|Libra: The scale constellation |
The two-sided scale often wielded by the goddess of justice represents two sides of a whole and balance.
On Koumei's tenth birthday, his father gave him a gift.
It was a fairly inexpensive gift that Koumei never asked for but was still happy to receive. Maybe it was Kouen or one of his sisters that noticed his sullen demeanor and mentioned it to their father and encouraged him to get the gift, but it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that Koumei finally possessed the gift.
On his tenth birthday, Koumei was given the gift of a friend.
He had total ownership of his friend. Koumei was free to name his friend, groom his friend, take his friend on walks, and even punish his friend for trying to run away. Of course, he never had to clean up after his friend for making messes, that's what the maids were for.
Koumei gave his friend the name Shoji.
The very first time Koumei took Shoji into his palace quarters he ran around with excitement and explored every inch of the room. It made Koumei laugh at how silly Shoji looked, running around like it was his very first time seeing a world that was different from the dark box he arrived in.
Koumei could say that he grew very fond of Shoji. He liked to play with Shoji's caramel brown hair and just talk and talk about the new things he was learning. Koumei liked that Shoji would sit still and listen as he talked, not even Kouen could last as long Shoji when it came to listening to Koumei ramble about a new idea.
But what Koumei liked most of all about Shoji was his eyes. They were so expressive, even without words Koumei felt like he knew what Shoji was feeling. Shoji's eyes always had a sparkle, and it was that sparkle that fascinated Koumei the most.
He could see that Touli had the same sparkle in her eyes. Her head swiveled in all directions as she took in the splendor that was her new room.
"Is this all really for me?" She asked with a voice filled with wonder.
"Well, you are a guest, I intend to treat you like one. However, keep in mind that it can easily be taken away." Koumei said. He noticed that Tolui's smile slightly dropped before stretching back out.
There was a sudden knock at the door before it opened to reveal a maid. The maid had her head bowed and a bundle of cloth in her arms.
"My Prince, I have brought some clothes for the lady."
"Good, get her ready and then bring her to my study." Koumei instructed as he walked out the door.
The hallways were empty, Koumei's footsteps seemed to thunder in his ears. His study was nearby, it was convenient to have it so close to his room even if he did end up falling asleep at his desk most nights. Now that he thought about it, Koumei couldn't remember the last time he fell asleep in his own bed at a reasonable time.
Before long, Koumei reached the familiar sight of his study's chestnut wooden door. The brass doorknob felt cool under his touch. He opened the door and entered, letting the door close behind him with a soft thud.
He was greeted with piles of papers that spanned from one edge of the desk to the other. To the average person, the papers may appear to be in a messy and random order but to Koumei each paper had a specific place and pile. He could sit at his desk and work on paperwork for hours, but even Kouen would have trouble finding the right papers in what Kouha liked to call an organized mess.
Koumei sat in the cushioned chair, a soft sigh of relief escaping his lips. His eyes grew heavy and closed for what he thought was only a few seconds.
The fluttering sound of shuffling papers caused Koumei's eyes to snap wide open. He instantly stood up, almost expecting Kouen to smack the back of his head and scold him for falling asleep. However, rather than his brother's tall stature, Koumei was met with a much smaller and darker figure.
Tolui whipped around with surprise on her face, almost as if Koumei had caught her doing something wrong. He smiled at her bewildered expression, but his smile quickly turned into a sharp frown as he spotted the papers in her hand.
"What are you doing?" Koumei snapped harshly. Tolui quickly let the papers she was holding drop to the floor as she stared at Koumei with the face of a frightened deer.
"I-uh"
"Step away now." Koumei ordered with a dangerous look in his eye. Tolui quickly clutched her hands to her chest and stepped away from the stack of papers as Koumei raced around his desk and snatched up the papers she dropped. A quick glance over them confirmed his suspicions, the paper she had been reading held confidential information about some new experiments from the underground magic laboratories.
"Care to explain yourself?" Koumei asked, but he was already coming up with his own explanation. There was no doubt in his mind that she took advantage of him being asleep to snoop through sensitive documents in order to gain information about the enemy.
Koumei felt angry. He was angry that Tolui had looked through his papers. He was angry that secret information had been leaked. Most of all, Koumei was angry at himself. He was angry that he had let his guard down and fallen asleep when he was supposed to be watching her.
If any of the information from the papers was leaked to the outside world, it would completely be Koumei's fault. Flashes of disappointment coming from Kouen and lost battles raced through Koumei's mind.
It would all be his fault simply because he slept rather than keep watch over a small girl from the plains.
"Will you promise not to be angry if I explain?" Tolui quietly choked out, one hand nervously squeezing the other. Koumei didn't say anything, his expression stern and dark. She shrank away from him, seemingly scared of his fierce demeanor.
"Can I speak?" Tolui asked, her voice quieter than before and it slightly wavered with fear.
"Speak." Koumei finally said.
"After I finished changing and cleaning up, the maid that brought the clothes led me here. She left right after we arrived at the door. I knocked but nobody answered, so I entered and found you sleeping. I came in and looked around quietly as to not wake you."
