After the war. Part 3


"….Dear lord…." Ryoma sighed after hearing her thoughts. She looked distressed, and even if she wasn't a heavy drinker, or one at all, she was definitely starting an unhealthy relationship with the bottle.

"….Ok, that´s lame," everyone looked toward the back of the tent, seeing that petite girl with twin tails and that annoying smirk on her face, too similar to her older sister, Rhajat, but strangely, she was using a maid outfit. "….if my sister heard all of this, she would hex you to never bother anyone ever again!"

"….Nice outfit" Niles chuckled, he and Azama were the only ones distracted by the way the girl waved her head.

"Excuse me?" Hinoka glared daggers at her, but she just laughed.

"Just think about for a moment," she laughed again, with her hand on her forehead. "Oh! Poor me, I don't know what to do~ my long-awaited love is destined to perish, let's make this a sob story about myself and how I cry with my dear brothers," she finished with an exaggerated posture. "I don't really know Sakura, but she has more backbone than you."

"Wait, what? Why´re you mocking me?!" Hinoka tried to stand, but Ryoma placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Could you elaborate?" he asked.

"What? You´re on her side?"

"I'm on nobody's side, not right now," Ryoma sighed. "But, even if I don't appreciate your…. Opinion about my family….. what makes you say that?"

"Well, don't get me wrong, I won't say Hinoka story isn't interesting," again, that condescension tone in her voice make Hinoka mad. Misuki continued "but she is… umm… bland?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry!" Hinoka stood up, glaring daggers at the girl whose smile grew wider, "I'm sorry that being me is lame and 'bland', but I would never do something against my family's happiness, I'm sorry that I consider th-"

"Oh, stop it, they would love to let you join, but seeing you in this sorry state, Camilla would laugh and make your life a living hell if she ever hears this response from you and your sob story."

"What?! Y-"

"Hold on a second, she has a point..." Leo stopped her.

"Wait, what?" Hinoka looked at the prince, surprised by his comment.

"As I said before and just like…. Pointed out, if sister Camilla hears you saying stuff like 'I will yield my love for Kamui for your family' after hearing how he was the only thing you were after for so many years, I'm pretty sure that Camilla would despise you, and in the worst-case scenario, behead you. Not in that exact order, now that I think about it."

"Sister Rhajat would hex you."Misuki commented.

"Is that a threat?" Ryoma raised his tone with a scowl on his face. "If you think I w-"

"It is a warning….a rather optimistic one." Leo interrupted. "In these last weeks I have observed all the people around here, and I'm pretty sure that even for her….dark humor, Misuki isn't the type of girl who likes to tease and push the buttons of anyone here."

"Oh? You´re being…. Nice? Lord Leo?" Niles laughed. "Hoshidan alcohol must be just your taste if you´re willingly protecting them."

"Shut up," he blurted out. "I don't know Rhajat, but Camilla, yes, that is exactly what she would do in this special circumstances."

"How can you be so sure? It is not like I will allow it," Ryoma inquired. "And… special circumstances?"

Leo looked at them, dumbfounded, arching an eyebrow, he sighed. "You´re serious?" Extending his hand to Niles, the assassin quickly took from his pouch a special trinket, similar to badge with special scripts on it, imbuing the object with magic, they saw how a faint purple circle surrounded them. "I'm going to cross some boundaries here, so better be sure that nobody eavesdrops on us."

"A silent ward?" Ryoma asked, making him nod.

"Yes, listen up, you already know our story, about Nohr and the 'concubine war', how it affected us and the rest of the kingdom, knowing that, Camilla would never allow that to happen again, so my question is, why she let Sakura be with them?"

"…That's….a good question….." Hinoka commented

"I cant speak in her name, but I'm sure that she saw something in her that was good enough to let be with them, and I'm being dead serious here. Xander and I had a lot of nobles trying to meddle with us, Camilla never, ever allowed a single girl aside of Elise and some maids near Kamui. It is a miracle that she let her near him, unthinkable that a child had her blessing, gods, even calling Sakura child 'hers' is unbelievable, I'm sure she has her reasons," Looking at Misuki, he confirmed his thoughts. "And right now, her presence pushing you near him…. I think is a rather precarious situation to share this information with us."

"….Maybe…" she rolled her eyes. "…..I hate…. Seeing sis angry, that's all," Misuki replied, playing with her bangs.

"Awww, you´re such a sweet girl," Niles commented.

"Gross!"

"….If it is a delicate situation…. Your advice is to…. Meddle in their happiness?" Hinoka asked.

