Seto Kaiba is, by his own repeated insistence, a consort in name only. This has not stopped the entire afterlife from bowing to him, the palace council from adopting his distribution reforms, or the King himself from being thoroughly, sweetly, inescapably managed.
A day in the afterlife — corridors, a council session, a walk in the garden, and a morning that happens to fall on Good Married Couples' Day.
This is a translation of an original work.
Original Title: 王の婿殿
Original Author: 葉人(@Hathor_yuki)
Personal site: https://prideshipping.sakura.ne.jp
Visiting for the first time in a while, Seto straightened his back and let out a breath.
Beside him, Atem walked quietly. His eyes watched Seto's figure calmly, and with a touch of amusement.
"His Majesty's Consort, be welcome."
Greeting them were the priests, high officials, and handmaids of the afterlife. They bowed reverently and formed orderly ranks.
Seto let out a small breath, and something like a resigned smile came to his mouth.
Atem elbowed him before he could say absurd again.
"......Good to see nothing has changed."
The voice carried no sentiment whatsoever, but it came with an unconscious weight of pressure. His voice alone carrying was enough to draw the surrounding air tight.
One of the handmaids stepped forward, her expression a little tense.
"Consort, this way. Everything has been arranged so that your stay will be comfortable."
Seto raised a hand lightly to stop her.
"I see. You may withdraw. ......Atem, we're going."
There was, in those words, a kind of ease that was very much his, and a resonance that put pressure on other people.
Atem made a slightly exasperated face and laughed a little.
"You've settled right in after all, haven't you."
"And whose fault is that."
"That's the people around us doing it on their own—"
Seto smiled and whispered sweetly.
"And who is at the center of those people. Well. This world already can't refuse me. And you're part of this world, aren't you?"
"Nnh...... that's, well, true, but......"
Atem's cheeks colored slightly.
The residents of the afterlife caught their breath for a moment at an exchange too precious to witness, and turned their faces away so as not to see what shouldn't be seen — while tracking it out of the corners of their eyes.
A consort in form, the counterpart to the King's marriage: that was Seto. But he did not stop at that.
To that imposing elegance and that sweet, quiet dominion, everyone naturally turned their respect.
Seto dropped his gaze briefly to Atem and pressed his shoulder lightly with a finger.
"Today's schedule? Audiences, council — I'll have all of it."
Atem nodded slightly and smiled.
"A dependable consort."
"In form only."
And so Seto's first visit to the afterlife in some time became, while he was reverently welcomed as the Consort, an inescapably sweet overture for Atem.
The two of them walking the palace corridor. Every resident of the afterlife paid their respects, bowing their heads slightly toward Seto.
"His Majesty's Consort, good morning."
"His Majesty's Consort, if there is anything you require here—"
Seto let out a light breath and drew his brows together slightly.
"Atem, I'm supposed to be merely the counterpart in a marriage of form. Exactly how widely did you publicize this?"
There was a nuance in his voice, half resignation and half acceptance.
"Everyone in the afterlife knows, you know?"
"Everyone...... you say?"
Atem took Seto's arm, letting a slight smile show.
"Kaiba, are you going to mind that now? It's only natural that everyone reveres you, isn't it?"
"Naturally. But I was told the afterlife doesn't bind me. There's no call for me to be treated as a consort—"
"That isn't so bad either, is it?"
Atem's eyes glinted a little mischievously.
Seto gave a small wry smile and, for lack of any alternative, leaned in beside Atem.
"Fine. In form, but it's for your sake. I'll maintain the minimum appearances for you."
"You're not an honest man."
As they walked side by side, a handmaid came from the far end of the corridor and, with a bow, handed Seto a papyrus.
"His Majesty's Consort, please confirm this."
Seto dropped his eyes to the papyrus while glancing at Atem, and murmured:
"There's no help for it...... At your side, what's supposed to be a matter of form gets treated as though it were real."
Atem grinned and quietly took Seto's hand.
"See, running is pointless. As long as you're here, you're my consort. And over there too, of course."
"......It was you who said in form. But before we get to running, it appears reality begs to differ."
In Seto's low voice and his smile, a faintly dark aura would occasionally drift.
The palace council chamber.
