Day 5th, Week 7th of Winter, year 20th of Hakumei

“You would never know what fate brought to you. You could make plans, but you could never be certain whether it would work as you want. When the reality was not as beautiful as your dream, you might curse and cry over it.”

That’s what Lady Shida Mirai wrote in her journal the first time she heard about the arranged marriage order of her and the second prince Yamada Ryosuke years ago.

But then, in her last entry, she revised what she wrote by adding that “We may curse and cry, but we always have another choice to take a different point of view and see the beauty behind the cruelty. It is our choice to make the reality as a disaster or a blessing. Fate is not cruel at all, that’s what I concluded after going through life so far and learning about people around me. Fate always gives us what we needs, not what we wants. There is always a meaning behind all that happen in our life.”

In another part of her journal, she wrote that “Being happy or not depends on yourself.” That was what Prince Yamada Ryosuke told her the night they met in Amanogawa.

Lady Shida Mirai and Prince Yamada Ryosuke... the last king and queen of Hakumei...

The way they thought about life and fate was beautiful, and I have been developing the same belief of both. Sure once the hurdle passed, the other and the bigger ones are awaiting their turns. So am I, waiting for them to come and pass so that I will know how far I can go on this path. But for now, enjoying what I could is one I should do, without forgetting that the most important lesson I’ve learned is that living always means fighting. Even in the happiness, we should fight not to lose ourselves, shouldn’t we?

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“Father! Mother!”

A loud voice rang around Nakajima residence in the heart of Hakumei’s capital. In the middle yard, General Nakajima Yuto halted abruptly from the sword training he was currently doing, so did his son who was his opponent, Nakajima Ryosuke. The lady of the house, Nakajima Suzuka emerged from her room with her youngest child, Nakajima Shina, followed closely behind.

As the yell got louder, they saw a young woman of  eighteen years old bounced toward them. It was the first born, Nakajima Mayuko. She was smiling widely while holding a piece of paper.

Seeing his daughter coming, Yuto hopped onto the hallway where Suzuka and Shina was standing. He was delightful to see Mayuko’s happy face, and also relieved because previously he had worriedly thought that something not good might have happened.

“What is it, Mayuko?” It was his wife who inquired first when their daughter arrived before them.

“Mother, Father, everyone, I have a good news!” Mayuko waved the paper in her hand enthusiastically.

“Let me guess,” he said playfully. “You got the highest rank in your examination?”

“It’s more than that, Father,” Mayuko indirectly confirmed the assumption, still grinning widely. “My internship proposal is granted! I will be able to take a year of internship in East Royal Academy!”

“Unbelievable, sister! You disturbed my training just because of that?” from the yard, they heard a sarcastic response.

He saw Mayuko frowned at the speaker who none other than his only son, her younger brother.

“Oh, sorry then Ryo-chan,” there was no hint of sorry in Mayuko’s tone. “I mean, sorry to say that my news is more important than your training.”

He and Suzuka could only sigh in amusement while Shina was shaking her head at her siblings antics. They had been used to see Mayuko and Ryosuke’s banter after all.

“It’s not that we didn’t expect it, though,” Ryosuke replied nonchalantly. “We knew from the beginning that you’ll be accepted anyway. So you shouldn’t be overreacted like that. And stop calling me Ryo-chan! I’m not a kid, mind you.”

“Well, you’re still fifteen, so technically according to Hakumei’s law you’re still considered as a kid,” Mayuko smirked in triumph.

To prevent the banter escalating, he quickly intercepted, “So, my Mayu-chan got the highest rank and got a chance to be an intern in East Royal Academy?”

That succesfully drew Mayuko’s attention. Her frown disappeared. She beamed at them, announcing, “Yes, Father, and guess what! I’m included in the group that will be trained directly by Tanaka Ainosuke-san!” She squealed happily.

“Who is Tanaka Ainosuke-san, Mother?” He heard Shina asked Suzuka.

“He is just someone Mayu-neechan admire, Shi-chan,” Ryosuke answered first.

“He is not just someone!” Mayuko defended. “Tanaka Ainosuke-san is the head of Medical Association in Hakumei. It’s very difficult to reach that position unless someone is beyond expert that the other doctors and paramedics agreed on choosing him, you know. So, he is currently considered as the best doctor in our country, and maybe in the world, too.”

