Fate I

III

Kouen looked at his father who went back to scanning over the document in his hand with a nostalgic yet sorrowful gaze. Back then, the only sibling he had ever been close with was Hakutaku and the fight for the throne was a bloody one in which almost all of his siblings had been killed off. The only person he had left at the end of the fight was Hakutaku but even he had left him for war. Looking down at his hand, he wondered if in the future he would lose everything that he held precious to him. Lucy's smile from the night before flashed across his mind. Clenching his hand, he narrowed his eyes. No, such a thing won't happen. He wouldn't let it happen.

"Anyhow, those two are indeed remarkable," Koutoku stated and rolled the scroll back up. "To not reward them for such brilliance would be unspeakable."

"What does Father Emperor wish to award them with?"

Kouen asked such a question for he remembered how when he had finished his first campaign at the young age of eleven, Koutoku had gifted him the renowned twin swords: Kanshou and Bakuya — an artifact that was thought to have been lost through time and it was those very two swords that he was granted along with his own battalion and his own manor. Koutoku was always the type to gift extravagantly to people who he deemed worthy and in this case, he was sure that it would be the same. After all, regardless of what they had accomplished — whether menial or not — they were one of the few children that Koutoku doted on and in particular, was Lucy. As the daughter of Layla who he once had loved until he met the Empress, he viewed her as his own child and if not, loved her more than his own children.

"Good question," Koutoku gave a smile as he sat back in his seat. "What do you think should be gifted to them?"

"That is up to Father Emperor to decide," Kouen said. "However, knowing Koumei, he would be happy with anything related to new books or scrolls or...," he suddenly remembered something as he cupped a chin.

"Or?" Koutoku raised an eyebrow,

"Recently, he's become interested in pigeons," Kouen looked up.

Koutoku blinked his eyes. "Pigeons?"

"Yes. Pigeons."

Silence ensued before Koutoku burst into laughter as he slammed the arm of his throne for a good while, tears in his eyes. Koumei was indeed a genius and though he was aware that he was a shut-in, he always happened to amuse him with the most interesting stuff. This time, it was pigeons.

"I see, pigeons, huh?" Koutoku laughed. "Then I shall construct a garden for him in his palace hall and release pigeons there."

Kouen smiled and closed his eyes. "As Father Emperor wishes."

"Since Koumei's reward has been dealt with, it then leaves us with her," he mused to himself. "What do you think we should award her with? Lucy Heartfilia, the prized and treasured daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia."

Kouen stopped and looked at his father and even as a child, he understood the look in his father's eyes. He was fond of Layla not as a friend but something more than that. But, he was aware of what he could attain and could not attain and more than that, he didn't want to break his relation with Jude, the one person who truly treated him like any other human being. It was no wonder why he held Lucy dearly just like the Empress. As an Emperor, he might value her talents and skills but as just Koutoku, he treasured her even more than his own daughters who he rarely cared for. He was aware of his own daughters' personalities — which were spitting images of their mothers — to which only Kougyoku was the only princess he allowed to approach. But, Lucy was different from them. She had a fresh personality and was like a bright ball of sunshine, untainted by the dirty and ugly schemes of the palace. In the Forbidden City, her type of person was a rare existence.