Mizuki

第一章

美月, pronounced Mizuki. In Japanese, it means 'beautiful moon', or 'water child'. I was born in the Imperial Palace Hospital of Tokyo off the beach, on 30 April, 2037. The full moon shone down on the Earth. To my mother and father, Mizuki seemed to be the only name that could fit me in that moment.

Being the youngest of four sisters, there has always been a pressure on me to be as great as my older sisters. In Japan, it's very unusual to have more than one child, but being the royal family, my parents kept trying to have a child until they had a boy. After they had me, they gave up. They realized that they had all that they needed.

When I was 5, I was also betrothed to the son of a wealthy family here in Tokyo. 平岡 , Hiroaki, was his name. Being pressured by my parents to be like my sisters, I try not to complain about my betrothal too much. I mean it is my duty... Right?

"How is your tea, this afternoon?" Hiroaki asks me, setting his cup down.

We sat across from each other in the private tea house in the Imperial Palace. We sit criss-cross in our seats resting on the floor below us. Stillness lingered in the air. There were no rustling of the trees, the wind died, everything was frozen. The only thing you could hear was the chirping of birds outside.

"It's fine," I answer, taking a sip.

"Just fine?" Hiroaki chuckles.

I lied. Sencha was my favorite type of tea. Steam rose from the cup, and it was a perfect greenish golden color. It was rich and balanced - it was not too rich nor too sweet... Although I like my tea to be a bit sweet.

I smirk. "It's great," I say. "It's little things like this that make this dark world a little lighter."

"I appreciate that," Hiroaki replies.

Hiroaki continues to babble on. He could ramble on for hours and hours about anything and nothing. I was quite the opposite. I wasn't much of a talker.

My servant, 夢空, Noa, was my best friend. She wore a white servant's dress, with a bow around her neck. Her long black hair was braided in a French braid down her back, and her stride was long and fast.

"Princess Mizuki," she starts, bowing.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hiroaki asks, interrupting her. "Don't you see we are having a conversation?"

"I-I'm sorry, I-," Noa starts.

"Hiroaki!" I exclaim. Just when I thought he was going to be pleasant for one meeting, he ruins it, as usual.

"She is a servant, Mizuki. How dare she interrupt our conversation-," Hiroaki says.

"That is Princess Mizuki to you. She is my servant, Hiroaki," I interrupt. "You are not a royal. I have told you several times that you will not speak to her that way."

Hiroaki gulps. "Okay."

"Apologize."

"What?"

"Apologize!" I demand.

"But she is a woman!" Hiroaki objects.

"Hiroaki, as your princess I demand you to apologize to this young woman. I will not ask you again."

Hiroaki bites his lips. He hesitates as he gets the words out of his mouth. "I... I'm sorry." He was humiliated, I could tell. But I did not care. Hiroaki had a habit of acting entitled and overstepping his boundaries.