Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura isn't mine.
Previously in Worth Fighting For:
"Princess Sakura," Yukito said calmly when Sakura remained. "Think about it carefully. Commander Yue is very experienced in military tactical. I don't think that sending his men over to your palace—to escort you out is the tactical strategy he would apply. Your maids and guards will know that you went out to see him. Don't you think that no one will suspect him as soon as you went missing?"
Sakura drew back. She turned around to Tomoyo with a mix of confusion and suspicion on her face. Her mind started to think of the logical reason over the argument that Yukito had presented before her.
"Your highness," Commander Yue said carefully. "I don't know who it is that was trying to kill you, using me as their scapegoat. But all I know now is that whoever tried to harm you tonight was trying to destroy me as well."
Worth Fighting For
Chapter 4: Propositions
Princess Sakura could see the displeased glances the ministers gave her. She could hear the whisperers saying how it was unbefitting for her — a princess, a woman, to sit on the throne, ruling a country.
She knew exactly what the ministers had called her behind her back and naïve was one of them.
But perhaps the ministers were right. Perhaps she was too inexperienced to rule the country. After all, Sakura had absolutely zero experience with managing the government matters. And thanks to her naïveté, she had endangered both Chiharu and herself. They nearly fell into her enemy's trap and could have ended up dead.
Advisor Yukito and Commander Yue agreed that the attack could be related to the king's disappearance. They warned Sakura to be careful of the people around her or whoever that might have something to gain from her disappearance.
Yukito wouldn't tell her much about who they suspected as her attacker, but Sakura could guess that they were suspecting Prime Minister Nakano.
"Your highness?" Minister Nakano called out.
Sakura snapped out from her trance and saw the ministers were staring at her.
Perfect. Now she had given the prime minister a chance to embarrass her in front of the others.
"You have been staring at me for a while," Nakano said. "Is something wrong?"
Sakura looked up to Prime Minister Nakano and winced inwardly at the thought that the old man could be the one who was after her life. She knew that with the other ministers' support, the prime minister would be able to step up as the acting king once she vanished.
Sakura cleared her throat and straightened her back. "No, everything is alright."
Minister Nakano turned to the other ministers before he spoke again. "Is your highness too tired to handle the country matters? Perhaps we should take a short break?"
"Maybe the princess has no interest towards the country matters," the minister of finance interjected.
Sakura gritted her teeth and cast the minister a menacing glance, causing the old man to shrink back into his seat.
The other ministers started to chatter to remove the uncomfortable atmosphere around them.
Sakura took a deep breath and shook her head. "No. I'm fine. I was just thinking about what you ministers have reported to me." She lied. "But thank you for your concern, minister." Then, she cast a glance towards the document on her table. It was a document that report how poverty had lowered in some villages. She looked up again and forced a smile. "Good work, ministers. I'm glad that the poverty rate has gone low."
The ministers began to smile, happy that the princess acknowledged their hard work.
The princess listened to more reports before she announced that the meeting to be adjourned. Sakura sunk into her throne and rubbed her temple slowly. Listening to the ministers debating on the political matters on and on gave her a slight headache. Sakura stood up from her seat and walked out of the assembly hall, followed by Yukito and a few of her maidservants.
"Thank you for your hard work today," Yukito told her.
She looked up and smiled faintly to her advisor. "I hope I wasn't doing a terrible job as a ruler."
"I think you're doing a terrific job as a beginner."
Sakura laughed a bit. "You think so?"
"I know so. Not many princesses could handle the pressure from the ministers as you could. You're a strong woman, Princess Sakura," Yukito said. He had recently tutored Sakura on governing, politics, economics and everything she needed to know to survive the ministers' demand. And ever since the assault, he had to worry about the princess's safety as well.
Sakura gave him a small smile. Then a small sigh followed. "I just hope that I would hear news on Touya's whereabouts sooner. Frankly, I don't think that I could do a good job on governing as he did."
Yukito smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's alive somewhere. Your brother is strong man. It will be hard for anyone to harm him. I bet he was planning something big before he made his appearance," he shrugged. "Perhaps he just wanted to make us worry."
That little comment made Sakura chuckle. She watched Yukito retreat to attend another affair and headed back to her studies with her maidservants. She stopped shortly when she noticed that the minister of commerce, Kinomoto Jinnosuke was heading towards her.
Jinnosuke bowed at her presence. "Crown Princess."
Sakura smiled politely. "How are you doing uncle?" She made an attempt to bow at him — an act for respect to the elder. Then, she remembered that Yukito had taught her in the etiquette class that she no longer had to do that as she is now a ruler of the country.
"I'm doing quite well," Jinnosuke responded. "Is there any news on the king's whereabouts?"