“And young, and handsome,” Ryosuke added, in a bored tone.

“That’s not my reason to admire him! Don’t believe in your brother, Shi-chan,” Mayuko rebut.

“But is he really handsome?” Shina’s eyes glinted with curiosity.

Somehow he was worried that his eleven year old daughter had had interest in boy.

“I don’t know. I never see him,” Mayuko shrugged. “But people said so. They also said that it was difficult to meet him because he is so busy. Even not every of higher officers knows his face.”

“But Father probably knows,” Ryosuke pointed.

His children turned all the attention to him. Suzuka looked at him, too, anticipating his answer. He chuckled briefly, saying, “Yes, I do. And they’re right, he is handsome.”

“I heard that he is not much older than me, is that right, Father?”

He pretended to think, “Hmm... yeah, he should be just a few years older than you.”

“Is he kind?” Mayuko suddenly showed a worried face. “Because I heard he is so strict in teaching. How if I’m not good enough for his standard?”

“Well, since you’ll learn directly from him, you may see it yourself, Mayuko-chan,” he shrugged. “But one thing I can assure you, he values hardwork.”

He saw Mayuko breathe in relief.

“When will you depart, dear?” he heard Suzuka asked.

Mayuko looked at the paper in her hand, reading, “It is... next week! Eh?!”

“What’s wrong?” he asked rather worriedly when he saw Mayuko’s eyes widened.

“Ah, it’s... the other groups will only start their internship next month, a week before the spring, but for Tanaka-san’s group, we need to be there by next week, personally requested by Tanaka-san himself,” Mayuko’s tone still sounded distant, as though not believing what she was saying.

“You should pack your things soon, then,” Suzuka calmly adviced her. “You’ll need at least five days to reach Far East Province so you don’t have much time.”

Mayuko heaved a big sigh, then dragged herself to her bedroom.

“Ryosuke, Shina, go help your sister,” Suzuka soon added instruction.

“Eh? Why me?” Ryosuke whined.

Suzuka smiled, “Remember what day is tomorrow?”

Their two children thought over it, and then Ryosuke sighed, answering, “Neechan’s birthday.”

“Oh, Mayu-neechan’s birthday? Woah!” Shina bounced up excitedly.

“If she doesn’t finish packing today, we will not have any chance to celebrate it tomorrow, and—“

“Yes, yes,” Ryosuke started taking steps toward Mayuko’s chamber. “I understand, Mother.”

As soon as she saw her brother trotted down the hallway, Shina quickly followed after him, leaving him and Suzuka alone.

“It’s so sad,” suddenly Suzuka muttered.

“Huh?” he did not understand what she meant.

Suzuka looked up to him, “Whenever I should talk about Ainosuke as if he is a stranger, I feel so sad.”

“It can’t be helped, Suzuka,” though he said it, he felt the same sadness inside. “This is his own request, and though we don’t want to exclude him, this is the way we can support him.”

Ainosuke had accepted the offer to lead the project of establishing East Royal Academy in winter more than two years ago. When Yuma gave them news that Ainosuke was interested with the offer they made, the news came with a request from Ainosuke, that he wanted to meet all the people knew about his real identity. So, immediately they set up a secret meeting in one of Yuya’s residences in North Province. All men from the secret pact but Hikaru were present.

“I was planning to establish my own medical school in South East Province before Uncle Yuma offered me the project.”

He remembered Ainosuke started confidently before them all.

“I wanted to serve Hakumei in my own way and pace,” Ainosuke resumed the speech. “But, now that you ask me to lead the project while I still have another plan on my own which you offer to help, I have a request. This request should be met if you do want me to work under spotlight, Uncles.”

“Let’s hear it,” Ryutaro replied.

“As you all might have known from Uncle Hikaru, aside from serving Hakumei as Father and Mother wished, I also have a little dream of my own. I want to give a proper ending to my parents’ story. I don’t want people to speculate carelessly about them, particularly about Mother. I want to give her what she deserved. That’s why I created the identity of Little Prince. That name is a reminder for myself, about the dream I wish to realize, though back then I still didn’t know what to do to make it comes true. But Fate was kind enough to show me the way when I was studying in Kyoukai.”

