King and Consort Chapter 21: Relinquish, a vampire knight fanfic

For a specific time in the wake of their secret marriage, Kaname scrutinized the danger of binding Yuuki to him. His beloved was beyond a price and valuable to him. He amassed scouts, worked in clandestine with the emigration services and with adeptness established new identities for Haruka, Juuri and Yuuki. The plan would proficiently transport the Kurosus from the elders' scrutiny. He may have been ignorant of the enormous Kurosu clan, but if Kaname were to help each clan member, his plans would risk being foiled.

The objective had been to keep them from the harmful council. He was seconds from requesting Yuuki to visit her parents. That would have been his time seeing her. She would have no clue as he sent her to her parents forever. Without complaint, without a hint, he would set Yuuki free, far from his torturous pureblood world. Whether they would meet again someday was evenly questionable and unpredictable. Kaname would live on hoping they would.

His plans were ruined now.

The sneaky Elders Council accomplished their deed by murdering the Kurosus. Yuuki being the single living member fell into depression. From there, her vision was curtained with a dark, lonely wish to eliminate the origins of the patronizing curse. He tried to put reason behind her actions, why she valiantly revealed her identity to the purebloods, council and the cabinet. He was left with the catastrophic recognition that Yuuki intended to die.

It was obvious to Kaname. Perhaps it was madness from losing her family or because of loneliness in the palace, and the recipient of scorching detestation from the royals could have urged Yuuki to offer herself.

Now that Kaname contemplated over her actions in the murky dark cage, he regretted he hadn't understood her heart better than she understood his. Two souls that had promised to spend an eternity together until they lay arm-in-arm in one casket fell victim to the misfortune of their personal aspiration and aggravation for the world.

Still, he couldn't forget how much he cherished her.

"Oh Yuuki…" His desolate whisper floated beyond the bars, left the water puddles on the floor shuddering once it soared outside.

"I lied to you…" Yuuki breathed under the ferocious glare of her audience. "I'm the Kurosu daughter who was sent to the palace to be sacrificed."

Hisses raked from the corners of the room. "Let's kill her…" Growled a royal relative from the crowd on the left.

Yuuki resumed to hold her head high, willed her composure to expire from the piercing glare of Shizuka upon the high chair. "I wanted to live peacefully with all of you, lying to you wasn't how I wanted our relationship to start with. I kept trying to win your affections, but I can fairly deduce it's impossible." Yuuki clenched her jaw at Asato. "You all heard the Kurosu clan was killed."

"See here—" Asato sharply pointed a claw at Yuuki, "A living sacrifice denotes the death of the clan itself! Ousama failed to kill you, and it is by law that the clan must be destroyed in compensation!"

She sputtered sobs at his cruel words, head bowed, Yuuki sank on the floor. All because of me… Her burned fingers pushed Artemis toward Shizuka's chair. "You have the right to kill me. I am submitting myself to you." Yuuki whispered. With one finger planted on the handle, she continued distressfully, "Don't think I've given up because my family is no more…I've realized what misfortune I have brought on the royal family, on Ousama…Telling you the truth had always been on my mind. I have the courage to not hide in the dark anymore."

Asato steered toward Shizuka with an order, "Kill her now."

The Great Queen hadn't batted an eye from Yuuki. She descended the stairs, her heels stepped over Artemis and loomed on the last stair where the brunette awaited. Leaning slowly over Yuuki, Shizuka's mysterious lavender eyes fused dark gray, like thunderclouds molting with anger. Her large hand contacted Yuuki's cheek. The blow thrust her sideways on the stairs.

"How dare you!" Shizuka screamed, "I put so much effort into sculpting you, gave you the chance to make yourself queen and live with him, and you want to throw everything at my face?" She criticized. "I looked after you, protected you and this is how you repay me?"

Blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, Yuuki blindly trekked back to the stair, eyes swollen and vision blurred with tears. "Shizuka-sam…ma…" Yuuki quivered, gulping a shiver, "I-I…I made up my mind a long time ago, and I refuse to hide myself from everyone like I'm guilty of a crime I never committed."

"Crime?" An elder roared, he stormed across the room and flung his claws at Yuuki, "You've lived in the palace as queen—you filthy Kurosu!" The nails skimmed through her wet hair and chiseled her temple.

Blood crawled over her cheek and dripped from the bottom of her chin. She didn't defend, didn't move, and only listened to the overpopulated growls and curses of the group.

"This insect deserves to be killed." Asato asseverated, stalking relevantly slowly toward her crouched form, "Like how the original curse was executed, we must do it correctly this time around!"

"Do it now!" The Shirabuki clan screamed, ripping their claws.

"The time has dawned…" Asato and several of his counterparts channeled in Yuuki's direction. "This sacrifice must be eliminated."

Yuuki gaped at the gliding material of Shizuka's skirt, who mutely ascended the stairs, distancing from Yuuki. Listlessly her arms hung loose on her sides, and her faded hair swayed against her thighs.

A claw grabbed her hair and snatched her head back. Arisu patiently flickered her claws and touched the flesh of her revealing throat. "No wonder he hid you, it was all for the sinful blood you carry."

Asato geared Artemis at Yuuki's neck, the blade touched her skin once and she cringed at the severing power unraveling over her body. "You've done a good thing turning yourself in. You saved us a great deal of time, Sacrifice." He muttered and yanked the blade back before swinging it directly on her neck.

