Summary:
Izuna lightly punched his brother's arm and cheered him up. "Brother, it won't be that bad! Be positive once in a while! After all this is your dream village."
"What do you know? The rumors said that she's sickly so she rarely goes out."
"Perhaps she's shy." Izuna countered. "..." Madara didn't even bother to reply and gave him stink eyes look.
Everyone in Capital City thought that the elusive Grand Princess would not last long in this arranged marriage between the leader of Uchiha Clan and The First Imperial Princess because of her sickly body.
This is a story of two different people who met each other by chance and tried to include each other within their worlds.
Yes, this is the cliche arranged marriage AU that everyone needs to write once in a while.
~o0o~
Notes:
My first time to write a full blown romance, this is a sweet story I promise. Not much angst but with a little dash of intrigue. Shoutout to all of those authors that somehow managed to write more than 10k words worth of story in a single day. This story was heavily influenced by author 'Butterfly's Shadow Beneath the Moon's works, I love the tranquil and relaxed undertone of her story, I hope I can manage to imitate that vibe even for only a little bit :))
~o0o~
Chapter 1: Her Arrival
Warning(s): Everything included in the rating are act of violence, language, and adult content in this story. Proceed with caution if you're easily offended by violence or fairly descriptive depictions of adult relationships.
A/N: This is an important note, I need to tell you the background of this story to avoid some minor or major confusion:
1. I will attempt to write historical romance in the ninja-filled Naruto world.
2. A little bit of worldbuilding, thus OCs. I hope you don't dislike it.
3. So I know that Pre-Konoha Naruto society is like the Japan Warring State Period where the Daimyo found themselves rather independent and could run their territories like independent countries. There's no Shogun or Emperor to be found in Naruto universe, ergo I'm going to treat these Daimyos as an imperial family for each country they hailed from. So Land of Fire is not being led by Daimyo, I haven't decided for other four great countries, but the minor countries are still being led by Daimyos.
4. I don't know much about the Japanese peerage system in the feudal era, that's why, I'll adopt several Ancient Chinese Ranks and Titles. I hope I'll manage to somehow wing it along the way.
5. I'll post and update my glossary when needed.
~o0o~
The twenty-second year of the Ryuusei [1] era. Winter.
The commoners of the Hi[2] dynasty were immersed in joy. For many years, the Land of Fire had been immersed in an internal and external conflict caused by neighboring county, The Land of Earth. This time, following the formation of Hidden Leaves Military Estate[3], the newly gathered military power was not only able to defend the land but also managed to push the enemies back to their country. Their newly minted leader – called Hokage, had even captured their commander directly from the battlefield[4]. Such acts forced the other nation to retreat and gained an upper hand during the following temporary peace treaty. Almost all residents of the Hi dynasty felt euphoric even the previously stifling atmosphere inside the Imperial City turned bright all of the sudden.
In the eyes of commoners, the unification of Senju and Uchiha Clan brought a new opportunity to free themselves from a stagnant life or life full of bloodshed [5]. The current emperor was still in his prime and blessed with good health, he was a wise ruler[6]. The Hokage became something akin to God that descended to the mortal realm [7] in order to assist the reigning monarch to defeat the opposing foes. All of this was obviously good news, except for one person who was currently sitting and leisurely reading inside a carriage.
At this time, almost all noble personages of The Land of Fire were waiting to enter the Capital for the special celebration banquet that would be held one week from now. This occasion caused an unbelievable surge of noble visitors from other provinces into the Capital City. In order to facilitate the incoming guest, the official in charge increased the number of inspectors that were tasked to oversee the waves of carriages.
"Who knows how long these carriages have to wait to enter the city?" One of the inspectors sighed and spoke to his fellow worker beside him when he saw the never ending line of carriages, the road was filled with servants, guards, and the neigh sound of horses, while the masters stayed inside. The temperature was rather cold this day considering this month will end one week later. The announcement for this banquet was spread two days ago but the noble masters across The Land of Fire were already knocking on their door the next day. There was even a rumor which said the mysterious and elusive Grand Princess would show up this time.
