#165 Dominance and submission
"Eh? Eeeh?!" Both Honest and the emperor had their jaw dropped down by Esdeath's words.
"O-Of course, you are already of marriageable age and yet have not married! However, I have no idea how would he feel if I was to propose a marriage between you two after what happened to his last-" The emperor said but before he was able to finish, he was interrupted.
*Cough!* *Cough!* "Your majesty, I think this is a good thing, I and Akashi actually had a man-talk between each other and I was able to find out that he is interested in general Esdeath!" Honest coughed a few times to stop the emperor from saying anything more before saying his piece.
"He is?!" Both the emperor and Esdeath exclaimed with a surprised expression while Esdeath quickly formed a victorious smile.
"In that case, your majesty, if I may...I would like your majesty to block any potential marriage proposals to Akashi while I will capture his heart myself!" Esdeath said with a confident smile.
"...Alright, however, is that truly enough of a reward for you?" The emperor asked with a slightly awkward expression.
"Yes, please!" Esdeath replied without any hesitation.
.
.
.
'Tch! I didn't think she would just leave the Palace immediately after the meeting with the emperor ended. I still had in mind a task for her...' Honest thought while walking down the hallway with irritated expression while eating meat.
---Akashi's mansion---
He was immediately informed about the special guest that arrived to meet him and when he saw Esdeath standing in front of the gate, he was just slightly surprised since he even expected her to conquer north lands very quickly.
"Good afternoon, is there a specific reason for yours today's visit?" Akashi asked with a playful tone and a small smile across his face.
"Hello, you don't look too surprised..." Esdeath said with a particular smile but Akashi couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"What can I say? I believed in your strength, not to mention, the north is your territory so they had no chance to begin with. Anyway, are you going to tell me why you are here?" Akashi replied while shrugging his shoulders before asking with a curious expression.
"Can we discuss it inside your room?" Esdeath asked while looking around.
"Sure..." Akashi didn't think about it too much and just led her to his room. His room was still shared with Kurome but thankfully she was currently outside, teaching kids as a punishment for the previous matter with Zank. She was quite bad at teaching others, not to mention kids, and it also irritated her how she can't explain anything to them so this was another form of punishment from Akashi but she could also use it to become better at something.
Her presence started a lot of rumors going around inside the mansion, not to mention when both of them entered Akashi's room.
"2 beds?" Esdeath muttered while tilting her head at Akashi in confusion.
"I am sharing this room with someone from early ages but it somehow lasted till now, no need to think about it too much." Akashi replied while sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"Sit wherever you want." Akashi said before waiting for her to explain why she visited him.
"I am fine like this for now...You know, I have been thinking for a while and I feel like our first meeting was a fate between us." Esdeath said but as she began explaining, she started slowly approaching Akashi.
'?!' Akashi frowned but he let her talk without questioning her actions.
"You see, at that time at my room before my departure, I didn't know what I felt but right now, I am fully aware of what was it." Esdeath said as she pushed Akashi to lie on his back as she climbed on top of him.
At this, Akashi narrowed his eyes but since it looked like Esdeath still had something to say, he waited for her to continue.
"I am not sure when I began to feel like this but I think it was around the time when both you and I have met Mera." Esdeath said as her face draw near to Akashi's face until both could feel each other's breath. Esdeath's unusually cold breath and Akashi's unusually hot breath, when they met together, they mixed into perfect balance and into perfect temperature.
'Isn't it the time when I was still around 12 years old?' Akashi thought and inwardly had a blank expression on his face. However, he didn't blame her since he really looked at least 15 years old at that time.
When Esdeath finally went for a kiss, Akashi reversed the entire situation and threw Esdeath at the bed and climbed on top of her which greatly surprised Esdeath.
"I am sorry but I can't" Akashi said with a serious expression, it wasn't exactly because of Taeko's feelings since she mentioned numerous times that she doesn't mind if he has anyone else as long as he will have her in his heart. It was exactly because Esdeath had no idea about Taeko's existence and he didn't want to complicate the situation more than it already was.
"?! Aren't you interested in me?" Esdeath frowned in confusion and asked while lying under Akashi with her arms wide open.
"I would be lying if I said that I am not attracted to you but I already have someone." Akashi said with closed eyes and a serious tone.
'Hm? Did he use my name just to get rid of Honest and any potential marriage proposals? Well, at least it looks like he really is interested so at least he wasn't lying...' Esdeath thought but instead of narrowing her eyes, she released a sly smile.
"I don't care, I will make you forget her." Esdeath said as she grabbed his collar and tried to pull him down but Akashi remained steady.
