Chương 11: Rejection

Smack!

Yamano fell on the floor with a burning red mark on his left cheek. He seemed to be in disbelief as he raised his hand to hold onto the mark.

"Father!" He cried, puzzled as of why he was hit.

From the day he was born, he was spoiled and praised by the people of his clan. Anything he wanted he got, anything he needed he was given. No one dared to go against him except for his father and even his father only went as far as lecturing him. No one has ever dared to raise a hand against him.

"You! Aurghh!" Yamano's father, Mugo Akuma, let out a loud roar which caused the servants to shudder.

"Of all the people, you chose the Crown Prince? You caused for me to lose face in front of the Emperor!" Mugo Akuma yelled.

"But. But. I didn't know he was the Crown Prince." Yamano explained.

Mugo Akuma sat back down in front of his desk and let out a sigh as his eye swept past the pamphlet in front of him. This morning the emperor had summoned him up to have his eunuch pass him this pamphlet. The moment Mugo Akuma opened this pamphlet he had the urge to slap his son. Everything that stupid son of his has done were recorded on it in detail. The emperor was furious that the son of his prime minister would attack his son. He even cut their pay in half for the next three months and had the Mugo clan give up two ports.

Cutting their pay for three months is little when compared to losing two ports. Losing the ports would affect them in the long run and Mugo Akuma knows that those two ports would be given to the other Prime Minister, the Saito clan.

Just thinking of the embarrassment he had to face only made him even more angry and for the veins on his forehead to pop.

"Aurghh!" He slammed his hand on the table and threw the pamphlet in front of his son.

He pointed at his son in disappointment. "Look at what you did. Look! Everything you did is on there. Give me an explanation why."

Yamano broke into cold sweat as he picked up the pamphlet and read through it. He was shocked by how detailed each item was recorded on it. "How?"

Mugo Akuma took a deep breath and calmed down. "Servants escort this son of mine back to his courtyard. Without my permission he is not to step out of his courtyard and no one is to visit him during his confinement." He flipped his sleeve and walked out of the room leaving Yamano to sit there on the floor like an idiot.

Yamano gripped onto his robes tightly and he kept his head down so no one could see the murderous glint in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura-hime, you need to go now. Prince Naoki does not wish to see you." Kazuki said as he tried to stop the princess from entering with his hands held out.

"But. Noaki onii samaaa! It's me Sakura." Princess Sakura yelled as she jumped up to look inside.

Kazuki sighed as continued to stop the princess from entering the study. Inside the study an annoyed Prince Naoki could be seen as he flipped through his pamphlets with extreme difficulty.

"Juji.Go tell her to leave. Kindly, tell her to leave." Naoki purposely placed emphasis on the word kindly.

Juji snickered which made him receive a glare from Naoki. "Hai!" He immediately went out to deal with the Princess.

It took some time but Juji and Kazuki was finally able to send her away before returning back inside.

"Naoki! Sent her off." Juji said with a grin.

Naoki merely nodded then dove back into his papers. Kazuki went over to the shelf and took out a book to read while Juji polished his sword. Silence condemned on them and none of them knew how long they were in the study room until the sun set and the room became dark.

A servant came in and lit up the candles in the room. Juji stretched his arms and stood up to do some simple exercises.

"Naoki. Stop reading, you can harm your body from sitting for so long." Kazuki said and he covered the words Naoki was reading to stop him.

Naoki let out a sigh. "You're right. I should go out, I'm actually pretty hungry can you get me something to eat."

Kazuki smiled then nodded and ordered for the servant to go retrieve something to eat from the kitchen. The servant bowed and opened the door to find Naoki's mother, the empress, there.

"Empress." The servant bowed and stepping aside to let the empress through.

Despite it being so late, the empress walked in wearing a yellow and white Jūnihitoe.

Naoki immediately stood up and bowed. "Mother."

The empress walked over to Naoki and took his hand. "My child you have just returned. Isn't it time to come eat with us as a family?"

Naoki looked calm and nodded. The empress forced herself to put a smile on her face, but eyes showed her disappointment by Naoki's coldness, she helped tuck a strand of loose hair behind Naoki's ear before stepping back.

"I shall see you in the dining hall." WIth that she turned around and walked out.

Juji let out a breath the moment the empress left the study. Kazuki dismissed the servant and also told him to don't about bringing the food. Naoki kept him cold composure and walked out of his study after his mother.

"Juji, Kazuki. Let's go." He called.

Dinner was quite extravagant with a multi-course dinner of many different dishes. The dishes were all colorful and elegant along with it being healthy. Naoki sat down at his seat and the family began to eat. Princess Sakura sat across from Naoki and she would sneak a few glances at him every few second. However Naoki could care less and only concentrated on eating meanwhile the empress and emperor could only sigh. They are getting even more worried for their son.

The empress couldn't take it even more and asked Naoki.

"Nao, Mother would like to know if there are any girls you are currently interest in."

Naoki's chopstick stopped in mid air and Princess Sakura looked over at the empress.

"No. Not right now." Naoki replied and began eating again.

Princess Sakura let out a relieved sigh and the empress noted this movement.

"Nao, you are old enough to consider getting a suitable partner for yourself. Someone fit for your status like a princess." The empress said.

When Princess Sakura heard this, her cheeks burned up like a tomato. She suddenly found her bowl of rice very interesting and ate at a faster pace with her head kept down.

"Mother." Naoki's stern voice echoed through the room.

"I have no plans of doing so at the moment." Naoki placed his chopsticks down and stood up.

"It doesn't hurt to begin early my child." The empress said softly.

"I have no such plans, now please excuse me mother, father." Naoki bowed and left the room.

"Hey-wait." The empress called out but the emperor stopped her.

"But-" The empress began but stopped seeing that the emperor shook his head and pointed at Princess Sakura.

The empress immediately turned around and held onto Princess Sakura's hand. "Sakura-chan. Don't worry I'm sure Naoki just hasn't realize yet."

"Don't worry. I understand." Princess Sakura smiled. Although Naoki didn't reject her literally but each of his words felt like someone was stabbing her heart.

She forced herself to smile which only caused for the empress to care for her even more.