Reborn: The New Empress

"I"ve been meaning to ask you about something." I said. He caressed my hand as he looked at me. He was smiling happily as if this was the first time he"s been happy for a long time. I couldn"t help but smile as well.

"What do you want to ask?" He said. I didn"t know if this was an appropriate topic but it had been on my mind since I woke up. I want him to be honest with me.

"What happened to your arranged marriage to the Empire to the North?" I asked. He looked up at the ceiling and I followed his gaze.

"Hokkyokusei planned to form an alliance with Taiyou through marriage but they actually didn"t want me to marry into them. They wanted Sumire to marry their prince." He said. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Maybe the prince liked Sumire." I said jokingly. Yukio chuckled and shook his head.

"Even if that were the case, they haven"t even came to Taiyou. Not even once. So, it was really strange. Father agreed but only when Sumire turns 18." He said. I can understand the Emperor"s sentiment. He values his daughter very much and I think the Empress also had a say in this.

We stayed in my room when suddenly, there was a loud bang from outside. Yukio and I went downstairs to check when we saw the Emperor, Empress and Sumire huddled by the stairs.

"What"s going on?" Yukio asked. He came closer to me and wrapped me in his arms.

"The soldiers are outside and they"re trying to destroy the gate. They want to get in here somehow. They must be ordered by Sayori"s father" The Emperor said. Suddenly, guilt started to creep up. This is all my fault. The Emperor and the Empress were only trying to help me. I need to leave here so that they"ll be safe. I tried to escape from Yukio"s grasp but he was alert. He managed to tighten his grip on me.

"Where are you going?" He said. He looked into my eyes with desperation.

"I don"t want you guys to get hurt because of me. I"ve been a burden all this time. This wouldn"t have happened if I just went back with my father." I said. I tried to break away from his grip but he held onto me tightly.

"No, none of this is your fault. Don"t blame yourself." He said. I couldn"t help but think otherwise. This is related to me and if they get hurt because of it, I would be the one to blame.

"Please let me go, Yukio. I don"t want you to get hurt because of me." I begged. Tears started welling in my eyes and Yukio looked at me as if he was in pain.

"If you"re leaving, I"m leaving with you." He said firmly. I couldn"t say no to his request. I went up to the Empress to tell her about my plan. They"ll hold down the palace while Yukio and I escape.

"Be careful. The both of you." The Empress said. I looked at her and then down at her belly. She seemed to notice where my eyes darted to and she smiled at me. There I understood what she meant with that smile, but I had no time to think about it any further. Yukio took my hand and we ran to the back walls of the palace.

"Don"t let go of my hand." He said. We kept running until we heard water running. We were near the falls. Before we could stop and take a rest, I heard an arrow fly across from us. Yukio didn"t notice, but I did.

"We have to keep going, Yukio." I said as I pulled his hand. We kept running deeper into the forest. I tried to go in a zigzag motion to confuse the soldiers following us. I knew that arrow was meant for Yukio and I can"t let him get hurt. Not now, not ever. He has to live. I"m more than willing to sacrifice my life if it means that Yukio gets to live.

"We should stop here. We"ve gone far enough." He said in between panting breaths. I took his hand and pulled it.

"We"re not out of danger yet." I said. The sound of the waterfalls grew louder. Just then, another flung towards Yukio. I was quick enough to push him away but I wasn"t quick enough to dodge it. It hit my arm directly. Yukio stood up from the ground and covered me. Out of the shadows, Eiji came out with a loaded arrow ready to shoot.

"You got yourself in quite a bind there, Sayori. Trying to protect this sc.u.m." He said, putting emphasis on the word "sc.u.m". I hissed in pain but I didn"t let it show. I stood up with the arrow still on my arm. Yukio held me up.

"You traitor! You"re sc.u.m." I said. He withdrew his arrow and laughed maniacally.

"You still have the nerve to laugh in your situation?" He asked. He took a few steps further as Yukio and I took a few steps back.

"You should"ve just married me, Sayori." He said. I shook my head.

"If I married you, then it"ll be the same as marrying death." I said. He laughed once again like a maniac.

"What"s the problem with that? You could"ve spent eternity together with pretty boy over here and his whole family." He said while pointing at Yukio. He just needs to keep talking before reinforcement gets here. His words were getting to me but I can"t let him get me angry. It would be bad if I let him get his way.

"So I was right, you were the one who wanted to poison me. However, you poisoned me quite early. We weren"t even married yet but you wanted to kill me quickly? Don"t you need me to succeed the throne?" I said, trying to buy time. He swung his arrow back and forth in front of his face.

"It is true that I wanted to kill you. I was planning on forging your signature on a letter addressed to the minister that we managed to say our wedding vows before you died but because of your stupid luck, you managed to survive that poison. How did you do it, huh? No matter, even without you, the throne will be ours!" He exclaimed. We kept taking steps back until I felt the end of the cliff.

"I can"t be easily killed. The G.o.ds favored me, remember?" I said. Yukio tried to cover me but I pulled him back.

"Even if the G.o.ds favored you, they can"t help you now." He said. Why is reinforcement taking so long?