"My advice is to gain your place beside them," Leo continued "Sakura managed to convince Camilla, the 'bewitching beauty', dear lord, the same woman that would behead any woman who dared to look in Kamui´s direction," looking at her, he continued. "Sakura…. She´s gentle, with great patience and a caring personality, combined with a timid behavior….. AND GAINED CAMILLA'S RESPECT!" Leo laughed "She´s scarier than Camilla if you ask me, and I'm pretty sure anyone in Nohr would say the same. I don't know what she did, but maybe and only maybe, if you can gain her respect and prove that your love is at the same level, there might be a chance that she lets you join, of course, I can't speak for Sakura, but that´s what I can say about my sister…"

A moment of silence fell in the place, only disturbed by the sound of the people cheering outside and the occasional laugh, Niles was the one who took Hinoka out of her thoughts.

"Don't worry li'l gal, I´ve a bet of 30 gold coins that she fucked Kamui in front of Lady Camilla to gain her respect."

"Rude," Leo commented "And very, very inappropriate…."

"What?! Aren't you going to say it´s ridiculous? My sister is not a harlot or something like that!" Hinoka glared at them. "You think so lowly about my family? Our family?"

"… I´m drawing a blank over here," Leo coughed on his fist. "Don't get me wrong, after all what has happened, I have a great respect for you and the Hoshidans, but I cant think what Sakura did, I doubt she said something like 'He´s my boyfriend and you can´t have him' or something like that, and Camilla just saying 'ok' to that, isn´t something she would say….."

"…. I have 45 gold coins in that wager," Misuki smirked, "that she stole private time in their chambers."

"Uh? That´s not fair! Your sister mu-" Niles tried to reply, but Leo interrupted.

"I really don't want to know about their private time, thank you," he sighed, finishing his glass. "…That is not something I want to know about Kamui, Sakura and definitely, not about Camilla's sex life…."

"Me neither," Ryoma finally commented, with crossed arms. "I hope this was of help, Hinoka."

"Wait? You agree with them?" Hinoka was dumbfounded.

"…Not entirely," scratching his cheek, he looked troubled. "I'm not comfortable with this, if I'm honest, all this situation is out of my hands, I can't tell you what to do, after all, everything I have done until now, it has been against Kamui happiness or welfare, right now, I feel…. Useless….."

"You´re not useless, Ryoma," Leo commented, taking them by surprise. "Just… clueless… as we were, it might be a surprise, but Xander or me weren't better than you, after all, what we did to Kana that night….well, you know…. It was a….. jerk move from us."

"…..Holy fuck, Lord Leo must be feeling really sorry saying this stuff," Niles injected laughing and pointing at Azama. "You own me 20 gold coins…he has feelings!"

Azama frowned. "He could be faking."

"Drunkards and children don´t lie buddy, now pay up."

"Worse, I don't give charity to drunkards," he laughed. "Maybe a prayer, are you interested in that, thought?" they started to argue as Misuki facepalmed.

Before they could continue with their discussion, the flap of the tent opened, looking at the new visitor, her gleaming smile took their attention, of course, she was always 'radiant', but now, she looked more…. Charming? It was hard to say, one thing was for sure, she was out of place with that face.

"Ah! Lord Ryoma! Lady Hinoka! With… Lord Leo?" Caeldori greeted them. "It´s nice to see you all here, only Lord Xander and Lady Elise are missing, but regardless, it´s good timing!"

"Caeldori? Have you been looking for us? Did something happen?" Ryoma inquired.

"Wait a minute….." Misuki interrupted "….Did you…..got Mikoto's blessing?"

"Mikoto? Is Xander making her cry again? Or Kana? I d-"

"I don't think she´s talking about the little one…." Leo interrupted. "But… blessing? You´re not saying….."

"Well… this is interesting…. And surprising," Misuki spoke again, with a delighted smirk on her face. "Did you…really?"

"…W-Wait, what?" Hinoka looked at Caeldori, then to Misuki and back to the girl, who was blushing, connecting the dots, she couldn't believe that she came to show off, did she?

"Yes! Of course! I wouldn't jest about this!" She smiled. "Lady Mikoto said that as long Kamui, Camilla and Sakura were ok with it….I could…..I…." she fidgeted a little "Well, you…. You know….I…." she entered and walked to Ryoma. "That´s why I w-"

"Ok, that's it!" Hinoka stood, blushing hard. "I could accept Sakura, Rhajat and even Camilla, but he was supposed to be with me to start with!" she blurted pointing at her. "And now…. You as well? wh-"

"I'm sorry to be rude, Lady Hinoka, but…." Caeldori interrupted her, with her hand on her chest. "I sense that you´re not especially happy with the news…."

