Author Note
This is a fic dedicated to all my Kana fans! Tbh, the NuraMago fandom is as good as dead so I'm not expecting people to read it but a cute "guest" said she/he admire me, thinks I rock and wish that I would start a new story so I was inspired to post it. Yes, I'm weak against those compliments *turns into a pudding* so don't mind me.
To every beginning there is an ending and to every ending there is a beginning.
It all started in the year 1600 when the Lord of demons, Nurarihyon, overthrew humans off their realm. He took over their kingdom and tried to establish a new country for his own kind to live in. That infuriated the humans as they couldn't live with those barbaric beings, thus they secretly gathered around to revolt against the new government.
When Nurarihyon successfully established his country in 1604, Edo, he took over, being the first king. The humans then revolted and the ones who evoked and lead the revolution were the prominent Keikain clan.
However, the calamity of war between the mortal and almost immortal only backfired on the weak. The humans couldn't get rid of the demons despite outnumbering them. Their underestimation of how superior, strong, and smart the demons were, played a great role in their defeat.
Thanks to their treason, Nurarihyon ordered the execution of the humans. That led a wave of chaos, fear, and slaughter to engulf the humans. They all tried to flee and hide but most ended up dead within sight. Their population continued to decrease steadily, resulting in the complete victory to their nemesis.
But there was one mishap in everyone's expectations, nobody expected ONE lowly human to ruin everything. Their cruel ruler falling in love with a human woman named Youhime. That gave hope to humans and dismay to the demons. Nurarihyon revoked his order of their execution as a proof of his love to her.
The humans thought they were saved and while they were saved from instant death, they were treated as emergency livestock. As time passed, Nurarihyon was blessed with an heir, who later became the 2nd King of Edo. During his upbringing, Rihan didn't notice the humans mistreatment and lived life in luxury. His ignorance remained for a good 50 years until his first wife left him for being infertile. Him searching for her everywhere opened his eyes to the harsh truth. The hardship, suffering and despair of the humans made him try to fix the issue without threading unnecessary war between both.
It didn't occur to him, until later on, that the demons' hatred was more deep rooted than he thought. His efforts to make changes were useless and only managed to bear fruits when he married a human. Finally having a reason to defend humanity without getting on his own kind's bad side, Rihan strived to make everyone's lives equal.
His actions triggered the board members of his clan to assassinate him 5 years after his wife bore a child. After his death, the higher ups decided to make the Nura Clan's only heir as their vessel. That turned out to be their biggest mistake as the young child mercilessly killed one of them and ended up using their treacherous actions as a means to control them. They realized a little too late that he was the most dangerous being in the world. He managed to successfully wrap them around his little finger yet it took a mere 20 years for HER to ruin him. This was the beginning tale to her unfortunate ending.
Pretty, beautiful, those were the words her next door neighbor dared to utter. Kana Ienaga swept up a round mirror from underneath her mother futon and looked at her reflection in-between the cracks. Her hand lightly touched her face, feeling up her facial structure. Her fingers then traced her smooth jawline to the edge and went above to her forehead corners. She was perfect. The young woman ignored all the flaws within her face. The pimples, blackheads, large pores, rashes... they were all insignificant. They held nothing to her beauty. She was probably the most beautiful human out there. It was merely ONE person who complimented her, one person who opened her eyes to her beauty, yet she never ever doubted their words. She was beautiful. She was gorgeous. In all 18 years of her life, this was the first time someone called her with such condemnation. It made her wonder how others could handle her face when she couldn't? It was driving her insane.
Kana stood up from her kneeling position, wobbling a little from the prolonged pressure she was putting her legs through. The subdued creak of the floorboard broke the silence with every step she took. Her lips parted slightly to let out a small blow of air and watched, from the corner of her eyes, as her breath took a form of its own. She made a note to herself to remind Yura to fix their ceiling later since the holes within it might fill their house with snow soon.
Her feet came to a stop when she was a few centimeters away from a drawer, the only item in her worn out house that was mismatched. She found it 3 months ago, thrown by a noble demon so she brought it back with her. It was a salvation to her people so she thought of selling it once she could find a trustworthy place that would pay her a good price. Although she wondered if she could since no human would want to pay for such useless decoration. Which meant she would have to visit the demons' market to gain profit. Small shivers overwhelmed her body, she didn't want to go there... even if she had to trade an arm for it.
She left the mirror on top of the cabinet and bent down to check out the bottom drawer. Inside was her favorite knife and a brownish grey cloth that originally was white. It turned into that shade from the amount of times she wiped the floor with it. She picked up the knife with one hand and the cloth in the other. This was her special keepsake, the one she always had with her in case of an emergency. It was her only hope and savior against any threat... so she never expected she would use it against herself.
With swift movement, she placed the edge at the side of her right forehead and prepared herself mentally for the pain. Her hand shoved the cloth inside her mouth and clamped it to smother what's to come. She then dug it into her skin, evoking a muffled howl. Her tears soaked her cheeks in no time but Kana didn't stop slicing her face until she found it hard to continue. She needed to do it, she had to do it, she must do it yet her hand resisted because it was too painful.
