Sephi: Chapter 4. The unlucky number in eastern Asia because it sounds so much like the word for 'death'. How fitting it is that…

Rune: Hey! Don't spoil the chapter for the readers.

Sephi: Oh, right. Sorry. And by the way, so many people have been reading this! I was surprised! And happy!!

Rune: Yeah. The last time we checked, there were 100 hits! That's a lot more than we were expecting. Emphasis on 'a lot'.

Sephi: So, I was thinking of starting another fanfic of Vocaloid when I have the time to do it. And this time, it'll be my own plot!

Rune: Er… do you have the time to do that?

Sephi: Who knows…

Chapter 4- The daughter of vengeance is born

Rin's POV

Excellent. Len was back. I knew I could count on Len. I can now execute Leon in front of the rebels, and the demonstrations would stop. Then, I can rest in peace again. Now, I will go to my room where I can get a good night's sleep.

"Good night, Rin." I spun around to see Len, smiling after his day's work.

"Good night, Len." I replied.

Neru's POV

Ok, I know that this is really childish, and I know that it was stupid. But hey, I'm bored!! A little bit of fun can't hurt.

I put on a commoner's ragged cloak on top of the dress that I normally wear in the castle and went into the dungeon, where the idiot Commander was being held prisoner. The guard, Al, let me in without a question. That's what I love about being in the palace. None of the servants try to meddle with your business.

I pretended to sneak around the dungeon, just to do things properly. Finally, the Commander noticed me, that slow dolt. Still pretending to be sneaky, I made my way to where he was being held captive. At last, I was right in front of him.

"Do you have keys?" He asked.

I literally had to concentrate on not laughing when I nodded and held up a pair of keys. Thank goodness that it was dark.

"If you could untie me, then we could escape back out of here, kid."

This time, I couldn't stop myself. I started to laugh hysterically. "You still don't get it?! Wow… You really should have listened to her when she told you not to let me out."

The look on his face –priceless.

"You… Are you possibly…"

"Ha! I am a faithful servant of Queen Rin. Despite my age, I guess I really am quite an able spy and actress, idiot!" With that, I took off my cloak to reveal my fancy dress. His face was still one of shock.

Leon's POV

I can't believe it. I had been tricked by this child. She was a spy.

Curses. I should have listened to Meiko's warnings. I should have more careful.

She just kept laughing at me like a maniac, the keys tucked safely in her pocket where I couldn't reach it. I had prayed that someone would come, and someone did. But that someone turned out to be a spy for the Queen. I can't believe it.

"That's enough, Neru-san." We both stared at where the voice was coming from. It was Len-kun. Neither of us had heard him because of the girl, Neru's, laughter. Her expression immediately turned to one of distaste.

"You have no authority over me, lowlife!" She screeched at him. "Just because you're her highnesses' favorite, it doesn't change your status as a servant!"

Len-kun held her gaze with one that didn't show any emotion. "If you don't stop making such a racket, my sister the Queen will be able to hear you from her chambers, and she will not be very happy about it."

Neru cursed. "How my majesty fairs with such a killjoy of a brother is a mystery." She said while implying as must hatred as she could without screaming. Len-kun however, didn't lower his gaze until she had stormed out of the dungeon. Then, he turned around to leave.

"You haven't changed much, Len-kun." I said. He stopped but said nothing. "But your sister, the Queen has changed so much. Rin-chan used to be so sweet and kind." Then, in a more serious tone, I added, "Len-kun, you know that the people of this country won't be able to last under the Queen's rule for long. The taxes are too much for them. The demonstrations, the most we were going to do was to beg the Queen to at least lower the taxes, if nothing else."

"I'm sorry, Commander." He said in a soft voice. "But I have I promise that I have to keep, no matter what. You said that the people are suffering under Rin's ruling. Listen to this: I couldn't keep that promise once, just once! I couldn't protect her from them, and Rin's cruelty is one of the outcomes of that broken promise. She's still there though. She's still there. I can still see her sometimes when she smiles to thank me for some little thing that I had done. She still sometimes smiles that sweet and innocent smile. But…" He struggled for words. "But… whenever they consul her, whenever they advise her, she slips away a little further… and I… I don't know how to return her to who she really is." And with that, he left.

