I'm back. Now that I'm free, I think I'll be able to update chapters faster but only every two weeks due to my job.

Thank you for all your support, all the followers, all the comments, and all the favorites.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twelve Kingdoms. It all belongs to Fuyumi Ono. I'm just a fan who likes to write and have fun.

Enjoy ;)

Ch. 8: Confidence

Dinner was over and everyone had gotten back to their guest rooms.

As Shouryuu approached his sleeping quarters, he stopped when he saw Natsuki standing at the door, leaning against the wall. Shouryuu looked at her for a moment as she looked back at him in complete silence. He looked at her eyes, tired and blank, and she looked like a lost child who was confused about everything she was doing and where she was going. He walked past her and opened the door.

"Come in," he said to her. She followed him into the building and into a large study that contained many shelves full of books and decorating ornaments.

"Sit down," he said as he pulled the up a chair for her. He left her there alone in the room. When he returned, he had changed into a white sleeping robe but he found her sitting in the same position he left her. He watched her carefully as she did everything he asked without saying a word. Shouryuu pulled up a chair for himself and poured a glass of wine from the pitcher that was sat on the table between them. He said nothing. The silence between them remained as Shouryuu continued to drink silently.

"Can I have some wine?" Natsuki said softly.

Shouryuu looked at her, his brow raised.

"Come on. I may be 18 but I'll stay like this forever. There's no harm in drinking," Natsuki said. She took the extra goblet from the table and held it out to him. He poured the wine for her. Without waiting for Shouryuu, she drank the cup down in one gulp. "Besides, it's not like this is the first time I've ever drunk wine."

Shouryuu decided to join her. As they drank together, they took turns pouring wine in the glass for each other.

"This is probably the last time I'll ever feel drunk," Natsu said.

"You shouldn't drink if you haven't been registered yet," he said. "A drunk ruler is a problematic ruler. A drunk ruler is unreliable and dangerous." He said all that as he pours her another cup of wine.

"Saying that while pouring yourself a cup is contradictory, don't you think? You drink, don't you?" Natsuki said to Shouryuu. "Strangely, I don't feel too drunk," she added, referring to herself. She glanced at Shouryuu in the corner of her eyes. "Is it boring?" Natsuki asked. "Ruling alone for over 500 years? Aren't you afraid you'll eventually get bored and want to destroy En?"

Shouryuu looked at her. "Are you worried that you'll get bored and eventually want to destroy Tai?" he asked.

Natsuki nodded. "I'm not normal. I don't understand people and I'm not merciful. I'm indifferent. I like excitement and adventure. I'm afraid that when I'm bored, I'll want to do something that will destroy Tai."

"So that means you've decided to accept the throne and become queen?" Shouryuu asked.

Natsuki nodded.

"If you're bored and want to destroy Tai, come to me. I'll help you," Shouryuu said. "If I'm bored and want to destroy En, I'll rely on you as well, to help me regain my sanity."

Natsuki raised her head and looked at him. She smiled. He wasn't drunk at all and she liked that because it only made his words all the more reassuring.

"Exploring the kingdom will also help you appease your boredom," he added. "I usually spend some months to years outside of the palace to help me stay active. Once every 50 years, you can take a trip with your retainers or by yourself. Taking a break from political matters for a few weeks won't destroy the country."

Shouryuu continued to drink as they remained silent for a few more minutes until Natsuki decided to start talking again. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this," she said. "I'm not usually open about my feelings. Sharing with others makes me feel naked. It feels like I'm stripping myself and standing nude before the person." She wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"But you're baring yourself to me," Shouryuu replied.

Natsuki turned her head to him. "I don't really know why I'm doing that. You're my predecessor, so I've come to you for advice but I don't know why I trust you enough to speak truthfully from my heart."

"Then I thank you for trusting me and confiding in me," he said.

They drank in silence once more.

"I should go," Natsuki said as she stood up. "If I continue drinking here, I'll get too drunk and won't be able to make it to my room. Sleeping in proximity to you is the last thing I want to do; no offense," she said as she slowly began to slur her words.

When she left the room, Shouryuu quickly put a long dress jacket over his nightgown and followed her discreetly, making sure she made it to her quarters. She was stumbling everywhere but she arrived at the right place. After she went in and the door closed behind her, he made his way back to his chambers.

When Natsuki entered her room, she plopped herself down on the bed and slept, without taking her clothes off.

She was being shaken as her eyes tried to remain closed as someone continued to call her name.

"Your Majesty… Your Majesty," he said. The blurry figure continued to shake her. She batted his hands away when she recognized the voice was Taiki's. She closed her eyes again trying to go back to sleep as the ringing inside her head got louder. Her eyebrows furrowed furiously as and she was forced awake by the unbearable pounding in her head.

