Night Hunters

Chapter Fourteen: For a New Beginning

"I've fulfilled my promise." - Kuroko Tamaki

XXXXXX

The celebrations marking the end of the civil war seemed to be never ending—nearly every tavern and inn and every single household had their own celebrations that night. And considering the fact that the Teiko Kingdom didn't have much cause to celebrate for the past four years, the celebrations have carried on throughout the night, and had only ended a little before dawn.

The Crown Prince himself had called for an assembly the afternoon a day after the war had ended—giving a speech in the plaza. Citizens from all over have travelled to the Royal City to attend this assembly, with the hope that life for them would improve for the better from now on.

Needless to say, rumours about the war, the Red King and even the former commanders of the Royal Guard have spread, and suffice to say, people have rejoiced at the deaths of those that have made their lives a living hell for four years. For those who have known the truth about the Red King, which by all rights should be the true Crown Prince, it had been very difficult for them to listen to the citizens and the soldiers talk, but they have remained quiet, as they knew the outrage and outcry that would break out should the truth ever be revealed.

For the rebels, Phantom, who have once been the most wanted people in all the land, they have quickly become heroes overnight, and during the few hours before the assembly held by the Crown Prince, they have helped with the clean up around the Royal City, with the funerals for the ones who have died during the war to be held in a few days.

The murmurings of the citizens quietened down as the figure of the Crown Prince stepped out onto the podium, looking at his citizens with those gentle and wise eyes that the kingdom recognised, his red hair almost glistening in the sun.

Akashi Seijuro had a small smile tugging at the ends of his lips even as he looked down upon his subjects. Even the soldiers of the kingdom were present, and all were watching the prince with adoration in their eyes.

Seijuro almost felt a twinge in his heart at that as he fought hard not to let his emotions be shown on his face. It should be Seiki who is up here standing on the podium and addressing the people of Teiko Kingdom as the Crown Prince. None of this would ever have happened if only his parents hadn't ignored Seiki, and pretended that he had never existed just because he had a higher intellectual than normal, and is a true genius—a genius child that they didn't know how to handle.

His uncle—the late master of the Kuroko Clan raised his cousin just fine, despite the fact that his cousin had shown true genius skill in strategy, tactics and swordsmanship from a young age. His maternal uncle raised Tsuyu just fine, so why couldn't his parents raise his brother? He knew that he had an older twin brother. He just never got the chance to know him or even grow up with him. The last time that he had seen Seiki had been when he is five—a few months after the official announcement of the Crown Prince and after Seiki had been shoved off to live in Rakuzan Villa.

And as far as Seijuro knew, Tsuyu had sometimes followed her father when he had gone to Rakuzan Villa to deliver food and necessities to Seiki. Lord Kuroko had also been the one to teach Seiki how to read and write, and when he had passed, Shirogane had then taken over that duty, and had even taught his twin how to fight. In certain ways, Tsuyu had grown up with Seiki too. That might be why he had been so fond of her—willing to even sacrifice the relationship with the one person who had never treated him as a monster for the sake of the kingdom.

Seijuro wished that his parents had never done what they had.

Anything would have been better than just pretending that Seiki had never existed. Hell, sending him to the Kuroko Clan to grow up with Tsuyu as siblings or even cousins would have been better. Sending him to a foreign country with Shirogane as a guard would have been better than anything else!