The carriage ride to Gabriel's home was quiet. Sakura looked at the man sitting right across from her and can only smile warily when she saw his stiff posture.
'This man is adorably too serious. But really, who would have thought he was that knight who always stood behind Rose in all those times. I did remember his name was Kano. He wasn't of importance to Sakura because even if she did take some glances at him, he never turned to her and always had Rose in his eyes.'
Sakura leans in her hand and crossed her legs when she took a deeper look at him, her expression missing the naively that she usually held in front of others.
'I don't have to waste my time to keep a front with him, him knowing a bit of who I am wouldn't effect my social position or image.'
Sakura smirked but the look in her eyes were cold and calculating.
'Right now, even if I took a liking to him a few years back, after finding out who he is gonna be in the future, I have no other choice but to use him. If I can't win him to my side, might as well get rid of future issues from the very beginning.'
Sakura pushed aside her intrest on the man. Yet while looking at him, her eyes turn sad.
'I really took a liking to him 4 years ago.... he seems to be a upright and a man who has strong morals of justice. Sadly, those morals were used for Rose, and because of it, he always protected her and would glare at me with those piercing eyes as if looking at an enemy. Heh.. hahaha!'
Sakura snickered a bit and by recalling that moment, her eyes that looked at him in sadness and guilt, turn cold as if looking at a object of use.
'Yup, that's much better; don't form an attachment to them Sakura, remember that there is a high chance of them leaving your side, so for now, just use them as much as you can.'
Sakura closes her eyes and let's out a long sigh, with just the darkness in her vision, she thinks of her plan before she gets to Gabriel's home to pick up Adeline.
'This man is suprising in the mid tier 4th stage of strengthening magic, a type of enhancement magic. Even more interesting is that he is in mid tier last stage of barrier magic. He is both useful at attack and shielding. Maybe that is why papa placed him beside Rose, and with her personality, she won over his heart and he swore to become her personal knight. How sweet.'
A sneer appeared in her delicate childish face. At that time Kano noticed the changes in Sakura and found her to be different to how she was in the palace. He noticed that mischievous and teasing appeared she held when she looked at him turn cold and in guard with him. He felt something else when he saw that.
'.... did I do something to make her distrust me in that small amount of time? Why do I feel like she is looking at some type of enemy when she looked at me?'
Kano worriedly looks on at his young princess thinking while sitting with her eyes closed, showing the appearance of someone who doesn't wish to be bothered or even wish to speak at all.
'But for some reason.... even if my instincts tell me to be on guard with her, I can feel a sense of responsibility.... as if I need to save her, I have to keep her safe and away from all her worries.... but for what reason this feeling fills me, I do not know.'
Sakura at the time didn't know he was looking at her intently, and even if she did, she wouldn't care, especially if there is a chance he would die today, so why bother caring what a dead man thought of her?
'Right now he is the main piece to the success of my plan . He is a man who is govern by his sense of responsibility, so he would literally fight to the death to protect me and Adeline and that is what I wanted when finding a game piece.'
Her plan starts to form in her mind, as if she was a director who was directing a play.
'Aunt Sapphire won't be taking Adeline to the town this time, so her survival is set for now. Now the next cannon fodder who would die, her fate is what I have to change next.'
An image of Adeline appears in Sakura's mind.
'The moment she is taken would be her end. I could have prevented her from going out today, but I won't be a hundred percent sure she wouldn't go out and be kidnapped any other day, so I need it to happen today, where I know which day, time and place she will get taken from. Where I can actually control everything in my hands.'
The image of Adeline crying while holding her mother inside a carriage runs through her mind, but rather than Sapphire being held, it is switched with Sakura and Adeline holding onto each other while a fight is occurring outside the carriage.'
'I would be here in place of aunt Sapphire. And with Kano being here, he can head out and fight with with those cult men the moment a fight occurs. They wouldn't expect it, seeing as they would believe that Adeline and Sapphire would be the only one inside the carriage, and not a knight who is in the top 50 of the rankings done yearly inside the palace for the palace knights. All those cult bastards should be at low tier stages, maybe one or two would be at mid tier.'
The figures of men in black robes being slain one after another by Kano, the blood staining the long sword in his hand.
'The good ending to my plan is with Kano defeating all of those bastards and little to none casualties in our side. However, if their is a chance that there would be people who can rival Kano, I am positive he would die protecting us against those men, and if he dies fighting them, then I can be assured those men would be mortally wounded. A few guards can finish them off or if I have no choice, I wouldn't have a problem giving them the final blows.'
A crying and trembling Sakura would push Adeline behind her, while watching a wounded man try to grab her, only to freeze in shock, with a knife handle sticking out of his chest. The whole area there being stained by his own blood, while the one who stabbed him would look on with no expression.
'Bait them to get close, believing that they won, and just strike when they reach my side. They would be too weak to use magic and to use any real strength against us. They wouldn't expect a fatal strike from a seven year old child who is trembling with tears and snot staining her face.'
