Note: This story isn't historically accurate. The author made great use of historical license in writing it. The inaccuracy is designed to add to the dramatic aspects of the plot. The Huns' invasions and the first Japanese incursion into Chinese territory are at least two centuries apart. The military apparatuses used in the story are out of their respective Eras, as well. That being said, the cultural aspects of Chinese society were extensively studied and are, mostly, accurate, though. Enjoy the reading!

Flower of China

By Kath Klein

Translated by Yoruki Hiiragizawa

Chapter XII

Sakura and the General had spent nearly five months in the surroundings of Shanghai, training their troop and experimenting with black powder to try and improve the effectiveness of their cannons. They had reached some interesting results by adding a thin layer of graphite powder to the shells the Army already used as well as mixing a kind of saltpetre found in deserts to the usual mix. Li was ready to present their findings to the Counsel, but that subject had been pushed aside by more pressing matters.

The General had been summoned by the Emperor back to The Forbidden City nearly a month ago, leaving her in charge of the hundred men in the platoon. She was rather proud of herself for being able to carry out the soldiers' training without a hitch, which she gladly reported to her superior. The only sour note of her communications was the passing of General Mao, after months of suffering the after-effects of the opium-induced usage. Other than that, Shanghai was slowly recovering under a new and watchful guard after years of corruption.

Now, she was, once more, beside the General in the War Room, next to the strong arm of the Empire. After six months away from The Forbidden City, she came back to find the palace in a ruckus due to the latest Hun manoeuvering.

She glanced at the imposing General next to her while absent-mindedly hearing all the atrocities committed by the Huns and the destruction left in their wake. As crazy as it might seem, she had actually missed the uptight jerk. She had even found herself missing his taunting. She also came to understand him a little better during that month. Being the officer in charge of the platoon, she had been on the receiving end of well-measured fear and respect which came at the cost of being kept at a distance. She had never felt so alone before, with no one to talk to.

She had also used that time apart to mull over everything that had ever happened between them. He was chauvinistic, no doubt, but she couldn't just blame it on him once that was how their society worked. Plus, he wasn't all bad. He had been willing to give the green-eyed girl some money so that she could change her fortune! That was huge since not even the concubines were handed money - the payments were always made to the brothel-owners.

She heaved a sigh, not knowing how to feel about it. When she didn't know him, she could just hate him for the way he acted on their first meeting. It was easier to focus on the bad and conceive him as a heartless man who didn't care about the women he lied with. Now, however, the great wall she had erected between them was starting to crack and she knew it to be dangerous.

She had to talk to Tomoyo, she needed to unburden herself about those thoughts hammering inside her head, but… That was something to think about later.

She shook her head, focusing on the present. Right now, she had a duty to perform. There were bigger issues to be dealt with than her personal dilemmas. Like, how to put a stop to the Hun invasion once and for all. She quietly surveyed the room, watching the expressions on the men's faces and finding them at loss.

The reports were atrocious. The savagery and devastation performed by the Huns at each village were disheartening. She clenched her wrists thinking that those barbarians not only killed the younger men who could fight them but also mercilessly murdered the elders, the children and, after taking their pleasure with them, the women.

She observed the Emperor, regally seated on his throne and noticed that he looked weary and older than he seemed at the start of the meeting. Her eyes moved to the Prince, beside his father, and she noticed him unfazed, bored even. It was odd to witness such disregard from His Highness when the Son of Heaven himself was so clearly desolated. It was as if the Imperial Prince had no feelings at all.

Glancing once again at the General, she noticed that he was shaking, his hands were clenched at his back and throbbing veins were visible in his neck. It was the most discomposed she'd ever seen him in public.

'We'll defeat them, Father,' Prince Yue stated rather arrogantly when the room grew silent after the reports had been concluded. 'The Huns are surely no match for our Great Army.'

The Prince's words were far from consoling to his father. 'So much death. So much blood… They shed the blood of women, children and elders just as easily as they do the men's,' said the Emperor, desolated. 'They respect no one and have no fear of the Gods…'

'We need to expel them from Your Majesty's lands once and for all,' said one of the Councillors, also mournful.

'We are certain to succeed in that endeavour!' the Prince proclaimed, self-assured.

'And, pray, tell me, just how do you suggest we do that?' Emperor Wei inquired, making every head in the room turn to the Prince in expectant silence, but the Prince chose that moment to still his tongue.

