I do not own the characters, now that is out of the way, this fanfiction is a trial and error, if people are interested in it, I will publish more chapters.

The changing of kings and queens were common, just like the seasons. Individuals strive to aim the highest amount of power for the sake of their pride, ignoring the many changes that was taking place in order to live in their delusions a little longer, clinging on even as the uprising barged in, and even a dog can see that they had already lost their minds in the game of power, to sit in the throne to rule everyone for as long as they can.

This is the setting of the story I am about to tell you. For once a wise man had said, "Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it." You will find many parallels in this tale, to your world in terms of culture, politics and history, I believe so , even if we go come from different worlds, but as long as humans inhabit it, they make the same mistakes because they are unaware of what happened in the past. Look at the quote above, you know it speaks the truth. I just am not sure which, names, faces and facts gets twisted into myth and legends and terrible kitchen gossip by the servants had been mentioned in your world, but i hope you can do your own investigation. No matter, I am here now, and I am going to tell you everything I know about my world, a world of chaos yet order, some how, some what, I am still here to tell the tale. Now, enough of me blabbing about advise to you, dear reader. This tale will serve more than that.

We begin in geography and economics of my world. The Kingdom of the West where the forests that were in pinewood coloured it a dark emerald, the rivers clear, surrounded by nothing but forests and rivers leading to the great sea of the west, even if the sun was not very kind to them, peeking once is a while, the sunset being the only thing they see of the sun, in all of it's fading beauty. The colours of gold, orange and white serve as it's emblem, for they lead a lavish lifestyle. They export oil and coal from the deep earth, alongside precious metals like Tin, Copper, Iron, anything that can be forged from the earth deep below was their main source of income, for these metals were valuable to the other kingdoms as well. Harvest is enough to keep their people fed, for a farmer his efforts were rewarded handsomely if he met a certain quota to a certain crop, rewarded for feeding the kingdom with it's needs . They were the most powerful kingdom in the land, since because of their exports and metal technology, their army was huge as well, mostly from the province of Anglo, where they have a tradition of sending of their boys to be a soldier at least once in their lifetime, while the province of Gaul provide their scholars and most powerful advisers. Recently the previous king had to deal with an uprising, due to taxes and a law demanding that they had to pay the tax or risk unemployment, the citizen revolted by throwing the iron into the sea, and mining production went into a halt. The kingdom eventually became bankrupt and the king had been sentenced to life in prison. The leader of the uprising, Alfred. had since took over, making himself much more approachable to the people and winning their wars with the ever troublesome kingdom of the North, but not aware of the politics that is currently brewing in his own state.

The Kingdom of the South value technology above anything else. Time it took for them to learn, be it from perfecting the finest details in an art piece of sculpted marble or a panting, to the science of the stars and chemistry, anything was of great fascination to this nation. Surrounded by the sea with the desert that swarm their barren lands and the sun shinning brightly in their favour, it is no wonder harvest was strong here, near the sea and the only river, food being a good source of income, but that was not enough to supplement the need for metal from the West, let alone it is the Kingdoms' biggest patron, buying their food and machines to ease their everyday life. The line of the Italus family have ruled this pace for many generations, but now times were troubled. In the throne sits a teenage Feliciano, a boy spoiled from birth and full of naivete, incapable of ruling a kingdom such as this one, for he has lost his common touch with his own people, behaving like a 6 year old. Behold the Queen, who was said to be from the Ungri province, a place where women were beautiful and mysterious. She ruled the land in her own, seeing how the King was much more interested in escaping responsibility and took matters into her own hands, clearly for her own intentions. It was said, or more what the kitchen gossipers had been sneaking about, that she was sleeping with another man, from the secret service, said to the from the province of Austich.

Ah, I must be boring you with these talks. No matter, and do not worry dear reader, for I will make this one brief. For the Kingdom of the North hardly anything was written about them at all, except a blanket of snow was said to have plagued these lands. Nothing was documented from them, other than the fact they were invasive, cruel and harsh, at least, that was what the word have been spreading around. Not much was known after that.

Now, we head over to the Kingdom of the East. Pay close attention, for we will not visit this world again after their part is told. This Kingdom had been recently endured a period of isolation, and the old and conservative Emperor found himself being taken over by someone new, that finally united the Kingdom of the East, due to a brutal civil war that split the kingdom into 3 states, then when the old Emperor united them at last, he only found influence from the outside world was the culprit. The new Emperor decided it was time to end isolationism, and forge new ties and revive old ones. The Kingdom of the East was surrounded by forests of bamboo, and strange cliffs served as their natural defenses. An exotic kingdom that closed their doors due to a fear of influence from the outside world and a yearning to cling on to the old ways, the New Emperor decided it was time to change, whilst keeping the old . He had many children, 2 daughters and 3 sons. And now our tale truly begins, in the throne room of the palace in the Kingdom of the East.

