One Week Ago…
The mission sounded simple, which is how I knew it was about to ruin our lives—
We got called in before sunrise, and the guild hall still smelled like old paper, lamp oil, and wet cloaks from the night shift... The request sat on the center table with the royal seal stamped so hard the wax cracked. Gabriel read it once, then again, then looked at me like Prince Foxu had personally written my name under the word disaster.
It was a mission to the northern kingdom.
It was supposed to be a simple mission, but for our party it was quite complicated, seriously. We were not bad at fighting, we were not bad at recon, we were not even bad at diplomacy when nobody looked at me for too long... The problem was me, and we all knew it.
I have a flaw, and calling it a flaw feels polite.
I always attract crazy women -- the kind people whisper about and then pretend they never met. The kind who smile while sharpening knives. The kind who hear one nice sentence and start planning our wedding and our enemies' funerals... My party always suffers because of it, so we are not the best party for peaceful royal missions.
Normally, the guild would pick someone else.
This was a direct quest from Prince Foxu, which meant no one got to say no. Gabriel could complain, Togashi could stare at the ceiling and pray for a meteor, I could try to disappear into a chair... None of it mattered once a prince asked.
Gabriel folded the paper so hard it looked like he wanted to snap the message in half.
"Takashi, listen, you're going to stay quiet, you're not going to say a word to any woman, healers are rare and I don't want to lose you."
He looked stressed in a way that made the line under his left eye twitch -- that only happened when we were low on time or high on nonsense. Today we were both.
I can't blame him.
Healers are becoming increasingly rare. We depend on the natural mana of nature in its purest form, and fewer and fewer people are being born with the gift to manipulate it cleanly... People can swing swords and throw fire with enough training, healing is different. Either you can hear the living mana in the world or you cannot.
That is why, and only why, I had not been expelled yet.
Togashi leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and gave me the same look he gives unstable bridges and suspicious food. He never wastes words, so when he does talk, I listen... He tilted his chin toward the mission letter like it had insulted him.
"Do not smile at anyone."
I pointed at my own face because I genuinely did not know what he wanted from me.
"I smile when people talk to me."
Gabriel made a pained sound and dropped into the chair across from me. He rubbed both hands over his face like he was trying to erase the last three years of party history.
"That is the problem."
I wanted to defend myself, but the memory list hit me before I could—
There was the innkeeper's daughter in Eastport who started calling me husband after I fixed her wrist.
There was the noble widow in Red Hollow who offered us a reward and then locked the doors from the inside.
There was the shrine maiden on the river route who cried for two hours and then tried to stab Gabriel because he stood between us.
Every time, I healed someone.
Every time, things got weird.
Every time, Gabriel had to apologize to officials while Togashi cleaned up the mess and I stood there wishing I had chosen farming.
I sat up straighter and tried to look serious, dependable, and deeply uninteresting.
"I can do this."
Gabriel stared at me like he was assessing a horse with a broken leg.
"Can you breathe without flirting?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
That silence did not help my case.
Togashi pushed off the wall and stepped closer to the table. He tapped the mission map with one finger and traced the route north -- his movements were calm, precise, and annoying in the way competent people always are when your life is chaos.
"We go in, observe, report, leave."
He looked right at me.
"No detours."
I nodded like a student in trouble because that was the vibe now.
The guild clerk came in with our travel papers and a sealed token from the palace, then left fast after one glance at Gabriel's face. We packed in under fifteen minutes -- Gabriel checked the route twice, Togashi checked our rations, weapons, and fake merchant credentials, I packed healing supplies, dried herbs, clean bandages, and my dignity, which was already low on stock.
The ride north took three days, and the first day was almost peaceful.
We traveled by road under a fake company name with a covered wagon and two horses borrowed from the prince's quartermaster. The weather stayed cool, the sky stayed clear, Gabriel even relaxed enough to stop glaring at me every five minutes, which felt like progress.
Then we stopped at a roadside inn, and the owner's niece brought us soup.
She looked maybe my age and had flour on her sleeve from helping in the kitchen. She asked if we needed anything else, I said thank you because I am not a wild animal... Gabriel kicked me under the table so hard I dropped my spoon.
I looked at him, offended.
He pointed at me, then at the soup, then made a zip motion over his own mouth.
I ate in silence after that, which was honestly the saltiest bowl of soup I have ever had -- and not because of the seasoning.
The second day, Gabriel started rules.
He called them mission protocols.
They were not mission protocols.
They were anti-Takashi protocols.
He made me repeat them while we walked beside the wagon on a long stretch of forest road. The leaves overhead flashed green and gold in the afternoon light, and birds kept jumping between branches like they were mocking me.
"Rule one, no eye contact."
I frowned because that sounded impossible.
"That is not normal human behavior."
Gabriel kept walking and did not even look at me.
"Then look weird. I prefer weird over engaged."
Togashi adjusted the strap on his sword and added the next part without changing expression.
"Rule two, no compliments."
I held up both hands.
"I never start with compliments."
Gabriel laughed once, but there was no joy in it.
"You do not have to. You heal someone and they hear wedding bells."
I hate that he was not wrong.
They kept going—
No solo conversations.
No wandering off.
No healing without one of them present unless someone is dying.
No accepting gifts.