"No, I'm not!" scratching her head, she tried to not lose her senses. "Mother said that I was his first kiss and that she expected that in the end, we ended together, after all this time, seeing what´s happening, I see it like a bad joke!"

"…..Well, I guess she´s better than you," Misuki comment hurt her deeply. "What would you do if Camilla, Sakura or my sister wouldn't recognize you as a potential partner? Or if Kamui doesn't want to?"

"Well… of course, I will be devastated if I couldn't be with him…. But!" Caeldori looked at Hinoka. "Now that I know that Lady Mikoto is not against the idea, then, I can try to gain my place at their side."

"….Interesting," Leo commented. "….why´re you so convinced that you have a good chance to stay at their side?"

"Well, I already passed the toughest parts," Caeldori hit her own chest proudly. "Lady Mikoto won't be against me in particular, I have trained for so long to be the perfect pegasi knight, so I'm sure that if I do my best, I can overcome whatever Camilla launch's at me, the same with Sakura, but more importantly, I already 'stole' their hearts."

"Wait, what? What´s that supposed to mean?"

"The girls… I was…. More than an elder sister, I was like a mother for them in the deeprealms….even if Kamui never wanted to 'burden me' with his girls, I grew with them, and I know that Camilla and Sakura trust me after all this time, besides, Kana told me that she wouldn't mind if I was her new mother," she said with her hands on her cheeks. "just thinking about it…. It makes me so, so happy!"

"…You´re way happy too happier for things like this than other people, you know that?" Leo finished his cup again, looking at Hinoka "You see that? She doesn't have a clue of the living hell she´s going to pass through, just trying to meddle between Camilla and Kamui for a bit, but her naivety is perhaps a good thing for her, at least, she´s going to do her best."

"Her best? What are you talking about? Lord Leo, you´re n-" she suddenly blushed harder, and looking at the princess, Caeldori couldn't contain it. "Wait, are you telling me that…. You have…. deeper feelings for Kamui?"

"Ok, fine, YES!" Hinoka shouted. "I won't lose to anyone anymore, no Camilla, Sakura nor you!"

"….."

"…..Is this normal in your family, Ryoma?" Leo asked.

"Strong willed women?" he replied.

"Delusional fools?" replied Misuki

"Shameless gals who doesn´t know what to say when they´re embarrassed?" Niles added.

"Arrogant princesses who likes to do whatever they want?" Azama laughed.

"OH, SHUT UP!" Hinoka blurted, fully red. "You have no right to say anything, Azama! And you, prince Leo, you don't know anything about me… I…." with her hands on her heads, she tightened her teeth's and blurted out to the whole the tent. "I'M GONNA SHOW YOU!"

"Oh… ummm wait, Misuki you mustn't…." Caeldori looked at the girl, who just vanished in a second. "…oh…. Oh no,no,no, that little…" she stood up "E-Excuse me, Lord Ryoma, Lord Leo, I need to catch the small deviant, before she tells the big one, if you excuse me!" without much time to respond, Caeldori tried to ran away, but Ryoma managed to grab her wrist.

"Whoa, hold on, take it easy, what´s the big deal?" he asked. "If you really want to do what you´re about to do, then we need to have a small talk."

"No, wait, let me go Lord Ryoma, you don't understand!" she mumbled some words, and shook her head as she paled. "The last time Misuki gave Rhajat a notice that involved Kamui and that she didn't like it, there were dire consequences."

"Aren't you exaggerating?"

"Lord Ryoma, you don't understand at all! If I don't go right now, they could be messing with my stuff, my personal belongings! Every little treasure Kamui gave me! N-not to mention, really, REALLY personal stuff, so please, let me go!"

"For the dragons, Prince Ryoma, just let her go already, this is cruel," Leo commented.

"Fine, bu-"

"With all due respect, I don't have time for this, sorry, and goodbye!" Caeldori left them, ratter flustered than before.

"…. Well, this is really interesting, I hope we can live to share this with our grandchildren!" Azama laughed. "well, at least for you milords, I don't expect her to get very far in life without lady Hinoka."

"….For the dragons, what I just have saw?" Ryoma sighed.

"With luck, not the new 'concubine war' after the war," Leo commented.


"W-Wait, what the?" Hinoka was wandering around the 'castle', walking through the hallways, she was about to reach his room, but seeing how a blonde knight was struggling to keep some of the guards away from the room, she wondered what was going on.

"Pl-Please, understand that for the time being, this is off limits for anyone," Sophie said as the guards sighed.

"Look, we just want to report to Lord Kamui, there are news of the outside world, we can't leave without him knowing the news," said one of the guards.

