37 - Crown Prince Consort Derbie

                                        

                                              
The last month of the social Season was October, and this year the Hatsune Dukedom got to close out the Social calendar. Their Event was supposed to be specialty drinks and fireworks, and Derbie was looking forwards to attending. He just had to accustom himself to attending as Prince Consort Derbie instead of Lord Briggs. Ban had explained her family ties to him privately, so he'd know what his proposal would fully entail, and he'd still wanted to be with her over anything else; even his dreams of a simple life. 
Marrying Ban had been everything he'd wanted it to be; a love match supported by both their families, and even though he'd known to anticipate the Queen's arrival, he'd still appreciated her skills at introducing them and then moving on. Calvin hadn't been surprised, but everyone else had seemed to be; Derbie was learning just how little he'd known going about his life as just a noble's son. He had to learn all the ways he had to support Ban when she'd become Queen, the ways his role as Prince Consort would affect both his family and the Kingdom as a whole, and a few of the secrets he needed to know so he wouldn't be surprised by them later.
And yet Derbie had found himself surprised anyways, not by a secret but by being tailored in the Royal Taro purple. He'd been making peace with the Ruma indigo and having more of that colour than the Briggs' scarlet he'd grown up wearing, but now his suit was the rich purple that only Queen Akiyama had been wearing before. He felt strange, not seeing a single trace of the scarlet he'd lived with, but Derbie had to admit that with his dark blond hair and icy blue eyes, the colour suited him. But then he saw Ban in her gown and tiara, and he realized the colour was made for her. Not only did her black hair and eyes glimmer with that shade, but he could suddenly see the familial resemblance she had to the Queen. The secret had really been kept by distance, put Queen Akiyama near Ban and it'd be all too easy to see the truth. Although they were half-sisters, there was enough shared featured to identify. 
Since marrying Ban, Derbie had moved out of the Briggs Estate, and into the Crown Heir's Suites. As expected of the Crown Princess' assigned rooms, they were spacious and opulent. The floors were of smooth granite quarried from the Volle Dukedom in the southeast, so polished underfoot they almost reflected, and despite their dark colour, the creamy stone walls helped keep the rooms feeling bright. All of the furniture was sturdily built, often from the dark woods of Malani's territory, but then adorned with light, almost gauzy fabrics that kept one cool but offered a layer. A palace servant had informed him that if they weren't warm enough, a winter set of fabrics would be brought in and set up, all in that almost creamy ivory that made the room feel like the inside of a cloud. 
He not only liked the decorations, Derbie's favourite part of the room was its main occupant; Ban herself. He married her because he loved her, and unlike the majority of his siblings, he wanted to be married before they explored more intimate moments. They'd been married for just over a week and they'd made up for lost time, now they had to make their first appearance as they married Crown Princess and Crown Prince Consort. 
Thus, the matched outfits in Taro purple, and the subtle presence of personal Knights to guard them. That always made him think of Hida, and her prophetic determination to be Prince Consort Levi's Knight. He didn't have Pinky's ability to see the future, but he could picture her in a Royal Guard's uniform easily enough. A month ago, and Derbie would have believed that Hida would have a safe, easy job of guarding the Prince Consort, but now that he'd been caught up on the precarious political balance the central continent maintained, he knew that no one was truly safe.
It was a strange frame of mind to find himself in as his carriage arrived at the Hatsune Estate. Duchess Hatsune had been sent on the Queen's Western Expedition, attempting to establish peaceful relations with Seong and Jechguk, but so far only making progress with the Seong Kingdom; the Republic of Jechguk was still attempting to expand its borders. But while Duchess Hatsune was away, Aoyama Hatsune was hosting her first Social Event, and Derbie loved fireworks, so it wasn't hard to convince him to attend as Royal representatives.