Sakura tried her best not to let her worry show. "Not yet. The troops are still searching for him."
"I'm sure that they will be able to find him sooner or later," Jinnosuke assured. He asked Sakura a bit on how she's coping with her new role as a ruler and gave her a bit advice on how to gain the ministers' support. "If you ever need my help, please don't hesitate to see me. You know that I will always support you and your brother."
xxx
Sakura went through her cards and pulled out 'the twin'. Then, she put the card on top of her deck as an amulet to help her to deal with the ministers better. She put aside her cards quickly in her drawer when her lady-in-waiting announced that Advisor Yukito and Commander Yue wanted to see her. Sakura straightened up and smiled uneasily to the commander. It was awkward how a few nights ago, she was accusing the commander to be responsible in sending fake police to murder her. And now the commander is walking into her study to discuss her security.
Both Yukito and Yue bowed towards the princess. "Your highness."
Sakura nodded, signaling them to deliver the news. She listened to the commander briefing about the investigation on the fake police and sighed when they haven't got much clues. The fake police confessed that a masked man paid them to do the deeds. He even gave them the captain badge from Yue's bureau to help them sneak into the palace.
Yue turned to Yukito after his reports and watched him nodded in approval. He stepped forward and said, "Your highness, we have a proposition for you."
Sakura leaned forward. "A proposition? What is it about?"
Commander Yue took a deep breath. "We thought that it would be for the best if we recruit a few men and trained them as your royal guard to protect you inside and outside of palace."
"Royal guards?" Sakura frowned after a while. "You mean like Tou— the king's royal guards?"
"Yes," Yukito said. "You're now ruling the country in the king's stead. Thus, your safety is as important as the king's. And it's only natural that we should recruit a few men as your royal guards."
"Why can't we just select a few of the palace guards and assigned them as my royal guards instead?" Sakura asked. "I think that would save a lot more money than recruiting new men."
Yukito smiled at the princess's opinion. He knew exactly what was on the princess mind. The princess would rather cut costs and save the government money, and use them to help her people.
"Of course, the palace guards are eligible to apply as the royal guard if they're interested," the commander spoke. "But royal guards and palace guards are different. They have higher skills in martial arts as compared to the palace guards. And the selection is much stricter. The royal guards would usually be given a much different training than palace guards. They will have to train for a few weeks in the boot camp before the selection process begin."
Sakura chewed her lip, trying to absorb what the commander had told her. "Alright..."
"And usually, the king or the crown prince would have to train along with their royal guards to build a stronger bond between them," Yue continued.
Yukito noticed that small wrinkles forming on the princess's forehead. "You remember that Touya had undergone the same training with his royal guards, do you?"
Sakura frowned. She nodded as she remembered watching his brother trained along with his guards in his quarters. "I remember." Sakura tightened her lips as she looked at Yukito. "Does that mean that I have to train with my guards too?"
Yukito shook his head and chuckled softly. "No, princess. You don't have to take part in the training. I have discussed on this matter with the commander and we have agreed that the commander himself will train your guards for you as he was much more familiar with it."
Sakura had a confuse look on her face. "What about bonding with my guards then?"
The two men exchanged their look again before Yue spoke. "For the time being, we thought that it is best that we select men that are capable to protect you from danger. After all, we didn't have much time to train them. But, perhaps you could slowly build your bond with your guards as times goes by."
Yukito stiffened his smile at how Yue had arranged his words carefully. "Furthermore your highness. I don't think that the king would be pleased to know that we let you spend your time with a bunch of men without his approval."
Sakura stared at Yukito blankly. Then, her lips slowly curved into a smile as something registered into her mind — how her brother never let any boy come closer to her. Touya was really protective towards her. Especially when there was males involved.
"You know that he would kill me if I ever let that happen in his absence," Yukito said. "So, bonding with your guards is totally out of question."
Sakura laughed softly. "What about female bodyguard? Like Tomoyo's bodyguard."
"If the candidates are perfect for the job, I don't see why not?" Yue replied with a shrug.
xxx
Yamazaki searched for a girl with brown hair, braided into two pigtails in the market. He sighed in frustration when he couldn't find one the girl he was looking for. 'Perhaps she styled her hair differently this time?' He whispered. Then, he shook his head, knowing that it was impossible for him to find the girl now. With her injuries, she should be resting in bed.
He was wandering the town in hoping that he would see Chiharu or her friend again. He wanted to know how she was doing. He was worried. After all, Sakura had suddenly disappeared that night. Then, two strange women in black were seen loitering around as if they were guarding the clinic. Soon, a young, bespectacled girl called Naoko stepped forward claiming as Chiharu's sister. She took Chiharu back home and promised to look after her. But Yamazaki couldn't help but to think that there was something suspicious about it.