Ainosuke’s gaze was distant as he recalled his story.

“Domoto-sensei saw my painting. He recognized my talent. That was the time I started to make a plan. I asked him to help me making a name as an artist. Though he didn’t know the reason, he had sworn to keep the secret that Little Prince is me as a gratitude that I had saved his grandson’s life from an accident. No one beyond this circle but him knew about the real identity of Little Prince. That’s why when the time comes,  part of the truth that will be revealed will not endanger the secret you all have been protecting. However,” Ainosuke paused.

Catching our gazes, Ainosuke calmly spoke, “However, you insist for me to reveal myself. I don’t really understand why it should be me to lead the project while there are hundred of doctor and paramedic in Hakumei you could choose. I was told that it was because of my reputation and abilities, but really... would you risk the secret because you want to build a school faster?”

“It’s not just a school, Ainosuke,” Ryutaro responded. “This project will signify that we government are fulfilling our promise to build eastern region which has been rather marginalized since long. It’s a way to prevent rebellions.”

“And the secret will be safe within our circle,” Yuri added.

“Uncles, the secret won’t be safe when I put my other plan into reality. They would know about the existence of Yamada’s last decendant, and it would be impossible to prevent them from digging into anything suspiciously related to me, including my resemblance with Father.”

“Ainosuke,” Yuya spoke. “You said you want to give a proper ending for your parents’ story. I understand how important it is for you. But which one more important: that or helping your country?”

“If it was Father and Mother, they must have chosen the last answer, but I want both.” Ainosuke sighed. “Uncle Yuma told me that you would falsify the documents of my life record. That way it would enable me to work under spotlight while I run my other plan.”

“That’s right,” Ryutaro answered. “I’ll have Chinen-kun cover it.”

Ainosuke shook his head, “Uncle, I believe you’ve thought carefully over this. But you can’t deny that there is still possibility that someone might be clever enough to find a hole in your scenario. If not now, then possibly in years from now. If they find out about the secret, it will not only jeopardize your hardworks. It will also taint Father and Mother’s name, and all of you. Despite the new era have been doing good, knowing they have been deceived... people will probably take it the wrong way. It’s our nature for despissing to be lied to.”

They all went to silence. Ainosuke was right. Though they did it for good intention, people would still be angry for being deceived all this time. They would likely thought that the change from kingdom to nation-state was forced upon them. The latent danger which came from them who wished to resurrect the privillege of nobles might manifest in terrifying force.

“So,” Ainosuke pulled their attention. “For the sake of Hakumei, grant me this request. Please, erase Tanaka Ryosuke and his family from Hakumei’s record, and cut all your tie with me from now on.”

He turned sharply to look at Ainosuke, “What!?”

“You don’t need to go that far, Ainosuke,” Daiki gasped.

“Just trust us. We will manage to keep the secret while you’re working for both plans,” Yuri said.

“Uncles,” Ainosuke turned to see each of their eyes, “I believe you’ve realized all these risks I just talked about, but you deliberately ignore them. That is... for me, am I wrong?”

No one of them answered.

“If it is indeed because you all fear it would hurt me, please don’t let it bother you,” Ainosuke said. “I might be lonely, but I know I’m never alone. Isn’t it the credo you all have learned long before... that sacrifing one for saving a thousand is always the best choice?”

He, and every of them, were reluctant to respond, not because they were ignorant, but because they did not want to make that choice. Each of them had been feeling guilty over Ryosuke and Mirai’s lost, they didn’t want to add another guilt by leaving Ainosuke without anyone to take care of him. At least, Ainosuke deserved to be with his family, they thought. But what Ainosuke asked, to cut all the tie, to erase all association to him, it felt like they abandoned him and betrayed the promise each of them made before Mirai and Ryosuke’s grave, that they would take care of Ainosuke and Mirai-chan.

“Please don’t risk anything, Uncle,” Ainosuke pleaded. “You all have worked hard to create this era. Don’t let your sympathy over a single person ruins that. You can write my record as an unknown orphan resulted from Yamada-Okamoto war whom granted the name Tanaka. That way, though people may get curious about me, they won’t have any resource to find my identity. And once my own plan finish, we all can bury the secret forever without worrying it will be found out. That way, we all can start a whole new life.”

