Hi~ How has everyone been? I've finished another chapter! Mostly written in the train back home, but who cares about that! Please enjoy (I'm also sorry about the first part, but it was hard to write and it was the last part I added)

With Hakuyuu as emperor, the country was once again at rest. He had started to rule in a calm way, keeping Kou the way his father had kept it all the time. Hakuyuu was a loved lord, the court followed his every move and listened to his orders as if they were a blessing to the country.

Hakuren was always by his side as he had now become his official advisor. I was more put aside, since the brothers barely had time to train with me any longer. So instead, I focused my attention on helping Hakuryuu out with his training in the morning and finding myself a different sparring partner in the afternoon. The evening could still be used for studying.

But I could not say the palace was boring. There was still a wedding happening in 3 weeks and preparations had to be made. Maids ran around taking my measurements for a wedding dress, we had to decide what kind of party we'd have, who would be invited and more. So life was nowhere near normal and it wouldn't be for a long time.

It was late in the afternoon when I had gotten a moment together with Hakuren to talk about the wedding. But much further than 'what to expect' we didn't get.

"You have a big family, all living in the palace." I sighed. "It must be nice to have them all around for the wedding…"

"Are you not inviting your family?" Hakuren asked.

"I send my sister a message about the date of the wedding, but I have no idea if she ever got it. I never got a reply from her. I expected to at least hear something."

Hakuren laughed softly and placed a kiss on my forehead. "They will come, I'm sure."

"I hope so. At least I want to see my sister one more time." I said, smiling softly.

"And you will be the most beautiful bride the country and your family have ever seen." He said and looked up at the sound of his name being called. "Just for a short time, [name] try to go without me. I'll be back soon and once you're officially part of the Ren family, I'll make sure you can join in on these things."

With that he left me again. I sighed and decided to return to the library for now. On my way, I crossed paths with Gyokuen. As I walked past, I heard her speak. Her words were no more than a whisper, but clearly meant for my ears.

'Didn't you hear darling? Your country is falling apart and your family is dead'

…

"You want to WHAT?" The brothers said together, clearly shocked.

"Return home. I need to see what is going on. If it's truly falling apart, then I need to see it and find out if I can do anything for my people." I answered, my voice cracking in emotion.

"You can't. Your wedding is in a few weeks and you are too valuable to our empire to let go. We can send people out to see what is going on, but you will not be able to go until your wedding is done and we have returned from war." Hakuyuu said, his voice stern. I knew he meant the best, but I didn't want to listen.

"This is my country, I have to take care of my people somehow." I tried to explain, but Hakuyuu only shook his head while Hakuren sighed.

"There is nothing we can do at this moment, we haven't gotten a message that anything is wrong over there, maybe you are just worrying over nothing." Hakuyuu explained further, but his words sounded empty to me.

"My family is back there, I need to see them." I tried to reason.

"And I forbid you to. Return to your room and sleep. Tomorrow will be another busy day, you can't run from the empire now." His voice had gotten harder, the look in his eyes dark.

I let out a soft 'hmpf" as I left the room. It had been worthless after all, but I wasn't planning on giving up so easily.

As I left the room I heard a soft "I'm sorry [Name], but this is for your own best." and I knew that he was right. In all those times, he had only wanted to protect me. If my home were to truly have fallen to ruin, the royal family wept out in hatred, I would be in danger if I stepped inside its borders.

"I'm sorry as well." I whispered as I closed the doors behind me.

…

It was dark inside the palace, the only light being the soft radiance of the moon. It seemed everyone was sleeping, the guards who were on duty were easy to avoid. In a quick but silent way, I could make my way to the stables. The horses should be prepared, or at least a halter and saddle should be nearby. When I opened the door to stables, it was dark. I entered one of the cages of a horse I had known before and set down my bag filled with food and water.

The animal awoke slowly, but was soon ready to be taken outside. So far no problems, perfect. But that changed soon after. Before I could lead the horse outside, I heard a small cough behind me.

"Going out?"

There must have been a soft shriek coming from me. Hakuren had hidden himself in the shadow of the stables and now came out, catching me red-handed.

"H-Hakuren! Why are you awake? I was just… giving the horse a little walk, that's all." I said, scratching the back of my head.

"You going home, aren't you?" He replied.

I sighed and nodded. "I can't stay here. I have to go and check it out. I planned on returning within two weeks, I'll be back home before the wedding, so please let me go."

"I got your note." Hakuren said as he took out a small piece of paper. I had left it at his door earlier, a reassurance that I was fine and would come back. "'Dear Hakuren, there are things I need to attend to. Don't look for me, I will return before the wedding starts.' And you wanted me to believe you were going to be fine? After Yuu told you not to go?"

"I know he told me to stay behind, but I can't do so. This is my home we're talking about, my family is there. If anything is going on, I have to be there to see it with my own eyes. I can't stop worrying until I know for sure what has happened. Allow me to see it, please Hakuren." I pleaded.

