Karmagisa: Our Fate Upon The Crown

109 | S2: Perfect Portrait

<Kaede>
Even though I was a resident of the Palace, I took it upon myself to visit my sister Aguri. She lived with her own family in Sage Hill despite our actual home in the town of Iris. After our parent's deaths, Aguri moved in with her husband Kotaro and by then I was scouted by the military.

Often when I was younger, I would visit Aguri during my short breaks. However, ever since she got married to Kotaro, my trips home would diffuse as time went by. And now, it would become a rarity to even see her, often thinking whether she would be alive the next time I managed to visit. 

"Lost in thought?" Duke Kuro said aloud while I diverted my gaze away from the window of the carriage.

"Something is always on my mind." I spoke.

"And what could that be?" He wondered, putting effort in the small conversation that festered.

"That I'm a horrible little sister." I confessed, "I wish I could be more of a support." I stared at the floor, adjusting my foot slightly.

Kuro leaned back and examined me like he already knew what was going on in my life. He's still a stranger to me despite his importance to the Crown. I barely know much about him as a person.

"Did you have any siblings?" I asked.

"I was the only child. Though, I treated the Original Queen like my own." He smiled genuinely, "blood ties can be complicated, it's understandable Lady Kayano. It makes us feel like we have a task at hand to care of each other, to look after one another. That is what a family is when shackled by our own blood." He explained.

He leaned a bit forward and gestured his hand, like he wanted me to vent. He was willing to listen to my story.

"My sister's wings were clipped when she was sixteen years old, when a wealthy family acknowledged her intelligence and beauty. In order to take care of me when our parents passed, she thought it would be in our best interest to give herself so that I could be happy. I did not like the man then and I still detest him now." I tightened my fist, "it's sickening how he treats her."

"But isn't the payment for your services for the kingdom sufficient?" Kuro raised a brow, "why does she continue to bend low?"

"Because I am in debt to him as well. When I was seven, I would often sneak into training camps meant for younger boys. Time trickled by and they allowed me to stay sometimes to watch and even participate. A rising prodigy, is what they called me when they witnessed my passion and skills."

"And thus you were scouted weren't you?" He thought.

"Yes, I was. But in order to go through that kind of training, it's costly especially when it's not serving as a typical knight." I brought up, "in any case, my sister's husband paid for my entry. I wonder if it's because he didn't like the idea of me around." I softly giggled to myself. "Now they have a child together, she can't leave him now."

My hands began to tremble as I bit my lower lip. Why can't I save her? I bet she's living in hell with him.

Duke Kuro's hand patted my head gently, a sympathetic expression that followed.

"I can see that you're blaming yourself for all of this. I will tell you to let those voices go in your head but essentially that is not possible correct?"

I nodded my head.

"Just like your sister that you speak of, to give up our greatest desires to give happiness to those we love is a sacrifice we must make once or twice in our lives." Kuro leaned back and his smile faded.

"Then tell me, what did you give up? Maybe the reason will change my perspective." I said, "if it can lessen this guilt weighing on my heart then I want to hear it."

"You would lend me your ear? To a man like me?" He teased, "I wish I could tell my dear cousin of my troubles but she is no longer here to keep me company." He sighed and readjusted himself, "there was a woman I loved many years back, living in Iris."

His tone shifted, calming and radiating as he spoke of this individual he cared so much about.

"But I am cursed and I cannot die. As people pass, grow older, and wither away. I stay here watching their ends. She and I were like star-crossed lovers, I may be an old man Lady Kayano but that doesn't seem like the case, no?"

It was true. Duke Kuro has been alive for a thousand years and yet he looks like he's in his late twenties, early thirties. Not a wrinkle in sight, young, and oddly charming.

"Even though I only knew her for a year, I fell in love with a specimen like herself. Awkward but she was adorable, compassionate, and smart." The way his eyes sparkled when he spoke of her lifted me. "But I realized that my happiness was flawed and I kept her in the dark about who I was. She would not live a normal life with me so I left. I made sure to leave without a word. I knew that if she stayed with me, that happiness would eventually fade."

"My apologies, but it sounds like you were afraid." I spoke, "afraid to watch her grow old without you."

His eyes widened and he looked out the window.
"That's exactly what it was." His voice cracked a bit, "most girls dream of falling in love and creating a family of their own. But I could not service that. Ever since the death of the Original Monarchs, my loneliness delved into pure blackness. I realized that a few years after that I was infertile and could not seed a woman."

"Where is this woman now? Do you still yearn for her?" I was hesitant to ask.

"Much so. I miss her touch, her soothingly voice, her everything. But time is a frightening thing for someone like me who cannot die."

The carriage made a stop and I noticed a few kids playing around and even feeding the horses.

"My apologies, we will continue shortly." The coachmen said from the front.

"Pay no mind, it seems like the children adore the sight of horses." Duke Kuro allowed while waving to the kids.

"Akari? I knew that it was you from afar!"
My sister's voice appeared and I looked out to see her with the baby cradling in her delicate arms.

"A-Aguri." My voice slipped. I didn't know what to say to her. I excused myself from the carriage to meet with her.

"You're traveling with someone aren't you? It must be important." She tried to push me back onto the carriage.

"It's quite alright. The Duke was sending me home." I explained.

"Isn't that kind of him?" She bowed her head towards the shadow sitting in the carriage. "Thank you very much." She appreciated.

"We will be seeing each other more often Lady Kayano, until then please take care." He waved without showing his face and the carriage rode away.

Aguri held my hand with excitement.

"You've been busy haven't you? I've heard quite a lot about your recognitions lately, I'm so proud of you." She praised me, "ah, this is your first time seeing him, your baby nephew." She gleamed while embracing me loosely with the baby in between. He's so small and adorable...

I reached out and she allowed me to hold the baby. His hazel eyes shimmered and his soft chubby cheeks were inviting. My heart melted instantly.

"Please forgive my absence Aguri, it's been so long hasn't it? What's his name?" I wondered while he played with my index finger with such joy.

She rubbed his cheeks with the palm of her hand.

"Tsukirou, it means moon child."