Touko of the Dawn || An Akatsuki no Yona AU

Prologue

The songs of the birds welcomed the new morning, as the bright sun brought light to Hiryuu Castle. The cool breeze blew, making curtain drapes flutter with a subtle rustling. Within one of the rooms of the large castle, light knocks could be heard from the outside.

"Your Highness? I've come with your breakfast," the maid said on the other side of the door. There was no response, so she invited herself in.

"Good morning, Your Highness," she spoke towards the bed's direction, carrying a tray of food and setting it on the side. "Today's breakfast is fresh chicken congee."

No response once again. The lumpy figure behind the bedside drapes didn't even budge in response, earning a sigh from the maid. With a deep breath, she threw the drapes open.

"Wake up!" the maid yelled, expecting a surprised princess, or at least, a groggy one. Instead, the sight of stuffed pillows under a blanket met her eyes. Twitching in frustration, the maid just couldn't help but yell.

"Princess, please stop running off!!"

=

"Oi, Princess, you've been found out."

Zaizen Touko flipped her head around, a bow in her hand in front of a target. "How'd you know, Hiroto?"

Her companion, and also personal bodyguard, Kira Hiroto snickered with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Haruna's shriek can be heard all the way from Fuuga," he smirked. "All because of a certain rebellious princess."

"You would've thought she'd given up by now," she sighed, memories of the endless lectures from her childhood returning. It was already such a normal occurrence in the castle, no one but Haruna really cared anymore. Being the advisor's younger sister, Otonashi Haruna worked at the castle as Touko's personal maid but Touko saw her as her close friend. Still, it didn't stop the princess from running off as she liked.

She'd disappear at the most random times. From disappearing in the morning, to escaping suitor proposals, she'd vanish without a word to drag Hiroto to their own secluded corner of the castle for their own agenda — training to use weapons. She wouldn't have to be so secretive about it if her father had just allowed her to train with the soldiers. But who wants to see their precious daughter swinging swords or getting bruises on her body?

"Well, time to pack up, Your Highness," Hiroto said, kicking various weaponry into a bush and disguising the target she'd been shooting at. Just as he finished, he felt a tug at his sleeve, and he turned to meet with expectant blue eyes.

"How'd I do today?" she asked with a grin, hoping for some praise. "Great, right?"

Her eyes shone with hope, almost glimmering as bright as the castle's treasury. Hiroto stared into those ocean-blue eyes, swimming past her innocence to find her attention-hungry self. He smirked before tearing away.

"I'll give you a 1 for effort," he replied, not even looking at her direction as he crawled out of the hole that connected the castle gardens to their training spot.

"Ehhh?? But I managed to scrape the side of the target!" she protested, following after him.

"Yeah like, 2 metres away," he smirked, amused that she was proud of such pathetic technique along with the pouty face she sported. Nothing better than refusing what she wanted after she'd dragged him along.

"You're no fun," she pouted, and crossed her arms. "Terumi would've been more generous with his words."

Afuro Terumi. The rumored angel of the castle. He was the son of the generation's most powerful priest's apprentice, though priests had disappeared during the beginning of Sousuke's reign. Regal, distinguished, the ideal image of a king. He had the gentlest smile and the kindest voice, in Touko's opinion anyway.