Disclaimer: Magi is the property of Shinobu Ohtaka and Shogakukan.

A/N: according to the databook, Hakuei's favorite drink is kumis (mare's milk). It's a slightly alcoholic drink and the same one that Toya offered her in volume 3.

Downpour

Thunder roared like a beast that broke out of its seal, followed by droplets that soon grew into a torrent that hammered down on the rooftops and the cobblestone paths. Candles and lanterns were lit one by one inside the imperial palace, rendering the windows into rectangles of light that glared in the dim darkness. A vein of lightning stretched across the blackened late morning sky, momentarily illuminating the rain-drenched capital and revealing a woman in mourning clothes. Her back was against a pillar of one of the palace garden's pavilions under which she had taken shelter. The sound of thunder and whistling of the wind that dampened her clothes and hair and decreased her body temperature were tuned out inside her ears. A trail of tears ran down her cheeks, and her eyes that were out of focus were cast towards the ominous sky.

Laughter, a tired sigh and a snide remark emanated from the distance, accompanied by clinking of armor, rustling of robes and clicking of boots that grew louder by the second. It suddenly ceased as the three figures, who had already changed out of their mourning clothes, passed by the pavilion and took notice of the woman.

"That's..." Kouha trailed off while his eyes took in Hakuei whose white robes and ghost-pale skin rendered her into a phantom in the gloom.

The clicking of boots on the wet ground followed as Kouen stepped into the rain, his hair flattening against his face and neck as he advanced towards her. When he stopped before her his fingers grasped her chin, wondering for how long she had been there while noting how icy her skin was, and pivoted her face so their eyes would meet. While it was easy in this weather to mistake tears for rainwater, her shrunken, bloodshot eyes betrayed her state. Unsure what had her crying out in the cold and dampness, he pulled her numb, freezing body into his embrace and caressed her back soothingly. He held his cape over her head as he walked her towards his brothers that had been silently and worriedly watching them and then towards her room.

"Kouha." Koumei turned to his younger brother whose legs were faster than his. "Quickly, call her handmaidens and tell them to prepare a hot bath and warm food for her. I'll go to my room to see if I still have some cold medicine left."

"Got it." Kouha dashed off while casting one look over his shoulder at his brother who walked Hakuei towards her room as he passed them.

The rain didn't let up when Koumei and Kouha saw Kouen off and headed towards their rooms where servants must have already set the table for lunch. They had asked Kouen whether he wanted his food delivered to him in Hakuei's room and told them he will eat later.

"Say, brother Mei," Kouha broached, knowing how just like Kouen, Koumei went way back with Hakuei, "I'm sure you already heard of this, but there've been rumors about brother En and sister Ei. It's been two years since Kougyoku captured a dungeon and she's working so hard at proving herself as a warrior, and yet, brother En hasn't promoted her to a general. Sister Ei is also the prettiest of our sisters. Even though she's the daughter of the previous emperor, it's hard to imagine that no governor, noble man or official hasn't been taken with her beauty."

"A lot asked for her hand in marriage, some were good, honest men, but they were all turned down." Koumei expanded while bringing a hand over his mouth as he released a yawn and rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes.

"Why? Father didn't seem that fond of her. I can imagine he would've got her off his hands the first chance he got. Even Kougyoku, who brother En is aware of her desire to live as a warrior, was forced into that engagement with that pig even though Hakuei was closer to his age."

"That wasn't the case," Koumei clarified. "Considering Balbadd's importance as both a trading center and the gateway to our western subjugation campaign, we needed a conventional princess to earn the royal family's trust."

"That's beside the point, you know what I'm talking about," Kouha groused. "Being once his princess and he her retainer, I can understand it's his lingering sense of duty to watch over her and grant her status. But preventing her marriage even though they're step-brother and sister?"

"Father is dead; they can now get together without anyone faulting them," Koumei informed matter-of-factly.

"Is there already something going on between them?" Kouha asked indignantly, hating to be the one out of the loop, "Or has he had his eyes on her and been shelving her for later?"

"Kouha," Koumei asked, the tone of the usually laid-back man turning severe, "do you have some particular problem with princess Hakuei?"

