, and cruel, but the middle class and rich people. None of them were happy that they could not receive special treatment, and all of them always had on-going plans to overthrow the prince.

Donned in the kingdom’s royal garb, Hatsune paraded around as Prince Uika. The red long coat combined with the gold plated red pants and the black cape. Her face devoid of all emotion, she stood in front of a forty year old looking Marquess who tightly had his hold on the wrist of a young boy, who looked to be around six or seven years old.

The young boy held tightly onto a gold plated pocket watch. It looked like it had seen time, as it had scratches on the front, and the side, but looked to be very cared for.

“What seems to be the problem?” The prince asked, her voice low, otherwise unrecognizable to anyone who knew the normal Hatsune.

“This boy stole this pocket watch!” Purple orbs narrowed at the Marquess, then they turned to the boy.

“Y- Your Highness! This pocket watch is mine… It’s a keepsake of my father’s!” The boy did his best to bow towards the royalty despite his predicament.

“How did you know the boy stole the watch?” The prince asked in a neutral tone.

“I saw him sneaking around that corner as he clutched it under his shirt!” The Marquess pointed at a dark alley that was well-known to be the path to the squatter area. However, would a Marquess know this fact?

The young boy shook his head. “It had fallen to the ground, I only went here to clean it a little.” The boy looked up to the prince, his eyes were teary, but he was doing his best to not let his tears fall as he stood his ground.

Who will Hatsune side with?

※The result of this choice will reflect heavily on the prince’s image, and Hatsune’s morality.

Update #6: May 9th, 2025

Poll Win (43.6%) – The young boy.

  • The young boy

※The result of this choice will reflect heavily on the prince’s image, and Hatsune’s morality.

Prince Uika knew that she must eventually side with one party, and making enemies with the rich people is not what the kingdom would want… However, being lenient with them is not the kind of ruling the Misumis would want for Owl City.

“Did you see anyone who allegedly had this watch stolen from them?” The prince’s voice was deep and menacing.

“I- I…” The Marquess, the prince, and the other two guards who accompanied the prince on the stroll looked around. “Anyway! I’m sure he stole this!”

“You seem to be very sure, but you don’t have any evidence.” The prince shook her head. “Also, would you let go of the boy? You are hurting him.”

The Marquess yielded as he threw the boy’s arm away. The boy flinched as he hugged his arm, a red mark appearing on it.

Purple eyes narrowed at the mark, then turned to the Marquess. “I don’t expect you to apologize for hurting this boy. However, if you have no solid evidence of this boy’s alleged theft, I suggest you leave, now.”

“I- I have proof! The person who owned the watch just didn’t chase the boy, because he knew I was already here!” The Marquess still insisted.

“If you can give me a name, I will entertain you. Otherwise, leave.” The prince glared at him. “I will not repeat myself a third time.”

The Marquess took a step back and stomped away. “I’m going to tell the Duke about this…!”

Prince Uika crouched next to the boy and softly inspected his arm. “There’s going to be a bruise.” She took out a bandage from her pouch and handed it to the boy. Her expression softened as she turned to the young one. “Would you let me see the pocket watch?”

The young boy nodded and willingly handed the watch to her.

“This looks like it’s been treasured and loved for a long time.” Purple orbs eyed the pocket watch. It had plenty of scratches, and selling it wouldn’t even fetch enough money for survival. However, the arms of the watch, the knobs, look like they’ve been wiped clean over and over again. She pulled a golden chain from her royal garb, and with a sleight of hand, she replaced the pocket watch’s chains. “Here.”

Not noticing the change, the boy bowed at the prince as he received the watch. “Th- Thank you, Your Highness.”

“I think you should get the chains checked, it might need cleaning, or a replacement.” The prince stood up and nodded at the boy. “Go now. Be careful.”

The boy bowed once again and ran towards the dark alley, back to the squatter area.

The prince shook her head and soon, her demeanor and expression was back to the strict and cold ones. She turned to look around at the passersby as they whispered amongst each other.

“The prince just chased away the Marquess.”

“I can’t believe the prince actually sided with the boy!”

“Is Owl City headed for its downfall soon…?”

The townsfolk’s opinions were divided, but she had already decided. Uika beckoned for one of the guards. She leaned in to whisper into his ear.

“Bring me the name of the Duke that the Marquess is friends with.”

She would have to deal with him sooner or later.

Another midnight has come, and Hatsune was excited. Although she had promised she’d meet Sakiko at the lake again, she had been so busy that she had no time to go and meet her. While she sent Umiri to leave a note for her, she didn’t know if she had seen it, and the only thing that she would never allow Umiri to do was to go and see her.

“What if she decided to bathe naked there again? Absolute no-no.” Hatsune shook her head as she stomped up the mountain. “I miss her… “

Her prince duties were sporadic, but the issue with the alleged theft was bigger than she had expected. The Marquess had connections with Duke Kitagawa. They had never gotten along with the Misumis but it didn’t mean that there was anything they could do against the prince, especially during the king’s absence.

After the incident, the Marquess really did tuck his tail in between his legs and told the duke about what happened. However, the prince immediately requested an audience with the duke and resolved the issue by presenting evidence that the Marquess had been lying. Even if Kitagawa was a powerful rich man, he did not condone liars, and the Marquess was a liar.

While it was evident that the duke was not happy with what the prince did, Hatsune was happy to have gained the trust of the young boy, and likely the whole squatter area. It was a good step forward to hopefully, one day, giving them opportunities to better their lives.

Nonetheless, Hatsune’s stress piled up at trying to keep the peace between the Misumis, the rich, and the whole kingdom, and she definitely wanted to at least release some of this pent up stress.

“Hatsune.” That beautiful and serene voice called for her as she stepped into the clearing. Her hair wasn’t tied up in its usual braids. It lay on the clear blue water together with her pristine white skin, and naked body. “Come join me.” Gold orbs looked at her alluringly, the smile on her face, bright and pretty. 

Unable to move her eyes from the beautiful sight of the stars, the lake, and the delightfully naked woman in front of her, Hatsune stood there, stunned. Her throat dried up, while her heart beat loudly in her chest.

Should she…?

※While the choice here is obvious, one of them will speed up the romance between Sakiko and Hatsune, while one of them will slow it into a slowburn. Choose wisely!

※※The next update will be the start of the second half of this fanfic. The story’s main plot will be introduced in the next update, and it will be moving a little quickly from then on. 

Update #7: May 14th, 2025

Poll Win (69%) – Join her bath.

  • Join her bath.

※While the choice here is obvious, one of them will speed up the romance between Sakiko and Hatsune, while one of them will slow it into a slowburn. Choose wisely!

※※The next update will be the start of the second half of this fanfic. The story’s main plot will be introduced in the next update, and it will be moving a little quickly from then on. 

As if in a trance, Hatsune slowly walked towards the lake as she removed her black coat, neatly folding it before putting it on the ground next to Sakiko’s clothes. Next were her leather boots,, followed by her socks. Then she realized it.

“Wait! Wait! I shouldn’t–” Hatsune turned around to cover her eyes but a hand had grabbed her ankles and pulled her into the waters. “Saki-chan!”

Then a loud splash!

The silence that followed the splash was then covered in giggles.

“I am so sorry, Hatsune.” Sakiko laughed as she watched Hatsune climb up to the surface. She watched those blonde locks shake as Hatsune tried to get the water out of her hair and face. “Just like a big puppy.”

“Saki-chan!” Hatsune faced whatever general direction Sakiko was with her eyes closed.

“You may open your eyes, you know?” Sakiko told her in a playful tone. “It’s totally fine.” She grabbed one of Hatsune’s hands and guided it to her arm.

“S- Saki-chan…!” Hatsune softly touched… the satin-like clothing on Sakiko’s arm. “Eh? Eh?” Purple orbs looked at the shorter lady in front of her and finally noticed that she was wearing a white nightgown with a swimsuit under it. “Whew…” She removed her hand from Sakiko’s arm and sighed.

“What?” Sakiko looked at her with a smile. “Even I, myself, would want to protect my own too. Still, such an interesting reaction. Were you disappointed?”

“Eh? Disappointed…? N- No way…” Hatsune looked up at the stars as she stammered.

“You’re so funny.” Sakiko put a hand over her mouth as she giggled.

Hatsune sighed, then smiled wryly. “Well, I’m glad you found me funny.”

“I’m sorry I got your clothes all wet, though.” Sakiko stepped in closer to her as she brushed away some of Hatsune’s hair on that handsome face. “Not regrets.”

“You can be really mean sometimes, Saki-chan.” Hatsune sighed. She looked in front of her, and for the very first time, she finally saw just how beautiful the lake was, where with this lady was.

With the moonlight, the clear waters looked like it made the water glow, and amidst that beautiful glow was this attractive woman. Her wet light blue hair cascaded down on her back, the see-through white nightgown clung to every curve of her body as it showed the attractive light yellow colored swimsuit under it.

Purple orbs watched a stray droplet drip from Sakiko’s jaw down to her exposed chest as it slipped down in between those perfect valleys. Hatsune felt her body temperature increase at how sexy and attractive the sight was.

Sakiko never truly noticed how tall the blonde was until they stood like that right in front of each other. The lake’s water ended up just below her shoulders, however to Hatsune it was just right in the middle of her chest. The almost 10cm height gap made the blonde look more handsome under the moonlight’s shine.

Those purple orbs looked at her with so much adoration that made her heart thump loudly inside her chest. That handsome face that smiled at her warmly, with the wet blonde hair that clung around her face that enhanced each of Hatsune’s facial features.

A soft breeze blew as the leaves rustled. It was a moment only for the two of them, until…

“Ahchoo!” Hatsune had her eyes closed as she sneezed. “Brrr… It’s kinda cold here…”

“Should we get out? I can grab some branches and make a fire.” Sakiko turned around to get out of the lake but arms suddenly wrapped around her body as she felt a warm hug. “Hatsune…?”

“If I submerge my body like this, I won’t get that cold.” Hatsune hugged Sakiko from the back as she leveled her body with Sakiko’s height. “Saki-chan, you’re so warm…”

Sakiko felt her cheeks heat up as their body heat transferred to each other. She let Hatsune hug her tightly like that for a while as she put her hands over Hatsune’s, just over her stomach. “Okay.”

Hatsune nuzzled the side of Sakiko’s head as she hugged her tightly. She closed her eyes as she relaxed into the hug. Finally she could have a moment of silence in between the city’s issues, and her duties as a prince.

Then another breeze.

Sakiko felt Hatsune’s body shake with the cold and laughed. “Hatsune, I think we really–“

“Y- Yeah…” Hatsune’s voice shook as she let go of Sakiko’s body. “I have an idea.”

Sakiko turned to look at her, tilting her head on one side in confusion. Hatsune only gave her a charming smile.

Hatsune and Sakiko got out of the lake, their dry clothes and shoes in their hands as the young prince led them towards a spot with three trees connected to each other. Hatsune pushed one part of the tree as the door opened, and inside it were stairs.

“Eh?” Sakiko’s eyes widened as she saw the stairs.

“Come.” Hatsune urged her to go in first as they both climbed up the treehouse.

Atop the stairs was an unexpectedly spacious treehouse. It had a fireplace and some logs next to it, and a few clothing chests. Above it was a large window, and just beneath it was a warm looking rug.

“Hatsune… This…” Sakiko turned to look at the blonde who only smiled at her sheepishly. “Did you make this?”

“Mm! About ten years worth… It’s my special secret place, so you can’t tell even Taki-san about it, okay?” Hatsune winked at her as she set her shoes and dry clothes on top of the rug. She then went towards one chest and took out a clothesline. “We can hang our wet clothes here.”

Sakiko watched Hatsune get to work as she fixed the clothesline in front of the fireplace. She quickly removed her clothes and hung them up. Golden orbs tried not to watch, but she still looked from the corner of her eyes… To think that such a handsome person was also a woman such as her… It was an interesting… was what she wanted to say, but was there only ‘interest’ on that fact? In her time being exposed to countless bachelors, not one man had made her heart race as quickly as Hatsune did on more than one occasion.

While caught up in her own thoughts, Hatsune was able to dress herself up with dry clothing from her clothing chest and without being able to say anything, there was suddenly a warm towel wrapped around her shoulders.

“Saki-chan, you should change your clothes too, I’ll make the fire.” Hatsune’s voice was soft and low, and it didn’t help Sakiko’s already quickly beating heart.

Sakiko quickly changed into her dry pair of underwear and her usual dress as she kept the towel on her shoulders. Her loudly beating heart barely let her hear the clicking of the stones, nor the crackling of the fire that followed it.

“Saki-chan.” The soft voice was near her again, and Sakiko turned around to see a softly smiling Hatsune next to her.

Sakiko, now done with changing her clothes, Hatsune took the wet ones in her hands and hung them alongside her own in front of the fireplace. She mindlessly followed the blonde and without saying anything else, she draped the towel over her head and softly dried her hair.

Hatsune, confused, crouched to make her head more reachable for the shorter female, and waited until she was done. She smiled at Sakiko and took the towel in her hands and did the same but with more care as she made sure each strand wasn’t tangled.

Sakiko had never experienced somebody else touch her hair, not to mention, the way Hatsune touched her was so soft and full of care, as if she was handling a fragile object that would break.

“I’m not so fragile that I’ll break so easily…” Sakiko smiled at the gentleness, but let Hatsune do as she pleased.

Engulfed in a warm silence, an unknown amount of time passed as they dried each other’s hair. With the soft crackling of the fire from the small fireplace, now dried up, Sakiko turned to look at Hatsune. It was refreshing to see the otherwise neatly dressed blonde in a simple shirt and pants, along with the slightly messy straight hair.

“She looks so much like a puppy.” Sakiko felt like it wasn’t the first time she thought of the taller blonde as a puppy, but it might as well be just the perfect words to describe her.
Hatsune opened the other clothes chest after she hung the towel together with their wet clothing. She took out a blanket and went towards the rug. She sat at the center of it and patted the space next to her. Sakiko obliged without any questions.

Sakiko watched Hatsune lay down on the rug, and noticed the outstretched arm, with a blush, she laid down inside Hatsune’s arms as they looked at the midnight sky. Hatsune unfolded the blanket put it over their bodies as they watched the bright moon, and its beautiful stars.

The silence beckoned nothing else but each other’s warmth, and their calm breathing.

“Hatsune.”

“Mm?”

“…Is it normal… to be entranced by you?” Sakiko’s voice was soft, small, and shy.

Hatsune felt her heart race as she slowly turned to look at the beautiful lady next to her. “Saki-…chan?”

“I have met so many people, men, women, but with you… my heart always beats so quickly.” Sakiko looked up to Hatsune’s purple orbs as she spoke. “When I’m with you, my heart is elated, excited, but also, shy. What is this?”

Hatsune swallowed as her eyes watched those small lips.

“I can’t tell you what it is…” Hatsune softly moved forward as she curled her arm that Sakiko was using as a pillow, wrapping them around those warm shoulders. “…I know what it is, but you have to figure it out yourself.”

“Figure… it out…?” Sakiko shyly moved her gaze away from Hatsune’s intense purple orbs as she looked down, her eyes landing on those lips. “My own… feel…ings…”

Sakiko closed her eyes as she felt those soft lips cover her own into a warm, and sweet kiss. Hatsune turned her body towards Sakiko’s as she wrapped her other arm around that thin body, while they parted from the kiss.

Golden orbs searched purple as their lips met again into a much longer kiss, with nothing but the moon, the stars, and crackling of the fire as a witness to their budding romance.

Since then, the two of them have met almost every day. Be it rain or shine, they would always see each other at midnight, at the treehouse, near the lake… and share a kiss.

However…

“Sakiko… I may need you to go into the city. We’re running out of supplies.” Togawa Kiyotsugu broke the unfortunate news to his daughter. “While we’ve done what we could with the land we have, it’s not enough to last us a while longer… I wonder if the Owl City would allow us refuge…”

“Father… All right… Then I will.” Sakiko nodded. “I’ll be back before sundown.”

“I’m sorry… Sakiko…”

With the punishment that was bestowed to them by King Hiroshi, the two of them tried to stay away from any of the larger cities, afraid that the prying eyes of the people would recognize them. However, there were few things that they could do with how limited their resources were.

Even the smaller villages were not willing to help them, given how frightening King Hiroshi’s power and reign was around the land. However, for the first time, she must go into Owl City.

The city was vastly different to someone from the City of Gardens. The castle walls were brick, and there were only a few flowers that surrounded it. Inside, the large gate that was mostly welcome to anybody so long as you do not bring in a weapon was flanked by two strict looking guards with large spears.

Being a normal citizen, Sakiko only slipped in together with other city goers, however, what surprised her past the gate was a commotion. A large group of people encircled around the front of the gates. As if curiosity had beckoned her, Sakiko pushed forward as she watched.

At the center was a young man on the floor, his hand outstretched, open as if he previously held a sword that was now flung to the side. On top of him was a leather boot that stepped on his shoulder, the red long cape next to it. Anyone who wasn’t from the city would immediately recognize it as the royal garb.

“Didn’t he challenge the prince to a fight to the death?”

“Do you think the prince would really do it?”

“I’ve never seen the prince not do anything that he said he would.”

Sakiko’s golden orbs widened as she looked at the prince.

Blonde hair, purple eyes.

“Hatsune!” She shouted at the young prince among other voices that cheered for the prince to drive the final blow.

As if called, the prince lifted his head and turned briefly into Sakiko’s direction. Those cold purple orbs meeting surprised golden ones.

However, without saying anything else, the prince drove the tip of his sword into the young man’s heart.

“Gwaaaghhh!” The young man tried to pull out the blade with both of his hands as he struggled.

The crowd screamed in anguish and surprise at the brutality. Without saying anything else, the prince pushed the sword further into the young man’s heart… and left.

“Clean this up.” The prince’s voice was deep, it was nothing Sakiko had ever known of.

“Prince Uika’s so frightening…”

“This is why no one should fight against the royalty…”

A rush of guards immediately encircled the now-corpse of the young man as the prince left. The gossipers immediately left, as if it was nothing they had never seen before.

“Prince Uika…?” Sakiko stood there stupefied as she tried to digest what she had witnessed. True, she knew that the Owl City is currently being led by the Prince, given that the King and the Queen were out on a long term business.

However, knowing that the Owl City preferred to be secluded, only those who are in official business with the city knew the details of the royalty’s lineage. If the current prince was Uika… then who was Hatsune…?

The gentle, sweet, and soft blonde, with caring purple eyes. The one who only treasured her with so much care, the one who kissed her so sweetly… Undeniably, she and the prince shared a lot of qualities together.

Who was Hatsune? Who is Prince Uika?

Without a doubt, they were one and the same.

Sakiko sat in the middle of the rug in the treehouse as she hugged the blanket that Hatsune always kept there. It had been a week, and Hatsune never came back to see her again.

In one of the books she had read about romance, it said that distance made the heart grow fonder… And true, it shall be.

Were their midnight trysts going to end like this?

Not when she had finally figured it out.

“Hatsune…” Sakiko hugged the blanket as she buried her face into the soft fabric that carried Hatsune’s faint scent. “I’m in love with you…”

If she, and her father never gave up amongst the trials in their lives… It wasn’t very Togawa of her to just give up her first romance like this.

Empty and full of distraught, Prince Uika worked tirelessly in the Prince’s Chambers. Three months have passed since she last saw Sakiko in the treehouse, two months, and 28 days since their unfortunate encounter in Owl City.

“Surely… she must hate me now.” Hatsune looked at the mountain of papers before her. Her heart ached as her first, and likely the last romance of her life would just end in silence like this.

Time and time again, she would find herself near the lake and the treehouse, or the flower bed, but she never found the courage to go and see, if she was still there, waiting for her.

She knew immediately that things between them ended the moment she drove her sword into that man’s heart.

“Who would love a heartless murderer?” The moment she agreed to be the Prince’s stand-in, she was already prepared to not have her own life.

Even if it was a short period of time, she was happy that she was able to live her life as Misumi Hatsune, and not Misumi Uika… and now, she must move forward, and once and for all, leave her old name.

Suddenly, there was a knock in her office.

“Come in.” She spoke without looking up from her mountains of papers.

“Your Highness.” Umiri bowed after opening the door, and walked forward. “A request for marriage had arrived from the City of Gardens.”

“Leave it there.” Hatsune’s voice was cold.

“No, please take a look at it.” Umiri went around the table and opened the document.

Hatsune took her eyes from the papers and glanced at the document. Her eyes widened as she looked at Umiri, dropping the pen in her hand as its tip hit the carpeted floor, staining it of black ink.

She looked at the paper, and no matter how many times she stared at it, it was unmistakable.

Arranged Marriage Offer from the City of Gardens.

Princess of City of Gardens.

Wakaba Mutsumi.

“The name, but… the photo…” Hatsune’s face was suddenly engulfed in anguish as she softly traced Sakiko’s face with her index finger. “But… why…”

“I had already said yes.” Umiri bowed at Hatsune.

“What? No! Reject it! Umiri-chan!” Hatsune took a step forward, hitting her knee on the desk. “Ow, ow…”

“Consider it… a gift, from an old friend, Hatsune-san.” Umiri smiled at her warmly. “The dinner is tomorrow evening.”

Without saying anything else, Umiri left the chambers as the door shut behind her.

“Saki-chan…”

Undeniably, the woman right in front of her, in the guise of ‘Wakaba Mutsumi, City of Gardens’ Princess’, was her beloved, Togawa Sakiko.

Her slightly curled light blue hair extended down to her shoulders and back as she donned a long white dress perfect for a bride. If it was possible, she could just marry her right now.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Uika.” ‘Wakaba Mutsumi’ entered the room in a refined walk, and a beautiful bow, perfect for a princess. She stood up and folded her hands in front of her.

Those unforgettable but soft golden orbs staring right into her soul.

“Or should I say, Hatsune.”

Should Hatsune:

※The choice here does not impact anything, only Sakiko’s next reaction. 

Update #8: May 17th, 2025

For days and weeks, Sakiko waited.

The treehouse, the lake, the flower bed.

They were all spots, places that were important to her and Hatsune. Where they first met, where they first watched the stars, where they had their first kiss…

Sakiko touched her lips as she closed her eyes to remember the sweet and warm kiss they shared in the treehouse. She looked up at the stars as she embraced the blanket they shared inside the treehouse.

“Hatsune…”

Although there were stars in the sky, the moon remained hidden by the clouds. This was no time for her to be sulking or feeling sad. She must find out.

She needed to know.

With a pen and a few pieces of paper, Sakiko wrote a letter.

To a good friend, to a childhood friend.

Dear Mutsumi,

Please know that what happened to me, and to my father was not your fault. I know that you must be thinking deeply of it, and I would be happier if I had known that you no longer blame yourself for it.

However, I am writing this letter for other purposes.

I must know everything about the Owl City’s prince. Please tell me.

Your Friend,

Sakiko

The next day, she asked Taki to send this letter for her, and a few days later she received a response.

Growing up from the same school, Wakaba Mutsumi and Togawa Sakiko grew up attached at the hip. The two children loved playing, and studying, as well as gardening. Mutsumi with her love for planting cucumbers and bitter gourd, and Sakiko with her tender care with fruits, especially strawberries.

The City of Gardens treated them warmly, and Wakaba Minami and Togawa Mizuho were also great friends. Unfortunately, if the Queen had sided with the Togawa family during their case, it would have painted the whole city badly in the eyes of King Hiroshi… and so, sacrifices were made.

Minami sent flowers to the Togawa family without a name, and Kiyotsugu and Sakiko knew well that it was from her, for it had flowers only the two women knew and loved.

Sakiko never held it against the Wakaba family. She knew full well the repercussions of getting on the bad side of a political camp, and she would never wish badly on other families. However… Just this once, and only this once, she wanted to use that power.

“Saki.” It was Mutsumi’s cool voice. She wore a long hood, and a mask over her face to conceal her features. Behind her was Taki, also dressed in commoner’s clothes as they met Sakiko just outside the village the Togawas now live in.

“Mutsumi!” Sakiko threw her arms around Mutsumi’s body as they hugged. “I’m glad to see you… However, you didn’t have to come here yourself.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Saki.” Mutsumi nodded and removed her mask. “However, the information you want, I can’t write on paper.”

Sakiko tilted her head on one side in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“The information about the Misumi family is private. So I have to tell you in person.” Mutsumi explained. “I don’t have much time until they notice I’m missing but first, I want to know why.”

Sakiko’s eyes widened. If she didn’t take this first step, then nothing would happen. If Hatsune truly was the prince…

“…I’m in love with somebody… Who may or may not be the prince.” Sakiko looked away with a blush across her cheeks.

Mutsumi raised an eyebrow, then covered her mouth as if trying to stop herself from laughing. “I won’t ask anything else… but I’ll help.”

“And what was interesting about this?” Sakiko put both her hands on her hips as she stared at Mutsumi with a frown.

“Saki, you never even expressed any interest in anybody, and suddenly you’re in love with the prince? Of course, it’s kind of funny.” Mutsumi smiled. “Right, Taki?”

“I met the person myself, truly an interesting display.” Taki smiled. “However, if this is what would make you happy, I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you, you two. Now.”

The story of the Misumi’s attempts at a Royal Prince was well-known across the lands, however, the moment that they had announced that a prince was born, the family paid every printing press to burn everything. Now, the story was only known by word of mouth, and only those who knew about the story knew that it was the absolute truth.

“News says that the Prince never accepted any of the offers of royal brides to marry into the family.” Mutsumi mentioned. “I can offer you this, though.”

Sakiko blinked. “Mutsumi?”

“We’ve never sent an offer to the Owl City.” Mutsumi nodded. “We can propose an arranged marriage meeting… You can go for me.”

“But…”

“However… This is only in the case that the Owl City accepts the offer.”

“Then, we must make it an offer that they can’t refuse.” Sakiko smiled, a bright grin that showed that she had just thought of a brilliant idea.

Poll Win (47.6%) – Stare.

  • Stare.

※The choice here does not impact anything, only Sakiko’s next reaction. 

“I’m sorry it took me a long time to come and meet you, but are you really only doing nothing but stand there?” Sakiko’s voice was clear, and full of confidence.

Hatsune only stood still as she attempted to comprehend everything that was happening to her. Was it really her beloved, Togawa Sakiko?

Undeniably, the long light blue hair and the beautiful golden orbs were of her beloved.

“Hatsune?” Sakiko took a few strides towards her, both of her hands holding onto the long white gown as it swayed on each step. “Earth to Hatsune.”

She waved her hands in front of the blonde and when she did not respond, she thought of a foolproof way to get her back.

