You smiled as you were on your way to the training grounds with Kazue at your side. He seemed nervous, especially when he looked at your sword at your side. You noticed his gaze and stopped to turn to him, "something wrong Kazue?" You asked, grabbing his hand in yours. 

"I'm only worried about your chance in this match," he said truthfully causing your brows to scrunch, "you have two djinns and can only use one." 

You knew what he was talking about. After all, you hadn't had that much time to train with Amdusias and last time you did all that happened was that you almost sucked your father's castle into a black hole. Nonetheless, you smiled at him, "Kazue don't worry about me. It's just a friendly match and besides, I took on a dungeon monster all by myself. I'll be fine."

Kazue nodded and gave you a quick hug, "give him hell," he muttered before letting you go.

You giggled and playfully pushed him, "Kazue," you lightly scolded causing him to smile at your and continue walking. You chuckled to yourself and walked alongside him. 

*~*~*

Koumei sighed to himself as he watched his older brother getting ready to fight his wife. It was surprising circumstances to him, he never thought Kouen would go as far as suggesting something like this. He should've known better than to tell him about her sword skills, unbeknownst to him, they were using their djinns as well. 

Kouha, however, already knew and was more than excited to see the outcome. "En-nii is definitely going to win this one! Y/N-nee doesn't stand a chance!" He said proudly. 

Kougyoku, who had just gotten there, glared at her brother. "Are you kidding?! Y/N has a lot more of a chance than him!" She argued. 

Kouha scoffed causing Kougyoku to glare and then soon after an argument began to ensue between the two. 

"We'll just see whose power is stronger," responded Kouen, cutting off the small argument. 

This caused Koumei's eyes to widen. "Please don't tell me you're using your djinn in this duel," he said, fearful of the state of the palace after the duel. 

"Of course, I'm curious to see her power," said Kouen while unsheathing the sword containing Astaroth. That was the purpose of the duel and he was sure Koumei understood more than anyone. Kouen couldn't help himself when he wanted to learn more, he loved that more than conquering land for the Kou Empire. 

Koumei suddenly felt the bags under his eyes grow heavier, "please don't destroy the palace during this," he muttered. 

"I'm not reckless, Koumei," said Kouen sternly, offended his brother would need to warn him of something like that. 

Any other conversation from Koumei would soon be interrupted by your arrival along with Kouen's household vessels. They all seemed excited to see this duel after hearing about it from several servants, most of them do gossip after all and were now placing bets amongst each other. While Koukuton and Shou were on Kouen's side, Seishuu and Kin seemed to be on your side. 

You grabbed your necklace and you walked up to Kouen. "Are you ready to lose, my prince?" You teased, hoping to rile him up. 

He only smirked with a small glint in his eyes, "we'll see about that, my princess," he said, his smirk widening at the blush adorning your cheeks. 

"Wow, who knew you could be such a tease," you said while winking at him. 

"Here I thought you would know after those nights we spent together," he teased, knowing he won after that comment; especially after seeing your face go fully red. 

You frowned with a huff, "fine you win this, but I'm not going to lose this duel," you said stubbornly, "just wait and see."

Kouen chuckled and said nothing more. He at least thought he'd have more of an advantage considering he had three djinns and you only had two, he did know to keep his guard up given that one thing he was always taught to never underestimate an opponent. After considering that, he looked down at his sword as he remembered how he obtained and what it means to him. 

He let in a deep breath and called upon his djinn, Astaroth. "Spirit of terror and meditation, I order you to use my magoi to grant me the power to subdue my enemies under my control. Come forth, Astaroth!"

 He watched as you looked in awe as the flames surrounded and soon dissipated to reveal his djinn equip. If you had to describe it, it looked as if he resembled a humanoid fire snake. It sounds weird when trying to describe, but you swore it looked beautiful; it suited him very well. You also noted that he was floating just a bit above the ground. 

You got over your small trance and gripped your necklace contained one of your own djinns. "Spirit of truth and discovery, grant me the power to pacify my enemies in exchange for my magoi, come forth, Raum!" You commanded. Green vines and leaves began surrounded you, they disappeared to reveal your djinn equip. 

