The mont my head was fully uncovered, my smooth platinum hair glistened under the sunshine, awes of surprise and astonishnt faintly sounded in the room as they beheld . They had never seen anyone as beautiful as before. And it even shut up the old geezer that had been bothering us this whole ti. However, there was a strange reaction from soone whom I took quite a lot of notice of. I glanced at Miyako's mother.
Her eyes were wide, as if the mont she saw quite shocked her. No, there was sothing else. As if she were thinking lots of things all at once. Like she was trying to process what she was seeing. Which was quite interesting. The mont she realized I was staring, she frantically looked away and stood straight.
The lord, Kiyoshi Taira, slightly leaned forward, seemingly interested. “You certainly give off the aura of a princess. But you’re so far away from ho. Why did you co all the way here? On official business?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no. I did not co here on official business, I’m just passing through.”
“Passing through? Where could a princess be going in our barren wastelands that have nothing but rocks and monsters?”
I smiled. “You do not know, but a great war is happening on the continent. I’ve co here so I can defend my holand.”
“Defend it? All the way here?”
“Yes, to defend, one must be in good health. But of course, I have no intention of divulging any specifics.”
“Even to , the lord of this island?”
“Yes.” Like Taneva though, he also didn’t matter to much. He was not valuable or useful enough for to share my true purpose, where I never even told his own daughter who I beca friends with. “If you need assurance, I don’t intend any harm.”
“If you made friends with my daughter, then I assu so.” He shifted his gaze to his daughter. “Miyako, I sent you on my behalf to face the other lords. And yet, you return with no one but your personal aide. What happened? Oh, and you all may rise.”
Those who kneeled stood up.
Miyako then answered, “On the way to the assembly, my convoy was ambushed by an elite group of warriors. We were outmatched, Satomi and I were the only ones to survive. They chased us down, but Estelia saved our lives, eliminating all those who were after us.”
Surprised and outraged mutterings started amongst the officials. It was starting to get a bit noisy, and the lord held out his hand to silence everyone. His face was grimaced in displeasure, in anger, at the ntion of the attempted assassination against his own daughter.
“Did you learn who they were?”
“... I suspect they’re from Tobunoa.”
Kiyoshi clenched his fists, and the mother showed an expression of concern.
Kiyoshi took a deep breath, calming himself down. “I’m relieved that you’re well.” He then stood up, his movents a bit slow and showing signs of fatigue. “Princess Estelia, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my daughter.” He then bowed deeply, which flabbergasted the other officials. Miyako’s mother bowed along with him.
However, there was a first wave of people who bowed along with him, followed by other hesitating ones. Those who bowed imdiately must be those who were loyal to their master.
“You’re welco,” that was all I said. I an, what else do you want to say? Oh, yeah… “You don’t have to do that, so please raise your heads.” I acted all bashful, frantically shaking my hands to stop them, a faint blush colored my cheeks.
They all raised their heads.
“Without your help, I would have lost my daughter,” he added before returning to sit down. “Tobunoa… I didn’t expect they would pull off sothing this extre. At any rate, did you reach the assembly in ti, daughter?”
“Yes, we reached the capital city, and I got to join the assembly.”
“And how did it go?”
“... I…” She lowered her head and turned a glance at . I nodded to her. “... Father… The talk didn’t all go too well with Hokunoa, but it did with the others. However…”
“What is it?”
“At this point… I don’t think the agreents made won’t matter much anymore.”
Her father raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“... Their lord, the lord of Hokunoa, is dead. His son is also dead.”
And a commotion erupted from the crowd.
“What?!”
“What the hell happened?”
“Soone can just kill their lord?”
“Wasn’t he a strong warrior?”
“Soone went past their master assassin? Impossible.”
“How could this be?”
“And the heir too? Then there’s no one to take the role of lord…”
Kiyoshi slamd his fist onto his chair. “Silence!” Everyone imdiately fell silent. “Miyako, is this really true?”
“... Yes.”
“H-How? Who could have done such an outrageous thing?”
“... That’s not easy to answer.”
“With the power vacuum left by their deaths, there will need to be a new lord. That ans their clans could start fighting among themselves to get it.” He placed a hand on his forehead. “This could be a benefit for us, that could at least discourage them from invading us. We need to look into the situation more. But for now, let’s dismiss this session. My daughter and her friends need rest.”
The mont he dismissed the session, the officials imdiately left the chamber. All the while muttering about what they had just heard. Miyako’s mother slowly approached her.
“Mother…”
The mother quickly embraced her. “... I was so worried during your absence. I’m glad you’ve co ho.” She kissed her forehead.
“Yes… I missed everyone…” She hugged her mother back.
It was a sweet mont.
Afterward, Miyako brought her mother before us. “Um, she’s my mother. Mother, this is Estelia. This little one is Nira, he is Hartwin, Velar and Taneva.”
I extended a hand toward her. “Hi, nice to et you.”
She stared into my eyes. “... Red…” she muttered under her breath, but I barely heard it. She snapped out of it and slowly reached out to my hands, her hands slightly trembling. “Y-Yes, nice to et you too. My na is Haru. I sincerely thank you for saving my dear daughter.”
“Of course.”
After shaking hands, Miyako noticed her mother’s trembling hands. “Are you alright, Mother?”
“Huh? Y-Yes, I’m fine. I’m just overwheld with emotions to finally see you.”
She’s lying.
She was familiar with , or sothing. Almost like she was in fear — no, there was sothing else. But I decided not to delve into the matter, it was not significant to yet.
It was then that Kiyoshi ca up to us. “As Miyako’s friends, you’ll be treated with the utmost respect. I will make sure of it. I’m sure you’re all tired.” He gestured to a servant. “Bring them to the guest section. Make sure they’re clean for use.” He turned to us. “Please follow him. If you wish to eat, I’ll prepare food for you all.”
