Original Author: QingYe
Original Publishment: LOFTER
Translator: SunWhale
Disclaimer: I do not own the main characters.
Suzaku.
Suzaku Kururugi.
Born in Area 11 as the son of Japan's last prime minister. He promoted into the Knights of the Round under direct command of the Emperor by capturing Zero, the leader of rebels.
Hn, no other achievements?
It remained hard for Julius Kingsley to believe that a fresh man could be assigned to accompany him to the European front. He did not mean to get above himself, but to be triumphant, it would take more than just a nameless person who is unlikely to convince his subordinates.
"I request to face His Majesty for substitution of the vanguard."
Julius threw aside the black king chess piece clutched in his hand, before proceeding to shuffle the pieces and setting them accordingly on the chessboard. He then lightly touched the screen to reach for the Chief Secretary Beltorres Francois as he laid back on the soft and luxurious sofa.
"Minister Kingsley, the Empire's arrangements are firmed up. His Majesty has already given the answer to your question."
Beltorres Francois coldly turned down Julius's request.
"Suzaku is not a vanguard, but your bodyguard."
"I DO NOT need a bodyguard!"
Julius was annoyed. He didn't think it was an honor to have a Knight of the Rounds as his personal bodyguard even though it might appear as a privilege to any other people. Offered with the imperial scepter, he didn't need such a foil.
He was not happy with this knight. Either his origin from Area 11, or his not so good fame, modest achievements, and position with no backup.
"Sir Kururugi is physically strong indeed. You may take it as a test for yourself as well."
Serious and feelingless, the secretary slided Suzaku's subordinate forces into the screen before continuing.
"This is His Majesty's mission for you. If you really have abilities, then the Knight of Seven could serve as your great boost."
An implicature was suggested from her indifferent and cool voice that, if Julius forgot how he was promoted, she doesn't mind calling his memory back. – Her tone may be indifferent but the implication was loud and clear.
"Are you suspicious of my ability?"
The new councilor has reached his limit as his originally careless smile was off his face with half-closed eyes showing his unkindness. His eyes flashed dangerously as he stared her down with his single eye. He put down his casually crossed leg, stopped playing the crystal pendant of blinder with his hand, and straightened his body slightly up.
"However is your ability doesn't matter to me at all. But this is out of the will of His Majesty."
"You! ... so as you say..."
Couldn't speak one more word. He owed everything to his emperor. His status, honor and even his life, thus he shall obey whatever is asked of him even if goes against his wishes.
The phone got cut off, feeling a little bored, Julius donned his cloak and left the palace which currently serves as his temporary residence.
He chose to enter the tranquil church located nearby the palace grounds and found himself gazing at the doors and windows made of bright mosaic glass while he reclines on a bench, inhaling the air with a stale and rotten smell.
It seemed like something once had been placed at the front of the church - a sculpture or something else. Julius stared ahead and went on thinking of what he started at his first sight. Even this place is neatly swept every day, the closely surrounding tress made it look still gloomy and scary. The place is regularly maintained; however, instead of it looking bright and neat, the surrounding trees prevent natural light from coming in, giving the place an eerie and gloomy ambiance.
Messiah.
It suddenly occurred to him, only to sneer at himself the next second
So ridiculous it is.
There's no salvation at all. What the hell was he thinking. He stepped on his seniors to get to the high where he is now, while the Kingsleys all went to hell with no remains left on the earth.
He was absent from the initiation of the Knight of Seven. So far it was only from the videos that he managed to see this person.
So young. It isn't rare to see promising young men among the Knight of Rounds. After all, the Great Empire of Britannia is responsible for training them. But for an Eleven raised from an ordinary soldier, what does His Highness see in him?
He heard that Suzaku Kururugi performed outstandingly in trainings and games the other day, which proved to be interesting. However, it did not deter him from not wanting to work with the young man.
Several days of consolidation only rendered him an army of headless flies.
Julius only talks to people who are of use to him whether they are wise or foolish is not of importance to him. Suzaku belongs to neither. More likely he is a stick of high-quality wood decaying from inside.
This thought became a pain in his neck, because he was vaguely conscious that it was the maggots which caused decay that he kept faith in as a sanctuary.
The sun's rays turned into multiple florid designs as they hit the church windows, casting light onto Julius' being. I better pay him a visit, he thought in a daze, in case something unexpected happens.
Julius drew the cloak over his head before dozing off.
His assignation couldn't be lower-key. His mission was meant to be confidential. His presence being nothing short of a ghost. Nobody could recognize him out at this strange palace in this unfamiliar capital.
But it doesn't matter at all, for it couldn't last long. When he took over European lands for Britannia and added a thick brush to the 98th Empire His Majesty's rulership, he would be placed aside His throne with only One over him and millions below.