Aidou couldn't bear his weight so he decided to lean against the door. The skin of his back sizzled from the contact, and he stood straight. The longer he guarded the entrance, the remorse and hopeless he became. Slamming his fist against his forehead, he hunched over on the floor, feeling shivers and tears take over him as if he were some homeless orphan left out in the middle of a storm.

You fool… He gritted and tore his bottom lip with the snap of his fangs. Idiot! Why did you—?

Piles of leaves and branches flanked over the courtyard. The sound of falling trees, screeching birds and howling wind gushed seven feet from the exterior halls. Guards and maids circled the edges at the fervid activity of the spontaneous hurricane. Rocks and ice showered over the roof, the booming echo flushed the screams of trepid women.

The guards surrounded each quarter's entrance, inquisitively searched the sky and pedaled back in terror as more trees and shadow creatures screeched, blanketed the sky until the courtyard blackened darker than the night.

He stirred after the guards barricaded themselves behind gates. Aidou stared bitterly at the courtyard dumped with half of the forest with its creatures. The bursting tornado shoved him flat on the door. Fire lamps swallowed to darkness as an army of spy birds rained into the corridor, propelled through the courtyard, and slashed in his direction.

Aidou cringed at the manifestation of black talons. Feeling his life peel out of the comfort of his living body, Aidou watched the creatures drain on the floor and spilled on the stairs.

Black boots screened into view with more bats, birds and black dust scraped over the wet floor, fusing up into long legs. His black coat fluttered in the wheezing hurricane. Stricken, looking whiter than the palace walls, Aidou retracted from the doorway.

Ferocious crimson eyes evolved through the opening of flapping birds, the creatures webbed in his black hair. Kaname scowled wildly at his Right Hand.

He sagged unceremoniously against the door. "Ka-Kaname!" Aidou stuttered, energy wilting at his domineering control. Kaname's long talons reeled over him. He brutally tossed him from the entrance in the courtyard.

Aidou landed prone in the field of trees. He flinched awake and dizzily reverted back, darted over the space after Kaname.

"Don't go! You don't want to see—"

Another fierce blow discarded the blue-eyed fifteen feet back, through a corridor, against a random pillar. He croaked and faltered to the floor, coughing blood. Gaping at the black courtyard, Aidou shivered with pain.

The hall doors ripped off its hinges from an unbearable throng of wind that stripped the silence inside, left the audience screaming in alarm as the walls of the room wobbled from the power of the creature upon the threshold. For a half a second only a vigilante was able to notice Kaname linger between the corridor and the hall.

The next minute, an empty doorway hung open for the petrified crowd.

"Was it...?" Some dared to complete the sentence.

"That marvelous pureblood power…" Mouthed a cabinet member and dropped to his knees on the floor, "Ousama!" He cried, burying his face where he once stood. Some followed the example and quietly lowered their stance.

Shizuka clenched her teeth impatiently at the filtering shadow transfer through the hall. Then as if a pair of angry wolves and satanic creatures swam into the room, all windows and furnitures blasted to pieces.

"Kaname…" She weakly breathed to herself, "Don't do it now. Don't do it. Don't do it." She chanted. "Don't let your anger control you…"

The assailing councilmen and cabinet members shrank three prefect steps away from the figure on the floor, their bodies following the call of a pureblood. Gasping at their raised claws over their heads, they gaped at the creeping shadow inching toward the audience. He didn't give a signal, not even a subduing word to control them.

Asato snaked out of the way and stared in disbelief, along with the entire room, as the men and women who had reached to kill Yuuki groped their throats and chocked themselves. They gagged, cried out in powerlessness and finally shriveled to dust on the floor.

Shizuka couldn't take it anymore. She shot down the stairs, her feet about to step over the last stair where Yuuki resided, Shizuka ceased as a clawed fist pinned into her jugular. Her thick pureblood dribbled down her décolleté, over the long hand that belonged to the bright red glowing eyes of her nephew.

"Kan-Kaname…" Shizuka wheezed under the controlled grasp and his clenching claws breaking her vocal cords.

"I'll pay for the sin." Kaname looked unblinkingly at her twisting face of pain.

"Oh-Oh…Ousama…" Asato clammily mumbled from the corner, "What…What are you doing?"

Yuuki lifted her head up at his towering shape. His long arm stretched toward Shizuka, the deep red of her blood glared against the paleness of his hand that was wrapped tightly around her thin throat.

"That is our Great Queen…" Asato murmured, "Release her."

She reached forward to grip the end of his coat. Black, toxic energy bit her hand and she flinched, clenched her fist. "Kaname…" Yuuki whispered fearfully. She watched as Asato tore through the crowd.

"That woman has confessed! She is a Kurosu and deserves to be put to death. You have violated our laws and kept her alive, made her your wife, our queen—Ousama, you will be now punished for lying to all of us. The royal family, cabinet and the council members today order you to relinquish your power, let that creature receive the penalty of the curse—"

"No one touches Yuuki." His handsome face brimming with furious power turned at Asato. His grip on Shizuka's throat increased, she groaned and trembled within his grasp as the accumulation of her blood pooled the floor.

The elder crunched over the remains of the dead vampires. Other cabinet members courageously moved in union. "Ousama, release Shizuka-sama."

