The imperial palace, located in the south of Rinkei, was a massive building. We passed through the front gates upon which a dragon and a phoenix were engraved, and stepped foot into the palace. Immediately, a young soldier of the royal guard called out to us.
“Greetings, General Chou! Allow me to lead the way.” Then he said to me and Hakurei, “If the two of you would be so kind, I’d like to request that you wait here.”
Father turned and clapped our shoulders. “Hakurei, Sekiei, I’ll see you soon. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“See you later,” I said.
“Good luck!” Hakurei called.
Father nodded, a satisfied smile on his face, and then proceeded down the stone corridors with the royal guard. Glancing at Hakurei, I made my way to the waiting room. I sat down in a nearby chair, which already had a tea set and cup next to it. Normally in these situations, Hakurei would sit across from me, but to my surprise, today she chose the chair next to me instead.
Keeping the emotion off my face, I asked if she wanted some of the tea, but she shook her head. She seemed on edge. I took a sip of my own and scrunched up my face. “Gross...”
Perhaps it was because I’d drunk high-grade tea yesterday, but even so, the taste of this was unacceptable. The royal guard worked directly under the emperor and had to be ready at a moment’s notice to go to the front lines. If their tea was of this quality, then I couldn’t even imagine what other armies had to drink.
“Hey, you!”
As somber thoughts about the current state of the Ei army’s rations were swirling through my mind, a young man called out. He was slightly older than us and, with his delicate features, looked to be a noble. A ceremonial sword decorated with gold and jewels hung from his waist. Father—the National Shield himself—hadn’t even been allowed weapons, let alone Hakurei or me. So if this man was allowed to bear arms within the imperial palace, he must have been of significant status.
The young man walked right up to us, a smarmy smile on his face. Despite the sword, he moved like he hadn’t received much training at all. With several other young men behind him he stared down at me and said, “I’ve never seen you before. State your name.”
It looks like father’s worries were on the mark. I didn’t have to turn around to know that Hakurei was getting anxious.
“I’m Sekiei, a freeloader in the Chou family,” I replied, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Who’re you?”
The young man didn’t answer; instead, he pointed and stared at me as if I were a dead bug on the underside of his shoe. “I’ve never heard of you before. And what did you say? You’re a freeloader of the Chou’s? Ha! You’re not even a noble! This is the imperial palace, where His Imperial Majesty resides; it’s no place for a mutt. Leave!”
“Yeah—leave!”
At the same time as the young noble yelled his final word, the entourage behind him joined in. I could tell right away that this man was the type who swaggered about and boasted as if he weren’t borrowing his father’s authority to do so. I wanted to smirk at him, but I bowed my head and hid the impulse. I couldn’t do or say anything that would hurt the reputations of my father or Hakurei.
“You’re absolutely correct. I’ll be on my way soon, so I hope you’ll suffer my presence for a little longer. I apologize. All right?”
I heard Hakurei swallow and knew she was biting back an impulsive outburst. The noble had planned on tormenting me but couldn’t do that in the face of my passive attitude. He harrumphed, disappointed. Then he turned to look at Hakurei.
With a twist of his lips, he snapped, “Hey, woman! State your name!”
For a long moment Hakurei didn’t answer, and when she eventually did, there was a slight tremble in her voice. “I am Hakurei, the eldest daughter of Chou Tairan.”
“Chou Tairan?” the noble repeated before he started to laugh. His mocking cackle echoed through the room and even after he stopped, there was a cruel smirk playing on his lips. He gave a theatrical shrug and said, “What a surprise... You’re the daughter of that country bumpkin of a general? The one up in the boonies who can’t stop yelling about a northern campaign just so he can beg for money under the guise of military funding? I’m shocked you and this mutt here would dare show your faces in the imperial palace!”
Hakurei bit her lip, obviously frustrated. I remained calm, but my mind was racing. There were only so many nobles who could openly insult Chou Tairan like this. This idiot’s family must hold quite a high position within the court. Doesn’t look like the Ei Empire will last for much longer.
As I was pondering on that cold truth, the man unsheathed his ceremonial sword and pointed it at Hakurei. “On top of that, your hair and eyes... Why, they’re the same silver and blue that’ll bring misfortune to the empire. Get out of my sight; scum like you will only invite trouble to the capital! Stop causing problems for my grandfather!”
“Your grandfather?” I asked, trying to get the heat off of Hakurei, who was starting to shake.
As I expected, the man turned his mocking gaze to me. “You don’t even know who I am? My grandfather is the imperial chancellor, one of the pillars of our great Ei Empire!”
“He’s the grand chancellor,” Hakurei said coolly before I could even start thinking about the man’s words. “Not the imperial chancellor. Historically, Ou Eifuu, one of the Twin Stars, was the only person to have held the title of imperial chancellor.”
The noble’s eyebrows furrowed and then, with a sudden motion, he snatched the floral ornament from Hakurei’s bangs. She yelled, but he just sneered. “Such insolence, showing up at the imperial palace and wearing cheap scrap like this!” Throwing the ornament down, the young noble crushed it under a foot.
“STOP!”
The sound of Hakurei’s chair falling to the ground was barely audible over her scream. She had jumped to her feet and stared blankly at the man’s foot before sinking to her knees. A single tear made its way down her cheek.
The man, apparently the grandson of the grand chancellor, grinned down at Hakurei. He swung his sword so that the wind from it would ruffle Hakurei’s bangs—but I was already leaping out of my chair and in the next second, had put my fist right into his face. Behind me, Hakurei gasped in shock. The ceremonial sword flew through the air as the man, who had screamed and then passed out from a single punch, fell to the ground, unable to kill the weapon’s momentum. He lay there, a bubble of blood starting to form from his nose.
“Weakling,” I spat. The sword dropped in front of me and I stamped it in half. As I did so, the noble’s groupies started to yell.
“Y-You bastard!”
“Wh-What in the world do you... What in the world do you think you’re doing?!”
“Do you have any idea who we are?!”
“Listen...” I looked towards them and despite their earlier aggression, they started to pale before my eyes. They took a few steps back. “I don’t care what you say about me. I already know that I’m out of place in the imperial place. However...” The men started to tremble and even the soldiers standing guard looked terribly shocked. “You disrespected my father and insulted Hakurei. Surely you don’t think that you’ll simply be let off the hook after that? I’m not the kind of person who would just stand aside and let someone insult my saviors. Have you said your prayers?”
And with that, I set to teaching the pale and frightened men a lesson. From the periphery of my vision, I could see Hakurei, looking seconds away from crying, hugging the broken floral ornament to herself despite the dirt it was getting on her formal robes.