Ninth Arc: The Golden Eagle Emperor Who Loved the Wagtail Priestess All His Life
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Chapter Eighty-Five: A Night Slightly Different from All the Others
SOME time had passed since my encounter with General Hiaki Gou and our official expedition to the island for purification rites. It was autumn, and my hair, which I had trimmed short in Centoria, had grown long enough to reach my shoulders when I let it down. That day, it was tied with a silk ribbon. The ends gently brushed against my neck with the movement of the palanquin.
I was returning from the birthday banquet for the youngest daughter of the Gou clan. By the time I arrived back to Sekirei Palace, it was early afternoon.
And it was on that afternoon that I received the first summons to the emperor’s bedchambers in a long time.
“It feels like eons ago…” I muttered to myself.
I was somewhat tense for the rest of the day. After dinner and a bath, I did up my hair with the help of a maid and fixed my makeup. Then I waited for the arrival of Lord Yukinari, who would escort me to my destination.
The man appeared with a lantern in one hand, his posture as dignified as always. His hair wafted behind him like an ethereal veil.
He wasn’t one to mince his words. “Has the Right Wing done anything to you since last time?”
I couldn’t suppress a wry smile at his forwardness. “I hardly ever come across Lord Hiaki within the premises of the imperial palace. And when I am a guest of the Gou clan, he talks to me only when other women, like his mother or sister, are around so that I can feel at ease.”
“I see,” he said slowly.
“My apologies for all the worry I caused. It is I who should be a little more conscious of such things as the Wagtail Priestess.”
“Sekirei Palace is your estate, my lady. You were the victim of an assault by a trespasser, and to blame you for that would be ridiculous. You have done nothing wrong.”
“…Thank you.”
Under the pale moonlight, the white cobblestone gleamed in the darkness. As I followed Lord Yukinari, I moved from one block to the next as if tracing a line across them. We soon arrived at Kita Palace, where the emperor awaited. At the entrance to his bedchambers, a servant gave me a tray. On it was a tea set, the cold green tea previously chilled with running water.
“Please deliver this to His Majesty,” said the servant.
“I shall.” I nodded.
I lifted the curtains and stepped into the room. As I approached, a nostalgic, gentle voice welcomed me. “Ah, you’re finally here. It’s been too long.”
“…It has been a while, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Haruka was lying on a settee in comfortable nightwear with a shawl around his shoulders. His wings stretched out behind him, and the corners of his eyes softened as I entered his vision. He smiled before taking the tray from me.
“Ah.” I blinked in surprise.
“Thanks for bringing this in. I performed a misogiharae on a village and they gave me tea leaves as an offering. We can drink it together.”
“O-Oh… Together as in…you and me?”
He chuckled. “Sai, do you see anyone else around?” He shook his head fondly. “You don’t have to treat me tonight. I called you here because I want to talk to you.”
“Talk…?”
“Yep. We haven’t gotten to see each other lately, after all. Come over.” He indicated the chair near the window, and I tottered toward it with stilted steps.
Facing each other, we both took a sip of tea. For some reason, speech was slipping away from me. That’s strange… I had so many things I wanted to share with him when we met in private again, but I just can’t…
Much had happened while we were apart—much that I had wanted to talk to him about. I wanted to tell him about my interactions with the Gou clan. About what the court ladies of Sekirei Palace were doing, about the rumors spreading in the streets. There was also the reception of my new wares to discuss, as well as my roadmap for the future. I wanted to talk about how beautiful the moon was, how rare flowers had bloomed in my garden, how I had borrowed a poem anthology from Lord Raiya and was reading through it bit by bit.
Yet.
At the sight of the emperor’s pale cheeks glowing under the moonlight like fresh snow, my chest tightened, and my words withered in my throat. My eyes flitted from one place to another—his fingertips as delicate as porcelain around the teacup, his shoulders draped in white silk that spilled down his frame like milk, his wings seemingly even fluffier as winter neared at an unhurried pace. But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t speak.
So I stared into the gloom that filled the corners of the room, yet the rustling of his clothes and his faint scent in the air proved to be distracting, and I felt even more restless.
“It’s no good.”
It was the emperor who broke the silence.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at him, and his gaze was also cast elsewhere—out the window.
“By ‘no good,’ you mean…” Is it because I’m not talking? My mind went blank with anxiety.
His voice snapped me out of my mental static. “You know, like you, I had so many things I wanted to tell you when I saw you tonight. But…when you’re right in front of me like this, Sai, words seem so cheap and empty, and I can’t say anything.” He shrugged before flashing me a somewhat shy smile. I thought I glimpsed a hint of redness on his cheeks, though perhaps it was a trick of the light. His eyes finally settled on my collar. “Oh, you’re wearing them there…?”
He was referring to the earrings he had given me at the summer festival. My breath hitched as I placed a hand over the accessories.
He inclined his head. “Why not your ears? Ah… You don’t have piercings, I see.”
“My apologies. In Centoria, our earrings are mostly the clip-on type, and it completely slipped my mind when you gave them to me.”
“No, it’s my fault for assuming.” He paused. “Looks like I didn’t look at you properly enough, Sai.” He leaned in a little and touched my hair.
I froze.
He gently stroked it, lifting the strands up slightly to expose my ear to the moonlight. His gaze was scalding, searing hot trails across my ear, my cheek… “Your…Majesty…”
“Your ear is beautiful.” He let out a small chuckle. “Say… Can you accompany me tomorrow? I want some time off with you, Sai.”