The Fall From Grace - Izana Wisteria x OC

House Meryl

This page, and the next one, is dedicated to explaining a little more about the Meryl House and their involvement with the Royal Family of Clarines. Think of this as background information that can fill in some of the questions that you might have by this point in the story.

The ages of the main characters are as follows: Yuuki - 8, Izana - 9, Zen - 3, Akira Meryl - 31

18 years ago - Yuuki's POV

It was finally a sunny day, the rain hadn't stopped for 2 days now so I was happy that I could go outside again. We were on our way to the castle again. We had been going so much lately. Papa said it was for work, but that I could go spend my time with Prince Izana. It took us a few days to reach the castle since we were so far out this time. "Papa, are we there yet?" I said sleepily. "Not yet dear, just a little longer, alright?" Papa patted my head as I fell asleep.

The carriage stopping woke me from the peaceful slumber I was in. I rubbed the sleep out of  my eyes and looked around, almost bursting out of the carriage when I saw Prince Izana. I always got so excited to see him. His little brother stood beside him, waving at us. The King was there waiting for us as well. It was odd to see him greeting us like this. I ran over to Izana and hugged him very tightly. "Yuuki! Show more respect in front of the King! I'm sorry, Your Majesty, she's normally better than this..." My father shook his head as he shook the kings hand. "Don't worry about it, Akira, let's go talk." And with that, Papa and the King walked off together, talking about boring work related things.

"Yuuki, you've grown a bit more, haven't you?" Izana asked me as he let go from our hug. We were always very close, this being no exception. We rarely took to formalities when it came to being only the two of us. Prince Zen tugged at my shirt. "I want a hug too," he said almost too quietly. I turned to him and gave him a big hug back. "Ah, miss yuuki, Prince Zen, Prince Izana, there you are. Come along now, the Queen told me to watch the three of you today." An attendant came up to us, motioning us to move more inside the grounds.

Izana and I walked side by side, leaving poor little Zen behind as he couldn't really keep pace with us. We heard frequent. "Wait!" coming from behind us, laughing and teasing him each time. Eventually, we started running and hiding from him, causing him to cry. The attendant told us that it wasn't nice and scolded us lightly for it. "I'm sleepy..." Prince Zen eventually said as the attendant picked him up and carried him off for his nap. "You two behave yourselves now, I think you're old enough to know right from wrong. I'll be putting Prince Zen down for a nap now." She waved at us before continuing to walk away.

"So what now Izana?" I asked, ready to start running around again. "Let's go sit in the garden for awhile, no one should be out there." He replied as we made our way over. We plopped down on a bench in one of the pavillions and chatted for a long while about recent things we had done or learned about, laughing at some of them. Neither of us noticed our respective fathers coming up from behind us. "Well, I sure am glad you two get along so well!" The king beamed with happiness, though he quickly laughed as we both screamed. "Izana, I'm always telling you to be aware of your surroundings." He said, shaking his head as Izana hung his low in slight shame. "Miss Yuuki, might I have a word with my dear son?" The king looked at me with kind eyes, the sincerity in his voice making me smile as I nodded.

Izana's POV

I walked with my father a ways away from Yuuki and her father, Lord Akira. "Izana, you seem to have taken a liking to the young lady." My father looked over at me as we sat down on some bench seats. "Yes, I suppose so." I looked back over at her, running  around in circles playing a game of tag with her father laughing. "That is good to know." He paused for a moment before continuing again. "You do know that at some point, son, you will have to marry someone. That person may or may not be someone you wanted to be with." I sighed, this topic had been a frequent one recently. "I understand, father. But why bring this up to me now while she is here?" I thought about it for a moment and realized that he may be trying to arrange the two of us being together.

"You're a smart boy, I'm sure you can figure it out without my telling you." My father patted my head gently messing up my hair. "I see." was all I said. A warm feeling radiated through me, a feeling I was getting used to having whenever I was around Yuuki or she was mentioned. "Why my boy! You're blushing!" My father laughed as I stammered a bit, trying to think of something to say. "Easy now, Izana, all in good fun!" He patted my back a bit roughly, my face getting extremely red by this point.

"So, Izana." My father continued after we both calmed down a bit. "Will you have her?" He asked, being fairly direct. I nodded in response, "I think I will if that's what needs to happen." My father smirked slightly. "It needs to happen, yes, but I want you happy, son." With that, he stood up, and we both made our way back to the now exhausted Lord Akira and cheerful Yuuki. "Lord Akira, you seem to be getting old on us!" my father exlaimed loudly as we were now back with the two. They exchanged some words before sitting us both down and explaning what my father had just spoken to us about.

Yuuki POV

The King and Izana made their way back over to us, calling my papa an old man. They talked for a short minute and then sat us both down to share some news with us. "Yuuki, your father and I have come to an agreement that you would be wed to my oldest son, Izana. You two seem to get along well enough for their not to much protest." My eyes widened with surprise and happiness. "You mean I get to stay with Izana forever!" I was jumping up and down with joy before I ran over and basically tackled Izana. "Hey, careful Yuuki!" He clamored loudly, trying to get me to settle down a bit. "Fiiiiine," I protested back before sitting down again, listening to all that the King and my papa had to say.

Many things were explained, and before I knew it, it was time to go back home for a while. I didn't want to leave, I almost never did. "Do we have to leave so soon, Papa!" he giggled as the four of us were walking. "Yes, princess, we do. We'll come back again soon, don't worry! For now, you need to focus on your studies so you can be a knowledgeable woman!" he picked me up and spun me around a couple of times before setting me down. "I will send the final working of the arrangement over to you in a few weeks' time, Lord Akira." The King said as we arrived at the carriage.

Izana and I hugged before I got into the carriage, saying our goodbyes. They waved us off as we began moving. I got settled in my chair with a new resolve. "I'll study hard and be the best wife! Papa, this is exciting!" I got excited all over again, as it warmed my heart knowing that I was the best choice for Izana. "Yes, princess... settle down now. Why don't you try and nap a while?"