"Your Majesty! I must object!"

One of his advisers held his hands together, paying respects to the Emperor. He needed a meeting with his advisors, and gather their thoughts. The Emperor looked as his adviser with a stern look, a deep breath soon followed as he got up from his throne.

"Minister Chang."

"Present!"

"Why did you object to my suggestion."

"We have learnt in the past, the very fact that foreign influence caused our empire to be split into three warring states! I do not want such misfortune to fall to my country! And to send your own blood is absurd!"

The Emperor said nothing as he got down from his throne, looking solemn. The Minister has no doubt, a strong sense of patriotic duty, and history is mankind's greatest teacher. But this time it was deemed necessary for them to open , provide trade to prosper once more to curb their needs. They have been great at silk production alongside their greatest trade, spices that came from the southern part of their kingdom, peppercorn, cinnamon, nutmeg , cloves, ginger and garlic have provided them with a good source of income in the past, but ever since they closed their kingdom income was dropping low, relying on taxes just to get by. But the Emperor knows that too much influence from the outside world can ruin them as well, but they needed the income as well, and hopefully all plans will go as planed.

"Then, Minister Chang. I would like to ask you one thing. What good is a closed book to a person?"

"..."

"Could not answer? Well then, I will explain. When a book is closed a person could only read it's title, nothing more. What else is there to gaze upon? It's tightly knotted spine? The carefully dyed paper that serves as it's cover? "

"..."

"I believe you know my point. When a book opens, a person can gaze upon it's written words that had been recorded by care of a well educated man, and in the mean time educating the person who is reading it, to become better, educated, and freeing himself from poverty. That is the power of an open book, to be useful to the people. The years of isolation have cursed us to become a closed book, weak to even feed our citizens. We must open again, to have the people believe in us as well. We are sending ambassadors, not blind men who will fall into the river because someone told them it is a safe path. My mind is made up. But will see that they are willing to this destiny, for it is theirs to choose."

There are times when the two of them are playful, even if as they grow up they had their time to play for a bit, even if the interests in games had changed. They used to run in the forests playing catch, but now the interests were a bit more...dangerous, after all, they weren't kids anymore and about time they learned how to defend themselves in battle. A young man and woman, no older than in their early 20's, the woman in robes of the Iris flower, jade bracelets on her left wrists tinkle as she moved the wooden sword to practice, her hair held by two chopsticks made out of the lightest jade, to contrast her dark hair. The man was wearing robes of bamboo green, no accessories on him to let the colour speak for itself as he prepared for her strike. She moved in, then he countered attack by deflecting her strike and aimed for her neck in the heat of the moment. The day was windy as their robes moved alongside their fight, both of them making full use of their bodies to attack the other with calculated movements. But they stopped when they heard their sister, no older than 17, running towards them,panting as she joined her brothers, surely no older than 19 and 18 respectively who was also watching the fight as the two older siblings continued on with their friendly match.

"What did I missed?"

"Kiku and Yan so far are doing well Mei."

"If only I was not so distracted...could have witnessed how they started."

"Mei you are always distacted."

"Am not, Ge ge!"

"Can you two keep it down? I am watching."

"Sorry, Ka Leong. "

The two oldest ones that were fighting were named Yue and Kiku. Yue is the oldest, Kiku came later, followed by Yong Soo, Kha Leong and Mei. The three younger siblings watched the fight with great interests, as Kiku was more steady in his strikes and sturdy when it came to footwork, but Yue was quicker in speed and flexible to dodge attacks. Kiku and Yue fought, the wooden swords kept on clacking with intensive contact with each other, both their eyes in deep concentration, their breaths becoming more shortened and heavier as they try to dodge and strike at the other. Even for it being a friendly match, the eldest can get very competitive among each other, unwilling to lose in a simple swordplay match. They stopped for a minute, taking a few deep breaths with each other's eyes gazing, thinking about the other's next move. But their thoughts were cut short, when the messenger came in, bowing towards the Imperial princes and princesses.

"Princess Yue and Prince Kiku! I, the messenger for the Emperor, came to announce that his Majesty demands your very presence in his study at this very moment! The matter is of the upmost importance!"

"Very well. Please inform our father that Yue and I will be there at once. Let us put away our toys and catch our breath."

"Acknowledged!"

The three sibling went in an "Aw, there goes the epic fight!" While the two older ones, Yue and Kiku stopped and put away their wooden swords, taking in a moment to catch their breaths, it was a good fight between them, their skills parallel to each other. The messanger bowed and scuttled away in a hurry

"That was a good fight, Jie Jie!"

"You were good in that too, Ge ge!"

"Thank you Yong Soo, but I am afraid I need to be quicker."

"Thank you Mei Mei, but I should be more careful with my strikes."

"Don't pick out your flaws! Every one knows well that you two are among the best."

