more food for thought;
Kaede is referred to as 'the princess' by her trio of bodyguards, who are her own friends
people she's grown up alongside, yet she's always given her proper title and treated as though she's above them
but then there's Daichi, who abandons that pretense entirely and uses her name, and only her name when speaking of her
the one time her title has any relevance to him is when he makes his declaration to become her fourth bodyguard, stating his desire to protect his princess
not the princess, his princess
it's this moment that solidifies a few things, with the biggest being his feelings for her
despite him only challenging Fumio for her hand in marriage, he only did it to give her a chance to actually choose
unknowingly causing her to make her choice in that moment, as she hears him call her 'his princess', and her feelings for him tip the scales, causing her to realize very quickly that he's the one she wants
even though it takes her time to properly admit to it