I can't blame Len-kun. I can understand why everything had happened the way it did. I can understand why he couldn't help me. But I couldn't help but dread the morning, when I would be executed. When Meiko would be in the crowd.

Rin's POV

It was the day of the execution. Soon, I would have to give the order so the soldiers would announce that there would be an event that would be occurring near the church, and that people should see it. Then, at noon, I would have to go to the actual execution. It was going to be a long day.

Noon

It was almost time for the execution to take place. Sir Leon had already walked up to the guillotine. Suddenly, I wanted to stop it. Suddenly, I remembered how nice Commander Leon was, and how he had played with me and Len when we were still a Prince and a Princess.

But this was the right thing to do, right? This is the way it should be, right? I wanted to be young again, so I could leave the decisions to father, and run into mother's arms, or cry against Len's shoulder. But I wasn't. And I couldn't take this anymore.

I turned to Luka-san. "I'm going back to the palace with a couple of guards. I don't want to watch. You can be in charge of this… event"

She misunderstood my real intentions. "Of course, Rin-sama. A lady like you shouldn't have to see such a gruesome thing until you are older."

Feeling very childish, I left for the palace.

Meiko's POV

I was in the middle of brunch when a young village boy came pounding on my door. Boys. Always playing silly pranks and laughing of their heads when people fell for them.

But I went to get the door anyway. I figured that if one of the boys didn't see me walk into their traps, the rest wouldn't bother me. I opened the door.

"Miss Sakine! Here, (gasp gasp) you should take a look at this!" He held out a piece of paper. It was an announcement from the queen. It said:

To all of the citizens of the Yellow Kingdom

Today as the church bell rings noon,

There will be an event near church.

All are encouraged to come.

It was stamped by the queen.

"Oh." I said, trying to keep my voice normal. "Then why don't you run along home kid. And thanks for showing me this."

"No problem, Miss." And the kid ran home. As soon as he left, I raced to Leon's. When I got there, I knocked on his door.

Nobody answered it. In frustration, I tried to open the door. To my surprise, it wasn't locked.

"Leon?" I shouted. No answer. Then, I began to put two and two together. There was an 'event' at noon today. Leon was missing. Yeah, I pretty much knew what that 'event' would be. I rushed to the church.

And I saw him there, standing by the guillotine. There was already a crowd forming. Every face was as shocked as I was to see him there.

"Leon!" I screamed. He heard me. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second, because a soldier had pushed him down on the guillotine right afterwards.

The church bells rang, once, twice, and twelve times. Some noble that was around my age with long, pink hair started to read off Leon's so-called crimes. Before I knew it, I had ran up against the crowd, right in front of the line of soldiers.

"Stop. Stop, please…" I cried. I felt tears fall off my face. I think I begged more, but I don't remember doing it. I remember getting beaten by the soldiers and getting thrown against the crowd. Then the guillotine went down. I remember screaming as if all existence depended on how loudly I could scream. Then, I was kicked in the face, and everything went black.

I woke up lying in my bed. My wounds were treated, and there was a get-well message written on the dirt floor of my room. It must have been past curfew. I pinched myself several times, hard, to make sure that the events of the day hadn't been a bad dream. It hurt, and I never woke up from it.

Still shocked, I glanced around my room. It only had a few furnishings in it. My eyes fell on the sword that Leon gave me when he had announced that I had passed my 'sword training' courses with him.

Without knowing why I did it, I picked up my sword and hacked off my long hair.

Evil flower, I won't forgive you.

Sephi: And so, we can finally move on to the actual storyline! Yay!

Rune: At last…

Sephi: So now I just need to upload this…

Rune: And start practicing your waiting instruments.

Sephi: Oh. Right.

R&R?