He stared at her clenched eyelids. "I hoped you learned your lesson." He cryptically unhooked his claws from her throat. Shizuka slumped on the stair, breathlessly looked coldly up.

"The Kurosu woman will be killed." Said the cabinet member next to Asato.

His fear invoking eyes stretched over the elders, Kaname's jaw shifted. "You will not touch Yuuki." The fire beating behind his neutral tone made the listeners tremble and sway from vicinity of the angry pureblood.

"Kaname, it's only right."

Asato glanced at the girl on the floor.

You betrayed me. Thundered the blood within Yuuki's body. She felt his blood coil around her lungs, stream in her arms and legs and hoist a poisonous lasso around her shaking heart. Kaname's blood reacted to his current fury. It zoomed and sped in all directions, fighting for release.

No. Yuuki hugged her body with a startle. No, I didn't.

I had asked you to obey my only request that you stay away from the royal family and never reveal who you are.

I did what was right! She insisted. I had to.

No… Kaname clenched his claws, head tossed in the direction of the elders. Not once did you think of me, you left me in the dark and only followed according to your plans.

The wretchedness Kaname felt rammed into Yuuki with his blood. Each agonizing thought and droplets of anger Kaname experienced exploded inside of Yuuki. She hunched over with a cry as if her heart had been ripped from her body, sobbing at the riveting coldness molding the emptiness in her chest.

Yuuki…You hurt me.

"In exchange for Yuuki's wellbeing, I will renounce myself to your punishment for violating the law of keeping a sacrifice in the palace."

Yuuki strung up, grabbed his sleeve despite the electrocuting black energy scorching her arms. "What're you doing?" She screamed, "STOP!"

The Shirabuki clan looked on reproachfully at Kaname. "Alas, he has gone mad for that cursed woman!" Lord Shirabuki raged.

Kaname's narrowed ruby eyes pointedly skewed on Asato. "You wouldn't ignore my crime for keeping her alive and giving her the throne. She is considered a sovereign; all of my rights and powers go to her."

"No, no..no…" The cabinet member on Asato's left shook his head in plain disagreement, "You have already sent your order to execute the Kurosu clan. You haven't violated the law of eliminating the Kurosu curse if the clan was killed."

"Depends…" Kaname coldly looked only at Asato.

All cabinet members roused with concern at the admission. "Ousama, your name was stamped on the writ." The man claimed. "Don't purposely criminalize yourself to save a Kurosu woman."

"Perhaps the Elders Council Head should explain the matter of who sent the order." Kaname informed wretchedly, "But with the clan dead, Yuuki isn't bound to the curse anymore. I, for one, have violated the sanctity for eliminating all Kurosus that could only be done by a reigning monarch."

Asato slung in front of Kaname, "Your crime for lying to your relatives, protecting a Kurosu deserves punishment! We can't be led properly by a lying monarch who has hidden agendas, namely agendas as significant as the Kurosu curse."

"But in return…" Kaname's voice lowered an octave, "She will not be touched—"

"You are hereby sent to prison, Ousama." Accorded the cabinet member, "And for killing the men and women who were with us in this room earlier."

"No…" Yuuki cried, "This isn't right!"

"He violated his own laws." The man hissed. "This can't be pardoned and your remaining alive is evidence against him."

"Then take me too!" She muttered with great fortitude.

"I set my conditions and render myself if no one touches her." Kaname sliced violently over her cry. Yuuki flinched at the sibilant tone, darker and dangerous than an ominous breeze in a storm.

"Kaname…"

He didn't look at her and the preceding cabinet members circled him, bowed and gestured out the door. "Your case will be held at the Elders Council," Said the cabinet member sourly, "Based on your confessions, you can't be defended, but look forward to your punishment."

"I accept it." Kaname murmured.

Manuscript J

They took him away. The Royal Household blames me. It doesn't make sense…nothing makes sense. He is gone. Kaname is gone. Gone...So easily, so quickly by himself. Why am I the only one here? Why do I have to live in this infernal place? The development is bound to leak in the public. As a result, I'll be blamed and cursed.

The palace walls are eerie and loom over me like an enormous hawk. I'm suffocated in its talons. Quietly I'm waiting for them to come to me, the royal purebloods and noblemen will conspire, and I will be the target of someone's murderous scheme. It's only a matter of time. Now that Kaname is out of the way I'm vulnerable to them.

This is fine with me. If they wish to attack me I won't fight them, because each of them deserved to know the truth about who I was. From the start of our marriage, I felt out of place, outnumbered, and incompetent. He consistently fueled me to stay by his side and stay strong. For that very reason, Kaname also turned himself to the Council to make sure I didn't quit.

It's different from a pureblood's point of view, but we now wield the same scars and have been wrenched apart exactly as the elders wanted. I was suspected and unwanted from the beginning, this is no surprise.

Allow me to leave this entry with another confirmation. This had been a plan of mine for a long time. I wanted to tell everyone about my origins. Yet my clan's execution triggered me. I expected their claws to cut me, and their powers to take control of my body. I submitted myself to them. This should've been the end of the curse.

But I'm to wait for news about what the council will do to him.

"Haru…" Whispered the breeze within the forest. "Come quickly, Haru…" The outskirts of the king's territory flooded with leaves and waves of flowers.