I nodded. “Yes, please.” I had been feeling quite hungry.
“The food will be brought to your dining room when it’s ready. Your own dining room for your group.”
Oh wow, that’s actually nice.
My smile widened. “You are an excellent host, Lord Kiyoshi.”
“Please, it’s nothing compared to you saving my lovely daughter. Oh, and if you’re well-rested, I hope we can talk. I’m quite interested in talking with a ruler from the continent.”
I wryly smiled. “I can hardly be called a ruler. I am but a re princess. But I’m looking forward to it.”
He then turned to Satomi. “Satomi, you’ve done a splendid job keeping Miyako safe. For that, I thank you. And for now, rest. You deserve it. Leave Miyako to us.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Miyako smiled at and nodded. “Let’s et later. I’ll give you a tour if you want.”
“I’m looking forward to it. But you might have more important matters to attend to.”
She lowered her head. “You’re right…” She turned to her father. “We should talk in private.”
“I was planning to give you so sleep.”
“This is important.”
Kiyoshi hesitantly nodded. “Very well. Should your mother be there?”
“I think it’s best if she is.”
“... Alright then, let’s talk.”
Good luck, Miyako.
As for us, we parted from them and headed straight for our rooms. I wanted to sleep on a decent bed, but food cos first! I truly hoped the food was gonna be great. As we headed back, I looked back for a mont, only to see Haru staring at .
Does this place have sothing to do with or sothing?
Whatever it was, I was certain she’d approach about it if it was important. At the very least, I figured that my appearance was sothing noteworthy to her. I sure hoped it was not anything troubleso.
***
To my surprise, as we were guided towards our rooms, much of the pillars used on the building were wooden. Using this much wood on this stretching building must have been hard and expensive. I an, thinking about it, just how many wooden craftsn were around in a place where there were rarely any trees? Who were actually good? I imagined not many.
The floor was made of smooth, flat stone. Not marble. If these were completely made of wood, they could have been absolutely beautiful and could bear a particular aesthetic. The rooms we passed had sliding doors with wide opaque cloths as screens. The building’s boundary on the side was open, and turning a look on that side I noticed people glancing my way, srized by my sheer intense beauty — might as well say foreign beauty, hehehe. Sorry, not sorry.
Eventually, we arrived at a line of rooms.
“You are free to use these rooms while you’re here.”
The sliding doors were open, and there were servants cleaning up the room. Although, from the looks of it, it was already clean to begin with. They were just making sure they were flawless for use. Furthermore, the rooms were slightly elevated, and the servants’ shoes were left at the entrance. It would seem that was how it was supposed to be, going barefoot inside the room.
The smooth paved floor was covered by a wide carpet. There was a wide and thick futon on the floor for sleeping, and on the side there was a short, small table, with a pair of short wooden chairs.
I directed a smile at the servant. “Please convey our thanks to the lord for his hospitality.”
The servant lightly bowed. “I will return when your food is ready.”
The servants in our rooms started coming out. They slipped in their shoes and left. Afterward, the crew and I were left alone. I sat down on the edge of the room of my choosing and leaned my elbow on my lap, placing a hand on my cheek.
“This place is cozier than I expected,” I casually said.
What’s missing is so trees with pink flowers.
Too bad nature was dead here.
“What’s the plan from here on out?” Velar asked.
“As intended, do so shopping. Can I leave it up to you, Taneva and Hartwin?”
Hartwin nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, I can take the chance to check out the place.”
Taneva rely shrugged. Good, two wanderers going out for a shopping trip.
“How long are we staying?” Taneva asked. “I’m sure you’ll need so rest.”
“I would prefer not to stay here for a week. I’ll take my rest as fast as I can.”
“And Miyako, what about her?”
I let out a sigh. “Well, I did say I’ll help out in getting rid of the bad elents plaguing their palace. And I’m also looking forward to what she’ll do from now on to achieve her goal.”
Taneva briefly chuckled. “She’s really gonna go and tell her father, huh? He’ll be furious to hear that. There’s only so much ambition a person should have.”
I scoffed. “To achieve sothing great, you must have an ambition greater than everyone else’s. Otherwise, you’ll just be like any other person on the street.” You’d just be nothing special. Everyone’s lives were unique, but not everyone could be remarkable. And to be remarkable, to be great, you must dream big as a start. “Do you not think she’ll succeed?”
“It’s a crazy idea. But I won’t say it’s impossible. She’ll just have a lot of challenges to face. Many tend to just give up halfway.”
“At least they tried.”
“But that ant all that you’ve done would be for nothing. Might as well not have acted at all.”
“Hm.” What truly mattered? Trying, or actually succeeding? “Perhaps succeeding is what matters.” But anyone can always run away.
Hartwin started strumming on his lute. “Miss Miyako’s story will be an epic one. Her tale shall be sung on the continent, be known to strangers far away. A young woman pursuing a grand ambition where many have tried and failed.”
I glanced at Hartwin. “Do you write songs for incomplete stories?”
“Not really. Every story requires an ending, whether good or bad. In ti, we shall see how Miyako’s story will end, be it in tragedy or happiness for all. Once it’s all over, her song shall be sung.”
“What about my story, Hartwin? What is it?”
Hartwin placed a hand on his chin. “The core of your story is hard to tell. You want to go ho, a goddess, but what does it all truly an? Where are you heading?”
“Is it not clear to you?”
“There are just so missing pieces, which I am sure to discover!”
My story… was more than just a princess driven away from her ho. I am not a re princess. And this was sothing they would never find out.
“Then let tell you, Hartwin, my tale will be a path of blood.” Vengeance had to be fulfilled. “And in the end, I shall be happy...”
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