Chapter 23: The Empyreans

The knife was indeed poisoned. I slowly and painfully struggled across the streets as my life drained into a bloody trail behind me.

The streets were surprisingly empty. I moved for who knew how long, and finally collapsed on a bench.

The sky was suddenly lit up by what seemed to be fireworks made from spirit energy.

"At least my death is somewhat ceremonial, I suppose," I murmured, and soon after, fell unconscious.

"... Your Majesty... travelling... festival..." I awoke to the fragmented sound of someone speaking in Chinese; it didn't take me long to realize it was Kasumi.

"Oh, you're awake." Kasumi said to me.

I opened my eyes wider and looked around. The room, albeit not the most spacious, was very luxurious. The bed I was lying on was covered with silk as smooth as milk.

"Are we... mobile?" I asked, feeling a bit weightless.

"Yes. We're currently in a moving carriage." Kasumi nodded, helping me get up. I turned and saw a man in a yellow robe sitting in front of me.

"Your Majesty." I looked at the Donghuang emperor. "Pardon me for not being in the condition to kneel."

"Oh no, it's quite alright." He seemed to be slightly surprised that I could speak Chinese. "Kasumi has told me everything about you. I heard you're quite an... exquisite person."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." I slightly bowed my head. "By the way, Kasumi, how long was I unconscious?"

"Well, it's been six days since we picked you up," Kasumi replied. "As for how long you were out lying on the bench, I don't know."

"Six days..." I pinched my chin. "So I assume we're on our way to the scheduled meeting with Her Majesty?"

"That's right." The emperor nodded. "Kasumi asked me to bring you too."

"Is it really okay for me to attend?" I asked. "I'm not really an Empyrean, nor am I acquainted with Her Majesty."

"Well, I suppose you can act as Kasumi's guard," he replied.

I looked at Kasumi, who simply smiled.

"Alright then."

We soon arrived at Her Majesty's palace. It was, again, not too majestic from the outside; in fact, it was just a Torii gate. But the moment we walked through, a huge building appeared out of nowhere, and standing on the stairs in front of it was the empress.

"Welcome, dear guests of Donghuang." She smiled. "I hope you liked Yukizakura so far."

She looked at me with surprised eyes for a split second, and soon closed them again.

"Thank you," the Donghuang emperor replied. "My third and fifth sons' carriage will arrive shortly."

"How fares the princess?" the empress asked Kasumi.

"She's also on her way, Your Majesty." Kasumi bowed his head.

"I see." The empress smiled and raised her hand. A maid bowed down and walked away; she soon came back with a tea set.

"Please, have a taste." She poured tea for each of us, and we all nodded in gratitude.

"Mm." The Donghuang emperor took a sip. "I can taste the aroma of cherry blossoms in this tea. It's a shame my sons and daughters won't get to taste this."

"They will." She waved her hand once more, and the maid took out a small but nicely decorated box, handing it to the emperor.

"Thank you very much. We, too, have a gift for Sakura." The emperor turned to one of his guards, who took out a box equally beautiful and handed it to the maid. "This tea is grown on top of Fengming Mountain. Prince Qin gifted quite a bit to me when he came to propose to the princess."

"It enhances your inner flow of Qi," Kasumi added, "according to my master."

"My thanks." She nodded in return.

"Your Majesty, there are two carriages outside," another maid showed up and said to the empress.

"Very well. Bring them in, won't you?"

The maid went away again. Soon, the two princes were invited in along with the princess.

I examined their looks. The third prince had quite a nice build, while the fifth prince looked more like a young boy. But what caught my eye was the princess. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, delicate and fragile; the corners of her eyes were tinted red, making her even more charming. She was really slim, almost weak-looking; her long, black hair flowed down from her back, waving in the wind along with the hem of her black and gold dress.

"Honoured to meet you." The princess did a Chinese curtsy. "7th princess of Donghuang, Feng Chuming."

She then turned to her father, and did another curtsy.

"Her Japanese name is Sonaru." Kasumi added. "Took me quite a bit to find a good equivalent."

"I'll also be travelling with your party, Reiken-kun," Sonaru said softly. "So please feel free to call me Sonaru."

"You're going to join us, Your Highne- Sonaru-san?" Slightly taken aback, I looked at Kasumi, who gave me his usual mysterious smile.

"If you don't mind, that is." She walked over to Kasumi.

I looked at the couple. They were really the definition of romance. Sonaru, borned as a princess, had etiquette in her every move, but she fit so well with the more spontaneous Kasumi that it'd be a crime to split them up.

"Of course I don't mind. It's my absolute honour." I slightly bowed my head.

Besides, in one of Kasumi's princess-sama praising sessions, he did mention how strong the princess was. In effect, she can double as a bodyguard.

"Right. Ahem, now that we have that out of the way," The Donghuang Emperor coughed. "Sakurai-san, I'd like to register my two sons here for the Sakura Festival. I know it's quite a bit to ask, but..."

"I'm sure the festival will be quite a show with their addition, then." Sakurai, the empress, replied. "What are their names, Emperor Mingwei?"

"I'm the third prince, Feng Lingwei." The third prince did a Chinese greeting, followed by the fifth prince.

"Fifth prince, Xingwei." The fifth prince had this aura of familiarity to him that makes you think you've met him while clearly you haven't.

"Much thanks." Emperor Mingwei nodded.

"Pleasure's on my side." The empress smiled again.