Everyone looked in surprise to see horns sprouting out of your head along with a crown made of a thick vine along with small white flowers growing around it. Anyone behind you would notice a small tail on your backside which was the same color as your current hair color which turned blonde due to the djinn equip. 

You'd have to guess the most surprising thing about it, besides the small fluffy green cape along your shoulders adorned with a bell, would be the fact that the equip itself left much to the imagination. As you were wearing dark green pants that seemed to go down to your ankles, they'd be able to tell had it not been for the boots you had on. You djinn's weapon of choice happened to be a dark green hammer with gold accents. 

(A/N: Just in case some of you are confused the only changes I made to picture was the weapon, which I changed to a hammer, and the fact that the reader is now wearing pants. I wanted to switch it up a bit instead of having the reader practically wearing nothing for the world to see, it just doesn't seem like her style with the personality I zeroed in on (although it might be different for other equip's) Also, I didn't draw this (just so you all know).)

You giggled, "what? Not everyone has a djinn willing to show off their candidate's body for the world to see," you teased, staring pointedly at Kouen's bare chest. Kouen only huffed at you. 

After getting over his own shock as well, Koumei walked forward, he was careful not to get in between you two and raised his hand. "The duel will commence in three..."

Your grip tightened on your hammer as a surprisingly sadistic smile on your face. 

"Two..."

Kouen smirked and got into his fighting stance. 

"One!"

Almost immediately Kouen slashed his sword towards you causing fireballs to come from thin air. In response, you slammed your hammer on the ground making a shield made out of metal to erupt from the ground. You didn't have to revel in your quick thinking as you were sure Kouen was formulating his next plan, you had to be faster if you wanted a chance. 

"Alkhazami faynuz!" You called out, raising your to control the vines sprouting from the ground covered in French lavender flowers. You learned those types of flowers are used to dry conditions, but obviously not enough to hold up against fire. Quickly after producing those vines you hit your hammer against the ground to bring up a rock, you broke into pieces with the same hammer and sent the dust straight to Kouen's eyes. 

Once he was preoccupied with the dust you wrapped the vines around his ankles and wrists. Soon after he was trapped you ran up to him and jumped, ready to bring down your hammer to end the duel. Unfortunately, Kouen recovered right when you were about to end this but before he could win this fight...

"STOP!"

At the sudden scream, you fell to the ground ungracefully on your face causing Kouen to look down at your and help you up. You gave him nod as a thank you and you both looked to see who ended the fight. You held back a groan to see Gyokuen with a surprisingly shocked look. 

"Kouen, fighting your wife is completely inappropriate! She could've gotten hurt or worse..."

You tuned her out as she dribbled on and on about how it's inappropriate decorum to challenge a princess and your own wife in a duel. Sometime during the bothersome, and uncharacteristic, nagging Kouen cut in. 

"With all due respect I don't think she's as frail as you make her out to be," he said simply while his djinn equip faded away. You decided to do the same as you were sure the two of you wouldn't be able to continue. 

Gyokuen only huffed and rolled her eyes, she turned to walk off. Once she was gone Kouha groaned, "aw, are you kidding me?! And En-nii was going to win!" He whined.

"No! If anything Y/N had this in the bag the whole time!" Kougyoku interjected. Yet again another argument ensued between the two. You only chuckled and shook your head at the two, you had to admit it was cute they way they admired you and Kouen. You turned to Kouen and gave him a small pat on the back causing him to look at you.

"That was a good duel, if she hadn't come in you probably would've won," you said with a teasing smile. It was obvious to you that if she hadn't come in he was going to be the obvious winner after escaping your trap. 

He only huffed and began to walk away, most likely displeased that the duel was cut short. You only shook your head at his antics with a small smile and called out to him, "I better see you in bed tonight and no the library!" You teased. He turned back to you and gave you a smile. Even if no words were said you were sure you would see him with you tonight. 