"What are you doing out here?"
Yamazaki turned around and met Syaoran. "I was looking for you."
Syaoran raised a brow that said 'Oh, really?'
Yamazaki crossed his arms on his chest and feigned anger. "Where have you been? You've disappeared after breakfast without informing me where you went to."
Syaoran ignored his question, went across the street and headed to a small stall. He ordered a drink and some snacks when the waitress approached then turned to his comrade. "Sit down."
Yamazaki did as he was told with his arms still crossed over his chest.
Syaoran smiled to the waitress and poured them both a cup of tea. He drank his tea and turned to Yamazaki with excitement on his face. "I went out to investigate."
Yamazaki dropped his hands to his sides. "Investigate what?"
"You didn't forget the reason why we made this trip to Clow Country, do you?"
"To learn about the martial art technique that the king have invented," Yamazaki answered. "But Li... Don't you remember that the king went missing? How are you supposed to learn about the martial art when the master himself is not present?"
Syaoran flashed a smirk and pulled out a paper from his pocket.
"What is this?"
"This," Syaoran made a dramatic pause as he unfolded the paper. "This is our ticket into the palace. Our ticket to learn the new martial art."
Yamazaki raised a brow. He took the paper from Syaoran and studied every word on it. "They are having a selection for the crown princess's royal bodyguard. What does that got to do with learning the martial art?"
"I asked some locals around. They told me that only the royal guards are trained with this special art," Syaoran said casually. "Naturally, we'll get to learn about this martial art if we applied as the crown princess's royal guard."
"Are you insane?" Yamazaki laughed nervously. He folded the paper and shoved it into his pocket. "There is no way that we're going to apply as the crown princess's guard. Li, you cannot do this. You cannot apply as the royal guard. It's dangerous." he said with disbelief. "I thought you were going to see the king and talk to him into teaching you the art."
"The king went missing," Syaoran pointed out quietly.
"And you think that this is the best way to learn the martial art? By sneaking into the palace and trained as the royal guard?"
Syaoran stared at his comrade for a while and nodded. "Yes. Do you think that they would teach me the martial art if I come to the palace and asked them to let me watch or learn? What kind of king would reveal their country defense, tactical strategy to a stranger — a prince of another country? No way, of course not. Even though the country is now ruled by the crown princess, I doubt that she would be that shallow."
Yamazaki went quiet for a while as he was trying to process what the prince had told him.
"Fine," Syaoran heaved a sigh, poured another cup of tea and swallowed it down. "I will still apply as a royal guard with or without you."
Yamazaki squinted. Not that it gives off any effect as he had small, squinty eyes. "You planned this from the start," he accused. "You knew from the very beginning that you have to sneak into the palace to get a glimpse of the martial art."
Syaoran replied him with a shrug.
"I should have known that something like this would happen," Yamazaki sunk into his chair and buried his face into his palm. Then, he looked up. "Your parents are going to furious. They will murder me if I ever agree to your plan."
"Relax. I don't think they would be worry at all. I've wrote them a letter before we departed from Feimei's place. I've told them that I'm going away to travel for two years."
Yamazaki looked at Syaoran in astonishment.
"I thought that it would require us at least two years to make them trust us with their secrets." Syaoran leaned forward with a smirk. "But here's the thing. I don't think that we have to stay in the palace that long."
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard that they're in need for royal guards for the crown princess ASAP. Which means... they will need to hasten the training process. I've heard that the book camp will be held for a week before the selection process. Then, the real training will begin. I give it three months. No, six months top before they begin to trust us with their secret."
Yamazaki laughed nervously and repeated, "You're insane."
"Oh, come on, Yamazaki. It'll be our little adventure. I promise it will be fun. What do you say?" Syaoran coaxed. "One year. Then we'll go back to Li Dynasty for good."
Yamazaki looked doubtful. He weighted his decision for a while and finally nodded, causing Syaoran to shout out in joy. "Don't get too excited." He frowned.
"Sorry," Syaoran smiled. He chewed on his snack and turned to Yamazaki again. A mischievous grin plastered on his face.
"What?"
"Well... we may have one tiny problem before we do this."
Yamazaki swallowed. He didn't like the tone that Syaoran was using right now. It sounded a lot like trouble.
-End of Chapter 4: Propositions-
Credit goes to Hanna for proofreading
I'd like to thank everyone who read my story. If you have been following my other story, you would notice that I'd like to take it slow with the characters development. Hopefully, we'll be able to see something soon :)
Also... what do you think of the fiction cover? I asked my little sister to draw that for me. I wanted a picture with Syaoran holding his sword! Anyway, you can visit my sister's profile in k1rar1n devianart.
Thank you for reading! And don't forget to review~