"Guuuh….." Sophie made a really silly face trying to hold her frustration. "l-look, I know that it is important, b-but, can't you lend the report to someone else? Right now, he´s out the question."

"B-But, it is important! We need t-" they stopped as the door slightly opened, Sophia didn't notice, but the guards could see how from the shadows, a single eye peeked outside the room, it didn't look friendly at all, the true be told, it was a mix of anger and irked, the guards shivered under her glare as her nails appeared and left a mark on the frame of the door as it descended on it.

"….yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees?" Mikoto whispered as the guards shook their heads in panic, Sophie felt a chill down her spine.

"S-Sorry! W-we´ll be back later!" both of them ran away, stumbling into each other.

"L-L-L-L-L-Lady Mikoto?" Sophie tried to maintain composure, but from the look of her now visible face, now she was way more irritated than 10 minutes ago. Slowly, she stretched out her arm, Sophie just closed her eyes, expecting the worse.

"There, there," Mikoto said, rubbing her head. "Do your best to shoo away anyone who dares to interrupt this precious time~"

"Ahh… y-yes!" Sophie was about to cry, Hinoka wasn't sure if it was for the fact that she was about to faint or for seeing how her scary face changed for one of a saint, Mikoto noticed her, and with a sly smile, she called her.

"Nice timing, come, look, look."

"Wh-What?" Hinoka approached, Sophia just vowed and greeted her. "What´s going on?"

"Don't ask, just come here sweetie," Mikoto giggled, somehow, she looked overjoyed, delighted, even better when Kamui returned.

Trying to calm herself, she wanted to talk with her, if she was about to meddle in dangerous territory, then she had to talk with her, before the other girl tried something funny. "Well, Mo-Lady Mikoto, I have something in mind, and I would like your…..advice…?" Hinoka followed her inside, closing the door and preparing an improvised speech, she was about to ask about the letters she left behind, but an odd scene interrupted her.

It was…. Unreal, maybe she was drunk? Sakura was lying on the bed, with her kimono opened and she could swear in some rather fancy small clothes, but that wasn't the strange thing, it was unusual that in one side, Kamui was snuggling on her arm, and in the other, a pair of girls even more glued to her side, Kana and little Mikoto where at her side, happily sleeping Sakura had a expression of pure bliss with embarrassment, Hinoka eye twitched and looked a Mikoto, who had her hands on her cheeks and gleaming eyes.

"…..What is this? What happened?"

"Ohh… you see…." Mikoto barely managed to respond "I taught Sakura how to heal Kamui with her magic energy, you could say she´s able to do what the staff´s and wands can't, but I never expected that the moment she entered that…. 'phase' of healing, these little ones awakened from their slumber, came here and joined her mother in the healing process, they´re like little cute butterflies that fluttered around Sakura~" she giggled "its way better than expected~"

"…what? B-but… why in that… position? And they´re not draining Sakura?"

"I assume that they found that position comfortable, and my little butterflies just came to taste the nectar of her sweet mother as well~"

"Half naked? In the middle of the day? Right in the moment where we should be preparing to resume activities? They´re….they´re just….." Hinoka was beet red about the way they nonchalantly discarded any kind of etiquette or care on the world.

"Mmmppp? Is there any problem Hinoka?"

"Yes… is there any problem, princess Hinoka?" Her heart stopped for a moment, looking at the back of the room, they recognized the new cloud of purple fog that appeared, as the raven girl got outside the shadows, she looked at her, her face looked as usual, annoyed but somewhat, not interested in her, but her voice, sounded just like someone just stabbed her with a dagger on the chest. "Well? Anything you w…." Rhajat looked at the scene at the bed, and something more stranger happened, it was weird to see her usual face blush, and in a blink, she teleported aside of the bed looking at them. "Aaahh…..my love looks so cute…..Miko and Kana look delicious…..maybe….. maybe I can…..oh….. oh yes, this is perfect," she snickered, practically drooling at the scene.

"…..What…the hell?" was everything Hinoka could say before it started.


AAAAND THAT´S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!

Sorry for the delay on the updates, but you know, with everything happening around, there are little chances to continue with this, so sorry, i´ll do my best to keep writting since you have no idea how many ideas and fresh scenes are in my head to continue this fic, no, it is not over yet!

Some of the common question are that if i will add more lemons to this story since the "hard" part is finished, with that last scene, i hope you´re hyped for the answer to that inquiry, expect more larger chapters once i finish finding a good work position, cross your fingers!

Anyway! i´ll try to update "Forced Light" this week, so keep following my work, leave your pm/review and let know what´d you think about it, without more to say, i thank you all for your time, seeya next time!

SHIDESU! OUT!