A/N: Hello!
I didn't think I would be writing for this fandom again, yet here we are...
"Temptation" is inspired by "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the biblical tale of "The Fall". As mentioned in the description, this will be set in a historical AU; mid 17th century if we are being specific. None of the brothers are vampires, but I will do my very best to portray their characters as accurately as possible—Shu's apathy, Ayato's superiority, Subaru's temper, et cetera, et cetera. Also, family circumstances are altered. For example, one brother is not blood-related and some are illegitimate. Nevertheless, you should understand as you read.
In summary for those not familiar with the novel—Yui is pregnant and it has caused a scandal because 1) it is not her husband's child and 2) she is refusing to speak the father's name. The first chapter is similar to the novel, but after this I shall include creative liberties.
Be prepared for a story of forbidden love, tragedy, and lots of sin. Basically some of the routes in DL? O.o
Enjoy! Your reviews will be loved :3
Disclaimer: I do not own Diabolik Lovers or The Scarlet Letter, nor any associations.
allyelle~
He rode through the streets of the city, down from his hill on high,
over the winds and the steps and the cobbles, he rode to a woman's cry.
For she was his secret treasure, she was his shame and his bliss,
and a chain and a keep are nothing, compared to a woman's kiss.
For hands of gold are always cold, but a woman's hands are warm...
—'Hands of Gold', A Song of Ice and Fire
.:. 1 .:.
Was love wrong?
This thought was the sole occupation of Yui Komori's mind.
With a heart full of guilt, she had ventured to her father's church in the hope of seeking repentance. She kneeled and prayed, her rosary glinting in the candlelight. The rain peppered the roof and trickled down the stained-glass windows, making the crafted angels weep. Her tears fell in unison, darkening the scarlet of her finest dress. A bolt of red fabric was a commodity she could barely afford.
"It is not your heart that is wrong, child," said the minister when presented with the question. "It is your actions upon the emotion which will reveal the ethics."
By then, it was far too late. Her father's wisdom did little to console her on that rainy afternoon; she was already three months pregnant.
Presently, located at the castle door, a throng of men, faces wreathed in gristly beards and women, huddled in grey cloaks and stark headdresses, brandished their fists and pitchforks. Yui retreated until her back met the door panel. It was spiked in iron and she winced as it sliced the fabric of her bodice. She didn't care for the damage; it was poor material, dull and marled, the true rank of a reverend's daughter.
The castle was the steeple of the village, situated atop the grassy hill, fortified and proud. In the innocence of her youth, she would often clamber up and see the two young boys who called the place home peering out of a turret window with their big, curious eyes, watching as she giggled and dipped her toes in the river. They were in the crowd with their father, a trio of ash and gold, waiting for the trial to begin.
It would be a lengthy procession. Not to judge her guilty; no, that fact alone was confirmed with the swell of her abdomen. It was a procession of ridicule, to make her atone for her sins, to make her realise the foolishness of her actions. Her eyes met his in the crowd, and for a moment, she believed it to be an illusion of witchcraft. Her estranged spouse, feathery black hair shrouding an eye, clothes foreign and torn.
Reiji had impeccable timing. Married young, he was suitable, a little older than her, but he was wise and would provide a safe living. For two comfortable years they made a home in the thatched cottage by the riverbank, until his hunger for curiosity burst his dutiful loyalty for her, setting sail for the undiscovered world in pursuit of modern technology and medicine.
Amidst her sorrow, she found solace in him, the unidentified figure who shared her shame. One morning, in the heat of summer, she was making her way through the forest to visit her father when her cart submerged in a well of mud. It was a small inconvenience, but her husband's departure had taken a toll on her heart and she broke down, her face splotched with sweat and tears. He came with a thunder of hooves and the grace of a smile, offering a hand.
After witnessing her pitiful condition, he formed a ritual of visiting daily. It was a slow flame; hesitant and pure. Evenings by candlelight, the patterns his fingers created against skin, the deepness of his voice as he recited verses and the strum of the lute; a lullaby for loneliness. Six months ago, she received notice of Reiji's death. It was a night of weakness and her only comfort was his lips, his hands and his touch. It was the aftermath of that night which brought her to the castle door—the life swirling inside of her stomach.