A thick and heavy silence descended over the room as no one seemed to find an answer to that question.

Sakura watched all those seasoned, experienced warriors just looking at each other with desperation. The Imperial Army had tried every usual tactic against those enemies, but the Huns were unpredictable in their progress and their troops disbanded after each attack, regrouping as if by magic to attack somewhere else. There was no way to tell their numbers for sure and to engage the enemies meant dividing their own troops, which could prove to be fatal. She looked at the map opened before the throne, summoning the details of the land from her memory.

If the usual tactics weren't working, then, maybe, something unusual could be the answer. If they could predict where the enemy was going to show up, then they could control the battle outcome. "Know thyself, know thy enemy, know the battlefield and you shall be victorious." Hadn't she read something like that before?

She leant in toward Xiao Lang, whispering thoughtfully. 'What if we could attract the Huns somewhere? Determine where they'll attack next?'

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. 'How would we do that?'

'We throw them a bait they won't be able to resist,' she said, the wheels turning faster and faster in her head as she came up with a plan. 'What if…'

'You seem to have the answer, huh, General Li!' Prince Yue called out to them, sarcastically.

The Emperor turned their way, still showing signs of exhaustion. 'What do you suggest, Xiao Lang?'

Sakura noticed the condescending sneer on the Prince's face at putting the General on the spot like that.

Li straightened himself up. 'Come along, Captain Kinomoto!' He set off in a stride toward the Emperor's throne.

Sakura was startled by the sudden action, but followed through without delay, matching her steps with his.

The General purposefully ignored the Prince's scowl as he approached the throne. 'Your Majesty,' he bowed slightly, before facing his sovereign. 'We were discussing the possibility of attracting the Huns somewhere in order to press a charge against them.'

'That's crazy!' Prince Yue scoffed at the idea. 'If we had that kind of power over the enemy, we could simply make them leave our lands at once!'

Sakura frowned at the Prince's shallow commentary. He was an arrogant and sarcastic man, all talk and no action whatsoever. Indeed, he showed every sign of being unable to accept that others succeeded where he failed. That was, probably, the reason behind his scorn toward Xiao Lang. The General might've come from a military lineage, but his accomplishments were achieved by his own merit and hard work, not just handed over on a silver plate.

To make things worse, the Emperor had the General in high-regard, which only made the Prince envy him even more. Sometimes Sakura couldn't help comparing His Highness with a spoiled younger brother who tried too hard to get his father's attention. It was ironic, really, considering that the Prince was the child of the Son of Heaven, while Xiao Lang was a mere General.

Sakura looked at the General who nodded, urging her to share her idea.

Xiao Lang knew that whatever idea Touya had would be a good one. He wasn't easy to trust, but that kid had an ingenious adaptative mind. It was no wonder he had taken to the boy the way he did.

Her eyes remained glued on the General as she took a deep breath before speaking. 'The Huns' greatest advantage has been the fact that we can't predict where they're going to attack next. They have been taking their time and advancing little by little, but we know that their ultimate target is The Forbidden City and…' She turned her eyes to the Emperor, slightly bowing her head. 'Your Imperial Majesty, the Lord of Ten Thousand Years.' She felt her whole body shake under the weight of the Emperor's amber eyes. It was crazy that she, a simple Captain, found herself directing the word to the Son of Heaven like that. 'They have even tried to reach Your Majesty here before, in spite of The Forbidden City impregnability. Imagine, then, what they would do if they found out that our Emperor is in a more vulnerable place…'

Her words provoked a buzzing of protest from many of the Officers in the room. Sakura straightened herself up, clenching her hands at her sides to avoid wringing them out of anxiety.

The Emperor remained calmly observing the Captain, only taking his eyes from the young man to glance at Xiao Lang who stood quietly beside his protegé.

'Silence!' Wei commanded when the unsatisfied murmur in the room had gone on for too long, already. Then he looked back at Kinomoto and leant forward, gesturing in the kid's direction. 'Please, proceed, Captain.'

Sakura took another deep breath. 'Obviously that Your Majesty wouldn't be put in any danger,' she clarified, seeing the Emperor crinkle his eyes and nose in amusement.

'I didn't think for a second that I would, child…' Wei said, reassuring.