Atem sat frowning over the documents in front of him. Beside him sat Seto, his consort in form. A brief interval before the session began.
"Atem, why have you arranged those papers in that order again?"
Seto asked lowly. The words were mild, but his fingertips touched Atem's documents and rearranged them without permission.
"In order of the agenda, but......?"
Atem was bewildered, but the movement of Seto's hand didn't stop; he reordered the papers. Each time, Atem's fingertips were brushed, and his body reacted slightly.
"......You really are interesting. It makes a man want to tell you to try resisting once in a while."
At Seto's words, Atem let out a small breath and propped his chin on his hand.
"What sort of posture is that for a king. Change the agenda to this order."
While he was looking over the rearranged stack, a priest brought a new report.
Seto read it over Atem's shoulder, stood quietly, and turned Atem around.
"Atem, we're going to the garden. I'll let you walk a little before the session."
"What— now?"
Atem was flustered. His preparations weren't finished.
But Seto held out a hand, linked their arms lightly, and drew him along.
Out in the garden, flowers wet with morning dew were shining. Seto walked with a calm expression, keeping all the while a distance that kept Atem conscious of him.
"The vegetation of this world does seem to differ from the living world's."
Every time Seto's voice reached his ear, Atem's cheeks went hot.
He tried to match his pace, but the length of their legs differed.
"Kaiba...... walk a little...... slower."
"......That a single stride makes your heart jump isn't bad either."
At Seto's words, Atem caught his breath.
Being swung around like this, he recognized anew that he was being completely toyed with.
Ever since Seto stopped holding back, it had been like this with considerable frequency.
After a circuit of the garden, Seto calmly took Atem's hand. That this action was one part of Seto in earnest wearing the guise of the everyday, Atem did not know.
"It's about time for the session. Shall we go back to the palace."
"......Right."
The instant the reply broke off, Seto's blue eyes glinted sharply. And at that, Atem smiled without meaning to.
A sweet, inescapable everyday, worked into the body.
The small everyday events of the palace of the afterlife. Council, dealings with priests, walks in the garden — all of it had become, through Seto, quietly but certainly, time spent swinging Atem around.
The residents of the afterlife were seated in silence, and the morning session was about to begin.
For some reason Seto had been formally summoned to the chamber as His Majesty's Consort. But he sat in his chair with a somewhat exasperated look on his face all the same.
"Consort...... Absurd......"
He murmured it quietly. But unlike Atem, his posture didn't slacken.
For all his calling it absurd, the moment his gaze turned to the session's documents it went serious. Whatever the form, he made no concessions on the agenda.
Documents projected in solid vision. Graphs and footage rather than numbers alone, far easier to grasp as an image.
In the past, the first time Seto was made to attend a session, he had made this the standard on the spot.
The residents of the afterlife were, naturally, straightforwardly astonished. Even Atem's face had twitched — you'd go that far? But for the Civilisation Accelerator, this was simply the rational call.
"In this arrangement there's too much waste in commercial distribution. Adopt the method I'm about to present and there's room for improvement."
Seto pointed it out flatly. The residents were somewhat overwhelmed, but they listened, and listened closely.
By now everyone knew.
Seto's rational judgments were merciless and fit the afterlife with exquisite precision.
Throughout, Atem was watching Seto's profile through half-lidded eyes.
"......Same as ever, this man......"
It was a small voice, but it reached Seto. Seto let a smile show, glanced toward Atem, and said:
"Did you think I was going to stay silent?"
"No...... a dependable consort."
Atem lowered his eyes and laughed a little.
The latter half, after a short recess.
A heavy air hung over the chamber.
As the priests and administrators of the afterlife began their reports, only Seto — designated Consort in form — was quietly but unmistakably asserting his presence.
"Regarding the last harvest figures, the statistics are somewhat disordered. What should be introduced here is this."
Footage was projected in solid vision.
Seto's voice was low and settled. But his eyes carried a sharpness that pierced not only Atem, frowning over the documents, but the hearts of everyone present.
"The Consort...... would introduce the power of the future...... here?"
One of the administrators asked dubiously.
"What is the problem. Leaving inefficiency in place can only be a disadvantage to the order of the afterlife as well."
