Disclaimer: I don't own Saiunkoku Monogatari
Chapter 4
Maid's point of view
'Today's such a tiring day and it's still morning' one of the maids thought to herself while heading for the Royal Archives 'I still have to clean archives and the main hall…Both places are so huge it'll take me forever to clean it…'
"Hey what's with that face?" maid walking next to her asked
"We won't be able to the archives till the sunset and just forget how huge the main hall is… We'll have to work through the night and I'm already tired" She answered sighing heavily.
"Now, don't be such a baby…. The five of us will be able to handle this and if you'll start to feel very sleepy then you'll take a nap. I'll cover for you, but you'll owe me…" the second maid replied.
"Wait I hear someone at the archives, maybe we should clean the main hall first and then clean the archives, to not disturb them…" the one who was going in front of them said.
"Don't worry it's probably just Master Shouka…" the one who silently trailed behind them said.
"Shhh…."silenced the other one and peaked to look who's there 'She won't let us leave without listening to what others are talking and won't let us go and disturb them…Just like I thought it's going to be a long and tiring day…' then her thoughts were cut off "It's His Majesty… He's talking with some kid that looks a lot like him…" As she peeked to take a look for herself she so that the girl was right. It was His Majesty talking to kid that looked exactly like him.
"I really don't know why she left… But how did you found out? I didn't even know…" His Majesty said with sad expression.
"I heard when mother was saying that" the boy replied with relaxed expression 'That kid's good. It looks like talking to the Emperor to him is every day occurrence' she thought to herself
"So that means you were eavesdropping …" His Majesty stated with a smile "You do know it's not nice to eavesdrop on somebody, don't you?"
"Shut it idiot!" the little boy who looked around ten years old blushed. "You may be my real father, but that doesn't mean I'll acknowledge you!" the child shouted, but the Emperor just chuckled at his reaction. 'Wait a minute…Wait a minute…Did that little boy just referred to His Majesty saying REAL FATHER?!'
"About that, I have one request…" the Emperor's face became serious "Could you move to the palace and live with me?"
"You guys here listen to what they will talk about next, I'm going to tell about this everyone I'll find" said maid who was hiding next to her 'Well look at you…It's not surprise that your nickname is "the gossip lady"… And you still ask me why no one shares their secrets with you'
Ryuuki's point of view
"Not in a hundred years" Shoto declined my offer in seconds. 'Well that was quick' Ryuuki thought as someone dashed into the archives panting heavily.
"Your Majesty is it true?" One of court officials asked him "Is it true that you have a son?"
Ryuuki just nodded and said "But that is not your concern is it?" His face became emotionless mask.
"But Your Highness if it's true the child cannot leave the palace ground for he is the heir to the throne…" the court official paled more and more with every moment feeling Ryuuki's cold look on him. When Ryuuki turned to look at Shoto he was already gone.
Shoto's point of view
'Like hell I'm gonna stay here. I'll just find grandpa and go home like nothing happened' Shoto was thinking to himself while running away 'I was very lucky I had a chance to escape…' Shoto ran very successfully until he bumped into somebody.
"And what are you doing here?" the voice asked. As he looked up he saw two men in front of him. The one that he bumped into looked like he was a high standing official and he carried a sword.
"Shuuei who is it? Do you know him?" the second one asked. The second one didn't look as high and mighty as the first one, but non the les a high standing official.
"My name is Shoto Kou. I came here with my grandfather and got lost… Can you help me look for him?" Shoto said wearing mask of innocence 'Great! I'll be able to get out of here or find grandpa at least…Really I have such poor luck…All I wanted to do was know what kind of man is my father and ended up in this mess…'
"You mean your grandfather is Shouka Kou?" the man with the sword asked him with surprised face
"Yes, could you help me find him? It's my first time in Kiyou city and I don't know how to get home…"
"Ohhh… I'm Shuuei Ran and the man beside me is Kouyuu Li. We know Shouka very well and if he left you alone means he's got something very important to do so I'll take you home, okay?" Shuuei offered kindly
'How in the hell did this happened?! It seems that the news about my relationship with Ryuuki reached even the outer gate guards and I was caught…tch… I want to go home…' thought Shoto as he sat looked in chambers. It's already been two hours since he got caught and all he wanted to do was go back to his parents. It seems that Shuuei Ran wasn't surprised a bit when guard informed him about the situation, but you couldn't even begin to describe Kouyuu Li's reaction. He went so pale as soon as he heard it almost made Shoto burst with laughter.
"May I ask how is Shuurei doing?" asked Shuuei appearing from around the corner.
"Wha..?! How did you get here? I didn't even notice" Shoto asked in shock
"That's because you were in daze… So how is she doing?" the man asked again
"How do you know my mother?" Shoto answered to question asking question himself.
"Well she used to live here a long time ago and we were good friends…"
"My mother is fine… In the town we live in she's the most beautiful woman" Shoto answered. He couldn't understand why but he felt he could trust the man in front of him.
"That's good…" and then Shuuei's face got serious "You understand that now she will have to stay at the palace as well, right?"
"You mean mother's at the palace now?" Shoto's face lit up, he really wanted to see his mother, but then it hit him 'Wait mother will be forced to stay at palace just like I was few hours ago?' he thought to himself and his face saddened
"No, she's not here yet, but I'm sure that till the sunset she'll come for you…" Shuuei said seriously 'Is that the reason mother ran away from here? Because she wanted to be free?'
Author's note: I don't know why, but while I was writing this chapter I listened to G Dragon - That XX all the time, while usually I can concentrate just on one thing at the time. But somehow I managed to sing the song along and write ^_^
