The reset - Knight!Toji x Princess!Reader
A/n = Double upload because i fucked up and put post privately and now i cannot schedule it :c - next chapter is friday <3
You finally woke up in your bed, clean and dressed in one of your satin nightgowns, a stark contrast to your soiled clothes and clammy skin from earlier. After sitting up, your vision swam slightly before it settled on a woman who was sat near your bed, mixing something in a bowl. She looked pretty tired and had long dark brown hair and brown eyes. You’d seen her somewhere…
At your stirring, she finally looked up from her task and smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Your highness, you’re awake - I’m relieved.”
You thought for a long while before mumbling. “Shoko…right?”
You somewhat recalled her from the forced tea time dates you used to have with Satoru when your kingdoms were talking business. The Gojo households personal doctor, Shoko Ieiri.
“Is Satoru here?” You managed, rubbing your forehead as an annoying headache settled in.
Shoko shook her head, bringing the bowl to your lips. “No. But, when he heard about how you fainted and wouldn’t wake up, he sent me straight away..”
Definitely sounded like Satoru. You sipped the warm concoction, your brow furrowing at the bitter taste, but you forced it down. As you drank, you mentally recalled the journey between your two kingdoms….around 3 days.
Once you were done, you rested back against your pillows. “How long have I been asleep?”
“4 days, your highness.” She answered which made you shoot up again.
“4 what?” You practically gaped.
Before Shoko could say anything, you scrambled out of the bed, cursing when you hit the hardwood floor.
“You shouldn’t be moving around so much.” Shoko frowned, making no move to get up as you tugged your robe on. “You’ll hurt yourself.
“I’ll rest later.” You told her, sliding into your slippers before quickly running out.
Multiple maids and house helps noticed you as you hurried down the halls, trying to halt you and take you back, but you brushed by them, trying not to fall over as you ran down the hundreds of steps in the castle.
Finally, you reached the lounge and found your mother and father inside, both surprised to see you.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing?” Your mother frowned, putting her tea back on it’s coaster. “We thought you’d be asleep for another day.”
“Forget that.” You said. “Where is Toji?”
Your parents exchanged a glance, both seemingly irritated that he was the first thing you spoke to them about.
“He’s still being questioned.” Your father shrugged.
“I told you before! He’s innocent. I ran after my horse, slipped into the river and…” You trailed off, recalling that strange man.
Your parents looked at you curiously, but you kept a straight face. “And then I fainted in a cave…and managed to find my way back.”
“Even so, your head is still all jumbled!” Your mother tutted, coming over to you. She reached for your face, but you tugged away.
“Let me see him. What’s the big deal in that?” You questioned.
After what felt like forever, your parents relented and you didn’t even get dressed properly before you hurried down to the dungeons with your father begrudgingly trailing behind you. After what felt like forever, the winding staircase came to an end and your cream walls were replaced with dark brick and dim lighting, the stale smell of the dungeons a lot stronger now that you weren’t flooded with adrenaline.
You got to the huge double doors and the guards relaxed once they saw your father. He mutely nodded and they opened the doors, allowing you to enter. Without hesitation, you did and easily navigated Toji’s cell, your heartbeat faltering once you saw him sat against a stone stable, his wrists bound by thick iron shackles. He was shirtless and hunched over the table, his shaggy hair covering his eyes.
“Toji…” You breathed quietly, ignoring your father and his guard behind you as you rushed over, kneeling by the table to brush his hair from his face.
He let out a deep groan as he stirred and it was then that you noticed the lashings on his back, his skin stained with blood. Angry red lines were strewn across his muscles, a few already in the process of healing whilst others almost looked infected.
Turning to your father, you didn’t bother hiding the disgust in your voice. “Why did you do this?”
However, instead of an answer, your father’s lip merely twitched, throwing a key at the floor before he left with his guard, leaving you with Toji. You turned back to your guard and rubbed his arm, slowly rousing him from whatever slumber he was in.
His forest green eyes locked onto yours and you felt bad for waking him when you saw the heavy bags under his eyes.
“I’m sorry-” You stammered out, cursing yourself for the way your eyes watered. “This is my fault.”
He didn’t say anything, so you directed your attention to his shackles, quickly moving to grab the discarded key from earlier to unlock the heavy things. It took a while, but you finally got them off of him, allowing Toji to rub at his wrists which were pretty bruised.
“Are you alright?” Toji asked, his question making you laugh in surprise.
“How can you ask me something like that when you were locked up down here for so long?”
“I failed to keep you safe. I…couldn’t find you.” He admitted, sounding a lot more hollow than you remembered.
What did they do to him down here?
“Nevermind…” You whispered, moving a hand to cup his cheek, his skin rough against your palm. You weren’t sure where this boldness came from and Toji was visibly surprised too…but, the thought of him being hurt because of your foolishness was something you couldn’t allow. “We’ll get you healed up.”
He narrowed his brows but remained in your hold. “With what supplies.”
At that, you smiled faintly. “I know someone.”