Suddenly, there were familiar arms around Hatsune’s neck and warm lips over hers. Hatsune blinked as she took in the warmth of the body in front of her, and the soft kiss that took over her lips.

Sakiko parted from the kiss and looked at Hatsune’s face. “Oh my, there’s lipstick all over your–“

Hatsune didn’t let her finish her sentence as she immediately wrapped her arms around those small hips as she devoured those pink lips into a hungrier, and deeper kiss.

Sakiko, initially surprised, only accepted the hungry kiss as she tightened her arms around Hatsune’s neck, their noses touching as a curious and hungry tongue slipped in. She held her breath in as she tried to return the kiss, but wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to this new hunger building inside her.

“Mm… Hatsune…” Sakiko tried to speak in between kisses as she softly tapped Hatsune’s back. “Hah, hah…”

“Saki…-chan…” Hatsune parted from the kiss, purple orbs searching those golden orbs for a response.

Sakiko smiled at her playfully. “…Is this how you greet all of your prospective wives?”

“…Yours is the only I’ve ever accepted.” Hatsune smiled. “Saki-chan…”

“Well… That’s a relief to hear.” Sakiko rested her hands onto Hatsune’s shoulders as she sighed and caught her breath. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Uika.”

Hatsune smiled at her wryly and parted from her, making sure she was steady as she faked a cough. “It’s a pleasure to be acquainted with you… Miss Wakaba.” She gave her a short bow.

“If this is what it’s like to be acquainted with a prince, would it be sly of me to say that I might want to get to know you more?” Sakiko gave her a sly wink.

“…You shouldn’t say something so daring.” Hatsune spoke to her in a voice so deep, it surprised her. She was quick to step inside her space, a hand over that small waist. “I’m still technically a prince, Saki-chan.”

“Hatsune…” Sakiko placed her arms over Hatsune’s chest as she stared into those intense purple orbs. “…I’ll… try not to tease the prince inside you.”

The white long sleeve garment Hatsune wore was the white counterpart of her royal garb. Her hair was brushed up to enhance her features, tied on the back for a half ponytail. The red sash extended from her left shoulder to her right waist, accompanied by black pants tucked neatly inside black boots.

“Ah, one second.” Sakiko suddenly spoke as she took out a handkerchief from her purse. “Face here.”

Hatsune blinked as Sakiko walked towards her. She faced the woman and without saying anything else, she started wiping around her lips, and to anywhere else… her lipstick had gotten on.

“Now, no one should be suspicious of what happened.” Sakiko winked at her. She then took out a small mirror from her purse and started fixing her own makeup.

Hatsune then suddenly… sighed. “Saki-chan… Saki-chan, Saki-chan…” She then smiled at her. “Why are you here…? Why would you… do this?” She took a few steps back and walked towards the chair that was set for them in the small room that was meant for their dining together. She put a hand over one chair and smiled wryly at Sakiko.

Sakiko returned her grin. “If you answered a few questions for me first… then I will tell you.”

“Since I have you for the night, then you have a deal.” Hatsune bowed at her. She walked towards Sakiko and extended a hand out for an invitation. “May I?”

“Yes.” Sakiko took the hand stretched in front of her as the two of them walked towards the dining table. Like a true gentleman, Hatsune pulled her chair for her, and pushed it adequately until she had sat on her chair, then took the spot across from her. “Thank you.”

Hatsune rang the bell that was on the table, and on cue, the Misumi home’s butler strolled in a cart with a full course meal on it. Purple orbs immediately noticed the dessert cakes that were prepared. She motioned for the butler and whispered into his ear. He nodded, took the tray of cakes and left the room.

Sakiko watched all these unfold, confused, but didn’t ask. Hatsune got up from her chair and started putting the plates of salad and main course meals onto the table. It was odd to find the prince herself to be doing this instead of the butler, but once again, Sakiko chose not to ask.

As if on auto-pilot, Hatsune started trying out each dish with a small piece each, to make sure that it wasn’t poisoned. Then Sakiko realized. She was trained to do this, and that she’s moving automatically, based on her training.

Sakiko stood up from her chair and softly touched Hatsune’s wrist. It snapped the blonde out of her focus as she turned to her. Hatsune had just put her index finger in her mouth after tasting one sauce, and before she could react, Sakiko had already moved to put the same finger inside her mouth.

Hatsune felt her throat dry at the sight. There was only so much she could hold back from.

Not seeing this woman for almost three months… they meet again, and then she does something as daring as… this?

“Sa- Saki-chan…” Hatsune immediately pulled back her hand.

“Mm. I think it was good. We should eat, and talk, Hatsune.” Sakiko smiled at her.

” Y- Yeah.” Hatsune nodded as she wiped her hands with the wet towel. “I’m done checking everything too.” She smiled at Sakiko and escorted the lady back to her chair, then she returned to her own.

Soon, the butler returned after a knock on the door, and with him was another cart of countless plates of freshly cut fruits. Hatsune thanked him for his services then he left silently.

“Now… tell.” Sakiko warmly smiled at Hatsune. The blonde nodded as she got started with her own story.

Who Misumi Hatsune was, who Prince Uika was… and the true state of the kingdom.

“Which one is the true you?” Sakiko folded the napkin on her lap after using it to wipe around her lips. “Are you Prince Uika? or Hatsune?”

Hatsune smiled at her wryly. “I don’t like violence… I like stars, gardening, and building things… I like…” you. She turned to the plate in front of her before taking the glass of water on her left to drink. “But… Uika is sick, until he gets well… I need to be… this.”

“I see…” Sakiko nodded. “Then, for me.”

Hatsune nodded.

“I’m childhood friends with the actual princess of the City of Gardens. I asked her a favor… for this.” Sakiko started. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I should do when I see you. You suddenly stopped seeing me, and I waited, and waited… until I couldn’t anymore.”

Hatsune stared at her hands on her lap as she closed her fists that were on top of her thighs.
“So I called in a lot of favors to find out about you. What kind of lady do I have to be in order to gather an audience with you? However, since I don’t have anything under my name, there was nothing I could do as myself… so here we are.” Sakiko smiled at her wryly. “You’ve given me so much even though you never truly knew anything about me, nor did I truly learn anything about you. However, I still yearned. I wanted to see you.”

“Saki-chan…” She looked up to those golden orbs that stared at her intensely.

“My loneliness of no longer seeing you was strong, however, my desire to find more about you was stronger than my loneliness. Who truly are you, Hatsune? Surely, just by knowing that my name is Togawa Sakiko, you’ve already found out everything there is to know me.” Hatsune nodded. “However, I still don’t know anything about you. The gentle woman I met at the lake. The handsome prince who was strict, and heartless. The soft woman who treated me with so much care. The one who loved the stars, built a treehouse… and kissed me under the stars.”

“I…”

“You told me that you knew the answer, but I had to figure it out. I’ve figured it out, which is why I searched for you.”

Hatsune’s heart beat loudly inside her chest. She waited for this moment. However… What could the repercussions be? What would happen if she chose her happiness? What about Uika? What about the City?

“Hatsune.”

“Saki-chan, I…”

“Hatsune, I want to stay the night with you.”

Should Hatsune:

※No hints for this option. 

Update #9: May 20th, 2025

At first, Sakiko only went to the mountain of pure curiosity. After being robbed of her home, she yearned to find good land to plant anything… She just wanted to do something in hopes of helping her father. While she had found temporary employment in the small city as a laundry washer, and as a tutor for the younger children, there was no doubt it wasn’t enough to support two adults.

Kiyotsugu struggled to find permanent employment due to the lasting effects of King Hiroshi’s grasp, and every neighboring country knew to refuse him.

Due to the tattered state of their current home, she had to ask Taki to lend her a shower for her everyday hygiene, until she found the lake. It was secluded, the water was so clean, and the view was beautiful. Even if it meant that she could only take a shower at night, it was one of the times when she didn’t have to think of anything complicated.

Until that one night when blonde hair continued to peek at her from behind a large rock… While one would be disappointed at how their peaceful place was now shared with somebody else, Sakiko’s curiosity was greater than her desire to keep her peace.

Hatsune.

“What a beautiful name… with such a beautiful face.”

Those were Sakiko’s first thoughts when she first saw her admirer. At first, she wondered if they were a male or a female, but it was the last of the plethora of things she wanted to ask the mysterious blonde.

Where was she from? What work does she do? What are her hobbies?

However, their interactions remained short, and prompt, and if not, most of it was spent talking about the stars, gardening… and then later, the flower bed.

She was elated. She finally found good land to garden in, and she was also free to plant anything she wished of… However, the mystery still remained surrounding this kind and sweet blonde who looked at her with so much softness.

“How could such a soft and gentle person exist?”

It was what Sakiko always thought of when it pertained to Hatsune. When she held her hand, she was warm and her hands were rough but she was gentle. When she kissed her lips… It was sweet; it did not taste like lemons as the books had told her, but it made her heart pound so quickly.

She didn’t know exactly how she fell so deeply in love with this woman, but what she knew was that every time they didn’t see each other, her head was in the clouds… filled with thoughts of her.

Who was she? What does she do in life?

Her brief encounter with her only made her curious, instead of frightened.

Who is Prince Uika? Who is Hatsune?

It was part of Owl City’s tradition to let a lady stay the night if the proposal for an arranged marriage meeting was approved by the prince. Of course, it meant that they would be eating dinner, spending time together, and would turn in towards different chambers, but Togawa Sakiko meant differently with those glassy amber orbs that looked through her.

“I know that I ask so much of you, when I have nothing, and you have so much.” Sakiko started with the appetizer served before them. “How could someone like you, feel so much for me?”

“Because… you seemed… free.” Hatsune stared at her with a wry smile. “You freely bathed in that lake, without a care for who would see you. You were… free. Carefree.”

Sakiko’s eyes widened. Now it all made sense.

The feeling she always had with her. The part where she felt that they were similar, but different.

Sakiko didn’t say anything as the silence between them urged the both of them to finish their meals first before resuming their conversation. Hatsune understood this silence as patience for her to continue her story.

So much time passed until Hatsune lined up her knife and fork to the side, and took a sip of her water. She let her back hit the backrest of her chair as she looked at her hands on her lap. For the first time, she didn’t seem princely, or uptight.

“While my true and biological parents are the king and the queen, the one who raised me like she was my mother was the previous head maid of the castle. They learned of how close we had gotten, so they removed her… because I needed to be trained as the prince. I was taught all the education I needed to run a kingdom, I was taught to view things objectively.” Hatsune played with her fingers, pressing each fingertip to each other as she stretched them. “I needed to view women as people who could help the kingdom grow, and not as romantic partners. If Uika had a child with this nation’s woman, would it make the kingdom more powerful? I needed to decide on which citizen to side with. If I sides with the poor, what can the rich do to the family? Do I go for justice? Do I go for power? For whom am I doing all of this? None of this is mine. It’s all for Uika’s future… for the City’s future. Not… mine.”

Sakiko finished her meal as she listened intently to Hatsune’s story. The way she sat slouched over the chair was sad, and her voice and tone was lower and sometimes a bit hard to hear… but Sakiko listened, to take all of her words to heart.

“Among all of those… the one thing I truly owned… was my time viewing the stars from the lake… the treehouse I built with my own hands. The flower bed… Meeting you.” Hatsune crossed her fingers as she held her hands tightly. “For the first time… I met someone who didn’t view me or know me as the prince. For the first time, I felt… myself.”

Without noticing Sakiko had gotten out of her chair, and walked next to her, Hatsune’s first thoughts were that her senses had dulled for someone who was trained to defend herself. However, she only accepted this because she had chosen to bare herself to this woman before her.

“With you… I felt that I could be as carefree as you are. I could find a piece of myself with you, and that’s why…” Hatsune opened her hands and covered her face with them. “I feel for you. Deeply.”

Sakiko wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s head as she hugged her. Hatsune returned the hug as she buried her face onto her soft bosom.

“Saki-chan… I don’t have much of anything either. I don’t know what part of me is real… I don’t know what part of me is me… and what part of me… shouldn’t be me.” Hatsune tightened her arms around Sakiko’s waist. “I’ve ended so many lives with these hands. I’ve bestowed punishments with this face, and this voice… Would you still accept me?”

Sakiko looked at Hatsune’s blonde hair as she softly ran her hand down the back of her head, with her other hand patting the top of her head continuously.

“I had just asked to spend the night with you, didn’t I?” Sakiko answered with confidence. “And yet… you haven’t told me your answer.”

Poll Win (87.5%) – Accept.

  • Accept.

※No hints for this option. 

“Of course, I want you to stay…” Hatsune lifted up her head from in between Sakiko’s chest as she looked up at her. “I want to know more of you… I want to see more of you.”

Sakiko swallowed as she looked into those intense purple orbs. Hatsune returned to hugging her body as they stayed in the same position for a while.

“…Your heart’s beating fast.” Hatsune said in a low whisper voice.

“…Of course it is.” Sakiko answered as she ran a hand over Hatsune’s head, letting it rest on her nape. “It’s because of you, silly.”

“That kind of makes me happy.” Hatsune’s voice was light with a smile, or that’s how Sakiko heard it.

They stayed in that position for a while longer, as they embraced. In that moment, Sakiko discovered that maybe the Owl City’s ‘prince’ has a cute and childish side to her.

It wasn’t long until the butler and the prince’s assistant Umiri came in to check on them. The fruits remained untouched and were going to be stored for tomorrow morning as the prince ordered Umiri to ‘dress the young lady’ appropriately, and to send her to her chambers after.

“Um… Umiri-…san?” Sakiko turned to the black haired female next to her. “What kind of person was Hatsune growing up?”

“Are you asking… Hatsune, or the prince?” Umiri looked at Sakiko in interest. “Thank you for coming.”

“…Thank you for approving my little farce.” Sakiko gave her a knowing smile. “…I know that if it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t have agreed to see me.”

“Oh? You know her too well by now. Now we have no choice but to have you marry in the family or… well, you know.” Umiri joked as she put a fist in front of her mouth in interest. “Well, doing the second option would mean she would have to end me, though.”

“I’d rather not have it end up like that.” Sakiko smiled at her wryly. “Really, I’m thankful… Umiri.”

“Please take care of my good friend’s heart, Sakiko-san.” Umiri smiled at her and gave her a small bow.

The two of them stopped in front of a large door. Umiri pushed it open as it revealed a guest room with the belongings she had when she arrived that were surrendered to the butler. On the bed, was a pristine white nightdress that was see-through on the arms and was only held together by a single ribbon.

“This has been prepared that is likely to be to the prince’s tastes… the rest is up to you.” Umiri winked at her. “I’ll be waiting outside with a robe and will escort you to the prince’s chambers once you’re done.”

“Thank you.” Sakiko smiled at her and went inside the room. Suddenly, she was faced by the reality of her choices. She really was finally going to spend the night with Hatsune… and as Umiri said, the rest were up to her.

She opened her luggage and lay down three pairs of her best lingerie.

Which would seduce Hatsune best?

※This is the only part of the story where the reader gets to decide for Sakiko. The result will affect Hatsune’s interest and joy in removing every piece. Choose wisely.

※Take into account Hatsune’s personality. 

Update #10: May 22nd, 2025

Poll Win (40%) – A sexy purple set.

  • A sexy purple set.

※This is the only part of the story where the reader gets to decide for Sakiko. The result will affect Hatsune’s interest and joy in removing every piece. Choose wisely.

※Take into account Hatsune’s personality. 

“This… should do.” Sakiko lifted up a pair of dark purple lingerie. She only bought them before because they looked like they’d be comfortable for when she sleeps, and never thought that she’d have to wear it to win the heart of somebody.

She unpacked her body soap and hair products before she headed into the showers for a quick wash. Sakiko made sure her long hair was dry before she left the bathroom. Soon after, she put on the comfortable lacy pair and put on her body the mostly see-through dark purple, almost black nightdress that was prepared for her that was supposed to be to the prince’s tastes…

“Hatsune… Well, I suppose any person would like see-through nightwear…” Sakiko felt her body heat up at the idea. She looked at herself in the large full body mirror and felt bare. “Uu… This is very embarrassing.”

She walked towards the large main door and knocked on it. “Umiri?”

“Yes, Sakiko-san?” Umiri’s voice came almost immediately. “Is something wrong?”

“Um… Would it be all right if I received the robe and put it on myself?”

Umiri smiled. “Of course. I will be opening the door now.” She heard soft shuffling behind one of the doors and opened. “Here you go.” She put only her hand into the small gap and handed Sakiko the silk robe.

Sakiko quickly put on the robe and tightly tied it around her waist… feeling somewhat covered (finally). She then opened the door and met Umiri’s gaze.

“…Daring?” Umiri gave her a teasing smile.

“…Don’t ask.” Sakiko blushed as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her own body. “Would Hatsune really like this?”

“I think she would like you even if you wore a garbage bag… Or what was it…” Umiri motioned her hand forward as they walked through the halls. “Ah… She would like you even if you were a worm.”

Sakiko smiled as she followed Umiri closely as they walked. “What’s with that?”

“Something I had just heard from the city once. I thought it would ease your nerves a little.” Umiri smiled. “It’ll be fine, Sakiko-san. Please enjoy the evening.” She stood next to a large brown door and bowed.

Sakiko felt her heart beat in her chest, the sounds of thumping loud inside her ears as she looked at the intimidating door. Just behind it was Hatsune… Just behind it… was the next step to their relationship.

“Thank you, Umiri. Um… See you tomorrow?” Sakiko turned to her with a questioning look. The black haired prince’s assistant straightened her back and tilted her head to one side.

“Ah, you mean that. Of course. Good night, Sakiko-san.” Umiri bowed once again and turned around to leave.

It’s now and never, and so Sakiko knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Hatsune’s voice sounded calm, and normal, and for once Sakiko envied the prince. She must have been trained for highly stressful situations, and here she was with her noisy heart, her sweaty hands, and her limbs feeling like they’re no longer part of her body.

She pushed a door open and came face to face with a rough looking prince, but still as beautiful and handsome as she last remembered her to be. That blonde hair was straight and flat on her head, reminiscent of their night in the treehouse, while she wore comfy looking white cotton pants, and tucked inside it was a slightly oversized white shirt with two buttons at the center of its collar.

“Saki-chan.” Hatsune smiled and walked towards her. She placed her hand onto the door behind Sakiko, pulled it close, then locked it. “Come.” She extended her hand on Sakiko’s back without touching her as she led her forward, further into the room.

Aside from Mutsumi’s room inside the City of Garden’s castles, this would be the second time Sakiko had ever been into such a large room. The large king sized bed had a light blue colored canopy over it with a side table on either side. One side had a lamp on it, which Sakiko assumed to be the side Hatsune usually slept on. It had several books on it that seemed to be about either the stars, or war tactics.

Further inside the room lined with at least two windows was a long desk with pins of images of constellations, books about gardening, self-help guides to making wooden houses, and the like. One of the windows had a black out curtain over it, while the other had see-through, and just in front of it was a large telescope that was most likely used to view the stars.

“It seems like your room is very you, and not the prince.” Sakiko turned to Hatsune with a soft smile. “Your love for the stars amaze me. Did you learn how to care for flowers, and build a wooden house, so that you can have the best experience as you stargaze?”

Hatsune shook her head. “I learned because I felt bad trampling on flowers and… because I wanted to be alone, and have a space of my own.”

“You’re sharing them with me?” Sakiko turned to her in surprise.

“I want you in them, with me.” Hatsune’s purple eyes looked at her intensely. “Saki-chan…” She walked towards the light blue haired lady and reached for the ribbon that tied her robe together. “…Can I?”

“Feeling impatient?” Sakiko teased as she grabbed Hatsune’s hand and led it towards her robe. “We have all the time tonight, don’t we?”

“…Don’t tease me.” Hatsune pouted at her as she untied the robe and slowly opened it as Sakiko felt the silk material slide down her shoulders immediately to the floor. She inhaled deeply as she took in the appearance of the beautiful woman before her. “Saki-chan…”

Sakiko held onto her arm as she let Hatsune scrutinize her appearance. Her long slightly wavy hair cascaded down on her back. The see-through dark purple, almost black cardigan hugged her curves as it barely covered the lacy purple lingerie under it. It was thin and see-through, of the same shade as the cardigan. The front-clasped bra had lace all over it and a thin cloth extended just to almost cover Sakiko’s flat stomach, while its accompanying underwear also had thin strings on the side that covered only the important parts.

“Admittedly… It’s actually more embarrassing to be seen in your underwear… than when you absolutely have nothing underneath.” Sakiko fidgeted as Hatsune took in her appearance. “You know, just like the first time… you saw me.”

Hatsune walked closer to Sakiko as she softly wrapped her arms around her body, burying her face into Sakiko’s chest as embraced her tenderly. “You’re bad for my heart…”

Sakiko softly placed her hands on Hatsune’s cheeks as she lifted up her face. “…and so are you, for mine.” She tiptoed a little to give those soft lips a kiss. They parted only ever slightly as Hatsune tightened her hold around Sakiko’s waist while Sakiko wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s neck while they kissed once again.

“Saki-chan… I love you.” Hatsune whispered into Sakiko’s lips as she stared at them hungrily.

Golden orbs stared at purple orbs that looked at her lips in so much fervor. “Hatsune, I love you, too.”

“…Will you really give me this night?” Purple orbs finally lifted up its gaze into amber ones.

“Should I have just gone naked if that meant a more straight to the point answer?” Sakiko teased.

“…You can be mean, sometimes, Saki-chan.” Hatsune smiled at her as she suddenly swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style in her arms. “Final question–“

“Oh, be quiet.” Sakiko pulled onto Hatsune’s neck as she gave her a kiss, she felt her back hit the soft bed. Learning from her previous experience, she nudged Hatsune’s lips with her mouth as it opened, slipping in a hungry tongue as they kissed.

Hatsune answered with equal vigor as she ran both of her hands over Sakiko’s shoulders, letting the cloth of her cardigan move under her palms as she peeled it off her arms while they kissed.

Once Sakiko’s arms were free from the cardigan, she quickly wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s neck once again. She slid her palms up Hatsune’s nape before she slid it down that slim and muscular back as she pulled out that white shirt from being tucked inside Hatsune’s pants.

Hatsune parted from their passionate kiss as she removed her shirt and threw it on the floor. With Sakiko already knowing that she was female, she didn’t feel shy wearing just a sports bra under her shirt. Sakiko marveled at her body. The toned abs, the toned arms… the scratches around her waist, and shoulders. Sakiko wanted to touch them, ask about them… but those hungry lips on hers surely won’t let her.

Sakiko inhaled deeply as Hatsune’s lips left her mouth to trail hot kisses around her neck as she raised her head to give her more access. She felt a deft hand unclasp her bra as it opened. Instinctively she covered her chest as Hatsune pulled back to look at her.

“…May I?” That soft and gentle voice made Sakiko’s heart thump.

“…You seem so experienced, is it your first time, too?” Sakiko smiled at her teasingly, as she tried to catch her breath from their make out session. Her cheeks were flushed, and her whole body was extremely hot. Surely… Down there must be feeling it as intensely as the rest of her body was.

“It is… But… as I’ve mentioned… I learned, with books.” Hatsune smiled at her wryly. “I don’t know what you like… I don’t know what I might like… but I’m… a good warrior?”

“What is that supposed to mean…?” Sakiko stared into Hatsune’s purple orbs as she asked.

“I’m good at reading the signs of a good fight.” Hatsune kissed Sakiko once again as she gently held Sakiko’s wrists, prying them away from her chest. She wrapped Sakiko’s hands around her shoulders as she continued the kiss down to Sakiko’s neck, covering the other side as she peppered more kisses around her chest. She softly pushed the sexy lingerie aside as Sakiko’s breasts came into view. “You’re so beautiful, Saki-chan…”

“Hatsune…” Sakiko watched as Hatsune placed kisses in between the valley of her breasts. “Do you like my bosom so much?”

“Mm… They’re soft, and give me warmth.” Hatsune answered playfully as she rested her cheeks on them while she pushed them together with her hands. “Soft, soft, Saki-chan…”

“Stop playing around… please.” Sakiko sighed as she softly smacked Hatsune’s head with her hand.

Hatsune laughed then proceeded to kiss around each breast, before she kissed one tip as she played with the other with her fingertips.

“Hmm…” Sakiko sighed as her hips moved involuntarily on each flick of the tongue on her nipple, on each pinch on the other. “Hah… Hatsune…” Feeling embarrassed of her sensual voices, she covered her mouth with an arm as Hatsune moved from one breast to another.

Hatsune focused on her trip downward as she trailed kisses down Sakiko’s flat stomach, her fingers hooked around the thin lace of the purple underwear. She looked up at Sakiko for permission.

With the back of her hand still over her lips, Sakiko met passionate purple orbs and nodded at her.

Hatsune pulled down on the purple underwear, marveling at the string of slick connecting to the soft fabric as she pulled it down those white creamy legs.

“Hatsune…” Sakiko breathed as she called for the blonde as she felt her underwear leave her legs. “Kiss me, please…”

Hatsune blinked, she wanted to eat this delicious looking treat in front of her, but for now she’ll yield and kiss her cute lady.

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune climbed over Sakiko’s body, wedging herself in between Sakiko’s legs as she forced them open. “I’ll… touch you now, okay?”

Sakiko nodded as she wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s shoulders, pulling onto the blonde as they kissed.

Hatsune’s hand explored as she smoothly passed it over Sakiko’s stomach, then into those inner thighs before softly running through two digits over Sakiko’s wet slit. Sakiko broke from the kiss as she panted, her hips moving as she felt the touch intensely.

Purple orbs stared into golden ones as she moved her fingers up and down, spreading her wetness all over before giving Sakiko’s sensitive nub a few rubs as it elicited a moan and a sigh from Sakiko.

“Hatsune… I’m scared…” Glassy golden orbs looked into purple orbs. “I love you…”

Hatsune nodded as she kissed Sakiko’s forehead. “It’ll be okay. I’m here, with you. I love you, too, Saki-chan.” She gave her a kiss as she sneakily slipped in a single digit, moving further inside as she entangled her tongue with Sakiko’s as they kissed.

“Mm… Hah… Ah… Mm…” Sakiko tightened her arms around Hatsune’s shoulders as they kissed. She felt that long finger slip inside slowly as it spread her, her body sensitive as she felt an odd, but pleasurable sensation all over her body. “Hatsune…!” Sakiko gasped in between kisses as Hatsune’s single digit was slowly followed by another.

“Saki-chan… Are you okay? Is it painful?” Hatsune asked as she stopped her hand.

Sakiko nodded, then shook her head. “I feel… weird… good. I’m not… sure?”