"It grieves me," Karl Sakamaki began, his long ash hair billowing over shoulders. He and his two sons were the embodiment of wealth; gold and silver thread wove the fabric of their clothes, the pristine polish of their boots and the poise of their stature. "That such an event should be unfolding upon our land."
The younger uttered an undignified snort. "How moral of you, father. Yet it doesn't grieve you to witness the woman's mockery?"
Despite the richness of his garments, Subaru Sakamaki was unruly by nature. Quick to anger, he was commonly found in taverns initiating brawls with men twice his size. He was stubborn and grounded, respected by people not because of his birth, but because of his being.
Shu, the eldest, was his opposite. He emitted a quiet dignity, composed and careful with words. His eyes were fixated on a slab of stone protruding the grass; he wouldn't intervene.
"It is a great sin," his chest puffed, the pearls glistening in the midday sun. "For a married woman to be unfaithful to her husband!"
Lord Karl was infamous for his views on women. In those golden eyes they were second class citizens, useful only for bearing children and providing husbands with hot meals. Rage threatened to spurt from her lips at the nerve of his hypocrisy. It was widely known of his longtime affair with the tavern's barmaid, Cordelia, with whom he bore three illegitimate sons—Ayato, Kanato and Laito.
The triplets with their rare, vivid hair, were a rainbow amidst the dreary brown attire of the village folk. The smallest, the one who was susceptible to illness during childhood, creased his eyebrows and pursed thin lips. He was labeled as mad with his screeching wails and tantrums. He was the village jest. At twenty-four, the same age as she, it was hard to believe his entrance into adulthood. The other two, hair as fiery as their characters, looked upon her figure with uncomfortable eyes.
Subaru cursed, his voice a low growl, resembling that of a taunted animal. "It's been four fucking years! Reiji's dead!" His gloved hands bundled, jaw square and set. "What be you, Shu? It's stupidity!"
Blue eyes, glazed and distracted, flickered to his brother. "We're all fools... in the eyes of religion."
Swaddled in petticoats, the women bustled forward with their presented chests and puckered lips. They were the housewives; the moral women. The women who clung onto their babies which were conceived in matrimony and not sin.
"Mistress Yui is married, is she not?" One tittered to her companion. "What of her husband?"
"Travelling, but many presume lost at sea."
"Didn't you hear?" An elderly woman joined the gossip, her voice croaked with age. "They have announced Reiji Kasei dead! But no body was found—simply a sword and a heap of blood-stained rags!"
"Is this how she honours her husband's death?"
"Whore!"
"A disgrace!"
Seiji Komori lurched onto the steps, his body a barrier to the women's clawing hands. Once their physical protests had simmered, he turned to face his daughter, his hands anchored to her shoulders. His lip was tremulous, eyes watery and desperate. Her shame had ruined him. He was once a respected man; now his name surfaced images of infidelity.
"Daughter, I beseech you; speak his name! He will be hanged for his crime!"
"I will not," said Yui, her tone hushed yet equally defiant. "I refuse."
The crowd gasped and exploded into a series of whispers. The reverend raised a hand to silence them, and for a fleeting moment, Yui believed he was about to strike her. But his gentle nature overtook him and a shaking arm lowered to his side.
"Foolish girl! You have no right to refuse!"
"In this society, a woman has little rights. But if she possesses a powerful mind, it can never be swayed. I will not speak his name—not until my last breath!"
"You feel loyalty for this man?"
"My only loyalty is love," Yui replied, and with a sigh, she returned her attention to the distant line of cottages. "Father, do with me what you will. I spare him and take the blame onto myself."
Her gaze found his in the crowd and she implored him to keep his silence. There was pain in his eyes; a whirlpool of guilt, sorrow and regret. If someone were to stare into them directly, he would be revealed at once. They lowered to the earth, their secret heavy upon his heart.
"Child, your foolishness is masked by bravery!"
Her hand rested upon the bump of cotton. "Maybe so. But love is a fools game."
"Idiot," Subaru slapped a palm to his forehead, trapping disheveled strands. "You aren't exactly rendering your case!"
Yui's eyes crinkled at his defense, a solitary finger pressed against her lips to shush him.
"Spare us, Subaru," Shu murmured, whacking the back of his head. The youngest snarled and raised his fists, but Shu remained indifferent to a flare in his temper. "Your voice is rousing the crows," he emitted a weary sigh and turned to his father. "When is this ordeal over? It's tiresome..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can feel a headache. A troubling thought with the amount of paperwork I have to do."
