She King
By: money127
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Please don't shoot me! I didn't disappear on purpose. All the homework and the extracurricular activities kept me busy for all this time. However, thanks to that, my idea of this chapter developed well. I hope there are still people who read this.
Enjoy chapter 4!
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Previous:
The next day, the Princes were invited to go hunting with the King. Everyone was still dressing up. All but one… Mikan walked towards the stables to meet with a very "loyal" servant.
"Goshima." Mikan called out and a good looking servant in neat clothes came out.
"Your Majesty." Goshima bowed.
"I want you to check up on the horses before we take off." Mikan said in a quiet voice and handed him a small bag of silver coins.
"Of course." Goshima inched closer to the prince.
"I want you to…" Mikan whispered in his ear.
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It was quiet in the forest that day. Everyone knew how serious the royal family got over hunting and didn't dare to disrupt the perfect atmosphere for an animal to carelessly catch the eye of one of the princes or the king. Mikan's hand held a bow with the arrow already in place as she skillfully rode her black horse along with her brothers. Looking at her now, it was impossible to mistake her for a woman for her posture and aura were all equal to her brothers. Her hands itched to raise her bow and shoot, to end the silence with a sacrifice of an animal life but she knew that one wrong move and she would leave without a catch and that didn't just apply to the hunting. She needed to be as fast as a panther, as silent as a snake and as lethal as a lion.
A deer came in sight and Mikan raised her bow.
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Natsume heard the cheering and hoped that at least someone got a prey. The sound probably scared off some animals and if even that prey escaped then that was a waste of effort and time. A white rabbit caught Natsume's sight and he got off his horse to follow it on foot. He could hear two other people following him; he guessed those were the twins and didn't look back to confirm. He needed to get this rabbit; he needed to get the throne.
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Tsubasa rode along with Kan on a desolate trail on which Kan said he saw a fox.
"Are you sure this is where you saw it?" Tsubasa asked and looked around, there was no sign of anything being alive here.
"We know our way back, Tsubasa, there's no need to be a chicken." Kan said a little humorously.
"I'm not chicken, just not sure if we are getting anywhere with this." Tsubasa explained, "Maybe we should focus on a prey we can see."
"If you can find me a better prey than a fox, I will abandon this but I know for a fact that a fox is rare and not many things can compare to it."
"How about a wolf?" Tsubasa suggested.
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Mikan turned to where Tsubasa was pointing, a wolf indeed. Mikan took off on her horse and on her way past her brother, she kicked his horse lightly on a pressure point.
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In a matter of seconds, Tsubasa's horse was racing like the mad horse it was. Tsubasa was trying to get control of the horse but it wasn't easy and it didn't get any better when his saddle got ripped on one side. Immediately, Tsubasa lost balance. He was hanging on to the left side of the horse when he heard his brother run towards him on his horse.
"Here!" Kan yelled, "Take my hand!" Tsubasa extended one of his hands, risking his own safety and putting his trust on a half-brother he barely even knew. Just as the feeling of the last saddle strap ripping on the other side hit Tsubasa, he finally took a hold of Kan's hand and was pulled up on the black horse.
"Let's go get your horse back." Kan said and started riding towards the still running brown horse, now without the saddle. Kan had Tsubasa hold his horse as he jumped towards the mad one and soothed it while the horse continued to run mad. After a few minutes, the horse slowed down and came to a halt in the middle of nowhere.
"Now how do we get back?"
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Mikan was satisfied with the progression of things. Get Tsubasa in a near death situation and save him: Check. Get his horse back: Check. Get stuck in the middle of nowhere to have time to convince him to get on your side: Check.
"I guess we will have to stay here until morning." Tsubasa said as he came back with some wood, "Thanks for helping me out back then. I could've died."
"We are brothers, Tsubasa. I would save you any day." Mikan smirked and Tsubasa sat down to set up a fire, "But can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure, anything." Tsubasa said. The fire lit up and he sat down next to Mikan.
"We can't talk about this much in the castle because the walls there have ears." Mikan started and Tsubasa nodded in agreement, "I made a bet with father." Tsubasa nodded.
"What about?"
"The throne. If I become the king, Mikan will be set free." Mikan explained, waiting for Tsubasa's reaction.
"Mikan? Free? Where is she?" Tsubasa was already hooked.
"She didn't want to marry the Prince of Zero so father locked her up somewhere. If I win, she's free to go wherever she wants. If I lose, I can't be sure she'll be safe." Mikan looked gravely down, making sure that Tsubasa caught every fake feeling displayed on her face. Sadness, despair, guilt, helplessness…
"Then you have to win." Tsubasa said, "We need to get her out of there, wherever that is."
"Thank you for your consideration but aren't you also trying to get the throne?" Mikan asked, already knowing the answer.
"If it's for a sister, I'm ready to give up on thousands of thrones. Besides, I'd rather govern an area than a country, gives me more freedom." Tsubasa said and leaned back, "Don't worry, I've got your back."
"Thank you but that's not all." Mikan continued, "Natsume also made a bet with father." Tsubasa furrowed his eyebrows, confused.
"Why would he do that?"
"If he becomes the king, he will get father's approval to marry Mikan." Tsubasa's eyes widened, "And if he loses, he will marry Princess Luna of Souls."
"Well, it's pretty obvious that Natsume's in love with your sister but we always thought that that would always be an impossible thing, you know, with them being half siblings. But with father's approval… Maybe you should let Natsume win. He will finally be with the one he loves. If you lose, there are no consequences. But if he loses, he will have to be married to someone else."
"Mikan doesn't love Natsume." Mikan interrupted, "I don't want her to become some pawn in father's game and then get married to a man she doesn't love." That was actually true, "I don't want Natsume to marry some woman he doesn't care about but I don't want Mikan married to a man she doesn't love either." Tsubasa seemed wavered. Mikan came closer to Tsubasa and looked into his eyes, "Mikan is my only sister, my only twin. I don't have another like her. Neither do you. Please, for the sake of the only sister we have, support me." Mikan's eyes were pleading but she already knew that Tsubasa would do anything as long as he believes it to be the right thing to do.
"Alright, I'll help." Tsubasa surrendered.
"Thank you but it's not going to be easy. Natsume plays dirty, you know?" Mikan said and pointed at his horse.
"You mean…"
"I'm not sure but I'm pretty suspicious." Mikan said and smiled in triumph inside as she finally got what she set out to get this morning.
The next morning, the other princes found Mikan and Tsubasa but none of them knew what really happened the night before.
As fast as a panther, as silent as a snake and as lethal as a lion but will that be enough?
