You stared down at the floor with wide eyes, barely even moving as they set you down in front of the empress herself. You were kneeling down in front of her when they set you down and just stayed silent in hopes not to worsen the situation for yourself. 

Meanwhile, Gyokuen just stared down at you with disdain. On the inside, however, she was ecstatic that her plan worked so well. She coughed into her hand to make sure her smirk didn't come out, "do you not understand the gravity of your crimes?" She asked, her voice echoing through the room.

You didn't respond, you didn't even know what to say at this point. You knew you were in for it, especially if your father found it. He did all that work just to cover up your first incident and now that this was happening you were as sure as dead. 

Gyokuen sighed at your silence. "You attacked one of the Emporer's most precious concubines," she said causing you to flinch at your own mistake. It did strick you as odd, however, that the Emporer take one of Kouen's old concubines as his own. 

"You may be a princess of Kou, but if something like this gets out it would effect Kou negatively," she explained while standing up, "so, this is what I propose as a punishment and I'm sure the assaulted concubine will agree to this as well."

She walked over to you and stood in front of you. You gaze was now at her shoes instead of the floor, but you soon felt a hand in your chin. Gyokuen raised your head to look at her as she gave you the verdict. What she said made your shock increase tenfold. 

"She is to be sent to a dungeon raised by Judar without the assistance of her metal vessels the next morning. For now, take her away."

"Yes, Empress Gyokuen."

*~*~*

Kouen rubbed the back of his neck, he'd been in the library for about an hour now. He was surprised you weren't coming in here to scold like you claimed you were. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen you since the duel you two had. 

He brought a hand to his chin to think and stood up from his desk. Kouen was about to leave the library until he was interrupted when the door slammed open revealing a teary-eyed Kougyoku and Kouha. He rose a brow at their sad faces but was still concerned as to what could make them cry. 

"K-Kouen," wailed Kougyoku, "it's Y/N-nee!"

His eyes widened, "what happened?" He asked, "where is she?" 

It was Kouha's turn to speak, but now he looked more angry than sad. "It's Gyokuen," he said harshly.

*~*~*

Gyokuen was busy brushing her hair on her vanity when her door slammed open revealing an angry Kouen. She smiled at him and stood up with her arms raised, "what happened, my son?" She asked softly.

Kouen only glared at her and moved her arms away from him. "Why is my bride on house arrest to be sent to a dungeon tomorrow?" He asked, getting straight to the point. 

Gyokuen raised her brows in surprise, "you don't know?" She asked. Kouen only looked at her in confusion, it was clear he didn't. Besides he knew if he asked the servants their stories would probably be even crazier than what really happened. 

She sighed and sat down, "she attacked one of your father's concubines," she explained and watched as Kouen's face went from anger to shock in mere seconds. 

She stood up, "try to understand, Kouen. If this got out Kou's reputation is stake as well as hers," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder only for him to push it away. 

"The one thing I don't understand is why give her the punishment of going to a dungeon with no metal vessels," he spat, giving her a pointed stare. 

Gyokuen seemed surprised at his outburst, but stayed calm. "It was the only way to settle down the disturbed concubine and to get her to keep quiet," she said, even if it was a blatant lie. It's not like Kouen could do much to change it; when it came to disputes with the Emporer's concubines the one assigned to deal with it is the Emporer's Empress. 

"Then where is she? I'll deal with her myself." Kouen was about to leave and find this concubine until Gyokuen grabbed his arm and pull him towards her in an effort to stop him. He looked back at her with a glare. 

Gyokuen stood her ground, "leave her be, she's had enough scares for today," she said while letting go of his arm, "as for your bride she's done this kind of thing before... Why do you think her father was so hasty to give her for marriage?" She asked. 

Kouen only stared at her in confusion. Hadn't Koumei said their own military strength equal Kou's? Was the information he gathered wrong for once? Just what was the real reason for this marriage? So many questions filled his mind, but they weren't important right now. You were. 

He said nothing in response to her question and left, ready to go looking for you. 

*~*~*

You stared down at your hands with an unreadable expression on your face. As the past events of what happened today crossed your mind along with the verdict tears filled your eyes and you grew angry with yourself. How could you let this happen?

You groaned in anger and ripped the hair stick Kouen gave you from your hair. You looked down at it before throwing it away from you, you didn't deserve something so beautiful and pure when you were the exact opposite. You let your hands grip the skirt of your dress, you don't how long you stayed like that until you heard the door open. 

You stood up and wiped your eyes only for tears to fill them again at the sight of Kouen standing at the door. You immediately turned away from him even if you were tempted to wrap yourself around him, but you couldn't. You were sure he was here to say he didn't want you as his bride anymore. 

"Y/N," he spoke causing you to flinch, "look at me."

You shook your head and stayed with your back facing the wall. You heard a sigh and his feet moving until you felt arms turn you around. He didn't even tilt your chin to look at him and nestled your head into his chest. 

Your eyes widened at the gesture and you slowly reached your hands around his waist. Kouen felt your hands clench the material on his robes and held you close to him. He pressed a kiss to your head and held you for as long as you needed. 