“Okay. Let it come to you, ride the feeling.” Hatsune whispered into her lips as she kissed her once again, trying to distract her from her exploring fingers as she pushed her two digits further in, looking for that specific spot. “Saki-chan…”

Sakiko closed her eyes as she focused on Hatsune’s lips, but the good feeling down below kept her preoccupied in more ways than she could think of. The soft rubbing, the exploring, the movement, all of it…

“Hah… Hah…” Sakiko panted in between kisses.

“Is it here…?” Hatsune moved further in and touched a sensitive rough part above that made Sakiko tighten around her fingers. She continued to rub the same part as Sakiko’s hips lifted off the bed to meet her hand. “Saki-chan…”

“That’s… good…” Sakiko turned to Hatsune as she pulled onto her shoulders tighter. “Hatsune…” She lazily kissed Hatsune as the blonde continued to stimulate her inside, her fingers moving a combination of in and out motions, all at the same time hitting that sensitive muscle inside her. “Hah… I’m… something… is coming…”

“Ride it out… Let it go, Saki-chan.” Hatsune nodded as she kissed once again, not letting up on her movements. She moved from Sakiko’s lips as she continued kissing around her neck, sucking on a spot on the side of her neck as she left a kiss mark.

“Hah… Ah…! Hatsune…! Hatsune…!” Sakiko lifted her hips off the bed as she met Hatsune’s hand, her hips staying in place for a moment before dropping back onto the bed as they convulsed a little while she orgasmed.

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune watched Sakiko’s face as she kept her fingers still inside her. She used her other hand to remove Sakiko’s bangs from her face as they stuck on her forehead through her sweat. “I’m pulling out, okay?”

Sakiko nodded as she panted and tried to catch her breath. She closed her eyes as she breathed.

Hatsune sneakily licked her fingers clean of Sakiko’s juices before going over to cuddle Sakiko. “Saki-chan?”

“Hatsune…” Sakiko opened her eyes as she turned her gaze to her. “…I think my hips have completely given out, and I can’t move.”

“Intense…?”

“Unexpected?” Sakiko laughed as she moved one hand to touch Hatsune’s face. “I love you.”

Hatsune nodded as she leaned into Sakiko’s touch. “We’re dating now, right?”

Sakiko frowned. “…I would be angry if we weren’t before all that?”

Hatsune smiled. “Please don’t be angry. While I don’t have much… I’ll do my best to make you happy.”

Sakiko mustered all of her strength to turn to her side and face Hatsune. “Let’s search for our happiness together. Not because you’re the prince, but because you’re Hatsune, and I love you.”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune smiled at her as tears welled up in her eyes. “I love you… I love you, so much.”

“I know… Teach me how to meet the rest of the real you, Hatsune.” Sakiko smiled at her as she kissed her. “But for now… I think, I’m going to… sleep.”

Hatsune smiled and pulled on the soft satin covers and covered her and Sakiko’s body. “Good night, Saki-chan.”

Waking up to the sound of birds was not a normal occurrence to Hatsune’s mornings. She usually was up before the sun had risen, and to her surprise, she was up alone, in bed… her shirt, still missing… and her girlfriend, also missing.

Umiri’s in the castle, so surely nothing bad should have happened to her, but it put her heart in disarray.

Hatsune quickly took a freshshirt from her closet, not bothering to put on any sort of slippers, she searched the castle.

“Umiri-chan? Saki-chan?” She called as she headed for the dining room. Usually, Umiri was already on her door when she opened it… but she wasn’t there?

In the dining room, was familiar light blue hair… and on her body was her shirt… and likely, nothing else. She seemed quite busy with something on the dining table, and had her back turned to Hatsune’s.

A slightly evil plan in mind, Hatsune sneaked as she inched closer… And closer… then she wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s waist, burying her face on her nape.

“Saki-chan!”

“Kyaaaaa!” Sakiko screamed loudly as she closed her eyes and started to struggle inside the arms… until realization. “Hatsune!?”

“Sakiko-san!?” Umiri rushed over to the dining room from the kitchen. She had a kitchen knife in hand and immediately swung it down at the ‘intruder’.

Hatsune was quick to react as she swiftly dodged the knife attack after pushing Sakiko out of the way. She then had time to pull Sakiko back into her arms, then grinned at Umiri. “Nice.”

“You’re insane, Your Highness.” Umiri shook her head as she sighed.

“How dare you look at the white sexy legs of my darling lover?” Hatsune raised her eyebrows at Umiri.

“I offered clothes, but she said ‘I would like to continue wearing this because of Hatsune desu wa’ and who was I to reject such a cute proclamation?” Umiri, who had just done a perfect imitation of Sakiko, then just shook her head as she went back into the kitchen. “If you had forgotten, you gave the castle staff the day off, so I’m going to be making your breakfast now, Your Highness.”

Hatsune blinked and turned to look at the surprised, still in shock, but also extremely embarrassed woman in her arms. “Saki-chan?”

“Uu… Umiri, I told you to not tell her that.” Sakiko covered her face with her hands.

“You’re extremely bad for my heart…” Hatsune sighed as she engulfed her into a warm embrace. “…You are free to do that inside my room… just not outside, please?”

Sakiko nodded.

“As punishment, I will be carrying you back into my room now. Please get changed?” Hatsune smiled at her.

Sakiko could only nod. Maybe having a prince-trained girlfriend was bad for her heart also? She decided to just evaluate this at a later time.

Hatsune returned to the kitchen and looked at what Sakiko was busying herself with before she decided to give her, and her assistant, a sneak attack.

There was a plate of omelette rice on the table, and one of them had something written on it.

[Hatsune ♡]

The heart shape at the end remained incomplete. It was likely around the time she had attacked, and now remained unfinished.

She smiled at it and shook her head.

“My, my. Look at how the prince has fallen.” Umiri went back to the dining room with another plate of omelette rice. “Your Highness, please dress appropriately for… we have guests in about twenty minutes.”

“You mean I can’t eat this cute omelette rice until then?” Hatsune frowned at her as Umiri nodded.

There was nothing she could do. If there was a guest, then she must greet them.

She returned to her room only to find that Sakiko was no longer there, but there was a paper on her desk that said she went back to her borrowed room for proper clothes.

Slightly disappointed, Hatsune changed into her usual day to day clothes as the prince… until her eyes landed on her bed. “…I should get those sheets changed.”

Now in a pair of formal pants, boots, and a black button up shirt, she headed out to the castle’s main lobby to greet their guests.

To her surprise, the guest was already inside the lobby, and so was Sakiko… with a familiar face.

“Prince Uika, it is a pleasure to meet you.” In a beautiful emerald green dress, was a beautiful light green haired lady with golden eyes. She gave her a curtsy befitting of a lady. “My name’s Wakaba Mutsumi.”

Taki, who stood next to her, serving as her royal guard bowed as well.

“Pretty…” Hatsune let the words leave her mouth, and soon there was an elbow directly to her sides. “Gwah… Saki-…chan.”

Sakiko turned to her with a scary smile. “You’re cheating on me already?”

Hatsune shook her head vigorously, left and right. “My thoughts… left my mouth.”

“Well, Mutsumi is pretty. I’m not really blaming you.” Sakiko nodded.

Hatsune rubbed her side as she stood up normally. “The pain of that elbow totally did not show that.” She sighed and gave Mutsumi a royal bow. “It’s nice to meet you, Princess Mutsumi. I’m Misumi Uika.”

Mutsumi smiled at her. “It’s nice to finally meet you… and it’s nice to see you, Saki.”

Umiri announced her arrival by knocking on the door and going through it. “I’m glad to see that all parties are here.”

“Eh?” Hatsune looked at her in surprise.

“I’m surprised you haven’t filled the prince in.” Taki raised an eyebrow. “Sakiko?”

“Well, I thought it might be easier to believe if it was Mutsumi who explained everything.” Sakiko smiled wryly. “I’ll leave it to you.”

Mutsumi nodded. “Prince Uika. The publicly announced date for ‘our’ arranged marriage meeting was actually today.”

Hatsune blinked.

“We had sent Saki yesterday with a delivery of supplies, and with the help of your assistant, also tricked you into thinking that it was yesterday.” Mutsumi explained further. “As you already know, I’m not interested in a political marriage with the Misumis, but I want to entrust to you my good friend. I also know that you’ve allowed her, and her family to seek asylum into the Owl City.”

“I haven’t sent that out…?” Hatsune trailed as Umiri looked away whistling.

“…With that, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Togawa Sakiko started working for you as a live-in strawberry gardener, would it not?” Mutsumi smiled. “I doubt King Hiroshi is going to be happy to learn of this… but it’s up to you if you’d like to announce that publicly, or keep it a secret.”

“Is father…?” Sakiko turned to Mutsumi.

“He didn’t want to enter the city yet, so he’s still in your old house. Worry not, we’ll do our best to help him while you get things sorted here.” Mutsumi turned to Taki, who nodded at her. “Saki. You’ll be on your own from hereon.”

“I know. Thank you, Mutsumi.” Sakiko smiled. “Thank you, Taki. I think it’ll be a while until we see each other?”

“…Yeah. Stay safe.” Taki nodded.

“Uh… My brain isn’t catching up to it, so basically, all of you are in on this plan, and for some reason… I wasn’t?” Hatsune tried to piece together the puzzle.

Sakiko faked her papers to meet her… but the meeting was real publicly… and somehow her assistant was in on this, and she wasn’t…?

“Umiri-chan…?” Hatsune turned to her assistant who bowed at her.

“I will explain in detail at a later time, but right now, you have a decision to make.” Umiri smiled.

“The answer obviously is yes, but what are we telling the public about this arranged marriage meeting?” Hatsune turned to Mutsumi who only smiled at her.

“I’ll leave that to you. You have time. I’m allowed to stay until the afternoon, right?” Mutsumi turned to Umiri. “Can I look at the castle’s library?”

Umiri nodded. “Of course. This way.”

Mutsumi nodded at Sakiko, and Hatsune, as she and Taki followed Umiri through the castle’s hallways.

Sakiko turned to Hatsune. “I’m sorry if you were kept completely in the dark… but you still have time. You don’t have to decide right away.”

That was what Sakiko said, but it was pertinent to Hatsune that she made a decision now. No matter what it is, she had a bad feeling for what was going to happen next… regardless of what her decision was.

“Hatsune… Would you take me in?”

What should Hatsune, the Prince of Owl City do?

※The decision in this choice would be a deciding factor to the story’s ending.

Update #11: May 25th, 2025

Poll Win (50%) – Take in Sakiko.

  • Take in Sakiko.

※The decision in this choice would be a deciding factor to the story’s ending.

Hatsune smiled at her softly. “Is that even a question? Of course I would.”

Sakiko blinked. “…You aren’t going to ask about everything?”

“I’m not doing this for the city, or the royal family. I want you here, for me.” Hatsune smiled. “Surely… It isn’t going to be easy… but will you stay with me?”

Sakiko smiled. “Isn’t that the reason I’m here?”

Hatsune nodded. “However, as the prince of this country, well, stand-in, I want to know every single thing I’ve been blind to… I kind of don’t like being left in the dark.”

“Of course… Hatsune.” Sakiko turned to her and cradled her face with both hands. “I’m sorry for leaving you in the dark.”

Hatsune leaned into the warmth of Sakiko’s hands. “Mm. I’ll forgive you because you apologized so sweetly.”

Sakiko laughed. “Here’s an extra.” She tiptoed and softly kissed her on the lips. “Your good morning kiss, ‘Prince Uika’.”

Hatsune blushed before she turned away and took Sakiko’s hand into hers, entwining each finger in between as she led her down the large hallways towards the library. “It’s a walk towards the library. It’s on the other side of the castle, so… you can tell me the details on our way there.”

According to Sakiko’s story, while she persisted in waiting for Hatsune in their usual spots, one time it was Umiri she met there. Umiri talked to her for a while, and after a few nights of talking and gaining her trust, Sakiko opened up to her about her plan.

She talked about how Mutsumi was her childhood friend, and that it was risky, but if she asked her, she would help her.

“But now I need to set her up on a date with someone.” Sakiko shook her head then sighed. “It was what I had promised Nyamu when she helped me deliver a letter to Mutsumi.”

Hatsune nodded, mentally filing in her head to later find out more about this person named Nyamu. “I see… Umiri agreed to it?”

Sakiko nodded. “She said that she will get the papers to you, and make you agree. Well, considering how things were, it looked like she agreed for you instead. There was an official invite, and the one that made it to your desk.”

“The official invite would have needed my signature and stamp…..?” Hatsune raised her eyebrows. Until she remembered something. “But I think I remember signing one that was rushed and I didn’t see well what it was about other than it was a request for a carriage…”

Sakiko looked at her with a knowing smile. “That’s the one. The request was… an audience with the Prince, the arranged marriage meeting, with one carriage to fetch the City of Garden’s Princess from the city gates.”

Hatsune closed her eyes and smacked her face with a hand. “…And now the city is in an uproar because the prince accepted an offer… when it had just finished because I kept on rejecting them.”

“I believe that’s what Mutsumi would want to talk to you about.” Sakiko nodded. “I’m sorry…”

Hatsune squeezed Sakiko’s hand and shook her head. “It’s okay… To be honest, if I had heard about this crazy plan, I wouldn’t have agreed to it.” Purple eyes brightened up at a dark green door at the end of a hallway. “The library is right there.”

“I’m quite interested in what books the Owl City kingdom has.” Sakiko jogged forward, dragging Hatsune with her in her excitement.

“Tell me what you find.” Hatsune took longer strides as she followed her. “Looks like Umiri has taken a liking to you.”

Sakiko smiled. “I want to be on the good side of people dear to you.”

Hatsune knocked on the large double doors, then pushed one side open.

The carpeted maroon floor extended to the whole room, with a bright red one that acted as a pathway. The ceiling had one large chandelier, while sconce lights lined up along the walls.

Right from the door, bookshelves were already lined up and after walking for a while, there were already staircases that led to the second floor shelves.

“Your Highness.” Umiri bowed while she stood next to the door. “Wakaba-san, and Taki-san are in the history and geography section.”

Hatsune nodded at her and entered, still hand in hand with Sakiko, who shyly nodded at Umiri as well, likely feeling conscious about their hand holding.

“Hatsune…” Sakiko tugged on her hand. “Mutsumi, and Taki are…”

“It’s fine, they’re your friends, right? Umiri won’t mind, but ah, well, I guess there are the live-in librarians.” Hatsune turned to Umiri. “Who is managing today?”

“Soyo-san.” Umiri answered and nodded. “She said that Anon-san was going to be late, I think she should be arriving soon.”

“Ah~ I think you would get well with Soyo-chan.” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko and squeezed her hand. “Let’s go.”

Sakiko nodded and walked side by side with the blonde. They followed the red carpet and Hatsune navigated the halls with great knowledge of the huge library. It showed that she had been in this huge fortress of books, and that she just wasn’t the ‘prince’ for show.

It wasn’t long until they saw the two of them. Taki stood not too far from Mutsumi, while Mutsumi had a book in her hand that seemed to be about the geography of the City of Gardens.

“Mutsumi!” Sakiko called, as the two turned to them with.

“Saki.” Mutsumi nodded at Hatsune, then turned to the lady next to her. She closed the book in her hand. “It was interesting to find books about the City of Gardens. This may come as weird… but we don’t have a lot of books about the land’s geography and history.”

Hatsune tilted her head to one side. “I know that the country is led by the Wakaba family, a matriarchy with the Queen, Mori Minami, as its head… Why wouldn’t the country have books about geography, and history?”

“I’m trusting you because Saki’s so in love with you.” Mutsumi teased with a wry smile. “I’m in suspicion that King Hiroshi has information on my mother, and that he has a plot to overturn the Matriarchy, and steal the seat for himself. They started with what made the city grow, the Strawberry Greenhouse.”

Sakiko squeezed Hatsune’s hand. The blonde turned to her with a smile.

“I’ve received the same information, although it was an anonymous contact, we’re still trying to verify it. If King Hiroshi moves without concern for the neighboring nation, the Owl City might have to make a move after decades of staying neutral.” Hatsune put a hand on her chin. “However, considering everything that King Hiroshi has done, we might have to wait this out.”

“About that, I have something to discuss with you. It could take some time.” Mutsumi turned to Sakiko. “Would that be all right?”

“Eh? Why are you asking me?” Sakiko blinked.

“I thought you might want to spend time with her.” Mutsumi smiled.

“I’ve decided to take her in. We have time.” Hatsune nodded.

Sakiko turned to Hatsune and smiled. “Then, I’ll go find some books about gardening.”

“Okay. Umiri-chan!”

“Yes, Your Highness?” Umiri’s voice echoed equally as loud almost immediately.

“Could you take Saki-chan to the gardening books?” Hatsune spoke in a normal tone as Umiri arrived around the corner.

“…Does she have wheels on her legs?” Taki raised an eyebrow, surprised at how quickly she arrived.

“It gives me immense pleasure for you to think so.” Umiri chimed with an annoying smile. “Yes, Your Highness.” She then turned to Hatsune and bowed.

Taki only rolled her eyes.

“I’ll come get you later.” Hatsune watched them leave with a wave that Sakiko returned before she followed Umiri further into the library. “Princess Mutsumi.”

Mutsumi nodded at her. “It must be tiring to say that all the time, Prince Uika. Feel free to just call me Mutsumi.”

Hatsune smiled at her. “All right, then, Mutsumi-chan. Feel free to do the same.”

Mutsumi nodded. “I’ll cut to the chase.” She opened the book in her hand and flipped to a page that was about lands between the Gardens and the Owl. “I think King Hiroshi wants this land.”

It was a huge patch of land that was right in between their cities, a known small village of people ostracized from other neighboring cities… including where Sakiko and her father currently lived.

The two of them looked into the book and realized that the whole land used to be a dam near mines, immediately realizing that King Hiroshi may have wanted the land to dig it up for possible undocumented gold.

“60% of this land is part of our land.” Hatsune raised an eyebrow.

Mutsumi nodded. “We’re thinking that the recent bandit attack in your kingdom was an attempt to scout this land area.”

“The bandit attacks have been on the other side of the city but… the area next to this land is part of the squatters area. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of King Hiroshi’s people have already made contact with some of the people there.” Hatsune put a thumb under her chin. “I might have to send soldiers to check outside the walls for possible entrances inside the city’s borders… underground entrances included.”

“Good idea. The City of Gardens is currently hanging in imbalance. We only have medicinal methods available for trade. When King Hiroshi decided to take the Strawberry Greenhouse, he didn’t realize that the only one who knew how to grow the strawberries was the Togawa family.” Mutsumi closed the book and placed it back into the shelf where it was from.

“Because the city didn’t have a lot of books?” Hatsune watched Mutsumi return the book then turned to the green haired princess.

“That’s right. However… You have this now.” Mutsumi nodded. “Make good use of Saki’s skill.”

“I won’t make her do things she wouldn’t want to.” Hatsune looked Mutsumi in the eyes with a serious expression. “I want her to go back to gardening and planting the things she wanted to, because she wanted to do it for herself, not for this city.”

Mutsumi smiled and nodded. “You’re a good person.”

Hatsune returned the smile. “You are, too.”

“I’m going to send another request to see you in a week. Tell me the findings of your people about King Hiroshi’s movements… then let’s talk about what we can do with him.” Mutsumi walked towards a nearby table with a pen on it. She turned to the notepad and scribbled something before tearing it apart.

“I agree. I’ll accept the proposal.” Hatsune nodded.

“If you need to contact me, send Saki to the village, and tell her to hand the letter to this person.” Mutsumi folded the paper and handed it to Hatsune. “The point of contact would have to change every now and then to not rouse suspicion.”

“I understand. Thank you for today, Mutsumi-chan.”

“It was great to meet you, Uika.”

Hatsune then turned to Taki. “It was nice to see you today, too.”

“Take care of Sakiko.” Taki nodded.

“Please stay here, I’ll go and fetch Umiri so she can escort you back.” Hatsune smiled and nodded at them before she headed towards the library’s gardening section which was on the second floor of the library.

Hatsune ran into Umiri just below the stairs. “Umiri-chan.”

“Ah. Is it time for Wakaba-san to leave?”

Hatsune nodded. “Please escort them.”

“Will do, Your Highness.” Umiri bowed, then left. “Sakiko-san… is very engrossed in the books.”

“I expected her to. Thank you, Umiri-chan.” Hatsune smiled and started her climb up the stairs.

The second floor of the library was an open floor. One could see the whole of the library’s first floor from any corner of the second floor. However, it was also the spot with a lot of tables and chairs. Hatsune mostly used it to draft housing and garden plots, so the tables were huge as well.

After arriving at the top of the stairs Hatsune immediately noticed Sakiko in front of her favorite shelf. With their shared love for tending to the land and planting stuff, she wasn’t surprised to find her there… and so, an idea has now popped in her head.

How should Hatsune approach Sakiko?

※This choice has no effect on the story’s ending. Only on Sakiko’s reaction.

Meanwhile…

In a far away land.

Misumi Sadaharu pinched the bridge of his nose as the light inside his room flickered. A feathered pen in hand, he continued writing his letter.

Hatsune,

Uika’s condition has worsened, and we still haven’t found a clue nor a cure for his sickness.

We will be returning soon. By the time this letter reaches you, we might already be a few days close.

If things become worse, you know what will happen.

Look into those prospective princesses of the neighboring countries. It’s time.

Sadaharu 

Update #12: May 28th, 2025

Poll Win (55.6%) – Go around and surprise her.

  • Go around and surprise her.

※This choice has no effect on the story’s ending.

Hatsune made sure her footsteps were silent as she slowly walked behind the nearest shelf. She removed one book and made sure she had vision of her lover who looked at each book with a bright smile.

Watchful purple orbs followed Sakiko taking three books from the shelf into her arms. She happily brought them towards the nearby table, laying them down in a line. Seeing how preoccupied she was, Hatsune took this as a sign to attack.

She ducked and slowly marched towards Sakiko’s unsuspecting back. “Sa…… ki-…chan!” Hatsune wrapped one arm around Sakiko’s body, as the other was pressed on her flat stomach as she softly turned her around to face her as she pressed Sakiko to the edge of the table using Hatsune’s arm as a cushion.

“Kyaaaa!?” Sakiko felt her body spun around, her arms flying upward as it naturally landed onto the blonde’s shoulders. “That was dangerous! What are you doing, Hatsu–“

Warm lips were immediately over hers as Hatsune swallowed the rest of her words. The hand on her lower back pulled onto her tightly as Hatsune’s other hand rested on the edge of the table for balance.

Sakiko responded to the kiss in kind as she tightened her arms around Hatsune’s neck as they briefly parted, foreheads and noses touching.

“Miss me?” Playful purple orbs looked into soft golden ones.

“Always.” Sakiko whispered into Hatsune’s lips. “You surprised me.”

“It seems that I did.” Hatsune smiled as her lips briefly grazed Sakiko’s in a near kiss.

“Ehem.” Then a cough behind interrupted their sweet moment.

They separated immediately in surprise as Hatsune turned to look behind them.

“Anon-chan!” Hatsune looked at the pink haired girl in a pair of black pants, and a dark blue blouse tucked inside her pants. “Where’s Soyo-chan?”

Anon smiled at her. “Good afternoon, Your Highness. I didn’t know you used the library as a place for a romantic tryst nowadays.”

“A- Ah… This is… Togawa Sakiko. She’s going to be the palace’s new gardener.” Hatsune motioned for Sakiko.

“It’s nice to meet you, Anon-san.” Sakiko bowed with flushed cheeks as she tried to calm her loudly beating heart.

“Don’t worry about it. Umiri-san already warned me and Soyorin that one of the girls is going to be Your Highness’ girlfriend or something like that.” Anon winked at Hatsune, then turned to Sakiko. “It’s nice to meet you, can I call you Sakiko-chan?”

Sakiko turned to Hatsune who only shrugged with a wry smile.

“Stop that.” Another voice chimed in.

“Ah, ow.” Anon rubbed her head as a heavy book bonked her on the head. “Soyorin~”

“You just met the person.” Soyo, a tall brunette in a similar outfit as Anon glared at the pink haired girl. She then turned to Hatsune and Sakiko. “Your Highness.” She gave Hatsune a bow, then turned to Sakiko. “It’s nice to meet you, Sakiko-san.”

Sakiko walked towards them and smiled. “I’ll be working here, same as everyone, please feel free to call me Sakiko, or Saki-chan, as the prince does.”

Soyo peeked over Sakiko’s shoulders. “Then I’ll call you Saki-chan to make the prince squirm every now and then.”

“S- Soyo-chan…!” Hatsune hung her head in defeat with a sigh. She stepped closer to whisper into Sakiko’s ears. “It was Soyo-chan who helped me arrange this library, I think she holds a grudge against me.”

Sakiko giggled at the light joke and softly smacked Hatsune’s arm in response.

“Sakiko-chan it is, then.” Anon smiled and offered her hand. “Nice to meet you!”

Sakiko took the hand and shook it. Soyo did the same.

“Nice to meet you, Saki-chan.” Soyo smiled at her.

“This person seems so gentle… but with Anon-san…” Sakiko eyed the two of them in interest. “Please keep what you saw here a secret.”

“What stays in the library, stays in the library.” Anon shrugged, then immediately got bonked in the head with a book once again. “Ow. Stop hurting that poor Shakespearian book, Soyorin…”

“I’m sorry, Shakespeare.” Soyo shrugged and walked past Anon and handed the book to Hatsune. “You were looking for this, right?”

“Oh, not me. Umiri-chan was.” Hatsune took the book and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Why does Shakespeare get an apology, and I don’t? So mean, big big meanie.” Anon just shook her head as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“There’s no need to ask them to keep it a secret. Everyone in the castle knows already, it seems.” Hatsune turned to Sakiko as she took her hand into her own.

“That’s right. It’s fine.” Soyo smiled at them, her dark blue eyes catching sight of the books Sakiko had laid out on the table. “Green plants, and vegetables?”

Sakiko returned to the table and stood next to Soyo. “Yes. I’m looking for good companion plants for strawberries. My family used to tend them in a greenhouse, but due to a lack of other plants, it was hard to maintain them manually.”

Hatsune then proceeded to stand behind Sakiko, as she pressed her chest onto Sakiko’s back, hands on table on each of her girlfriend’s sides as she rested her jaw on an unsuspecting shoulder.

“The garden is huge, you can definitely plant more, or plant different things.” Hatsune spoke from Sakiko’s shoulder as one of her hands moved from the table to wrap around Sakiko’s stomach. “Should I tour you around the garden next?”

Sakiko turned her body to face Hatsune with a smile. “Does the prince really have that much time?”

