“Stop moving,” I say slamming him again. “You shot at me so my patience is short.”
“You’re the one I saw,” he mumbles. “You framed my father.”
So this is the boy. If I knew he saw me I would have killed him then.
“You work for the prince, don’t you?” he continues.
I look back and see the princess trying to coax the girl out of her corner. She can’t hear us.
“Yeah, that was me. Your dad was my fall guy. I’m the one responsible for the royal massacre. I’m the reason you’re stuck behind these walls. Kyoya-sama ordered all of it. So you can die knowing the truth.”
I take the gun from his hand.
“Wait,” he pleads. “Does the princess know?”
I guess I’ll give him a bit more truth. Mostly cause I don’t want her name caught up in this.
“The princess is innocent. It’s just greedy men trying to get what they want. Will that help you rest in peace?”
His eyes float over to her. He starts to say her name and I shoot him in the stomach.
“Goto-san!” the cornered girl screams.
The girl finally comes from the corner in tears. This boy must have meant something to her. Fine. They can die together. I shoot her in the heart. She falls just short of my boot. The princess collapses crying. I scoop her up and head out.
So now we’re here. She cries silently and I stand away trying to think of the best thing to say. She’s watched me kill in front of her again. I killed people she desperately wanted to save.
“I’m sorry,” I say to her. “It had to be that way.”
“It had to?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of world do you live in where people have to die! Where you have to take their lives!”
I turn away from her. I should go back to silence.
“Miyuki-san was just a girl. She asked me to free her. Why did she have to die, huh?”
I had to kill them; they knew too much. No one must know the princess is in here. But it’s more than that.
“They hurt the person I love so….they had to die.”
I look back at her shyly. It's a familiar feeling. I loved my mother dearly so when she was taken from me I had to kill the man responsible.
“Don’t say stuff like that. You don’t love me. This is not what love is.”
“I’m here….where is your prince?”
I don’t want to have a fight with her. I’m trying to get her tears to stop. I step closer and sit down next to her. She stays still.
“Everyone feels they can talk bad about Kyoya-sama. None of you know him.”
“Do you?”
“No….but I know he’s a great person.”
“You want to believe he’s a great person because that’s what you’ve always built him up to be.”
“Yes, that’s true,” she admits. “Still….I love him.”
Just a few more hours and we can get out of here. The sun’s setting.
“I don’t get you at all,” she speaks to me.
“Hm?”
“Why did you take my family from me? What did you gain?”
I don’t want to answer. I was just fulfilling my friend’s request. I always do what he says.
“I just wanted to.”
"Why did you come tonight?"
"Cause you needed me."
She sighs and hides her face again. I can’t give her a clear answer. Maybe I can try to ease things.
“Your mother….she…”
Her eyes look over at me.
“She…um….she yelled at me just before. She said “don’t you dare harm my daughter. Setsuna is my world.” I could tell she really loved you.”
The princess starts crying again. I know it’s something she always wanted to hear. She always wanted to know if her mother loved her.
“I’m gonna go find some water.”
I get up and she grabs my leg.
“T-thank you for telling me.”
She lets go and I wait outside the temple. I don’t know what’s going on. I use to love seeing her in pain but I’m the one that caused it all. I don’t want to be the one that makes her cry. I want to see her smile again. Am I becoming sane?
I know I can give her a happy life. I’m feeling desperate thinking she’ll deny me. But I can never sell out Kyoya-sama. That's the only thing I could do to destroy the clean image she has of him. If only there was a way to have both of them. I have water with me but I’ll just wait a bit and let her calm down.
I pull out my phone and take a walk around the perimeter.
“Is she okay?” Kyoya-sama asks me.
“She’s fine. I got to her in time.”
“Thank you,” he says to me. “I owe you.”
“No, you don’t. She’s a bit shaken up. She started to sympathize with her captors and it didn’t help that I killed them all in front of her.”
“Well…at least she’s safe.”
“The group was run by a man named Taiga and he had the Yee boy with him.”
“Lots going on in there I don’t know about.”
“They're both dead. Anyway I’ll try to be in by midnight-”
“Hey, what’s wrong? You sound kind of dull,” he notices.
“Just…I feel like the bad guy. She hates me.”
“She doesn’t know who she’s talking to. Of course she would hate a killer.”
“Kyoya-sama, if she found out that-”
“She’s not going to.”
I feel less comfortable keeping things from her. Less comfortable with her not knowing who I really am.
“I have to go back in. We’re in a temple.”
“I know where you are. When you leave out the opening I’ll have a car west of there.”
“Got it.”
“Ayato-san, you have never let me down. Thank you. Keep her calm so she won't think about what she saw.”
He hangs up. I could never let him down.
Back inside she’s drying her eyes. I pass a water bottle to her.
“You’re always near,” she says. “Who are you then?”
“No one you would know.”
“Does Kyoya-sama know you?”
“Don’t think so.”
“I can’t tell if you’re lying.”