"Not really," Kouha lied sulkily. He had a problem with how it looked like his sisters had been used as sacrificial lambs so Hakuei would be in for the taking once their father kicked the bucket. He had a problem with how Kougyoku at one point had to sacrifice her dreams while as Hakuei was allowed to pursue them and live her life however she wished. Overall, he had a problem with how she seemed to be higher on Kouen's priorities list than his own brothers and sisters.

"Even though her mother is our enemy, she's still one of us," Koumei chastised, unsure if it was mere jealousy or that Kouha was skeptical after today's announcement that had divided the royal court into two. "Besides, sooner or later, Kouen will rule over the world and will need a queen to bear his heir. Objectively speaking, when it comes to lineage, Kouen wouldn't approve of anyone more than the daughter of Hakutoku Ren: our hero who passed onto us his dream. For the past couple of years, she's been leading men and devising strategies. When it comes to leadership abilities to rule by Kouen's side, none of the women that father forced down our throats could match up to her."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Kouha cut him off tiredly with a dismissive wave of his hand. At least, he had to admit that the concept of Kouen being in love was kind of cute. He cheered himself up with imagining what the usually poker-faced Kouen looked like when he was blushing, territorial or putting on the moves. "I wonder if something will happen between them in there."

"To princess Hakuei, Kouen is someone who made the impossible possible for her: it's easy to be taken with someone like that," Koumei stated. "If Kouen wanted, he could easily get her in the mood and have his way with her."

'But brother En isn't that type of man,' was what Kouha was about to say. Kouha had heard that Kouen found the nightly visits from concubines a pain and was sending them back. In recent years, it had become a habit of his to spend months fighting wars and doing historical research till late at night whenever he was in the capital. It must have been ages since he had gotten laid, and now he will be alone with a vulnerable beauty who adored him and felt quite indebted to him. Kouen in the end was a man, but Kouha liked to believe he possessed a restraint that matched the way he went all out on the battlefield.

Kouen was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in Hakuei's living-room area, hair down and clad in a dry change of clothes that his brothers had it brought for him. His armor pieces and metal vessels that had been wiped dry were placed neatly on a table near him along with a new cape and set of boots. In his hand was a cup of Hakuei's favorite kumis with ginger that Hakuei's maids had heated up for her and served him without honey, the way he liked it.

This was the first time he had been to her room, and when he had first arrived he surveyed it. In a sense, it was similar to his room in its content. Aside from the fresh-cut flowers in vases and the sewing basket on the mantelpiece, there were maps, prized swords and glaives on stands and towers of books and scrolls, though they were on strategy and tactics that he knew by heart rather than history.

Kouen picked up the sound of three sets of feet, and when he looked over his shoulder he saw Hakuei's handmaidens exiting the bedroom area. The head maid that had been caring for her since she was born dismissed the other two before advancing towards him to report on her condition.

"How's she?" Kouen rose to his feet, noting the troubled expression on the older woman's face.

"No matter how many times I ask her, she wouldn't respond." She shook her head. "She didn't even touch her food. I haven't seen her like this ever since..."

Kouen's chest tightened with dread as the woman trailed off with her voice turning shaky, and he watched as her knees gave out on her with her wrinkly hands covering her face as she started sobbing on the floor.

"Her highness, you have no idea what she's been through after her father and brothers were gone and everyone started looking down on her and prince Hakuryuu. And with her majesty Empress Gyokuen changing after that loss, she's been shouldering everything all by herself while holding back her tears." She then clutched the hem of his robes pleadingly, aware of her lady's feelings for him and how he was the only one who could get through to her. "Please, she has no one to rely on. Forgive me for saying this, but for the sake of the deceased that you once served, bring the smile back on her face."

"Stand up," Kouen commanded and added once the woman was back on her feet. "Thank you for taking care of her and Hakuryuu all these years. I'll take it from here."

The old woman wiped her tears with her sleeve and bowed before she excused herself. With his back turned to the door that was shut behind him, Kouen advanced towards the bedroom area and found Hakuei sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, clad in her trademark pink robes with her hair that reached down to her knees unbound and pooled behind her on the floor. This was the first time he had seen her with her hair down. Her face that glowed with the color of the dancing flames wore a sorrowful look. It was an expression he had not seen since the time that followed the incident that had taken the lives of her father and brothers.