“I’ll make Umiri-chan make the time.” Hatsune returned the smile and nuzzled the side of Sakiko’s face.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to be envious or be consumed by ants.” Anon smiled as she watched the lovers flirt with each other.

“Just a warning, if you tried anything now I’m going to make sure you stay in your bed for the next three weeks.” Soyo threatened as she opened a book about green plants and quickly scanned its text to find what Sakiko was looking for.

“Uu… That’s going to be cold.” Anon sighed then slouched her shoulders in disappointment. “Anyway, I do know of books about companion planting. I’ll go get them.”

“I’ll go with you.” Soyo held a hand out at Anon to stop her from going. She then turned to Sakiko as she stopped on a page of the book. “I believe you can start checking from there, but I would recommend the whole book. You chose a good one.”

Sakiko turned to Soyo and smiled as she received the book and turned back around to face the table. “Thank you.”

Soyo smiled at her, then turned to leer at the prince before leaving with Anon to grab more books.

“Hahaha…” Hatsune laughed dryly as she watched them go. “Soyo-chan…”

“Did you do something to her?” Sakiko smiled as she turned to look at the book. “She looked like she was warning you not to do something in here.”

“I totally wasn’t planning on such a thing.” Hatsune grinned.

“Your hands on my stomach and hips don’t seem to think so, Your Highness.” Sakiko looked at the pages as she looked through the book.

“Uu…” Hatsune continued to hug Sakiko from behind as she rested her jaw on Sakiko’s shoulders. “Let’s just say I always ran in here to escape my lessons, as a child.”

“What a troublemaker.” Sakiko shook her head as she focused on the book. “Hatsune.”

“Mm~?” Hatsune hummed as she removed her jaw from Sakiko’s shoulder and proceeded to just lay her head on the back of Sakiko’s head.

“…Please keep your hands in places we won’t get scolded for.” Sakiko held onto one of Hatsune’s hands that were slipping down from her stomach, and placed it back where it was.

“Yes ma’am~” Hatsune responded playfully and leaned her weight onto Sakiko’s body. “I need to leave soon and go to my study to work on things. Do you want to stay here?”

Sakiko nodded. “Yes. I’ll wait for Anon, and Soyo to return, and then I’ll go find you. Is that all right?”

Hatsune removed her hands from Sakiko’s waist and rested them on the table, but still around her sides. “Of course, you didn’t have to ask. I’ll tell Umiri to be on standby. The castle is big, she can escort you so that you don’t get lost.”

“Okay.” Sakiko turned around to face Hatsune with a smile.

“I’ll see you later then.” Hatsune moved in to kiss her, but her lips were met with the palm of her hand. She frowned, then pouted.

Golden orbs looked at her with amusement. “Later, Your Highness.”

“Uu…” Hatsune hung her head in defeat. “Then, I’ll settle with this.” She took a step back and put distance between them. She gently took Sakiko’s hand into hers and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.

Sakiko smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll be waiting. You can bring books there if you want. Tell Umiri I said so, but I don’t think anyone’s going to be questioning you.” Hatsune smiled. “See you.”

Sakiko waved a hand at her as she turned around and left. Almost as if they’ve been waiting for a while, Anon and Soyo arrived together.

“Surprised you actually made her ‘stay’.” Soyo smiled.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, when you tell dogs to behave.” Soyo laughed. “The prince has a streak of being extremely stubborn, as you may already know. I’ve probably never seen her back down, until today. I sure hope somebody could learn from Your Highness.”

Anon, who was arranging books on another table, suddenly sneezed.

“Ah… So their relationship is like that.” Sakiko laughed. “I’m hoping the prince stays this way, then.”

Soyo moved her head left and right, as if half agreeing, but also not expecting anything.

What awaited Hatsune in the study was a mountain of paperwork, and the most amusing invitation.

You are hereby invited to attend King Hiroshi’s Celebratory Ball.

Celebrating the King’s 70th Birthday at the New City’s Castle on the 7th of August.

The Owl City, being a neutral city, was never invited for formal parties by the City of Gardens nor by the New City, ruled by King Hiroshi. However, the most recent arranged marriage meeting between Prince Uika and Wakaba Mutsumi could have sparked the King’s interest.

While it would be useful to attend this party, it would be odd if she attended alone… However, her moral compass didn’t want her to attend with Mutsumi.

“That would feel like I’m cheating on Saki-chan…” Hatsune rubbed her forehead as she tried to think of a solution to this problem.

“Cheating on me again?” The door to her study opened, and an unamused Sakiko leaned onto the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her. “I was going to knock to announce my arrival, but here you are.”

“Definitely not!” Hatsune stood up from her chair and turned to Sakiko in defense. “I’ll never cheat on you, and that’s why I’m extremely troubled.”

Sakiko entered the study, followed by Umiri who pushed a cart filled with tons of books. “What’s going on?”

“King Hiroshi invited me, well the prince, to his birthday party.” Hatsune picked up the invitation and handed it to Umiri who looked at it, then showed Sakiko. “He likely sent it after catching wind of the arranged marriage meeting. He does have a prospective princess.”

“Mana-san, right?” Umiri chimed in as Hatsune nodded.

“If I go alone, he’ll likely propose that I meet with his daughter. I can go with Mutsumi-chan–“

“Go with Mutsumi.” Sakiko handed the invitation back to Hatsune who accepted it mid-sentence.

“But I– eh?”

Sakiko smiled at her. “The correct decision here is to go with Mutsumi, is it not?”

“That’s basically announcing to the world that I’ve decided to marry her.” Hatsune turned to Sakiko, as she folded the invitation back to the table. “You can’t be telling me that.”

“I am saying so.” Golden orbs stared intensely into purple ones.

Umiri, sensing the upcoming tension in this conversation, decided to silently excuse herself with a bow, and closed the door behind her. In case anyone wanted to interrupt, she decided to stand in front of the door, blocking it.

“We’ve only been dating for a day, you can’t possibly tell me to–“

“I am telling you so. Hatsune.” Sakiko pursed her lips as she tightened her hands into fists. “I don’t want our relationship to be a factor in how you’re supposed to lead this country. When it comes to it, I’m totally fine being just a mistre–“

“Saki-chan.” Hatsune stopped her mid-sentence, voice deep, and extremely unhappy. “I am either going to marry you, or not going to be married at all.” Purple orbs intensely stared into golden ones, unyielding.

Sakiko felt Hatsune’s intense emotions with her whole being. Her heart was elated to hear such words. “But…”

“I don’t have to respond until a week later. I’m going to think about it.” Hatsune turned to the invitation on her desk. She picked it up, pulled open a drawer, and hid it there. “Let’s revisit this next week.”

Sakiko nodded as she watched Hatsune sit back down on her chair with a serious expression, and the air between them was heavy. It wasn’t her intention to stress her out, nor to fight with her. Feeling a little guilty, she walked next to Hatsune’s chair and softly wrapped her arms around her head into a hug.

“I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this calmly, next week, okay?” Sakiko nestled Hatsune’s head into her chest as she hugged.

How should Hatsune react to this hug?

※These two options will lead to an R-15 scene, but where it’ll be is what the poll is for.
※This does not affect the story’s ending.

Update #13: May 31st, 2025

Poll Win (55.2%) – Fake still being angry.

  • Fake still being angry.

※These two options will lead to an R-15 scene, but where it’ll be is what the poll is for.
※This does not affect the story’s ending.

Hatsune softly pried away Sakiko’s arms from around her head as she stood up from her chair. Worried and surprised, Sakiko eyed her as she walked further into the study room, next to a large closed window with slightly see-through curtains.

“Hatsune?” Sakiko followed her with cute small steps as Hatsune looked at the windows, both hands on the windowsill. “Are you still angry…?”

“Yes.” Hatsune nodded and before she could say anything else, Sakiko was immediately behind her with a tight back hug.

“Please don’t be angry anymore?” Sakiko nuzzled her face onto Hatsune’s back, her arms tight around the prince’s stomach.

“Maybe if you kissed me, I won’t be angry anymore.” Hatsune shortly parted from Sakiko’s hug as she turned around to face her. “Saki-chan… I think I want a kiss?”

Sakiko smiled at her warmly. “Then a kiss you shall get.” She softly cradled Hatsune’s face with both of her hands, tiptoe-ing as they kissed.

Hatsune smiled into Sakiko’s kiss as she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Saki-chan…”

“Mm…?” Sakiko parted from the kiss as she stared into playful purple orbs.

“…If you want a deeper one… You should start it.” Hatsune smiled at her as her words made Sakiko’s body heat up, a blush forming on her cheeks.

“…You cheeky little…” Sakiko glared at Hatsune as she pursed her lips into a straight line. It was true that all this time it was always initiated by Hatsune… but she didn’t have the confidence that she’d be able to do it on her own. “C- Close your eyes.”

Hatsune obliged as she closed her eyes and waited. Sakiko placed both of her hands on Hatsune’s shoulders as she used her for balance as their lips touched.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Sakiko started with small bites on Hatsune’s anticipating lips before clumsily licking over them.

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune opened her eyes as she parted from the kiss, pulling Sakiko closer to her body. “Breathe.”

“Eh?” Sakiko was short of only half an inhale as her lips were captured into a passionate open-mouthed kiss. A tongue forcing her mouth open as she felt her body being turned towards the windowsill. “Hah… Mm…”

Hatsune lifted her up by the thighs as Sakiko sat on the sill while they kissed. Sakiko’s hands slipped around the prince’s shoulders as she found her head higher than those blonde locks. Hatsune broke the kiss as she continued to pepper them down the sides of Sakiko’s neck as she unbuttoned the light blue blouse she was wearing.

Sakiko wrapped her legs around Hatsune’s body as she felt each kiss and suck on her chest, as she threw her head back, and finally noticed… the window behind her.

“Hatsune…” Sakiko tried to stop the prince as she felt her blouse now fully open, exposing her frilly red bra as it was pulled out from being tucked inside her shirt. “The window…”

“They won’t see.” Hatsune spoke on Sakiko’s chest as she left another kiss mark on that white skin.

“If somebody passed by they would…!” Sakiko touched the back of Hatsune’s head as she attempted to stop her once again, but the kisses were relentless, and soon there was a sneaky hand under her skirt, and already on the hem of her equally red underwear. “Mm… Hatsune…!”

After a series of knocks, Umiri went inside the study as she closed the door behind her. “It was silent so I got worried.” She turned to look at the window as Hatsune smiled at her while Sakiko stood behind Hatsune. “Is Sakiko-san all right?”

“Yeah, she is.” Hatsune smiled as Sakiko tried her best to button her blouse up as quickly as she could. “Is there something?”

“Ah. Yes.” Umiri stepped in but Hatsune stopped her in her tracks, as if to mention that she will go to her instead. She found this suspicious, but did not pry. “Here.”

“Another one from King Hiroshi?” Hatsune stood in front of Umiri, as if to intentionally block her view of Sakiko’s general location.

“…Are you playing around in the study, Your Highness?” Umiri raised an eyebrow as Hatsune turned to her with an unfaltering smile.

“Not at all.” Hatsune grinned.

“You do know that the soldiers in training can see through your windows, right?” Umiri spoke loudly, making sure Sakiko heard it.

“Yes…” Hatsune sighed as Sakiko followed them to the door, with an unnerving smile.

“Did you have a streak of exhibitionism, Your Highness?” Sakiko’s smile continued, and it was frightening.

“Sa- Saki-chan…” Hatsune tried to go touch her hand but the moment Umiri bowed to leave, Sakiko bowed to leave with her, with her companion plants back. “Guh…”

“Are you really angry at the prince?” Umiri asked as she and Sakiko walked a distance away from the study.

“Not really, but I think she needs some time to repent her actions.” Sakiko turned to Umiri with an unnerving smile.

“…The poor prince.” Umiri shook her head in disbelief. “Well, she does have a streak of becoming easily depressed so… please don’t take too long to forgive her.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll come back to bring her some food. The kitchen staff are off today, right?” Sakiko turned to Umiri. “For how many people should I cook?”

“Only for the prince. I’m sure she’ll be happy.” Umiri bowed at her. “Well then, I have things I must attend to. Do you need me to lead you to the study? The kitchen?”

“Would it be okay if I explored?” Sakiko looked around the castle. “Unless there are places you don’t want me going?”

Umiri smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. Don’t take too long returning to the prince’s side. I think she might go crazy if you disappear for too long.”

“I’ll do my best and not get lost.” Sakiko bowed at Umiri.

Sakiko getting lost in the castle and being found by Hatsune is likely a story for another day… if either of them felt like talking about it.

Although their first fight as lovers was also a worry for the future of the kingdom, the two of them kept their promise of not touching the subject until it was near the party.

A few days passed since Sakiko started staying in the castle as the new gardener, and in what seemed to be lightning speed, the once abandoned castle garden was already clean of weeds and withered plants.

The garden beds were already tilled, and were awaiting compost before plants were added to them. One would not believe that it was the handiwork of one small lady’s pair of hands.

“Eh?” Hatsune turned to the tilled garden. “Saki-chan… You did all this in three days?”

“Yes. It took some time to take some weeds out but well, here they are. Some of the kitchen staff on break actually lent their hands too.” Sakiko smiled as she proudly showed Hatsune her handiwork. “What did you want to plant?”

“Wait. If you needed help, you could have told me. I could’ve hired people so you didn’t have to tire yourself out, and–” Hatsune’s lips were immediately sealed with a sweet chaste kiss. “Saki-chan…?”

“It’s fine. I would have rather done everything myself. Well, planting would take a lot of time, so the progress from here will be slower and less. Don’t worry.” Sakiko smiled at her. “That reminds me, why were you here?”

“Ah.” Hatsune blinked. “I wanted to invite you to the city. Well, sadly it’s not for a date… We need to go to the squatters area to gather information about the bandits.”

Sakiko tilted her head to one side. “Go with you? I would understand if you’d asked me to go and ask around but… with you?”

“Yes, with me.” Hatsune smiled at her. “I can walk the city normally, even the squatters area. Well, not everyone would like me but… it’s fine.”

“Without a guard… and with… me?” Sakiko blinked in confusion.

“Yup.” She nodded at her. “I can defend myself… I can protect you, too, with this.” Hatsune tapped the sword on her hips.

“Wouldn’t they be surprised if you walked next to a woman…?” Sakiko blinked.

“I always walk around with Umiri… but I guess they’d be surprised to find a new face next to me.” Hatsune looked at her with a frown. “…Do you not want to go?”

Sakiko smiled as she watched Hatsune’s expression. “Just like a cute sad puppy.”

“Saki-chan?”

“Okay, I’ll go. But what will you tell the people if they ask?” Sakiko turned to look at her.

“Hm~ Let’s see.”

What should Hatsune call her?

※This option has no relevance to the story’s ending. Only Sakiko’s reaction. I think this might be the last of Sakiko’s reaction series options. 

Update #14: June 10th, 2025

Poll Win (62.2%) – My wife.

  • My wife.
  • ※This option has no relevance to the story’s ending. Only Sakiko’s reaction. I think this might be the last of Sakiko’s reaction series options. 

“What about ‘My Wife’?” Hatsune gave a charming smile as Sakiko only stared at her in disbelief. “What?”

“Did you really think the nation wouldn’t be surprised if you suddenly went to the kingdom’s squatters area and announced you, the prince, have a wife?” Sakiko raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

“Totally not.” Hatsune grinned. “Who said I was going as the prince? I can totally disguise myself.”

“Isn’t being blonde with purple eyes the kingdom’s royal bloodline features? Won’t everyone know who you were immediately?” Sakiko crossed her arms as she picked on every detail of the prince’s little plan.

“Saki-chan, this isn’t my first time going there.” Hatsune grinned. “I have contact lenses to change my eye color. Well, not much to do with my hair, but the people already know me there.”

“Well? What’s your name there?” Considering how prepared she was with this disguise, and this invite, surely the prince had some sort of disguise.

“Hatsune.” Hatsune grinned, like a proud puppy who had just picked up a golden bone to offer to her owner. “I’m a castle guard there.”

“Okay. And why did some of the people there not like you?”

“Because I’m from the castle, and a guard.”

“……” Sakiko only stared at her in deep silence. “Fine.”

“Why are you suddenly in a bad mood? Saki-chan?” Hatsune followed her as Sakiko walked straight into the castle from the gardens.

“I don’t know how Umiri deals with you. You head into danger far too freely.” Sakiko shook her head as Hatsune trailed behind her.

“Sometimes it’s far better to investigate things on your own, than sending people. Often, there’s a discrepancy in the information you get. I’d rather be in danger because I went than be blindsided by misinformation.” Hatsune smiled at her wryly. “I take it you’re going? I’ll tell Umiri to prepare clothes for you.”

“Okay. I’ll be in my room. Also, Hatsune.” Sakiko stood the blonde at the center of the hallway, which split into three directions. “I will always be worried about you. Please don’t rush into danger by yourself.”

Hatsune gave her a gentle smile, and a genuine response. “Okay.”

The two of them split at the path, Sakiko towards her room, and Hatsune towards the study to prepare for their information gathering.

Dressed in her usual dress and braided up hair, Sakiko was given by Umiri a brown cape with a hood. She was told to always tie it in front of her, and keep the hood over her head at all times.

Sakiko marveled at the soft and comfortable cape. “Why do I have to always wear it?”

“Because you’re beautiful, and the people don’t need to know that.” Hatsune grinned, now dressed in simple brown pants, white long sleeves with two buttons at the center, and a sword on her hips. “That aside, it could protect you from water, and if you use it to cover your mouth you won’t inhale some gas if any. It’s to protect you from possible attacks. We’ll never know.”

“What about you?” Sakiko turned to Hatsune as they walked past the side gates of the castle that was guarded by Umiri at this time, to let them pass.

“We’ll be back in 5 hours, if we aren’t, feel free to come.” Hatsune told Umiri who bowed at her. “I can’t wear it because I’m supposed to be a casual guard. You can, however.”

“What’s my cover–“

“My wife.”

“Hatsune.”

“The kingdom’s future queen.”

“Those green eyes unnerve me.”

Hatsune with green eyes due to the contacts, could only smile at her wryly. “An architect from the castle.” She then pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to her.

Sakiko took the paper and unfolded it. “A housing plan?”

“It was always the plan to build housing in the squatters area for the people who live there. The kingdom is going to pay for their houses, as well as their electricity consumption to a degree. In exchange, the people will be tasked to work in a planned medicinal garden… if Mutsumi-chan agrees to take the proposal.” Hatsune watched Sakiko who looked through the paper. “That’s the preliminary plan. You don’t need specific jargon, but you have to explain it to them so they’d understand, and agree to the plan.”

“I think this is a good plan. You’re too good to be true.” Sakiko looked over the three page plan and nodded at Hatsune. “I think this is doable.”

“I’m glad to hear that… who knows what’ll happen once I’m no longer the prince.” Hatsune frowned.

Sakiko stopped looking at the paper to stare at her. “What do you mean?”

“You know I’m never the prince… I’m just a stand-in for the real person.” Hatsune gave Sakiko a forlorn look. “The least that I could do for Uika was to let the people know he led the country well.”

Sakiko had this strong urge to wrap her arms around her body and that’s what she did. She hugged her tightly as she patted the back of her head with comfort. “You’re giving the less fortunate a chance at life, and I think that’s wonderful. You’re doing your best to serve this kingdom. You treat everybody equally, and do as you say. I think you’re a good prince.”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune wrapped her arms around her body.

“Now, ‘Hatsune’ the castle guard, let’s do our best too.” Sakiko smiled at her and parted from the hug. “How long do we have until the city?”

“A good ten minute walk. We can take our time. You can read the notes.” Hatsune softly held her hand as they separated. She squeezed her hand and let go as they started to walk. “Thank you, Saki-chan.”

“Anytime, Hatsune.”

It turned out that pretending to be an architect as a landscaper is difficult, however, Sakiko had already decided that she’d be doing her best. She walked ahead into the squatters area with Hatsune close to her as they went through a thin path into a clearing.

The squatters area wasn’t what one would expect upon hearing the word. There were wooden houses everywhere, and while the floor wasn’t cemented, there were properly constructed pathways that lead to specific locations.

At least a hundred wooden houses were next to each other with barely any privacy. Some were bigger than the others, but the one that stood out was the large, almost mansion-like house just below an extremely large tree with spread out branches that covered a good portion of the area.

Even if you weren’t knowledgeable of the cities or kingdoms, you would know that an important person resided there, and that it wasn’t going to be an easy task to reach.

The thing about urban areas was that everybody knew everyone, and the word of one, be they an adult or a child, will spread, and everyone will know what you did to whom, with almost no space for lies or misinformation.

The moment they arrived at the area, a little boy ran towards her, both hands clasped together as if holding something precious.

“Wah!” The boy tripped and Hatsune was quick to take a few steps forward and caught him in time. “Thank you!”

“Be careful now.” Hatsune smiled at him. “What is it?”

“You’re the–!” The boy’s eyes sparkled as he looked up at Hatsune. She softly hushed him with a wink as the boy covered his mouth and looked around to make sure nobody heard. “Hehe.”

Hatsune smiled at him as Sakiko watched the scene in both fondness and mild confusion.

“Look!” He opened his hands and showed Hatsune the sparkly pocket watch. “I’ve kept it clean and sparkly!”

“Good job. Keep at it, okay?” Hatsune gave the boy a head pat and softly rubbed his hair. “What kind of job do you do around this area?”

The boy carefully put the pocket watch in his waist pouch, properly locking it and confirming it wouldn’t open by accident. “The leader said that I’m a very strong boy, so I go around helping people lift stuff!”

“That’s good.” Sakiko chimed in with a smile as she crouched next to the boy. The boy immediately walked towards her as he peeked under the hood.

“Waaah~ Pretty lady!” The boy’s eyes sparkled as he looked at her face. “Your Hi– Um…”

Hatsune winked at him. “Hatsune.”

“S- Sir Hatsune!” The boy then took a few strides next to her and motioned for her to crouch next to him. “Who is the pretty lady?” He whispered.

“Ahh. My wife–” Sakiko lightly hit her head with a rolled up paper. “The castle’s architect.”

“What’s an architect?”

“A person who makes houses.” Hatsune smiled as the boy frowned.

“The houses are for you. Don’t worry, you won’t be kicked out nor asked to leave.” Sakiko walked towards them as she assured him. The boy smiled once again. He tugged at Hatsune’s pants again.

Hatsune crouched to listen to him. “Is she single?”

“Sorry, she’s taken.” Hatsune patted his head. “She’s with me.”

“Ohhh!” The boy grinned. “Then I’ll let you have her!”

Sakiko laughed as she watched the two of them.

“Hamada!” A young man approached them as the boy responded to the name. “The leader said she needs you. Who do you have…” The man’s cheerful demeanor immediately changed as his eyes dropped to the castle badge on Hatsune’s waist.

The one that’s engraved to her sword.

Other men noticed the commotion and approached with apprehension as the young man immediately took Hamada’s hand and pulled him away.

“Sir Hatsune isn’t a bad person!” Hamada defended as the man pulled him farther away.

“Lately, they’ve gotten good at pretending to be a good person. I doubt that.”

About seven men surrounded the two of them as Hatsune immediately stayed on guard while Sakiko stood next to her, holding onto her shirt.

“You don’t think the boy is lying, do you?” Hatsune looked at him wryly, not even motioning to grab her sword as the men surrounded them menacingly.

“If you’re strapped for money, anybody of any age would lie.” Another man spoke up as he took out a knife from his waist pouch.

“I don’t think the boy is desperate enough. Wouldn’t he sell his pocket watch first?” Hatsune glared at the man.

“Stop it, Yuuno.” The voice of an old lady approached them. “Let the castle’s people speak.” Dressed in a long black dress with a belt at the center, her white pristine hair was neatly combed up that showed her features, and striking green eyes. Her cane hit the muddy ground as she walked.

Hatsune turned to the direction of the voice as her eyes widened.

Sakiko immediately recognized the change in Hatsune’s demeanor as she flattened her hands on her back and tried to soothe her.

Hatsune took a deep breath as she spoke. “We’re only here to speak with the leader.”

“That would be me. Come.” The old lady hit her cane thrice on the mud to get everyone’s attention. “Hamada-kun, come lead them.”

‘Yes, Madam!” Hamada the young boy grinned at the two of them. “Over here, please.”

They were quietly led to the large house beneath the tree by the young boy. The old lady went inside first as she held the door for the two guests.

“Hamada-kun, go to the plaza and help out your mother.” She smiled at the young boy who saluted her, waved at both Hatsune and Sakiko, then left to run towards the likely direction of the plaza.

Hatsune and Sakiko explored the inside of the large house. Immediately inside was a three couch setup with a table at the center. Immediately near it was the house’s kitchen, and behind it were stairs to the second floor.

The old lady locked the door behind her as Hatsune immediately turned around to face her.

“…You are Sano-san, right?” Hatsune looked at her as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Your Highness, Hatsune.” The old lady bowed, and as she stood up, she opened her arms. “Come over here, look at how tall you’ve grown.”

“Sano-san!” Hatsune immediately walked into her arms to give the old lady an extremely tight hug as tears streamed down her face. “I’m so glad you’re okay… I’m so sorry…”

“Oh, you young girl, you didn’t have to apologize. You were young, and could not do anything.” The old lady reached for Hatsune’s head as she softly patted her head. “As you can see, I’m old, I don’t have much time… but I’m glad I’ve got to see you once again.”

“Please don’t say that… I want to see you more… I want to talk to you more.” Hatsune parted from the hug as tears fell down her face.

“Oh, you gentle girl.” Sano wiped away Hatsune’s tears as she looked at her face. “I assume you are wearing contacts? I would have loved to see your beautiful purple eyes. What a beautiful young lady you’ve become.”

“Sano-san…” Hatsune parted from the hug as she tried to level her breathing. “I’m sorry, Sano-san… This is my lover.” She motioned towards the girl behind her.

Sakiko removed the hood of her cape and did a curtsy. “It’s nice to meet you, Sano-san. My name’s Togawa Sakiko.”

“What a beautiful woman.” Sano smiled at Sakiko as Hatsune stepped aside so that she could get closer to her. “The masters of the art of strawberry planting, the Togawa’s only daughter.”

Sakiko’s eyes widened. “Eh? How did you…” She turned to Hatsune who looked as equally surprised as her.

“When the prince…” Sano turned to Hatsune. “Granted your father’s request of asylum, he was given a temporary home, but he refused it. He said he did not want to cause any trouble, and has been living around here peacefully.”

Sakiko put both hands over her mouth in surprise as she held back her tears. “He’s here? My father’s here?” Sano nodded at her. “Thank you… Thank you for taking care of him.”

