♦⊱ Chapter 10 - Startled ⊰♦

Ruka pov:

A month had gone by since I had been brought to this palace, a little over two weeks since I was punished and began serving Kichiro sama. Every day was a routine with breakfast, lunch and dinner eaten with him, awkwardly giving him company while he worked in his study, and reading light-novels whenever I could to pass the time. When I wasn't with Kichiro sama, Kyo chan was with me – she was pleasant company and I had come to see her like my own sister.

With the days that passed, I had got used to being in relatively close proximity of Kichiro sama. He rarely spoke and the only so called interaction we had had was holding hands, initiated by him. It was mostly awkward for me because I didn't know why he was holding my hand or what he was thinking at that time. As Kyo chan had said, everything was fine because I just did whatever Kichiro sama told me to do.

Since I didn't try to escape again, Kichiro sama had given me a little more freedom. I was allowed to take leisurely walks around the palace and sit in the gardens and enjoy the greenery whenever I wanted to. I had even touched the koi fish in the pond once.

I had got bored of the routine though and wanted to do something besides nothing. I didn't even have my phone because Kichiro sama refused to give it to me in the name of an extended punishment.

I blew a strand of my hair out of my face, my expression one of annoyance. I had already spent time with Kichiro sama today, taken a walk, taken a nap, and taken a walk again, and I was bored. I sighed deeply, "There's nothing to do..."

I looked around the room until my eyes landed on the paper, quill and ink on the study table. I walked to the table and took a seat. Pushing some loose strands of hair behind my ears, I reached for the paper and quill, having dipped the latter in ink. I let the quill hover over the paper for a few minutes wondering what to write or draw. It earned strange looks from the soldiers who were in the room and so I began to sketch what came to mind so as to not make them suspicious in any way.

I spent close to half an hour drawing a vase with an assortment of flowers. It would have looked more beautiful if the flowers were in color but the drawing had come out well nonetheless. Putting the quill away, I held up the paper to look over my work with a smile.

The door opened the next minute and I stood up immediately as Kichiro sama entered the room. I gave him a low bow and kept my gaze on the floor even as he came to a stop just a few feet from me. I was holding the paper I had just drawn on rather tightly causing fine wrinkles to form. I was still nervous around Kichiro sama even though I had got accustomed to being around him. The lack of emotion in his face was always troubling for I couldn't tell if he was calm or angry at any point of time.

I took a step back startled when Kichiro sama stepped closer and reached for the paper in my hands. I took the chance to glance him as he looked over what I had drawn. I averted my eyes when he looked to me.

"Did you draw this?" he asked and I just nodded. "I will keep this."

I looked to him again but he was distracted by my drawing. I wondered why he wanted to keep the drawing – it wasn't anything more than a freehand sketch and surely there were people who could draw tons of times better than this. So, why was he interested in keeping something so...random?

"O-Okay," I mumbled. We were then enveloped by the usual awkward silence that lingered when I was with Kichiro sama.

"Come," he said after a moment. I looked between his face and his hand that he was holding out for me to take. My heart skipped a beat but I slipped my hand into his, mentally telling myself that I had no reason to hesitate. We had held hands a lot of times already so this wasn't any different.

Kichiro sama's hold was tight as he pulled me behind him out of my room and through the hallways. There were only two soldiers with us and it was not long before we stepped away from the palace and into a courtyard garden. A small smile grazed my lips at the calming beauty of the garden but when we reached the main pathway, having stepped through the circular opening in a stone wall, I momentarily forgot how to breathe. On either side of the pathway were shrubs with flowers of all possible colors. The pathway was covered by a gazebo from just a few feet away and from the roof fell countless stems of flowers.

We entered the flower roofed part of the pathway and I looked up at the delicate flowers, my mouth parted in awe. This place was magical and I couldn't look away from the beauty.

"Do you like it?" Kichiro sama's question dragged me back to the present. I tore my gaze away from the flowers to look up into his scarlet eyes – he appeared scrutinizing but also curious.

"Yes," I said, looking back at the flowers, "it's beautiful."

He let go of my hand and I did my best to be natural. I closed my eyes and took a deep inhale of the sweet scent that lingered around us before opening my eyes and standing on my toes to touch the flowers with my fingers. The flowers were as soft as velvet and delicate, and a few petals fell to caress my cheeks. My smile widened at that.

We remained in the garden for quite some time. While Kichiro sama walked slowly and silently, I followed a step behind enjoying the little sightseeing tour. I touched the plants and flowers we passed by, a bird flying over to greet us once as well. After almost two hours, we arrived at the entrance of the garden from where we had begun our tour. I looked back longingly at the flower-roofed pathway while wondering when I would get the chance to see it again as we headed back to the palace.

We walked in silence again until Kichiro sama suddenly stopped and turned to face me. He held out a branch of lavender flowers to me and I took it after a moment of hesitance, looking up at him curiously.

"But why?" I asked, my voice soft.

"You said you liked it," he answered nonchalantly.

My eyes went slightly wide in surprise. His gesture was unexpected but...it made me happy. I smiled and closed my eyes while bringing the flowers close to my nose to inhale their sweet scent. Looking up at him again, I said, "Thank you, Kichiro sama."