No accepting flowers.
No touching hands unless it is medical.
No jokes.
That one hurt, because I am funny when people are not trying to kill us.
By the time we reached the border checkpoint, I felt like a criminal on parole.
The border was a stone fort built over an old pass, with banners from both kingdoms hanging side by side in the wind. Soldiers from the South checked our papers first, soldiers from the North checked them again and looked at us like they were trying to decide if peace was worth the effort.
Gabriel handled the talking.
He switched into his diplomatic voice, which is deep, steady, and painfully polite. Togashi stood behind him and looked dangerous in a respectful way... I stood half a step back, exactly where they put me, and focused on not smiling at anyone.
A northern guard captain asked if any of us could treat injuries on the road.
Gabriel answered before I could breathe.
"We have supplies."
The captain looked at my satchel and then at me.
He knew.
Healers are easy to spot if you know the signs: clean hands, herb scent, too many bandages, the kind of posture that says I can fix that and also please do not bleed on my boots.
He nodded and waved us through anyway.
The road beyond the border changed fast.
The paving stones got smoother, then wider. The villages looked richer, roofs carried bright painted tiles instead of plain wood, even the roadside shrines were polished... It made sense. The North had money, trade routes, and a habit of showing both off.
It also made me nervous.
Pretty places always hide ugly politics.
On the third day, the capital came into view at noon.
White walls climbed a hill above the river, layered in rings with towers at each gate and blue banners snapping in the wind. Sunlight hit the high windows and flashed so bright I had to squint... The city looked clean from a distance, almost unreal, like the kind of place bards sing about before heroes arrive and mess everything up.
Gabriel rechecked our papers again before we entered.
Togashi leaned in through the wagon frame and pointed at me with two fingers -- one last warning before the gates.
"Quiet."
I raised both hands in surrender.
"I know the rules."
Gabriel climbed down from the driver's bench and stepped closer until we were face to face. He was not shouting, he did not need to... He had that leader stare that somehow felt worse than yelling.
"No flirting, no charm, no healing princesses, no accidental romance, no weird side quests."
I blinked at the list because it sounded like he had rehearsed it.
"Why are you saying princesses specifically?"
Gabriel's eye twitched again.
"Because fate hates me."
We entered the city with merchant traffic and joined the slow crawl toward the inner district.
The streets were packed, but not messy -- everything moved in lanes like the city itself had rules. Porters hauled crates, couriers slipped between carts, street vendors shouted prices in three languages... Perfume and roasted meat mixed with horse sweat and river air. It was loud, bright, and kind of incredible.
I almost forgot to be stressed.
Then a flower seller stepped toward our wagon and held up a bundle of white lilies.
She smiled at me.
Gabriel grabbed my chin and physically turned my face toward the opposite side of the street.
Togashi paid for the flowers just to make her go away.
I watched them place the lilies on the wagon bench like they were a cursed object.
By the time we reached the guest residence assigned to foreign envoys, Gabriel looked ten years older. We got one hour to wash up, change clothes, and prepare for the palace audience... Our contact from Prince Foxu's side met us in the courtyard and handed over the final instructions.
Observe the royal family.
Watch for resistance to the marriage treaty.
Do not provoke anyone.
I felt Gabriel's stare on the side of my head through that entire briefing.
We walked to the castle at sunset with a palace escort.
The road up the hill ran between clipped hedges, bronze statues, and fountains shaped like swans. The castle itself was even bigger up close, with polished stone so pale it almost glowed... The front steps spread wide enough for a parade, and servants moved up and down them in clean lines like they had rehearsed for our arrival.
My boots suddenly felt too loud.
Gabriel adjusted his collar and dropped his voice so only our party could hear him. His calm was back, but it looked forced now -- like armor over panic.
"Final reminder."
I did not even pretend to be confused.
"I will not flirt."
Togashi gave a small nod, which was basically a standing ovation from him.
We crossed the entrance hall under painted ceilings and chandelier light, then followed a chamberlain through a corridor lined with portraits. Every noble in those paintings looked bored, rich, and deeply judgmental... It felt like they were all watching me specifically.
The throne room doors opened, and the space beyond swallowed us.
The room was huge, bright, and full of polished stone and gold trim. Courtiers stood in neat rows on either side with the kind of posture that hurts to look at... At the far end, on a raised platform, the king waited in formal robes with a smile that looked practiced for diplomatic guests.
We approached, stopped at the marked line, and bowed.
Gabriel handled the introduction and presented our credentials with both hands. His voice was perfect. Togashi stayed still as a statue at my right -- I kept my eyes low, my mouth shut, and my healing mana tucked deep where no one could feel it.
For one glorious minute, everything went fine.
The king welcomed us. He spoke about peace, trade, and the future, Gabriel answered exactly the way a prince's envoy should answer... I breathed slowly and counted the tiles under my boots to stay focused.
Then the king shifted slightly and looked over his shoulder.
The princess then appeared from behind the king -- her hair was as white as snow, with slightly pointed ears.
She stepped into the light with a bright smile and the kind of energy that ignored every rule in the room. The courtiers straightened, a few guards looked nervous for no clear reason... She lifted one hand and waved like we were old friends meeting in town instead of strangers in a throne room.
"Hi, everyone."