Shizuka stumbled over the raining colors. Her bare feet crunched the wet green grass and miniscule leaves. Her knees collided against the ground. Hunched over, she gasped and clamped a hand on her wounded throat.

Arms breached through the raining flowers full of her scent. Shizuka raised her head at the soft touch, her body stiffened and slowly melted in the comfortable embrace of her lover.

"Oh, Haru…" Shizuka sighed in his chest.

He grimly studied the palace. Shadow spies flanked all corners, nestled the walls and the forest. Haru contemplated the foundation before turning to Shizuka. Her blood lured him from his cabin, out of the territory. He traced the deep wound with hesitation and offered his throat.

"It's over, Haru…" Shizuka clenched his lapel, eyes scrunched tight and fangs protruded against her lips, "Everything I was trying to protect, it's no use now. He turned himself to the council."

"Come to my cabin, no one will trace you there." Haru consoled, "I'll give you blood right away." Wrapping his arms under her legs, he lifted her from the ground and stepped lightly, letting the trees and breeze swivel around like a curtain. A blackening aura infiltrated, briskly, Haru turned to examine the region. His grip around Shizuka increased, but she shoved away.

A squawking spy bird plunged over them. Losing reason, Shizuka fired vines and a ray of pulverizing fire at the remote shifter scraping the sky. The screeching creature plummeted within a tree, and for a timeless moment they believed that was the end of the penetrable creatures of the milieu. Miles from the territory and Haru's cabin, millions of shadow spies accumulated. Captured the vigilant lovers in their escape to the cabin.

An allocated stream of birds swarmed the trees, lurked in the branches. Shizuka sent a derisive glare at the hooded shapes. Shoving Haru back, she straightened and crudely cursed at the advancing creatures.

"What are you doing here?" Shizuka screamed, "Get away you beast!"

"Kukukuku…." Rido opened his arms once he stepped away from the shadow of a tree. "My lovely wife is not pleased to see me, I wonder why." Cunningly glancing at Haru over her shoulder, he rolled his eyes, "Indeed, maybe it's because she was planning to run away with her lover to the forest."

"Get back…." Shizuka slurred, her energy wrenched the field from its roots and elevated boulders of land over Rido.

"You should ask me why I've come." He notified, arms folded. "I have news you should consider. Your favorite little king has been arrested for keeping the sacrifice alive. No one remains on her side. Much less shield her from the royal household. Didn't you agree with him to look after her when he wasn't around?"

"That agreement is no more!" Shizuka's voice boomed, split trees and destroyed the shadow birds. "After he forfeited and let them take him away, after I warned him for months and did my best to help him—It's over!"

Rido licked his scarred lips, channeled his heterochromatic eyes over at Haru. "I take it you're abandoning her for me to play with."

"Do whatever you want with her…" Shizuka sneered, fangs cutting her lips, "She is not my responsibility. She deserves torment for what she has done! You're free to kill her."

"I'll take pleasure in torturing her slowly..." He chortled at the sky, "But I should mention while we're still here, there is no one to officially hold the throne in balance. We won't accept that sacrifice to be our queen. Kaname can't rule from prison—that leaves the only pureblood relative in line to take the throne…" Rido gestured to himself. "As you can see. Didn't you want to rule together with me, my wife?"

Shizuka had turned around to Haru, her fingers caught in his sleeve, "No." She breathed, "I'm leaving the palace, leaving you. My place isn't there anymore, can't you tell? The entire monarchy will be destroyed once you take over, and that pathetic girl will see nothing but death in her future. Kaname isn't coming back anytime soon. You hold complete authority over the royals, Rido." She gritted her fangs, "Find someone and produce an heir."

"You're strangely encouraging of my plans, dear…" Rido smirked, but the humor in his smirk was plain and sullen. His gaze set on the hand clutching Haru's arm. "You vowed to be mine centuries ago, but our marriage meant nothing to you."

"Why are you still asking the same questions even today?" Shizuka glared at the still sky. "You don't have the decency to earn a woman's heart. All you want is to possess women. In this lust, you drove Sora mad and she swore to turn you over to the council. She took pity on you, and ordered us not to come to the palace for two centuries. Then came her death, and Kaname was all alone. We were obliged to return. All of my work was useless." She spat bitterly. "I didn't raise him to throw his life away for one woman. If you don't know already…"

Shizuka looked at him intently over her shoulder, "Rido…The same madness and desire you harness runs in him for that girl, and makes him unable to let her go. She is in your hands now. What will you do to the woman whom your nephew is willing to give up everything for? Move cautiously for once upon a time you also felt these feelings for someone…" She and Haru dissolved in a white sheet of wind, spurned under a cloud of flowers and leaves.

Rido gaped at the swaying trees, followed her presence and felt it wilt into a deep distance, out of reach.

Once upon a time… He stared at the rings of flowers twinkling over him in the wind.

"We shouldn't wait anymore." Growled a royal pureblood in the throne room. Looking at Arisu, he added quickly, "He delayed the sacrifice long enough. We should kill her now!"

"We should!" Clamored the standing room.

Yuuki could hear them from the hallway. Maids trembled at her heel, hesitantly swaying whether to follow or turn their backs on Yuuki. She assured them it was completely their decision; she wouldn't hold it against anyone. After all, she was responsible for making Kaname turn himself to the council.