Karl tutted, and with a head shake at his heir's lack of enthusiasm, turned back to his conversation with a village official.
"That stupid imp isn't even defending herself!" Subaru continued, earning himself stares of suspicion. His brother roughly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the side. Subaru released strings of expletives and snatched out of his grip.
"Unhand me, bastard—!"
"Leave it," Shu warned, voice low and cutting. "Or are you adamant on tying your own noose? The woman can handle herself without your intervention."
"But—!"
"I have my suspicions." His eyes skirted to the colourful trio with their newly arrived lilac-haired mother. "As do we all. But she obviously has her reasons... no matter how selfish they seem."
Subaru followed his drifting stare. "What can we do?"
"What else can the helpless do?"
His lips twisted into a grimace as he focused upon the castle door. It was a striking contrast; a petite woman whose appearance radiated innocence, features as fresh as the first bud of spring. Yet the dark, towering panel haunted her. It served as a reminder to the black taint enclosed within her heart.
Shu turned back towards his brother. "Sit back and watch the storm unfold..."
.:.
Yui Komori's procession lasted for the better part of five hours. The sky had turned dusky, a blanket of navy and diamonds. There was a chill in the air, only to be strengthened by the rural landscape and height of the castle. The girl had been sent home with the disdainful stares of the village burned into her conscience.
Reverend Komori released a hefty sigh and steadied his trembling lip as he descended the slope. He would pray for God's forgiveness. Some of the evil lay within him. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if her mother had survived childbirth; a woman's touch would have tamed her free spirit.
He had hoped, that through his arrangement of marriage to the clever and respected doctor, Reiji Kasei, it would give her structure and stability. It was not a match of love, but it was nonetheless a kind and affectionate match after a year had passed. From the minister's acquaintance with the man, he was mild-tempered and eloquent with a thirst for knowledge. This was his downfall. His loyalties lay in the undiscovered, not in creating a home with his daughter. If they hadn't of married, she wouldn't have been labeled as an adulteress.
Guilt welled within him; he was partially to blame for the scorn she endured at the castle door.
"Reverend Komori!" A voice bellowed, accent laced with all formalities familiar to the upper-class. "Might I have a word?"
Seiji locked onto the golden eyes of Karl Sakamaki. "Of course, sir."
"It concerns your daughter."
"Indeed," he laughed humourlessly. "The topic does not surprise me."
"Then you should know, my dear fellow, that further action must be discussed!"
He flinched and fisted a hand around the wooden cross hanging from his neck. "Has the child not suffered enough? She is naive! Simply besotted! I believe her ridicule today should be a just punishment."
"On the contrary, minister!" A hand clasped onto his shoulder, the force almost shattering the frail man. "Do you know what man lingered in the crowd today?"
"I do not. Of whom do you speak?"
"It was none other than Reiji Kasei, alive and well!"
.:.
A knock upon her cottage door roused her from slumber. Her palms straightened the creases in her nightgown and she tread barefoot over the cold stone and opened the door with a creak. Nothing greeted her but the howls of the wind and the song of cicadas. Believing it to be a cruel trick from a gaggle of misfits, she attempted to close the door when a pebble was tossed to her feet. Lowering her eyes, they were met with a thatched basket holding scarlet apples.
Yui stifled a laugh. "Did you venture here with the intention of stoning me to death?" Her eyes roamed the forest clearing, hoping to spot a flash of hair concealed within the shrubbery. "I cannot see you, but I know that it's you."
Another pebble was thrown, colliding against her toes. She hopped with pain and frowned. "You are angry with me—"
A rock, the size of a tomato, whacked the brick of the house, crumbling stone and layering the blades with dust. Yui gasped and wrapped arms around her stomach. "I understand, you are very angry with me—"
Several more pebbles were thrown, missing her by mere inches. His aim was perfect; he wanted to scare not hurt her. But it was late and her patience was running thin.
"I bid you goodnight!" she declared, and with a huff, the door was slammed.
For a while, her back leaned against the panel, listening to the rhythm of her breathing against the silence of night. Suddenly, footsteps crunched the branches outside. Something slid underneath the gap in the wood and tickled her feet. It was a piece of parchment inscribed with a simple message.
Keep a strong head, Cricket.