Sakura nodded and glanced at Li before continuing. 'If the Huns learnt that Your Majesty supposedly was in another place, say...' She perused the map open between her and the throne, looking for something. Her eyes found an Imperial Palace on an adequate choke-point surrounded by mountains to the North of the Forbidden City and not too close to the invaded lands as to arise suspicion. '... at the Chifeng Palace,' she pointed out, looking up again and heard a different kind of murmur spread in the room. 'They would probably launch an all-out attack to consolidate their conquest.'

General Li smirked with pride at the charged silence filling the air. He could see the undisguised awe in many Officers' faces at his pupil's brilliant mind.

Breaking the stillness, one of the Imperial Councillors inquired. 'And how would we fool them, Captain?'

'That's the tricky part,' Sakura said, furrowing her brow. 'How to create an illusion real enough to mislead them…?'

'What if we spread a rumour?' An officer suggested.

'Yes! They ought to believe it!' Exclaimed another.

'No, they wouldn't!' Xiao Lang interjected, shaking his head. 'No discerning strategist would act based on rumours alone; they would investigate it first,' he pointed out. 'They might believe it if the information came from a captured soldier, though.'

'I don't think anyone would volunteer for that mission, General Li,' replied a Major, snickering.

'Unless…' Sakura muttered with a strange gleam in her eyes. 'Unless we volunteered the dead…'

Li frowned at her. 'What are you talking about?'

'No troop can survive without water, so we know they have to keep themselves near rivers and such. It's just a matter of finding out which ones and choosing a drop-point to allow the Huns to find an unfortunate Imperial Messenger who died carrying the fake information about the Emperor's movements,' Sakura said, thoughtfully, her mind racing as she came up with the details of the plan.

'I still don't understand, Kinomoto,' Xiao Lang grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. 'Who would be this Messenger?'

Sakura turned to face the General with a solemn expression. 'A handful of indigents are found dead around the city every now and then. As no one claims them, they're denied the adequate funerary rites,' she started explaining. 'I say we offer one of them the honour of serving his Emperor and help save His Majesty's lands in exchange for aiding his poor soul to transcend.'

'So we'd dress a dead indigent as a Messenger and let the Huns find him,' Xiao Lang nodded in understanding. "This could actually work!" 'The missive would need to look authentic - signed and bearing the Imperial Seal - for anything out of place might tip-off the Huns about the trap.'

'Precisely! They are certain to have someone able to read Mandarin,' Sakura agreed.

'And once they're aware of our Emperor's location, they would move against him,' an older General concluded.

'Straight into our well-prepared battleground where we will, then, end this war, at last,' cheered another.

The officers' spirits rose and the apathy that consumed them just moments before dwindled. They felt like laughing.

Emperor Wei watched his trusted officers cluster around the young green-eyed Captain, their morale higher than it had been in a long time after so many defeats, and he was able to smile, even if for a moment. His concerned eyes caught sight of General Xue Lian, who remained apart from his peers, seemingly unsatisfied, and he couldn't help glancing toward his son, finding the Prince sulking and glaring menacingly at Xiao Lang.

'I'm sorry, Captain, but how will we know if had they read the dispatch?' A General asked, bringing the men back to a more sedated state of mind.

'More importantly, how will we know for sure that they'll act as you're predicting?' Inquired another.

Sakura started chewing her lower lip, thinking about that. 'That's a real concern. We'll need to take additional measures,' She looked to General Li, searching for something. 'It usually wouldn't take only one message to arrange for the Emperor to exit The Forbidden City, right?'

Xiao Lang nodded in agreement. 'It would also take us some time to prepare the battleground. If they show no signs of having found the first Messenger, we could probably arrange for a second one,' he proposed, thoughtful. 'But we shouldn't abuse of that. If too many messengers started showing up dead, they'd become suspicious.'

'We might need to rely on luck about them finding and reading the letter,' Sakura said, bothered over that issue. 'We couldn't possibly follow the body down the river because everybody knows Imperial Messengers travel alone.'

'Relying on luck?!' General Xue Lian exclaimed, glaring at the green-eyed Captain. 'Do you not think it's just too great a risk?'

'Do you have a better suggestion, General Xue?' Xiao Lang came to Touya's defence, his voice harsh and upfront. 'If you do, please, share it with us!'

Other than a low groan, the older General remained silent.