He took a seat behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and the smell of her hair tickled his nose when she leaned back against him. The last time they had made body contact: when he had his arms around her was when he offered a shoulder to cry on after her father and brothers' funeral. Back then, he had thought of her like one of his sisters: that it was his obligation to look after her on behalf of his uncle that he looked up to and revered more than his own father. If he was alive, he would have wanted Hakuei to live her own life according to the choices that she had made. When she had voiced her desire to live as a warrior, he supervised her training and education to equip her with the skills needed to survive on her own, all while preventing his father from using her as a political tool.

The crackling of fire, the tapping of rain against the windows and the occasional sound of thunder echoed in the silence that followed. As he took in her clean, flowery scent, Kouen ran his fingers through her hair, tracing its length and appreciating its silkiness and volume. Next, his breath tickled her scalp, his voice bringing her back to reality. "You went after Hakuryuu after the announcement, did something happen?"

He sensed her flinch at the mention of Hakuryuu. Silence loomed over them again and a tear trickled on the back of his hand that he had wrapped around her waist.

"He told me... It was mother who killed father and brothers."

"What?" Kouen exclaimed, shocked at the fact that Hakuryuu, who was only a child of six back then, had known all along. "How?"

Hakuei turned around in his arms to face him with a hurt look on her face, putting two and two together. "You've known all along?"

"After the incident, Koumei and I conducted our own investigation," Kouen explained, leaving out the details of how his father, who had desired his sister-in-law along with the throne, had played right into her and the organization's hand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hakuei cried indignantly, shrugging out of his embrace.

"Would you have told Hakuryuu if you knew?" Kouen reasoned irritably, "You would've kept him in the dark, have him believe that your mother went crazy after losing your father and brothers."

Kouen himself did not believe when he had found out about it. After being granted an audience with his uncle and cousins in his late childhood, Kouen could not help but compare that happy family to his divided own. It was no exaggeration to say that if it were not for the example that his uncle and his family had set for him, Kouen might have ended up becoming like his father, who was the epitome of corruption.

"Besides," he added, extending a hand to caress her face, "I thought keeping you in the dark will keep you safe and enable you to live your own life. I didn't want you to get involved. She and those priests are more dangerous than you think."

"What am I supposed to do?" Hakuei wrapped her arms around herself, her hand still aching from the intensity that Hakuryuu had held it with. A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the look in his eyes that were wide with hatred. "He was such a sweet child. All those years I never suspected for a moment that there was something wrong with him."

Kouen, who too had never suspected that Hakuryuu knew the truth behind that incident, frowned. He wrapped an arm around her protectively and stroked her bicep while he assessed the situation. Something must have happened while Hakuryuu was in Sindria to release all that pent-up hatred. Was it the metal vessel and its power that had gone to his head? While Hakuei had kept it out of her reports, stories about Zagan's fearsome powers and the gruesome manner in which Hakuryuu had dealt with their enemies had reached him in the frontlines. Whatever it was, judging by the way he acted in the funeral today, it looked like Hakuryuu had his own plans and would not see eye to eye with him.

"What are you going to do?" Kouen asked above a whisper, "are you going to confront your mother?"

"I'm too scared to do so." Tears streamed down her face as her mother's loving smile and the way they held hands with her father and brothers when they were alive flashed by her. "It's not that I'm doubting you or Hakuryuu. I still can't imagine that my mother, who looked so in love with my father and raised my brothers into decent men, would have it in her to kill them."

It was probably for the best. Gyokuen Ren was already a lost cause and it would save Hakuei unneeded pain to hold onto their happy memories together.

Suddenly, the growling of Hakuei's stomach ruined the seriousness of the moment. Kouen laughed while as Hakuei covered her face in embarrassment.

"It's past lunchtime and all that worrying must've taken a toll on you." Kouen got up and picked up her food that had been left beside the fireplace to keep it warm.

"Let's eat together," Hakuei suggested after a moment of swirling her spoon around in the soup bowl. "I don't have much of an appetite, and the servants will get worried if I didn't eat much."

Accepting her invitation, Kouen eyed the tray. Aside from today's main course, a warm soup and what looked like bread that people in western countries ate in place of rice had been prepared for her.

"Why don't you try this?" Noticing the Tenzan specialty that had caught his attention, Hakuei picked one up, split it in half and brought it near his mouth. "It's a dish with cheese and vegetable filling that the Kouga people picked up from the merchants that hail from the desert. Though, they use cheese from horse milk instead of goat milk."