The second man then hummed as if agreeing with his statement while faintly nodding his head. "These people, we can't afford to offend even a single of them." They really had a tough job for these past two days. From the beginning, all these people never like to wait even for only a little bit. But this time, they even needed to wait for more than an hour to step into the gate. The one who received their full burnt irritation was the inspectors that were stationed to manage these throes of people. They needed to make sure that nothing untoward would happen to the higher ranking officials and nobles. But the job needed to be done after all, else they would be punished if something did happen.
Just as he was done lamenting his predicament he saw one of the guards in charge of the outer post charging straight towards him on a horse. The guard looked to be in a hurry and hastily reported the incoming news from his post. "The Grand Princess carriage is still waiting outside, what should we do?" This was probably the still newly recruited batch of guards, that was why he needed to ask something obvious. This was Grand Princess, what else were they supposed to do except to let her pass? Would he dare to deny Her Highness' demand?
Inspector number one and two were shocked, the noblest lady from this country arrived this early? When he previously said that couldn't afford these nobles, it was true. But ultimately, the one that he truly couldn't afford to even slightly offend was this person. This big Buddha[8], even the nobles didn't dare to slight her. Growing up inside the capitol, it was very normal for commoners to gossip about the nobles and imperial family's business, like which concubine from which family embarrassed themselves at the gathering. In this Imperial City, the most common and the most taboo topic was the gossip surrounding this First Princess.
Many people said that this Princess' date of birth conflicted with her birth mother – the Empress, and directly killed her the next day after she gave birth to a still born Prince. That time, the Empress' due date was the same day as the Princess' birth date. This ought to be an auspicious occasion (Brother and Sister born from the same day but different year, a pair of twins, but not really), but sadly, the Prince died inside his mother's womb, then the Empress followed soon after. Later, the Emperor announced a decree which said that the First Princess needed to grieve for her mother at her ancestral home in Fuji Province, miles away from the Capital City. At that time, the Princess was only three years old.
Many people were skeptical about the real cause, but they were not allowed to question the emperor's order. Not long after that, various rumors concerning the Princess emerged, saying that she cursed her own mother and little brother. Later on, the rumors were even more outrageous, saying that the real cause of the Emperor's sudden order to send The First Princess back to her mother's ancestral home was because her presence caused significant harm to the emperor's dragon body.
Not before long and after knowing these rumours, the emperor sent out another decree saying that the princess' health deteriorated since the empress' death – thus need to recuperate properly, and anyone who slandered the First Princess would be beheaded. This caused even more gossip, saying that the newest decree proved that the emperor still cared towards his daughter thus debunking previous rumors about The Princess harming the emperor's body. The situation inside Capital City was finally eased, but the seeds were already sown; many nobles subconsciously thought that the Princess would bring bad luck to their family[9]. Even though they didn't dare to say it outright in case of angering the emperor, they wouldn't dare to consider her as a future daughter-in-law.
The inspector number one went out of his reverie then informed the guard to let the Princess in while he and inspector number two would inform the official in charge to welcome her. "Tell Her Highness' that she doesn't need to wait for a long time. We'll arrange other carriages to make way for Her Highness." This was only a matter of course, who would dare to claim that they're more important than Her Highness. Even the son - a prince - of the current favored concubine needed to properly respect her[10].
He then informed the official in charge and began to prepare for Her Highness' quickest route. Some nobles grumbled and others readily obliged the moment they knew the reason for this sudden interruption, none of them outrightly said anything. Soon after he caught the sight of a carriage drawn by five horses[11]. From this sight alone, people could guess it belonged to a powerful person. Surrounded by an army of uniformed guards[12], postures alert and ready to take action the moment they were needed. They're the guards trained by The Marquis of Ren Household, as expected from a family of generals for several generations, their standard truly was different if he compared them to the guards that patrol around the city. Her Highness' procession was even more majestic than other imperial children. He knew that unfavored Princesses sometimes didn't even have a tenth of The Grand Princess luxury. The difference was akin to heaven and earth, all of them were Emperor's children, but each of their treatment differed greatly from each other.
As the carriage drawing near, he lowered his gaze and caught a glimpse of imperial emblem exquisitely carved. He sighed after the carriage proceeded past him, letting out his breath and was about to relax his posture when the carriage stopped not too far from him. Panicked, he sweated a little - even though right now it was winter -, and pondered over what he might actually do wrong when one of Her Highness' maidservants coming out of the servant's compartment and gave him a pouch full of money saying, "It's Her Highness's reward."
