Chapter I
It was a scene that had been played many times before.
The two figures faced each other in the darkened hall, their silent hatred for each other obvious in the tense atmosphere between them.
The one sitting at the throne was a thin, green-haired lady with a sour expression which ruined whatever might have been considered beautiful about her. Now nothing about her was attractive, but those who knew her well would agree she had always been skilled in the arts of seduction - a skill which had placed her on the throne upon which she now sat.
Of course when you found out about her true nature it was already too late, wasn't it, Father? The second figure thought bitterly. You had already married her, casting aside my own mother. Well, at least this bitch loves you. That one thing is your profit. He was standing at the foot of the steps that lead up to the throne, looking up at his step-mother with hard eyes and a cold expression. He was still a young man, slender but finely-built, with a quiet air of authority about him that set him apart from the crowd, be it demons or humans. He was not very tall, and his expression was too serious and single-minded to give him the impression of a rakish heart-throb as his looks otherwise might have. However, the aura of cool confidence around him and his leadership qualities made him every inch a noble prince, blessing him with a charisma he did not have to work for.
And now this Demon Prince was struggling as always to remain polite, fighting to control his fury at the Empress for compromising his pride, for holding the life of his dear mother over his head as a perpetual threat to blackmail him into carrying out her wishes. He hated her. A fact never to change.
"Why, my dear stepson, are you angry at me?' she taunted him, her lips curving slowly into a vicious smile. "Come, that is no way to treat one who will one day grant your dearest wish – the release of your mother"
"After you force me to obtain the scriptures from Sanzo-ikkou."
She laughed then, her cruel peals of laughter floating through the hall. She knew she had no compassion, no kindness, in her heart but she did not care. All Gyoukumen Koushu cared about now was her dear Gyumao and his revival. One day, my dearest, she thought. I will be waiting to be by your side again. She looked down at her stepson. He reminds me of you, my husband. Perhaps that is why I enjoy tormenting him. Unfortunately, he is also so like his mother.
"Kougaiji." She was annoyed now. "I promised you I will remove the seal on your mother when you give me the scriptures to revive your father, did I not?"
She could see the anger flashing in those violet eyes of his. "It is not my fault that it is taking you so long to obtain that scriptures from the Sanzo-ikkou," she pointed out.
"It is easier said than done," he replied coldly.
She smiled at him, her smile as cold as his tone. "But it will be done, won't it Kougaiji? Or else, I will be forced to consider..." She trailed off ominously.
"If you summoned me here to remind me once more of my mission, then you are wasting my time, Gyoukumen Koushu," he snapped. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have more urgent matters to attend to." He turned away and started to leave but his step-mother's call stopped him short.
"Kougaiji. I no longer have faith in your abilities to obtain the scriptures."
His blood ran cold at her words. Mother... He whipped around to look up at his step-mother in shock.
She had risen from her throne and was gazing at him with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Noticing the malicious look in her eyes, Kougaiji felt the fear rising in him for his mother's well-being. How he longed to slam his fist into the face of that woman masquerading as the Empress in his mother's place! If only she did not have control over his mother's fate... Kougaiji would have killed her long since.
"Oh, don't look so murderously at me, Kougaiji," she laughed cruelly. "Perhaps I did not phrase my words so carefully... I still do want you to get the sutra from Genjo Sanzo for me. Only..." Her smile was positively evil.
Kougaiji crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against one of the pillars, carefully concealing the dread he felt at knowing there was another unpleasant task ahead for him. "Only what?" He asked coolly, knowing it would enrage her.
It did. Her eyes glittered darkly. But she recovered from her fit of rage at his coolness, and smiled as viciously as before. "I have a new plan to get that sutra, my dear step-son. And of course, you are still as indispensable as ever to me and my plan..."
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Yaone sat alone, her arms wrapped around her knees as she buried her face against them. She was at the balcony adjoining her room, her back against the railings, effectively blocking the view of her face for anyone looking up at her below. She did not want the guards at the grounds below to see her tear-filled purple eyes.
"Kougaiji-sama..." she whispered against her sleeve.
She did not believe it. She could not believe it. She did not want to believe it. And she hated herself for feeling that way.
A vision of a handsome young man with red hair blowing in the wind crossed her mind. Kougaiji-sama, what is it that I feel for you? She wondered sadly. She thought of her prince, so handsome, so noble, so... I adore him.
She lived for him. She would die for him. Her loyalty lied only with him, as it would forever. Whatever he asked of her, she would do.
I placed my life in your hands... willingly.
After all, he had saved her from a fate that he himself had described as pathetic. Saved her from being a concubine to a demon who would use her, torture her, break her, and finally kill her. Then even when she was nothing but excess baggage to him Kougaiji had kept her by his side, protected her as possessively he would his own sister. She was but his servant, his sub-ordinate, but Kougaiji treated her as his friend.
I love him as is expected of me. He is my savior, my master, my friend... but if it is only that kind of love, why does my heart ache so now?
She remembered the fury contorting his face, when she and Dokugakuji had met him in his chambers only a while before.
**
Kougaiji's fist slammed into the wall, as he yelled out a torrent of expletives.
"Kougaiji-sama!" Yaone cried out in concern.
"Now, Kou," Dokugakuji placed a steadying hand on his friend's shoulder. "What happened?"
It had taken Kougaiji a long time to regain his composure. Yaone had watched him anxiously, longing to touch him reassuringly as Dokugakuji did. But no, he was her master. Dokugakuji maybe Kougaiji's sub-ordinate, but he was also the prince's best friend, while she was merely considered his friend through Kougaiji's kindness. It pained Yaone to look into his eyes which were now flaming violet orbs of fury so she concentrated on Kougaiji's heavy breathing instead.
In. Out. In. Out. In. Out
It reassured her to have concrete evidence of how alive her prince was. He would be there to protect her. Always. Wouldn't he?
Finally, Kougaiji had told them what his step-mother now required of him. Told them flatly without emotion in that cold and distant voice of his he used when he spoke of things he did not wish to. Yaone had listened, first disbelieving, but then in horror.
"Kou, you would not do it, would you?" Dokugakuji had exclaimed when Kougaiji had finished. Yaone had not been able to find her voice to protest as well, but from the haunted look in Kougaiji's eyes, she already knew any protest would fall on deaf ears.
"My mother." He had replied simply in response to Dokugakuji's question. Dokugakuji had fallen silent at that reply.
Yaone wanted to throw herself into Kougaiji's arms then, crying out that it was an insane idea, that Kougaiji was not only going to ruin his life, that what he would do was morally unacceptable and cold-hearted – a hideous deed her prince would never do.
But then he had no choice.
**
"Yaone!!!"
Lirin was banging on her bedroom door.
Yaone wiped the tears from her eyes and smoothed back her long purple hair. She had to get the door quickly before the young princess became impatient and decided to break the door down. And she could not afford to let Lirin see her tears. The child would talk. Especially to her much adored brother, or even to her mother, the Empress, although the probability was extremely low. Still, you never know with that girl, Yaone thought fondly with a hint of annoyance.
The thought of the blonde child lifted her spirits. For the moment, her turbulent emotions were forgotten and her thoughts turned to her mischievous charge. Kougaiji had trusted Yaone with his beloved sister, and she would not fail him... again. Already she had managed to let Lirin slip away from her and into trouble too many times.
Kougaiji-sama, you can count on me no matter what. I'll always be with you. As promised.
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