He rewarded me with a curt nod before we continued to my room. I caressed the flowers gently, admiring how much more beautiful they looked up close. I glanced at Kichiro sama as he walked ahead of me, his long hair swaying gently with every step he took. Perhaps he wasn't such a bad person after all – sure, he had killed and was merciless but wasn't that necessary in an emperor if he wanted to maintain peace in his country? Of course, there were still a few things that I didn't think was right, like ignoring the villages that didn't bring in much profits for his economy or giving dire punishments no matter how small the mistake, but wanting to expand one's territory and being harsh to those who didn't follow him were to be expected, right?

The kind gesture he had shown me though made me think of him a little differently, made me see him as less scary than before and more...human.

I smiled and looked back at the flowers. I was lost in the serenity of the moment while caressing the flowers but gave a startled shriek when I was roughly shoved back by Kichiro sama. One of the soldiers caught me and I looked at Kichiro sama fearfully, assuming that I had done something to anger him. However, I gasped seeing him holding a man clad in black attire by the neck against the wall. I was helped to stand and my stomach churned when Kichiro sama lifted the man off the floor effortlessly so his feet were dangling more than six inches above the floor.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my palace, let alone my lands?" seethed Kichiro sama. A shudder ran down my spine at the venom that dripped off every word he had spoken.

The man was choking and clawing at Kichiro sama's hand that was beginning to block off his air supply. Kichiro sama didn't twitch in the slightest though and only squeezed the man's neck a little harder.

"Speak, fool!" barked Kichiro sama. I shuddered again and took a step back only to bump into the soldier who had caught me before.

"Fukushi-" the man wheezed. His voice was barely audibly but the name of his enemy the man had spoken turned Kichiro sama's expression into the most livid frown I had ever seen him give.

I heard a snap and the man went limp, indicating that Kichiro sama had just killed him. I covered my mouth with my free hand that was trembling just as much as the rest of my body. My eyes burned as hot tears rolled down my cheeks and it took everything I had in me to swallow the bile that had risen in my throat.

Why? Why had I become the witness to yet another brutal killing by this man? I had barely got over Tomo kun's and Lady Kana's gore death and now I had to see this?

I gagged, barely holding down the contents of my stomach at the sight of the blood that oozed out of the man's neck when Kichiro sama crushed it, in turn staining his hands with a sickening, red color. When the man fell to the floor, I shut my eyes tightly and turned my head to calm myself before I began to hyperventilate. Seeing his hand covered in blood was even worse than my hallucination of it and the slightest bit of courage I had got after being around the calmer side of Kichiro sama had flown right out the window.

I tensed when I heard shuffling. I stumbled back, my eyes wide in terror when Kichiro sama turned to face me and reached out with his blood-free hand "No! Don't touch me, you monster!"

I instantly regretted saying those words. I flinched at the way he narrowed his eyes, obviously unhappy about the way I had referred to him. He clenched his fists tightly enough for them to tremble and blood dripped to the floor from his hand that had just killed the man.

Much to my surprise, he didn't say anything or reach out to me again. He was irked and spat, "Take her to her room."

He swiftly walked away after that, leaving me in cold sweat. I was relieved that he didn't do anything to me but I felt incredibly queasy. Making sure I kept my gaze well away from the bloody man mere feet from me, I hurried to my room silently with the soldiers following close behind. When I was in the middle of my room, I took a few deep breaths to regain some composure. I gazed at the flowers I still had in my hands only to close my eyes and sigh deeply. I kept my eyes closed for several minutes before I felt better enough.

"May I have a vase to put this in, please?" I asked one of the soldiers, looking at him passively.

He left the room and soon returned with a beautiful, porcelain vase. I thanked him as I took the vase and filled it halfway with water before putting the flower stem inside. I made the flowers look a little bushier, then stepped away from the vase. I sat down on the bed after that, gazing at the flowers caressed by the gentle moonlight that came in through the window.

In this state, I couldn't bear to eat dinner. Shaking my head, I got under the blanket and curled up. I clenched my jaw and blinked rapidly as tears welled in my eyes. I shut them, letting a few tears wet the pillow.

How much longer would I have to live like this? How much longer would it be before I was completely broken in the clutches of this cruel man?

Kichiro sama pov:

Having washed off the blood from my hands and got out of the blood stained kimono, I stepped to Ruka's room. I was angry at her for calling me a monster. How dare she call me a monster! Was this her rebelling again? If she thought I would let her, she was wrong – I would silence her once and for all!

The soldiers at the doors of her room bowed when I arrived. I stopped near the door when I saw Ruka standing near the table next to the window, setting the flowers I had given her into a vase. She caressed it gently, spreading the flowers to make it look fuller. She stepped away and then sat on the bed with a soft sigh.

I had assumed that she would have thrown away the flowers I had given her after seeing me kill that man who had come to assassinate me, after calling me a monster. I was surprised to see her caressing the flowers though, having put them in a ceramic vase. The anger that had risen in me quelled for I didn't feel rejected by her.

She moved away from the flowers and took a seat on the bed while watching them. She remained unmoving for several minutes before she got under the blanket. She curled up and was almost out of view, having brought the blanket over her head. I heard a soft sniffle and scoffed, put off by her weak behavior. Scoffing again, I swiftly left to my study to finish the remaining work before I could turn in for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaand we're back to square one ^^' It looks like Ruka just had to witness yet another brutal moment with Kichiro sama and she's dreading the time she will be spending with him in the palace.

But things will surely get better, right?

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:D