She traversed from the throne room, let her bare feet splash the puddles in the wet courtyard. Her shivering body still met from running in the rain earlier. Yuuki sullenly sat down on a stair outside, studied her burned hand and the anti-vampire weapon inside of the box.

It's over now. I did the right thing. I'm tired of hiding from them. I'd rather receive punishment. Shuddering in her palms, Yuuki sobbed softly in the echoing halls. I'm sorry, Kaname, deeply sorry. Please try to understand why I had to do this. I don't want to hide anymore. After they've killed me, you can return to the throne.

"Kukuku…" Rido descended the stairs of the courtyard. His stepping feet left the islands of puddles shuddering with each beat. Yuuki jerked her head up and shot to her feet with a loud gulp.

"Gr-Great King…" She stuttered, letting streams of perspiration dribble down her cheek.

"Why do you look nervous?" Rido tilted his head, "You don't have anything else to hide, do you? Shall I call the council back to take you away?"

"You've…You're probably here to do the deed." Yuuki glanced at the box on the floor. "Artemis was used to sacrifice Amaya-sama. You can use it to deliver the final blow on me." She pointed at her head, "Right here."

Rido's crude eyes narrowed with a sleuth quality, "You want me to kill you?"

"Once I'm gone they'll set Kaname free."

He guffawed, "You're still begging to be killed, how pitiful…Kuku!"

"This isn't a joke, stop laughing!" She cried, "Do it now and they'll set Kaname free. Everyone wants him bac—"

"No one wants him back." Rido chopped her cry with his own acidic growl. The vibrations of his words swathed the stretching halls. Birds took to the sky automatically. Little by little, she noticed the flaring shadows scrape the walls and the sky above. The dark energy permeating from the pureblood accrued from hunger, anger, an a destructive impulse. "He killed several purebloods to save you just now. He confessed his crimes for keeping you alive. Does anyone want a lying king to rule? A king who hides everything to himself—"

"He is a far better king than you'll ever be!" Yuuki screamed fiercely, "He obediently listened and tried to make everyone happy. He couldn't kill me, but that isn't a crime! It was his decision, and he had the right to make his decisions and beliefs known to everyone."

"Which he didn't." Rido snapped.

"Wrong." Yuuki boldly glowered at the pureblood, "What about the abolishment? He was working on it."

"And now you're the reason why the abolishment will never be finalized." At her questioning eyes, he chuckled, "Because our queen confessed for being a Kurosu. His supporters are under the impression he fabricated the abolishment to keep you alive, how selfish! Will anyone want a selfish pureblood to rule?"

"They love him." Yuuki said, "Citizens all love him."

"What prove do you have? Many believe purebloods are cold hearted and cruel."

"But Kaname, in his own way, has proved he isn't." Yuuki replied calmly.

Rido strolled toward Yuuki. His claws caressed her jaw and lifted her soft face up. "Now the world will have a new king, me."

"Kaname's rights and power belong to me while I'm still here."

"Didn't you want to die?" Rido mockingly leaned forward.

Yuuki slapped his hand aside, "You're going to take advantage of his powers. I don't trust you with this kind of authority. You'll kill everyone!" Backing away from Rido's smoldering eyes, she grabbed Artemis and flung it at him, "You can't become king, not while I'm incumbent."

"You will be deposed anyway," Rido sang.

Running footsteps barked in the echoing hall. Rido chuckled and straightened his posture, eyes gleaming with hidden malignancy on Yuuki. The Right Hands piled in the courtyard, directed themselves toward Yuuki. She lowered the weapon and gasped at her burned hand.

"Yuuki-sama," Kain murmured, loud enough for her to hear, "You shouldn't be here. The relatives are discussing what they'll do to you."

"It's best you leave the palace." Takuma interjected, gaze festering on Rido's smirk, "Not long from now, all relatives will come after you."

"I'm not going into hiding." She refused with stern determination. "I absolutely can't leave the throne to him."

"It is the Pureblood Right." Rima whispered, "He is in line after Kaname and you,"

"No, no!" Yuuki clenched her fangs. "Kaname didn't leave his powers to him. He'll harm everyone and eliminate any peace we have."

"The only thing keeping everyone from peace is you." Rido hissed, "Kurosu."

Yuuki's red eyes glazed and shimmered black at the superior pureblood. She hadn't come to the palace to cause trouble in the royals. Kaname had tried to handle the matter as professionally and calmly possible. With him gone, Yuuki wouldn't dare abdicate the throne and Kaname's powers to Rido. The monstrous-hearted man she resented loomed above her with an equivalent snarl.

Growling loudly, Yuuki swung the blade and rammed it on his shoulder. "Shut up you filth!" Yuuki screamed voraciously.

His black energy sizzled, burst into dust as the anti-vampire weapon broke the impeccable skin of his shoulder. Blood oozed off his arm and dripped on the floor.

The speechless Right Hands gaped between the two, and glared at the weapon in her hand.

"What've you done?" Ruka shrieked, "You attacked a pureblood, do you know what danger you've put yourself in?" Grabbing Yuuki by the arm, she snaked Artemis from her vice-like grip and threw it inside of the box. The blades shrank into its previous compact shape.

