Chapter 1

Anyone can see my every flaw
It isn't hard
Anyone can say they're above this all

As I strode calmly through the freshly trimmed palace garden, my mind wandered to distant lands and places I'd never been. Sometimes I dreamt of traveling around the world, exploring majestic cities, sampling new foods, learning different cultures… but all too often these thoughts were quickly quashed by reality. It was imperative that I focus only on my studies, along with dozens of other means of preparation for my future.

For I, Mio Akiyama, was to be the Queen of the kingdom of Houkago one day.

I had no time for trivial fantasies or petty dreams. There was a weight on my shoulders greater than most people twice my age could never dream of experiencing. It was essential that I prepared adequately in order to fulfill my duties, so there was simply no time to dwell in a castle in the sky. This castle on the solid earth was serving its purpose just fine. Not to mention, it was nice and safe behind these great stonewalls.

However, I did not like to think about becoming Queen… because honestly, it terrified me. To imagine that I would be responsible for an entire kingdom of people, well, it was simply petrifying. How would I know if I was doing the right thing? What if I was an awful ruler? What if the entire population hated me?

Oh, here I go again.

Crouching back onto my heels in the soft grass, I took deep breaths in attempt to drive away my nervousness. I could work myself up so easily it was frustrating. Father said I must hide all weakness from other people. He told me it was dangerous if people were to know of my slight anxiety issues, even if they were fairly minor.

Therefore, the royal doctor suggested I go for walks regularly. Sometimes they helped, but sometimes they did not... like today, for example. More often than not, I would end up thinking too much on these so-called "leisurely strolls," and I make myself nervous with my own insecurities about becoming such a powerful figure.

I attempted to focus my mind on something else.

Well, the weather was nice today. Spring arrived early this year, probably much to the delight of the farmers of Houkago. The sky was a brilliant shade of cerulean, almost abnormally so. It reminded me of how people often mistook my eye color for blue. No, they were grey. I knew that grey was not as striking or remarkable of a color as blue; but nevertheless, it was a shade unique to me. Therefore it stung slightly when guests to the royal palace assumed my eyes were a color they were not. It did not matter to them.

I was no longer nervous, but now saddened… over something as petty as the color of my eyes. How pathetic a soul I am! I make myself sick. How would I ever hope to be able to care for thousands of people when I muse on something so insignificant?

Gah! I was going to be Queen!

I clutched at my hair, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to block out the thoughts that ran in cruel, cruel circles around in the clouds of my psyche. I knew full well that I wasn't cut out to be a leader.

…I couldn't do it.

That was the ultimate conclusion. I could not be Queen.

Even though I would not inherit the throne until my father passed away or retired, any mention of my duties as future Queen would send me spiraling. There was no way I could possibly follow through, and live up to all of those great expectations. Maybe I should talk to my father, tell him to find a young man to take under his wing and show him the ways of the Royal Akiyamas. Find someone else to rule.

See, in Houkago, I was permitted to become Queen without marrying. Although it was not recommended, both a King and a Queen were allowed to rule without the other. My mother died when I was young, so my father carried all of the responsibilities.

Then again, I was the last surviving Akiyama.

So maybe that wasn't a good idea. Father would want to find a man for me to marry so I could pass on the Royal blood. Asking him for help would only speed up that process. The only problem was that I did not want to marry anyone just yet.

Men were animals.

Not only that, but I was only seventeen. Old enough to marry, sure, but something about that never felt right to me...

"Princess Mio," A deep, hearty voice tore me from my long-winded inner monologue. I turned to find my bodyguard, Seij Manabi, standing dutifully behind me. "Your father has sent for you," he spoke gently despite his rough speech. Seij was impossibly loyal to me, ever since the day I was born. He was my father's best friend in the palace growing up, working as a servant on the royal grounds. The Manabi family has served the royal Akiyama family for centuries upon centuries, devoted to protecting and advising, as well as befriending the members of our clan. However, Seij, despite being almost an uncle to me, had always remained distant and formal.

