The Emperor's Heir

The City Tour (Second Part)

The cloaked Luginican reported to his boss, "Ma'am the Princesses are out in the capital. It's the perfect time to eliminate the Aihara."
The mysterious lady in a silver cloak started laughing menacingly, "Yes, we shall kill that bitch today! After that, I can have my Yuzuko all to myself! Hahahahaha." The man was standing there nervously smiling and looking for help from the other cloaked guys surrounding them.
Suddenly the woman stopped laughing and said in a deadly voice, "We'll attack when they least except it." and then she smiled.

Meanwhile, the young couple were done watching the play. Yuzu then asked Mei, smiling , " Are you hungry Mei? Its noon now , so I think we should have lunch." Mei replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing. I heard that they sell crepes made of a special red berry which enhances the taste. I would like to try that for dessert." Mei blushed at the end of her sentence, having a major sweet tooth. Yuzu chuckled at that and said "Of course Princess. Now let's go eat!"
They went in a cafe and ordered food . The couple sat across each other and enjoyed each other's company and ate when the food came. After eating lunch, Yuzu said, "Ready for dessert?" and Mei nodded eagerly. Yuzu smiled widely at that and told the waiter to get the infamous berry crepes. The waiter came back awhile later with the crepes. Yuzu noticed that even though Mei doesn't express her emotions that much, her eyes sparkle when she's excited. Yuzu noticed that Mei didn't start eating yet and was waiting for her to start. Yuzu felt a bit disheartened at that since she thought that Mei still felt bad about the Haruki incident. "Go ahead, it's for you." she said in a soft tone. Mei looked at Yuzu and saw Yuzu smiling at her. She blushed and took a bite. Yuzu then saw Mei's hand on the table and reached to hold it. She gently kept her hand over Mei's knuckles and rubbed circles on it. Mei looked at Yuzu and blushed, while Yuzu was blushing as well but looked at Mei and smiled, "Don't get disheartened Mei, I know you're still upset about the Haruki incident but let's move on from that , ok?" Mei looked at Yuzu and thought, "She's so kind. She's so gentle. She's so sweet. I'm happy I got someone like her to spend my life with." and blushed slightly, ears turning pink. The couple then finished eating their dessert and left.

Now, Yuzu and Mei were walking arm-in-arm between the flower orchards and were admiring the flowers and fountains. "Are you enjoying yourself?" said Yuzu, concerned if Mei was getting bored. "Yes I am. Your kingdom is beautiful." replied Mei in a soft tone. Mei observed that Yuzu would have a twinkle in her eyes when anyone praised her kingdom. ' She would be a great Queen one day.' thought Mei while Yuzu was leading her to a sitting place at the top of a hill, where a huge cherry blossom tree was standing tall.
When they reached the top of the hill, Yuzu sat down below the tree and motioned Mei to sit next to her. They started talking about their hobbies and stuff like that and soon they both were just quiet enjoying the silence. Suddenly, Yuzu felt a weight on her shoulder and looked a her side seeing Mei sleeping. Yuzu blushed slightly and kept her head towards Mei and fell asleep too.

They both woke up when the sun was setting. "Oh guess we fell asleep. Come on Mei......let's head back." Yuzu said to Mei and the latter nodded in response. They were again walking down alleys since the flower orchard was a bit far from the main street. Suddenly, a can typed thing was thrown in front of them and it started spewing white smoke. There was multiple noises in front of them making it evident that a lot of those canisters were opened, covering the whole alleyways. "Shit! It's a smoke screen. I have to protect Mei" thought Yuzu as she took out her dagger from her dagger-strap hidden in her belt. She slashed the dagger in a wide-arc and made the smoke around them thin. She went towards Mei and grabbed her hand and ran towards the street. They were running but them suddenly Yuzu felt being surrounded. Then the only thought she had was to save Mei and she made Mei stand by a wall so that she couldn't be attacked from behind and stood in front of her.

