Chapter 25

Sakura followed Sasuke and climbed all the way up those 162 marble steps before walking along a platform with torches on the side and soldiers guarding them to in front of the Emperor and his crowd waiting.

She lowered her head, because one is not supposed to look at the royal family directly in the face. A palace servant announced their names and statuses before they bowed.

Even though they see each other often enough, during formal visitations Sasuke bowed and knelt down deeply to Itachi and said all the formal lines, which include a long epitaph, the formal name of the Emperor, and the metaphorical long lives people hope the Emperor will have, and they waited for a few seconds before the Emperor repeated back in a warm but formal greeting inviting them to stand up again.

Sakura immediately noted that even their voices sounds within the same tune, Itachi's voice is much calmer, and collected and slightly deeper sounding.

Then she heard the Dowager Empress standing spoke. "Sakura-san, you may stand up. Sasuke, let me look at you."

To which Itachi stepped aside out and let the Dowager Empress step forward to greet Sasuke.

"You've gotten thinner." She said, approaching him.

Sakura thought she was going to hug him, but she stopped around a meter away from Sasuke, and she realized that even in royal families, mothers and sons are probably abiding to strict contact rules.

The Dowager Empress looks... regal. She is adorned in bright red silk robes with golden silk threats that all her ensembles together. She has kind looking eyes and young feature, but her actions betrays her age and wisdom. She moves with purpose, as if every single step was thoroughly thought out. Sakura only could observe through the peripheral of her eye, as she looks straight ahead, because it's rude to turn your head and stare during normal encounters, its unforgivable if it's to another member of the royal family. And that is when she accidentally looked straight into the eye of the Emperor.

She has always heard that the Royal Prince and the Emperor looked exactly alike, however when she saw him, it seems as if though they could not be more different.

The Royal Prince has always had some sort of expression on his face, one can decipher his mood from a look he has. People who spent time around him will know how to decode how he Emperor, however does not have any particular expression on his face...ever. Sakura could tell right away that this is man who has been so used to hide his inner feeling and facial expression he probably has never laughed out loud once in his life. The Emperor stood there, emotionless as ever, but sometimes slight muscles on his face would turn the right way to signal that he's not angry at the whole situation.

Sakura met his gaze, and he looked back at her for a moment, before Sakura could quickly avert her gaze, he already stepped up and interrupted his brother and mother from chatting and standing in the code and suggests everyone should move indoors.

The crowd trotted into the Great Court with the Emperor in front, half a step away is the Dowager Empress, and the Royal Prince followed three steps away.

This crowd moved at a slow pace. Sakura fell behind with the servants, but to her surprise, she found that all the 30 attendants or so have been so attuned with the Emperor's foot steps they're following along in the exact movement. She seemed to be the only one that is out of place.

The Great Court is decorated with golden pillars with carvings of dragons on each. There are 18 golden pillars in total, each one the width of a meter, and every detail have been polished shiny and clean. The floor is made from the deepest and darkest red. She suspected this was done intentionally, for she rarely has seen any red flooring. The marble floors are shiny and slippery, so she tried her best to stay upright. Towards the end of the court, there is a 18 golden steps that ascends up, and on top lies a chair decorated in the most elaborate jewels and carvings, polished in pure gold.

The Emperor slowly stepped up as all others stayed below the steps. Each step seemed to take forever, and Sakura looked on as the Emperor finally sat down. The moment he sat, everyone knelt down and chanted in his honor.

Sakura knelt down, but she forgot to keep her head down, and so she was the only one with her head up looking at the Emperor when everyone was showing the back of their heads to the ruler of this country. She couldn't not help but wonder, how lonely it seemed. With each step that he took, he sheds a layer of his relationship, until the only thing that remains is himself, sitting on top of the world, looking down at everyone, including his family.

She looked at Sasuke and wondered too, for a moment, if he ever felt jealous or unfairness. If he ever thought that the entire fate was messed up by order of his birth, a mere three minutes, and he was doomed to sit one step below the throne, and look on to serve, instead to rule. Then she decided that their relationship was way too difficult for her to ever figure out. Maybe they're both ok with their positions.

Itachi raised his hand slightly, and his announcing attendant bellowed out, "All rise." Putting an emphasis on the last syllable, stretching it to three or more seconds.

Everyone stood up in unison. As they stood, Sakura discovered that everyone in the court parted their ways and stood on the side. Sasuke, the Dowager Empress, and Sakura were the only one remained. An attendant soon came, and announced, "The Empress is waiting outside."

The Dowager Empress chuckled and quickly said, "let her in, she should have been with us since the beginning."

The Emperor nodded slightly, and soon the Empress along with her attendants came following. The Empress is a lovely young woman that could not be older than Sakura by much. However she looks serene and experienced, which might make others be deceived by her actual age. Sakura stepped to the side and let her joined the in the middle. She glanced towards Sakura only slightly before saying all the pleasantries to everyone in present, at the same time swiftly and sincerely apologizing for her lateness, which was not her fault to begin with, because she was not told to enter the court unless granted by the Emperor.

Sakura's first feeling was that this girl isn't as simple as one would've looked. She is extremely beautiful, but for a girl to be this beautiful and young to have climbed up so far in society already, it must've been difficult. She must've came from a prominent family, or have fought her way to the top. Nevertheless it was all for naught, because apparently the Emperor is not sleeping with her, and no doubt this is a public humiliation for her. However, he isn't exactly sleeping around with anyone, so this might have eased it a bit.

Now they're talking about the war, and everyone congratulated Sasuke on his success. This went on for another ten minutes with Sasuke answering questions in poorly concealed boredom. There's a special art to speaking like this though, Sakura has discovered it isn't enough that they conceal their wishes in expert cliches, they often hide their true intent in well wishes and passive aggressive languages. She couldn't never talk like that. It'd be exhausting

When all the pleasantries are said and done, Sasuke apparently hated all these fuss. He quickly turned to his brother, and said, "Pardon my bluntness, I would like to formally express my proposition."

Itachi raised his hand, "Before you go on, I insist we feast in celebration of your victory first."

Sasuke said without missing a beat, "Brother, please allow me this request, for I have rarely asked you for else. I intend to take the fourth daughter of the Haruno Household as my wife—the Royal Princess."

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TBC