Seto manipulated the projected documents and indicated the problem areas.
"Here. The allocation of harvest yield against labor is asymmetrical. Under the current procedure, losses are highly likely."
Atem watched from the end of the table.
Seto, who ordinarily wanted nothing to do with anyone else's affairs, was handing down rational judgments for the sake of the afterlife.
The way he looked with documents in front of him was different from how he looked in a Duel, and different from the sweet hours as well.
In perfect seriousness, he was making the knowledge and logic he'd built in the living world function here in the afterlife exactly as it did there.
"I see...... so there's room for improvement."
When Atem let out an impressed sound, Seto raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Correct the procedure and the labor is reduced while the harvest rate improves. I've prepared projection tables as well."
The contents of the documents rewrote themselves. His directives carried no particular coldness. There was pressure, but if anything he was attentive to their needs, with a persuasiveness no one could push back against.
As the session went on, the priests nodded along with their astonishment.
Atem gazed at that profile and laughed a little inside.
"In the end, Kaiba is...... he looks after people. Consort or not, it's got nothing to do with it. He's just serious."
"Absurd...... I am the counterpart in a marriage of form, nothing more."
"Heh. I'll let you have it that way."
At that exchange the air of the chamber softened for a moment, but Seto returned to a serious expression and set about compiling the proposals for improvement.
Watching him, Atem felt his chest go hot again. Beyond his position in form, Seto's rationality and intelligence were being properly brought to bear in the afterlife as well.
Witnessing it, and adopting it, was for Atem the greatest possible trust.
The session ended, and the priests waited for the King to withdraw.
Atem was led out by Seto. Walking the corridor, the shadows of the two of them wavered under the soft light.
"Atem, I'll explain the improvement proposals from the session to you directly."
Seto's voice was calm, but there was a kind of tolerance in it that couldn't be pinned down. Atem followed along, somewhat at a loss.
Entering Atem's office, Seto stood before the desk and arranged the documents.
"Change this, and the efficiency of the work rises by an order of magnitude."
Each time Seto's finger traced the documents, Atem caught his breath in spite of himself.
"......Is this actually as simple to carry out as you make it sound? The difficulty looks high to me."
"I won't say simple. But it isn't impossible. If you understand it, you can execute it."
Sweetness seeped into that voice. Calm, and yet a powerful certainty.
Seto turned slowly and put a hand on Atem's shoulder.
"No need for worry. What you have to do is understand my explanation. That's all."
Atem's cheeks went hot. The comfort of being swung around, and a slight shiver. That dark aura he was shown from time to time drifted lightly in.
"Kaiba. You really do...... consort or not, you look at all of it, don't you."
"I answer your call for help, I protect you, and I don't abandon you. That's what your consort is, isn't it?"
Sweetness and darkness coexisted at the edges of those words. Atem let out a small breath.
Seto came closer still and set the documents at Atem's hand.
"Confirm it with your own eyes, and ask if you need to."
When Atem nodded, Seto smiled, drew his shoulder in without a fuss, and whispered:
"Just be quiet and obey. ......That's the easiest way."
Atem's chest pounded, and a shiver ran down his spine.
In the quiet light spreading through the palace of the afterlife, the two of them were understanding each other without words.
"Shall we go outside for a while."
To Seto's sweet, faintly dark, powerful enfolding, Atem could only entrust himself and nod.
Seto pointed at the weeds growing in the gaps between the flagstones and drew his brows together slightly.
"Which department handles maintenance."
Atem caught his breath. In the midst of a calm scene, only Seto's gaze had him unmistakably caught.
"Kaiba, there's no need to look that closely at—"
"There is. This is already not only your palace but mine."
At that voice, Atem blinked in spite of himself. Reason and feeling crossed, and deep in his chest something stirred a little.
Seto called out to a laborer who had come into the garden.
And then he stood Atem at his own side.
"Atem. Give the order. Have it cleared."
"Now......?"
Atem was slightly at a loss.
"What meaning is there in putting it off. Whose palace is this?"
In those words there was sweetness and, at the same time, a strength that left nowhere to escape. Atem let out a small breath.
When the instructions to the laborer were finished, Seto drew Atem in lightly.
"......Kaiba, why do you go so far......"
