[YUZUKI]
For a moment, Rinko stared at the werewolf Queen, her thoughts blank as she tried to think straight. She couldn't believe what was happening, and honestly, no one could blame her. The queen was a lot of work and Rinko was slowly realising that.
She had been around this queen for the longest time and she had served the woman for quite a while. Yet each time the woman opened her mouth, Rinko got a few years of her life get shaven off.
This woman had ruined every perspective that Rinko had on life and no one would convince her otherwise. Maybe it was for the best that Rinko never had hope, but what use was hope when life never meant shit on this die of the realm?
"You just woke up from a coma because you drowned, your majesty. Perhaps a river that is heavily flowing isn't the best of places to consider given you woke up… Today," Rinko said, pointing it out in the hopes that the psycho would try to make it all make sense.
None of this was right. None of this was okay but Yuzuki didn't seem to care about that because after dropping the bomb on her council and maidservant, she walked out like it was just a normal day for her.
The way that people were stressing about her didn't seem to faze the woman. It was unsettling, but Yuzuki didn't mind. She figured they would eventually get over it at the end of the day.
"I already look like a servant. Get me a bucket and some dirty clothes. We need to look like we went to the river to clean and ended up cleaning ourselves. And I need you to undo the braids in my hair.
"My hair should be as simple as possible if we are going to get a glance of this hidden princess," Yuzuki said, and Rinko sighed.
This woman would be the death of her.
She was always in her own world, acting like life wasn't supposed to mean so much when in reality, so many lives depended on Yuzuki Kuramitsu's mood. It was the hardest job anyone would ever have taken, and Rinko hoped that they both would get into trouble.
"Yo… You will allow me to touch YOUR hair?" Rinko asked as she stared at the woman who pushed open the door to her chambers. The queen's chambers were still as clean despite the shit that the woman had been through over the past few months.
All that had happened raised so many questions and yet the one that scared Rinko the most was the simple ask form the queen, one that demanded that she handle the queen's hair.
No one had been allowed to touch the woman's hair for as long as anyone could remember.
Even when she was playing the most unhinged of characters, Kuramitsu's hair had remained untouched. It was the one gift that no one was owed and boy was it a strange privilege for Rinko now.
"Only this time. Don't think too much about it, we have shit to do," Yuzuki said adamantly, making Rinko nod vehemently. She knew there was no point in arguing with Yuzuki about this.
The woman wasn't going to stop unless she got what she wanted and while that was encouraging on most days, today it scared the hell out of Rinko. Maybe because the woman's unpredictability reminded her of a stance in life that not many paid attention to over the years.
"As you wish, your majesty," Rinko said, giving in to the woman's whims.
"I won't drown, Rinko," Yuzuki said to the maidservant in reassurance.
She knew that nothing would ever be the same for them and she understood that no matter what shit was like for them, there would still be the question of what life was waiting for them.
At the end of the day, someone had to answer for the chaos and for Yuzuki, that would be Kazuya Yamashita. He still affected her in ways that he couldn't quite put to words and it was something that Yuzuki was determined to work through.
"I just… I know I won't make the same mistake twice, but your majesty, what if Ayami recognises you?" Rinko asked.
Yuzuki laughed humorlessly. It was almost like this was not the most absurd of things that she had heard and honestly it had her wondering what this would turn out to be.
"No one other than the few servants and the council know me. If the woman recognizes me then I'll know that I was betrayed, and that won't end well for anyone," Yuzuki said casually like it was the most obvious of things.
Perhaps it was because only someone who didn't love their lives would even think of trying to mess with Yuzuki. It was common knowledge at this point.
"Come, let's go. We need to be there when the Yamashita enforcer gets there so it looks like the simplest of coincidences," Yuzuki reminded, snapping Ayami out of her web of thoughts.
They had to do this.
They needed to do this. Nothing would ever be the same but it was a desperate need for them.
"Kurayami is so beautiful," Yuzuki marvelled at her new kingdom from the window while Rinko gathered whatever bunch of clothes they needed to put on the greatest show out there. It was not going to be easy for them.
It was a challenge that they needed to sort through because at the end of the day, no matter what happened, they had to figure out what part of the chaos they were best at.
But the queen that Rinko and the werewolves of Kurayami remembered was never one to step back in the face of madness. They all trusted that the woman would fix their messes for them.
"You always said that," Rinko said in admiration.
"Well, it is the truth, isn't it… Father would have been proud of how far we have come," Yuzuki said absentmindedly before she realised what she had said.
For a moment she wanted to take it back because she had watched her entire family be mutilated by Kazuya and his goons, but at the same time she had to remind herself that this was the role she had thrust herself into.
The memories and thoughts of Kuramitsu would be her guide for this journey into the most daring and lethal risks. Perhaps this was part of the goddess' help, right?
"Shall we?" Rinko voiced and this time, Yuzuki nodded.
She didn't have more to add to it, thus their little silent walk towards the river between Yamashita and Kurayami. It was not that hard for Yuzuki to blend right in because she looked just like every servant in the kingdom.
There wasn't much that she had to do other than make the walk, but perhaps that was the beauty of it all.
The freedom that came with being an apparent nobody in the kingdom gave Yuzuki the prettiest insights into a kingdom she hadn't even dreamt of getting into, and that too as a mere alpha of Yamashita.
It was the hardest one to get into and somehow fate had managed to get her the front seat to a land of chaos.
"There she is, your majesty," Rinko pointed out when they got to the river and Yuzuki felt her heart start beating erratically — like it used to… when Matsui was close to her.