~o0o~
Finished with her job, the maid went back, then the procession continued and stepped into the city. Once again, he checked the current condition and found nothing wrong. The interrupted queue began moving and slowly but surely, one by one, entered the city. He estimated the rewards and realized that he could live off of this money for the entire half of the following year as long as he didn't buy something outrageous and thought that although Her Highness was terrifying, she was very generous.
Inside the carriage, a woman was reading a travelling journal while sat languidly with her back leaned on the backrest cushioned by silk covered dense high quality cotton pad. The space inside was large enough to carry six adults and left with enough space to reasonably move around. Only, in this one, there was only one passenger. Beside her was one of two small tables that were previously installed on each side of the seats. One of her elbows was currently placed on top of the table beside her while supporting her cheek with her fingers. She held her book with her other hand then slowly flipped the next page, something about an especially delicious variant of Squid that was found inside The Land of Water. Feeling bored, she put down her book and put her hand that was previously occupied in front of his mouth and yawned softly, very cold. She inexplicably looked at the burner that was placed on the small table opposite of the one that she use to lean on.
After a while, she removed her elbow from the small table and sat properly to lift the curtain and peered outside. She saw various types of carriages lining on the side of the road and gave way for her procession, thankfully she didn't need to wait for long until her carriage went past the crowd. Satisfied with the process she ordered one of her maidservants to reward the person in charge, "Give the one in charge some rewards, he works hard enough in the middle of winter to manage these guests." She didn't have to speak loudly for her servants to hear what she said. On the carriage, there was a separated compartment which separated by a panel of carving that could be opened and closed freely.
The carriage stopped when her servant fulfilled her order then started to move again the moment the task was done. "Sui, prepare a warm drink for me. The weather was cold at this time of year." She then took her book that was previously discarded and continued to read from the last part, the delicious squid.
"Your Highness, your drink." The panel that separated the two spaces opened a little and one of her maids gently put and pushed the cup on the small table. "Alright." The woman quietly thanked her and carefully gripped the handle of her drink and took a little whiff, tea with ginger. She examined the porcelain and recognized that this was one of her newest sets, gifted by the Second Prince at her last birthday, the white porcelain painted with plum blossom. The soft colored plum blossom was embedded permanently on the white smooth surface of the cup. An example of an excellent work of art. The woman then sipped her warm drink and felt her entire body began to warm up. She rubbed the untouched bottom of the cup with her middle and ring fingers to absorb some excess heat then continued to finish her drink in one go. The woman then placed the cup back onto the table and waited until she arrived at her princess estate.
Even when she never really stayed here all year round, the servants inside her estate kept maintaining it to the maximum in case she suddenly decided to suddenly visit the Capital. From the moment she stepped out of the palace seventeen years ago, she never went back unless there were some concerning or important tasks that needed to be discussed with her emperor father. For his countless attempts to persuade her to permanently stay in the capital, she relented and stayed here for five months each year. This arrangement began when she was fifteen years old. She could more or less guess what her emperor father had been thinking when he ordered her to stay in the capital for at least five months a year. At that time she was at the age when another young maiden started to look for an engagement, he was worried about her future prospect. The sentiment was nice, but ultimately, she didn't need it.
Remembering what the nobles here thought about her, she harrumphed softly and sneered but then continued to read her book as if she was never irritated in the first place. They considered that she was a bringer of bad luck and arrogantly thought that she was unsuitable for their precious son. Did they forget that it was inappropriate for her to be married outside in the first place? In the scenario in which they were willing, they had to let their precious son married into her household, not the other way around[14].
Continuing this spiral of irritation she began to catalogue most of the rumors surrounding her. Many people said she was sickly and frail, that's why she rarely went to various female gatherings even if she was at the Capital at that time and was invited to attend. Added by the fact that her emperor father announced her reason to went back to her maternal family was to recuperate, they seemed to believe that she would die young. There was another ridiculous theory why she rarely went outside, some of them said that she was too ugly, because of that she was ashamed and never ventured out. Others said that she somehow got disfigured while she was recuperating from her supposed illness. Considering that there was one common illness at that time which infected many people and left an unpleasant looking, dot-like scar, she would pretend to never hear any of it as long as they didn't directly say it around her general vicinity.