Esdeath finally narrowed her eyes, staring at Akashi, looking for answers.
"You can't make me forget her, I plan to marry her first. She doesn't mind if I have any other companions but she was my first so I will never forget her. I doubt you can accept just "being a part of something", right?" Akashi said and then asked with a serious expression.
"...That's right, I don't want to share you with anyone." Esdeath said in a cold tone as her cold aura got released to the surroundings.
"Then I guess it isn't possible for us to be together..." Akashi said with a slightly sad smile.
"...Are you expecting me to help you with your rebellion after this?" Esdeath asked with narrowed eyes.
"Of course not, I am also aware that you want to kill that person but she isn't as weak as you think and you would have to go through me first." Akashi also narrowed his eyes at her.
'I don't necessarily need her but she is a talent that isn't born each year, having her in my future army would greatly boost the Empire's safety. Not to mention that I truly like her, I even liked the old Esdeath when she still didn't have her Teigu. We have gone through some interesting situations and battles, it would be shame if I was forced to kill her. I can only try the last thing.' Akashi thought while looking at Esdeath's cold face.
"I have a proposal." Akashi suddenly said after a moment of silence.
"I am listening..." Esdeath replied but her cold expression didn't ease up at all.
Suddenly, Akashi put both his hands on her cheeks and brought his face as close to hers as he could until their noses touched which slightly surprised Esdeath as her cold expression disappeared and was replaced by surprised expression.
He put his hands on her cheeks so she couldn't move up and kiss him because despite being able to control himself, there were also supernatural elements involved in it. Both of their Teigus were resonating with each other, creating very powerful feelings of lust in their wielders. Akashi was able to control himself just thanks to his immense willpower, however, if it was him in his previous life, he would have lost already. Esdeath, on the other hand, was never truly interested in such feelings until recently so she was quite easily able to control herself.
"You and I...a battle over domination of the other" Akashi said while staring deeply into her eyes.
Esdeath slightly widened her eyes before she widely smiled.
"You truly know how to make me fall in love with you even more! You have completely captured my style of doing things!" Esdeath said with an excited smile, this was probably her first time feeling so much excitement at once.
"However, this battle will be held somewhere very far away from here." Akashi added with a smile.
"Of course, I wouldn't want anyone to see my future husband becoming a sore loser." Esdeath said with a confident smile.
"Oh? I will let it slide this time and let you talk big while you still can." Hearing this, Akashi looked at her with gentle eyes while putting his thumb at her chin, slightly pushing it up to have a better look at her whole face from the more dominant angle.
When Esdeath saw his gentle look in his eyes, she actually felt a slight shiver in her spine which excited her even more.
'Gentle look that can make you feel threatened...He is the best! I must win, no matter what!' Esdeath thought with an excited smile before she thought up of something she could take advantage of.
"How about we seal this deal?" She asked with a smirk.
"Hm? How? Is there truly a need for this?" Akashi asked with a slightly confused expression.
"Of course it is a must. How about a kiss? No matter the outcome is, either way, we will marry so I think this is a suitable way how to seal the deal between us!" Esdeath said with a smirk.
"Oh? What gave you confidence that I will marry you once I wi-?!" Akashi wanted to tease her more but before he was able to finish, Esdeath suddenly raised her head, kissing Akashi. The distance between them was so minimal that Akashi had no way to react to it and he even let his guard down when he removed one hand from her cheek, no longer pinning her down.
Just from this kiss, it was apparent who was more dominant so instead of ending kiss and making Esdeath feel more confident, Akashi pinned her down once again and began his own attack at her rosy lips which once again surprised her and when she wanted to reverse their position or push back with her head without breaking kiss it was already too late.
Akashi was attacking her lips so intensely that she had to focus just on kissing instead of anything else.
When their kiss finally ended after the whole minute, their lips were still connected by their saliva.
'Damn, she is really something else but I have to control myself or I will play into her cards' Akashi thought when he noticed Esdeath gently smiling with a small blush on her cheeks, Esdeath's quickened breathing didn't help Akashi either.
"With this, the deal is sealed." Akashi got up from the bed and said with a calm expression.
"You might have won this time but I was still the one who kissed you first and made you take my first kiss" Esdeath said while still lying on the bed with her mouth curled up and with her index finger pressing against her lower lip.
"...I can't wait to teach you some humbleness if you know what I mean" Akashi turned at her and said with a "friendly" smile and closed eyes, despite feeling chill from before, Esdeath still smiled back at him without replying.