Chapter 2: The Mystery death/murder
It had been three days since there were mystery death and murder spreading in the peaceful kingdom of Gaia. The country's defense system gathered in the meeting room of the castle where they only gather for important discussion. Only the leader, best of the best are gathered there.
Sir Midorikawa Ryuuji, the one that leads the border defense army at the flat zone The Gemini,
Sir Saginuma Osamu ,Captain of the defense army at the mountain zone while keeping eye of the high sky of Gaia,The Epsilon,
Sir Kazemaru Ichirouta , Captain of the marine zone guarding the sea of Gaia, The dark emperors,
and of course the one responsible for the castle's defense system Sir Suzuno Sosuke leading all three The Prominence, The Diamond Dust and The Genesis with the help of Sir Atsuishi Shigeto, Sir Netsuha natsuhiko and Sir Touchi Shuuji.
And that day, however the special case is that Prince Nagumo will be joining the meeting among the top knights. As the way he labeled them as 'one of his princely duties'. Nagumo was aware that he had no place for his family throne as he was not their royal blood. And he was aware that his future will be leading The Prominence as an elite army.
When he entered the room the knights of honor bowed down to him, "You've finally arrived your highness" Sir Suzuno greeted before all of them stand straight again.
"huh whatever" he said walking with hands in his pockets towards his seat, "what are we at?" he asked them. All of them stared at the prince, "oh sorry, have a seat" he told them. All the knights nodded and take their seat except for Sir Touchi.
When the blue haired knight received a sign of "you may start" from the redhead prince, he nodded and begins the discussion.
After some greetings, he begins, "We had been receiving reports from villagers and our own knights about mystery death and murders occurring in this kingdom. The first case was reported at the mountain feet where a guard of Epsilon" Sir Touchi nodded to Sir Saginuma and he nodded back, "found a man died with purple substances dripping from his mouth. His dead body was found hanging upside down of a tree" The prince twitched at the mentioned information.
Sir Touchi then passed to all the attendance each one of a copy of the files with all the victims information in it. After going through the file, Prince Nagumo looked at the file with a horror look. He covered his mouth with his left hand and leaned to his chair. "You're being obvious Prince" He looked up and met with Sir Suzuno's eyes.
"of course! I mean, I've heard rumors but 15 death in three days!?" He looked panic and try to stay calm, "what did The Genesis say?" The prince was not stupid. He asked for The Genesis because he knew that team was majoring in investigations. They're a special type of defense team educated with knowledge of advanced investigation skills.
Sir Suzuno quietly flashed a small smile, he was worried that this prince will take them as a game, but, he's being seriously doing some studying. Sir Atsuishi decided to answer the question as he was leading the team these few days, "there were resemblance" The prince gestured him to proceed, "The pattern of their death. Statiscally, there were 5 death in a day. Each of the death would be killed by a weapon, which we guessed would be a dagger, death without injuries and death of, which we call 'accidents'. However, every victims were found with purple substances dripping from their body"
"Steps taken?" The prince asked.
"We've strengthen our guards, everyone are on high alert now. Ins and outs were checked and examine thoroughly" answered Sir Kazemaru.
"Good" The prince asked and stared to the file in front of him, "Spread The Genesis into all teams" He said. All the knights of honor widened their eyes at the sudden said.
"I'm sorry?" Sir Suzuno asked.
"You heard me" The prince made eye contact with all the knights, "Spread the Genesis, make sure they be with each of your team. We're going to need an early identification for each deaths" He then turned to the prized knight, "Send the Diamond Dust undercover, make sure they identify anyone suspicious" every knight was speechless 'why haven't they think that?', "Don't worry, I trust even without Genesis and Diamond Dust, Prominence will able to defend the castle"
Trusting the prince, Sr Suzuno nodded, "we will follow the prince's plans for now" everyone nodded. When they're about to leave, a guard opened the door suddenly.
"Sir Suzuno!" he was panting, as if he was running to save his life. There was also worries, fears, in his eyes.
Sir Suzuno raised a brow. Every knights turned towards the guard including the prince, "Yes Tsumujino san?"
"there's..there's another murder at the outskirt of town" he reported.
Sir Touchi was about to record the information and Suzuno nodded, "Thanks for the information, we'll send the Genesis right-"
"Suzuno Kouka" the guard said, "The name was Suzuno Kouka"
Suzuno widened his eyes, his pupil became small, the file he'd been holding to give to Touchi fell from his grip and the papers were scattered on the floor. A pregnant silent filled the room until Sir Kazemaru mentioned, "…Mrs Suzuno?"
The prince turned from the guard to Sir Kazemaru then to Sir Suzuno. 'no way…' he thought 'the victim is…..Suzuno's mother?!'