“Part of my talent.”
She laughs. I actually made her laugh.
“I’m starting not to care. Not that I forgive you but…you coming today meant a lot. I screamed for someone to save me. Never thought it would be you.”
I sit down next to her.
“I have a bodyguard but he’s on leave. If he was around I never would have gotten abducted.”
“You have a lot of faith in his skills.”
“I do. He’s never let me down.”
“What’s his name?”
I just want to hear her say it.
“Captain Ayato Saki. Everyone calls him Captain Saki. I don’t think he likes his first name too much. I think it’s a pretty name so I wish I could call him that.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to feel the closeness that comes from using a first name.”
“I….don’t want to give him the wrong idea. There have been some confusing feelings between us.”
“How so?”
“We spent a lot of time together and without knowing it we moved into more deeper feelings.”
“You love him?”
She pauses. I want to hear it. I look at her closely and she blushes.
“I….do.”
We both turn out heads away. She loves me. I wanna hold her in my arms now and kiss her but I can’t. I straighten my mask so she won’t see my expression.
“Then why not be with him.”
“Cause I love Kyoya-sama too. I’m really torn. Ayato-san is offering me a life away from all this. I could go to school and live in a small house; it all sounds wonderful.”
“Then choose him,” I urge her.
With our heads turned away she
continues confessing. My heart feels like it’s detaching from me.
“But….Kyoya-sama is so great to me. I feel so special in his arms. He understands me and what I’ve been though. He protects me in a different kind of way. I have to be married soon and I need to make a decision before then.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through such grief.”
“I’m told it’s normal for a girl to have these feelings. Finally I’m like a normal girl,” she laughs. “But it’s still hard.”
I turn back to her. She really is smiling. I scoot closer to her. I want to be the one she chooses.
“It’s nice to see you smile.”
“Can I see you smile?” she asks.
An attempt to get me to reveal myself. I can’t do that.
“This whole thing is a mess. And it all started with you. Frustrating to know you did all this and don’t even have a motive. I have no answers.”
“The answers will become clear soon enough. Maybe it will help you with your decision.”
She turns back at me staring into my eyes.
“I really thought you were him,” she says to me. “From the moment I met the captain and looked into his eyes I knew you were him. But…you’re not. Maybe it’s just some fire you guys have in common.”
“Probably we’re both crazy about you.”
I touch her cheek and she blushes again. I want so badly to kiss her. I may not have another chance. I pull a scarf from my neck and hold it to her eyes.
“Cover your eyes,” I tell her.
“Why?”
“I think it’s what we both want.”
I know there’s confusion. I’m mixed up too. She sits still as I approach her with the scarf. I put it around her eyes and tie it tightly. Since she’s blind now I pull my mask down.
“You took your mask off, didn’t you?” she guesses. “You’re afraid for me to see your face-”
“Can I kiss you?” I ask her.
I sound so timid again. What will she decide? Will she acknowledge the love of a crazy man? No answer. I turn my head away but look back quickly. Her mouth is slightly parted. Is she waiting for it?
I move closer, close enough to put my breath on her nose.
“What’s your answer?” I say to her.
“Don’t ask me,” she whispers.
I tilt my head down and breathe on her lips. She stays still.
“I’m right here if you want it,” I whisper back.
Chapter 82: Setsuna
It’s over. The nightmare is finally over. I can see the palace in the distance. The lights to the guest house are all on. The masked man carries me in his arms through the dark woods. There’s a big fence up ahead and he’s walking confidently like he’ll pass right through it. He’s the enemy to the palace but he doesn’t act like it.
Although my memory is vivid, I find myself wanting to forgive him. Keep thinking it’s not his fault, at least not directly. I was so happy that he came through the window and kicked Taiga away. My fondness started to grow. He saved my life, that’s how I see it. But is my life really worth the deaths of so many?
I couldn’t kiss him like he wanted. That would be unfair. I felt his desire for me but didn’t want to return it. At that time, my mind was focused on Captain Saki. I desperately wanted him to be the one to save me. To sit me down and comfort me and….ask me to kiss him. But Captain Saki is gone.
Somehow it’s not awkward to be carried in his arms. We’ve been entirely too casual. I’ve admitted things to him that I thought would never come out.
“I’m sorry I killed,” he speaks. “I know you don’t like that.”
“You plan on repenting?”
“It never occurred to me. I have no problem with what I did but you do so….I wanted to say sorry.”
“Sorry won’t bring them back,” I tell him.
“Neither will your tears.”
We come to the wall and he pulls on a handle. So he was walking straight for a door. He’s been to this place before. Knows the secrets the guards know.
There are no guards on patrol. That’s normally how Kyoya-sama likes it. Says he doesn’t like eyes on him. I wonder if anyone knew I was missing.
“Thank you,” I speak.
“You’re very welcome. I’ll always come for you.”
We’re almost to the back door and the light inside turns on. He throws me into the bushes and jumps away. The back door opens with a cloud of smoke. It’s cigarettes.
