Niaiserie: simplicity; foolishness

Words: 2230

****

**19 years later**

"Haruka!" A nasally voice called from the master bedroom.

A young woman ran towards the room, "Yes, mother!"

The maiden had just reached adulthood the year before, and when word got out that the most eligible bachelorette was of age, marriage proposals flooded the royal castle.

Since then, the palace staff was directing the flow of invitations to the queen, where she toiled for the past year sorting, evaluating and discarding the proposals.

The pile had been whittled down to those from the wealthiest kingdoms, and whose position on the throne was guaranteed. If one looked closely, the princes were all, coincidentally, immensely good-looking. Reason being, the queen wanted to ensure the prosperity of their own kingdom, and to ensure that her grandchildren were to be beautiful.

The queen gestured to the small pile of elaborately designed envelopes, and looked expectantly at Haruka. The young woman walked into the room with a grace and poise that exuded regality, and picked up the stack of profiles that her mother had pre-approved. At least the final choice was hers, she thought in exasperation.

She had been against the arranged marriage ordeal since her parents decided to tell her about it three years ago, but that didn't seem to deter their determination to reel in a perfect guy. A boring guy.

As cliche as it sounded, Haruka thirsted for a life outside the castle. By the time she was fourteen, sneaking out disguised as a hooded pebbler after curfew became boring. Her duties were monotonous. Her life was dull and washed in black and white. Routines, mannerisms, social statuses, she just wanted to throw it all away.

The only thing that gave her life was music. She needed it like she needed the air she breathes. Melodies and choruses are on her mind all day, everyday, and no matter what she's doing or who she's talking to, the notes manage to unravel themselves. She gets lost in it; she goes about her day drifting on a cloud of musical bliss.

Haruka seemed detached from her true desires because it was so much easier to accept what she had, to accept what she knows, and to ignore what she wanted. What she needed.

Back to her room, Haruka sat at the foot of her bed, and set the envelopes on her lap. She shuffled through them mindlessly, passing each charming face with barely a glance. What would it matter? In the end, her mother would choose the suitable husband, and she would have to wed to a man she never met, and never loved.

The chimes of the piano rang in her head each time she passed a profile for the next. It was going in a circle now, and soon, they fell into a repeating wave, a scale. Just as she was going to set aside a random proposal, a blinding flash flooded her sight.

She shut her eyes tight and willed the colors and spots floating in the back of her vision to disappear. Scared but curious to look, Haruka opened her eyes a fraction. Of all things she was expecting to see, she was not expecting the form of a young boy to be standing in her room, peering impatiently down at her.

His pink hair looked frivolous, but his youthful and mischievous face drew away from the color. He looked to be no younger than thirteen.

Haruka was stunned, no doubt. How'd this child get in, past the security and just appear in a flash, literally? If that wasn't it...magic? She'd heard of an infamous trio of wizards living in the kingdom, but only in town during one of her escapades. Her parents had forbade anyone of even speaking their names in their presence.

She stared dumbly at the boy, who looked amused now.

She flinched when he suddenly huffed.

"Alright lady. Let's get this over with."

Haruka's mind raced with scenarios she knows she should fear, like kidnappings for ransom, or being spirited away. Somewhere in between was finding true love, but that was lost when the boy continued.

"Sit tight. I don't bite." He said with a playful grin.

She sat up straighter, bracing herself for what was to come, and reflexively tried to look meek, but she was buzzing with anticipation, the thrill numbing her mind.

The boy chuckled before reaching his hand towards her, and before Haruka could question where he was planning to take that hand, it landed on her chest, above her heart, and she inhaled to scream.

Just before she let loose and shrieked, he pulled his hand away, looking unfazed, and pulled a silvery wisp of what looked like light from her.

She looked at the threads of light that danced in the air for a bit before dissipating, bewildered. What in Kami-sama's name was that? If she'd been tuning in on her lessons correctly, those strands of silver light should not be in anyway associated with her natural body.

Again, before she could look up and interrogate the boy, he pressed a finger to her forehead and pushed lightly.

Haruka collapsed back onto the bed as if all strength had been lost and felt her consciousness slipping as she fell into a slumber.

****

"Haruka-sama!" A meek, polite voice called, and Haruka could distinctly hear the girl's voice as she pulled herself out of the foggy state of unconsciousness.

"Huh?" She asked groggily, trying to sit herself up.

"Excuse me." The maid stepped forward to help right herself before bowing away.

Haruka looked outside the window and stayed silent as the recollections came back to her, concluding that she couldn't have been out for too long as it was still light out. She felt the realization that it was real should've deterred her, frightened her even, but all she could comprehend was the refreshingly thrilling rush that washed over her.

It made every fiber of her shiver and tense in anticipation, wonder, and possibly even some hope, but before she got lost in her delusions, she had to quickly return to the task at hand.

Haruka felt the best course of action would be to tell the maid and whoever else asked that she'd fallen asleep after choosing her husband. She shuddered at the title, discomforted by the reality of the words.

But the maid had not come to ask for her presence at the dinner table, or to question why she was sprawled so crassly on her bed; instead, she had come to inform Haruka that she had an audience with her parents.

Instinctively, Haruka looked to the stack of proposals she'd been shuffling through, and realized that the one envelope she'd randomly set aside was gone.

Gosh, that lady works fast.