You decided to leave Kougyoku and Kouha to their sibling antics and return to your room to fix yourself. After all, the duel did leave you a tad sweaty and it also messed up your hair. Unfortunately for you, at the time you hadn't realized that would've been the last you would take a relaxing bath in a while. 

*~*~*

The two woman met up in the shadows where no one could see. One of them came with two men in robes trailing behind her, almost acting as guards or loyal followers. The other came with no one, it was a pain too, dragging around these heavy, expensive robes was hard work (but as they say with beauty comes pain). 

"Everything is set for you to sabotage her," the woman with followers said, "you know the plan all you have to do is get her to fall violently."

The other woman blinked with a tab bit of confusion, "that's it? And if I do this I'll have him all to myself again?" She asked naively. 

She nodded, "yes. He'll be yours soon after."

"But what about her kingdom? They won't intervene?" 

"Not if they want war from us," she snapped, "no more questions. Go."

The naive woman nodded and walked off leaving the other smirking in the shadows. "There. It will all soon be taken care of... We'll have one white pawn off the chess board soon," she said to her followers, "besides she won't be able to survive that place all alone, isn't that right?" 

"Yes, Empress!" Replied the men in robes. 

*~*~*

After having taken a bath and fixing your hair you decided to take a small walk. You adjusted the hair stick in your hair after feeling it go loose and glanced to the garden outside. It looked peaceful and quiet, you were about to take a seat there until you felt a hand enclose on your wrist. 

You turned to see who it was and was surprised to see that woman who bumped into you a little bit of a while ago. You rose a brow, "is there something you need?" You asked, keeping your tone civil. 

She frowned at you, "just what does he see in you?" She asked. 

Your brows furrowed, "I'm sorry?"

"Prince Kouen!" She snapped, "what does that man see in you?"

"An arranged marriage," you said stiffly. You certainly didn't want to talk about your feelings concerning the whole thing. 

She rolled her eyes, her hand still on your wrist. "You really know nothing about Kou," she scoffed, "he could've easily kept me as his consort after marrying you, but no... The day after the wedding he lets me go to stay loyal to you."

You tried not to let your eyes widen at that. She was right, you didn't know anything concerning traditions in Kou, your kingdom was different in this sense. You let in a breath, "look, I don't influence his choices. If he left you that's your own problem with him," you said calmly.

She only grew angry and tightened her grip on your wrist, "wrong!" She snapped, "it's all your fault!" 

You grunted in pain, "l-let go of me!" You tugged at your wrist from her. For a frail-looking woman, she had a tight grip and it hurt. You continued tugging but it was to no avail, you soon decided to step on her foot and once she let go you lost your footing and fell to the ground. 

You moaned in pain and let your head snap up at the sound of a scream. You looked to the woman to see absolute fear etched in her fears, you were confused until you looked at what was next to you. Your eyes widened as well. There was a magic circle on the ground but what was coming out of it was what shocked you the most. 

There, with its teeth bared, was a bear. It was white as if it was a ghost or spirit with a bit of a blue near its eyes. You were too shocked to move as you stared at the predatory way they looked at the woman who was standing in fear. Suddenly it was like that day all over again, you fall to the floor, a woman screamed and the same mysterious creature appearing. 

Then the bear lunged. All you heard was the sound of her screaming and your own, telling the bear to stop. 

It all ended the same way. 

You heard a shot ring out and the bear was soon fading away. You looked to the side to see a magician covered in robes from head to toe. They looked between you and the woman, they looked back to you and grabbed you by the arm. You were too in shock to realize what came out of your mouth, but you probably asked where you were going. 

"To see what punishment Empress Gyokuen will decide for you."

Your eyes widened, "why?" You whispered, still in shock. 

"For attacking one of the Emporer's concubines."

~~~

A/N: There you have it, folks! Mystery woman once Kouen's became the Emporer's~! Hmm... I wonder what should happen to our poor reader... And her powers?! We'll just have to find out next time!

And guys this isn't asking a lot, I'd appreciate some comments on this story, it motivates me to update (btw saying things like, plz update soon doesn't count). 

Anyway, until next time~!