Yuuki tore away from Ruka and darted toward Rido. She shoved him back, her clawing nails ripped his coat and shirt, unleashing streams of dark red blood from his porcelain skin. "I never hurt a soul here, neither did my family. I'm exhausted from the blames and lies trapping us to this miserable curse! But right this second—" Yuuki screamed insanely at Rido's feverishly pleasured eyes, "I want nothing more than to kill you and the council, and everyone involved for ruining my clan and Kaname!"

Takuma and Kain arrested Yuuki's arms, tugged her away from Rido. "You can't do this!" Kain cried, "You can't hurt a pureblood."

"I'm sick of this!" Yuuki wrestled and cursed at Rido. "I want you dead as well!—Trying and trying for months…" She grittily echoed, "To trap and murder me in the territory, I know your schemes and black heart, you monster! You kept harassing Sora-sama and hurt Shizuka-sama—!"

"Yuuki-sama!" Takuma shook her desperately, "Stop at once before someone hears you! Stop!"

"To hell with letting you take Kaname's power!" Yuuki screeched. "I'll never let you take the throne!"

"Takuma, take her to territory." Ruka ordered.

His bruising grip shackled her arms. She kicked and screamed in Kain's arms as he lifted her from the floor. The men dashed through the halls, directly toward the forest and away from the flocking shadow spies of the relatives.

"Let me go!" Yuuki wrestled in Kain's arms, "Put me down! I did nothing wrong. He deserves it, you don't understand!"

Kain glared at the flying bats and aimed arrows of fire at the creatures.

"Please, calm down," Takuma pleaded, "Please, stop. It's for your own benefit. The palace isn't safe anymore. You can't go back. The territory maintains the barrier that'll block anyone from entering except you." Takuma took her from Kain's arms within vicinity of the barrier. "He allowed me permission to enter. I'm the only Right Hand who can. Yuuki-sama…" Takuma stared sorrowfully at her sobbing face, "No…Please, don't cry…We're here for you, we'll help you and keep Rido-sama from stealing the throne."

He ran through the barrier as Kain was thrown back several feet across the field, restricting him entrance. Kain slowly rose to his feet and watched Takuma's disappearing form vanish within the territory.

Her hands reeked of Rido's blood. She scrubbed her fingers and rubbed her hands in bleach to eliminate the scent. Yuuki stared at the floor of the dark living room. Her disheveled hair tumbled over her hair, stuck to her wet cheeks and swollen eyes. She rubbed them with her knuckles, gulped her sobs and stared in a daze at the floor again.

She was back. Back in their home, where their love started. After enduring what Yuuki had and falling in the trap of agonizing fear, Yuuki believed it was also a considerable time for their love to end.

Takuma placed the glass of water on the table by her arm. He sat across from her quietly, barely hinting a noise to avoid alarming her shocked state.

She looked up at the dark walls, the avenues of books lined on the floor, and the endless isles of shelves housing his favorite stories. Back then, Kaname's office felt larger. Yuuki swallowed the knot in her throat, finally accepting the cold glass of water. Her gaze shifted on the blond across the room.

Takuma released the folder in his arms, "This is the deed of the territory, Yuuki-sama. Kaname didn't have the time to give it to you. This is his wedding present for you." Takuma edged toward her with the documents, "It's now yours. The territory barricades all purebloods from coming. It's the safest place to be. He wanted you to have it." Takuma lifted the small envelope and slid the golden key in her hand.

The key was cold and warm at the same time. She emptily clenched the metal. "…Thank you."

Takuma observed her and looked away, "You need to stay here from now on. There's no place for you in the palace."

"I can't let…that scoundrel have the throne." She brutally spat.

"Be wise at this time. You can't afford to challenge the Great King." Takuma advised gently, "Kaname wasn't abdicated, only taken to the council. He'll be imprisoned no doubt. However, no one can force him to abdicate. He was born into the role of king, and stripping an incumbent pureblood of his title is unlawful. This is a higher right not even the Elders Council can break. The right to make Kaname abdicate and you relinquish your powers belongs to the Council of Ancients, the highest level of vampires in the world." Takuma took her drained glass and refilled it with water.

"His title and your incumbency are safe for now." He placated. "If the Great King were to take control of the monarchy, he'd risk being exiled and disowned by the royals. This authority again belongs to the Council of Ancients. If I know his nature like I think I do, he wouldn't risk it no matter how tempting it is. When you encounter him, Yuuki-sama, which I know you will in the immediate future, I recommend that you be wary of him. If he wants the throne badly, he'll plan something magnificently cunning and genius to get it."

Yuuki sighed over the cold water, her tired eyelids dipped over her gaze. "Ichijou-san, it seems to me the only people I can count on for help is the Council of Ancients."

"They'll hear of Kaname's imprisonment in a few days." Takuma guaranteed, "Be alert and ready to respond to their requests."

She put the glass away, opened her palm to study the gold key. "You know I have to bring him back."

"I know." Takuma smiled delicately at Yuuki. "I also know you love him."

"I planned to tell everyone who I was. Kaname felt terrible that I didn't consult him first. I knew he wouldn't let me so I thought if I did it on my own, at least he won't be charged for keeping me alive. But lo…" Yuuki clenched her hand against her forehead with a bitter cry, "The opposite happened. I was supposed to go to the council, not he."

"The curse is over, Yuuki-sama." Takuma said aloud.

She stopped in refute and looked at him. "No, it's not over."

