8 Cornered Beast [pt2]

"Cut to the chase. Where is young Lady Yoko? We are here to see her, not to chitchat." Everyone held their breaths once they heard Lady Suzuki's words.

Her tone was crisp and left no room for negotiation. Those who heard her speak could not help but shudder at the force it carried over.

Even Sakura's body trembled when that commanding voice reached her ear. But she had to hold her ground and not give an inch.

"Lady Yoko is getting ready. I am afraid that there was an accident before Lady Suzuki's arrival. Please excuse our Lady for a bit."

Sakura was quick to apologize on behalf of Yoko. Her father did not say anything which Sakura counted as a win in her book.

"Oh? Is that really so? Then, perhaps we should go back for today."

"No, don't. I mean, there is no need for Lord Helios and Lady Suzuki to go back today. The accident is already being taken care of. I will instruct someone to bring Yoko to us."

Sakura cursed inside her mind at her father's quick mouth. He had managed to ruin a perfect opportunity by making that excuse.

'It is my fault. I overestimated my father's intelligence. I should ever have told him to try and make Lord Helios feel pity for the 'mentally ill' Yoko.'

Before coming here, Sakura had a simple plan she had discussed with her father.

Lord Helios had initially decided to marry Yoko because of her poor circumstances and her inability to stand alone in court. But it was no longer going to last if Lord Helios saw Yoko's current personality.

So the plan had been to introduce Yoko as a mentally ill patient and gain Lord Helios's sympathy that way.

'Of course, the best case scanners would be if Lord Helios went back today and decided to revisit another day. But father had to go and open his mouth.'

"I am so excited. I finally get to meet the famous lady Yoko of the Tsurugi family. Her father was good at beast taming. I wonder if she inherited his talent or not."

The moment they heard Lady Suzuki's comments, the Tsurugi pair stopped moving. She was making it quite clear that she was aware of the recent occurrence.

'Does she know? Does Lady Suzuki know about my father's incapability to control the beasts and that is why she decided to come here today? What a fearsome information network this lady has.'

Really, Sakura was no match for Lady Suzuki and even she had to admit it.

If Sakura could help it, she should avoid making an enemy of the foxes, her mother had always cautioned her.

"Nonsense. Yoko is a young and fragile lady and she had no talent when it comes to beast taming. Marriage is the only option she had for living a good and safe life. Don't you agree, Lord Helios?"

"Huh? Ah, maybe."

Lord Tsurugi's words were sharp and bitter. Lord Helios seemed to be at a loss when he heard himself being addressed.

Sakura flinched as soon as she realized that mistake her father had made. He sounded too defensive for it to be natural.

"Fragility is something that can be trained out of someone with enough practice and talent is not a big enough factor to rule someone out from the clan-head position. Your denial makes me wonder if you are hiding something or not."

"Hiding? What do we have to hide? I am the current head of the Tsurugi family and I have all the authority that comes with this position. Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot hide?"

The more her father spoke, the more Sakura felt their doom approach.

'I have no other choice but to abandon this sinking ship. If I do not do something now then I will sink along with father.'

Sakura had indeed made her choice but she had hesitated and given her father the last chance.

But it seemed her father was not interested in her suggestion.

"Father, please calm down. You should not show your emotions this clearly as the family head. We don't want the morning incident to repeat itself, right? You barely escaped that Griffin and your wounds have yet to heal. Please do not pick a fight with Lady Suzuki."

Sakura knew it was a failed gamble as soon as her father turned his angry eyes toward her. She had done it now.

Her words might come off as concerned to most people but those currently present in this gathering would realize what Sakura was hinting at.

"Sakura, mind your words. I am not the one making our family lose face, it's you and your big mouth."

Lord Tsurugi had finally lost any face he had. Sakura's words were the final nail in the coffin and they confirmed the theory for everyone currently present in this gathering.

'Now they all know my father cannot control the beasts. I have officially betrayed him. Things cannot get worse for him now.''

"Well, I don't think Sakura said anything wrong. You were injured by my Griffin and I had to come and bail you out. Do you want a repeat of that scene from the morning?"

Just when things could not get worse for Lord Tsurugi, it happened.

A flap of wings, a familiar cry, and the Griffin from the morning descended in the central courtyard.

It was like a scene from a fairytale. The sun made Griffin's wings shine and the regal pose caused anyone to be dumbfounded at the display.

And in a second, that awed silence turned into panic. They all panicked as soon as people realized that the Griffin was a living, breathing beast.

"Hurry up and kill it.", "How did it fly in here?", "How do we deal with it?"

"YOU? JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING COMING IN HERE LIKE THAT? YOKO YOU…."

"You speak too much. Is yelling and getting angry all you can do uncle? I mean, you cannot even tame a simple beast like this Griffin and I had to do it for you."

And those were the words that broke the camel's back. Her father could no longer control his anger and attacked Yoko.