Xiao Lang scoffed, shaking his head. 'I didn't think so…'

'We wouldn't act blindly, but laying down an ambush consists of preparing ahead and then waiting,' Sakura said, becoming the centre of attention once more. 'We'd set the trap and only spring it once we're sure the Huns are on the move, but we can't underestimate our enemies!' She reasoned. There was a reason for choosing that palace, after all. 'They'll send out scouts to watch the area before moving in, so our own troops will have to remain hidden. There'll be some extra security on the Palace because it has to appear that the Emperor is there, but we can't be caught watching too closely for them, otherwise, they'll flee. And that's where the mountains surrounding the Chifeng Palace come in handy,' She pointed to the map. 'We can establish watch-posts with a wide range of sight, especially over the Shāngu Valley to the North and the Xiázhai passage to Northeast while keeping our men camped out in two or three Forward Bases out of the Huns' way but at an easy distance from The Forbidden City… just in case they decide to come this way instead,' she clarified, admitting that her plan wasn't foolproof. 'But if things go according to plan, the Huns would, then, lay siege to the Palace and our forces there will have to hold the attack on their own for the first three to five days until we're able to move and flank them.'

'And, surely, we can take other precautions to make sure the plan succeeds!' declared a General, in support of the young Captain.

They worked overnight, adjusting the minutia of the plan and working on contingencies while trying to rule out everything that could go wrong. Captain Kinomoto and General Li were the main articulators of the strategy.

Xiao Lang hadn't felt that excited about an upcoming battle for a long time. He looked at Touya talking and pointing to the map while the other officers listened to him with rapt attention and couldn't help smiling. He was damn proud of that boy.

Touya was everything he'd ever desired in a son. He just doubted that there was a woman out there capable of giving him what he wished for.

Sakura was lying in Tomoyo's bed, devouring a box of sweets her friend had received from an admirer while reading a book.

'Oh, my…' The concubine sighed, sitting beside her. 'Are you really going to fight the Huns again?'

'Yes, I need to go and make sure they'll actually follow the plan,' Sakura raised her eyes from the book to look at Tomoyo. 'It's been a long time coming and the Generals are too eager to end this war. I fear they'll end up making a mess of everything if I'm not around,' She shook her head and sighed. 'At least Xiao Lang can keep a levelled head to watch out for the details.'

Tomoyo chuckled. 'The two of you work really well together, don't you?'

Sakura put the book down and bit her lips, playing with her hair. She had been wanting to talk to Tomoyo but also had been avoiding the subject somehow. 'You know, Tomoyo…' she began with a tiny stutter and heaved a sigh. 'You were right…'

'Oh?' The concubine faced her with a raised eyebrow.

'While we were near Shanghai, the General… He actually did search for… for the girl…' She shrugged, avoiding to meet her friend's eyes.

Tomoyo gave her a pointed look. 'You mean he searched for you …'

Sakura pressed her lips together, rolling her eyes and crossed her arms. 'It wasn't me he was looking for…'

'Oh, please! Don't be silly, Sakura!' The raven-haired woman snickered. 'It was… It is you, and you know it!' Tomoyo narrowed her eyes, watching Sakura trying to hide her annoyance. 'What happened, exactly?'

Sakura stood up, unable to remain seated anymore, and started pacing around the room while telling Tomoyo about Xiao Lang's odd behaviour in Shanghai and how it had led to them cleaning the city and her killing Quang Dan. 'I was so caught up in what I was doing that, for a moment, I forgot all about the General,' she said, running her hand through her hair. 'When he showed up at the door, I felt a shiver down my spine afraid that he might've found out.'

'Are you sure that you were shivering out of fear?' Tomoyo asked with an enigmatic smile on her lips.

Sakura turned to face her friend with narrowed eyes. 'What do you mean?'

Tomoyo knew Sakura well enough to be aware that, even if it was quite obvious by now, as long as she remained unwilling to face the truth, she'd keep denying it. With a heavy sigh, Tomoyo only shook her head. 'Oh, it's nothing...'

They remained in silence for a few minutes while Sakura mulled over their conversation a bit longer. Sakura started massaging her temples and glanced sideways at her friend. 'You really do understand men, don't you?' She let her arms rest by her side, twisting her mouth in frustration. 'You know them better than I do despite me being surrounded by men all the time…'

'Men can be very complex, but they have nowhere to hide when they're naked in our beds…' Tomoyo began, making Sakura blush. She hesitated for a moment and then continued. 'General Li, though, is actually quite transparent… He's one of those rare men who are too passionate to be able to hide his emotions for long.' She watched as Sakura continued to avoid her eyes. 'He says what he thinks and you always know where you stand with him…'

Tomoyo's purplish-blue eyes gleamed gently as she watched Sakura fight an inner-war.