"What were the conditions of the curse? If you remained alive, the Kurosu clan would be killed. If you were killed, the entire clan would live. Am I wrong?" He paused and took a chair, his green eyes never shifted from Yuuki's worried stare, "This means you aren't affected by the curse anymore. Your clan isn't alive, but you still are."

She closed her eyes and sighed simply. "Little difference does it make. I'm hated for who I am anyway."

"I'm going to disagree," Takuma said evenly, "This makes all the difference you need to help Kaname. You're a Kurosu, and you're also consort. With Kaname's power and the help of the Council of Ancients, you can make all the alterations in law you deem ethically provident. Also, reveal the crimes of the Elders Council. Isn't this what you want?"

Trembling tears sprung from her eyes, Yuuki ducked and covered her face. "You aren't upset with how angry I am at your jii-sama?"

Takuma sighed, "I've known his techniques and disloyalty for years. Kaname does too. I tried to change his mind, but he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He is lonely because my father and I abandoned him. My loyalty is for Kaname, you too. That's where I stand, next to the two of you. Whatever punishment you want to give to jii-sama, I'm with you. I want him to turn his life around for good."

News leaked to the public, like Yuuki predicted. All were furious about how Kaname was under observation of the council, and all were shocked that their sweet queen was a Kurosu. She was damned, soundly resented for her bringing Kaname to his current misfortune. Yuuki accepted the harshly opposing public. She didn't associate with the royal household for her right of mind.

The royal purebloods blamed Yuuki and demanded she abdicate, that she wasn't their rightful queen, or a pureblood. While Yuuki believed all allied purebloods, cabinet, and elders would ambush her at any point, she was taken by a short surprise one afternoon when Takuma came for a visit.

He said Kaname wasn't going to return. The council announced their verdict to imprison him for a year. Not only for keeping a sacrifice alive but other charges were pressed against Kaname, all concocted by Ichijou Asato Yuuki assumed. After one year, the council'd return to the case and see forth what further punishment was devisable. Since he was still a sovereign and in the council's custody, his powers and rights merited to the incumbent, Yuuki.

Aidou held up her shawl beside the open passenger door. They had discreetly left the territory and brought to the council around dusk. True to his word, Aidou assured Yuuki they were far from monitored by the elders' spies. Guards dove out toward the black car. The men formally bowed and eagerly escorted Yuuki through the back of the Elders Council.

She made little public appearance; if word got out she secretly arrived at the council for obvious reasons, Yuuki'd need to manifest some speech for the impertinent press. Inside of the council, corridors of guards shrewdly held in silence as she passed. At the end of the hall, she greeted the man who fruitfully made her visit possible and elusive from vigilantes.

Lord Aidou grasped her hand and brushed it against his forehead. "My son asked me to do this favor for you, I had no choice but to oblige, Yuuki-sama…" His smile was curt and withdrawn.

"Thank you very much for letting me come today." Yuuki whispered.

"I won't delay your visit." He immediately escorted her to the elevator. Within the lift, Yuuki noticed the cameras had fogged lenses. He used a spell to fool the security administration, most of all the cruel elders currently at their offices layers above. "You have some time, but I advise you make it useful and quick."

"I will." Yuuki nodded from her hood. The journey several feet underground winded to an end. The doors hissed open, promptly Yuuki was helped out to the stoned stairs of the underground layer.

"Here even powerful vampires are weakened in earth's depth. The bars are anti-vampire irons. A touch will be disastrous." Lord Aidou carefully guided her through the crypt hall. He stopped beneath a lantern and pressed a button on the double-ironed doors.

Guards wearing gloves shoved open the door at the signal. They bowed and allowed them to enter without word. The Lord lingered on the threshold, letting Yuuki absorb and accustom to the unnaturally dim light. She squinted her eyes and lifted her hood to examine the shadowed arena. Looking back at him gratefully, she bowed and he took his leave.

The guards resumed their posts by the door, Yuuki didn't mind. In fact, she wasn't made aware of them as her interest and worried eyes hunted the shadows of the enormous window-less cell.

Her shoes clicked on the stones. Slowly edging within the room, Yuuki held her breath at the indistinguishable movement in the darkness. Chains ghostly rapped on the floor, stones grated and finally footsteps blasted against walls. She had the urge to duck and cower at the earthquake sounds, but the need to identify its owner was greater.

Just one look. One look after weeks of separation…Please.

Kaname's disheveled silhouette streamed into view, like a silver light quivering in the voracious darkness. His blackish hair framed the whiteness of his sullen long face. Both eyes tucked behind locks, impenetrable and shy from sight. She caught a glint of silver where his eyes were. Then her eyes fell to his arms and legs, chained and restrained from movement in a chair.

Her hands clenched around her mouth. She believed she screamed because tears were already streaming across her vision. Composing herself and with an austere glare at the guards, Yuuki ordered them to take the chains off.

They hesitated, exchanged looks and stood still.

"I said, take off the chains!" Yuuki bellowed.

The guards tugged themselves to Kaname and unlocked the anti-vampire chains, responsible for suppressing his pureblood powers. His burned arms dangled on his sides.

"Leave us," Yuuki heaved painfully at the floor.

The guards bowed at the two, closed the door after themselves.

Silence lurched over them. She was too afraid to look up and relive the sight. He didn't make a move from his chair. Yuuki raked her nails against her forehead and down her nose in frustration.