Sakura remembers that the carriage that they are riding in right now has a hidden compartment where weapons are hidden for self defense if needed.
'In the backstory of Adelines and aunt Sapphire's deaths, Aunt Sapphire opened that compartment and took out a knife hidden in it, she waited for those men to enter because she knew she wasn't strong enough to fight with her magic, she surprisingly killed two before being slashed through with wind magic.'
"Your highness."
Salura opened her eyes lazily and glanced at Kano.
"We have arrived in Great Magician Gabriel's home."
His clear and steady eyes stares into hers. A moment of hesitation and bit of guilt rose in Sakura's heart, but she squashed it before it can be shown in her exterior. She smiles at Kano.
"I see, thank you for informing me, we should get out then."
Sakura spoke in a monotone voice and waited for him to open the door.
Kano really felt something was different when he saw her expression. He hesitated in his actions, which caught Sakura's attention.
"Is something wrong? If there is something you want to say, quickly say it."
She furrowed her brows and displayed an impatient attitude.
"... your highness."
A look of resolution passed through his eyes, and inside the spacious carriage, he went on one knee and did a knight bow that represents giving their respect and alliance to one master.
Sakura sat still, the only expression that is displayed is her eyes widening in surprise.
"Your highness, do know that I meant when I said I will give my life for your safety. You are my master for henceforth and I would never betray you."
He raised his head to look into her own eyes.
"My life belongs to you and only you, if there is a day I break this oath, then I would end my own life."
'Ah, this man.... he truly is too serious for his own good.'
A sad smile was the only thing she can show. She glances to the side and looks out the window as if looking at a far a way place.
"..... you truly are a straight laced man. So serious and honest..... well, that was the reason I picked you."
She whispered the last part and quickly looked back to meet his eyes, the clarity in seeing him for himself displays through that one look.
"Then you would do so. Right now I will leave my life in your hands, and for now on you will be my sword and shield. I will put as much trust in you as I have done for my Uncle Raphael..... no, maybe even more since I will show you and use you for things that I need for the future."
She raises her hand and kept her eyes on his.
"You have formed an oath that I know knights will never dare to break, an oath that made me trust you more that I was planning ever to do. So I will be honest with you. I will use you to the the highest point you can reach, maybe even beyond it. I will have you do work for me as my most trusted comrades, but you will have no right to ask why I do those things or tell anyone what those things are, even if you believe it would endanger my life, because I known what I would do for now on would be a battle of survival. If I succeed in my goal, I would tell you after it is all over, if you survive through it. But for now, I will tell you this. What will happen today would be the catalyst of what your future will hold, if you live, then I will help you reach the levels of uncle Azrael and uncle Ariel. And if you do not, then you becoming my personal knight for my whole life was not meant to be."
Kano looked into her eyes and an unreadable expression was the only thing displayed. He just gently held her outstretched hand and placed it in his lips. His lips felt warm to the touch, but the feeling disappeared when he then placed her hand to his forehead.
'!!! An oath of pure devotion..... a person will only ever give such a display to the gods or to the divine fairy's or beasts.'
"I will give you my full devotion, my full attention. I will follow all your words and I will never question your actions. You are my master and my faith. If you ask for me to die, then I will die, if you ask for me to take another's life, that I will take that life. You will never do wrong in my eyes. The only thing I can hope to wish, is your highness to trust me with your troubles, to know I will always be at your disposal and that you can believe me to never betray you."
He let's go of her hand and his clear eyes look to her own, not an ounce of disloyalty can be seen in them. He seemed to truly speak the truth from the depths of his heart.
".... if you do well for today, then so be it."
An indescribable feeling filled Sakura. For this was the second time anyone has ever told her such a thing.
'Only my uncle Raphael would tell me such things.... the many other Sakuras..... how much did they long for someone to tell them such things, to hear another person trust them so much, to believe them..... my chest hurts, ha...hahaha. looks like choosing this idiot really was a good thing..... maybe that was why I really choose him...'
A dazed look and then she smiled and started to giggle. A heartfelt ball of laughter left her lips, and Kano just watched, he didn't understand why she started to laugh, but seeing her loose that stiff and cold expression made him unexpectedly smile.
'My lady.... seeing you laugh like this brings me an indescribable relief. For some reason, it feels like a smile that I owe you for years, I truly do not know where this feeling comes from, but I will follow it. I want to be there by your side, because for some reason, I feel like you would need it more than anyone else.'
That moment, no one knew that the one powerful knight that always stood beside Rose throughout the other routes held a sense of guilt each time the "villainess Sakura" was vanquished. He felt even more horrible when he killed her in the last route.
A sword pierced right through the chest of the corrupted Sakura. The wicked smile that would emerge in her lips froze in pain and anger, but then a warms and victorious smile filled it.
"He... cough! Hehehe..... I won, yo-cough! Bastard."