“K-kyoya-sama?”
He turns to me and leans down quickly. I can’t believe I get to see him again. He tosses his cigarette out and wipes the dirt from my face.
“Setsuna-san.”
He holds me tightly. I touch his face and feel tears. He’s crying.
“I’m so happy to have you back. I couldn’t go on without you.”
I pet his head and he continues to cry. It’s rare for him to cry over me. I do mean everything to him.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “Are you hurt?”
“M-my back hurts.”
“I’ll fix you. Don’t worry.”
I get to my feet and lean on him. He’s panicky for once. Flustered too. Mumbling all his concerns.
“Did you know where I was?” I ask.
He pulls me inside and closes the door.
“You thought you could save them so you went in. You’re lucky you found a way out.”
“That’s not-”
“Don’t mention it to anyone. I have enough trouble controlling the media’s attention.”
He doesn’t want me to speak about it. So he doesn’t want to know who took me or what happened. Doesn’t want to know who brought me back.
He’s acting odd. He runs a bath for me to ease my pain then leaves the room. I take off my robe and look at the damage.
“It’s ruined.”
It’ll have to be burned. Anytime a royal robe is beyond repair it has to be burned. And my hair clips are dirty. Taiga’s blood got everywhere.
I sit in the bath and hug my knees. Knowing their names makes it so much harder. Taiga probably wasn’t a bad person. He was fighting to free his people more than I was. And Yee-san didn’t hate me like I thought. He just wanted someone else to validate that his father wasn’t a killer. They’re together now but I’m not sure if his father wants that.
The worst part is that I made a promise I couldn’t keep. I told Miyuki-san I would lead her out. We were almost there and…she got killed like the rest of them. It was all just to save my life. How can I live with that kind of guilt? Kyoya-sama was the one that put them in there and I have to become his queen if there’s any chance of getting them out.
“I keep seeing their faces,” I say to myself.
“What faces?” Kyoya-sama says stepping in.
“Nothing.”
He approaches me and leans down to the water. He starts to wash my face.
“I can do that-”
“No, I want to.”
“I’ve never seen you do this kind of thing.”
“I’m capable. I’m not as high-brow as you think.”
I think he just doesn’t want anyone else to know I was missing. He continues to bathe me. He looks so uncomfortable looking at all the scars on my body.
“When we met, you had flawless skin,” he says to me. “Now you’re all mutilated.”
“I don’t mind. It’s small compared to real grief.”
“Still….I wish I could take it all away.”
He crashes into me hugging me tightly.
“Um…Kyoya-sama, you’re gonna get wet.”
“I don’t care.”
I pet his head but he still cries. I’ve never seen him shed so many feelings. This man is gentle despite what everyone says. Even if I’m the only one to see it, that’s enough for me.
He stays close to me until it’s time for bed. My shark lies beside me. With the covers pulled up he kisses my forehead.
“Um…you’re not going to sleep?”
> “No, I’m going to step out a moment. Go ahead without me.”
He’s still upset. He’ll smoke the entire night. There has to be something I can say to him….but he doesn’t want to hear the truth. There has to be a reason for that.
I get out of bed and go downstairs. He’s probably hanging at back door. I slide the door open and see him standing in the middle of the backyard. Why’s he all the way out there?
Before I call his name I stop myself. He starts pacing and I see someone out there with him. No visible face but wearing all black and….long hair.
“The masked man!”
T-they know each other. I stop myself from stepping out. There has to be some other reason for that. There’s no way they could know each other. I mean, how long have they known each other? That would mean Kyoya-sama knew what he did….no, maybe they became friends without Kyoya-sama knowing. Why would they be friends at all?
I need to get closer but it’s bare out there; nothing to hide behind. I keep squinting to see them. Why would they know each other; I need to figure that out.
Oh, I bet once I was taken the masked man came to Kyoya-sama to get some reward money. They’re doing a money exchange. That makes perfect sense. The masked man is always watching so he wanted to capitalize and get money. Kyoya-sama has no idea who he’s talking to.
“Little princess.”
“Huh?”
I turn back and Kantarou-sama stands above me.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed.”
He moves his hand to close the door but stops. He sees what I see now.
“Does Kyoya-sama know who that man is? That’s the killer.”
“What he’s doing isn’t a concern of yours.”
He closes the door.
“Kantarou-sama, you have to warn him.”
“You’ve had a long day. Haven’t you accomplished enough mischief.”
“I wasn’t….”
Is he gonna pretend he doesn’t see anything?
“You’ve had me and Kyoya stressed out the whole day cause you chose to disobey my orders. You had no business going in there.”
“I….”
What makes them think I went in on my own?
“Just go to sleep and stop making trouble for me.”
Seems like no one wants to listen. I go back upstairs and hide under my blanket. Kyoya-sama seemed so comfortable talking to the masked man. It had to be some sort of money exchange. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
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