The Kingmaker

Bite

Bitten, but venom's mine

You thought to pierce, but I hold

The poison within

With a grimace, Akemi gingerly massages her aching belly, its subtle swell barely perceptible beneath her shimmering silk robes. She settles gracefully beside the Queen Consort, her movements fluid despite her condition. The royal physician says both the mother and the unborn child are in good health and should have an easy delivery. However, as Taiga glances at her frowning face, he's starting to believe that her physical health is never something they should be worrying about. She has softened and grown more sensitive ever since she became pregnant with his heir. If not for her plea, the deceiver and Ogiwara wouldn't be here in their presence. Reflecting on his recent outburst, Taiga admits that his reaction may have been excessive, and he knows it doesn't bode well with those who witnessed his action.

I'm an idiot. Why has he once again allowed his feelings to rule him? His father had once cautioned him about losing his temper. "A Kagami man is naturally emotional," he had said, "for we are born of the sun itself." Even as a child, Taiga never took this seriously, but he's beginning to wonder if there might be some truth to it.

Is it possible that his intense feelings are not just peculiarities of his personality but perhaps remnants of an ancestral legacy?

Fortunately, the only people here to decide Kuroko's fate are him, Akemi, and his mother. If his father were here, he wouldn't be able to look him in the eye.

Unfortunately, Aomine Hiroko's whisperer is also here. With his calm and playful smile that seems to be plastered on his face, Imayoshi Shoichi looks through squinted eyes, amused by everything.

"Isn't this crowd a little excessive?" Taiga says. He knows he's digging himself deeper; he can't help but feel like a child once more, receiving punishment for a trivial mistake. "I understand the gravity of my actions, but to convene my mother, Lady Aomine's Whisperer, and for what? A mere Dancer?"

"Taiga, you are not helping your case," Masuyo, his mother, says. She furrows her brows, a well-known look of disdain imprinted on her face. If the situation weren't serious, he might have laughed. Does she truly think her signature warning look still has any effect on him? He is the future king; who does she think she is? "Do you realise what you have done? Our relationship with the other kingdoms is already precarious. What has made you think you could mistreat one of their subjects?" She pauses as she regards Ogiwara. "Two of their subjects."

Taiga's jaw tenses. She is correct, despite his reluctance to admit it. The delicate balance of diplomatic ties is at stake, and his carelessness may have jeopardised it.

He shifts his gaze to Imayoshi, and the whisperer smiles at him. The same disturbance he feels about Tiea is tantamount to how he feels about Imayoshi. Though he presents himself as unassuming, he also doesn't hide the glint in his eyes, as if to say that he is watching your every move. "Does he need to be here?" he asks, masking his discomfort with a stern voice.

The whisperer takes it as an initiative to finally speak. "My apologies, Your Highness. Although it seems unnecessary from your perspective, I must speak on behalf of Lady Aomine Hiroko, who is currently indisposed due to her health. We must also take into account the fact that she was the one who chose to grant Kuroko Tetsuya's request for a hearing." As he says that, he looks at Kuroko, whose head is bowed respectfully. It is both eerie and admirable how the deceiver makes kneeling look comfortable. However, such familiarity with humility is expected of those from the lower classes, where kneeling is more than a gesture but a way of life. It is one of their ways of surviving.