He stood at a slightly taller than average height, with cropped, brunette hair that was beginning to grey. Although aging, he was still rather muscular, as his profession called for his readiness to act. His eyes were a deep brown, so dark that his pupils were next to indiscernible. His face was pocked and rough from dozens of past battles, and his hands were calloused and worn from years of use. Although he preferred to remain professional and polite when speaking to me, I knew that he wasn't simply "doing his job" because my father asked him to. I could tell that he cared for me as somewhat as a niece, just as I cared for him as somewhat as an uncle.

"Thank you, Seij," I smiled despite the storm wreaking chaos within the mazes of my mind, and followed him back to the palace. My father could usually be found in the throne room conducting meetings with Lords, vassals, or rulers from other kingdoms… or, of course, the dining room, which is where he was now.

"Ah… Mio. There you are, darling," My father set down the parchment he was currently reading to greet me. He was quite tall and thin compared to the average Houkagan male, and often wore several layers of clothing in order to appear more powerful in front of people of high statute. He was a fairly sickly man, which was one of the reasons he'd always stress the importance of not showing weaknesses to anyone, especially since we were of Royal blood. His hair was raven-colored much akin to my own, but just like Seij, he was showing signs of the aging process through occasional strands of silver follicles.

His eyes were blue. I'd received my eye color from my mother, he always told me.

"What was it you needed, father?" I inquired, brushing a few loose strands of hair from my face.

"As you are well aware, there is an important banquet tonight," he began. I nodded for him to continue. "A pair of special guests shall be making an appearance, so I would appreciate it greatly if you would introduce yourself to them."

My heart sunk. I greatly disliked meeting new people, which was yet another fault to add to the list of "Reasons I Should Not be Queen." Unfortunately, I could not say no to a figure of authority, so I swallowed my nerves and nodded curtly. My father smiled warmly.

"Don't be worried, I'm sure you will like these people. And I'm hoping you will take a special liking to one in particular."

"Whom, may I ask, am I meant to be meeting this evening?" I ventured, although I'd already formed somewhat of an idea.

"I think I shall leave that to the imagination, darling," he chuckled, obviously enjoying holding the nuisance of surprise over my head. I internally rolled my eyes. "But I will say that they are from the distant kingdom of Cagayake, so remember your manners."

"Yes, father."

"Alright, you may return to what you were doing before, Mio dear," He smiled, making the crow's feet beside his eyes evident, and nodded to Seij before we exited the dining room.

We traveled side-by-side in silence for a few moments before Seij cleared his throat.

"Princess Mio, my daughter was looking for you earlier. I'd meant to tell you, but then your father asked me to fetch you so I'd forgotten. My apologies," He bowed his head, causing his the chain mail on his chest to rattle with metallic clinks.

"Oh, really? Ok, I'll go look for her now," I grew excited for the first time the entire day. "Probably… the library, correct?"

The brunette man chuckled. "Yes, most likely."

I started to run off, but stopped and turned around as I remembered something. "Oh, and Seij…"

"Hm?" He looked startled.

"Please don't apologize for such trivial matters, ok?"

His face melted into a good-humored smile. "I'll do my best, Princess."

I grinned and sped off through the castle.

.

"Nodoka?" I whispered into the candle-lit room of the library. The flame's light bounced and flickered off of the stonewalls and elaborate bookshelves, tinting everything in a soft golden glow. I should probably mention the whispering was most likely unnecessary considering only Nodoka, my father, and I even used this room. However, something about speaking loudly in a silent room unnerved me.

Yet another fault to add the ever-growing list of "Reasons I Should Not be Queen."

"I'm here," A voice piped up from behind one of the shelves. I followed it and found her sitting at a table, engrossed in the pages of a rather thick book. Nodoka Manabi was Seij's daughter, my tutor, and my best friend. She was highly intelligent, a mental prodigy. She knew more about politics than every soul in my father's personal court put together, and was a probably greater strategist than my father himself. As I stepped into her view, she greeted me without taking her eyes off of the book.

"Hello, Mio. How have you been?"

"Fine," I lied, thankful for the shadows created by the tiny flames, for I was a dreadful liar. "And yourself?" I asked, taking the seat across from her.

"Great, actually," she smiled as she book marked her page and gently closed it. I cocked my head curiously. She chuckled. "The reason I wanted to see you was to share some very good news."