"Taiki, my head aches," she said as she sat up on the bed. The touched the sides of her temples, rolling her fingers soothingly, trying to dissolve the headache.

"I told you not to drink at dinner," Taiki responded. "You probably have a hangover."

"I don't think it's from dinner," Natsuki replied. She knew perfectly that it was from after that when she was drinking last night with Shouryuu. She didn't even remember what happens after they talked about after trusting and confiding in him. She was still wondering how she got back to her room and if she did anything she wouldn't usually do before King En.

There came a knock at the door. "Hello, Queen Tai. His Majesty told the maids to prepare a special bath and meal for you today before you and the Tai Taiho head off to Mt. Hou," said a high pitched voice through the door. "His Majesty will also not be joining for breakfast this morning because he and the Taiho are at the morning conference."

"Come in," Natsuki said. The door opened and a group of girls came in with their heads lowered behind their large sleeves as they waltzed into the room.

"We've also prepared a dress for your trip," said the same voice.

"Yes, thank you." Natsuki got off the bed and walked behind the screen. "Taiki you can leave. I don't need you right now," Natsu said coldly.

Taiki's brow wrinkled with hurt as he turned away from the shadowy figure behind the screen. He silently walked out of the room.

When Natsuki arrived at the bath, she saw that the water had an unusual light pink color. Beside the bath was a set of soaps and massage oils and a white powder in a bowl. Natsuki took off her bathrobe and jumped into the water. She dived under the water, to the deeper, inner part of the bath, letting her entire body and her hair soak before she resurfaced to the shallow part. She sat on the marble part of the shallow bath.

"Your Majesty," said the maid to Natsuki, "His Majesty, King En left this letter for you." Natsuki looked at the folded paper on the silver plate. She wiped her hand on the white towel and took the letter.

Your Majesty, Queen Tai,

It is partially my fault if you wake up with a hangover, so I will take responsibility by preparing a special bath and breakfast for you.

I had the maids prepare a special bath made from rejuvenating herbs to help muscle ache and fatigue. If you want, you can have the maids give you a massage with the oils beside the bath. Your breakfast has been prepared by the kitchen. Eat both the chicken soup and the carp fish head soup to help your appetite and weariness. Don't forget to drink a lot of water and stay away from bright lights and loud sounds.

I hope this helps. I won't be able to see you before you and Taiki leave for Mt. Hou due to my responsibilities. I have two Suugu waiting for you as a gift.

Have a safe trip.

Natsuki smiled as she finished reading the letter.

She enjoyed her bath and her massage very much as she sat there and let the maids wash and take care of her. However, as she and Taiki left for Mt. Hou, the pain started back up because the sun was like a giant spotlight in her face. She wished she had a pair of sunglasses or that she was already immortal because she wouldn't be in so much pain from the hangover.

Aki woke up. He looked around the large room, decorated in ancient Chinese ornaments, remembering that what happened in the past few days was not a dream. He was truly living in a royal palace in another world. The world was the world in which his older sister was born from before she was adopted into his family. It was because of her that he was able to stay in such an extravagant room as a guest in the palace. He sat up, letting his feet dangle over the side of the bed, where he put on his slippers. He stood up in his white nightgown with a cloth belt tied around his waist in a loose bow. It reminded him so much of a yukata one would wear at an onsen. He walked over to the windows, opening the large heavy curtains to see that the sun had already risen up to almost midday.

"Aki-sama."

Aki turned toward the door at the sound of the voice.

"Come in." He walked back and sat on the bed, looking at the three girls who just entered the room. They bowed to him.

"We are here to serve you. We have brought clothes for you to wear to join King En and the Taiho for lunch," said one of the maids.

"We're here to help you bathe and get dressed," the other one said.

"That's alright, I can bathe myself," Aki said. "But I may need help getting dressed. I've never worn clothes like this before."

"Yes, sir."

As he walked toward the door, Aki remembered that these people don't speak Japanese. But how was he able to communicate with them?

"Are you speaking Japanese?" Aki asked.

"Oh," the girl said. "Most people who work in the palace are Sennin, including us, so we are able to communicate in any language, including the Kaikyaku languages."

"Oh." Aki thought, Not only do they have eternal life but they also speak any language. I guess that's better for me.

Aki sat in the large bath on his own as he had the maids stay out of the room. They offered to help him bathe, but he found that to be weird and uncomfortable and told them that he could bathe himself. The room smelled like cherry blossoms and the water was quite warm, that steam rose and engulfed the entire bath.

"Being a King must be nice since he has all these things," he said to himself. Aki looked around the room. Warm water poured from the mouth of lion statues on the walls of the bath.

Once he was done, he let the maids help him dress. The clothes looked so complicated and he wasn't used to them. As the maids dressed him tenderly, he watched carefully at all the knots and bindings they tied around him. They had him wear his white undergarments, plus another two layers of clothes. He was wearing a thin white robe under his sky blue linen Hanfu with a white dress jacket over it, hanging loosely around him.

