[YUZUKI]
"She didn't show up, did she?" Yuzuki asked on the third day after she had sent Rinko and the other servants to the border.
The result had been the same, and while a part of her was assuming that Ayami Araki had suddenly gotten clever and caught wind of what they were doing, the other refused to come to terms with the possibility that the mating ball was all that stood between the two of them.
There was no certainty that Ayami Araki was the mate that Yuzuki was looking for, and yet the one goddess had minded it so casually like that was her way in.
It was chaotic, and Yuzuki understood it a little too well, but even then, she couldn't deny that this was a potential suicide, not that she was scared of dying a second time anyway.
"No, your highness. She didn't," Rinko said, and Yuzuki sighed.
She knew that this was bound eventually and that she had to stop relying on one bit of the plan. She had to figure out different ways to counter any disappointment because otherwise this new life she had been given and power wouldn't mean shit.
She had to live and fight, if not for herself then for Matsui. And if the moon goddess let her, then she would spend whatever was left of her life as Kuramitsu, dealing with Kazuya Yamashita.
"When is the mating ball?" Yuzuki asked after a short silence. She wasn't worried about the ball, no. She wasn't even worried about getting into Yamashita. She was a servant who had found a way into Ayami Araki's heart.
Granted, there were chances that her attempts with Ayami were forged in emptiness, but then she had to hope. She had to believe that there was something unconditional in the way that Ayami had interacted with her.
Surely it had just been for a day, but then the three weeks she had been cooped up in reports and data about Yamashita, she had had people standing in for her. That had to count for something eventually.
"Tomorrow…" Rinko said, unsure of what this would mean for them and the entirety of Kuramitsu. The queen had taken a strange liking to the great warrior of the enemy kingdom, and honestly, it was just not something Rinko had expected.
Perhaps she was hoping that she was overthinking it. But in all her years of serving the Kurayami queen, she had never seen the woman this obsessed and determined at the same time.
"Your majesty… if you allow, may I ask a question?" Rinko dared, her heart in her stomach as she tried to think of the possibilities of all this. She could see that there was a change in her, and it wasn't just because of Ayami.
Something happened when the queen drowned. Something had changed and had brought her back a different person. Someone so filled with rage, the kind that Rinko hadn't ever seen before.
Maybe it was the anger that came with drowning, or maybe it was because the drowning had forced their queen into a corner, and she had come back worse than before.
"Of course," Yuzuki said, not bothering to lift her head from the reports she had been studying. She had gone through them a thousand and one times, and yet she still wanted to understand more about Yamashita and the bonds that had been created.
"Are we going to war with Yamashita after the mating ball?" Rinko voiced carefully.
She knew she could be turned into mincemeat with just one glance, but she needed to know. Sure, she was a servant, but by now, Yuzuki knew that her servants weren't exactly the usual servants.
They were warriors wrapped up in servant wear and were hidden in plain sight.
They were almost the backbone of a kingdom that had a queen no one had ever seen. A queen who had remained a mystery and yet one whose actions to protect Kurayami had been seen and felt by the kingdoms beyond their neighbors.
"Kazuya has three mistresses and none of them has ever given birth for him. Does he want to stay without an heir his whole life?" Yuzuki asked, ignoring Rinko's question. What was she even supposed to tell her then?
That she was Yuzuki Fukada, and she was determined to burn down Yamashita with everything in it?
That she was going to declare war on the kingdom that had taken everything from her and forced her to watch as the king himself tore through the people who had trusted her so easily?
Was she supposed to tell Rinko that the only way she would rest was if Kazuya was dead?
Oh, but there were so many things that Yuzuki had planned for Kazuya, and none, not even dear Rinko standing there before her, was going to stop her from achieving it all.
"King Kazuya always believes that the people of Yamashita are his heirs. In his latest will, he declared that his kingdom would be left in the capable hands of enforcer Ayami, who would oversee an election for the next king of Yamashita.
"He never handed over the kingdom to anyone as far as the acknowledged on him insists," Rinko said, and Yuzuki sighed.
She wanted more.
She needed more.
Kazuya had taken everything from her, and she needed to ensure that Ayami was the daughter that man was hiding. It was not even a far stretch as of now, and with the rumors being so loud yet slow, Yuzuki needed to be certain.
She needed to make sure that no one would ever question whatever the fuck she did with the people of Yamashita and most especially their king.
"The enforcer has been training along the borders for months now, but her sessions intensified when I had the accident. Her presence has been noted on one too many occasions for it all to just be a simple training session.
"She is planning something, and we need to be ready for anything. Yamashita must not get one over Kurayami in any way. That is why I needed the reports to understand if we had a weakness that could be explored.
"I believe we don't, or are you a weakness to Kurayami, Rinko?" Yuzuki asked even though she knew the answer. Rinko was fiercely loyal to Queen Kuramitsu. It was insulting to even think that she could ever betray the werewolf queen.
She worshipped the Kuramitsu queen, and Yuzuki was just glad to have her on her side. And if ever Rinko became a thorn in her plans for Yamashita, Yuzuki would eliminate her without so much as a second thought.
That much she was sure of.
"Then we need to get you ready for the ball tomorrow," Rinko said, and to that, Yuzuki laughed. She couldn't believe that this was real. She was to be prepped to go back into her home, the one place she had lived her entire life.
She had been a good warrior for Yamashita before she had been appointed as her pack's alpha.
She had known the ins and outs of the kingdom, and the only thing that had made her a target for the king was that Matsui, her dear mate, had refused to give the king the chance to mess around with both of them. .
That right there was the most fucked up thing that Kazuya had ever done and he would pay for it.
"No need. You and I will be part of the unmated wolves that will attend the ball. I protect myself, and since I have a feeling you will nag me to death if I don't let you come along, make sure you are not my shadow.
"The Yamashitas are expecting the worst tomorrow, and we cannot give them the pleasure of thinking that they have the Kurayami queen or a royal at the ball, for that matter.
"The council members do what they have to do. Is that clear?" Yuzuki said.
Rinko nodded.
There was nothing for them to work on.
The queen they had known always handled herself carefully, but deep down, Yuzuki knew she needed to prepare. Not because she was going in as the hidden queen of Kurayami, but because she would have to see what Kazuya had done to the Fukada pack.
She had to see what her home had been made into. It was dangerous, but then with this new life, Yuzuki Fukada was easily the most dangerous woman in the realm. Even worse than Ayami Araki.
"I shall take my leave then, your majesty. Have a good afternoon," Rinko bowed before leaving Yuzuki with a thousand and one thoughts about the next day.