By the time you had dressed up, Toji had been fully seen to and attended by Shoko, his upper half covered in soft bandage wrapping, the doctor in question nowhere to be seen.
You had ordered for a bedroom nearby to your quarters to be cleaned out for Toji to reside, your parents not wanting to argue after they saw how pissed you were. You were sat at the small round dining table in his room, a spread of lunch dishes between you both.
It was hard to eat, especially with the sight of his injuries. It wasn’t grotesque to you…it just angered you to the point where you weren’t hungry despite being asleep for so long.
“I can put on a shirt, your highness.” Toji’s suggestion brought you from your swirling thoughts.
“You look disturbed. I don’t want to ruin your appetite.” He nodded to the wrappings which had you quickly shaking your head.
“No!” You said a bit too sharply. “I mean - I’m fine. I just…still feel terrible. You were tortured because of me.”
“Stop.” You hissed before sighing, rubbing your temples. “Just…don’t fight me on this.”
“I’ll stop on one condition.”
“Eat.” He nodded to the spread with his utensils. “I can’t eat this all myself…besides, you’ve…been too kind already.”
“I’ll eat on one condition too.”
“And that is?” He echoed your earlier words.
And that was how you found yourself with your chair pulled up to Toji’s side, your mouth being filled every few seconds with warm porridge and fruit, your cheeks blazing hot.
“I…wasn’t serious.” You managed to muster after finishing a bite.
“Well, you seem to be enjoying this.” He replied, moving to rub the napkin against the side of your lip.
Toji managed to shut you up by shoving another spoonful of food - this time some fluffy scrambled eggs - into your mouth. You glared at that, but he acted as if this was totally the norm. So, you decided to repay the favor and grabbed a handful of strawberry cake, ignoring the mess on your fingers.
You cut Toji off by shoving it into his face, most of the sweet dessert ending up on his pants.
“Whoops.” You hummed, bringing your fingers to your mouth to lick off some of the cream. “I just wanted to help.”
Toji stared at you for a long while and then at his lap before he moved a big hand to the back of your neck, pulling you closer to him until your noses were mere millimeters away.
“Then shouldn’t a responsible princess take responsibility for the mess she made?” He questioned, his gaze flicking to his pants before returning to your eyes.
Your eyes betrayed you and stole a look at his pants, trying to ignore the obvious bulge you saw beneath his stained pants.
The doors suddenly opened and you stood abruptly, your chair falling over. Thankfully, it was just Shoko who looked as nonchalant as ever, barely questioning your proximity to Toji.
“I just wanted to drop this off.” She raised a woven bag, the contents clinking together inside. “They’re the medicines for his injuries.”
“I see.” You coughed, already moving halfway across the room. “Well, I’m full, so, I’ll just…” You nodded awkwardly to the door before slipping out.
What were you thinking? He’s your knight, not some prince you can freely joke with. Something like that shouldn’t happen again. Never. Ever.
However, it seemed that Toji didn’t share the same sentiment. After your incident at breakfast, it felt like he got bolder.
When you went for rides - now accompanied by more castle guards due to your fathers irritating restrictions - he’d subtly position himself closer, he’d look at you longer, use any excuse to graze against you…it was frustrating.
You weren’t ashamed of his status…but, you were promised to Naoya…An ‘upstanding’ and ‘righteous’ candidate who’d take care of you for the rest of your life…
No. That couldn’t happen…Even if you didn’t end up with Toji, you’d rather cut out your tongue before you let Naoya keep you in his castle and make you bear his children.
Just the thought of being bedded by such a man —
“Your highness, are you ready to return to the castle?” One of your castle guards asked.
“Oh,” You mumbled, noticing that once again, you’d been zoning out. The sun was slowly beginning to set. “Yes, let’s make haste.”
Soon, you were on your horse, riding back into the castle and passing through one of the quaint villages. Usually, it was quiet - a few children coming over to greet you, a wave to the baker who personally made your birthday cakes, or just enjoying the ambience - but today, there was more hustle and bustle.
“What’s going on?” You asked as your guards situated themselves closer to your horse as they navigated the crowd.
“The starlight festival.” One of the guards answered, making you nod.
The starlight festival was exactly as it sounded. A festival that celebrated the stars. Whenever the night rolled around, the whole kingdom would stay awake to watch the sky for shooting stars, drink, eat and dance. Odd. Usually, your parents would be talking about it up until the date, however, they’ve been quiet.
“Will you be going, Toji?” You asked before thinking, your cheeks warming a bit as a few guards glanced at you.
Your knight stared at you for a moment before speaking. “Wherever you go, I’ll be there, your highness.” He replied with ease, his heavy gaze warming your body up despite the light chill in the air.
“I see.” You managed to mumble, facing ahead as you approached the bridge to your kingdom.
A deep part of you was happy you’d go with Toji. You loved the festival! You could take him around to different places, try foods…and with all the commotion, you’d likely go unnoticed as usual…and you wouldn’t need to worry about Naoya.
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