"You're not going alone." He replied, walking in to the stable and getting himself a horse, fully saddled with supplies hanging on every side.

"See this as our honeymoon. Yuu will kill us when we come back, but it seems you were already prepared for that." He said smiling.

My smile grew as I ran towards him for a hug. "I love you Hakuren. Thank you so much."

…

We had left in the dead of night and with Hakuren who knew the way of traveling without being seen by any guards, we were gone without anyone noticing. The horses ran around, dust flying off with every step they took. We had to reach [country name] as soon as possible. Not only because I wanted to know what was going on, but mostly because I wanted to keep Hakuyuu's anger as small as possible.

Outside of the capital, there wasn't much around. We would cross little villages and as the sun started to rise, the only thing we found were farms and plains. I knew about the land were heading towards, it was the Tenzan plateau, a giant and bare piece of land that separated Kou and [country name]. When I had come to Kou, it had been in a carriage, shielded from the outside. I had never noticed to beautiful scenery I was missing out on.

The plains would take the most time to cross, even if we were already traveling for 3 days. At night, we would send up a camp, sleeping in a makeshift tent, not caring about the fact that we would sleep close to each other. In all honesty, Hakuren was great company. He was serious, knowing exactly where he wanted to go. But at the same time he played around, showing off on his horse and wanting to have a race when we were already exhausting our horses.

But it didn't matter, because in the end, I noticed the lands of my motherland again. The green lands, the farms that, how beautiful the surroundings looked, could barely produce enough food for one family. And in the distance, the view of the capital.

Before going to the capital, we decided to make sure we wouldn't be noticed. Hakuren should have been fine, as a Kou royal he wouldn't be known around my people. But still, wearing Kou's royal robes, I knew he could be attacked by anyone who saw him as a way to get money. I was sure the people still knew my face. And if they didn't remember mine, they would know my sister's. Surely nothing would have changed, the royal family was still hated. So, with our appearances hidden we moved into the city.

…

I was shocked by what I saw. This was not the country I had left behind, it had changed. Whatever change had been promised to us, it had not been a good one. The people looked skinny, almost dead. There was no screaming about half rotten food that we could buy. The market was mostly filled with cheap jewelry, the women behind the stands barely able to sell anything. [Country name] had always had its problems, but never had I seen it this bad.

My stomach growled, we still had some food left from our journey, but the hope to replenish it was as good as lost here.

"I didn't know this placed looked like this…" Hakuren muttered, followed by a soft "Horrible"

I sighed, I too hadn't known my country had fallen this far. Was all of it my father's fault? While my sister had been around to keep an eye on everything? And then it hit me: My sister. I had no idea how she was doing with all this around.

"Hakuren, there is one place I need to see badly. Please, come with me to the castle." I requested of him. He nodded and so we left the market for now, trying to find out what had become of my old home.

…

The castle, I noticed wasn't in any better shape than the rest of the city. The path up the hill had been neglected, roses had started to grow across it, apparently the only plant that wanted to grow in this hellish place. But when we finally reached the top of the hill, we found the castle gate to be abandoned. There had always been guards around who would make sure no one could bring harm to the royal family. But now they were gone. As if the castle no longer needed its protection, as if the royal family was gone.

"Hey you there!" I looked up and saw a man hanging from the window on a higher floor. "What do you want here?"

I opened my mouth, but Hakuren placed a hand on my shoulder, indicating he would be the one talking instead.

"We are travelers from Tenzan." He said calmly, "We just arrived and wished to see what the royal family of this country would be like. But it seems this place is more abandoned than used by any king."

The man laughed. "Our king is gone, along with that stupid princess of his. Took out his guards, made him run away. We took our own country back after he ruined it all. We will be the ones who create a better place. You will see, the terrible state this country is in now is only temporary. Now go away, two teenagers shouldn't be out here."

I lowered my head and walked back down the hill. I had known this man, an old guard of my father's. I had watched him train with his men, copied his moves many times. And this was how we were repaid? By betrayal?

"[Name]" Hakuren took my hand, stopping me from running away any further. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. I wasn't okay, how could I be? My family was gone, my country no longer the same. I hated it. But I couldn't let it pull me down, not yet.

"Let's go back into town. We can at least help some villagers out by buying their goods, perhaps they can give us more information about what happened." I said, sighing.

Hakuren nodded. Still holding my hand, we walked down the hill. The castle of roses slowly disappearing in the background.

…

"The royal family?" The lady behind the stand with the only food that seemed edible looked at us in surprise.

I nodded. "We went to the castle and were told the royal family had run away. Any idea on what happened to them next."

The lady shook her head. "Who knows. The entire country knows them, they could've been murdered by an angry farmer for all I know."

"I see…" I muttered, trying to hide how much impact such news had on me. "May I ask what they ever did to you? To receive such treatment, I mean. They must've made your life hell if they are thrown out of their own country like this."

