Raya sat opposite to Isamu and she stared at him with fierceness in her eyes. There was a heavy presence of guards in the room and Raya said, "Hello Isamu."
"Hello, your majesty. I'm happy to see you." said Isamu.
"What is it you wish to say to me?"
"It's about Jiro."
"I already know that." Said Raya bluntly.
"Your highness, back in Tail before Jiro received the position of being a Chief, he would constantly prey on vulnerable females like yourself and-"
"Let me stop you right there. I am not vulnerable! If you can speak to me without using any degrading words, that'd be very much appreciated." said Raya.
"Very well, I'm sorry your highness. Jiro would force himself on those females and he always spoke about...you. At the celebration of Kumandra when every land came here to Heart and celebrate, he wouldn't stop staring at you and speaking some...things about you. Too inappropriate for me to say in this setting. I knew that he would go out his way to do stuff and when he told me that he was invited here for the meeting about the Madilians, I felt...uneasy. And then after hearing what he's done to you, I felt like I could have prevented this by telling your father and I can't help but feel as though I'm somehow responsible." explained Isamu.
Raya's expression softened and she said, "Isamu, you're not responsible for what Jiro did to me. I know you feel some guilt but you are not to blame for the actions of another man. What is your relationship to him?"
"He's my cousin..."
Raya sighed and held down her head and didn't immediately speak but eventually she said, "I'm sorry for wrongfully imprisoning you. And thank you for being so open but just as I said, you were not the one who carried out the actions to me. It was Jiro. You may return to your home and be free of any form of guilt that you may have had."
"Thank you your majesty." Said Isamu, his eyes saturated with tears.
"Do you want to...talk about this some more?" asked Raya.
"Yes please, Princess." whispered Isamu while briefly eying Chief Benja.
"We'll be back soon Ba." said Raya.
The Chief nodded once with a gentle smile and Isamu and Raya went out. Isamu unexpectedly embraced her and said, "There's something more I really need to tell you, your highness. Please don't kill me for it."
Raya raised a brow and pushed him off herself gently. "And what is that?"
"I too have spoken about you sexually with Jiro...I said some really crazy things."
"Like what?"
"Things I'd want to do with you...touch you, make out with you and more." Said Isamu.
Raya grimaced briefly then said, "Isamu."
"Yes Princess?"
"People have the right to talk. Talking sexually about someone and sexually assaulting someone are two different things." said Raya. "I said it before and I'm reiterating it. Jiro carried out the actions, not you."
"I'm just...so sorry for speaking about you like that. I truly am."
"I accept your apology Isamu. My father told me something before we met with you and I'm going to say it to you now. I'm happy you're owning up to what you did. Now, I want you to return home, okay?"
"Y-yes Princess. I'm just really...hyper. I've never really spoken to anyone of a royal status."
"I thought you and Jiro would be."
"The Tail Chief that died over a year ago had no successor so they nominated Jiro and a few others and they challenged each other. The winner would be Chief of Tail. Jiro won and that's how he became Chief. The other nominees suffered some horrible injury when they went up against him. But the mistake was that they judged solely on fighting strategy and didn't examine the individuals' background." explained Isamu.
"And that's something that should be changed." said Raya.
"Yeah but now that he committed a crime punishable by death, I think Maru will receive the title of being Chief."
"Maru...the representative of Tail?" asked Raya as she thought back to the recent meetings.
"Yes."
"Do you know of him having any history of violence?" asked Raya.
"No your highness. As far as I know, he is a very noble man that cares for his family. He was one of the nominees to be Chief but since he's much older than Jiro, he didn't possess as much stamina but he performed the best and became commander." replied Isamu.
"Well that's good. But as for now, Jiro's punishment awaits him and I think you really need to return home to Tail."
"I will your highness. I honestly don't want to be here to witness it."
"Good. Safe travel."
"Thank you." replied Isamu while bowing to her then exiting the palace.
Raya returned to the meeting room and said, "He's returning home."
"Okay. Is everything okay?"
"Yes Ba. May we have some privacy?"
"Of course."
Chief Benja turned to the guards and said, "Thank you for your presence and you may leave the Princess and I to some privacy."
The guards vacated the room and Raya told her father what Isamu told her.
"This is very disturbing. Tail really needs some help because their leadership is very weak apparently."
"I fully agree Ba." replied Raya.
"I also have something to ask you dewdrop."
"Okay Ba."
"Do you want to see the execution of Jiro? I know you were traumatized already and so I don't want witnessing it to add to that past trauma"
"Y-yes I want to." replied Raya.
"Think about it deep. I don't want this to be something else that mentally affects you in the future."
"I will truly be at peace when I see that the monster that assaulted me has been taken out." replied Raya.
"Okay dewdrop."
The rest of the day was pretty tense for Raya as she thought about Jiro's execution and whether he was sincere when he spoke to her. She was also having second thoughts about this fate. Was he truly deserving of that kind of death?
"Raya is everything okay? You've been really restricted all day." Said Namaari while approaching her.
Raya was startled a bit but she turned to her and said, "Oh uh- hey Namaari, I'm okay, don't worry about me."
"You know that I will worry even if you tell me a million times not to." Said Namaari.
She wrapped her arms around Raya and kissed her lips. "Tell me what's bothering you."
Raya sighed then said, "I feel- really hesitant about Jiro."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know if I should really give the go ahead for him to be executed."
"You already did and I don't think that can magically be undone by you saying otherwise. All the Chiefs and representatives from the other lands will be here tomorrow to witness his execution. All is arranged. Why are you thinking about this so much and showing pity for the man that tried to kill you in a horrendous way? What? You wanna spare him so he can do even worse to another woman?" said Namaari.
Raya only sighed and a tear slowly made its way down her face. "You- you don't understand."
"Then help me understand Raya."
"When we spoke earlier, he seemed...genuine. Like he was truly sorry." said Raya.
"Raya, many people know how lenient and kind you are. People will take advantage of your emotions for their own benefits. Men do that a lot to females because they think we're too emotional. Don't let those new feelings you're having about Jiro get in the way of what must be done." explained Namaari.
Raya looked up at her and their eyes locked. "Didn't you try to kill me once?"
That question took Namaari by complete surprise and she looked away from Raya and said, "I think the circumstance under which an event took place should determine what comes next. Yes we were sworn enemies once. You and I both tried to kill each other in a fit of rage. I- I killed Sisu and you had a right to be mad at me. But in the moment, you were to blame because you fired the weapon."
"You were the one who drew it! anyone would want to defend themselves and the ones they care for!" yelled Raya.
"Raya, please calm down. I see you're still upset about that day. Can you just allow me to finish speaking?"
"Hurry up." Said Raya impatiently.
"What I'm saying is, it looked differently to both of us. At that time, I'm to blame in your eyes and in my eyes, you were to blame. I'm not digging up buried feelings to let them loose again but- I didn't violate you. I wasn't really a threat to you. I was being controlled. Jiro freely confined you and physically and sexually abused you! Tell me. Did he say why he did it?" explained Namaari.
In a much calmer tone, Raya said, "He did...no real reason. Just lust."
"Exactly. And that makes him a monster! The human in you wants to see him as another human being but he is a monster. And if you dare let him go, you're going to regret it. Mark my words." said Namaari angrily before walking away from Raya.
Raya only sighed and a few more tears made their way down her face. She looked off into the blue, the sunset's oranges bringing life to her already beautiful, glowing appearance. Someone then gently hugged her from behind and whispered, "It's okay."
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What comes next? Stick around to find out! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!