Sano shook her head. “He has a good head on his shoulders. He had been helping around improving things.” She then turned to Hatsune and urged her to walk closer. “Now, I need to know how this union between you two came about.”

They all settled at the couches as Sakiko and Hatsune joyfully told their little love story. Sano Mira, the previous head maid of the kingdom’s castle, turned out to be the ‘leader’ of the squatters area. No one knew where she was exiled to, aside from the letters that never had a return address. Hatsune didn’t know much of her whereabouts, and the squatters area was always a gray area for everyone from the castle, because of Sadaharu’s leadership before the ‘Prince’ took over.

“I’m happy for you, Your Highness.” Sano bowed as Hatsune shook her head.

“In here, I’m just a normal person. Hatsune. Please, you don’t have to… Besides, there might be someone who could hear.” Hatsune smiled wryly as she silently took Sakiko’s hand that was next to hers on the couch. “Sano-san.”

“I understand, Hatsune.” Sano nodded. “What did you want to–ack!” A sudden coughing fit sent her forward, and as if like clockwork, Sakiko and Hatsune jumped out of their chairs. Sakiko towards the old lady to comfort her back, and Hatsune towards the kitchen as she searched for a glass of water.

“Are you all right? What do you do when you have a coughing fit?” Sakiko gently rubbed Sano’s back up and down as she calmed her up. “Do you have medicine? Where would I find them?”

Sano reached for her hand as Sakiko handed it to her. “You are a wonderful young lady. Please take care of Hatsune well, all right?” Sakiko nodded as the old lady continued to cough. “There are almost no rations of medicine that goes here. We prioritize… the children…”

Hatsune frowned as she arrived with a glass of water. Sakiko turned to her with a nod.

“Sano-san, please drink up, and lie down first. We’ll stay until it calms down.” Hatsune handed the water to her and assisted as she drank the water. “Once you feel well… Please… Please tell me everything.”

Due to Misumi Sadaharu’s biased ruling, the squatters area had been suffering from hunger, and the sicknesses never get well due to medicines not being delivered to the area. They’ve struggled to find a steady source of water nearby, and a source of livelihood in the city, and within their own space.

However, since the prince took over, this had changed. While the people of the city still think that they did not deserve fair treatment, they often steal from the carriages delivered to the area and keep it for themselves. It likely does not get to the castles because the guards who do these were paid.

“We’ve already known about this. We’re going to be firing and exiling from the city the people who stole, and the guards who allowed this.” Hatsune nodded with conviction.

Sano smiled then she continued.

However, when the prince sided with the boy when the Marquess accused him of stealing, the people’s opinion of the prince changed. Recently, King Hiroshi’s people have been trying to start a revolution towards the castle, but everyone refused because of the prince’s kindness.

“They’ve been stealing your letters, and I have them here.” Sano stood up from the couch, and walked towards a small box with a key hole. She opened the box and gave Hatsune a handful of letters. “I’ve not opened them, I’ve been thinking of having them delivered to you with your next letter, but here you are.”

“Thank you…” Her eyes widened as she noticed that they were mostly letters with the kingdom’s official seal. “These… They’re from the King.”

“They are. You should go and read them once you get back.” Sano went back to the couch and sighed. “Why are you here, Hatsune?”

“…I wanted to ask for your permission to build houses. Your houses. The people’s houses, here.” Hatsune turned to Sakiko who took out the folded paper and showed it to her. “I’ve been drafting these, and if you agree, if the people agree, I’d love to get started on it.”

“As you’ve already known, I’m a landscaper. We would like to make a medicinal garden.” Sakiko smiled. “…There won’t be a lack of medicine soon after.”

Sano turned to Hatsune in surprise. “This is a good plan. However… in order to do this plan, you need a stronger connection to the City of Gardens.”

Hatsune nodded.

“Are you planning to marry the princess?” Sano asked, then turned to Sakiko who only looked down on her lap.

Hatsune shook her head. “If I’m not marrying her, I’m not marrying at all.”

“Then… You must acquit Kiyotsugu, and take back the Togawa name’s pride.” Sano smiled at her. “Or… Prince Uika could marry the princess.”

Sakiko’s eyes widened. “D- Do you know of a way to acquit my father?”

“It will be difficult, but it is not impossible.” Sano smiled as she turned to Hatsune who seemed to be in deep thought.

“You know that Uika is very sick…” Hatsune trailed off as Sano nodded. “I can’t have my younger brother marry in sickness.”

“I understand. You love him very much.” Sano nodded. “You loved him so much… that you willingly accepted your fate of having to pretend to be him for the longest time.”

Hatsune balled her hands into fists. It was not a lie that she had suffered a lot both physically and mentally, to be a prince… However, after finally finding love, a thing for herself, she wasn’t about to back down so easily.

She wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

Should Hatsune…?

※This choice will heavily impact the ending of the story.
※There’s only 5 days until King Hiroshi’s birthday. 

Update #15: June 13th, 2025

Poll Win (60%) – Investigate.

  • Investigate

※This choice will heavily impact the ending of the story. Congratulations! Readers have entered the Good Ending route!
※There’s only 5 days until King Hiroshi’s birthday. 

“I’ll do it. I’ll investigate Togawa Kiyotsugu’s case… Even though it was already something I’d been intending to do.” Hatsune smiled wryly at Sakiko who returned the smile.

“Then, come back here tomorrow.” Sano stood up with Sakiko’s assistance, and slowly walked towards a drawer near the kitchen. She took out a piece of paper and handed it to Hatsune. “Go to the tree behind, and wait, at 2pm. Make sure you bring the things written in the paper.”

Hatsune nodded. She fished out her pocket watch and noticed that they’ve been gone for almost three hours. “Sano-san…”

“Hatsune. It’ll be fine. Believe in your heart.” Hatsune nodded as Sano squeezed Sakiko’s hand, which still assisted her as she stood up. “Please, stay by her side, at all times.”

Sakiko smiled. “That was always the plan, Sano-san.”

“I’m sure you already know this, but I will mention it anyway.” Sano turned her attention fully to Sakiko. “Hatsune loves a lot, and she loves deeply. She has a tendency to give all of herself to the people she loves, so please don’t ever betray that.”

Sakiko nodded in conviction. “I promise. I’m already trying to teach her to love herself too… she’s quite the stubborn one. Too bad, I’m more stubborn than she is.”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune smiled wryly as Sano laughed.

“You make a good couple.” The old lady coughed a few as Sakiko rubbed her back. “Now go, you two. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sakiko and Hatsune helped her back to the couch and promptly left the house. Sakiko put on her hood once again and followed Hatsune closely. The men from before watched them briefly, before letting them peacefully go on their way as they left.

Outside the alley way that led to the squatters area, Hatsune opened the paper in her hand and raised an eyebrow. “Matcha?”

Sakiko blinked. “Matcha?”

“The paper said to bring one bucket of matcha.” Hatsune put a thumb under her chin. “Ahhh. I do have some, at the flowerbeds.”

“It’s a weird request, isn’t it?” Sakiko raised an eyebrow as she looked at the paper. “Why would someone specifically request matcha?”

“There’s a rumor around the city that there’s a mysterious cat-like being that sells information in exchange for matcha.” Hatsune took out a metallic windproof lighter as it clinked open. She quickly burned the paper as it disappeared into ash and blended with the air. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Sakiko followed closely as they walked back to the direction of the castle.

“Let’s regroup with Umiri first. I need to read these letters that I should have received a week ago. We’ll pick up the bucket of matcha tomorrow and head to the meeting place.” Hatsune gave her a nod. “You must be tired.”

“…And so are you.” Sakiko softly touched her arm. “Hatsune, you just met your mother figure. Please take a breather.”

“…Thank you, Saki-chan. I’ll do that.” Hatsune softly touched her hand as they continued the walk back to the castle.

While it was Sakiko who suggested that Hatsune should take a breather, she didn’t expect to be part of this break that she urged her to take. Not that she minded, but the castle’s garden was not going to tend to itself, while its main caretaker is trapped… in this.

Hatsune buried her face into Sakiko’s bosom as the blue haired female sat on her lap, her legs on either side of Hatsune’s thighs. Hatsune sat in the chair in the study room, both arms tight around Sakiko’s waist, while Sakiko’s hands rested on her shoulders.

“Mm… Saki-chan.” Hatsune moved her face left and right as she continued to rub her cheeks onto those soft mounds.

“Hatsune…?” Sakiko moved her hands from her shoulders as she softly wrapped them around Hatsune’s neck, one hand on the back of her head as she caressed her blonde hair. “If I don’t go now, the plants are going to miss their evening water, and it could stunt their growth.”

“Only for a few more minutes…” Hatsune spoke into her chest, then she lifted her head up as she rested her chin on Sakiko’s chest. “Can’t we delegate that to somebody else?”

“I’m the only gardener here, aren’t I?” Sakiko looked down at Hatsune and softly poked the tip of her nose.

“Do you want to take on an apprentice? If not, at least somebody to help you do that heavy lifting.” Hatsune buried her face back down as she relaxed.

“…How about Hamada-kun? The young boy you seem to be very close with.”

“While fully knowing he has a small crush on you? No way.”

“Are you truly jealous of such a young boy? You? The prince?” Sakiko laughed. “He’s very young, and has a lot of energy and strength. He would be useful for heavy lifting, wouldn’t he?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“To think that the prince is actually jealous, even of a little boy.”

“The prince is not, however, I, Hatsune, is.” Hatsune lifted her head up once again and pouted at her. “However, as the prince, I will think about it.”

“All right.” Sakiko sighed. “Do I really have to sit this way? I could just hug you and stand next to you?”

“You’ll get tired, and I don’t want you to get tired. Besides, having you this close to me, puts me more at ease.” Hatsune returned to having her cheeks smothered as her hands moved to touch the letters that she was yet to read.

She brought them in between her and Sakiko, as Sakiko parted from the hug, moving her hips a little bit back as one of her hands rested on Hatsune’s shoulders, and the other on her own lap as she watched Hatsune read the letter.

“Eh…?” Hatsune blinked.

“What’s wrong?”

“…The King and the Queen are returning soon… with my younger brother.” Hatsune turned to look up at her. “I thought I had more time…”

“What would that mean for you, and me?” Sakiko frowned.

“…They wanted me to fully pretend as the prince… Uika’s not doing good.” Hatsune furrowed her eyebrows. “I only needed a few more days…”

“When are they arriving?” Sakiko tilted her head as the hand she had on Hatsune’s shoulders moved up to her nape in an attempt to help her relax.

“…Either before King Hiroshi’s party, or after.” Hatsune furrowed her eyebrows as she looked turmoiled.

Then there was a knock on her door.

“…Are you properly dressed?” It was Umiri’s voice on the other side of the door.

“Y- Yes, we are.” Sakiko answered and tried to move from Hatsune’s lap, but the lost puppy stare she gave her stopped her from doing so. “Please come in, Umiri.”

The door opened and Umiri bowed as she entered. “A letter for you, Your Highness.”

Hatsune frowned. “From who?”

“Princess Mutsumi, hand delivered by Taki-san.” Umiri handed the letter to Hatsune with the City of Gardens’ official seal. “As well as a message to be relayed: ‘This might help your situation’.”

Hatsune raised an eyebrow as she looked at the letter. “…Since when were you close with Taki-chan?”

Umiri winked at her. “You’ll know when she’s comfortable with it.” She then bowed then left.

Sakiko blinked as she and Hatsune stared at each other. “What was that about?”

“…I’ll deal with her later.” Hatsune nodded and opened the letter.

“To the Owl City’s current Prince,

I know that the real prince is sick. Do not ask how I know, but do not worry. Your secret is safe with me.

I’ve heard information about the prince’s sickness. The City of Gardens has medicine. It’s currently being used by the King, for they have the same sickness.

His situation has improved the last few days, and I think it would help the prince as well.

I would be willing to share the medicine in exchange for the land that King Hiroshi wanted in the Owl City’s squatters area.

Let me know of your decision soon.

-Wakaba Mutsumi

Do not forget to burn this letter.”

Hatsune and Sakiko blinked at each other.

Could something so good truly be in their hands? To think that the deal about the land was going to come from the Wakabas.

Is this really the turning of the tide that they so wished to have?

Should they…

※This option will affect the story’s ending.
※Currently at: Good ending route.
※It is possible to exit Good ending, and change endings.

Update #16: June 17th, 2025

Poll Win (90%) – Accept.

  • Accept.

※This option will affect the story’s ending.

※Currently locked into: Good Ending

Hatsune opened a drawer on the table’s right side and took out her lighter. She quickly set the letter on the metal plate on her desk and burned the letter.

“What are you thinking?” Sakiko shuffled around Hatsune’s lap, now sitting sideward on Hatsune’s left side.

“We’re accepting. I need to write a response, and have Umiri-chan deliver it back.” Hatsune watched the letter turn into black ashes as it disappeared. “Even if I didn’t have to make the decision, I’m sure the King would want to do so, even if it meant giving all the land.

“But you have a plan…”

“Which is why I’m going to tell Mutsumi-chan of the plan, and see what she thinks of it.” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko. She wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s body as she buried her face onto her bosom once again. “Do you think I’m making the right decision?”

Sakiko wrapped her arms around her shoulders as she played with her hair. “I know you are. You’re a good leader, Hatsune.” She kissed her forehead. “Do you need to be alone?”

“Yeah. If you’re here I’ll be distracted.” Hatsune smiled at her as she lifted her head. “I’ll find you in your room?”

“Find me in your room.” Sakiko smiled at her. She softly cradled Hatsune’s face in her hands, each palm on each cheek. “I love you.”

Hatsune smiled as she closed her eyes, enjoying the soft caress. “I love you, too.”

Sakiko pressed their lips together for a soft kiss. “I’ll water the garden now, and see you later.”

Hatsune nodded as she chased Sakiko’s lips for one last kiss, then helped her get off her lap. She watched Sakiko walk towards the study door, then she waved at her as Sakiko returned it, then closed the door.

It was time to do paperwork, and set off some stuff rolling for the plan.

Sakiko hummed as she lifted the now empty watering can with both of her hands and softly put it down on the corner of the huge garden, next to the garden hoses and the faucet. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with her arm as she sighed and smiled.

The huge garden was now divided into four plots. Some of them already had small sprouts but some were still tilled ground. Gardening was not something that could be hurried, but above all, she was just glad to have something to do that could likely help Hatsune, and the castle.

“Now, all of you, grow wonderfully and abundantly, okay?” Sakiko smiled as she put her hands on her hips before leaving towards the castle. “Now… To wait for Hatsune inside her room… I should take a shower.”

Although it’s only been less than a month since she started living in the castle, she worked hard to memorize its layout immediately, so she wouldn’t have to worry Hatsune or Umiri about getting lost every time. They are both busy people, and she didn’t want to take too much of their time escorting her from place to place because she’s not used to it yet.

While it was easy to memorize its layout, it was tough to remember the amount of people that worked with them. The everchanging and rotating knights that guard the gates, the trainees, the kitchen staff that also rotates often, there were plenty of people who worked in the castle. Umiri mentioned that it was so that they could keep multiple jobs at multiple places, so that they could work enough for their families, as that’s what Hatsune had told her.

The only constant people in it were the librarians, Anon, and Soyo, and the prince’s assistant, Umiri. The library was mostly secluded further inside the castle, and it was understandable that the only people allowed into it were trusted people. The kitchen, and all the other places were in the front of the castle, they were also heavily guarded, and it was not a surprise that they allowed people to go in and out of it with no worries.

However, another that came as a surprise to Sakiko was that, past the kitchen, the dorms of the knights and soldiers, the first one you’d see was the living room and the throne room, likely for having guests, then the prince’s study room. While Sakiko didn’t make her surprise evident, Umiri quickly explained to her that the prince wanted to be able to greet guests immediately, so she wanted it to be there.

“I think ‘the prince’ is too hardworking, and the people do not appreciate it enough.” Sakiko shook her head to make sure her long light blue locks cascaded down her back in waves as she had changed into a long dress over her nightdress. She closed the door to her room behind her as she hummed on each step as she made her way towards the prince’s room.

While a normal person might be scared of wandering such large corridors with tall walls, each footstep echoing and bouncing through concrete, Sakiko quite enjoyed the experience. She lived in a small house in the City of Gardens, and even the city itself was always bustling; there was almost never a silent place in it. However, in the Owl City, the castle included, everything was serene and silent. It was relaxing.

She smiled as she stopped to knock in front of Hatsune’s room, and when there wasn’t a response, she put a hand over the handle and–

“Why are you here?” An unknown voice called for her from behind.

Sakiko turned and the tall man was immediately next to her, albeit too close for comfort. She took a step back, noticing the door was now directly on her back. “Yes?”

“Why are you here?” The tall man’s voice was deep, and was meant to be menacing.

Sakiko blinked. She tilted her head to one side. “Who are you?” He was dressed like a soldier-in-training, but they should not be in that side of the castle.

“Who I am does not matter. You are not supposed to be there, are you?” The man asked in a matter-of-fact way and put a hand over his sword on his hip. “Leave.”

Sakiko scowled at the man, not intimidated by the difference in size. “No.”

“You–“

“Stand down.” Umiri called for the man who immediately turned and faced her. “Back to the barracks.”

“…Yes, sir.” The man hesitated and marched past Umiri.

Umiri and Sakiko watched the man until he disappeared from their sight. The two of them looked at each other.

“Who was he?” Sakiko was the first to break the silence.

“…Someone who wasn’t supposed to be here.” Umiri nodded. “I don’t know him either. There’s definitely a breach in our security. The prince already knows, don’t worry.”

Sakiko sighed. “Please tell me she’s safe?”

Umiri smiled. “Don’t worry. She’s always on guard… well, you seem to be a weak spot of hers, but when she’s alone, she’s always on guard.”

Sakiko smiled wryly. “I’ll let her know to always be on guard even when she’s with me.”

“Please do.”

“But that man…” Sakiko blinked. “He’s here to case the castle, isn’t he?”

“That’s what it seemed like. I’m glad he wasn’t able to bait you into telling whose room this was.” Umiri nodded. “You’re incredibly sharp.”

“I’ve known better.” Sakiko smiled.

“You also didn’t seem scared, nor startled.” Umiri raised an eyebrow. “I admire that, but it could be dangerous for you.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.” Sakiko smiled.

“I’ll be going now. I must continue tailing him and see what he’s up to. Lock the door from inside. The prince has a key.” Umiri bowed and quietly left as Sakiko nodded.

Sakiko entered the prince’s room and immediately turned the lock on the doors. While she almost usually stayed in it to sleep and sleep with the prince, she actually never had time to be there on her own. The room interested her a lot. Hatsune’s love for the stars was evident in all the items and books inside her room.

Not to mention the self-help books that said a lot of her hard work as a prince. The ones that were obviously for her hobbies (the gardening, the DIY tutorials), and some for plotting out plans and housings (architecture, layouting), and some that were likely to save her heart (stars, constellations). It said a lot about her personality, the ones she had met, the ones she was yet to meet, and by knowing little by little about her made Sakiko fall deeper in love with her.

Sakiko plucked out a book about gardening that sat on the table instead of on the shelves. She randomly opened it on a page, and noticed pencil notes on some parts of them.

‘Does Saki-chan plant grapes too?’ were scribbled in Hatsune’s handwriting on a section about companion planting for strawberries. Near it was more handwriting. ‘I wonder what strawberries planted by Saki-chan’s hands would taste like.’

“Oh, Hatsune.” Sakiko smiled as she continued reading through the book’s notes. She turned to look at the window with see-through curtains. She decided to take the book with her as she sat on the windowsill, using the moonlight as illumination to continue her reading.

Missing the ray of light in her life, Hatsune quickly marched back to her room, with her keys in her pockets as she finished sealing up one last letter to send.

“Umiri-chan.” She turned a corner and immediately handed her the stack of letters. “Purple envelope for Taki-chan, to Mutsumi-chan.”

Umiri nodded without saying anything else and quickly hid the stack of envelopes under her coat.

“About the other thing.”

“He seems to have caught Sakiko-san on her way into your room. I don’t think he has figured out it’s your room yet. I told her to lock the door.” They exchanged nods without saying anything else and parted ways.

The shorter the discussion, the easier to pretend it was nothing but small talk. While she was aware that some spies had gotten in through by applying to be a soldier-in-training, given how most people in the castles have regular movement, it was easy to track and find them.

However, the next few days are going to be extremely busy… and there may not be another time for a downtime for a while after it… and all she wanted now was some alone time herself, and her beloved.

She quietly unlocked the door to her room with her key as it unlatched. She slowly opened the door as she peeked inside. “Saki-chan…?”

When there was no answer, Hatsune felt nervous until she entered the room, locked the door behind her and searched.

There she was. Togawa Sakiko, her beloved.

She sat on the windowsill with a book in hand, part of her hair tucked behind her ears as the moonlight illuminated her beauty. Her beauty shone so wonderfully, as if she could be one with the stars.

Hatsune swallowed as she inhaled sharply, completely forgetting how to breathe. How could this woman be so much more beautiful as the days passed by?

Should Hatsune…

※The choices are obvious, but may or may not be interrupted.
※Only 2 days left until King Hiroshi’s Party

Update #17: June 21st, 2025

Poll Win (93%) – Kiss her.

  • Kiss her. (R-18)

※The choices are obvious, but may or may not be interrupted.
※Only 2 days left until King Hiroshi’s Party

Hatsune walked in long strides as she slipped the key in her hand on the table along the way to her beloved. Sakiko looked so immersed into the book that she hadn’t noticed her come in, much less see Hatsune approach.

She swiftly took the book from on top, skillfully folding a tiny part of a page’s corner as she closed it and put it behind Sakiko’s body, further into the windowsill. All the while, Hatsune’s lips were immediately onto Sakiko’s soft and plump ones, her other hand wrapped around Sakiko’s waist.

Sakiko responded to the kiss in kind as she closed her eyes and welcomed the probing tongue in her mouth as she wrapped both of her arms around Hatsune’s neck. She quickly gasped for a short burst of air as that tongue touched her own, swirling around as they danced together in light slurping sounds.

Hatsune pulled onto Sakiko, urging her to sit further near the end of the window sill. Sakiko responded in kind as she wrapped her legs around Hatsune’s thighs while they kissed.

They both broke the kiss at the same time, purple and gold alike focused on the white strip of saliva that connected their mouths before turning to each other’s gazes.

Sakiko’s face was flushed pink as she smiled gently at Hatsune. “Hello, you… My, what a greeting.”

Hatsune grinned. “When I saw you sitting beautifully here, was there another way to say hello?”

“…What a sweet talker.” Sakiko sighed as she leaned her forehead onto Hatsune’s. “Well? Are you going to continue?”

“Here?” Hatsune asked as she nuzzled Sakiko’s nose with her own.

“Anywhere you want, my prince.” Sakiko smiled sweetly with a head tilt as she softly touched the blonde hair on Hatsune’s nape. “As much as you want.” She whispered into her mouth as she gave her a chaste kiss.

“You’re playing with fire, Saki-chan.” Hatsune kissed back as a deft hand pulled on the ribbon of the long dress on Sakiko’s back while they kissed.

The thin cloth of the long dress slipped down Sakiko’s arms as she removed her arms from Hatsune’s shoulders to shimmy out of the long dress as it dropped to the floor.

Beneath it was a white see-through nightgown that mostly covered nothing… Hatsune’s purple orbs widened at the striking red lingerie set behind the nightgown.

The red bra had laces around it as it cupped Sakiko’s breasts nicely with a front clasp, while the panties were a lacy kind with straps that wrapped around her thin waist.

Hatsune smiled as it reminded her of her usual get up: the red boots with black laces, the long red dress, and the red ribbons that normally tied her long light blue locks.

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune turned to look at shy golden orbs. “Were you expecting this?”

“I would have been fine just sleeping like the other days… but I would not forgive myself if I was not ready for you.” Sakiko slowly blinked at her with a shy smile. “Do you like it?”

“I love you.” Hatsune immediately kissed her as she untied the ribbon on her nightgown, and soon it dropped on Hatsune’s feet, next to the long dress.

Sakiko felt exposed as cool air touched her barely covered body, the cold windowsill touched her directly while Hatsune moved her kisses from her lips, down to her neck. She lifted up her head and put her palms flat on the space behind her as she gave Hatsune more access to her chest.

Nibbling, sucking, and plenty of feathered kisses around Sakiko’s white neck, Hatsune looked satisfied as a good number of kiss marks were left on her collarbones. They’re not as strikingly red as Sakiko’s lingerie, but they were near red enough. Hatsune made sure to nibble on skin, as she kissed them, sometimes letting her teeth softly graze that dainty skin to leave marks as she traversed down to her chest.

She used her teeth to skillfully unclasp the daring red brassiere. She let go of the clasp as Sakiko’s breasts were now free as it bounced a little. Hatsune softly pressed her cheeks onto Sakiko’s breasts as she carefully removed her clothing. She pressed her ear onto Sakiko’s chest as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

Sakiko leaned forward as she returned Hatsune’s embrace, her heart racing quickly and loudly as Hatsune listened. “Hatsune…”

“Your heart’s beating so fast…” Hatsune looked up to Sakiko from her chest.

“Of course it is… I love you. Being close to you… makes me feel so much.” Sakiko hugged Hatsune’s head as she softly ran her fingers through her blonde mane. “Hatsune…”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune closed her eyes as she placed a kiss over Sakiko’s heart before proceeding to cup both of her breasts with both hands, giving attention to each mound one at a time.

Sakiko returned to using her palms to balance her body and offer herself to Hatsune further. She moved her hips closer to the edge of the windowsill as Hatsune bit the side of one of her breasts, leaving light teeth marks on it before covering one nub with her mouth.

“Hah… Ah…” A sweet moan escaped Sakiko’s lips as Hatsune lightly sucked and bit her nipple. She arched her body forward as she pressed her body towards Hatsune.

Hatsune’s hand played with the other as she pressed her thumb over it, circling at the sensitive and hard nub before pinching it lightly as she continued sucking on the other.

“Mm… Hatsune… Touch me… Lower…” Sakiko leaned forward as she quickly untied the bikini straps of her panties around her stomach. She grabbed Hatsune’s hand that was on her breast and led it down between her legs.

“Saki-chan… Mm, okay.” Hatsune nodded as Sakiko threw her arms around her shoulders, leaning her whole weight onto the blonde as Hatsune slipped her hand inside Sakiko’s panties.

Sakiko clung onto Hatsune’s body as she felt that long finger down her slit, spreading her wetness around before a single digit immediately slipped in. “Ah… Mm… Hatsune…!” She moved her waist, her butt barely on the window sill as she gave Hatsune more access to her sensitive slit.