Suzuno then turned to the knights and the prince, "i-i-I'm s-sorry, p-please excuse me" he said before rushing to the guard, "take me there"
"Yes Sir" with that, both of them left the room.
-The Blue Sapphire Knight-
The rain was pouring down as if the world felt the pain the gifted knight had been feeling. Suzuno Kouka was buried in the graveyard beside her one and only husband. Her funeral was attended and handled with care. Her funeral was attended by the royal family themselves and the great lines of ministers along with their knights of honor. However, the sky had gotten dark, the time had gotten late. An hour after the funeral, there left only the prized knight himself, his best friends, the two princes and a woman of their age. The woman was sobbing and trying her hard not to overdue herself.
She then brace herself to face the knight. He was lifeless, he had no emotions. Not that anyone wasn't used to t, but she had enough, "What the hell suzuno kun?!" she didn't care if she had destroy her image in front of the two princes, "look at your face! Didn't you feel sad at all, you useless dick!" she was disappointed with the knight.
The golden eyed prince stepped forward to defend his knight, "HEY! Who are you woman?! To speak like that to our prized Knight!" He raised his voice. His eyes seemed to be glowing under the cloudy sky.
The woman looked at Suzuno, "huh! You're so proud aren't you? Too proud of what they call you?!" She pushed him lightly by the shoulder, "The prized knight! The leader of the Seventh War! Most respected in three kingdoms! THE BLUE SAPPHIRE KNIGHT!" another tear dropped from her eye, "You're so proud of that name that not even one tear you shed for you-"
Her words were stopped as the light blue haired male reached her head and pulled her to his neck, letting her buried her face there. Eventually, she shut her eyes and hugged him and sobbed harder, "thank you for taking care of her" that's the first they heard of Suzuno's voice since he did not say a word for the whole evening.
Hiroto looked down while Nagumo stared at the two blue headed sharing their pain. Nagumo had been friends with the knight for so long that he knew the man can hardly show emotions on his face, as if his heart had been frozen. But once today, he saw how lifeless that teal eyes of the knight. His skin was paler than usual and he did not mock his tulip hair. Nagumo knows, no matter how cold people labelled the knight, he still a human and of course feels sadness of losing someone dear to him.
Nagumo looked to his side as he no longer felt the rain dropping on his skin. It was Clara, his maid holding an umbrella protecting his head. He turned to his brother and saw Atsuishi, the knight who drove their royal carriage, holding an umbrella protecting the other prince's head. Atsuishi then held out an umbrella and poked suzuno's hand. He made a slight turn and took the umbrella and open it, shading both him and the girl. He then gently pushed her shoulder off of him, "You should go home Reina, It's getting late" He said as he took Raina's hand and put the umbrella in her hand, "Have some rest" Reina nodded and slowly leaving the Knights, maid and princes. Once again, he was left unshaded. He sighed and turned to the remaining audience, His hair, clothes were soaked, "Your highnesses should go home too, I'll be tailing you soon"
Then, a hand rested on his shoulder, "Don't be stupid" it was Prince Nagumo, he then took the umbrella from his maid, "why don't you go inside the carriage Clara-san?" The maid nodded and rushed into the carriage. The prince took Suzuno's hand and handed him the umbrella, "Go home, take your time" Suzuno is now holding the umbrella shading them both, "By that I mean your home…" he assured him with a soft smile, "I've been there, and I know what you need at time like this, and don't come back until" he poked the blue head's forehead, "your mind is back on track" He then flashed his smirk.
Suzuno suddenly felt that his cheek was getting warm instead of the cold surrounding them. "He's right" Suzuno turned to the other prince, "Go back home and rest, take your time" he smiled. Suzuno nodded to both of them. Moments later, he was left alone, only him and the graveyard. He was aware that he needed to stay calm and collected even in time like this. He must not give in to his feelings and swallowed them once again. He then bowed to the grave and left home. His home.
Arrived at his small house, he turned on the lights and locked the door behind him. "Tadaima.." he whispered knowing that no one can reply to him. He can only imagine that his mother greeted him with the sweetest smile pasted on her face. With no one to yell at him about his soaking cloth, he walked straight to the bathroom and took off his clothes leaving him in his under wear. He then reached the bindings on his chest, threw it on the floor and looked at the mirror. Yes there were two rounded body part on his chest. Yes, he is a she. She believed that once she returned home, she did not need to pretend to be her brother anymore. And this secret was shared between her and her mother. But now, since she's gone, no one else that know that she was a 'she' not a 'he'. She was the sister that Sir Netsuha brought up a few days ago.