The insurgence was successfully extinguished by the Holy Empire but without great cost: enormous sacrifices, material cost, and the life of Princess Cornelia Li Britannia. The true identity of the culprit remains unknown to everyone expect for the Honorary Britannian, Suzaku Kururugi, and His Majesty who himself secretly executed Zero.
It is quite unfair. High nobilities strained their ears for any possible hints of the secrets that the monkey from Area 11 would make use of to get closer to the higher ups and be leveled with the others from the Knight of Rounds who are of true Britannian origin.
This is not the case. The lips of Suzaku Kururugi are sealed. People expected him to be bought easily given his rise to such an exalted position but he remained nonchalant and obnoxious to some. Many invitations were sent to him when he was honored as the Knight of Seven were just coldly returned. Perhaps he kept something at hand for himself. Several days ago His Highness called the new Knight alone as a result of his excellent performance in competitions, making a name for himself among the nobles. Yet these swings all ceased upon the mission of the Knight of Seven to the northern battlefield.
Similarly, a chief commander brought forth in an incomprehensible way, was reported to be sick in bed, more dead than alive. When he was sick in bed, no one bothered to visit or ask him of his condition. After all, the Kingsley name sounded unfamiliar to anybody. No one dared recklessly surmise what plan His Majesty was making.
It was completely dark when Julius went back to his palace. He woke up in cold sweat with his bangs sticking to his forehead. The dim light wasn't so dazzling. He sat up and blankly stared at the mural on the ceiling for a while, reading through the refulgence of passed Emperors, only refulgence. Julius unsteadily stood up and walked out of the church, alerting the sleeping guard in the process. The guard did the same thing to his peers and then they followed up silently.
He remembered to watch the time in a twilight state and it was close to dawn. More than ten unknown missed calls showed on the mobile. Haunted by the nightmares he just had, Julius didn't bother to think a little further before dialing back.
The bell rang for long but nobody answered. Impatient, Julius was about to hang up when someone picked up.
"Hello?"
Julius greeted first as a polite gentleman. He roughly guessed on how many people could get his new number, but he hadn't virtually got the authority, so anything mustn't be overlooked, even a slightest possibility of establishing contact.
Yet the connection was only succeeded by a silence from the other side.
"Hello?"
Trying to be patient, Julius asked one more time. He didn't think that the one who called him dozens of times did this only for fun.
Remaining silent, the other person acted like a rock threw into the ocean with one moment's splash followed by deep silence.
Julius mounted his private car. The engine throbbed slightly and the dial tone went busy at the same time.
What does this mean? Julius raised his eyebrows, watching the strange number shown on the screen and tens of possibilities occurred to him. The greatest one shew up and caused him a peculiar dizziness. He jerked his head, the pendant of his blinder making a ringing sound. It wasn't urgent, he thought, a simple search would reveal his true identity.
Shutting the phone before placing it back into his pocket, he stared out the window to observe the quiet street as it was during daytime. He would like to reflect on the dream, in which he saw his mother died from power struggle. No influence, however, was left on his mood, as if the person in his dreams mean nothing to him. The awareness of such a terrible thing gave him a headache and even drowsiness for a moment.
When Julius arrived at the palace gate, another two hours has passed as reflected in the vehicle-mounted LCD screen. He considers night work tedious not always suitable for him. The driver was still in his post waiting for orders, showing his obedience to the man he was assigned to. Julius sat up straight and rubbed his half-open eyes, as a servant, posted outside his car, opened the door for him.
Under the bright light, Julius saw a line of people gathered around his modest living area. He recognized the one standing at the forefront. Iconic dressing, short curls let out luster of stones in cold light.
Suzaku Kururugi.
It seems like it was him who made over ten phone calls coupled with inexplicable silence.
Julius walked ahead, considering him as an ordinary one who is unwilling to accompany a person devoid of achievement and background. What's more, who prefer to come down as a personal guard rather than elevate his status through victory on the battlefield?
"Minister Kingsley."
The knight watched the one standing in front of himself coldly without betraying any expressions. In the gaze of Julius, he was the first to push his hand out of the deep blue coat, covered in lustrous leather gloves. It was rare to see the moon hung above Pendragon in such a weather. Interesting and mysterious.
"I am Suzaku Kururugi."
Suzaku put his long slender fingers together and kept a respectful distance of the outstretched hand. He stood erect - such an imposing appearance is nothing like the low and obedient Honorary Britannians.
He has proved himself to be Genbu Kururugi's son.
The representative of submissives? Difficult to imagine that.
Julius set aside his evident judgments and slightly raised one of his arms originally dangling beside him; however, he didn't reach it out to take the other hand but stood with one hand rested on the waist. His only abled eye narrowed a little, mouth unfurling to reveal a faint trace of a smile.
"Long heard of thy great name. Sir Kururugi."
He called in a deeper voice than that of the man in front of him, while there was a sharp rise in his tone into one of sarcasm.
"It seems like you've already placed yourself in the position."
He was certain that the man had waited here for at least six hours, which somehow surprised him.