"Why? I told you I would go all out, did I not."
At that, Atem lowered his face and steadied his breathing, using the scent of the garden flowers as his excuse.
As they began walking, Seto whispered further.
"Whether you wish it or not, I'll remake the shape of the world for you."
Atem's heart was shaken sweetly, and a slight shiver mixed into it. The shadow of a dark aura drifted faintly, and yet it did not become revulsion; it turned into the pleasure of being sweetly ruled.
In the space belonging to the two of them, Seto was calm from start to finish, and yet he had unmistakably taken hold of Atem's heart.
The garden wind swept through, and the small everyday of the palace accumulated as sweet, faintly dark, particular hours.
The air of the palace was sweet and quiet, and yet tinged with Seto's dominating color.
Even as the counterpart in a marriage of form, he had in fact dissolved into the whole of the afterlife, and everyone revered his presence — and feared it a little.
That was the man Seto Kaiba.
Night became sweet hours belonging to the two of them.
It had the acknowledgment of the entire afterlife. There was no one to interfere.
Atem couldn't produce words.
Every time Seto's fingertips traced his cheek, the strength drained slowly out of him from the inside.
"You are my spouse, after all...... no. Before me, simply being Atem will do."
A smile came to Seto's mouth.
Behind that smile, a dark, deep possessiveness showed for an instant, and Atem's eyes wavered for a moment.
"Kaiba......"
The voice that called him without meaning to trembled sweetly.
"Being indulged in front of me is permitted. If anything, it's preferable."
With every word Seto laid down, he broke Atem's defenses one at a time. Atem quietly closed his eyes, and eventually whispered, small, along with a sigh.
"......Enough......"
The words broke off, and his defiance vanished without a trace.
Seto smiled quietly and enclosed Atem in both arms. In those arms, Atem surrendered in relief and decided to let himself be indulged.
There was nowhere to run. There was no will to run. Inside the formality and authority of a palace, a world belonging to only the two of them was completed.
"More than you could wish for, I'll pour love into you without stinting."
Seto's voice was low and calm, and yet unmistakably carried a dominating resonance. Atem shivered, and returned a smile.
"I've already...... entrusted all of it......"
At those words, Seto smiled with satisfaction. Quiet enveloped the two of them, and time flowed that had nothing to do with the living world or the afterlife.
Beside him, Atem, somewhat swung around, felt his chest pounding.
In an afterlife with nowhere to run, by gentleness and by an occasionally dark, encroaching sweet aura, his heart had been completely captured.
Morning light came softly through the palace windows.
Pale violet light drew shadows on the stone floor, and with the stillness the air swayed sweetly.
Atem, still half inside a dream, was entrusting himself to Seto's arms.
"Atem. Are you awake?"
At the low, settled voice, Atem lifted his face.
"......Still sleepy......"
His body drew naturally close to Seto's, and he buried his face in the warmth.
Seto smiled.
"You...... seem to like sleeping at my side a great deal."
He stroked Atem's hair gently with his fingertips, and each time their skin touched he turned a heated gaze on him.
Those eyes were quiet, and yet they carried the unmistakable pressure of I won't let you get away.
Atem laughed a little and flushed slightly.
"Mm. ......Because at your side is where I feel safest."
A small sigh escaped along with the words. Seto listened to that voice and deepened his smile further.
"Then...... I'll be at your side whenever. I intend to receive all of you, without stinting."
The voice was soft, but the meaning contained in it unmistakably erased any way out.
Understanding that, Atem drew close, let himself be indulged, and deep in his heart felt his chest tremble faintly.
"......Are you still here today?"
At the questioning voice, Seto laughed slightly and rested his chin lightly on Atem's head.
"That's the plan. ......If you wish it."
At those words, Atem shook his shoulders a little and laughed.
The tension that had been stirring deep in his heart dissolved little by little.
Even so, Seto's eyes were quietly hot, telling him that he was ready to hold him again at any moment.
"......At your side, I do nothing but let myself be indulged."
When Atem said it in a low voice, Seto shook his head.
"That you are indulged, that you depend on me, that you seek love...... is a matter of course."
Those words were not only sweet and gentle; they carried an inescapable pressure as well.