Things were becoming a disaster all of a sudden and Sakura knew she had to do something before things go beyond saving for her.

___________________________

'This plan sounded better in my head. Maybe I should not have egged that old man so much.'

Even though Amane thought like that, she did not regret anything she did. If she had a chance to do this again, she would make sure her entrance would be even more dramatic.

Currently, her uncle had decided to charge her and the Griffin behind Amane decided to show its displeasure.

But Amane signaled it to stay down and calm. She did not need her tamed beast's assistance to take out a weak old man.

Amane was more than capable of doing that on her own.

"Father, wait! You cannot hurt Yoko like this. She's still family…"

And of course, when Amane did not want assistance, Sakura decided to throw her body right in the middle of her father's path.

'Such a calculated move. I knew this girl was more shrewd than I gave her credit for.' Amane was impressed at Sakura's fast thinking.

The girl had already calculated what she should do to portray herself as a victim. If her father injured her for 'Yoko's' sake, then Sakura would be called a victim. If not, then she would be the hero who saved Yoko.

'Too bad that I saw through her. Well, I guess I should cause some trouble now.'

Amane was not in a habit of saving people but she was always ready to cause trouble and mess with people. And she did want to mess with this father-daughter pair.

"You, stay back. You'll only make this difficult for me."

The Griffin gave an offended squeak which made the guards flinch but she chose to settle down.

It was pure luck that Sakura was closer to Amane than she was to her father. It made it possible for Amane to reach her in time and pull her closer while still managing to use her powers to block Lord Tsurugi's strike.

The old man looked baffled at this sudden clash and his wide eyes met Amane's own.

"I-Impossible. I made sure you never learned how to use magic. How did you manage to block my attack?"

The old man looked shaken up at being stopped. Even the guards looked lost for words at what they were seeing.

Their fragile, good-for-nothing Young Lady Yoko had managed to stop their enraged Lord Tsurugi without spending any effort.

"Didn't I tell you, uncle? I am a genius. It all comes naturally to me, be it stopping your attack or taming a beast."

Amane's words were full of bullshit but she had always been an over-confident prick. And these skills she had cultivated in her previous life did come easy in this current body.

'It's all because I have my core in this body. My magic powers are the same. I will need to work on my body later.'

Amane's arms shook lightly at the force of Lord Tsurugi's attack. His physical strength was superior to Amane's but he lacked in the magic department.

But that was a problem in itself.

As good as Amane was at magic, she had to hold back to not expose her true level to these outsiders.

"I think this is enough. Akabe Tsurugi, you should go in and rest. You look a little pale to me. Lady Sakura, please see a doctor for your current condition. And Lady Yoko? Please sit down. I think we need to discuss some things regarding your present situation."

Amane felt the familiar flicker of energy reach her but she chose to ignore it. Amane had dug around and discovered that her death had occurred a few centuries ago.

Anyone who was related to Amane should either be long dead or they should have ascended into another plain of existence.

'Must be my imagination.'

The lady who had spoken spotted loose black and red dress. They showed quite a bit of her massive cleavage and her face was covered by a fox mask.

The most striking feature was the long flowing white hair behind the female and the familiar creat of Divine Guild on her breast.

"Lady Suzuki, please hold yourself back. You cannot make decisions like this in the house of another family. Lord Tsurugi has not agreed to your request yet."

Ah, so this lady was the leader of the Divine Guild? She certainly had the air and aura around her that screamed 'power' and 'authority'.

'Nothing seemed to have changed from all those years ago. The divine guild is still overbearing and expects people to bow down to them. Should I teach her a lesson then?'

Amane thought over her options. But she decided not to interfere in the end.

Making the Divine Guild her enemy would hinder her future easy life. It was just better to be neutral and forget about this encounter for now.

"So you won't interfere with what I ask if Lord Tsurugi agrees with me? Alright then. Lady Yoko, what do you say?"

There was a gasp of sharp breath all around the clearing. No one could believe their ears when they heard Lady Suzuki speak.

It was common knowledge that Lady Suzuki did not like the Tsurugi household. She never acknowledges any of its members, much less as them for things.

But here she was, asking Lady Yoko for her opinion.

No, not only that. Lady Suzuki was acknowledging Lady Yoko as the family head even when Lord Tsurugi was alive and doing well.

She was announcing her allegiance in front of everyone present.

"Lady Suzuki, you are asking the wrong person. Lord Tsuzuki is there…."

But the old man was gone along with Lady Sakura already. No one had seen them fall on the scene but no one was surprised to see the father-daughter pair flee to lick their wounds.

"Helios, the head of the family is someone who can control its assets. Akabe cannot do that anymore. No, he could never control the beasts at all. Won't it be better for someone capable to take that seat from him?"

Lady Suzuki's words echoed in the clearing and everyone turned toward Amane as one. They were waiting for her input.