"Because you were safe to snoop around while I slept." Koumei snarked.
"Not at all! You just seemed so tired, I would hate it if someone woke me from a nap if I was as tired as you looked."
"Then tell me why you reacted the way you did. Why did you act like a thief caught with their hands around pearls? Just admit it, you were spying for the Kouga Clan."
"No, that's not it-"
"Then what?" Koumei angrily snapped.
"I didn't want to embarrass you!" Tolui suddenly exclaimed. Koumei's face fell slack and he rapidly blinked as a wave of surprise hit him.
"You didn't want to embarrass me?"
"It's just that, the handwriting on all the pages is horrible. Your letters are barely legible, I was laughing at them when you suddenly woke up. I instantly felt bad laughing, but I just can't believe that you would have such sloppy writing since you definitely seem to be the studious type."
"You were laughing at my handwriting?" Koumei asked with a dumbfounded tone as his face softened and his anger melted away. Tolui's mouth slowly grew into a smile.
"Oh yes, I found it quite funny that you have such a grand office with all these papers and such but still write as if you were on horseback." Tolui teased.
Koumei blushed slightly at her comment, his eyes glancing back down at the paper in his hand. He had never thought his writing to be messy before, but now that he looked at it, Koumei wondered how anyone was able to read it.
"W-well, my brother has never had a problem with it before." Koumei stuttered out, trying to keep his dignity.
"Really?" Tolui asked with a raised eyebrow and playful grin, "Then I really must meet this incredible man that is able to read your writing because I sure couldn't."
"As if you could do better." Koumei mumbled bashfully turning away. He quickly scooped up the papers and placed them under a heavy book on the opposite side of the desk.
"Oh, but I bet I can!" Tolui exclaimed, clearly happy to have a challenge. Koumei turned back to her with a gleam in his eye.
"Really? I doubt it, those papers were written when I was half-asleep."
Tolui simply grinned wider as Koumei opened a drawer and shuffled through it before bringing out two fresh sheets of paper. He cleared a section of his desk and laid out the clean paper before taking out a small pot of ink and two brush pens.
For some reason, he felt excited. Maybe it was the thrill of the challenge or the fact that Tolui hadn't been able to read the secrets on the papers that caused his skin to prickle. Or better yet, maybe it was the chance to regain his dignity and show Tolui that he was skilled that made lightning course through his body. Koumei motioned for Tolui to pick up one of the brushes as he picked up the other.
"We'll both write 'They met when the stars aligned, carried on the wings of birds.'"
"That sure is an interesting phrase. Where is it from?" Tolui asked with a slight twinkle of mischief in her eyes.
"It's a line from a famous poem. It's about two lovers that can only see each other once a year." Koumei explained somewhat awkwardly. He felt embarrassed that the only line he could think of at the moment came from a romantic poem. Fortunately, Tolui didn't say anything else about it.
Koumei and Tolui both picked up their brushpens and took turns dipping them into the single pot of black ink Koumei had taken out. Silence filled the room, only the subtle sound of the brushpens dragging along the paper could be heard.
Koumei focused entirely on his paper and the movement of his arm. He was used to writing quickly by flicking his wrist, but this time he was going slowly and moving his entire arm instead of just his wrist.
After a few moments, Koumei and Tolui looked up, having finished around the same time.
"I'm do-" Koumei began to say before his tongue seemed to freeze as he starred at Tolui. She had scrunched up the sleeve of her robe up around her shoulder, entirely exposing her arm.
"What's wrong?" Tolui asked with a look of confusion.
"You're being indecent." Koumei coughed out gruffly, turning his head to the side in order to avoid looking at her.
Tolui's face turned red and she quickly pulled down her sleeve. She muttered out an apology and looked down at the ground in embarrassment.
"Sorry. I'm not used to these really long sleeves. They were getting in my way."
"Whatever, just keep in mind that the etiquette here in the palace is much stricter that out in the plains. Don't expose yourself like that again, especially around a male." Koumei said curtly.
The two sat in awkward silence. The playful mood of the competition had been soured and neither knew how to restore it. Thankfully, there was a knock at the door, relieving some of the tension in the room.
"I'll get it!" Tolui yelped as she scurried over to the door. She opened it to reveal a large figure next to a smaller person.
"Brother!" Koumei exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. Kouen smiled and walked in, followed by a purple-haired woman dressed in traditional Sindrian clothing.
"Good evening Koumei. I heard Father gave you quite an interesting task." Kouen said. Though his face was almost stone-like, Koumei was able to tell that Kouen was in a teasing mood. He could hear Kouen's playful undertone and knew that Kouen was trying his best to keep his lips from forming a smirk.
Koumei's eye slightly twitched with irritation. He knew Kouen had most likely nominated him for the job of keeping an eye on Tolui.
"Oh I'm sure you've heard all about it." Koumei deadpanned, but his eyes held a small twinge of playfulness.
"Good evening! My name is Tolui Khan, it is a pleasure to meet you." Tolui interjected with a formal bow.
