"You're awake." A gruff looking old man came in the door of the room. I was still in bed since I couldn't seem to move my arms just yet. I looked at him as I kept my guard up. Something about him was familiar. He had the same red eyes as my mother.

"You don't have to worry about anything. I'm not here to hurt you. I've brought you porridge and some water. You must be hungry and thirsty after what happened to you." He said. I couldn't sense any danger from him. As he handed me the porridge, I noticed that he had green hair. The same as those men from Hokkyokusei.

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"Who are you?" I asked. I took the spoon and scooped up the porridge. He sat back down on the chair next to the bed. He just looked at me as I ate. I was waiting for him to answer my question.

"My name is Ito Haku. I haven't seen her in a long time but I know you are her daughter. You look exactly like her." He said, his voice was tender like I was someone he was looking for. I realized who he was referring to.

"Do you know my mother?" I asked. He smiled bitterly at me before he turned away.

"Saori was my beloved daughter." He said. I could feel the emotion in his voice. I felt sad when I heard him say she was his daughter. Which meant, he was my grandfather.

"Does that mean… I'm your granddaughter?" I asked, tears started to well in my eyes. Sayori never met her anyone from her mother's side of the family. She was very secretive and when Sayori was young, she died mysteriously. The old man looked at me and nodded. There was a tight feeling in my chest.

"Are you really my grandfather?" I asked once again. His eyes held truth in them as he looked at me. He stood up from his seat and he went up to me. I opened my arms and welcomed him. I didn't even realize that I was crying in his arms.

"It's alright, Sayori. Stop crying." He said. I just couldn't believe that I would be able to meet my grandfather. He let me go and he went back to his seat. I had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask but I didn't know where to start.

"Where am I? How did I end up here?" I asked. He took the empty bowl from my hands and he placed them on the table next to the bed. He grabbed a gla.s.s of water and handed it to me.

"You are in Hokkyokusei, your rightful home. You were found by the guards while they roamed the river." He said. It would make sense that I ended up here when I fell in that ravine. The waterfalls must've been connected to the rivers and that's why I ended up where I did.

"We were being chased and I fell off the ravine in Taiyou. I must've washed up in the rivers and that's why they found me. But grandpa, what do you mean this is my rightful home?" I asked.

"Your mother was the Empress of Hokkyokusei. She left Hokkyokusei when she found out she was pregnant with you. We weren't able to find her up until recently when we found out that she was in Taiyou Empire. When we got there, we were shocked to find out that she died." He said. Every bit of information he said was overwhelming.

I couldn't understand that but I knew he wasn't lying. Wait, then the oracle regarding me as a princess was true. I just wasn't the princess in Taiyou. I was the princess in Hokkyokusei. Everything made sense now that I knew what happened. But there was still one thing that caught my attention.

"Wait, she was already pregnant when she left Hokkyokusei?" I asked. If so, that means the person I've been regarding as my father is not really my father. My blood started to boil when I realized how much of a jerk he was to my mother and me.

"Yes, she was. As you know, Hokkyokusei is ruled by a female leader. Your mother was the Empress and she was impregnated by her husband which is your father. When your mother left, no one dared to rise to the throne to take her place. She was loved by all and no one opposed her. She had a son before she had you. We wanted to marry him off to the Princess of Taiyou but he died before we could proceed with the marriage." He explained. My thoughts were running wildly in my head and it was hard to make sense of everything.

"Where is my father?" I asked. My grandfather stood up from his seat and walked out of the room. A few minutes later and he came back with a man around the same age as Emperor Sora. He came up to me and immediately wrapped me in his arms.

"Father?" I said. He looked at me and I could see that there were tears in his eyes. This man, who just met me today, has been more of a father than the one I've known all my life. I couldn't help but cry in his arms.

"I'm so happy to see you. You're all grown up now. I wish I could've seen you grow up." He said. His words tugged at my heartstrings and it made cry even more. I stayed in his arms until I calmed down. When I stopped crying, he looked at me and smiled.

"You look just like your mother." He said. I smiled at his comment. He planted a kiss on my forehead before he stood back up. He looked at my grandfather before he turned to me.

"You stay with your grandfather for now. He'll take care of you. I'll be in my office." He said. I waved goodbye as he left out the door.

"Ever since your mother left, your father has been working hard to keep this Empire in line. He ruled this place the same way your mother ruled it. With love and respect for all of the people." He explained. My heart ached when I heard how hard my father tried to rule this place without my mother.

"Why did my mother leave this place?" I asked. The question ran in my head and it made me wonder what the reason was why my mother decided to leave this place.

"She was already sick when she was pregnant with you. She wanted to find a doctor that could cure her just before she could give birth to you. We heard of someone in the Taiyou Empire however he didn't want to help. Your mother became desperate and without telling us, she left for Taiyou." He said. I felt sad when I heard the truth about my mother. She must've been threatened by my so-called father that's why she couldn't leave and go back.

She died before she even had the chance to come back to her homeland. I wanted to go back to Taiyou. I want to go back and confront General Takas.h.i.+. I want him to suffer the same way my mother did. He deprived her of her right to go back to her Empire. He's a sc.u.m and I want him to pay for what he did.

"Now that I'm here, what happens to me?" I asked. He looked up from the cup he was holding and smiled.

