The Emperor's Rose

Chapter 63//Dawn

The two days approaching the wedding were a blur for Aiko. Two days since she was left broken and crying alone in the garden. She spent the two days leading her to her matrimony lying on her bed.
Tears sliding down her cheeks without control. Wetting her sheets. Although here face was expressionless. Always. Her kimono ruffled. Her heart aching. Her mind replaying what the Emperor said to her over and over again.

The Emperor didn't come to her room.
The maids tried getting Aiko out of bed but she wouldn't budge.

She would fall asleep randomly. Her heart aching. Her mind flashing the moments she had with the Emperor, slowly shattering the memories with images of Hashimoto and short, faded memories of the past. Almost forgotten. So close to oblivion to seem like a dream.
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Aiko opened her eyes. Puffy and red.
The sheets a complete mess.
What day is it today? She asked herself. Not moving, barely breathing. Feeling the numbness overcome her. Creeping in every vain and freezing her blood vessels one by one.

Her eyes were spent. The door slowly creaked open.
Her maids scuttled in. One by one.

"Your Royal Highness," Eriko said in a whisper.
Aiko's eyes fluttered open. She didn't speak, just opened her eyes, that was her way of saying she was listening.

"We need to get you prepared for your wedding day." Eriko said, gently.

Aiko felt a finger of cold scratching her heart. Her eyes widened in shock. "Wedding day?" She asked dazed. Her chapped lips barely moving.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, your wedding day."
The words bounced in her head. Cutting every corner deeply. She whipped forwards. Her hair cascading, a moment after she straightened her back, on her shoulders.Her eyes flickering slowly alive.

"M-my wedding day," she whispered again. Her heart slowly reviving and creating a cacophony of chaos in her chest. The maids stared at the scene in silence. Aiko slipped off the bed. Her kimono wrinkled.

"Please follow me to the bath." Eriko said quickly leading her to the bathtub.

Hishi and Hibi had slid away and had started filling it with warm water. The screen doors were opened, revealing the dawning sky. Streaked with soft brushes of pink and purple. Lily petals were scattered on the water.

Eriko slowly untied Aiko's sash, opening her hanfu.
Aiko slipped in the water. Closing her eyes and relaxing at the feeling of the water enveloping her body.

Her body.

That night, her body wouldn't be hers anymore, it would be the Emperor's. She would be Empress. Mother of the country. Her hair spilled around her like dried blood. Aiko was strikingly white.

Eriko started washing her limbs, scrubbing gently to not leave marks on her creamy skin while Rin rubbed scented oils in her hair, while Hishi and Hibi laid out the various robes she had to wear one over each other.

Aiko's eyes were fixated on the dawn. Slowly morphing into morning. Like her.
Starting in the morning as a simple commoner, ending the day in the robes of an Empress.

Maybe something she would never truly be.

A swirl of wind passed through the window. Creating a wake of goosebumps. Freezing her body physically, similar to her mental coldness. A rose petal flew in. Landing perfectly on her left breast, exactly on her heart.

"Close the doors Rin," Eriko snapped.

Rin moved quickly to the screen doors.

"No! Don't close them!" Aiko yelled. The first time she raised her voice in three days. Her hand moving up to stop her. The water cascading off her arm.
Rin raised her eyes surprised at her volume, bowing and stepping away.

She quickly took the petal, raising it to the light.
Her knight was thinking about her. A smile ghosted on her lips.If maybe she left the screen door open another petal would swirl in.
It didn't, but the petal which floated in front of her in the lukewarm water proved, to her broken, crystallized mind, that Hashimoto was thinking about her. He had recognized her.

This made her happier. Her eyes shining to light.
Hashimoto is thinking about me! Her mind repeated like a mantra. Oh, how wrong she was.
Someone was thinking about her, but not Hashimoto.
Someone closer to her than she thought.