let's run to neverland! ⤷ m.teru

xviii

The Queen.

Her hair; golden as if it were made out of spun fine silk, woven together by the Fates themselves. Her brows furrowed together, eyes nothing more than a mix of disbelief and fierceness. It's her, the very same woman who defended their borders, made their kingdom grow into prosperity, and the one who disappeared for years from the public eye.

A living legend, an angel, her.

For a moment there was silence, except for the occasional gasps that come from the audience. Shock recoils in waves through everyone, to the point where it was almost overwhelming.

Breaths were held.

The King's face contorted in distaste, though it didn't take long for him to continue the duel. He swung his blade again, this time the metal met the Queen's sword. The fight quickly morphed into a dance of some sort. They fought on equal grounds, and they've known each other for years.

The high-pitched noise of blade against blade filled the whole entire arena. It was mesmerizing to see, like it wasn't a duel to the death but instead, a spar between the two most powerful individuals in the whole kingdom. A beautiful fight, a tango of life and death.

It ended when she had her blade pointed at her husband's neck.

He was on the ground, kneeling with eyes raised to meet his wife's gaze. A dry, humorless chuckle seeps out of his mouth. He says, "It's time for you to end it."

"You were everything that I've never had." She mutters instead. "I was young then, full of mistakes. Yet you were there, filling up the holes with your intelligence. You guided me."

"That has to be different by now, huh?" The King replies back, lowering his vision so he sees the ground. "I've changed. You've changed. You can't keep that dream forever." A pause. "Kill me, I lost."

"No." She shook her head. "Despite everything, I don't want to."

Confusion.

"Why?"

The Queen smiles, albeit it's a little sad. "You were my first, the person who I vowed to be with until the end of times. My love, you were the one who I grew up with, the same person who I fought in endless battles with. How could I?"

"That's stupid," he answers. "You saw what happened with Kou and Teru."

"Funny, because I was just about to say that. Memories will continue to shine, but all the bad things will never be erased. Husband, you're unfit as a king. You were a dictator, a fool who's far too scared about losing his power and stepping down. You fed the people empty lies; disgusting gossips that would've run far too wild if I didn't interfere."

"So you don't want me to die in this duel." He glances up, blue eyes laden with age met with strikingly similar ones. "You want me to step down from the throne. Is that right, my lady?"

The blade was lifted from his throat. She does not answer.

The King stood up, peering at the audience before finally stopping on Teru.

"Teru, you're smart. I didn't think my wife was the last missing fragment of your plan." He nods. Teru stiffens. "I went with brute force, you did not."

The man took off the heavy crown on his head, dropping it on the ground. It falls with a heavy thud, resonating throughout the arena.

Everything he had done, all the sins he'd committed as years passed by, he knows about it all. He carries them all like they were heavy burdens on his back, a constant reminder of how he'd failed his kingdom and his family. His family. The people he should've protected, and not tortured.

A murderer. A dictator. A power-hungry monster.

Not a father, he was a coward. Like what she'd said, he was a fool. A jester in a court whose only priority is to save his own power. He had been far too caught up in his own fears: scared of being overridden by peasants like what happened to his mother who had her noble title taken away by some rebels.

He failed, and his wife was only waiting for the right time to throw it all on him.

It felt like he was killed, even if no blood came out.

The man says, finally,

"I guess it's time."

And he leaves the arena, to somewhere far away that even everyone present cannot see where his back has gone off to.

Trumpets blared.

The Queen pulled her son into a hug.

Ah.

It's a hot afternoon when Minamoto Teru becomes the next king.

xx.

HELLOOO its been so long ahahaey,,,, school has been kickin my ass and ive also been focusing on my ao3 more ahekrkrl but yes anyways!!!! i posted a chapter!!!!

one more to go ,,, i hope i can finish it on time TT im so sorry for always takin so long hdjdhk

thank you so much for always being so patient on updates!! yall's support always mean the world to me <3