"Oh, yes. It is nice you meet you." Kouen said with a slight twinge of awkwardness. He was not expecting her to talk to him, considering her earlier timid behavior.
"I hope Koumei has been treating you well, I know he can be a bit oblivious when it comes to anything outside of work." The purple-haired woman said with a small chuckle.
"He has treated me very well! I'm very thankful!"
"So, what's the reason for your unexpected visit?" Koumei interrupted, not wanting the conversation to be about him anymore.
"Oh, right. Sindri wanted to invite you to dinner tonight." Kouen said, looking down at the woman beside him.
"Yes, a special shipment of Sindrian foods came in and I wanted to have a small banquet to share it with the family. Though it seems the Emperor and Empress won't be able to attend." The woman named Sindri said with a smile on her face.
"Well...I don't know. I actually have a lot of paperwork to catch up on..." Koumei droned, trying to find a way to decline without being rude to his brother's wife. He grimaced as Sindri's smile slowly shrank and disappointment filled her golden eyes.
"Come on, Koumei. The paperwork will still be there tomorrow. Besides, you'll be able to work better after a refreshing break? Isn't that right, brother?" Kouen said with a raised eyebrow.
Koumei gulped, he always found it hard to refuse his older brother, but he really didn't want to attend the banquet. Social gatherings were the bane of his existence and he tried to only attend events if it was absolutely necessary. Besides, it made him uncomfortable how Sindri kept trying to insert the culture of Sindria into their daily lives. He understood that she loved her island home, hell the damned island nation was named after her, but she was married to Kouen and Koumei felt that she should embrace the Kou culture more.
"U-unfortunately, brother, as you know I have a task to do. I must keep an eye on Father's special guest." Koumei said, motioning over to Tolui. For the first time he was glad that he was the one that had to look after her.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind if you brought her to the banquet. I had arranged for enough food for the whole family, but as I said before, some will not be attending." Sindri said excitedly, hoping that Koumei would accept her offer.
"I don't think that she would want to-"
"I would love to attend!" Tolui exclaimed with excitement, "I've never had Sindrian food before, I'm sure it's delicious."
Koumei looked at Tolui sharply with annoyance. Now he had no excuse to get out of going to the banquet, and he didn't like the idea of her going to such a personal banquet.
"Fine, I guess we'll be at the banquet tonight." Koumei sighed. He tried not to look too disappointed.
"Great, we'll see the two fo you at dinner time." Kouen smiled. He raised his arm and Sindri interlocked her arm with his. They were about to exit when Tolui called out to them.
"Oh, wait! Excuse me but before you go, could you two act as judges?"
"Judges?"
"Koumei and I actually had a handwriting competition and we need someone to judge them and declare a winner."
"Hm, what a strange thing." Sindri mused to herself with curiosity.
"Very well, let's see them then." Kouen said with amusement. He and Sindri walked over to the desk and looked at the papers with Koumei and Tolui's writing on them.
As they looked over the papers, Koumei also took the chance to glance over at Tolui's paper. Her brushstrokes looked clean and smooth, they were definitely the strokes of a learned person. Another thing that Koumei noticed was that the end stroke of each character was slightly curved with a small curl, which contrasted his own strokes that ended rather straight and solid.
"I like this one." Both Kouen and Sindri said, but they were pointing at different papers.
"Darling, that is so militarily like, I like this one because it seems more whimsical." Sindri said to Kouen as she picked up Tolui's paper.
"Exactly, it's precise and clean, a perfect blend of being practical and visually pleasing." Kouen responded, motioning to Koumei's paper.
Koumei shifted uncomfortably as Kouen and Sindri stared each other down with stubborn tension. After a few moments of the staredown, Sindri and Kouen both smiled and laughed at each other.
"I guess it's a tie." Kouen said, turning back to Koumei.
Koumei hummed, not really caring about the competition anymore. The married couple chuckled to themselves and walked out the door, leaving Koumei and Tolui alone.
"I have some paperwork to finish, sit over there until I'm done." Koumei sighed, pointing to a corner of his study. Tolui nodded and walked over to the corner, sitting down on the floor without a word, as if sensing Koumei's bad mood.
Koumei returned to his desk and sat down, pulling papers from different piles. He tried to focus on his work, but his eyes kept shifting over to Tolui. She seemed to be deep in thought, absentmindedly twisting her hair with her fingers.
Memories of Shoji returned to Koumei's mind, the second time he thought of him in years. Why did she keep reminding him of Shoji? It had been years since Shoji disappeared and Koumei had long stopped mourning the loss of his friend.
Koumei slightly shook his head and returned to his work.
Perhaps Tolui reminded him so much of his childhood friend was because they both came from the Kouga Clan.
Koumei's father had offered to buy him a new friend from the slave traders, but Koumei refused, deciding instead to completely dedicate himself to his studies and brothers.
He didn't need friends, especially those that were only with him because they were forced to be.
Hello everyone, Panama here! I hope everyone is doing well during this crazy time. It's been kinda hard for me to adjust to online school and stuff, but overall I'm doing okay. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more chapters soon both here and on The Dungeon Lily.
Please remember to be safe and wash your hands :)