"You're the rightful heir to the throne. If only we could find your mother's amulet. Then we can crown you as the new Empress." He said. The amulet! I remembered that I had made it into a necklace and I wore it with me when I fell. I quickly held my neck to check if it was still there. I felt the chain through my clothes and I quickly pulled it out. I dangled the amulet in front of my grandfather.

"Do you mean this amulet?" I asked. His eyes widened as he saw the amulet in my hands. He held it in his hands and he immediately started jumping from joy. I wouldn't think that he's the type of person to jump around out of excitement. He stopped jumping and turned to me.

"The rightful Empress has returned." He said. I smiled at him and he knelt in front of me as if to signify his loyalty for me.

"Grandpa, you don't have to--..." Before I got the chance to tell him to stop, he stood up and left the room. He came back momentarily with what looked like the Empire's advisers. They all looked at me and with one glance, they knew who I was. They lowered their heads at me.

"We are at your service, your majesty." They said. Without hesitation, I took their word. I raised my hand to catch their attention.

"I'm glad that you accept me as your new Empress. I won't disappoint you." I said. They all smiled at me and after a quick briefing on the situation of the Empire, they went out of the room leaving me with my grandfather.

A week has pa.s.sed and my wounds were all healed. I was able to walk around the Palace and I was able to learn from my father on how to manage the Empire. Everything was great but I still had a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew there was something wrong in Taiyou and I wish I could do something about it.

"What are thinking of, sweetie?" I turned to look at my father who was busy reading a scroll from his office.

"The people I was with in Taiyou, they helped me. I don't know why but I get this feeling that something is happening over there." I said. It's only been almost two weeks since I was gone but I can't help feeling so useless and ungrateful towards the Imperial family in Taiyou. My father looked at me and he offered his hand. I took it and he pulled me close to him.

"These people that you mentioned before, one of them is the Prince, the one you love?" He said. I was caught off guard with his question. I quickly hid my blus.h.i.+ng face from him. I already told him about this but it was embarra.s.sing to talk about something like that to your own father. I slowly nodded to let him know that he was right.

"I've already sent some of our people there to check the situation. We'll be hearing from them soon. In the meantime, you should come prepared." He said. I looked up at him and I tilted my head to the side.

"What do you mean, father?" I asked. He looked up at the sky and smiled.

"If they were in danger, what would you do?" He asked. I looked at him inquisitively.

"Then I would help them." I answered. He looked at me and stood up from his chair. He took out the spear that was placed by the window and he pointed it at me. I was startled by his sudden actions.

"What would you do if they were faced with dangers you've never even dreamed of facing?" He asked. His face was calm and his stature was secure. He knew what he was doing. I stood up from my chair and I faced him, just as how I should. I would never want to run away from a fight. Not again.

"Then I would face them head on. No matter how dangerous." I said. My voice was stern and my intentions were clear. My father looked at me and a smile slowly formed on his lips.

"Do you know how to fight?" He asked. I shook my head. He put down his weapon and he offered his hand to me.

"Then I'll teach you." He said. I smiled at him and he lead me to the training ground where our official training had started.

It was only a few days since we started but I became a natural at using a spear. The people of Hokkyokusei were more into spears than swords. My father was a master at it and he taught me everything he knew. After one of our sparring matches, he pulled me to him and gave me a hug.

"I'm so proud of you. You really do have the blood of your mother." He said. I felt proud when he complimented me. As we headed to the Imperial Hall, we were met with one of our men. He knelt in front of us before he announced his report.

"Good evening, your majesty. I come from Taiyou and I have urgent news. The generals have turned against the Imperial family and is about to start a war." He reported. My blood ran cold as he said those words.

Yukio, please be safe. I chanted it in my head over and over again.

"Thank you for that." My father thanked the messenger and he ushered me into the Imperial Hall. He saw how distraught I was when I heard the news.

"Now you've heard what was happening in Taiyou. What are you going to do?" My father asked. I've already made up my mind. I intend to fight the rebellion.

"I'll lend them a hand. I will go to the battlefield and extinguish the revolt and save the Imperial family." I said. My father saw how serious I was. He handed me the symbol of the knights. This meant that I had full control of the army of Hokkyokusei. To think that he willingly gave this to me was more than what I expected. I hugged my father and I quickly ran to the armory. I need to prepare everything before I depart from Hokkyokusei.

Please hang in there, Yukio. Wait for me.

[The Prince's View]

We were trapped inside the palace. After what Sumire and I did, they locked us in here. Although they couldn't touch us but being surrounded like this won't make the situation better. There was no way for us to call for help and if we could, there was no one we can reach at this point.

General Takas.h.i.+ along with his brother General Makoto were in the corner. He held his hand where Sumire managed to sever a few of his fingers. We remained calm even though the situation wasn't in our favor.

"There's no use in trying to fight, Emperor. Just give up and we'll think about sparing you and your family." General Takas.h.i.+ said. My father ignored him. There's no way my family would give up the throne for someone who wasn't even worth it.

"If you want the throne so much, then please by all means, take it." My mother said. Her eyes were as cold as ice and her tone wasn't all that pleasant either. The generals looked at each other and realized that they didn't stand a chance.

"You'll regret not giving up the throne." General Takas.h.i.+ said. No matter what happens, they won't be able to take what's not theirs.