"Oh darling," The woman began as she packed the food we had bought from her, "be glad you are not from here. You see, this land used to be extremely fertile, the harvest always being one other countries could only dream of. But it all changed, our king threw away his resources and invested in alliances that have brought us nothing." She laughed for a moment, but by the way she was clenching the pear in her hand, it was not out of happiness. "An alliance with the Kou empire? It's pathetic, we send them a princess and what do we get in return? Even higher taxes, for so called 'improvements'. We never saw any improvements. The harvest continued to be horrible, our children died of starvation because there was nothing left. Meanwhile the king was enjoying himself with our money, importing food from Kou to fill his own stomach. But we were left to rot."

She handed me the bag with food, Hakuren who had stayed a bit more on the side, seemed to be hurt by her words.

"But it is none of your concern, young lady. You should enjoy your travels while you still can." She smiled.

"I will, but I will never forget you or this country. I hope that, if anything, you will be able to see this country bloom once more. I'm sorry that you had to live through such a terrible time." I handed her the money for the food.

"My lady, none of this is something you should be sorry for. It is our own fault for never trying to take back our own country until now." She said. When she noticed I had given her more money than she asked for, she wished to return some of it to me. But I shook my head instead.

"Please keep that money. It is yours, you've worked hard for it. Please, keep my people save." And with that I walked away with Hakuren. Before she could ask me what I meant with that, before I could break down in tears.

Hakuren threw an arm around me, shielding me from the sight of the town I had wished to see again, but now wanted to see disappear forever.

"I guess it must hurt, seeing your home like this, hearing your people talk about your family like they're savages." He said as he guided me through the streets.

"Don't get me wrong, my dad is as terrible as that woman described him. It's my sister I worry about. She does not deserve any of this, but neither do the people. [Country name] is a poor country. I was told Kou would save it, not destroy it even more." I looked at Hakuren, tears forming in my eyes. "Was it all a lie, Hakuren? Was Kou never going to bring my country back? For what reason did I even come to Kou then? I could've stayed here, trying to save whatever was left of it."

"That's not true [name]. Yuu and I discussed with father that your country would get all the help it needed to make the alliance work. I don't know where it went wrong and how things ended up like this. But please-" He pulled me closer, letting my head rest against his chest, "do not leave Kou. We need you, I need you."

"I need you too, but right now…" I whispered, hoping my tears would stop soon enough.

"I know. We should return to Kou soon. Staying here won't make it any better for you." He told me, stroking my hair.

I nodded softly. He was right that there was nothing left for me in this place. I knew I had promised to protect [country name] kingdom and I was not done with it. The country wasn't lost yet, it had fallen apart and tried to pick itself up again.

"Hakuren…" I whispered, nuzzling against his chest, trying to calm down, "even if my father is no longer around, promise me Kou will not leave these people on their own. They need your support even if they don't ask for it. I want to see the rise from the ashes again, so these people have a future once more. One where my family doesn't ruin everything for them. I want them to be happy."

"I'm sure Yuu will agree to that." He kissed the top of my head, "Anything for your happiness."

…

We traveled back that same evening, our mood a lot more gloomy than it had been before. I needed the time to think. I could no longer return home, my family was hated, thrown out, murdered perhaps. It was clear my future no longer lay in [Country name] but in Kou instead.

As the scenery of Kou surrounded us again, a feeling of guilt came over us. Surely Hakuyuu would question us, Gyokuen would scold us for running off so close before the wedding. Then again… it wouldn't be just Gyokuen who would do that. There was still so much to do before the wedding and we had thrown away almost two weeks with our little trip.

We returned in the dead of night. Hiding our horses in the stables again, we wished to return to our rooms in silence. But just like how fate had not wanted me to travel on my own, it wouldn't allow us to return easily either.

"So you decided to come back after all?" Hakuyuu was waiting for us next to the stables. "You leave a note saying '[name] and I will be gone for a while but we'll be back before the wedding' and think that is enough?"

Hakuren scratched the back of his head, while I tried to pick up the supplies I had dropped by the sudden surprise of Hakuyuu's appearance.

"She wanted to see her motherland, couldn't let her go one her own, right? I need to make sure my fiancée will return to me safely." Hakuren said. Hakuyuu's gaze moved over to me.

"Is that true?" He asked. "Did you return to your home after all?"

I nodded. "I heard the empress talk about it being chaos… I wanted to see it."

"And was it what you expected?" Hakuyuu asked again, this time I shook my head.

"It had changed so much. My family is gone, I have no country left." I sighed, feeling emotional once again.

"Please rest… We'll talk about this tomorrow. Kouen came back while you were gone. I'm sure he would love to meet you again." He said and guided us back to the palace.

I would no longer have my own country to come back to, no family at my wedding. Only the Kou empire to guide me to my future. It was that that I had to accept, it was that that I could never accept deep inside.

If I follow my plot, the wedding should be in the next chapter. At first I thought about adding a part with Kouen in this one, but decided not to. So you'll get that next chapter (when I figure out how a wedding works). Thank you all for your support. I love you all~