She arrived rather early this time, usually she never bothered to attend an event like this, far too noisy for comfort. But this time her emperor father insisted on, she obliged him. After all, her privilege was mostly provided by him and it generally made her life easier if she followed along. There was no need for her to sabotage herself, she wouldn't do something as counterproductive as angering her father, not for the time being at least.
"Your Highness, we arrive!" Her maid that she previously ordered to bestow some rewards spoke out then the carriage stopped for a few seconds, she heard the sound of gates being opened and the carriage continued until she arrived in front of the main building then fully stopped. The woman put down her book when the carriage door slid open revealing a cobblestones covered pathway. One of her servants placed a stool below the carriage steps and offered her hand for her to hold, she took her hand and carefully descended from the carriage. The other servant warped her rabbit fur cloak on her shoulders and delivered a hand warmer. The woman scanned her surroundings and carefully inspected her front garden looking for abnormalities. The servants around her were anxious, Her Highness disliked irregularity in her living space, that was the actual reason why they were diligently keeping this estate at its cleanest and neatest state.
"Plant several blue hydrangea over there in early spring, make it ready for summer next year." The woman retracted her gaze and started to softly yet steadily walked inside the main hall. She stopped as if remembering something, turned her head and searched for one particular person among these servants, "Rise up your head, I[TP;15] want to check if there is someone new or not," The servants then simultaneously raised their heads and quietly waited for her. The woman finally found the steward and ordered, "Give the household report to me[TP] before dinner." She continued, "Father emperor sent me[TP] some lobster from Hot Water, make something warm for dinner." The woman left with her cloak softly swung left and right caused by her movement.
~o0o~
Disclaimer: This kanji(s)? Could be wrong, could be right. Don't quote on me.
1. 隆盛 (Ryuusei): Prosperity; flourishing; thriving Named Ryuusei era because this is the current emperor's title – not his given name.
2. 火 (Hi):The same fire as in 'The Land of Fire'
3. To fit the setting, I changed "Konohagakure no Sato" to "Hidden Leaves Military Estate," because let's be honest… The size of Konoha in the canon is way too big to be called a village. But don't worry, I don't cut the 'Konohagakure' part, I only cut the 'no Sato' part. So that's still the Konoha that we knew in the canon, only with a little different name.
4. When an army won a fight, it is usually attributed to the leader. So as the newly minted Hokage, Hashirama got the acknowledgment from the civilian masses. Even though maybe Tobirama or Madara contributed just as much if not more, the general masses were none the wiser.
5. Because previously when ninjas fought, commoners were often accidently killed in crossfire.
6. This is an effect of good PR, propaganda, and nationalism. Even if the emperor is in fact not as good as what commoners thought, as long as he doesn't bring or add any suffering to them, or do something too outrageous, they will not care. In their eyes, the monarch is wise.
7. Referring to his title as God of Shinobi.
8. This (very) important person.
9. At this time period, I believe that the common people were still put a lot of thought into superstitions.
10. She's the oldest child, in Asian culture, age and station are very important.
11. The emperor drives six horse-drawn carriage, the prince drives five, I don't know about the princess' carriage but since she's an imperial child too, I gave her five.
12. At this time, samurai are generally used as guards for nobles.
13. 廉 (Ren): Honest, incorruptible. Her maternal family's title.
14. Basically, if someone wants to marry her, they have to marry into her household and become a Prince Consort. Since this story was set in Japan, usually women follow their husband's surname. But in this fic, since she's an imperial princess, she couldn't change her surname (unless it was stripped out of her.) so her husband was the one that need to change his surname. In this type of patriarchal society, would they be willing? Some of them were fine but the majority of people would surely refuse if they had other options. After all, their children will follow her surname, basically he can't continue his family name, that's the biggest gripe.
15. [TP]: She refers to herself in the third person. Here TP is an abbreviation for 'This Palace' which actually meant "This (owner of the) Palace". It can only be use by Princesses or high ranking imperial concubines because they have their own Palace/Estate/Compound.
~o0o~
Notes:
Her relationship with her father is complicated. Her father is not actually genuinely that doting (because he has a different goal). He may think that he loves this daughter so much that he doted on her but actually it's not because of that. He may subconsciously know his reason, but he doesn't want to face it, it is related to the previous empress. She knew, but she still enjoyed the treatment, because… why not? She's not a masochist, she won't make it hard for herself.