Soon the single digit was followed immediately by another finger as it explored inside her, rubbing on the top as it searched for that one sensitive spot.

“Hah… Ah! Hatsune…!”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune looked at Sakiko whose face was currently buried on her shoulders as she continued rubbing inside her. The juices continued to flow out as what dripped to her fingers was quickly dried up by her already extremely wet underwear.

She supported Sakiko’s lower back with her other hand as she buried her index and ring finger inside her further, pushing in and out as she rubbed over Sakiko’s sensitive spot at a precise and steady pace.

“Ah… Hah… Mm… Mm…!” Sakiko buried her nose onto Hatsune’s shoulders as her hands tightly clung to Hatsune’s white shirt, her hands grabbing whatever shirt was under her hand as she soon pushed her hips forward. “Ahh…!”

Hatsune rubbed a few more times before stopping as she felt Sakiko’s hips shake as she came, her body completely leaving the windowsill as Hatsune carried her whole weight as she clung to her. She quickly removed her fingers from inside Sakiko and immediately put both her hands under her thighs to carry her.

“Hah… Hah… Hatsune…” Sakiko hugged the blonde’s body, her voice weak and sultry as she whispered directly into her ear. “Bed…?”

Hatsune swallowed as her throat dried up. “You’re extremely bad for my health…”

Before anything else, Sakiko’s lips were immediately captured into a hungry kiss as her back hit the soft bed, and wet fingers were quick to find its way inside her once again.

Hatsune, back in her guard’s uniform, and a bucket of matcha on the ground between them. She watched the light blue haired female next to her who struggled to stand straight on two legs.

“Saki-chan…?” She turned to look at her, and tired golden eyes only stared.

“I’m fine… Don’t worry.” Sakiko put her hands on her hips as she struggled. “Ugh… Is this how it is going to be?”

“I’m really sorry…?” Hatsune only looked at her, her invisible dog ears drooping forward as she frowned.

“Don’t apologize, I was the one who urged you to keep going…” Sakiko closed her eyes in defeat. “Definitely… some regrets were had.”

Hatsune smiled. “You were so cute, though…”

Sakiko sighed. “Well… You were quite handsome… I couldn’t help but want you more.”

“Tonight…?” Hatsune swiftly took Sakiko’s hand into her own as she played with her fingers.

“…I’ll think about it.” Sakiko gave her a wry smile.

Before they could react, suddenly there was a short girl with white hair crouched in front of their bucket of matcha, they let go of each other’s hands as they watched the girl. She sniffed the bucket, and immediately looked up in bliss, as if you could see stars and clouds in happiness.

“…Good matcha.” The girl’s soft voice was directed at them. “Hatsune? Sakiko?”

The two of them nodded as they crouched and huddled around the green tea.

“Togawa Kiyotsugu. He was allegedly accused of falsifying documents to own their land in the City of Gardens. It was mentioned that he bought the land off an untrusted personnel outside of the city, and constructed a greenhouse without permit. It was rumored that it was only allowed to operate for as long as the history of the land buying was not revealed because it brought in a lot of merits to the city’s value.” The girl spoke quickly, but with good enunciation and pronunciation to ensure that they miss nothing.

Sakiko’s eyes widened.

“Kiyotsugu told Sano that he had the legitimate documents in the house hidden away with a key in a hidden floor panel in Sakiko’s room. With Mori Minami soon passing the throne of the City of Garden to Wakaba Mutsumi, the best course of action is to get the legitimate copy of the papers, and have the new Queen sign it for legitimacy. This is the only way to take back the Togawa name.”

Hatsune turned to Sakiko who immediately understood. Sakiko knew where it was. She always found it weird that after living for so long as someone who played the piano and was sensitive to sounds, she thought that that one floor board sounded different from others.

“Good luck.” The white haired girl’s monotonous voice was calm and carried a sense of truth and finality.

“Umm… Thank you…” Sakiko spoke first.

“Raana.” The girl then stood up and lifted up the bucket with both hands.

“Ah, wait. Do you know of a way to get to their house without being detected?” Hatsune stopped her.

“Matcha.” Her immediate one word response came.

Hatsune blinked. “Do you know of the makeshift garden near the lake?”

Raana tilted her head to one side in confusion.

“…I have a small patch of matcha in that garden. I can teach you how to plant matcha, and have as much matcha as you want?” Hatsune smiled wryly.

The cat-like female blinked. “As much matcha as I want?”

“Yes.” Hatsune smiled.

“Tonight, lake. 8pm. Come prepared.” Raana nodded then quickly left with her bucket of matcha.

Hatsune turned to Sakiko. “I guess rain check on tonight’s activities?”

Sakiko’s cheeks flushed red as she put a hand on her head. “Hatsune… Who would have thought that the city’s prince could be so… lubricous.”

Hatsune smiled at her in mild surprise. “If they have you for a lover, they certainly would be.”

Sakiko shook her head. “I think it’s you.”

“All right. Definitely me… powered by you.” Hatsune smiled.

“About tonight…” Sakiko trailed off.

“We still doing it?”

“Not that, silly.” Sakiko lightly smacked her shoulder. “The key… We need to meet my father, and get the key.”

“Ah…” Hatsune then suddenly got nervous. “Should I…?”

“…I would love it if you did.” Sakiko smiled at her. “Well… Maybe… We should keep it a secret that you may or may not be the prince.”

“Ah… You’re right.” Hatsune smiled. “Let’s go?” She immediately took a step closer to Sakiko and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’ll keep you steady.”

“Thank you…” Sakiko smiled at her as she held onto Hatsune’s hand that was around her waist.

The meeting spot wasn’t far away from Sano’s house. They quickly dropped by to ask where Kiyotsugu lived, and soon they were on their way to find him.

It relieved Sakiko that her father lived in a modest home at the corner of the Squatters Area. It was far from the entrance to the city, but it definitely was better than the simple hut they used to live in outside of the City of Gardens before finding asylum in the Owl City.

“Father?” Sakiko and Hatsune walked around the house as they searched for him.

Sano told them that Kiyotsugu often worked behind his house. He fixed a variety of things for the citizens. Lanterns, children’s toys, and he sometimes invents some new stuff to make things easier for them.

A man with short black hair stopped working on his outdoor desk. “Sakiko?”

“Father!” Sakiko carefully ran towards him as Hatsune followed and walked towards them. “You’re here…! I’m glad you’re here, and safe.”

Kiyotsugu stood up from his chair and welcomed his daughter with open arms. “Sakiko!” He hugged her tightly. “Sakiko, I’m glad you’re okay…”

“Father… How are you doing here? Is everything all right? Are you eating well?” Sakiko separated from the hug and fussed over him. “Are you still drinking?”

Kiyotsugu smiled at her. “I’m no longer drinking. I definitely eat more than we used to. How about you? Is the prince treating you well? Is he not overworking you?”

Sakiko smiled. “The prince has been kind to me. He’s more gentle than what people think of him. Also… this is…”

“Hatsune. I’m a castle guard.” Hatsune nodded with a grin. “I also love your daughter very much.”

“Ha- Hatsune!?” Sakiko blushed immediately as she turned to the blonde who only gave her a charming wink.

Kiyotsugu raised an eyebrow. “Say that again?”

“My name is Hatsune, and I love your daughter very much, sir.” Hatsune bowed. “I vow to make her happy as long as she wants to be with me, sir.”

“Ah. You’re the person from the lake, aren’t you?” Kiyotsugu smiled at her. “I’ve heard good things from Sakiko about you.”

“I think I would like to know more about it.” Hatsune smiled.

“Fa- Father! Please don’t tell Hatsune about it!” Sakiko stood in between the two of them as she tried to stop her father from telling stories… and stop Hatsune from listening.

“She mentioned a lot about how handsome looking you were, and how knowledgeable you were with gardening, architecture, and the stars.” Kiyotsugu nodded. He stepped past Sakiko and extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Hatsune.”

Hatsune nodded and firmly took his hand. “Thank you, Kiyotsugu-san.”

“You can call me Dad, or Papa, or anything you want… as long as you promise to take care of Sakiko.” Kiyotsugu shook her hand and smiled.

Hatsune smiled at him with mixed feelings. All her life, she didn’t have anybody that she called father, dad, or papa. Her life was quickly robbed off her just because she was the first born, and a female.

“Thank you… I will think about which one to call you… Kiyotsugu-san.” Hatsune answered and Sakiko was quick to be by her side as she held her hand. “Saki-chan…”

“Father. I heard about the information. I need the key…” Sakiko was quick to get back on topic. “We don’t have much time, we have to go today.”

“I was aware. It’s dangerous. Are you two going to be okay?” Kiyotsugu reached for his chest pocket and handed Sakiko a drawstring bag.

“I’ll protect her with all my life… but we’ll try to do it silently, and quickly.” Hatsune nodded as she held onto the sword on her hips.

“Take care of her, all right?” Kiyotsugu nodded at Hatsune who nodded back. “What’s your plan?”

“We’re in contact with Mutsumi. We’re going to have her verify our papers once she’s queen…” Sakiko laid out the simple plan, not including the ones they have for King Hiroshi’s party. “We need evidence against King Hiroshi…”

Kiyotsugu nodded. “You should meet his daughter. Sumita Mana.” He handed Sakiko a piece of paper. “She mentioned that she’s tired of her father’s oppressing tactics, and has pieces of evidence that could change the tides.”

“All right. This?” Sakiko raised the paper.

“Where you’ll find her tomorrow, before King Hiroshi’s party.” Kiyotsugu nodded. “Sakiko, be very careful. All right? Hatsune, you, too.”

“Eh? Ah, yes.” Hatsune nodded. “Saki-chan, we should go.”

“Mm. Father… I’ll come and visit again, okay?” Sakiko softly held her father’s hand as Kiyotsugu nodded.

They then silently left and quickly went back into the pathway towards the castle.

“Hatsune?”

“Mm?”

“Who is Sumita Mana?”

“Uh…” Hatsune suddenly stopped walking as they hiked up the hill. “She’s King Hiroshi’s daughter…”

Sakiko watched her skeptically. “And…?”

“I… She…” Hatsune looked away. “The prince… may have kissed her once…” She tried to look at Sakiko who was now glaring at her.

Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her lips were in a line.

“I- It was for a formal date! I couldn’t just refuse a request just because…” Hatsune tried to explain as Sakiko’s golden orbs leered at her. 

“King Hiroshi was there and he wanted to see how welcoming we could be…” Hatsune explained. “And she seemed like she liked Uika… a lot…”

Sakiko sighed. “It’s fine. As I mentioned, I’m fine even if I’m just a mistress. I don’t have the right to be angry about something that has happened in the past.”

Hatsune sighed in relief. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know her name’s going to pop up ever again… Also, as I mentioned, if it’s not you, I’d rather not marry.”

“Let’s not talk about this now. For now, I’m going to forget that I’m angry at you for not being your first kiss.” Sakiko hiked past Hatsune as she pouted and puffed her cheeks.

“Sa- Saki-chan…! I didn’t think it counted…! I was the prince then, and I didn’t really like her.” Hatsune immediately chased after her. “Saki-chan~”

“Today, I don’t know who you are, Your Highness.” Sakiko stomped as she continued pouting her way into the castle.

“Saki-chan!” Hatsune chased after her all the way inside the castle and sighed as Sakiko ignored her. She stopped in front of her study and sighed. “Saki-chan…”

“She looked very angry, Your Highness. What happened?” Umiri looked at the depressed Hatsune.

“She… kind of found out about Mana-chan…” Hatsune sighed.

“…Mana-chan?” Sakiko peeked from the corner, her golden orbs glaring. “You call her ‘Mana-chan?'”

“S- Sumita-san!” Hatsune tried to reach for Sakiko, but the light blue haired girl just silently left in a puff.

“…Looks like you’re in a pinch, Hatsune-san.” Umiri smirked. “Do you need some help?”

“Would giving her some time help…?” Hatsune hung her head in defeat.

“For women like Sakiko-san… I think you should go and apologize sincerely.” Umiri put a hand on her chin as she nodded. “Maybe prepare something that she likes.”

“Uu… All right.” Hatsune sighed and entered the study. “…What does Saki-chan have to do today?”

Umiri raised her eyebrow. “She should be in the garden. Has something happened?”

“We need to meet the informant, Raana-chan, again tonight at 8pm at the lake.” Then Hatsune’s face brightened up. “…Could you tell Saki-chan we’re leaving at 6:30? Or if she disagrees… tell her to meet me at the lake…?”

Umiri smiled. “Looks like you’ve made up your mind. Good luck, Hatsune-san.”

What should Hatsune prepare to apologize with?

※ This option is only to see when, and where will Sakiko forgive Hatsune.
※ Worry not, she will eventually forgive her.
※ 1 day until King Hiroshi’s party.
※ X day/s until Wakaba Mutsumi’s coronation as Queen.

Update #18: June 27th, 2025

Poll Win (63%) – Use sincere words.

  • Use sincere words.

※ This option is only to see when, and where will Sakiko forgive Hatsune.
※ Worry not, she will eventually forgive her.
※ 1 day until King Hiroshi’s party.
※ X day/s until Wakaba Mutsumi’s coronation as Queen.

At the designated time (see: 3hrs since they had a fight) Hatsune hiked up the hill with a sword on her waist, and a pouch on her other for emergencies purposes. She has never felt so nervous her entire life.

She had lived the past 12 years as the prince, but she has never felt the cold hands, or the cold feet… She had never made a woman angry. Nor did she have experience with interacting or being with a lot of women. Just that she was used to being with them, and that she was confident that she could avoid making them angry… but here she was.

Hatsune sighed as she reached the top of the hill where the lake was, and true enough, her beloved Sakiko was already there. Sakiko’s usual hood rested on her shoulders as she looked at the sky. Her hair tied up in her usual braid-buns and red ribbons.

Not wanting to do anything funny, or to seem unapologetic toward Sakiko’s feelings. Hatsune decided to call out to her.

“…Saki-chan.”

Sakiko looked at the lake briefly before turning her body a little to glance at her. She didn’t say anything and looked forward.

“Uu…” Hatsune sighed once again as she slowly made her way towards Sakiko’s side.

The two of them stood side by side next to the lake as silence engulfed them. The wind would softly blow as the surface of the water moved in its direction.

“…I’m sorry.” Hatsune apologized, her voice low but not weak. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mana-chan, and that you weren’t my first kiss, even though I was yours.”

Sakiko turned to look at her with a neutral expression. “You think I was angry about that?”

Hatsune turned to her, taken aback. “Y- You weren’t?”

Sakiko glared at her, her mouth pursed into a line. “I’m angry about that too.”

“Uh… Th- Then… I don’t know… Please… tell me?” Hatsune looked at her with upturned eyes, her invisible dog ears flopped over her head, and her tail tucked between her legs.

Golden orbs observed the blonde next to her, the glare unfaltering. “Was Sumita-san your first kiss?”

“Ah. Um… No.” Hatsune put her hands in front of her as she held her fingers. “A… princess from the far west… was.”

If it was possible for Sakiko to deepen her glare, that was exactly what she did… as Hatsune took a step back in fright.

“…And holding somebody?”

“Sa- Saki-chan!” Hatsune answered immediately, albeit her stutter may have made her look suspicious. “My first time’s with you, Saki-chan.”

Sakiko watched her, as if trying to look if she was lying. Purple orbs looked back in determination.

“How many girls have you kissed?”

“……”

“Hatsune?”

“Th- There was a period where a lot of prospective marriage candidates sent in their proposals… The King wanted me to meet them so… I don’t think I’ll be able to answer even if I wanted to.”

Then an extremely aggressive sigh.

“S- Sor–“

“Prince Uika sure is popular, huh? I doubt that they send the proposal just because you’re the Prince. Owl City is a very small city.” Sakiko turned away from Hatsune and looked at the lake. “If I met Uika, I wonder if I’d fall in love with him instead?”

Hatsune’s eyes widened in surprise. “I- If that’s what would make you happy, I’ll supp-“

“That’s it.” Sakiko turned to her sharply. “That’s what I’m angry about.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow–“

“If I met Uika and said I wanted to be with him, what would you do?” Sakiko put her arms on her hips as she took a step towards Hatsune who leaned her body away.

“I’ll let him have you, it’ll make you happy…?” Hatsune answered as Sakiko’s glare intensified.

Sakiko gritted her teeth as she opened her mouth. “Why do you always shove your own happiness aside!? Would you have kissed all those girls on your own volition? Why would you give away the person you love to your brother? Why would you rather succumb to despair than fight for what makes you happy?”

Hatsune stared at the ground as Sakiko continued her tirade.

“Do you simply think that you do not deserve any happiness? I know that the situation right now is complicated. If we take back my family’s name, would you just allow me to be married to someone else? If Uika recovers, and takes back his rightful title of Prince, what would happen to you?” Sakiko balled her hands into fists as they turned white. “I’m angry at you, because you so easily discard your own self for others. Do you even set aside anything for yourself? What would be left of you?”

“I’m sor…” Hatsune’s voice shook as tears fell from her eyes. “You’re right.”

The admittance surprised Sakiko as her eyes widened.

“…I don’t know what’s going to be left of me…” Hatsune covered her face with her hands as tears continued to stream down her face. “I’ve been going at this for the sake of others because I believed that I didn’t deserve to have anything… Now I don’t know what I have that’s mine…”

“Oh, Hatsune…” Sakiko wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s body as she stood on her toes to reach her head. “You have me.”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s body as she buried her face onto her shoulders. “…Can I really have you? As something only I have?”

“I just said that, didn’t I?” Sakiko rubbed the back of Hatsune’s head with her hand. “I’m here to stay, Hatsune.”

“But if you really, Uika…”

“I’m going to be even angrier. Don’t continue that sentence.” Sakiko parted from the hug and reached to wipe away Hatsune’s tears with both of her hands. “I love you, okay? I didn’t fall for your features. I fell for your heart.”

“Saki-chan… Thank you.” Hatsune looked at her with a soft smile. “I’m probably going to do this again… Will you help me?” 

“Of course. As many as I need to.” Sakiko touched her cheek with her palm as she smiled at her. “I’ll be here to snap you out of your ridiculousness anytime.”

“Thank you.” Hatsune nodded as Sakiko wiped her tears away. “…I think you’ll be really creeped out. We’re three years apart but we really really look a lot like each other…”

“I’ll save my reaction for that when I actually meet him.” Sakiko smiled. “Now, let’s go. We have to go to the flowerbed and meet Raana.”

“Let’s go take back your name, Saki-chan.” Hatsune smiled at her as Sakiko returned it.

Sakiko felt her heart skip a beat, as she watched Hatsune grin, an innocent and heartfelt one.

Hatsune rubbed her eyes as the two of them arrived at the flower bed. It was still early before their promised time, but Raana was already there crouched next to the bed of matcha.

“Raana-chan?” Hatsune called to her.

The short girl who wore a robe with its hood over her head turned towards them. “Hatsune. Sakiko.”

They walked towards her while Raana stood up.

“Is this the bed?” Raana pointed at the ground where obvious sprouts of matcha are growing.

“Yeah.” Hatsune smiled. “I’m surprised you found it here.”

“Followed, the smell of matcha.” Raana turned to the bed and crouched down to look at it.

Hatsune laughed as Sakiko only smiled. “These are shrubs. You have to water it two to three times a week. You have to make sure the soil doesn’t have too much water, so you have to come check on it when it rains.”

Raana nodded. “How do I know I can harvest?”

Hatsune smiled as she walked towards Raana and crouched next to Raana. She plucked one leaf and handed it to Raana. “You have a good sense of smell. This one shouldn’t be harvested until two to three days later. You’ll know.”

“Why did you pluck?” Raana looked up at Hatsune, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Smell it.” Hatsune pointed at the leaf. Raana sniffed it, then her eyes suddenly glowed. “If you memorize this color, you can tell if they’re going to be good for harvest soon.”

“Hatsune, good person.” Raana nodded. “Can I take care of this?” She pointed at the bed.

“Yeah. It’s yours now.” Hatsune smiled as she stood up and turned to Sakiko.

“Is that fine?” Sakiko asked.

“Yep. I still have seeds at the castle. We can continue growing more at the Squatters Area once we start the construction.”

Raana stood up and walked towards them. “You have two directions where you can enter. One is short but could be dangerous. Another is long, you have to avoid guards, but safer. Which would it be?”

Hatsune turned to Sakiko.

“Your decision.” Sakiko smiled at her.

Should they?

※While there are danger in both paths, the destination is the same. Path choice differs on ‘who’ they will encounter on the way there.
※32 hours until King Hiroshi’s party.

Update #19: July 2nd, 2025

Poll Win (70.8%) – Go the long, but safer path.

  • Go the long, but safer path.

※While there is danger in both paths, the destination is the same. Path choice differs on ‘who’ they will encounter on the way there.
※32 hours until King Hiroshi’s party.

“I wouldn’t mind getting rid of some of King Hiroshi’s men, but let’s go the longer route. I want to keep you safe.” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko who only sighed.

“You worry too much, but you’re the seasoned warrior, I will take your word.” Sakiko smiled back.

“Okay.” Raana pointed towards the direction of the City of Gardens. “You should go straight down this path. When you encounter the fork, turn left. After turning left, you’ll find a tree with yellow flowers. Inspect that tree’s trunk. Once you find the wire, follow it and it should lead you to tilled soil without any plants on it.”

“Wait… You mean, they dismantled the greenhouse?” Sakiko’s eyes widened as she heard about the tilled soil. The greenhouse had beautifully tilled soil; it was done so nicely that they had kept it the same for as long as they could.

Raana nodded. “Hiroshi sold the glass panes for a good price.”

“I truly dislike that man…” Sakiko furrowed her eyebrows as she listened. “It’ll be all right. Past the tilled soil should already be the back of our house, right? We had a basement tool shed. There’s a path there to the house.”

Raana nodded. “This path is quite far, but no Hiroshi men. Garden guards, yes.”

“We’ll be above them. Thank you, Raana-chan.” Hatsune nodded.

“Good luck.” She gave them a thumbs up, and turned back to her new matcha plant bed.

Hatsune smiled at Raana’s back which curiously hunched over the plant. She then took Sakiko’s hand in her hand as the two of them half-jogged towards the direction Raana pointed.

Expecting the darkness and rocky path, Sakiko tightly held onto Hatsune’s secure hands as the blonde led the way with a flashlight in her other hand. They carefully treaded the rocky path at a good pace, because taking too much time would cause them more trouble.

“Saki-chan.” Hatsune’s voice called for her.

“Yes?” Sakiko responded almost immediately, not to make the blonde worry.

“Are you scared?” Hatsune turned to her with a cheeky smile.

“…If I’m with you, there’s nothing for me to be scared of.” Sakiko tightened her hold onto Hatsune’s hand as she returned the cheeky smile.

“This is the first time we’re going out at night, not to be together, but for an adventure.” Hatsune focused on the path before her. “An adventure that could dictate what the future would be like for the both of us.”

“That’s why we must do this right. For our future.” Sakiko nodded. “Hatsune, look!”

Hatsune nodded as she shone the flashlight towards the tree with yellow flowers. They half-jogged towards it as Sakiko touched the tree’s body.

“I remember this path. Let’s go, Hatsune.” Sakiko tried to lead the path but Hatsune tugged at her hand. “Hatsune?”

“Hold the flashlight.” Hatsune walked only a step behind her, their hands still connected as she unsheathed a knife from her ankle and held it concealed with her other hand. “Let’s go.”

Sakiko quickly led them forward into the forest as Hatsune observed their surroundings with caution. Before they noticed it, they’d made it into a clearing with waist high brushes and dim lights that surrounded the abandoned looking house… and tilled plot without the greenhouse.

Hatsune sheathed the knife as she and Sakiko crouched behind the brushes. Sakiko switched off the flashlight and put it into her pouch.

“They really dismantled the greenhouse…” Sakiko frowned as she looked at the empty tilled soil. “It’s not that I didn’t believe Raana but… it’s heartbreaking to see it this way… My mother and father’s hard work…”

Hatsune wrapped an arm around Sakiko’s shoulders as she rubbed her arm. “Saki-chan…”

Sakiko shook her head. “We’re here for something else. Come, we won’t have to pass by the guards if we enter at the basement entrance.”

Hatsune nodded and followed Sakiko. They crouch-walked behind the brushes, walking as silently as they could to not alert the guards that stood just outside the vicinity.

Purple orbs were so focused on eyeing the guards that she hadn’t noticed that the lady in front of her had stopped. In a kneejerk reaction, Hatsune wrapped her arms around Sakiko, and instead of pushing her down, she wrapped an arm around Sakiko’s shoulders and pulled her to herself.

Hatsune’s back hit the softened grass behind her in a soft thud. Sakiko covered her mouth with both hands as her face landed on Hatsune’s chest.

“Who goes there!?” The voice of a guard shouted in their direction.

Hatsune looked at Sakiko in a panic and… “M- Meoow~”

As if conveniently placed, surprised purple and golden orbs watched a black cat pass by Hatsune’s head (in front of them) into the bushes, and go out into where the guards are.

“Bro, it was only a cat. I told ya, stop drinking coffee on night shifts.”

“S- Sorry, man. Sorry, cat.”

Once they knew that the coast was clear, Sakiko slowly moved from on top of Hatsune as the blonde followed her movement. They quickly followed the direction of the tilled soil, and soon enough they found manmade steps made of soil leading downwards.

Sakiko immediately went towards it, and just as she remembered, the makeshift basement of the greenhouse still connected to their main house.

The two of them entered the half land, half wooden basement and carefully climbed the hanging rope ladder that led to the Togawa home.

Sakiko got out of the ladder and looked around their house. It wasn’t even maintained as King Hiroshi forcefully took it from them. Hatsune followed Sakiko who looked around in turmoil.

The whole house was ransacked—all the broken glass on the floor, the wooden chair toppled, the table moved from its original location, leaving scratches on the floor.

The situation was chaotic, and Hatsune could only imagine what had transpired here as she wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s body, burying her face onto her chest.

“It’ll be fine, Saki-chan. We’re going to take it all back.” Hatsune comforted Sakiko who nodded on her chest.

“Thank you.” Sakiko’s golden orbs shone in the light, full of determination as she parted from the hug and beelined for her bedroom.

It was obvious that King Hiroshi’s men were looking for something: the house and land contract. Surely, the land would sell for a good amount, given that the City of Gardens’ popularity and the income that came from it.

Interestingly enough, Sakiko’s room wasn’t as ransacked as the other places of the house. It was evident that they did not even suspect that the papers they needed were inside her own room. Hatsune stood guard outside her door as Sakiko went inside, and shuffled next to the area between the window and the bed.

