Chapter 6
Morning.
Sasuke twirled with the strand of hair tied to his finger, and then finally decided, "have that girl come to my room tonight again."
Servent who stood nearby answered with a, "very well, Royal Highness", and went off to prepare for tonight.
Sasuke doesn't know what it is about Sakura, but whenever she tries very hard not to look at him, or when she trembles, it seems as if she's obedient and comfortable to be with. She doesn't overstep her boundaries or push her position too far to test his limits, which, he found, is what most people do when he shows even a small amount of mercy.
He looked down at the morning scrolls, opened up the first one, and felt a headache coming up.
It's the flood that happened down south, there has been rain for seven days straight. The Emperor already sent over immediate help, soldiers and emergency supplies are on their way, still there are reports of abuse of power and corruption. Death count toll is going up, and the border defense reported of enemy sighting along the patrol line.
When it rains, it pours. Literally.
By midday, Sasuke was summoned to the royal court. He was in the middle of eating, as soon as he heard he quickly place his chopsticks down and got ready to go into the Royal Palace.
The Royal Jade Palace is a fortress in of itself. A dream so beautiful to common people it's almost cruel. It's sat right in the center of Capital City, and was guarded by hundreds of soldiers day and night. The of the Royal palace alone approached thousands. The current Emperor is a good emperor. He didn't fell into debauchery as deep as his predecessors, therefore he only allowed four one Empress and three concubines in his court.
High Court is a place of meeting. It's built with the best material imaginable, fixed high up upon 99 ivory steps. Each and every morning all important subjects of the Emperor gather up and walk those 99 step to discuss matters of the world and make decisions based on them. There are two separate categories, the Arts, which include city planning, economy, finances, and all matters that are discussed on paper. Then the Army, which include national defense, border patrol, and soldier training. The subjects of the court are divided into nine level, apart from actually royal bloodlines, the first level are Ministers of each area of importance. Minister of Finance, Minister of public health... so on. The second level are under the control of each minister, which are divided by regions of the country. Then the third level are divided by cities.. and so on, down to the nineth level, which are minuscule political titles that are in charge of a small section of a city.
Only the first three levels are allowed within court, and must reside within the capital city, some may patrol the country from time to time. All other levels are spread around the country to do their duty.
Even though only important politicians come to court everyday, there are still close to a couple hundred head counts that ascend the 99 steps of court. It's an exhausting journey that only strengthens its traveller the extreme pressure of being in court.
Luckily, this was an unofficial meeting. Everyone who works in court knows what Sasuke looks like, so he walked calmly past the grand hall of High Court and into the back rooms of private meeting chambers.
Uchiha Itachi sat on a jade armchair, donned in bright gold robe, transfixed upon the board in front of him. Black and white pieces spread about. Sasuke walked straight in and sat down in front of him.
They're the splitting image of each other. They look almost identical, as if God created one and thought, wow this is my masterpiece, I'll just do a copy and paste here...
Itachi was born three minutes earlier, therefore he was deemed to be the Crown Prince from birth. Sasuke happened to be younger, so he was destined to be the brother who supports the Emperor. The fate of these two was sealed the moment they breathed fresh air.
Itachi looked up, and smiled.
"Sasuke."
"Brother."
Both eliminated official titles when in private. Itachi then looked towards the girl who stood by the door holding a pot of tea. She immediately understood, came in and filled both cups, bowed to them while exiting the room and closing the door behind her.
"I heard the Court was busy today."
"Minister Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru-sama were debating on the importance of a trusted line of distribution. Indeed it was interesting."
"Did Orochimaru-sama reinforce his position on business and politician profits?"
"Yes indeed, insisting mutual interests will benefit both the people and the office..."
"And the accountability for responsibility?"
"Irrelevant."
"Ah, I see. Of course Jiraiya-sama was outraged?"
"Naturally."
... And the conversation went on. Both knew exactly what the other wants to say. Both knew what was needed to talked about, but both skirts around the issue and talk circles around each other, and yet both knows exactly what the other person meant.
"Mother came by." Itachi said, finally moving a piece on the board.
Sasuke frowned. There's only one reason the Dowager Empress would come, and that's to talk about...
"It's time for you to select a Princess Consort."
"Really? What did she say about you? And that... body you've placed?"
Itachi smiled at him, "but I already have a Crown Empress."
"I'll wait until the next Crown Prince is born before I actually settle down." Sasuke said, almost sarcastically. "Judging from your.. progression, I'd say I'll wait quite a while."
Itachi sighed, "Foolish little brother..."
Sasuke made a move on the piece and devoured most of his brother's white pieces.
Itachi merely chuckled and allowed this defeat, "stay for tea. The kitchen got a batch of fresh lychee this morning. I asked them to have some treats made for you..."
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A/N: Good Day!
