[YUZUKI]
Yuzuki's meeting with the council was a bore for her. She had wanted them to talk about the treaties with the Yamashita kingdom and anytime they spoke, all she focused on was the woman who helped the mad king, Ayami Araki.
She heard them talk like Ayami was the only invisible force that they had to counter with the Yamashitas, and for some reason, Yuzuki wondered if Ayami was really Matsui.
She wondered if that woman was her one-way ticket to the love she had lost unjustly at the hands of the cruelest of all kings. She wondered if Ayami knew what Matsui was like in this life, or if Ayami had connections that could lead her to Matsui.
For years in limbo, Yuzuki had prayed and fasted for the love she had lost so unjustly.
She wasn't hurt by the betrayal by Kazuya. She would have understood everything if Kazuya hadn't tried to hurt her mate. Instead, the man had just decided to ruin Matsui's life just like that.
Yuzuki had loved Matsui with a love that knew no bounds.
She had lived for that woman; she had done everything possible and she had watched Matsui bloom.
She was happier because Matsui was happy and maybe it was just that simple reason that had gotten Yuzuki at the goddess's temple more times than she cared to count.
She wanted her mate to have the best of the best. And Kazuya had just fucked that up for her. Kazuya had snatched the love of her life, and Yuzuki would take everything from him. Perhaps It was a good thing that she had been given a hint, right?
"Talk to me about Ayami Araki. This supposed lethal enforcer," Yuzuki voiced, cutting short one of the councilmen who were talking about their plans.
She honestly wouldn't give a shit about the plans that they had. All she wanted was to find her Matsui in this life and live happily ever after. Besides, that was why the moon goddess had given her a second chance at life right?
"Your majesty—"
"I need answers, Ishiguro. If you don't have answers, shut up," Yuzuki said and the councilman who had started talking sighed as he looked at his queen. They could see that something had changed about her and they were worried.
It was almost like she had gotten curlier and that was not something that could seem sane for the kingdom of Kurayami. Then again, what the hell were they ever going to do about it, when the woman herself was the worst of them all?
"She is loyal to King Kazuya. She is also good at weaponry and can't be bought. She never interacts with anyone behind her swords and warriors.
"But even her warriors don't know much about her other than her skills that are exceptional as witnessed over the years," Ishiguro said respectfully.
"Everyone knows that by now," Yuzuki said distastefully.
"She is twenty-eight years old," Haruo, another councilman, said and that got Yuzuki's interest.
He never believed in coincidences and she wasn't about to start right now. Ayami being twenty-eight was no coincidence just as her reincarnating in that same number of years wasn't.
The fact that the moon goddess had insisted she start with Ayami was also something that Yuzuki wasn't buying into.
Everything was just too simple and that also had Yuzuki wondering if any of this had any meaning truly, beyond what she was being told right now.
There was just so much that she needed to unpack, which didn't even make it any easier on her because, at the end of the day, she had to find Matsui.
"And what do you expect me to do with her age, Haruo?" Yuzuki asked boredly.
"There are rumors that Ayami Araki is the king's daughter, a hidden princess. No one knows where she came from, perhaps one of the concubines, but even that isn't straight up. .
"The only thing that everyone knows was that enforcer Ayami showed up twenty-eight years ago, and has made Kazuya the most powerful king since then," Ishiguro said, piquing Yuzuki's interest.
This was some wild shit that they were talking about. If she was the hidden princess, then it would make sense that she wasn't easily bought, because every daughter was born to be loyal to their father.
It was not rocket science and Yuzuki smiled sinisterly at the thought. If Kazuya had a daughter, that meant that Kazuya had something to lose. Something more precious than his kingdom.
Something would willingly give the kingdom up for and Yuzuki loved that. For the first time since she had woken up confused, she could see a path calling to her. She could see hope and light at the end of the long tunnel.
She would find that woman and she would make sure to get as close to her as possible. If the assumption was true, then Yuzuki had already won even before the games began. That was the best news she had heard since she died on the battlefield.
"Interesting. What else do you have on the supposed hidden princess of Yamashita?" Yuzuki asked lightly, her tone so joyous and creepy that the councilmen stared at each other worriedly.
They had seen the woman burn Aoki to ashes and frankly, they didn't want to be her victims either.
"She likes training with powerful warriors and she has a weakness for women with long black hair," Haruo said and Yuzuki stared at the man skeptically.
This was a lot of information, and it was a tad too detailed that it got Yuzuki raising her brows at the man. What the fuck was this council made of?
"Haruo?" Yuzuki called out, even though it came off as a question of clarity and shit.
"I can explain, your majesty. The spies we sent to Yamashita all came with that information. They said she was the one link to the king, and her heart was always lingering around women with long black hair," Haruo clarified shakily.
He knew that he was a dead man if the psycho queen before them didn't like his explanation. The queen always despised traitors and useless people and she often declared more people useless than she had paid attention to.
"Where does she train frequently?" Yuzuki asked and their breaths hitched.
"Your majesty—" Haruo tried.
"Where?" Yuzuki insisted.
"The riverbank facing Kurayami. Many believe that she faces our borders because it is the only kingdom that she has never led war against," Ishiguro said sheepishly and Yuzuki wondered how the fuck these were the high lords of Kurayami.
Their reasoning was shallow as hell and it wasn't pleasing at all. The fact that they believed that this was a truth they could explore was even disappointing to me. But then a new girl with new memories, Yuzuki was down for anything.
If she had to go to the riverbank of Kurayami too, just to see the woman, then she would do it.
"Alright then. Rinko, looks like you and I are going to go bathing in the river," Yuzuki said as she got up.
"Your majesty?" Rinko asked in confusion.
"Council dismissed. Make sure to come to me with better information at the next meeting, or start looking for your replacements," Yuzuki award and she stepped out, leaving behind a bunch of terrified high lords who were not sure of whether the sun would shine on them again.