She grabs the hilt of the sword, her hands clenched on top of Kano's, and she pulled the sword to go deeper through her heart. The only reason she is alive now is because the corruption inside her body trying to keep her alive, because if she dies, then so does the high tier corruption that was already reaching the highest stage in history, so it needed the host body to live, until it completely reached that stage. And Sakura knew that.
Kano hands shook while understanding what just occured.
"You.... purposely provoked me, you aimed for me to raise my sword against you...... why?"
"Why..cough! Huff huff... why what? I... just needed someone to.... raise their sword."
"Why did you choose me? So many were out there fighting, but why did you form a portal under me and had me appear right in front of you!"
He felt the coldness of her hands clutching his own hand, she looks in his eyes and smiles warily.
"Because we do not.... have any deep connection... y-you wouldn't hesitate... cough! Cough!! To... give the finishing strike..."
The pitch darkness that used to be seen through her eyes melted away, and shower her natural and corrupted free eyes.
They were clear and told so many things, her lips held her smile, but it started to shake.
"Ha.... haha.... being stabbed, the feeling never stops being painful..... doing it the past few times myself was tiring, so why... not have someone..... else do it, and you came to thought."
Kano couldn't understand what she meant, but he felt something important was being displayed through her words, he felt like he was suffocating each time she spoke.
"You.... wanted to die...? But.... was this not what you wanted! For the world to fall, is that not why you gave yourself away to the corruption? Because of how jealous you are of my lady Rose? Because of your greed for power to overthrow her!?"
"You men.... truly are simple minded fools."
Sakura laughed but flinched in pain, her veins started to turn a deep black blue and bit by bit, cracks start to form in her skin.
"I already knew... father would love Rose more than me, I knew..... those I grew up with would treat her like an adorable flower to protect.... I just hoped, for once my future spouse would believe in me.... well, it was all too late...... when I gained all those memories the day she appeared.. and not anytime sooner."
Sakura didn't know why she was telling him all this, but maybe it was a dead girls last wish to be believed by someone, by anyone else other than Raphael.
"Ah.... my papa Raphael."
A tear left her eyes, then another and another, she clenched her teeth and raised one of her hands and used teleportation magic to teleport a recording stone in his breast pocket, then grabbed Kano's hand tightly in hers.
"Please, at least listen to my last dying wishes, tell Ra... Cough!!" A cough filled with black blood left her lips, staining her pale hands, and his white gloves.
"Please.... tell him I'm sorry for always... dragging him into this.... again, and again.... I'm sorry. I'm sorry.. and for..... the justice my mother deserves, it is all in that stone I gave you.... all the crimes.... Rose mother... committed.... and those of nobles who betrayed..... this... continent..."
Sakura wept and coughed up more of that blood, but bit by bit, a scarlet red mixed with that black blood.
"Ah..... looks like.... it.... is dying.... oh. To add to why... I choose you." She looked into his eyes and a sad smile displayed in her face.
"You are a man... who held high morals... who..... held.. a strong sense of justice....... I knew, with what you heard... you will believe me to be a villain... aiming to destroy this continent..... this world... and wouldn't think... twice.... to ra..ise your sword... at such a villainess...and... whe... you find... out the truth... you .... will.... give... justice... to me.... and moth...er... truly.... a simpleminded man... you were... in.. m..y.... eyes."
Her eyes were starting to grow dull, her lips held a smile of relief.
"I.... used.... the.. las... ounce.... of m... ration.... to... send.. y... to..... m-"
Through her talk, Kano didn't notice she let go of his hands and held the sword stabbing her chest, her skin became translucent. Like a glass statue. The sword he held, he let it go and he looks at his hands. They were shaking, that black blood mixed with her scarlet blood popped out through the white gloves he wore.
For the first time in his life, he has felt that he did an unforgiving act, an act that betrayed his morals and his justice, he shockingly turn to look at her face, and the smile full of relief was what he can see in her. As if she finally ended this farce.
"If.... I was more open minded, would this have ended in a different way...."
A portal appears right behind him and he sensed it, he turned around, only to see Raphael and the emperor pass through it. Then many other people.
"No.... no, no, no Noooo!!"
Raphael ran up the steps and pushed Kano to the side, his hands shakily reached to touch Sakura's face, his eyes were filled with tears and he stared into her last expression.
"Is this why you sent me so far away? Is this why you told me to betray that bastard in the last minute, because you found a way to free yourself? Was this the only way you found?"
Raphael wept bitterly. The emperor stood behind him and his eyes held disbelief, he reached out but stopped just inches away from her.
Only the weeping of Raphael filled the room. Kano stood to the side with his head lowered, his hands clenching in a fist.
'If I have a chance, I hope to watch over her to atone for this sin. If there is another life, I will give my life to her.'
What Kano didn't know, he would be given that chance and he would do just that, he would be beside her and would give his all to protect her.