It's been a few weeks since I last saw Sayori. The memory was still fresh in my mind. I supervised the search for Sayori's body. Ever since that night, I haven't had the chance to close my eyes and rest. I can't rest now that Sayori hasn't been found. I don't care if it takes me weeks, months or even years. As long as I can't find her body, I'd believe she's still alive.

"Yukio, you should get some rest. It won't do your body good if you keep this up." Mother entered my room carrying a tray of tea. I wasn't in the mood to drink tea nor sleep. I have to get back out there and look for her. I completely ignored my mother's words. She slammed the tray down on the table which startled me.

"Is this how you're going to be? I thought you were better than this, Yukio. I understand how you're feeling right now. It's hard but what if you found her but you die because you haven't taken care of your body? What would Sayori say? What would she do? Remember, she did all of those things to protect you and you can't even protect yourself?" Mother snapped at me. It was the first time she's raised her voice at me. I was in complete shock. She was right. I should take care of myself. I can't take care of Sayori if I fall sick.

"I'm sorry, mother. I… don't know what's happening to me. Losing her made me lose myself." I said while trying to pull my hair out of frustration. Mother came up to me and held my hand.

"It's okay to feel that way, Yukio. But you have to be strong for her right now. Take care of yourself. I believe Sayori is out there and she's still alive. I feel it in my heart. I understand your frustration, when I saw you come back without her, I found myself feeling empty. It's like I lost a child of my own but I can't falter. You can't either. We're about to enter into a war. It'll be no good if you show weakness." Mother rea.s.sured me. I nodded my head and I took the cup of tea from the table. I gulped it down and placed the cup back where I took it. I sat on the bed and then suddenly I felt sleepy. Like all of the fatigue in my body had finally caught up to me. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

[The Empress' View]

"I'm sorry Yukio but you need to rest for now." I didn't think that I'd have to do this to my own son. I gave him chamomile tea to relax his body and I put sleeping powder in it to help him sleep. He's been awake ever since Sayori disappeared. I took the tray of tea back to the kitchen. I went back to our room where Sora was. He was pacing the floor trying to think of a way to fight this war. He was deep in thought and I knew I shouldn't disturb him but there was something he needed to know. I came up to him and held his hand. He turned to me and a sigh came out of his lips.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He tightened his hold on my hand and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm fine. How about you?" He asked. I looked down and shook my head.

"This has been the biggest conflict we've faced so far. I didn't want our children to experience such a thing but it's happening and Yukio is in the center of it." I said. Sora pulled me close and he wrapped his arms around me.

"I know you're concerned, I am too. This was the one thing we were trying to prevent but it's still happening. As long as we're still standing here, I won't let them ruin the peace we've built in this Empire. I just need you and our children to stay by my side. You're the source of my strength and it'll destroy me if I lost you." Sora said.

We've been married for more than 2 decades but he still hasn't changed. That's why I decided to stay here and be with him. This man was more than an Emperor of this Empire. He was a great husband and a great father to our kids. There's nothing in this world that could make me leave him. Especially now that our family will grow even bigger.

"I have something to tell you and I know this is the worst possible time." I said. He put his hand on my cheek and I held it with my other hand.

"What is it?" I took his hand and placed it on my growing belly. I looked at him with loving eyes and when he realized what I meant, his eyes widened.

"You're with child?" He asked. I smiled and nodded, tears started to well in my eyes. Sora couldn't contain his excitement. He lifted me off the ground and carried me around the room. He carefully placed me on the bed and he sat next to me. He caressed the b.u.mp that started to show. I could see how happy he was and my heart melted. He placed a tender kiss on my lips and I felt the love he has for me and the baby inside me.

We decided to keep it a secret to Yukio and Sumire for the time being. The next morning, Sora immediately called for his advisers. He was planning on extinguis.h.i.+ng the revolt as early as he can. I know he was doing it for me and for the baby.