Yuzu then saw cloaked figures coming towards her and she lunged her dagger at them. The 1st guy went down easily.  She picked up his sword and passed it to Mei. " Protect yourself with this." She said and Mei nodded. Then Yuzu tried to analyse their enemies and saw that they had sig swords with them but Yuzu remembered her training that even though swords give you a distance advantage, only wise people choose daggers. She then stabbed 4 men with her dagger by getting close to their sword range and ducking below their arm and slashing their stomach. She thrusted her dagger to another guy and his cloak and shirt got torn, revealing the sign of the Luginicans on his shoulder. Their was smoke everywhere so it was hard to see, but Yuzu clearly saw it. Suddenly she turned around to see a man going towards Mei and trying to slice Mei in half. Without thinking Yuzu stood in front of Mei and blocked it with her arm in instinct since knew she wouldn't be able to stop it in time , resulting in a deep cut. Mei's eyes widened seeing blood coming out of Yuzu's arm and drenching her clothes. Yuzu then looked at Mei and grabbed her hand "Come on! We have to run! I can't fight all these people and protect you at the same time since there's smoke everywhere." They kept running till the smoke was lighter and they saw the street up ahead. Suddenly their path was blocked by 4 cloaked men and another one with a mask.
"Oh Yuzuko darling, oh it's soooo good to see you." said the lady in the mask. "Who are you? What do you want?!" shouted Yuzu while holding Mei close. "Oh you don't recognise me? I'm your childhood LOVER. I just want YOU. I want to be your bride. Forget that Aihara. Let's kill her and run away together. I promise to love you forever and fulfil your needs~" said that cloaked woman. Yuzu couldn't remember anything so all she did was lunge at her. The lady was startled at that action and that dagger cut a little line on her thigh, making blood come out. She looked at Yuzu then looked at that cut and then scooped the blood on her finger and tasted it. "Oh you have given me a cut. I just wish you gave me more cuts Master. Punish me. I've been a very bad girl~" said that woman seductively. Yuzu then looked around and saw an alley to their right. Yuzu grabbed Mei and ran into that alley. Mei and Yuzu heard that woman say "Catch her. I need to make her mine." but they kept running, without turning back.
Mei glanced at their hands and saw how Yuzu was holding her hand in a strong grip. She blushed at the warmth and softness but her thoughts were interrupted by Yuzu suddenly started slowing down and pulling her down another alley, a short-cut to the main street and they kept running. Mei felt that they were still being chased. Suddenly, Yuzu had an idea. She pulled Mei to a dark corner of the alley, which was kinda hidden by debris and railings. Yuzu grabbed Mei and pushed her to the wall and came closer to her so that they would blend in the darkness.
Mei could feel Yuzu's breath on her neck since Yuzu had her arms on each side of Mei. She blushed heavily and looked at Yuzu. The soft emeralds were looking at her and telling her to not make a single sound. They both then saw the woman and six cloaked men running past them into another alley. After a while, when their footsteps faded away, Yuzu looked down at Mei and saw her cheeks flushed from all the running. They were so close that Yuzu could feel her breath. Yuzu saw that Mei was scared, for herself and Yuzu, and was holding Yuzu's jacket tightly, afraid that Yuzu will get more hurt. Yuzu's arm was still bleeding and she had also got a kick on her stomach, right where she was stabbed before but didn't tell that to Mei since she would be more worried.
Yuzu's thoughts were interrupted by Mei's watery eyes. Yuzu was shocked seeing unshed tears on Mei's eyes and gently cupped Mei's face.
"Shh don't cry. I'll get us out of here." Yuzu told Mei in a reassuring tone and leaned in slightly towards her face. Mei saw what Yuzu was doing and leaned in too. Their lips met in between and Yuzu gently held Mei's waist and kissed her softly, without any tongue but with reassurance. They broke the kiss after a while and both were panting slightly. Then Yuzu gently held Mei's hand and said, "Come on. Let's go home." Then Yuzu led her through alley after alley till they were standing in front of their chariot.
The coachman's eyes widened looking at the two princesses. Covered in dirt, clothes having multiple tears and Yuzu's bleeding arm. "No time to explain. Just take us to the castle" said Yuzu in a serious tone as she helped Mei get in the chariot and got in herself.
"Those Luginican bitches are gonna pay for scaring Mei like that" was all that Yuzu could think of while they silently rode to the castle.

I'm sooo sorry about the late update. I was travelling for a while so I didn't have time to write anything. I also can't believe this book got 1k reads. You guys are awesome!
Stay safe and thanks so much!