"Oh, really?" Curiosity peaked, I leant forward. In quite the un-ladylike manner I might add. Light glinted off of Nodoka's glasses before she smiled once more.

"Really."

A few moments lapsed; I could tell she was enjoying this. "Well…"

Another five seconds passed I silence, building up a breath of suspense.

"I am now an apprentice to become the Justiciar," She finally said, the usually mild-mannered girl barely able to contain her excitement. I gasped. The Justiciar, one of the four main officers of the King's High Court, was an important figure in charge of administrating the castle's judicial system, and serving as the viceroy of the kingdom when the King was absent. The other three positions were the Chamberlain, the Treasurer, and the Chancellor. The Chamberlain controlled access to the King, the Treasurer was the chief financial officer, and the Chancellor, usually a bishop, was the keeper of the official seal of the royal seal, and was therefore responsible for handling foreign and domestic affairs.

"Eh, the Justiciar! I'm so happy for you, Nodoka!" I grinned, truly enthused for my friend. "That position suits you. And to become an apprentice at such a young age! I'm in shock!"

"I was just asked to fill the position yesterday evening, so I'm still in shock myself!"

"I'll bet," I trailed off, amazed but not surprised at the achievement of my ambitious friend. A part of me was very excited, as this meant she would probably be by my side when I took the throne.

"Unfortunately," Nodoka adjusted her glasses with a frown. "This may take away from my tutoring duties quite a bit."

"Oh…" I sighed, but again, not surprised. "Well, that's ok, Nodoka. I don't really need a tutor as long as I know what to study and when."

"I'm well aware of that," She chuckled quietly. "I'm perplexed as to why you haven't fired me yet, because honestly, I think you can do just fine on your own."

I found myself laughing as well, but saddened all the same. "Yeah, but I do enjoy your companionship. And you answer all of my questions without making me feel inadequate. Unlike Sawako…"

"Oh yes, Miss Sawako…" The dark-haired girl rubbed her chin. "I haven't seen her around lately."

"She's switched from serving as my old tutor to become the Keeper of the Wardrobe," I explained, fiddling with the binding of an old book. "Much to my disdain…"

The duty of Keeper of the Wardrobe was, of course, to design clothing for the royal family. Sawako Yamanaka loved to craft my clothes in a manner that was rather… extravagant.

"Oh… I see," Nodoka nodded knowingly. She must have remembered the grand feast a few weeks prior. I had to attend it dressed in quite the colorful dress, which attracted a lot of attention, and was constructed to resemble a peacock… of all animals.

It was so embarrassing I ended up fleeing from the scene in a flurry of feathers.

"Mmph," I moaned, letting my head fall onto the table in dismay. Sawako should be coming to find me any moment to force me to try on dozens of demeaning outfits for tonight's banquet. Nodoka sighed, obviously feeling my pain, yet unable to do anything about it.

But she was such a good friend; she never laughed at me.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Mio, you're father usually wears outfits similar to yours, since Miss Sawako prepares his wardrobe, too."

"My father may be a very wise man, but he knows nothing about proper attire. He would wear a potato sack if Sawako insisted it was trendy." I mumbled dejectedly. We were interrupted before Nodoka could offer a reply.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three loud bangs announced the arrival of someone at the library doors.

"Speak of the devil," I sighed.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, two people were also preparing for an important event:

"Wait, when is this thing again?"

"It's tonight, remember? I thought I told you last week… did I not?"

"Uh..."

"Ah… I'm sorry!"

"No wait… yeah you did! I remember now. Well, what are we doing standing around here? Let's get going, we cannot be late for this very important date!"

"Right!"

"Er… wait a second. You haven't seen my daggers lying around by any chance, have you?"

"A-Ano…"

.

.

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End chapter one!

Ok, maybe this will clear up some questions. The setting is kind of the middle ages. I say kind of, because it's going to be quite loosely based on medieval times, and will not adhere directly to it. One reason is the gender roles, obviously. K-ON! in the middle ages would be awfully boring if I stuck to the social structure of that time! Plus, the countries/ kingdoms are fictional, and quite humorously named after various terms from the anime, lol.

I'll try to keep it as realistic as possible for you, mmkay? XD

I wonder how Mio will handle Sawako, and who she will meet at the banquet... *shifty eyes*