"…Didn't want this…" She said to herself. "I didn't want this at all…Not right…" Yuuki relentlessly chanted, opened her blurry eyes at her wrecked husband.

He looked disorientated. Each breath he inhaled took difficulty and was exhausting for his body to administer.

"Kana..me?" Yuuki whispered.

His line of his brows furrowed and darkened.

"Kaname?" She stepped forward more confidently, but her ankles wobbled in her shoes and her hands hugged her ribs in fear.

He opened his eyes, the crimson irises particularly dark but shimmering with faint silver. He straightened his head and looked passively ahead as Yuuki drew close.

"Why did you do it?" Yuuki croaked, "Why did you confess like that? I wanted to tell them the truth. If they wanted to kill me, I would've accepted it. No, I didn't do it because they're gone…" Yuuki knelt in front of his chair. Her trembling hand set on his knee. "I just wanted to do the right thing."

He continued looking at her emptily.

"Are you angry with me?" Yuuki spoke louder, "You wouldn't let me do it, but I had to. Your being here is wrong. You're still our king, your place is in the palace, not here." She quivered with an urge to cry at his despairing eyes. Yuuki dropped her head against his knee, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry for bringing you here! I'm very sorry!"

Sharp, long fingers gripped Yuuki by the shoulders and launched her up, until she was propped on her knees on the floor. At their eye-to-eye level, she shuddered at his shadowed but tender gaze.

"Yuuki…"

She didn't even notice he spoke. Her hands caressed his cold cheeks.

"You're the only person whom I'll give my life up for." Kaname whispered.

Those selfless but sweet words… It tore her insides, Yuuki yanked out of his arms. "No, don't do something like this for me. I don't want you to live like this!"

"But I swore to protect you." Kaname said quietly.

"I guess I didn't clarify myself, Kaname," Yuuki's neutral tone strung his eyes back up. "I was willing to accept what punishment they had for me. I never intended to die in vain, Kaname, like you're doing right now." Her seethe reflected in her words, "You failed me, your family and everyone else. You failed us. You know why? Because you gave up on the future. I didn't marry you to watch you die. I didn't marry to give up on you. You have no respect for the future, no respect for what most of us believe should be."

He didn't say a word, only watched widely at the rivulets of tears falling on Yuuki's shoes.

"I won't forget that you gave up on me…our love, our future, the family we would have—you have no respect for any of it! Because you wanted to send me away!"

"I knew you wouldn't agree." Kaname acknowledged.

"Always deciding for me..So that's how it is. It seems you can never trust anyone in this world, Kaname. I'm the last person you wanted to trust." Yuuki swallowed her burning throat, "Today we're even. Tomorrow I won't be, but you'll always have the upper hand between us. I understand you now. You gave up on us."

The cell doors banged as the short figure shot out, darted up the stairs, directly hid inside the elevator that transported her to the world above. Yuuki was shaking as if she were with fever when she went to her car. Slumping unceremoniously on the sidewalk, she hunched over the cement and wailed.

Aidou covered her with a coat and grabbed her hands.

"Why is my life like this!" Yuuki screamed at the blond, "Why does it have to be like this?" She fell in his arms and sobbed harder.

Again Aidou felt the same chills he remembered earlier when he listened to Yuuki crying in her bedroom. The same daunting emotions seized him and he shivered.

"Why can't it end?" Yuuki pounded on his chest. "I don't want us to be like this!" She wheezed. "I hate this! Everybody I loved…Every one…Left me…"

He could only wallow in her sadness. Silently Aidou patted the back of her head. He helped her inside the car and ordered the chauffeur to promptly leave before elders noticed. He let Yuuki to herself for a while. She stared dry-eyed out the window, fist clenched on her thighs, hair unbound and cheeks smeared with the stain and scent of hot tears.

"I know it wasn't Kaname who ordered them to be killed."

Aidou jolted at the drained, hallowed voice.

"He was planning to send my parents and me away secretly. When Kain said his name was stamped on the writ, I could only think of one thing," Yuuki gritted, "I've seen the same thing happen when Lord Shirabuki forged the contract between Sara and Kaname. Why, I wonder, does our council believe it's impenetrable?"

Aidou cleared his throat but held back from comment.

Yuuki looked expectedly at her comrade. "I'm going to trust you to allocate the possessions in Koaru's safety box. Retrieve everything discreetly."

His eyes widened, "What safety box?"

"My brother left one hoping Kaname would find it. It was in the council all this time because he knew Kaname would frequent there a lot in the future. Hanabusa, he found the secret to the curse. Kaname figured it out a long time ago. I'm going to use his findings and take it to the Council of Ancients."

"This'll encourage a war." Aidou distastefully droned.

"It will." Yuuki thoughtfully stared out the window.

He decided he preferred her calculating demeanor than her crying, because the sound of Yuuki's cry scared Aidou the most.

Shorter chapters from hereon. I will not draw out these hardship chapters because 1) I want to update weekly again., 2) This story has three climaxes. The previous chapter was one. You may as well guess this will be a long but fulfilling story. ^^ Even though the ending is far away, I've already integrated it to the plot line. Thank you for your generous support. I'll genuinely try to update in a timely manner and keep the plot consistent. This story began from Yuuki being a Sacrifice. The curse will be sealed shut with an impressive blow. Our future chapters will now focus on her transforming into her role as Consort.

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