He remembered the meeting ended a couple hours after that, resulting the deal as Ainosuke requested. The plans then were quickly carried out. Tanaka Ryosuke, Tanaka Mirai, and Tanaka Ainosuke soon were erased from all their life records. No trace of their interactions was left. It was harder for Keito since he had to conceal Ryosuke and Mirai’s graves until the time comes. Akari and Hana were the only persons outside the circle who knew about Tanaka family, though for Hana, she was only familiar with Ainosuke and not really knew about his parents. Akari was the only one who was old enough to remember all the events involving Ryosuke and Mirai when they were still alive. Keito had expressed a consideration of telling his daughter the truth, but they all rejected the idea. And thus so far, their children did not know about the existence of Ryosuke’s family, and probably they would never know.

“Yuto,” Suzuka’s voice called out to him.

He shook his head slightly, “What?”

“You’re sad, too, no?” Her gaze softened.

“I won’t deny it,” he shrugged. “Indeed, I’m sad. But at least Ainosuke is enjoying his work.”

He could see the spark of life in Ainosuke’s eyes when the younger man drowned himself in his work. It had been the third year since the establishment of East Royal Academy, but the school itself just started a year ago. Yet, in a short time, it had gained popularity.

Ainosuke’s first appearance before Hakumei’s parliament and government was impressive. Avoiding to be recognized and associated with Ryosuke, the young man had purposedly altered his looks. With a thin beard and mustache, and wearing eyeglasses, no one would see the resemblance of Ainosuke to Ryosuke unless they looked carefully at him. Ainosuke had come to them with a detailed proposal and made a convincing presentation before the parliament, and the project of establishing East Royal Academy had then started without much a hassle. Ainosuke had also avoided visiting the capital or meeting with central government officers as much as possible ever since.

“He has been pushing himself so hard. I hope he will take a good care of himself,” Suzuka deeply concerned.

“He is doing his best for Hakumei so I believe people around him will take care of him, too.”

“I pray so.”

They were about retreating to their chamber, but a maid rushed to them.

“A soldier was just sent to give you a call, Nakajima-sama,” the maid reported. “Prime Minister demands your presence in the grand chamber now, Sir.”

“Grand chamber?” he wondered out loud. “I don’t remember we’ll have a big meeting in near time.”

Grand chamber in the Governmental Building usually would only be used as the place to hold the semiannual meeting with all the provincial governments of Hakumei which needed a vast space, while the regular meeting with central governmental officers or the smaller ones usually was held in the meeting room of Prime Minister’s office. So, to be called to come to the grand chamber made him wonder.

“The messenger only said that it is an emergency meeting, Sir, so Prime Minister asks you to come as soon as you receive the message.” The maid explained more.

“Alright,” he said while dismissing the maid.

When he turned to Suzuka, without being asked, she nodded, “I’ll prepare all you need. You better clean yourself first.”

He followed Suzuka’s advice. He took a quick bath, then, with Suzuka’s help, put on his military attire. After slipping his sword in his waist tie, he gave Suzuka a peck on her lips and told her to relay to their children that he might not manage to have dinner at home that night. His stable-boy had waited with his stallion at the main entrance of his mansion when he emerged from the door. Taking the rein from the young man, he quickly mounted the beast and galloped toward Hakumei’s Palace.

Arriving at the grand chamber which was the ex-royal council meeting hall, he saw some of Ryutaro’s ministers had arrived. Confused was the common expression he could see on their face. He sauntered his way toward the place where his subordinates, the head of navy division, Morimoto Shintaro, and the head of the cavalry, Nakajima Kento, were conversing with each other. Noticing him approaching them, they stopped talking and bowed to him. They all entered the grand chamber to wait for Ryutaro.

Not long after he arrived, the slender figure of Morimoto Ryutaro emerged from the door, followed by his assistants, and some of his advisors, including Arioka Daiki.

“I’ll not dillydally to tell you the reason I call for an emergency meeting,” Ryutaro’s voice echoed around the room, demanding everyone’s attention as he started.