Why... why was she such a coward? She couldn't risk her life to save others like Yura and now she couldn't risk harm for her own well being? The knife fell from her trembling hand as Kana covered the the right side of her face with it, spitting out the imbedded cloth. Blood was everywhere but it didn't matter. What mattered was the fact her wound was shallow yet she was crying like a baby over it.
"Dear?" Kana almost barely heard the soft sound of her mother's voice from her own deafening cry.
"What are you doing?" A deathly pale woman was standing nearby their doorway with a long stick supporting her and a large bag on her elbows. The gust of wind coming from the entrance door blew her pitch black hair to her face, blocking Kana from seeing her. The crippled lady was dressed in white, epitomizing pureness and goodness, the opposite of her children. Either way, she was stunning to any beholder but would pass off as a ghost to the unfamiliar.
Using the stick to shut the ripped shoji, the loud smacking sound was left forgotten when her eyes found the newfound blood. She was suspicious of what she had done but her face retained its soft features. All it took was a mere step to force Kana to look away because she was too ashamed for being caught doing... that. The last thing she wanted do was worry her mother further.
"Kana, you... what have you done?" Kerria Ienaga sat down near Kana and tried to see her fresh wound but her hand shook with resistance, making it clear she wouldn't budge. Her daughter even deliberately covered her face with her hair to avoid contact. So she compiled to her wishes by letting go. She didn't know what exactly went on but she knew it was her fault. It always was her fault ever since she left that household.
Struggling to stand up, Kerria used her cane to reach the two nicely folded futon of her children. It was hard to lift up the small blanket with one hand, a threatening sign that she was getting weaker, so she dragged it with her instead.
"You should take care of your health more." She wrapped the blanket around Kana to warm her up. Her daughter always seem to go through a mental breakdown when they were getting close to Winter. "I don't want you to catch a cold."
The violent quivering of her body proved to Kerria that she trained her daughter really well. She was too soft, kind, and emotional so it didn't surprise her that she would be weak against those kind of attacks. Attempting to take her hand away again, she successfully managed to not only see the wound but also her face.
It didn't take long to put two and two together when she saw the stained knife. Although the action was appalling, it didn't surprise her. But it did manage to upset her. She took out an ointment from the bag she bought and felt relieved that she visited the infirmary on her way here.
"I was with Dr. Zen a while ago so I managed to get us medicine," she said softly as she applied the ointment on her wound. It was quiet for a while until she whispered, "Why did you do it?" Her pitch black eyes looked at the avoiding gaze of her daughter's large, khaki eyes.
"Someone," she paused, not saying anything for a good minute. "Someone called me beautiful today." Kana clutched onto her ragged kimono as tears forced their way through her face again. Mustering the courage to stare back at her mother, she choked out the next words. "I'm... next, Mother. Hebidayu already has his eyes on me."
Hearing herself say those words out loud was as if she acknowledged her death sentence. It was too much for her to handle. It was, after all, that TIME OF THE YEAR. She used her sleeve to wipe her tears but the thought of being sold next was making it hard to mask her emotions.
Kerria's eyes widened in realization. Every human knew, KNEW not to say those forbidden words unless they are cursing the other person to death. It was insult of a high degree, a curse. Beauty in this area means instant death to those who possess it. And it didn't help that the legal slave system will be held in 2 days. Once a human turned 16, they can no longer be protected by law, so that scared her since her daughter was 18 already.
"Aren't you worrying a lot lately?" Kerria tried to sound calm but her shaking voice was betraying her. The legal slave system allows demons to sell one hundred humans to an aristocrat for a 2 year time limit before returning them. It was the deceased king, Rihan, who imposed this law. Kerria managed to lie about her daughter's age for over 10 years now and she was glad that no one, other than Yura knew how old Kana truly was. Had she not done that, her child would have been sold and abused a long time ago. She almost shivered at the thought since she, herself, was sold 3 times already. It was best not to think about the "what if" scenarios.
"Look, Kana." Kerria grabbed Kana's shoulder in a tight grip not giving her a chance to think of anything useless anymore. She had a talent for that after all. "This is not the time to be weak. If you give up now, you give up on yourself." Her hands changed course to her cheeks, using her thumb to wipe out some of her daughter's tears. It pained her to see her family suffering.
"..." Kana bit her chapped lips, finding her mother's request hard to attain but she forced herself to say a word of agreement so it would be satisfy the older woman.
"You are right, I shouldn't be weak." She tried to sound as motivated as possible although deep down, she wished she saw the hope her mother and sister saw.
"Good." The relief was clear in Kerria's voice and facial expressions. It almost convinced Kana that she did the right thing... almost convinced her but she knew false hope would be one of her biggest sins someday.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you something important. Yura has developed a new method to make yourself ugly." With just those words, Kana's face almost perked up.
Special thanks to Hell Vanguard - Silverphin for being such a bro by being my beta again.
Anyway, I felt motivated to write this thanks to Nayrael the author of "The Shin Sekai". While I was reading chapter 17, I ended up thinking my plot deeper so Empress exist because of him. I didn't think a small idea would grow to be this big tbh.