Sakiko removed a floor panel board, and to her surprise, the box with a keyhole was in it. She quickly unlocked it and smiled warmly as she took the scroll into her hands. She removed the ribbon and quickly checked the two scrolls and confirmed that they were the deeds of the land and their house.

“Hatsune.” Sakiko whispered as she rolled the paper back, returned the ribbon, and handed the paper to the blonde. She went back to close the box, and returned the floor board, making sure that it looked the same as it did before. “Let’s go.”

Hatsune nodded as she kept the scroll inside a waist pouch in front of her. She took Sakiko’s hand in hers as they went back to the basement stairs. She went in first as Sakiko waited above, and the moment her feet hit the ground, she felt that something was amiss.

With a quick pull on her knife, she quickly held it next to the neck of their intruder.

“It’s me.” It was a deep and calm voice, with hands raised. “Your reaction time is insane.”

Sakiko, halfway down the ladder, turned to them. “Taki?”

“Yeah.” The voice came from the dark.

Going down the rest of the ladder, Sakiko quickly picked up the flashlight and pointed it at Hatsune and Taki. “Hatsune, it’s Taki.”

Taki smiled wryly at Hatsune who pushed her face next to hers and made sure it was her. “Sorry, Taki-chan.” She removed the knife and sheathed it back.

“It’s fine, I’m glad you’re competent enough to protect Sakiko.” Taki smiled wryly. “I mean that in an endearing way.”

“Thank you.” Hatsune returned the wry smile. “Wait, why are you here?”

“Umiri told me, so I told Mutsumi. She told me to retrieve the papers from you, so she can sign it and bring it to the party.” Taki nodded at Hatsune and Sakiko. “With that, I can tell the guards to take a break so you can leave and go back the way you came from without worries, too.”

“Mutsumi-chan? Wait, Umiri-chan told you? Since when were you two that close?” Hatsune asked with curiosity, and Taki’s budding blush was a quick tell. “You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to.”

“Thanks, I would rather not…” Taki sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ask Umiri, if you want.”

Sakiko gave her a knowing smile. “I’m happy for you, Taki.”

“Ugh.” Taki sighed as she took a few steps away. “Anyway, hurry. The quicker we are, the easier.”

“Sorry. I’ll ask Umiri-chan.” Hatsune took the papers from her pouch and quickly handed it to Taki who immediately put it in a metallic scroll holder with the Wakaba family’s crest. “It’s all yours now.”

Taki nodded. “Leave it to us. And, Sakiko.” She turned to curious golden orbs. “…We’ll have to close down this path by tomorrow. So they won’t figure out that you were ever here. You should take the rope ladder, and leave the rest to me.”

“…Thank you, Taki.” Sakiko nodded with affirmation.

It was inevitable that once they took back their home and their name, they would eventually have to rebuild it from the ground up. Taki left first, and once they faintly heard her voice, and a few heavy footsteps leaving the vicinity, the two of them followed.

They stood behind the brushes as Taki stood on the other side. They looked at each other, and with a nod, went their separate ways.

After arriving back to the clearing with the flower beds, Raana was no longer there, and the night was deeper… but the stars and the moon remained bright.

Hatsune and Sakiko both let out a huge sigh of relief as they turned to each other… and started laughing.

“I didn’t know you could meow like that.” Sakiko smiled at Hatsune.

“…I might have found a new talent.” Hatsune grinned at her. “Why did you stop?”

Sakiko gave her a soft smile. “My mother’s grave was not far from where we were… I saw her tombstone for a moment. I apologize.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Hatsune looked at her with a soft smile and engulfed her in a hug. “Let’s visit her when we take it back, okay?”

Sakiko nodded into Hatsune’s embrace as she tightly held onto her shirt. “I miss her so much, Hatsune…”

“I’m sure you do. Let’s take back her pride and memories.” Hatsune tightened her hug around Sakiko’s body, then parted to look at her. “Let’s go back home.”

Sakiko smiled at her and nodded.

Once the morning came, it was less than a day into King Hiroshi’s party, and there’s only one last piece.

Sumita Mana.

The last time her name was brought up, it caused a small fight…

Should Hatsune…

※How the ending is achieved will change a little depending on this choice’s result. However, the good ending will remain unchanged.
※20 hours until King Hiroshi’s party
※Wakaba Mutsumi is going to be the Queen soon.

Update #20: July 9th, 2025

Poll Win (69.2%) – Meet Sumita Mana.

  • Meet with Sumita Mana.

※How the ending is achieved will change a little depending on this choice’s result. However, the good ending will remain unchanged.
※20 hours until King Hiroshi’s party
※Wakaba Mutsumi is going to be the Queen soon.

Sakiko fixed up Hatsune’s necktie as she brushed her shoulders to straighten her shirt. “There, all good. You look good.”

Hatsune smiled, a light blush on her cheeks. “Thanks, Saki-chan.” She checked over her casual get up that was unusual from her set of outfits. Usually she’d be just dressed in her formal outfit as the prince. However, today, she was dressed in a simple men’s dress suit, and formal shoes.

She picked up the black vest to go with her white shirt as she put it on and buttoned it up. Sakiko then put her coat over her shoulders as she followed her initiative and put it on.

“Mm. You look good.” Sakiko brushed away Hatsune’s blonde hair on her shoulders and smiled. “I’m glad that Umiri was able to get one made for you. The City of Gardens always dresses this way in formal events, it would be good to dress this way from now on.”

“I agree. Thank you, Saki-chan.” Hatsune smiled as she pulled onto the front of her coat and checked on her cuffs. “But… are you really okay with me meeting Mana-chan? Do you want to go with me?”

Sakiko shook her head as she touched Hatsune’s chest with her hands, checking the coat for any wrinkles. “This is a meeting between prospective heads, I’m just a commoner. Besides…” She tiptoed as she kissed her warmly on the lips. “I trust you. A lot. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Hatsune went in for another kiss as she wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s waist. “Thank you for trusting me. I’ll do my best.”

Sakiko nodded. “Good. Now, make sure you come back to me.”

“We still haven’t confirmed the identity of the guard… so please, until I get back, stay in the library with Anon-chan, and Soyo-chan, okay?” Hatsune embraced her tightly as she leaned her cheeks on Sakiko’s shoulders. “They can both protect you. Because as per your demands, I’m going to bring Umiri with me.”

“We’ll be fine. You, take care, too, okay?” Sakiko closed her eyes as she enjoyed the long embrace. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Remember, you still owe me that raincheck.” Hatsune parted from the hug and grinned.

“Once all of this is done, you can even do it every night.” Sakiko laughed.

“I’m holding you to that.” Hatsune winked. “I’m going to have my fill of you, every night.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’m glad that Sakiko-san agreed to let you go today. I thought you would have just sent me to meet with Sumita-san.” Umiri sat across Hatsune in the carriage as they left the Owl City’s gates. She wore a black and white complement to Hatsune’s navy and white combination.

“I would have done that if she had told me not to go see her.” Hatsune smiled wryly. “I didn’t want to go, but… I wanted to at least know what information she wanted to relay to me. Considering we’re going to the enemy’s territory… I’m not casting aside the possibility that this could be a trap.”

“I see. So this is why you left Anon-san and Soyo-san with Sakiko-san at the castle. We do still suspect the guard trainee to be a spy from King Hiroshi, but we haven’t found the evidence yet.” Umiri nodded as she put her fist in front of her mouth as she started thinking. “Well, considering that you and I aren’t going to be in the castle for a while, they surely would make a move today.”

Hatsune nodded. “I’m glad that both Anon-chan and Soyo-chan have knight training. I feel more at ease with them being there with Saki-chan. So…”

“Hm?”

“Tell me about Taki-chan.” Hatsune gave Umiri a charming old grin.

Umiri smirked. “Did she say anything?”

“She told me to ask you for details, so here I am.”

“With a blush, I presume?”

“With a blush.” Hatsune nodded as she crossed her legs, leaning an elbow on the arm rest. “Well?”

“Let’s just say that during the time you were avoiding Sakiko-san, it was Taki-san and I, occasionally Sakiko-san, who have been meeting up there.” Umiri said with a grin. “I know you deserve further details, but I believe now is not the time.”

“Unfortunate.” Hatsune nodded as the carriage slowed down. “You think our Matsuzaka-san is going to be fine?” She uncrossed her legs and reached for the overhead bin just above her chair.

“I did tell him that if danger comes, he should hide or run, as far as he could.” Umiri nodded as she reached for her own overhead bin.

The two of them silently picked up their specialized swords and nodded at each other. They silently crouched and ducked as the carriage came to a complete stop. They covered their noses with their sleeves as they looked at each other, and as they silently predicted, the glass window of the carriage was penetrated by a steel arrow as it broke, followed quickly by a gas canister.

Umiri reacted quickly by picking up the canister with a handkerchief and threw it back outside. She shuffled next to the carriage’s door handle and confirmed with Hatsune their count. She nodded, once, twice, and then on the third, she turned the handle as the door opened.

Hatsune dashed out, drawing her pristine white sword into a wide slash. She grazed three men on their forearms as they dropped their crossbows to the floor, clutching their bloody arms. Purple eyes scanned the vicinity of at least ten more armed men with machetes, and at least four more with traditional bows.

She quickly kicked the gas canister to the direction of the bows and beelined for the back side of the carriage where Umiri was waiting. “Four bows, ten swords.”

Umiri nodded. “Bows are on the right side, I assume?”

“Yeah. I’ll distract them. I’m the one they want.” Hatsune nodded and smiled.

“Please know you can’t fight as per your usual. Sakiko-san will be worried.” Umiri reminded her kindly.

“…I know. Thank you, Umiri-chan.” She swung her sword down ward as the blood dripped off it to the ground. “I’ll be careful, as much as I can.”

Hatsune ran back out the opposite side she entered as she caught them all in surprise. She parried one man’s sword with an upward slash as she stepped forward. She blocked an incoming downward slash with the sheath of her sword in her left hand. Taking a few steps forward as she pushed with her sheath, she thrust her sword into the stomach of one soldier. She quickly pulled the sword out and shook off the blood to the ground.

The nine men took a few steps backward as they cowered in fear. Hatsune let momentum slide her forward as she stood her ground. She shook the sweat from her forehead as she wiped it with her left hand’s sleeve. “Whew…”

Umiri dashed out from behind the carriage with speed. She drew her sword with accuracy as she slashed across the first archer, splitting the bow in half, as the tip slit their throat. She went for the next one with a varied slash that also ended up with blood shed.

Without blinking, all four bow users were down on t he floor in a pool of blood. More men fell to the ground in fright as Umiri flicked her sword downward, the blood from its sharp steel staining the ground with a splash. She then spun her sword as she rested the blunt side over her elbow pit while she dried her sword, then put it back into its sheath.

Hatsune put the sheath of her sword in her hip hilt as she spread her feet open into a longpoint stance: both her hands on the handle of her sword as she pointed it forward.

The three men who held the crossbows started fleeing first, followed by the rest of the nine men, as the aftermath of the attack left four dead bodies.

“We expected that.” Umiri sighed as she watched Hatsune flick her sword and clean it with her arm as she did so earlier, then into the sheathe. “Matsuzaka-san!”

They heard quick shuffles as a middle-aged looking man appeared from behind the bushes. “I’m here, Your Highness.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Hatsune smiled at him. “Let’s go to our backup carriage.”

“Understood, sir.” He nodded and quickly jogged back into the forest.

Umiri quickly cut loose the horses and let them run. “Go home.” The two horses immediately ran back the direction they came from.

Hatsune inspected the bodies as she turned them over with her feet, carefully ensuring not to leave fingerprints or footprints. “They do have the tattoo that King Hiroshi’s controlled gang had.”

“As expected.” Umiri nodded. “Are we still proceeding?”

Hatsune shook her head. “I think we know very well what they’re after. Let’s return.”

The fuss as they returned was big. While the castle was uneventful, unexpectedly, the news that the Prince was attacked on their way to meet with King Hiroshi’s daughter spread quickly. However, this was planned. Umiri quickly let the word spread to let King Hiroshi know that they’re still coming to tomorrow’s party.

“Hatsune!” The large door of the castles closed behind Hatsune and Umiri as Sakiko rushed over. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She inspected her face, her hair, her shoulders. “Your shirt has a tear here!”

“I’m okay, Saki-chan. You should see the other guy.” Hatsune answered in a joking tone.

“How could you joke at a time like this?!” Sakiko embraced her tightly as she wrapped her arms around her body, resting her cheeks over her shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re back in one piece.”

“I fought extra carefully, because I didn’t want you to worry.” Hatsune hugged her back sweetly.

“If this was ‘the Prince’ she would have annihilated everyone without needing my help.” Umiri nodded. “She might have a graze or two, but she would still return in one piece.”

“Casualties cannot be helped in situations like this, but I held back… because I wanted to return to you.” Hatsune rubbed a hand up and down Sakiko’s back as she comforted her. “It was as expected to learn that King Hiroshi’s chosen gang were a bunch of cowards.”

“Nonetheless, they would likely strike back in revenge.” Umiri’s voice was stern. “Shall we send scouts?”

“Of course, we’ll prepare for their plans. Send a scout to infiltrate their ranks.” Hatsune nodded at Umiri. “How was the castle while we were gone? Although it was only for a few hours.”

Sakiko parted from the hug as she smiled at Hatsune, who still had her hand on her lower back. “Anon-san and Soyo-san taught me a lot about how the books were sorted so I just spent the whole day there but… That man, from the other day.” She turned to Umiri who nodded that she remembered. “I’ve seen him wander around that area at least twice today.”

Hatsune turned to Umiri. “They shouldn’t have access to that area of the castle. Who did they get their access from?”

“It’s possible that they just slipped in with the kitchen staff. I’ll go investigate.” Umiri bowed at her. “Please prepare for tomorrow’s party, Your Highness.”

“Mm. Thanks, Umiri-chan.” Hatsune turned to the woman in her arms. “Let’s go plan our attack for tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Sakiko smiled at her.

There will be three polls for this, before the party. Choices will vary the tempo of the party and its key scenes. While the result (ending) will remain the same, the journey to the ending will be varied.

What time should they go to the party?

※The party starts at 12:00pm.

Upon arriving at the party, who should they talk to first?

The appearance of _______ surprises everyone. How should Hatsune react to their appearance?

※Ending path: Good Ending.
※15 Hours left until King Hiroshi’s party.

Update #21: July 12th, 2025

There will be three polls for this, before the party. Choices will vary the tempo of the party and its key scenes. While the result (ending) will remain the same, the journey to the ending will be varied.

What time should they go to the party?

※The party starts at 12:00pm.

  • At 12:00pm – Poll Win (50%)

Upon arriving at the party, who should they talk to first?

  • Greet Sumita Mana. – Poll Win (80%)

The appearance of _______ surprises everyone. How should Hatsune react to their appearance?

  • Proud. – Poll Win (40%)
  • Expected. – Poll Win (40%)

※Ending path: Good Ending.
※15 Hours left until King Hiroshi’s party.

“I think I could get used to this.” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko, both eyes closed in a beaming smile.

Sakiko sighed as she fixed a red necktie around the blonde’s neck. She patted down Hatsune’s shoulders to make sure the striking red suit was clean. “And I will never get used to those red contact lenses. I would always prefer your natural eye color.”

Hatsune then looked at her appearance on the mirror as she fixed her cuffs and her white inner shirt. Sakiko stood next to her in front of the mirror. “You’re so beautiful, Saki-chan.”

Sakiko wore a frilly long black dress with a tight fit and an almost plunging neckline that showed off her clavicles and the shape of her breasts but not enough for deep cleavage. Her hair was braided on the sides, and those braided parts are tied behind her hair like a generic princess-like hairstyle.

“Th- Thank you. You’re very handsome, too.” Sakiko turned to Hatsune as she took in her red suit, and her slightly styled blonde hair that was tied to a ponytail. “You better not pick up girls there.”

“The only girl I’m going to pick up, is you.” Hatsune crouched down as she picked up Sakiko by her lower back and the back of her knees into a bridal carry.

“Kyaa!” Sakiko was quick to hook her arms around Hatsune’s neck for balance and safety as she glared at the blonde. “Don’t just suddenly…!”

Cutting her words off were Hatsune’s sweet lips on Sakiko’s plump lips. “Once today is over… I can’t wait to be with you for the rest of my life.”

Golden orbs turned to loving color contact red ones as they parted from the kiss. Sakiko cupped Hatsune’s cheeks with both hands as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Try not to put your life in danger, okay?”

“As I’ve mentioned… I’m a changed person. I’ll prioritize coming home now, more than winning a battle.” Hatsune pressed their foreheads together as they stayed like that.

“You need the room, Your Highness?” Anon called them out with a hand over her mouth as she laughed.

Soyo, who had just arrived with a tray of accessories, sighed. “This is Your Highness’ room, we would have to leave, if they asked us to.”

“Heeey. I just wanted to tease them a little. Look at them, they look so good together.” Anon pouted as she raised an eyebrow at Soyo who only gave her a small smile. “Wait, did you just smile!? Was that a smile!? Soyorin!”

“I wonder?” Soyo walked past Anon and approached the couple while Hatsune set down Sakiko’s feet back to the floor. “Which hair accessory would you like, Your Highness?”

Hatsune looked at the tray then turned to Sakiko. “Saki-chan?”

“Eh?” Sakiko blinked as she looked at the tray, then to Hatsune. “Sh- Shouldn’t you decide…? I want… to know what you’d think would look good on me.”

Her blush was so endearingly radiant that Hatsune felt her body heat up at how beautiful she was. Soyo sighed as Anon covered her mouth with a hand.

“Soyorin, Soyorin, look at them. They’re so cute.” Anon softly slapped Soyo’s arm multiple times as she watched them.

“I know, I have eyes. Also, they can hear you.” Soyo shook her head.

“Anon-chan…” Hatsune looked at them wearily. “Then… this one.” She pointed at a gold plated hairpin that would look stunning on the back of Sakiko’s head over where her hair was tied at. “This is one of my mom’s… the Queen’s favorite accessories. I always remember whenever she wore this when I was a child…”

Sakiko swiftly took Hatsune’s hand that was near hers and squeezed it. “Would you put it on me?”

“Of course.” Hatsune smiled as she picked up the accessory.

Soyo and Anon quickly took this opportunity to slip away from the prince’s room as silently as they could to give them privacy.

Hatsune gently clipped the accessory to Sakiko’s hair. Sakiko immediately took a few steps forward as she spun around in her dress.

“How do I look?” She smiled with a charming smile.

“Beautiful, like you’ve always been.” Hatsune returned her smile. “Saki-chan…” She frowned as she looked at the floor in front of her.

“Hatsune…?” Sakiko walked towards her in worry as she held both of her hands and looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“Saki-chan… Regardless of what happens today… Would you stay by my side?” Hatsune spoke in a small, almost whisper voice as she avoided Sakiko’s gaze.

“Of course. I’ll be with you. I’ll always be by your side, Hatsune.” Sakiko tiptoed as she softly grazed her lips over Hatsune’s. “Let’s be happy.”

Hatsune untangled her hands from Sakiko’s as she wrapped her up in a warm hug. “I love you, Saki-chan.”

“I love you, too, Hatsune.”

After they had arrived at King Hiroshi’s party in New City, everything was bustling. There were a lot of celebrities, Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses from other cities, and even a few from foreign countries.

The party started at twelve noon, but with the amount of people around, it seemed like it had started a little over an hour ago.

Hatsune looked around, and just as she was with her lot of people of Sakiko, and Umiri, they all went with at least a weapon on their hips to protect themselves. It’s not odd if the news of their attack from the day before had already gone around… and that everyone was here only out of courtesy.

“Should we have gone earlier?” Hatsune whispered towards Umiri and Sakiko’s direction.

Umiri shook her head. “I think arriving just on time is all right. It shows that we are not too eager to be here, but polite enough to attend on time. We had just gotten attacked, after all.”

“I agree.” Sakiko nodded.

“You look beautiful today, Sakiko-san.” Umiri smiled at her.

“Thank you.” Hatsune and Sakiko both answered as Umiri just shook her head.

“You’re starting to sound like each other. Why not get married?” Umiri sighed endearingly as they walked further into King Hiroshi’s palace.

It was a large castle with large windows, the outside painted in white, while the inside had plenty of bright lights and a line of chandeliers. This castle didn’t seem like it would withstand a strong enough earthquake. The amount of hanging decorations seemed to be a huge testament to the family’s wealth, and their numerous plaques of land acquisition was a show of their greed.

In the palace’s main hall was a large party hall with plenty of round tables lined up, surrounded by nobles and popular personalities. At the back of the hall was a row of rectangular tables with all the catering food lined up, and behind them were each section’s servers. Wandering around were waiters and waitresses with trays of alcohol and a variety of beverages in their hands for all the guests to take.

The Owl City representatives scanned the area, and Hatsune’s eyes immediately landed on a familiar brunette with a very bubbly aura. She turned to Umiri who shook her head, then turned to Sakiko who looked amazed at everything.

“Saki-chan.” She whispered into Sakiko’s ear with a hand covering her mouth. “I might… have to go and greet your not-biggest rival.” Hatsune turned to look at a corner of the hall.

Sakiko followed her gaze and saw a stranger, but she had a feeling of who she was. “If you can joke like that, then maybe you’ll be fine on your own after all this.” She pouted as she walked away towards the catering.

“S- Saki-ch–” Hatsune reached for her but she stopped only a few steps away from her.

“Come back to me when you’re done.” Sakiko smiled at her sweetly then walked away.

“Umiri-chan.”

Umiri nodded at the silent favor and followed Sakiko closely.

Hatsune then walked towards Sumita Mana’s direction in confidence, and a familiar tough expression that her ‘prince persona’ always carried. Halfway towards her, Mana saw her and met her halfway.

“Prince Ui-chan~!” She half-jogged towards her with a bright smile. “I’m so glad you made it! I heard from Papa that you weren’t going to go anymore. Did you make space in your schedule for me?”

“I see. So the letter was a trap all along, and the Princess had no idea.” Hatsune smiled at her. “I’m glad to be here.”

“Awww~ That’s sweet of you.” Mana was quick to throw her arms around Hatsune’s neck, the force of her jump swinging them around a little as Hatsune clumsily put her hands around her back.

Not far from them was Sakiko with a drink in her hand… and a glare on her beautiful face. Hatsune saw this and immediately but gently pushed the brunette from her arms.

“I’m sure Papa is going to be happy to know that you’ve come to see me~” Mana’s voice was sweet and flirty as Hatsune only gave her a small smile. “Are you here to finally propose?”

“I’ve come to greet you. I’m sure today’s going to be a great party.” Hatsune smiled as she gave her a curtsy and left before the people around them could talk about them. “I’ll see you later.”

Mana nodded and waved at her sweetly.

Hatsune walked towards the catering where Sakiko and Umiri were. “Saki-chan…”

“You looked very sweet and touchy. The people even mentioned what a good looking couple you are.” Sakiko continued to pout as she chewed on a marshmallow that was handed to her by Umiri after inspecting and testing it for poison.

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune frowned in front of her, her invisible sad dog ears flopped forward as she hunched forward. “You know that I only…”

“I know, it’s just adorable to see you troubled sometimes.” Sakiko giggled as Umiri sighed at them.

“You can be really mean, Saki-chan…” Hatsune continued frowning as she sighed.

“Well, I hope that you can do that at a later time, Your Highness. King Hiroshi has arrived.” Umiri straightened her back as Hatsune immediately switched into her Prince persona, immediately followed by the crowd suddenly turning quiet as the people opened a path.

King Hiroshi, true to the rumors, always dressed in a flashy manner. With his short stature, and some weird masquerade mask on his face, he wore a flashy red cape with fur around it. The length of the cape was longer than his height as it slid over the tiled floor while he walked. On top of his head was a gem plated gold crown you’d only see in fictional books.

“Welcome, everybody! Thank you for coming for this celebration! It is my pleasure to see all of you today…” His eyes scanned all his guests… and an obvious twitch of an eyebrow the moment he landed his eyes on a blonde (who was supposed to be dead)… and to his surprise, a familiar light blue haired woman he had gotten rid of earlier this year. “My, my, what a big surprise.”

His cape heavily dragged through the tiles as he walked towards Hatsune. He removed his masquerade mask as bowed at the Owl City prince, holding onto his crown, afraid it might fall, then got up from his bow with a smile.

“Prince Uika. It is an honor.” King Hiroshi’s voice carried a hint of annoyance, and frustration. “And to my surprise… Miss Togawa Sakiko. How are you related?”

“She’s my landscape artist.” Hatsune’s answer was quick, and without hesitation. The correct attitude towards a man whose assassination attempt on you had failed, was confidence. “I am surprised you know of her, King Hiroshi and… likewise. It is an honor to finally meet you. I am thankful for your invitation.”

“Today is such a grand day, who am I to not invite the ever-so-popular prince of the Owl City?” King Hiroshi’s tone changed to a hint of confidence, likely trying to take back the uncomfortable silence that is now upon his party. “Now, everyone. Enjoy the party!”

“Enjoy? It was rumored that you had tried to get Prince Uika assassinated yesterday. Do you have any word about that, King Hiroshi?” A political report raised his voice, his camera on hand and a recorder hung around his neck. “How about you, Prince Uika? What do you have to say about this?”

King Hiroshi lost his smile as he sharply turned towards the reporter. “I have nothing to say about this but to redirect the question to the prince. I heard that your camp spread this rumor.”

Hatsune raised an eyebrow. “I believe we don’t have a reason to spread such a rumor. Afterall, the Owl City is a neutral city.”

There was chatter around them, as the attention was now focused on them. This is exactly what they had wanted, and the rumors they had spread in the past few days were working. The reporters thirst to have an opportunity to question King Hiroshi for his ‘deeds’, and what better opportunity… than his own birthday party?

It was his ego that led him to this situation. Just because there were no noisy rumors about him, did not mean he did not have any. If there’s anything that reporters are good at, it’s keeping their mouth shut until the perfect timing.

“We also heard rumors about your people forcibly taking lands from landowners by falsifying documents that render them homeless. What do you say about this, King Hiroshi?” A different reporter stepped forward with a piece of paper and a recorder.

King Hiroshi looked calm, but his nose and ears were turning red. It was obvious that he was not the best liar, and that his facial expressions and manners were a major giveaway to his reactions.

“Men! I want you to take away these reporters! All of them!” King Hiroshi raised his hand and almost immediately a handful of knights in fancy looking heavy garb.

The New City’s knights picked up the band of reporters and shoved them out of the castle halls as they all voiced their complaints in heavy chatter and flashing of cameras.