"By the way, where is my family?"

"Her Majesty, Queen Tai has already left for Mount Hou and your parents are with King En and the Taiho."

"Mount Hou?"

"I'm sorry, Aki-sama, but the king will explain everything."

"Oh you look like a prince," Izumi gushed when she saw her son as Aki walked into the garden by the pond. Hiroshi, Enki, and Shouryuu turned as well.

"Mom, stop it," Aki said.

"Where is your sister?" Hiroshi asked from his seat.

"I don't know," Aki said. "The maids told me that she went to someplace called Mount Hou with Taiki." Aki shrugged. He walked to the table and sat next to his mother.

"What? Where is that? And why didn't she tell us she was leaving?" Izumi asked with a soft sadness in her tone.

"Mount Hou is the place where she has to go in order to be officially crowned as Queen by taking an oath called the Tenchoku," Enki explained. He took a bite of the peach in his hand. "Every ruler has to go there."

"I don't understand," Izumi said. "What does it mean for her to be queen? Can we return home?"

"When she is crowned, she'll receive eternal life. She'll never age or die." Shouryuu said. "I'm afraid she can never return to Japan after that."

"So she has to stay here forever?" Hiroshi asked, worriedly.

"If she leaves, she'll be foiling the Heavens' mission and she will die," Shouryuu said. "She will have abandoned her people." Shouryuu turned to look at Natsuki's parents. "No matter how much I'm sure you want your daughter to return home with you, I'm sure you don't want her to die."

"But if she stays, she will rule forever," Enki said.

"But since no rule is perfect, there will be times civil wars and conflicts and she will have enemies who are after her life," Shouryuu explained. "An immortal can still die with their body is cut in half or decapitated. Some people have also developed Toki weapons that can kill immortals even if they aren't beheaded."

Enki looked at Shouryuu from his perch on the railing. "Shouryuu, it seems that some rulers are starting less to feel the effects of Toki weapons."

"Yes, I've noticed that as well," Shouryuu said.

"But I don't get why Natsuki agreed to do something so dangerous," Izumi said.

Her heart rate began to skyrocket as she thought of all the possibilities that could go wrong. Natsuki was the kind of child that was reckless, never thinking of the consequences of her actions. As long as she was satisfied with herself, she would do anything. She loved immediate gratification even if it could put her in danger.

Izumi was most worried about the fact that she knew nothing of this world. Even if this is the world Natsuki was born in and lived in with her biological parents, she didn't care. That child is her daughter. She wants to protect her but there is a limit to her power. There are some things that she can't protect Natsuki from. She didn't think it would be her home a responsibility that was suddenly thrown at her. She knew there would be a time when she would have to let her daughter go, but she wasn't ready.

"The moment that Taiki saw her was the moment that she became Queen Tai whether she agrees to it or not," Shouryuu said. "It seems that she has succumbed to her fate and is willing to take up where her father left off. This is her fate. If you want to stay with her, she can register you as Sennin and you'll also have eternal life and live in the palace with her." Shouryuu placed his hands inside his large sleeves. "I've already sent a messenger to Tai about the new ruler and everyone in this kingdom should know by now."

Izumi looked at Shouryuu. It felt like he knew exactly how much she was hurting but he did not try to mince his words. It was as if he wanted her to know that there was no use being sad because there was nothing she could do about it. She knew he was right of course, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Okay. The next chapter will be the beginning of the new arc. Now that we have all our characters and their backstories, we can start focusing on Tai and Natsuki and Taiki.

I've made some changes to fit the story.

1. In my story, immortals, like rulers and other Sennin can't get drunk. I did this because Natsuki's personality is like a loose cannon or a grenade without a safety pin. She's similar to Shouryuu. I did this because based on SHouryuu's personality, I find it surprising that he didn't get drunk one day and destroy En. It's like the US president getting drunk one day and entering the Nuclear launch codes without knowing what he's doing.

2. Disclaimer: Just because Natsuki is drinking at 18 does not mean I condone underage drinking. IT IS ILLEGAL. For readers in the US, the legal drinking age is 21 although in some countries have it at 18 or even younger. In Japan, the legal drinking age is 20. Although Natsuki says she's drunk before even though she's under 20, we all know she's a loose cannon and a delinquent. She doesn't follow the rules, but readers, please, FOLLOW THE LAW.

3. Hanfu is the name for traditional Chinese clothing. Look up some photos on Google. I call them Hanfu because the clothes the people in the Twelve Kingdoms Anime wear look more like Chinese clothing than Japanese. I will continue to call them Hanfu instead of Kimono.

4. For the sake of this story and an upcoming arc, I've made rulers slowly start to gain immunity against Toki weapons.

Thank you. That is all. Look forward to the next chapter.