"Is every member of the Knight of Rounds always sitting idly like this?"
Julius saw Suzaku withdraw his hand back under the blue coat. Again he thought, immodestly, that if the man learnt to shrink back from embarrassment, that would be very sensible of him.
"That's not true. It was only this morning did Francois inform me to arrange with you."
Steady tone revealing no emotions, just like an unfeeling machine, Julius wrinkled his brows upon noticing a slight tremble in the other's hand covered by the coat. But when he glanced again, a gust of cold wind happened to blow, and the slight movement may have just been an illusion.
"This morning? Interesting."
Julius let out a blunt laughter, joined by the overwhelming sounds of the wind blowing, and of the leaves from surrounding evergreen trees caressing; He then stepped forward, of which Suzaku moved sideways to pave the way.
Julius entered the room without so much as a backward glance. The guards inside saluted him and reverted to their erect standing posture. Suzaku stood still for a minute. Seeing the door was left open, he moved his legs almost numbed from the cold and followed the man in.
Once the richly-ornamented door was shut, a few of Suzaku's subordinates could breathe a little easier, relax their numb legs in an unperceived manner, and raucously complain about those petty annoyances caused to them on the first day of shift.
"Sir Kururugi, sorry for having you stand at the gate the whole day. I apologize for this."
Julius put down his cup of tea made by the servants to undo the buttons and belt buckles of his upper cloth before lying down comfortably on the sofa. He took a mouthful of hot tea then placed it back onto the saucer on the tea table.
"Yet I assume you understand well how boring a guard's work could be. I don't really know a thing worth discussing."
Shifting to a more relaxed position, Julius almost kneaded his body onto the soft velvet sofa cushion. The only response he received was silence so Julius continued speaking in a half-hearted manner.
"By the way, my file is in the brochure shelf behind you, third row and fourth from the left."
Hearing this, Suzaku turned around and moved quickly to look for the specific file from the shelf before passing it to his new superior.
"Not this. I might have missed out a detail. Please Sir Kururugi, do take the trouble to search for it. I remember the content to be the information of the latest campaign in Cuba."
Julius glanced at the file Suzaku held out, before setting his teacup on the table again, with his legs crossed as he casually gives out the order.
Suzaku quietly pulled his hand back, returned to the brochure shelf which is a head above him, and proceeded to open up one book after another to carefully go over it.
How interesting.
Watching Suzaku half kneel by the lowest frame made Julius smile. Nevertheless, if this is all for him, needless to worry any further. Next, it is his actual approach that matters.
Suzaku didn't manage to find out the so-called file, eyes darkening when he stared at more than twenty copies of the data report. Besides, he had found one copy of details about himself. It made the minister's mind all too clear.
"I'm sorry. I don't understand these."
It took Suzaku some time to get rid of the letters spinning around his head. The bright light inside and luxurious ornaments didn't help at all in making his sight clear. He passed a pile of documents to Julius and spoke for the second time.
"Oh…I was thinking, haven't they arranged language courses for Knight of Rounds?"
Julius continually pressed on the mini-recorder with his nimble fingers, said so without looking up.
"They did, once for Knight of Rounds to attend, but I was not included."
Peacefully, Suzaku started to think that he ought to mentally prepare well for such an attitude.
"So why look for the trouble?"
Julius spared one of his hands to pull the file from Suzaku's hand, flung it onto the tea table, without so much as a glance. He looked up at the Knight's impassive face with a mocking smile gracing his lips.
"What's wrong with your life as a member of the Knight of Seven in the prosperous and comfortable imperial city? Numbers are not supposed to get involved."
"I am suspicious about your loyalty to Britannia. After all, your father was once formidable opponent on the side of the resistance."
"Besides, it would be difficult for me to trust someone who had betrayed his own country, to act as my bodyguard. "
Julius slowly uttered each word while at the same time, giving emphasis on the harsher ones. His eyes were locked onto the other's expression, waiting for any signs of reaction and when he finally caught a twitch on the man's cheek, he let out the final words.
"So, please go back. If you declared an objection, I think they'll likely rearrange it. We do not know each other from the beginning, so why waste your time on me?"
Corners of the mouth upwards, this time Julius saw the knight's action covered by the cloak and the suppressed emotion along with a clenching of his fists. Actually he was curious about why the other seemed to waver on the last two sentences.
"NO, I will NOT."
Suzaku stressed every word as hard as he could. He said, "this is the command from the Emperor, His Majesty, Minister Kingsley, do you dare defy it?"
Crystal purple eyes reflected the lamplight. Suzaku heard a faint ringing sound, cold and indifferent.
Author & Translator's notes: Your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated since neither of us is a native English speaker. So feel free to point out any grammatical mistake or semantic ambiguity!
By the way, if you would like to know the original publishment URL please send a message to me. (It seems that FF prohibits directly copying and pasting URL.)