“Anyone else who would attempt such stunts will suffer the same fate!” King Hiroshi huffed as his guests only shook their heads at his childish acts.

“Since we’re likely going to suffer the same fate, how about we start the fun activities now?” A purple haired female with a tiny camera looking thing dangled from the tip of her fingers. “Don’t ya’ll think so?”

Everyone’s attention turned to the woman and there were a lot of gasps and interest.

“Eh!? The Witch of the West, Nyamuchi?!”

“Nyamuchi!?”

“Nyamu!?” One of the loudest voices was from right behind Hatsune, and her shocked looking girlfriend. “If Nyamu’s here that would mean Mutsumi is somewhere nearby…?”

Reddish eyes turned to look at them as they met with golden ones. Nyamu motioned with her hands something along the lines of ‘look and listen’ by pointing at King Hiroshi, then cupping her ears as if to hear something.

Sakiko blinked and nodded. “Hatsune…” She whispered to her from right behind her. “She said to wait and listen.”

Hatsune turned to look at Sakiko from her periphery and nodded.

“What’s the Witch of the West doing here?!”

“Oh my god, is it really the Witch Nyamuchi?!”

“Didn’t you know? Her specialized concocted medicine always works. They’re amazing!”

The crowd chatter increased louder and louder until Nyamu took a few steps forward, aimed with her thin camera and snapped a photo with a flash and a quick clicking sound.

“How about paying attention to us now, King Hiroshi?” Nyamu let the camera dangle around her fingers once again. “Oh yeah, this is a digital camera. I bet you’ve never seen one before… but hey, that’s beside the point. I heard that you kicked out the Togawa family to steal their strawberry farm… except you were left with a useless glass house because you forgot about one crucial thing.” She circled the red faced King with a mocking expression.

“Men! Remove this reporter at once!” King Hiroshi pointed at the sky, but the men did not make a move as they all looked at each other in confusion. “Men! What are you doing!?”

“I- I’m sorry, sir. Miss Yuutenji is not here as a reporter, but as a plus one.” The man at the concierge held his list of guests with a sweat on his forehead and a worried expression. “We would not be able to extract her.”

Upon hearing this information, the knights quickly turned around and went back to their stations. King Hiroshi glared at the poor concierge man who had just scrambled away.

“Who?! Whose plus one is this pest!?” King Hiroshi shouted at absolutely nothing as Nyamu just laughed at him.

“You sure have a short fuse, King Hiroshi~ Why don’t you let me continue before I introduce you to my plus one?” Nyamu quickly took a snapshot of King Hiroshi’s angry face before taking a few hops away.

“I’ve never seen her in a formal dress… she’s so beautiful~” The voices of countless praises continued to rise as each praise seemed to put Nyamu in an elated mood.

“Since you guys seem to like me a lot, I’ll be entertaining you more. Continuing, there are receipts showing that you had the Togawa family’s greenhouse torn apart and sold the glass to make back the profit you couldn’t make, because you didn’t have a gardener to continue the flow of income… Because of that the gross value of the City of Gardens plummeted, and they stopped doing business with you.” Nyamu crossed her arms in front of her. “What do you have to say about that?”

“Bullshit! There’s no proof to your accusations!” King Hiroshi crossed his arms like a petulant child.

“You do know that asking for proof in this situation is basically just shooting yourself in the foot, right?” Nyamu sighed in disappointment. “Well, since you’re looking for proof… I’ll give you one.”

Princess, now Queen Wakaba Mutsumi entered as if on cue, as she walked forward from the main hall’s entrance. Dressed in a white ball gown, her hair done up to expose her neckline and her nape, the guests gasped at the spectacle.

Mutsumi curtsied at the King then motioned to her right side, where her aide, Shiina Taki, carried a scroll holder. Taki removed a scroll from the holder and handed it to Mutsumi who confidently unrolled it.

“I have a signed contract here. This corroborates that the land you seized from the Togawa family was rightfully the property of the Togawa family, and that the papers you showed were forged.” Mutsumi showed the signed contract towards King Hiroshi who just looked at it as if he had seen a ghost.

“That’s not possible! We made sure to burn all the docume–” Realizing the words that came out of his mouth, he covered it with a hand until his gaze landed on Hatsune. “You!”

As if remembering something, King Hiroshi immediately had a shit-eating grin, he approached Hatsune, an index finger pointed at the blonde.

“I know your secret. You’re not the real prince of Owl City!” He made an accusation as silence engulfed the palace hall. “You… You’re a fake! You’re not ‘Prince Uika’ or whatever you brandish yourself to be!”

Hatsune looked at him with mild surprise. Now, the reason why the soldier did not make an attack made sense. He was collecting evidence of her identity.

Nyamu only sighed and shook her head without saying anything else.

“All this time, the Owl City’s “Prince” was always a female!” King Hiroshi pushed his finger forward, as if trying to put all the attention to Hatsune, instead of him. “Imagine years of betrayal! Even making my own daughter fall in love, only for ‘him’ to turn out to be a ‘her’!”

Sumita Mana who was busy socializing with her friends suddenly felt the need to approach this commotion. She was so used to her father being such an attention grabber that she mostly doesn’t involve herself in things that he started himself… but this one had him curious.

“And his name isn’t even ‘Uika’. Isn’t that right? Misumi Hatsune?” King Hiroshi’s annoying grin has now turned into a winning smile. “That’s right, everyone. The Owl City’s first daughter, has been pretending to be her younger brother, Uika, for the past years!”

There were gasps in the audience as if they were taking this information at face value, completely ignoring the proof and Queen Mutsumi’s words… while Yuutenji Nyamu, the Witch of the West, only continued to shake her head in disappointment.

Mutsumi properly rolled up the contract once again and handed it to Taki to be returned to the scroll holder. Taki bowed at Mutsumi and walked towards where the Owl City people were at and handed the scroll to Sakiko.

“Rightfully yours.” Taki smiled then turned to Umiri, she blushed for a moment and walked away.

Sakiko raised an eyebrow at Taki’s reaction as she accepted the scroll then turned to Umiri who just shrugged at her with a smile.

Hatsune kept silent through King Hiroshi’s full tirade. It was always known that the Misumi family had a first daughter, then a son. However, since the daughter was being hidden from public scrutiny, nobody knew exactly what she looked like.

“Now, what do you have to say for yourself, huh!? Misumi Hatsune!” King Hiroshi laughed loudly, both hands on his waist as his chest rose on each laugh.

“I don’t think she needs to say anything for herself.” A deep voice came from the crowd right behind King Hiroshi. “In fact, I think she did a great job at maintaining Owl City the past years.”

A tall blonde stood next to Yuutenji Nyamu and Wakaba Mutsumi. Dressed in a red suit and at least about 10cm taller than Misumi Hatsune, the blonde had natural red eyes and a wider shoulder.

Hatsune smiled proudly as she turned to the blonde, who looked like a mirror image of her, albeit only taller. “I was expecting you, Uika.”

“How are you doing, nee-san?” The real Misumi Uika walked past King Hiroshi, hitting his shoulder as the shorter man fell on his ass. Uika didn’t waste time to even look at him, his focus was his own sister. “How long has it been?”

“I’d say more or less two years.” Hatsune smiled. “Welcome back. Where’s the King and the Queen?”

Uika sighed. “I’ll explain later, for now, let’s settle things here first.” He suddenly coughed as he held onto his chest.

“Are you okay?” Hatsune was quick on his side, rubbing his back to help his cough.

Uika nodded. “Not fully healed as you can see, but I’m doing better. I’m glad I made it.” He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “I apologize for the delay. I am the first son of Owl City. My name’s Uika.”

The chatter became louder as King Hiroshi only stared at him in shock.

“As King Hiroshi mentioned, my older sister, Hatsune, had been pretending to be me the past few years. I had been sick, but thanks to the help of the City of Gardens, I’ve been well on my way to recovery. While Hatsune was ‘pretending’ to be me, I believe that the throne is rightfully hers to take, and was never mine to hold.” Uika pulled out a scroll holder from his waist and handed it to Hatsune. “That is why, with the approval of the King, and the Queen, Owl City from now on, will be a Matriarchy, led by my sister, Misumi Hatsune, as the current Princess, and soon-to-be Queen.”

Suddenly, there were plenty of camera flashes and low booms and snaps of traditional cameras as the announcement was made public.

“What!? Men! I thought I had told you to remove those pesky reporters!” King Hiroshi shouted from the ground as he raised his fist.

“I’m sorry, sir. The media were brought here by Queen Wakaba…” The man from the concierge apologized once again and King Hiroshi was then rendered speechless.

“Eh? Uika… What do you…” Hatsune stared at him in surprise. “I don’t need the–“

“Nee-san, let’s talk about the details later, okay? Please, accept.” Uika looked at her with a weary smile. “I’ve also brought evidence of King Hiroshi’s attempted murder of ‘me’, yesterday. The forged papers to drive away the Togawa family from their hard-earned land, and all other felonies he is found guilty of.”

King Hiroshi was quick to rise on his feet. “Guilty!? You all have no solid proof!!”

“With… what I’ve heard today. I believe the International Court has enough.” A soft and calm voice spoke from a corner of the room. A short girl with dark blue hair had her hands in front of her as she walked forward with three men behind her. She wore a formal uniform, and a brooch that announced her title and job. “My name is Takamatsu Tomori, I’m a representative from the International Court.”

Taki, and Sakiko, looked at her in surprise.

Tomori turned to look at them with a simple nod. “I’m sorry for keeping this a secret. Um… I was tasked to investigate the situation here…”

Taki shook her head. “D- Don’t worry… I’m surprised… You’re good at your job.”

Tomori blinked, not understanding the sudden praise. “Thank you…?”

Sakiko sighed. “I always thought Tomori was a mysterious one…”

“Please take him.” Tomori motioned for King Hiroshi and the three men were quick to get on their feet.

“No! You can’t just take me! I deserve proper proceedings! What of my daughter!? This…! Person betrayed her and her feelings!” King Hiroshi struggled as he was dragged away from his own party.

Sumita Mana only stared at him. “I’ve always thought that not-Prince Ui-chan was a female… though? Well… the real deal is equally handsome too… How could women be handsome?”

“Haha…” Hatsune laughed wryly as she sighed. “I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest…”

The ‘King Hiroshi Birthday Party’ ended promptly before evening, and all related parties were interviewed by the police, and a few by the International Court’s people for their statements of what had happened.

Everyone was relocated to a neutral grounds inn just outside of New City, and that was where everyone was finally able to take a breather.

“You weren’t lying.” Sakiko blinked as she stared at Misumi Uika, in the flesh. “You really look so much alike…”

“That’s what I said.” Hatsune smiled, now, finally free of her contact lenses, only stared at Uika. “You sure have grown a lot taller…”

Uika smiled. “I remember leaving and you were taller than me, Nee-san… Also… Is this…?” She turned to Sakiko who was clinging onto Hatsune’s arm as she stood behind her.

“My girlfriend.” Hatsune smiled at her.

“My name’s Togawa Sakiko… Nice to meet you, Uika-san.” Sakiko nodded at her as Uika smiled. “I guess your smiles are different.”

Hatsune tilted her head to one side and turned to Sakiko. “Saki-chan?”

“…If you stare at me that much I think I’m going to blush.” Uika smiled at her wryly. “Do you want me instead?”

“I’m sorry, no.” Sakiko smiled at him and clung to Hatsune’s arm tighter. “She’s stuck with me.”

“Saki-chan…” Hatsune put a hand over Sakiko’s hands wrapped around her arm and gave her a squeeze. “Tell me more about this matriarchy thing…?”

“Mom and Dad enjoyed travelling… so they wanted to continue travelling, and leave the city to you and me…” Uika sighed as he frowned. “But between us, you’re the one who was trained to lead a city so I told them that we should just make you the official heir… as you always should have been.”

Hatsune frowned. “Do I have a say in this…?”

Uika sighed again. “I’m sorry, no… I knew I shouldn’t have brought it up… but when I got back to the city a few days ago before heading to meet up with Mutsumi-san, I realized that… I don’t think I can maintain this city as well as you do…”

“Uika…” Hatsune was conflicted. In the end… it was a decision that was not made for her, but was made for the country, completely disregarding her own wishes in life. “This… I don’t… When I knew you were coming back, I was prepared to yield everything back to you, to the King, and the Queen.”

“Nee-san…” Uika frowned as he saw the conflict in Hatsune’s purple eyes. “Do you still call Mom and Dad–“

Hatsune smiled at him wryly. “You know they’ll never acknowledge me as their child.”

Uika balled his hands into fists. He knew full well that it was true.

“…And now they’re pushing a whole city in my hands, because they simply didn’t want to lead it anymore? That sounds like them…” Hatsune frowned as tears formed in her eyes.

“Hatsune…” Sakiko wrapped an arm around Hatsune’s arm she was already holding, as she held her hand with her other.

“You can refuse, if you want to. I’ll take the city.” Uika smiled wryly.

“You need to recover, and you already made the announcement publicly. It’s not good on the city’s image to retract a statement.” Hatsune smiled. “It’s fine… It’ll just be the same as it was before…”

“No, it’s not.” Sakiko’s voice was firm. “There may be a lot of backlash. A country that was always led in patriarchy now shifting into matriarchy, there would always be sexist and misogynist remarks that’s bound to happen. It’ll be tougher than it was before.”

“She’s right. Nee-san… Please think about this carefully.”

What should Hatsune do?

※Currently locked at: Good Ending
※This option will affect Hatsune and Sakiko’s future.

※The next update will be the story’s ending.

Update #22: July 15th, 2025

What should Hatsune do?

※Currently locked at: Good Ending
※This option will affect Hatsune and Sakiko’s future.

  • Accept. (58.8%)

※The next update will be the story’s ending.

“I’ll do it.” Hatsune turned to Uika and smiled at him wryly. She took Sakiko’s hand into her own and turned to her lover. “If I’m with her, I know I can do everything.”

“Hatsune…” Sakiko trailed off as she squeezed her hand. “Of course, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“I’m really sorry…” Uika apologized as he looked at the ground.

Hatsune reached up and patted his head. “It’ll be fine. I’m used to it and besides… I’m you’re older sister. I will always have your back.”

Sakiko watched the warm scene as she kept Hatsune’s other hand in her own. “What are you going to do now?”

Uika smiled at Hatsune before turning to Sakiko. “I’ll get my full treatment, then I’ll study business. I want to be of use to the city, and to nee-san too. I want her to be able to focus on her duties for the city, for you, her wife. I’m gonna handle at least the business side.”

Sakiko blushed at the mention of marriage and smiled. “Thank you, Uika-san. I’ll look forward to getting to know you better.”

Uika nodded then turned to Hatsune. “You two look wonderful. Anyway, nee-san…” He covered his mouth with a hand as he coughed. “Today has been a long day… I’ll go back and rest up.”

“Do you have a guard detail? With that, I’m sure people are going to be looking for you.” Hatsune smiled wryly. “You need Umiri-chan?”

Uika shook her head. “I’ll still be staying at the City of Gardens to continue my treatment, so I’ll be with Mutsumi-chan’s detail.”

Mutsumi, Taki, and Nyamu then approached the group after they had finished giving out their statements to the police.

Mutsumi turned to one of her guards. “Please guide Uika back to the city.” The guard bowed and together with two other people, they led Uika away from the commotion.

Sakiko and Hatsune watched him go as they waved a hand at him, then turned to the three people next to them.

“When did you meet Uika?” Sakiko was quick to ask out of curiosity.

“After I had gone to see you in the palace, I found it interesting that I had suddenly received an audience request from Prince Uika.” Mutsumi explained calmly. “Out of curiosity, I accepted, and that’s where I met him the first time. He explained to me the circumstances and I just pieced everything together.”

“You’re amazing, Mutsumi-chan…” Hatsune looked at her in surprise. “And… nice to meet you, Nyamu-chan.”

“No, no. It’s my pleasure to finally meet you, Hatsune-san.” Nyamu smiled at her. “When Sakiko asked me for a favor, well, I’ve always been wanting to meet Muuko, so that’s a win-win, I also got curious of who in this world would make Sakiko fall in love so much she was willing to do all this, even for me.”

Sakiko shook her head, her ears tinged in pink. “Nyamu, I told you to never speak of this, especially not in front of the person themself.” She pouted at the purple haired witch who just shrugged at her.

“Your desperation was so adorable. I hope you haven’t forgotten your promise with me~” Nyamu teased her in a singsong voice, then she realized that Hatsune’s confused expression meant she didn’t know about it. “You haven’t told her yet? Oh, Sakiko… Now that she’s going to become Queen, you better.”

“I- I was gonna tell her when the time was right!” Sakiko took a step forward as she slightly raised her voice in embarrassment. “I- I’ll tell you once everything has calmed down.” She turned to Hatsune with an intense blush.

“O- Okay…” Hatsune blinked as she nodded. “I won’t ask anymore until you tell me…?”

“Well, I’ll see you again soon enough. Anyway, Muuko.” Nyamu turned to the green haired queen next to her. She suddenly pressed her lips onto her cheeks and smiled. “I’ll see you later. I need to send these photos and the article to printing presses.”

Mutsumi nodded and waved at her.

“Whoa. Did I just see that?” Taki blinked. Mutsumi nodded. “Since when?”

“A while.” Mutsumi answered almost immediately. “Saki.”

Sakiko blinked. “Mutsumi?”

“I approved the Owl City’s plan for the Squatters Area. I’ll see more of you two soon.” Mutsumi nodded at Hatsune.

Hatsune smiled. “Thank you, Mutsumi-chan.”

Sakiko smiled. “Thank you. Now that you’re Queen, what will the previous Queen do?”

“…She wanted to become an actress overseas.” Mutsumi turned to Hatsune. “In a sense, we’re in the same boat.”

Hatsune laughed wryly. “I’m sorry to hear about that, Mutsumi-chan…”

“You should at least tell her your real name.” Taki chimed as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“Ah… right.” Hatsune turned to Mutsumi. “My name’s Misumi Hatsune. As King Hiroshi mentioned, I’m the King and Queen’s eldest child.” She bowed to Mutsumi.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hatsune.” Mutsumi nodded. “We’ll go back now. I’m sure we’ll see each other once again.” She bowed at Hatsune, then to Uika.

“See you, Mutsumi-san.”

“Take care back, Mutsumi-chan.”

Uika and Hatsune responded almost at the same time.

Taki took a few steps towards Umiri, stared at her for a while before… stomping away without saying anything, and an obvious blush on her cheeks.

“She’s so adorable, isn’t she?” Umiri smiled as she nodded.

“You really have to tell me all about it, soon enough.” Hatsune shook her head with a smile.

“Please, I would not miss this.” Sakiko chimed in on the conversation with a smile.

Hatsune looked at their connected hands, then to Sakiko. “Well… Shall we go home?”

Sakiko squeezed her hand and smiled. “Yes.”

In a month’s time, the International Court deemed King Hiroshi guilty of all charges that he was accused of. Forgery of documents, attempted assassination on a Prince/Princess, and a few others of varying degrees of felony. He was shipped off to a far away island prison, while thankfully, his daughter, who wasn’t involved in any of his plans, had to take over his affairs, and needless to say,New City isn’t doing well.

Nyamu, the Witch of the West, continued her work as a Witch, with various concoctions and other mysterious witchcraft that aimed at helping people all around the world. While she maintained a somewhat intimate but distant relation with the City of Garden’s Queen, no one knows what the real score was between the two of them.

Queen Wakaba Mutsumi has been leading the City of Gardens better than her predecessor, likely to the chagrin of Mori Minami. After all, it was her fault that King Hiroshi’s forgery was able to chase away the Togawa family from the city. She will likely face trial sometime soon, too.

After half a year, Togawa Kiyotsugu, with his newfound skills of tinkering and engineering, turned their old house in the City of Garden into a repair shop… and above all that, due to the friendship of the Owl City and City of Garden’s Queens, a road between the two cities now exists.

A harmonious relationship has blossomed between the two cities, and it was reported that the Owl City will no longer stay as a neutral country soon, while the Queen mentioned that they’d still be as neutral as they could be, but they aren’t closing the possibility of good relationships with neighboring cities.

The housing plan in the Squatters Area was approved, and due to the City of Gardens’ and Owl City’s diligent workers, almost 60% of it was already done, and most families with children and elderly now properly have homes. A house that provides warmth in the winter, and cool air during the summer.

Sano, now serves as the leader of the Squatters Area, she makes all the difficult decisions, and puts in all the area’s requests to the royal castle to improve their living situations. Of course, a lot of the city’s nobles weren’t happy about the Owl City’s transition from patriarchy to matriarchy. Some of them even left for New City, likely worse off than they were before..

Umiri remains the Queen’s Assistant, while Taki has become the official liaison between the Owl City and the City of Gardens, and the two of them use this opportunity to see each other often.

With the collaboration and cooperation of Owl City and City of Gardens, the two cities now share their knowledge in medicine, gardening, and architecture, especially that the Owl City now exports sweet and inexpensive strawberries to neighboring cities, and overseas.

Uika now manages the trade of Owl City’s produce from their gardens, and architectural projects. He resides in a modest house at the corner of the city, but he’s barely at home due to the nature of his business being mostly overseas.

After some processing, the mountain that was in between the City of Gardens and Owl City is now part of the Owl City, the trees have been lessened as the flower bed has turned into a garden, and the lake has turned into a lake park. However… the area with the treehouse was still a special location to the city’s Queen, and second Queen.

The tree with the treehouse has grown taller, with greener leaves, and beneath it is healthy green grass, as a tombstone lies at the center of it.

“Mother, a lot has happened in the past two years.” Togawa Sakiko smiled warmly over the grave of her mother while she held hands with a taller blonde with slightly longer hair. “I’m now married to the love of my life, and we do our best everyday to lead the Owl City, and keep civil relations with neighboring cities. You never thought I’d be a second Queen now, have you? Me neither.”

“Mizuho-san, my name’s Misumi Hatsune. I’m sorry it had taken us a while before we could visit you… properly.” Hatsune bowed at Togawa Mizuho’s tombstone. “When I heard about Kiyotsugu-san’s plan to turn your home into a repair shop, I’m glad he agreed to move your tombstone here.”

“Hatsune, not that.” Sakiko gently elbowed Hatsune’s sides.

“Sorry, got sidetracked. I’m going to make your daughter happy, the happiest that I could ever do.” Hatsune smiled at the tombstone. “We’re going to lead Owl City to prosperity together, and sharing your love for strawberries, we will aim to spread that love to the world.”

Sakiko nodded. “I wish you could have been here…” Tears pooled up in her eyes as they quickly fell to her cheeks.

“Saki-chan… here.” Hatsune immediately took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away Sakiko’s tears. “You’ve been really emotional lately.” She wrapped an arm around Sakiko’s shoulders.

“It can’t be helped.” Sakiko snuggled into Hatsune’s embrace as she took the handkerchief from her hand and wiped her own tears. “I’ve been told it’s normal, so I’m not too worried.”

Hatsune smiled and kissed her forehead. “Mm. I’m glad.” She softly reached for Sakiko’s still flat stomach as she smiled fondly. “Do you think it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”

Sakiko put a hand over Hatsune’s as they turned to watch her mom’s tombstone once again. “The doctor said there’s a small chance they could be twins because of your genes… It would be wonderful if it was a boy, and a girl.”

Hatsune’s face brightened. “A boy, and a girl… huh. We should name the girl, ‘Mizuho’, what do you think?”

“Oh…” Sakiko looked up at Hatsune as tears started to well in her eyes once again. “Why must you always make me emotional?” She wrapped her arms around Hatsune’s neck as they embraced. “I’m sure Mother would be happy to hear that.”

“I’m glad.” Hatsune wrapped her arms around Sakiko’s body. “Saki-chan…”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for being the goddess at the lake.” Hatsune smiled at her sheepishly.

“What do you even mean?” Sakiko shook her head as she smiled at her bashfully. “I was simply trying to take a bath.”

“…Still, if I hadn’t met you then, I’m sure things wouldn’t have been the same.” Hatsune grinned. “Thank you for being there, at that time.”

“I could say the same for you… although you were just nothing but a peeping tom.” Sakiko chuckled. “Well, a gentlemanly peeping tom… who didn’t turn out to be a gentleman.”

“Well…” Hatsune scratched the back of her head. “I hope the lake park turns out to be a special place for other people as well.”

“I hope it does.” Sakiko smiled. “Mother, I’m sure we’ll be fine from here on. So… please, continue to watch over me, and Father.”

“It was nice to meet you, Mizuho-san.”

“That’s not right, is it?”

“Ah…” Hatsune smiled at Sakiko sheepishly before turning to the tombstone. “I wish I had been able to meet you in person… Mom.”

“That sounds better.” Sakiko nodded proudly.

“…I’ll be taking care of Saki-chan, for the rest of my life. I’ll do my best and support Dad… in his endeavours as well.” Hatsune nodded as she parted from her hug with Sakiko and gave the tombstone a respectful bow. “Please watch over us warmly.”

The wind blew as the tree’s leaves rustled softly.

“We’ll come visit again.” Sakiko turned to Hatsune as they smiled at each other warmly.

The Owl City’s castle soon became the city’s vast library and strawberry garden. The Queen and the second Queen started living in a mansion not too far from the castle with their twins.

A loving boy, who loved writing and playing the guitar, and a charming and adventurous girl who loved climbing trees, and playing the piano.

The family of the Queen, the second Queen, and their twins lived in peace, and happily ever after.

The End.

This story has three epilogues.

  • Epilogue – The Knight Taki, and the Assistant Umiri
  • Epilogue – The Librarians’ Daily Life
  • Epilogue – Nyamu’s Favor, and the Misumi family’s heirs

Epilogue – The Knight Taki, and the Assistant Umiri – Consists of Umiri and Taki’s relationship, how they became together, and all the conversations in between. (R-15).

Epilogue – The Librarians’ Daily Life – Consists of Anon and Soyo’s daily life as the Owl City’s Librarians. This will also cover the events of when Hatsune and Umiri were attacked and Sakiko was left in the castle, in the care of Anon and Soyo.

Epilogue – Nyamu’s Favor, and the Misumi family’s heirs – Consists of Hatsune and Sakiko’s life as the soon-to-be Queens of Owl City. What Nyamu’s counterfavor to Sakiko was, and how they were able to bear a child. (R-18 / Futanari warning).

All three stories are going to be written, but in which order they will be posted are going to be the final three (3) polls for YDWH – The Goddess At The Lake.

Thank you for joining this journey with me!

I would like to stay a special thanks to Nick! Thank you so much for proofreading every single update for me! You’re a life savior~

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