"Why are you doing this, Eiji?" Yukio asked. Eiji looked at him menacingly and my instinct to protect him kicked in.

"Your family has been running this Empire for too long and I think it"s time for a new Emperor." He answered. Yukio looked calm but I knew he was angry.

"You"re not fit to be the Emperor." Yukio said firmly. Eiji"s eyes grew dim. Suddenly he burst out laughing.

"Do you think I would care what you say? I"ll be the perfect Emperor. It"s my destiny anyway so I won"t need you to tell me what to do." He said confidently. I had half a mind to kill him right now but I"m injured and I can"t risk Yukio"s safety.

"You were never destined for something as being an Emperor. You"ll never succeed. What you are doing right now is just a waste of time. None of you will succeed. I bet my life you"ll never achieve your wicked plans." I said. Eiji was angry now. I must"ve agitated him enough to make a move.

"You think I won"t be able to kill you right here? I don"t care what your father says. Your life isn"t worth much to us. I can just kill you and tell him that you died while trying to run away. He won"t care either way." He said. What did he mean about my father? I wanted to ask but I knew he won"t answer. The pain from my wound started to hurt. I tried to hide it but my legs started to give out. Yukio tried to help me up. Eiji eyes us and he began laughing.

"You"ll either die from another shot or I can just leave you here and bleed to death." Eiji said. Yukio couldn"t keep calm anymore.

"You"re a coward, Eiji. Even from before, you were a coward. You couldn"t even face your responsibilities when your mother died. She would"ve been disappointed." He said. Eiji became agitated. He drew his bow and aimed at Yukio but he missed out of anger. His hands started to shake and his aim was terrible.

"How dare you bring my mother into this? If it wasn"t for your family, she would still be alive today!" Eiji shouted. Yukio shook his head.

"It wasn"t my father"s fault. It was yours. He failed to protect his wife because he was greedy and wanted more." Yukio answered. It was something out of my control but I"m thankful that they"re both wasting time. Just then, I saw lights from behind Eiji. I hope it"s the Emperor"s soldiers. Eiji noticed and he immediately drew his bow.

"Don"t think you"ll come out of this alive." He shot the arrow at Yukio but I pushed him away and hit me on the chest, knocking me back into the edge of the cliff. Yukio managed to grab my hand before I could completely fall. He was struggling to keep me up. I finally heard the gallops of the horses and then I heard Eiji grunting. He was just taken down by the Emperor"s men. I looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Let me go…" I said. His eyes widened and he shook his head.

"No! No matter what happens to me, I won"t let go! I lost you once, I"m not willing to do it again!" He said. Tears started to well in his eyes and it made my heart ache. We both know that I won"t make it out alive in this situation. I"ve lost too much blood and it"ll take another miracle for me to survive this and I"m guessing I"m all out of miracles.

"I"m sorry…" I whispered. With tears in my eyes, I let go of his hand. He tried to hold on but the blood on my arms made it hard for him to hold on. I closed my eyes as I felt my hand slipping from his grip. The fear of feeling nothing beneath my feet scared me. As the last bit of Yukio"s strength faded, I let gravity take me.

"Sayori!" I heard Yukio"s shout echoed throughout the ravine. His voice was louder than the sound of the waterfall. I felt my back hit the water and everything went dark.

[The Prince"s View]

Tears fell from my eyes the moment I let go of Sayori"s hand. I couldn"t see her anymore. Anger boiled over inside of me. I turned on my heel and made my way to where Eiji was. He was tied up and was guarded by my father"s men. I pulled him up by his shirt and I punched him. He fell and blood started to trickle down his lips.

"It"s too late. She"s already dead!" He said. The way his eyes staggered told me that he had gone crazy. I told the guards to take him back to the palace and place him in the dungeon. I looked at my hands and Sayori"s blood was still fresh. It stained the sleeves of my clothes and I could still feel her with me.

I went back to the palace along with the guards. It looks like my mother and father had immobilized the soldiers who attempted to enter the palace. I went inside and saw the three of them huddled together. My father had his arms around my other and Sumire.

"Mother… Father…" I said. They all looked at me and when Sumire saw me, she immediately made her way to me.

"Onii-chan… Are you okay?" She asked. I didn"t know how to answer her. My body was fine but I felt like everything I ever had was gone. I shook my head as a shaky smile formed on my lips. My mother came up to me and put her arm on my shoulders.

"Are you okay? What happened? Where"s Sayori?" She asked. The mention of her name made my heart ache. I looked at my bloodied hands; Sayori"s blood. I was on the verge of tears but I knew that I needed to be strong.

"I couldn"t save her…" I said, my voice getting quieter. Mother looked at me, her eyes forlorn as if she lost a daughter of her own. She wrapped me in her embrace.

"It"ll be alright, Yukio." She said. Her voice was shaking but she still tried to comfort me. I told them how Sayori and I battled to live against Eiji and how she wanted me to let her go on that ravine. My father listened intently and when I was finished. He stood up and called a few of his hidden aides.

"Check the ravine for Princess Sayori"s body. Don"t come back until you find her." He ordered. His people bowed their heads and left. Although he doesn"t tell me directly, he surely knows how to ease my pains. I"m thankful that I have them as my parents.