"Perhaps. We will see you later at dinner, Father is calling."

"Of course."

Both of the two older siblings gathered themselves, then making their way into the study , walking as fast as they could, their hand maiden and an eunuch followed , their heads low as they walked behind them, both the siblings are curious in what their father had planned for them.

"It must be urgent."

"Of course. Father would talk about it over dinner."

"That is true, something is up."

"My guess he wants to propose an idea to us."

"Maybe because we are older, we know better."

"That is a possibility."

The two arrived at the doorway of their father's study, a messenger suddenly said the minute he saw them.

"Your Majesty! His highness Prince Kiku, and her Highness Princess Yue, has arrived!"

"Very well. Please, let us be, I need to talk to them in private."

The servants bowed and left the three of them in the room alone, closing the door as it creaks, while the Emperor showed them to sit.

"My two oldest children. I have something to discuss with you. Please, sit."

"..."

"Now I must discuss. Our kingdom has suffered a long period of isolation. It has hurt our economy, it has hurt our people, relying on their taxes. We had to declare bankruptcy, such shame that has befallen to a sorry state. I will tolerate this, no more. It has taken a good two decades for our kingdom to find it's feet once more, and the people are finally happy. We have solved the issue on the internal, now we must expand, create friends and allies, to help us grow bigger as a kingdom, to provide everlasting wealth that can be shared for generations to come. I have watch you two grown, matured, into a fine man and woman. I am very proud of you two, and bestow a duty to each of you, because I trust you will not let the family down, nor will you let our kingdom fall with you in the eyes of others. I will send you, Kiku, to the Kingdom of the South to be their adviser, and our ambassador to that Kingdom. Even if you are my eldest and dare I say, worthy of taking my place as Emperor, I cannot force you to do so, since you have personally asked to have your right revoked to become a scholar instead, for you fear you will become corrupt and power hungry. If that is how you feel, and as The path of Knowledge have been chosen as your destiny, I will accept it so. Yong Soo is suited to be with the Military, while Ka Leong will the Crown Prince instead, he maybe silent but he have great leadership. You, my oldest son, have the soul of a crane, steady, and gentle, knowing where to go as the seasons change, a symbol of knowledge and nobility, that is what you are, my son. My kingdom can only offer so little for you to spread your wings, hence I know you must go else where. I know you will do a good job, I have seen you grown so much. "

"..."

"To my oldest Daughter, Yue, The spirit of our scared bird, the Phoenix is strong in you. Again, you and Kiku have the same thirst for knowledge the libraries of this kingdom cannot provide. You are meant to lead, to leave your mark else where, where they will write about you, even if you are foreign, serving as inspiration for many story tellers about your ruling . From an innocent girl you have grown up into a matured beauty with a fire that I hope will never die, like the fire that burns the sun. You are meant to be a Queen, being a princess in this land is beneath you. But I am afraid you are meant to be a Queen elsewhere. I have decided to send you to the Kingdom of the West, to propose an Alliance with it's king, whom I have heard has won the throne from leading a peasant rebellion. He is in need of a Queen there, and I hope you will do well as our ambassador, and as their Queen as well. I will not send in Mei, I believe you know why, she is too delicate of a flower that will wilt the minute she landed in strange soil, then rotted and tossed away once male heirs are born, just like a Peony that has been plucked and trying to fight for it's miserable life until it's beauty has faded . But of course, I will give you both the option to refuse the path I present to you, you are old enough to make your own decisions. How can I expect you to be at your best when you will not accept it willingly?"

Both the siblings stood silent for a minute. Their own father wants them to be out of the Kingdom to serve as diplomats, they both know they have a thirst to know more, to be in other kingdoms even for a day. Kiku knew that this opportunity will not come again, and knelt in front of his father, his head bowed at his feet, his palms pressed together in respect.

"Father, Your Son, Prince Kiku, humbly accepts this offer. I am proud you have such faith in me, and I will do my task each day with the family's honour."

Yue had a lot to think about her hands getting fidgety at the skirt of her robe. She knew it was coming, she is just a princess after all. Kiku merely had the role of as ambassador, he can come back whenever the Imperial court had summoned him to do so, but for her, she was bound to another kingdom for life due to a marriage, unable to return to her home. Could she adapt to a new kingdom where they would either embrace or scorn her as their new Queen? She gulped, biting her lip. The Emperor did not attempt to rush her, it was unwise to do so. Eventually she too bowed as well, her head low.

"Father, I must ask that you will propose to the King first, exchange portraits for me to see and for him to see me as well, and I will head there to meet him. If we both agree we are compatible, I will agree to the marriage."

"Rise, my Children. It will be settled. I will see that the arrangements are made. You two, prepare yourselves. Learn the language of your respective kingdoms, their customs and culture. Do well, make the family proud."

"Yes, Father!"