'He's not as noble as you make him, you know…' Sakura sighed exasperatedly. 'He might have regretted almost raping that girl but he could have actually helped her if he only had stopped to listen to what she was saying...'

'Come on, Sakura,' Tomoyo shook her head. 'How many men do you know who would do that? How many would openly admit to making a mistake? And how many more would actually try to fix it?' The concubine inquired. 'Do you really intend to keep on living behind that wall for the rest of your life?'

Sakura didn't answer, looking away from the concubine.

Tomoyo heaved a sigh, feeling disheartened. Captain Kinomoto was a really headstrong girl which was such a stark contrast with the way she looked. Even more so now while wearing one of Tomoyo's delicate pinkish silk hanfu with her wet hair cascading over her shoulder. It was really unfair that Sakura needed to give up her femininity to have her brilliant mind recognised.

Tomoyo looked out the window, furrowing her brow. Sakura was a beautiful young woman and the concubine couldn't understand how General Li and the other officers hadn't seen through the Captain's disguise yet. Nonetheless, she knew that, sooner or later, they would find out and it worried her.

Sakura was avoiding to look at Tomoyo, afraid that her friend would be able to see what she was thinking and really feeling through her eyes.

'Life really isn't fair for us women, is it?' Tomoyo startled Sakura out of her reverie. 'It's hard to accept that you have to pretend to be a man to have your voice heard by a bunch of… of old baboons…' she said and saw the hint of a smile on Sakura's lips. 'It's even more revolting that, because you're such a beautiful woman, they would pay even less attention to what you have to say.'

'I'm not really womanly-like, Tomoyo…' Sakura gave a one-sided shrug, letting out an unwarranted smile. 'Though that actually works out in my favour at my current circumstances.' Sakura leant against the furniture, crossing her arms over her stomach. 'If I were actually "beautiful", I would have found someone who loved me and wanted to marry me even if I…' She cleared her throat and shook her head. 'That's in the past, anyway. I'm too old to get married now. Not that anyone would want to marry me, that is…' She shrugged, trying to smile. 'Plus, I'm not a woman anymore. Not ever again.'

'You really don't feel like a woman anymore?' Tomoyo asked with a frown. 'Aren't you in the least curious to know how it actually feels to be a woman, Sakura?'

'No, not really,' Sakura replied with finality, looking straight at Tomoyo's eyes.

The concubine said nothing more and looked away, trying hard not to smile at the Captain's stubbornness.

They were reduced to silence after that. Sakura went back to reading her book with her back comfortably set against the fluffy feather pillow while Tomoyo just enjoyed her "day off".

Suddenly, they heard a loud groan followed by a girly moan from the next room and smirked at each other. The delighted sounds escalated in volume and Sakura felt herself blushing out of embarrassment as it often happened whenever she heard one of the more vocal girls at the brothel.

The concubine at the neighbouring room gasped and started whimpering in midst of incoherent words which triggered Sakura and Tomoyo into a fit of giggles.

'Wow! I think your girl is in danger there!' said Sakura, nudging Tomoyo and only partially jesting.

'Xanrei is always like that,' Tomoyo shrugged with a dismissive hand-waving. 'Especially when she spends the night with General Li.'

Sakura's mirth turned sour in clear disappointment. So it was the General who was next door, drawing out those sounds from the concubine. She sighed, unnerved. She knew that he would be spending the night with someone, but to actually hear what he was doing was bothering her.

Tomoyo attentively observed Sakura's reactions, opening an enigmatic smile. 'Do you want to take a peek?'

'Peek?' Sakura stood up, staring at Tomoyo in wide-eyed shock. 'N-no! That's not right! It would be insubordination against my Commanding Officer…'

'Why, Sakura, while you're in here with me you're not a soldier,' Tomoyo commented with a mischievous smile. 'Therefore, the General isn't your commanding officer either.'

Even so, Sakura just shook her head in denial, taking another step back.

'Well, I'll take a look,' Tomoyo declared, very daring.

Sakura watched as Tomoyo walked to her balcony and stretched her neck to see into the other room through the window.