"Good morning, Mother." I was placing the dishes I cooked on the table when Sumire came in and greeted me. She still wasn't her usual jovial self. She was also affected by Sayori's accident. She quietly sat down on her seat. Yukio came in shortly.

"Good morning." He said with a quiet voice. Sumire and Yukio were the same. They were deeply affected by what happened that up until now, they haven't been themselves. I urged them to start eating.

"You don't have to wait for your father. Let's have breakfast." I said. Sumire and Yukio nodded and they started. I noticed that they were eating so little. It pained my heart to see my children being this sad. I want to take the pain away from them but I knew I couldn't.

"Yukio, I'll come with you to the ravine today. So please eat as much as you can. I don't want to keep worrying about you when we're looking for Sayori." I said. It seemed what I said had struck him. He started eating more. After breakfast, we headed to the ravine.

"How is everything?" I asked the guards in charge of the search. He bowed to me before he answered.

"There's still no sign of the princess, your majesty." He said. I already knew that they haven't found her yet. I looked down at the ravine and saw how deep it actually was.

"Has anyone tried to go down there?" I asked. The guards nodded.

"One of the Emperor's men tried to go down but was not able to reach the bottom. The waterfalls lead to a river upstream and we thought that Sayori must've washed up there." They explained. There was a possibility that Sayori was washed up somewhere.

"Before Sayori fell, she was struck with two bows. 1 on her shoulder and the other on her chest." I remembered what Yukio told me. I knew in my heart that Sayori could live. Even with those injuries and the fall from the ravine, she could still survive. I just wish that someone managed to help her.

"How deep do you think this ravine is, mother?" Yukio asked. I peered over the edge and I couldn't see the end of the waterfall. You can hear it but the sound was loud due to the echo of the ravine.

"This ravine is deep and I can tell that there's something at the bottom of this. Where can I find the river connected to the waterfall?" I asked. The guards pointed to the direction somewhere north of the ravine.

"We found the river up north. It was surrounded by a clearing which made it easy to spot." One of the guards said.

"Is there a way to reach the end of the waterfall by following that river?" I asked. If I could see what was beyond that ravine, maybe I'll be able to tell if Sayori lived or not. The guards looked at each other as if this was the first time they thought of the idea.

"We haven't tried that, your majesty but we'll have someone do that right now." One said. I nodded in agreement and they went on their way to arrange for someone to follow the stream. I turned to Yukio and noticed that he was just staring at the edge of the ravine. This must be where Sayori fell. It must've been traumatizing for him to be reminded of that. I know it's not his fault but when you're in that kind of situation, where you're trying your best to hold on and there's nothing you can do, you'll feel helpless.

"Yukio, let's go back for now. They'll let us know if they found something." I said. He raised his head and the sadness in his eyes was evident. I felt bad for my son. He stood up and followed me to the carriage. The ride back to the Palace was silent. There's nothing I can say that could make him come out of his melancholy. We just need to find Sayori.

"Mother, Onii-san, you're finally back." Sumire said with a sad tone. She must've thought that Sayori would be with us. I patted her head before I went inside. I went directly to Sora's study to see what he was doing and to report to him about what happened at the ravine. When I entered, he was checking reports from his aids regarding the condition of the Empire.

"Am I interrupting?" I said as I entered the study. He looked up at me and smiled.

"It's alright. How are you? Maybe you should rest for now." He stood up from his desk and came up to me to hold my hand and lead me to a chair. I giggled. This man is already a father of two but he's still so precocious regarding my pregnancy.

"I'm fine, Sora! I came here to tell you about what I saw on the ravine." I said. He sat back down on his desk and his attention was on me.

"There was a river connected to the waterfalls where Sayori fell. It's up north and it's the only way our men to enter the base of the waterfall. I thought of it and maybe there's a possibility that Sayori washed up somewhere up north and someone found her. What do you think?" I said. Sora looked intently at me and slowly nodded.

"It is a possibility. If so, we're uncertain about this but it's only a possibility. We can't tell Yukio or Sumire about this yet. It might raise their hopes." He said. I agreed with him. I don't want to think of the possibility that Sayori is dead but at this point, we're running out of options. We'll just have to wait and see.

