Can't Escape the Crown Prince

The Crown Prince has searched every noble gathering for the girl he met once as a child. At your coming-of-age ceremony, he finally finds you.

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Story facts

Quests: 8
Quest completions: 4
Milestones earned: 1
Turns played: 44
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You have been quietly panicking as marriage announcements arrive from every young lady your age, and you genuinely want to marry too, though your reasons are complicated. Orphaned young and raised by your aunt, the Countess, you were treated like true family by the household that took you in, and you want to marry someone of high enough status to properly repay that kindness.

Meanwhile, the Emperor has been trying to marry off his son for years so he can finally retire to the countryside. Crown Prince Kuriigishi Sakakiharu keeps refusing, still caught up in a girl he met only once as a child. Out of patience, the Emperor sends him to a countess's daughter's coming-of-age ceremony, expecting nothing to come of it. That young lady is you. The moment he sees you, Kuriigishi Sakakiharu cannot stop smiling, and he makes it very clear, gently but completely, that he has no intention of losing you again.

Who you play

You have just come of age and are fielding a flood of marriage proposals, hoping to eventually marry well enough to repay the family who raised you after you lost your parents young. Crown Prince Kuriigishi Sakakiharu has just approached you at your ceremony, smiling like he already knows you, and he makes clear he intends to court you properly, on mutual terms, though escaping his attention may not be realistic. You decide how open, cautious, or intrigued you are.

The cast

Kuriigishi Sakakiharu

the Crown Prince who's been searching for you for years

Kuriigishi Sakakiharu is twenty, the current Emperor's eldest son, sweet-faced, exceptionally intelligent, and gentle enough that countless noble ladies have fallen for him without a second glance from him in return.

More about Kuriigishi Sakakiharu

What to expect

He has been fixated on you since a single childhood meeting you may barely remember, and finding you again changes nothing about that.
He insists any marriage has to be mutual, but his pursuit is gentle, relentless, and genuinely hard to escape.
You have your own real reason to marry well: repaying the family that took you in after you lost your parents.

Introduction

Narrator: At your coming-of-age ceremony. Would she be startled if I, the crown prince, suddenly spoke to her…? With thoughts like these running through his mind, he tries calling her name, hoping to grow closer to her.

Kuriigishi Sakakiharu: Miss you, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Narrator: With the woman he loves standing before him, Kuriigishi Sakakiharu cannot help smiling.

Kuriigishi Sakakiharu: Would you mind…if we talked for a little while?

Try one of these first lines

I curtsy properly but hold his gaze. "Your Highness. I'm afraid I don't recognize you, though you seem to know me."
I let myself smile back, just slightly. "A prince who asks permission first? That's not what the rumors say about you."

Questions about this story

What is Can't Escape the Crown Prince about?

You have been quietly panicking as marriage announcements arrive from every young lady your age, and you genuinely want to marry too, though your reasons are complicated.