4:48pm
“What? What do you mean by that?”
…
“Its your father isn’t it? He made you do this…”
…
“And I don’t suppose that you made much of an effort to oppose him, after
all, it was all a bit of a political scam for your family, your father
wrote, directed and produced this whole affair for the press.”
…
“Well, then, thank you for having told me before the wedding, at least
you didn’t make me wait at the altar.”
…
“No, no words will heal what you have just done to me, don’t tell me that
you love me, when we both know why we are in this position , you need not
pretend any longer, for all the time that we have wasted, I ask one thing
of you, don’t destroy me any more than you already have.”
She stared at the phone, humming incessantly, showing that the person on the other end had already ended the communication. Trails of tears ran down her ivory crafted cheekbones, leaving behind the lines of faded black mascara; each teardrop slid lovingly down her soft, smooth skin, finally dripping off to her skirt and fading into oblivion, as hundreds and thousands had before.
She could not believe that he thought her actions towards him was an act, especially when she had carried a torch for him in her heart during the past few weeks. He was a politician all the same, but there was still a quality within him, some childlike innocence and ideal to change and improve the world, that had captured her heart unlike any other man she had ever met. She was not supposed to fall in love, she knew that, like many of her previous arrangements by her father, it would be a discreet three month affair to gain the hold required to twist their arm; but this had led marriage because of his continual strong presence in the party, and she could not say that she was repulsed by it. She had been influenced by him, and felt that she could no longer to what she had done before for her father, but she knew she could not oppose her father, nor leave this dungeon-like home.
Each word that he had said to her just then lay emblazoned onto her mind, her heart beat at an erratic speed as she repeated each and every word, his tone of voice, his pauses, his breathes… The wounds that had previously been borne and healed reopened, his angry words stabbed at those bloody scars that were inside her. She cried out in agony at that, “why, why is it that I do not bleed black, when all that is inside me has been so tainted!? It is Kenta-kun who had saved me, perhaps it is only fit that he should be the one who reopens them again.”
“Is the Empress throwing a tantrum again?”
“No sir, this is my problem.”
“What is it this time?”
“Seira-chan called of the wedding, her old man told her to.”
“Shit! When did this happen?”
“I just got off the phone with her.”
“Stay in Juuban for the next couple of days, let the wind blow over, I’ll deal with this, and if they find you, act the teary heartbroken guy.”
“Yeah, will do, thanks .”
He stared at the cellular phone in his hand unbelievingly, there were two reasons for the shock on the face, the first that he had managed to escape from a marriage that he was sure to be without passion, and the second, that the reason for the distance between himself and Rei was caused by the scheming mind of one person, and the fact that he was about to destroy that person’s career, seemed like a case of revenge. In a way, he would miss the malleability of Seira’s personality that seemed to please him at times, but he was also glad that he would not have to live with someone that could not make a decision and stick to it if the tiniest opposition occurred. Sometimes, he looked at her with the utmost sympathy for her condition due to her father’s overbearing personality, and wished that he could help her out of the frame that her personality was allowed to grow in, but deep in his heart he believed that it would require something much more drastic to release her.
Over the months that he had known her, he had grown to like her, as a friend, the affection that a mentor would give, as he slowly tried to pries her out of her father’s iron grasp. He wondered how long it would take before all that she had ‘learnt’ would be forgotten, a month? A week? Perhaps not even that long… A tear fell for her as he thought about the harsh words that he had said to hurt her, it wasn’t actually intentional, but the confirmation from her that he had only been a tool to unite the present and the future powerhouse of politics had been too much for him. He had always been told that emotional people like himself were not suited for politics, but he had pressed along his ideals to change the system that had killed his parents; to save himself in this arena, he had hid his emotions, but now, looking at the way that Rei looked at him, he wondered if he had hid his emotions too deep for one to even know of its existence.
He took a deep breath, trying to stop the flow of tears that stained his face as he once again thought his parents, looking up to the sky he could only hope that it would flow back inwards. He could only speculate if his parents were proud of him for his achievements so far in life, and if they agreed in what he had done with his life, but he knew that they would not approve of his near marriage. The more he thought, the less control he had on his tears as them fell freely, tumbling onto him, he had failed his parents, he had failed all expectations of morality that they must have had in him, but he was too far deep to change any of it.
Blindly, he stood from under the tree he had been standing behind and ran of indoors, opening the door of a large room, he checked that no one else was inside, then, he collapsed in front of the burning Sacred Fire. Once he sat down, he felt himself being engulfed by its fiery heat, calming his emotions immediately as though someone had placed a cover on top of them. He had only been in this room once before, when he was with Rei’s mother just before her death, she had wanted to give thanks and pray for her beloved daughter and husband. He remembered the soothing feeling as he had entered the room with her; she had told him his affinity for fire, something that he had felt from the single most important event in his life and had saved his life. He had asked her for a favor, to see if one day he would be able to revenge the deaths of his parents, she had smiled at him, and told him that it would occur without his doing. To this day, justice had not been done, but he had never stopped looking for that people responsible for the accident.
“Call me an anonymous tipper, call me your angel, it doesn’t really matter, just get someone there, I’m sure that something is juicy is happening.”
“Sir, can we ask you to be a bit more specific?”
“It’s worth the front page, trust me.”