[The Prince's View]

I couldn't think of anything that can help with the investigation. I feel like I'm the most useless person to be here. I was the one who should've died, not Sayori. If I could go back in time and change what happened, then maybe I wouldn't have to feel this way.

"Onii-san…" I looked up and saw Sumire standing by my door. She came in and sat down next to me on the bed.

"What do you think happened to Sayori? Do you think she's still out there?" Sumire asked. That's what I wanted to believe in but my heart was telling me not to give her hope.

"I don't know, Sumire. As long as they keep searching, maybe they'll find her. Even if she is…" I couldn't finish my sentence. It hurts too much to even say those words. I just put my arm around Sumire and comforted her. I knew she felt just as bad as I did. Everyone in the family treated Sayori as one of us. They love her just as much as I do and I understand that everyone's affected by her disappearance. Mother said it wasn't my fault but somehow I feel that it is.

Suddenly, a loud sound came from outside. It sounded like a horn being blasted. Sumire and I quickly got up from the bed and ran downstairs. Mother and Father were already there and they were being surrounded by their guards.

"What's happening?" I asked. Mother looked at us with a worried expression.

"It's happening." She said. I immediately knew what she meant. We already knew that the generals would wage war with the Imperial family although we didn't expect it to be this early. The guards covered us as we antic.i.p.ated the enemy's arrival. Father handed me a sword and I already knew what I should do. Sumire had her sword in her hands as well. No else aside from mother and father knew that Sumire and I were trained to fight using a sword.

"Stay vigilant. We shouldn't leave the palace." Father said. Swords could be heard clas.h.i.+ng from outside. This is really happening! There's no turning back now. A few moments later and the great doors were being forced open. Mother and Father sat on their throne as did Sumire and I. The guards were calm and we were expecting to speak to the generals before they start to attack us. The door flew open and General Takes.h.i.+ along with his brother, General Makoto came in. Behind them was none other than Eiji. He must've been broken out of the dungeon.

"Your majesty…" The general said with a sneer. My father was calm.

"What do you want?" My father asked. His face was calm and calculating. I knew what he was thinking. The generals looked at each other and smiled. They took a step closer.

"There's nowhere to run to, your majesty. We've surrounded the Palace. What we want is simple. Step down as the Emperor." Sayori's father said. My blood started to boil whenever I saw his face. He didn't even care about his daughter who went missing. I wanted to be the one to kill him.

"My father was the previous Emperor and so was his father. None of them stepped down from their rightful place. If you want to become the Emperor, you have to earn that right." My father said as he looked down on the generals. He was saying that they weren't worthy of being the Emperor. The generals looked mad but they kept their composure.

"Who needs to be worthy of such thing. Just proving what you can do in the battlefield is enough." General Makoto said with a smirk. They underestimate my family.

"Take the Emperor's daughter and bring her here." General Takas.h.i.+ said. If they think they can harm my sister, that's where they're wrong. We remained unbothered by their sudden actions. One of the general's men came up to Sumire but she stood up on her own. She walked as calm as ever towards the general. Her hands hidden inside the sleeves of her kimono.

"I've always thought your daughter was just like her majesty, the Empress. Such a beauty must be worth a lot in brothels, don't you think, Eiji?" Sayori's father said. My mother wasn't bothered by his words.

"Before we send her to a brothel, maybe I should be the first to taste her." General Makoto said. As he reached out to touch Sumire's face, she quickly drew out her sword and swung it at the general, cutting off 3 of his fingers. His screams filled the room as Sumire took a step back, sword in hand. When they realized what had happened they looked at Sumire.

"Grab that little wench!" He ordered. Two guards ran to Sumire to attack her but I was quick on my feet. As they swung their swords at her, I managed to block them with my sword. I looked at Sumire and she knew what we were supposed to do. With a push, the two guards were knocked back which gave Sumire and I the chance to finish them off.

No one dare mess with the Imperial family.