Atem buried his face against his chest again, as though chewing that over.
Outside the window the morning light wavered, and though the world was tranquil, the room was filled with an air both sweet and precarious.
"......Neither you nor I can get away."
With a quiet resolve and the relief of Seto being in the afterlife in his chest, Atem fell back into sleep.
Seto held that back in his arms and smiled.
Sweetness and pressure, love and possession. In a palace morning where the two sensations crossed, the hours belonging to them flowed slowly by.
The table was wrapped in a dense silence.
In the cool air it was as though only the two of them existed.
"I've finally woken up...... and it's your fault, for going all out."
Atem stood at the window, arms folded, and spoke a little stubbornly, as though paying back all the times he'd been swung around.
But his heart was pounding, and his gaze wavered slightly.
Seto didn't even smile; he simply approached quietly. His stride was calm, but the pressure that came off his whole body seemed to cover the entire palace.
"Tonight as well, I take it going all out is acceptable."
"Tonight? ......That's a remarkably long stay."
Atem tilted his head.
"There's a certain festival being observed in Japan today."
The voice was low, deep, and sweet in its resonance. But it carried a weight that permitted no escape. Atem's chest shivered.
"......A festival?"
"Hmph. Good Married Couples' Day, apparently."
For an instant, Atem's eyes glinted.
"But it's not as though you came for a cozy evening with me, is it?"
Tea was brought in, and the vessels set down.
Seto kept an amused smile and gave Atem a light sidelong glare.
"......You. What sort of education did you give Yugi."
"Aibou? I did nothing. If anything I'm the one who was taught a great deal—"
Seto held up his left hand in front of Atem. A gold ring caught the light and shone.
"Is he a meddling sister-in-law? For weeks now, insistently — go and see him on this day. Absurd."
"And you didn't just meekly comply, did you."
"He was noisy, so I ordered a resubmission of the proposal and came somewhere quiet."
But the expression on Seto's face as he said it was, somehow, satisfied.
"This isn't a shelter, you know."
Atem was exasperated.
"It amounts to the same thing."
Seto reached out and set the tea vessel in front of Atem. The gesture was elegant, and at the same time a faint declaration seeped from it: you are mine.
"......You're being oddly courteous."
"Naturally. You are my spouse. Handling you with care is a matter of course."
At that one line, Atem faintly caught his breath and his face went red. Possessiveness hidden behind the sweetness. It was not reason but instinct that issued the warning.
"......Heh. Then stay hidden at my side a little longer."
Atem's voice lifted faintly, taking on the color of wanting to be indulged.
Seto smiled and slowly reached out to touch Atem's cheek.
"It's the reverse. You are at my side. I won't let you escape anywhere in the world."
The words were calm, but they contained a force that enveloped the whole of the afterlife. Atem, for an instant, stopped breathing.
Sunlight came in, and Seto's shadow lengthened.
"......Kaiba, the, um......"
"I'm at your side. There's nothing needed beyond that."
The tone was calm, but the shadow enfolded Atem little by little. The light was soft, and yet the absence of anywhere to run was unmistakably conveyed.
Atem's heart leapt and he looked away.
"G— going all out from the morning is...... surely not......"
Seto brought his face close and tangled their eyes together.
"I am always in earnest, however?"
At that low voice, Atem shivered to the depths of his body. A sweet whisper. In those eyes were sweetness and, at the same time, a quiet and deep color of possession.
Atem tried to steady his breathing, but Seto's words and gaze invaded him to the core.
"......At least wait until night."
"Very well. ......Until then I'll attend a council or something."
Seto's voice was soft, but full of a darkness that wouldn't let him go.
Atem felt something warm and frightening deep in his chest, and smiled quietly.
"......Right. I'm counting on you, my dependable consort."
"How long do you intend to have me called consort."
"And who would obey you if you said otherwise?"
Atem let it fall, sounding exasperated.
Seto only laughed a little at the corner of his mouth.
In the palace of the afterlife, the hours belonging to the two of them flowed slowly.
Seto smiled with satisfaction and gently stroked Atem's head.
"Today as well, you are mine."
It was the morning of Good Married Couples' Day, wrapped in an air sweet, quiet, and faintly shadowed in dark.