Haruka resigned herself to the inevitably dreary fate that was in store for her as a trophy wife. She mustered as much grace and dignity as she could and walked to the throne room where she knew her parents would be waiting; that's where they always were when they "requested an audience".

As she approached the room, she prepared herself as the maid pushed open the grand double doors. All was still and frozen when a shrill scream rang out from inside.

Guards that Haruka didn't even know were there ran around from behind her and burst into the throne room, weapons drawn and postures defensive. The maid skittered away.

Standing imposingly at the foot of the thrones, was a figure that invoked a great sense of deja vu from Haruka.

At the noise, the figure turned around, looking as if he'd been rudely interrupted. She gasped softly; his purple eyes glowed so brightly in the dimly lit room, and all she could see were those pair of eyes, taking over her mind and clouding her senses.

"Well, well. We've got a visitor, your majesties." The man sneered.

He crooked a finger in her direction, and she walked dazedly towards him, fixated by his gaze. When she was beside him, he casually threw an arm around her and pulled her close. The king bristled, looking ready to command the guards to strike, while the queen promptly slumped in her chair, looking defeated and hopeless.

The man seemed to enjoy the reactions immensely and reached his hand up to pet Haruka's hair. She mindlessly leaned into his hand, and her eyes began to flutter shut.

Again, her fantastical dazes were snapped brutally in half when two flashes came from the other side of the man. The brightness got her attention, and she glanced over to see what ridiculous trickery was going on, yet again.

There, standing only a couple feet away from her was the same boy that was in her room before. She fell out of her stupor with a start.

"Ah!" She pointed an accusing finger at the pink-haired boy. Everyone turned to look at him.

Nagi glanced at Haruka before shooting her a condemning smirk.

Kira leaned over, "You know her?"

A whispered reply, "I snuck in and revoked her blessing."

From Haruka's side, Eiichi tensed.

The princess was melting into his arms again. She tingled from the warmth and when he looked down at her with those eyes, she officially resigned herself.

Through blurred vision, she could see a pair of intense gold eyes peering at her, and she briefly wondered what was going on, but couldn't ponder any longer before succumbing to the bliss that was the man beside her.

"Damn, making your move already, huh Eiichi?" Nagi sneered.

Kira's gaze never left Haruka; he seemed to be trying to figure out the answer to a riddle etched on her face.

So his name is Eiichi.

Haruka risked a glance up at Eiichi, and he flashed a toothy half-grin, and her heart flew into overdrive.

By this point, the king, queen and the guards were at a standstill. They seem to have given up on stopping the trio that literally came out of nowhere. All they could do was stand idly by and hope that these wizards wouldn't spirit their daughter away.

Eiichi's eyes narrowed in Nagi's direction. "What did you do?"

Nagi looked affronted. "You slipped into my mind again!" Kira nudged the boy.

He grunted. "I just took back your blessing. I needed it for my rejuvenation potion..." He trailed off, realizing now in retrospect what a bad idea it was.

Eiichi growled at the pink-haired boy and made to head towards him, but he was stopped by a hand that was clutching his shirt. Haruka looked shocked at her own actions, and quickly let go.

Forgetting his anger, he gestured to the princess who was so endeared to him and looked inquiringly at Kira. Nagi pouted at being disregarded.

"Then why's she still like this?"

Kira peered at Haruka and she felt herself cowering away from his piecing gold eyes. He looked back to Eiichi and raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"She's truly fallen for you, no?"

Haruka stiffened and fought to keep the redness at bay.

Eiichi was shocked into an uncharacteristic silence. In most situations, he'd boast that it was obvious any woman would fall for him, and why shouldn't they? He was charismatic, if not a bit arrogant, and his looks were a feature he was proud of. He was particularly fond of the fact that he was one of the few licensed alchemists.

So why was it that knowing this young woman fell for him, without the help of his "blessing" was so numbing?

He had planned for her to fall for him anyways, so he should be more prepared for the news. But if Nagi had revoked his planted spell, then she was legitimately in love with him.

The thought didn't repel him like he thought it would. Instead, a warmth spread throughout his body and his chest burst with a satisfaction and fulfillment he hadn't experienced in a while.

Eiichi looked to the princess that'd grown so well, and suppressed a smile at her bashfulness. He leaned down and whispered softly into her ear, watching bemusedly as she sucked in a breath.

"D'you wanna ditch this stuffy palace and wander the worlds with us?"

Haruka hastily threw a glance at her parents, still frozen on their thrones, and wondered if they could afford to lose their daughter for a decade or two. She thought of the marriage proposals, of her acclaimed responsibility to sustain the kingdom by becoming a trophy queen.

Then she thought of her desires to roam free, to travel and learn, and to be wise beyond politics and royal mannerisms. Who better to do it with than these wizards?

Granted, she did just meet them, but the risk was better than throwing her life and youth away for marriage.

Her parents were young, they could make more children, or adopt a prettier daughter that would happily bow to their wishes.

They would be fine. She wouldn't be abandoning them, she'd visit and write, but staying cooped up here suffocated her.

She took a deep breath, apologized to her parents in her mind and nodded curtly.

Eiichi smirked. "Wonderful."

Before she was whisked away to a life in Wonderland, Haruka briefly thought, this man was a beast, and she wouldn't have it any other way.