Years he’d been in your servitude. Years he’d watched you grow, grown with you, seen you become the person you were now. Years he’d shielded you from all harm. Years he’d done whatever you asked.

But time is a fickle thing, and those long, splendid years alone with your company were always going to come to an end. You were a queen now. And he was nothing but your knight. You needed a king by your side, not a protector.

It wasn’t as if the many suitors brought before you were not, well, suitable, it’s that they weren’t him. Sukuna would never believe any simple man would serve to be as good a husband for you as him, and the both of you knew it, whether or not you were willing to admit it.

When you finally settled on a prince from a neighboring country, Suguru Geto, it all became real. A wedding was planned. Preparations were made. Rings were exchanged. It was a large and public affair, for all citizens to witness and adore, but it was all a lie.

Sukuna reveled in it. Reveled in you still getting to be you. Still getting to be his.

Geto was nowhere near interested in you romantically, and you shared his feelings, that was known. But for him to abandon you on your wedding night to be with his other lover, his real lover? Who were you to stop it?

The bed was made, the covers untouched, the extravagant decorations taken down, all while Geto snuck out of the window. Sukuna stood in the corner of the room, party to whatever you had gotten yourself into. Always.

You weren’t mad, he realized. Only disappointed. An heir was to be expected soon enough, and without the, ahem, help required from your new husband, it simply would not happen. Running a kingdom was even harder than it looked.

“If I may, your highness?” Sukuna finally spoke up, gesturing to the bed, and at your nod, sat next to you.

“Do you want to leave? I can take you back to your regular quarters through the private stairwells. The court would be none the wiser. No need to stay here,” he offered, grimacing at the consummation bedroom’s dramatic appearance.