"As much as I enjoy holding you like this," he said, "I need to ask you something." He held you at arms length and sat you down on the bed with him beside you, his arm around your shoulders. You let in a breath and let your hands fall into your lap. 

"I think I know what it might be..." You spoke softly, your voice was barely above a whisper and when he got a better look at your face he noticed the tear stains on your cheeks. Kouen held your hand and stayed quiet, giving you time to tell your story.

You let in another breath and gripped the hand he gave you tightly. "It all started at a fancy party..."

~5 years ago

You stood at your father's side as he spoke to aristocrats and said nothing. It was all for show anyway, he didn't really care about anything that happened outside his castle. At this point your expression was unreadable, he was hosting this party to show that he cared for all those soldiers dying in a war he started. 

You glanced to see your brother happily standing on your father's other side as if he had nowhere else he'd rather be. Your other siblings were busy running around and causing a small ruckus here and there for servants to continue cleaning up. You'd have to guess this was a life that never ended. 

You mood only worsened when you remember how fun these things used to be with your sister. That stopped, however, when she left when you were fifteen without even saying anything to you. You sighed and started to wander off until your father caught your wrist, "where are you going?" He whispered harshly.

You tugged your arm away, "to get some air," you said, walking away without sparing him another glance. As you walked towards the balcony doors a loud laugh broke through the air. 

"Honestly does it come as any shock as to why all those soldiers are dying anyway?"

"Honey, please... Quiet..."

You turned to see a woman with a wine glass in her hand along with expensive clothes and makeup to match. You narrowed your eyes at her and waited until she said more before doing anything. 

"After that tramp of a daughter left this family they've had nothing but failure."

Your eyes widened in anger at what she said, you glared in her direction but she didn't seem to notice and continued talking. The only thing that angered you wasn't that she was talking ill of your family, it was the fact that she called your sister a tramp and was scoffing at the thought of all those people dying as if it didn't matter. 

"SHUT UP!" Your voice broke through the crowd. Everyone turned to look at you in surprise, along with the woman who finally stopped talking. 

"All of you stuck up aristocrats haven't got a single clue what it feels like to be out there!" You yelled, "all you do is sit here and complain about things that don't even matter!"

You were going to march up to the woman and demand she apologized until a hand caught your wrist. You looked up to see your father glaring down at your harshly, "that's enough," he spat. 

You growled at him, "let go of me," you said, tugging your wrist. He had a tight grip causing you to tug away harder and harder until he accidentally let go causing you to fall. 

You fell with a thud and a low groan, you stayed like that until you heard a scream. You raised your head and rubbed it until you saw what the source of the scream was, it was the woman from before and everyone around her looked scared out of their minds. You looked to what they were looking at and your eyes widened just as much as theirs. 

Standing there on four legs out of a magic circle was a ghost-like white bear with its teeth bared. All you could do was stare at it in awe as everyone began to back away slowly, but it was too late the bear charged and the woman began to plead for her life until a sword broke through the air and killed it. Soon enough, the bear and everyone's scream faded away. 

 Standing above where the bear was, your servant Kazue. "Well," he started, "I think that's enough festivities for today... Come, princess, let's go."

The woman, however, after finally getting over the shock was angry. "Are you crazy!?" She said, "arrest her! She's insane!"

Kazue said nothing and gently grabbed you without giving them another word. 

~

"That's what happened..." You said, letting go of his hand and getting up from the bed, "I'd understand if you'd want me sent back."

Kouen only continued sitting on the bed and said one thing, "show me."

Your eyes widened and you blinked in surprise, "w-what?" You asked, turning to him.

"You heard me."

"B-But, it's so barbaric and unfitting for a princess," you said, turning back to face away from him.

Kouen scoffed and grabbed your hands, "whoever said that was obviously either deranged or jealous," he said, "now show me."

You blushed and held out your hand to try, you've never summoned it willingly before anyway. You let in a deep breath and closed your eyes in an effort to concentrate. You stayed like that for a few moments and opened your eyes to see a small snout poking out of a magic circle, you giggled lightly and closed the circle.

"Well, I've never been to do it willingly very well," you explained, "I've only ever kept it a secret and hid it." You looked at Kouen to see a look of utter surprise on his face and if you were being honest this was the first time you've ever seen that. 

"Why would you do that?" Asked Kouen.

You grabbed his hand and sat down on the bed with him next to you, "I'd rather not talk about that now... I'm sure... Everything will be fine." You tried speaking optimistically. 

Kouen gently grabbed your forearms and used his thumbs to rub your skin. You sighed at his soft touch and allowed yourself to revel in it for just a little bit longer. You soon felt his hands leave your arms and trail up to your cheeks, you looked up at him in confusion and your eyes widened when he pressed his lips against yours. 

As you slowly began to sink into the kiss and wrap your arms around his neck you realized this was the first time he kissed without an obligation. You felt tears sting your eyes but held them back. You felt him slowly release from the kiss and rest his forehead against yours, "you're going to make it alive, don't doubt yourself."

You nodded and kept your eyes closed as you comfortably continued to rest your forehead against his.