'Xanrei always leaves her window open,' Tomoyo said in a staged whisper. She wondered how long Sakura would be able to control herself.

When Tomoyo watched over her shoulder again, she found her young friend closely behind her, wringing her hands with her face in a deep purple shade. But there was something entirely different there, as well. Something very characteristic of the Captain: curiosity.

'He would never find out, right?'

'Don't worry about it, dear, he's too busy right now…' Tomoyo assured her.

Tomoyo took a step to the side, allowing Sakura to take her place to check out the activities going on in the next room.

Sakura stretched herself, hearing the couple inside the room with much more clarity.

Sakura had some idea of what was involved in the intimacy between a man and a woman. She had heard Mrs Yang tell the others girls, on the eve of their meeting with the Matchmaker, that which would be expected of them as wives.

The wife was supposed to lie on the bed and allow the husband to take the action. He would place himself between her legs and deflower her. The wife should remain as she was, she shouldn't react, flinch or withdraw from him. The pain was to be accepted and shown to her husband as proof of her virtue, however, after the first night, any pain felt was to be overlooked and endured. She remembered particularly of Mrs Yang warning that the girls were supposed to hold still during the intimacy and just wait until their husbands were sated.

Sakura frowned at what she was seeing. That was not what she had learnt. Xanrei was not lying unmovable on the bed. On the contrary! Sakura blinked a couple times and bit her lip, watching Li's taut back stretching and contracting as he moved over the concubine with her meeting his every movement.

Sakura widened her eyes, watching as Xanrei suddenly flipped them over, pinning Li on the bed with her knees on either side of his waist as she arched her back, her body continuing to move languidly. Sakura smirked, noticing the similarity between the way Xanrei was moving over the General and horse-riding and how that reduced the powerful warrior to an animal. It also didn't escape her how Li seemed to be enjoying himself.

Xanrei gave a high pitched cry, almost scaring Sakura down the balcony. Actually, if Tomoyo hadn't held Sakura by her clothes, she might've fallen.

She turned to Tomoyo, looking down and away, trying to hide her burning cheeks. 'That was disgusting!'

Tomoyo chuckled, walking back inside behind Sakura, who was trying to appear unaffected. 'You don't have to lie, you know…'

Sakura bit her lower lip, thoughtfully and sat at a chair. 'Can I ask you something?'

Tomoyo smiled softly at her. 'Anything…'

Sakura furrowed her brow thoughtfully, glancing toward the wall separating them from the couple, then she looked back at her friend.

'Whenever I heard Mrs Yang explaining the… the intimacy between man and wife…' Sakura found it hard to keep eye contact with Tomoyo. 'It wasn't supposed to be anything like that.'

Tomoyo sighed and opened a saddened smile. ' The husband takes his pleasure from his wife, but the wife mustn't show either pleasure or pain,' she quoted, shaking her head. She had once heard the same thing from her mother. 'The intimacy between a man and a woman can actually be pleasurable for both of them.'

Sakura frowned, looking back at Tomoyo. 'Then, why do they say only the man feels pleasure?'

'Oh, sweetie! Because that's one more way for them to control us,' Tomoyo heaved a sigh. 'Women who feel pleasure are considered promiscuous, so married women must remain submissive and demure, especially with their husbands.'

'It doesn't make any sense!' Sakura frowned deeper, shaking her head. 'Should it not be the other way around? When you're married, you can also have pleasure with your husband…'

'Unfortunately, men are prone to thinking that, if a woman is able to draw pleasure during intimacy, she would walk around taking her pleasure everywhere, with any men. And, when she showed up pregnant, there would be no way to tell for sure whose child that was.'

'But if the wife loved her husband, she wouldn't seek a relationship with another man!' Sakura argued. 'Why don't they focus on being better husbands, instead?'

'I agree with you,' Tomoyo nodded, heaving a sigh. 'But they rather things remain as they are: to get pleasure from concubines and use their wives to bear their children.'

Sakura sat straight at the chair. 'Then… a woman who wished to feel pleasure with a man, she…' Sakura looked away from Tomoyo, staring vacantly at the wall and still hearing Xanrei's low moaning. 'She would have to become a concubine…'

Tomoyo watched Sakura with a mirthless smile. 'I guess, so, Sweetie… I guess so.'

To be continued.

Edited on November 29th, 2019.