“Has come to me a report from the south border,” Ryutaro continued his speech. “Some of you might have known that the local goverment of South East Province reported unusual deaths a few weeks ago. Thus, we had asked the head of East Royal Academy to conduct a research, while the reports of the unusual death kept coming to me till the level that worrying. A few hours ago, a complete report and recommendation has been submitted from the investigating team. I’ll leave the detail for later meeting, but the point is that they concluded that the deaths were caused by unidentified disease. And missed from our knowledge is the fact that this disease has taken more than a hundred life only in a month, and currently there are more than two hundreds life are suffering and more than two thousands people are potentially suspected.”

Murmur of anxiety started rising in the hall, while he threw his gaze around looking for Chinen Yuri, the head of Intelligence Bereau, who was still not present at the moment.

“Tanaka Ainosuke-san has sent me petition to set some areas near the south border in isolation,” Ryutaro looked grimmer as he relayed the message. “He warns us about the possibility of this disease become pandemic.”

A hand was raised soon, interrupting, “Does the local government have taken a step to handle this?” It was the minister of health.

“Yes, they have been cooperating with East Royal Academy’s medical department, but regarding the isolation, we need to discuss it mo—“

Ryutaro’s speech was cut off by the knock on the door. Every head turned to the direction and saw General Chinen Yuri rushed his steps toward the prime minister. Yuri handed a roll of parchment to Ryutaro who then read it immediately. After muttering something to each other which no one could hear, Ryutaro let Yuri sit among the attendees. He met gaze with Yuri as the smaller man walked to his seat, and realized right away that what Yuri brought just now was not a good news.

“Tanaka-san has sent an update,” Ryutaro hollered. “He is leaving to the south border with his chosen paramedics, and he requests for reinforcement. You get the message, I assume. If Tanaka-san has to handle this case by himself, it means this is a very dangerous disease. We’ll isolate the area listed by Tanaka-san and gather enough paramedics to be sent for helping right away. Any objection?”

No one raised hand to object. It was the protocol that the head of any division should not leave his post unless there was dire circumstance and Ainosuke now was considered as an important figure in Hakumei, so... He believed that everyone understood.

Soon, Ryutaro added, “General Nakajima, I need the Defence Force to move first while we’re planning for the steps to handle this case.”

He stood up and walked toward the podium when Ryutaro gestured him to take the parchment Yuri gave him previously.

“This is the list of suspected area,” Ryutaro said once the parchment was in his hold. “Get your people to secure them. Do it swiftly but don’t rush. We don’t want unnecessary ruckus.”

“As you wish. Then I’m asking your excuse, Sir,” he said.

Ryutaro nodded, “You may leave.”

He turned around and gestured to his subordinates to follow him. He caught a glimpse of Yuri stood up and followed him, too. When they hurried their steps toward the Defence Force Station, Yuri halted him and asked for a brief moment to talk, so he instructed his subordinates to go ahead of him.

“I have sent Yuji to the border,” the first sentence Yuri said had surprised him.

Yuji...

Takuma Yuji, the son of Takuma Kenji, the farmer he met near the south border, or none other than the pronounced died Chinen Kei, Yuri’s older brother. He had promised not to tell Yuri that Kei was still alive, but it seemed that the man himself had changed his mind. About six years ago, Yuji showed up before Yuri, asking to be taken as his student. But when Yuri did some tests, it turned out that Yuji had mastered the skills of shinobi, and the rare ones to be said. Right away, Yuri recognized the move and patterns, and those were definitely Kei’s.

Shortly, Yuri visited Yuji’s parents, and eventually met his brother. He did not know what happened between them since Yuri did not tell him, but in the end, Yuji was accepted to be one of the trainers in Intelligence Academy. Yuji was the youngest among the trainers, but had been considered as the fastest and smartest, so people were not surprised to know Yuji had gained a high position as Yuri’s right hand man.

And to send Yuji...

“Should an unexpected happens, he will be able to send us words soon,” Yuri answered without being asked.

He nodded in understanding.

“I’ll brief you about the current circumstance so you will be able to arrange the plan for your soldiers,” Yuri added.

“Thanks, Chii. Let’s go then,” he gestured Yuri to walk on. And so, they two hurried toward Yuto’s office to discuss things.

**********

“How is my daughter?”

In the heart of the neighbor kingdom, Heiwa, a father asked. He was Shida Hikaru. He was watching anxiously at the figure lying unconsci