When his mouth closed around the bite and around her fingers, Hakuei reflexively retracted her hand with a squeak, heat rushing to her cheeks as the coldness of this rainy day tickled her fingertips that had become coated with his saliva.

"Tastes good, I want more."

Unfazed by her earlier reaction, Kouen looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to do as she was told. Hakuei hesitantly picked up the other half and lifted it towards his mouth, and a cry tore from her throat as he this time caught her by the wrist and licked her fingers clean after he ate.

He let go with a smirk curving his lips, relishing the way she averted her face while tucking a strand behind her ear. She was different from the women he had been with and not used to being looked at or treated as a woman. With his imagination running wild, he wondered what other cute expressions and sounds she would make with her trapped beneath him.

"It's your turn."

He tore a bite size and extended his hand to feed her, and when she bashfully ate off his fingers he watched her with the sadism of a torturer who took pleasure in seeing his victims writhe in agony. In peaceful times, Kouen was an expressionless man of a few words who was near impossible to provoke. But once he stands on the battle field, takes out his sword and becomes covered in the blood of his enemies, he turns into a completely different man, like he was right now while he hand-fed her and waited to be hand-fed in return. Gradually, she lost sense of herself as she meekly followed his lead.

Before she knew it, the appetizer plate became empty, and before he got anymore weird ideas she quickly picked up her soup bowl and drank out of the rim. After all, it was especially made to warm her up, and she could sense her maid's kindness and wishes for her to become better as she drank it.

"Want some kumis?" Hakuei suggested while getting up to place the tray back on the table and brought the kumis silver pot that was kept warm above the mantelpiece with a woolen cozy. When he started sipping the cup that she poured him, she released a giggle, and when he asked what was funny she explained, "no, it's just I remembered the time when I first arrived at the Kouga village before they became part of the empire. My speech didn't get through to them, and when Toya, Dorj's wife that I told you about, offered me kumis and invited me inside, Ryosai shoved her aside and said kumis was a drink for dogs. I wonder if he would have dared to say that if he knew that you, general commander and flame emperor, would take a liking to it."

"Back then when I read your report, I regretted pushing for you for the position of the northern station corps commander." Kouen said chidingly after he downed the remainder in his cup in one go and extended his hand for seconds, "You even kept out the injuries that you sustained."

At that time, his army was advancing westwards towards Balbadd and she had yet to master a full djinn equip. His father would not have cared whether Hakuei had lived or died, and the only reason why he had passed the death sentence onto Ryosai was because he wanted to make an example of those who wished harm upon the imperial family.

Under his disapproving gaze, Hakuei flinched like a child that had been caught with her hand inside the rice cake jar and lowered her eyes as she timidly filled his cup. Back then when he returned to the capital and spotted the scar on her face, he didn't look pleased with her explanation it was a result of a misunderstanding. He became suspicious and ordered for her medical report, and when he took a look and found out about all the sword and arrow injuries she had been hiding beneath her robes, he gave her an earful.

The reason why Kouen had supported her goal to become a full-fledged warrior, even though he at the same time was against her endangering her life, was because she was the daughter of the previous emperor. Back when her uncle was alive, everyone looked down on her and Hakuryuu and her word did not have much of a weight. Even with all the effort she had put into it, if it were not for him pulling a few strings and watching over her, she would not have been where she was right now. Even though it will never come close to repaying his kindness, all she could do was stand by his side and dedicate herself to realizing his ideals.

After his fifth or so cup, Kouen extended his hand for more, only to find that Hakuei had already nodded off with the cup slipping from her hand to roll down on the floor.

"This must've been an eventful day for you."

He got up, lifted her up in his arms and carried her over to her bed. After he pulled the covers over her and was about to head out to call her maid to stay with her, her hand tugged on his sleeve.

"Father... brothers..."

At the sight of the tear that slid down her cheek, Kouen knelt beside her and traced the wet trail with his thumb.

Her bed that he next climbed onto quivered under his weight. With his back against the headboard, his finger traced her tear-stricken cheekbones, the shape of her slightly-parted mouth and ran his fingers through her silky tresses. The thunderstorm passed with rain falling quietly out of the window as Kouen brought her hair to his lips. Out of the books stacked on her nightstand, he picked up a collection of poems dating back to the golden age of the Kouga empire and passed the next hours reading it until she woke up.