Fate I

LI

Since then, it's been a year and diplomatic relations between the Kou Empire and the Kingdom of Sindria had been progressing smoothly to the point where Kouen had grown irritably tired of constantly receiving calls from Sinbad in which the latter continuously talked, begging to see Lucy since the only way to contact her was through another source. After all, even if the Eye of the Rukh was used, it was the subordinates who took the calls and Kaede, her retainer, would use magic jamming to block off the call.

But, the peaceful times only lasted for a year. At the end of the autumn season, a plague had broken out at the southern edges of the Tenzan Plateau a while after Sinbad's coronation and before anyone knew it, it had spread to the surrounding countries. It wasn't until a few months later that the plague was discovered for it was then that the onset of symptoms began. Amongst the many kingdoms and empires that were affected, the Kou Empire was the one who had been affected the most due to its close proximity to the Tenzan Plateau.

Many citizens had fallen ill with the plague and many perished, including many within the Forbidden City, and among them was Emperor Koutoku. Of course, this was kept well under secrecy for it was spread to the public, only chaos would pursue. The only ones who knew of it were the Empress, Kouen, Koumei, Kouha, Kougyoku, Hakuei, Hakuryuu, and her. With the possibility of them becoming infected, they weren't allowed to get close to Koutoku's quarters and it was a tense time for them all. Even Kouha, who hated Koutoku, couldn't help but be on edge for he could see the emotional distraught in his siblings' eyes. Especially since the Empress has decided to stick with Koutoku, unwilling to leave his side.

"This is the worst," Lucy said, a cool cloth over her eyes as she leaned back into her seat.

Kaede took the cloth, rinsing it again with the ice cold water and seeing her eyes which were a puffy red, he narrowed his eyes.

"If you're talking about your current appearance, then yes," he said, placing it over her eyes again. "You look like a walking corpse."

Lucy laughed.

"It's not a laughing matter," he retorted. "You were already quite frail but your complexion looks worse than it usually is. One would think that you got infected if they saw you right now."

"You know that won't happen."

"Even still, you need to look after your body," he said. "Whether or not you have divine protection."

Divine protection was a status that was given only to mythical beasts who have broken through the seventh layer and possibly even lower or higher depending on their rarity. For instance, the Yellow Dragon was granted divine protection upon its creation while the Four Heavenly Beasts attained it after the third seal. Though the standard was seventh seal, Kuugen, who had recently broken through the fifth seal a year later was granted it. But, aside from mythical beasts, it was a known fact that humans could never obtain divine protection. That was because they were impure for what made humans, humans was their imperfection. Which was also the reason why they stunk to mythical beasts. The Heavens denied divine protection upon them for if they did happen to grant it upon them, then the only possibility that awaited them was death. After all, divine protection was pure magic and could only be accepted by a pure body. Even amongst gods and immortals, many lack this status.

But, Lucy was different. She was a child beloved by the rukh. It wasn't just her body but also her heart — the most important part of a human body — was made of pure, white rukh. Which is why she was born with divine protection.

Meanwhile, Kaede, who may appear to be real at first glance was still simply an apparition created and imbued with the hightest levels of magic, capable of continuing to grow. So such things like illnesses, diseases, and time did not affect him whatsoever.