The Second Bodyguard || Re-written (Any x oc)

Chapter 41

Azumi barely contained her yawn as she stared out across the audience towards the stage where a pair of young girls danced, their metallic fans glittering under the bright sun. Everything about the festival was perfect, almost too perfect, which made Azumi nervous.

Ever since Azumi had departed from the ship, she had heard nothing of her companions. She didn't even know if they got off the ship, though she had faith in them to accomplish at least that much. The plan was for them to infiltrate the island with the pretence that they were travelling performers that were hired from a small village off the East coast. This meant that they would be in the heart of the entertainer business, and could see the slavery first hand. Azumi knew that none of this slavery would be shown first hand, especially with visitors from a foreign country that had banned slavery, but it was almost suspicious how there was a lack of evidence from her front. There was no evidence of bruises on the dancers, although there were very obvious scars, and there were performers loitering around the sides of the crowds with bright smiles. Azumi couldn't figure it out, whether Daigo had abolished slavery after news had spread to the King of Kouka, or he was just a genius at hiding it. With that man at his side, Azumi would not be surprised, but she would have thought with the life he had lived as a child, that even the sight of chains on another person would give him trauma. After all, he had witnessed Azumi's living conditions as a child, but somehow he had not picked up was that his own attendant was the one to do that Azumi. It was probably because she had tried so hard as a kid to hide it from him for his own mental state.

Azumi was broken from her thoughts by Jae-ha placing a hand on her shoulder, and when she saw him gesture to the stage, all of her internal questions were answered in a second. There stood Yona on the stage, a simple smile on her lips and dancer's clothes on her body. They weren't too revealing, but for someone as protective as Azumi, it instantly irritated her. But there was something worse, and that was the slightest of bruising on the princess's ankles and wrists. Suddenly, everything made sense to Azumi, and the truth sent shivers down her spine.

The island had been under slavery for so long that the chains weren't needed anymore.

Azumi watched with a grim expression as Yona performed the same dance she had performed at the Fire Festival in Azumi's hometown, this time with a fan, so she didn't risk the same sort of message as last time. She was in a different country and from her pale skin it was obvious that she didn't belong on Yama Island, but the dance also did not hold as much symbolic meaning to it as it did last time. However, she was still beautiful, and Azumi watched many men perk up around the crowd. There were a couple of women cooing about how cute she was, which made Azumi lean over to Jae-ha with a wicked grin on her face.

"I really want to see Hak's face right now" Azumi muttered, which made Jae-ha snicker as well while nodding profusely. They both snickered quietly to each other until there was the sound of someone coughing, having wanted to catch their attention. Both of them glanced over in perfect sync to find Daigo standing there with a forced smile on his face and a tick mark on his temple, Eiji just looking irritated as usual behind him.

"Are you enjoying the festival?" Daigo asked, which made Azumi blink owlishly, before shooting to her feet and hurriedly curtsying towards the emperor.

"It is truly magnificent, the culture is so rich here, and it's so beautiful. This woman, in particular, she's such a jewel" Azumi said with a small smile which made Daigo smile back brightly. The brown-haired male then smiled and held out a hand towards Azumi, an attractive smile on his lips that made girls around them fangirl.

"I'm so glad to hear that. Would you like me to show you around? Without your bodyguard?" Daigo offered, adding on the last part as a second thought. Jae-ha instantly scowled, a tick mark of his own appearing on his temple while Azumi chuckled awkwardly, suddenly feeling penned in this situation. She couldn't exactly so no to an emperor, especially when she was representing a potential ally kingdom, but if she told him that she wanted Jae-ha by her side, there would be no doubt that the blunt man would question their relationship and that was the last thing Azumi wanted. She was already questioning herself and everything she had stood for because of that irritably attractive green dragon, she didn't need yet another reason for his teasing. Especially after she found herself curled up in his arms this morning which was, frankly, the most embarrassing situation she had ever found herself in. And that was saying a lot when she had lived with the Thunder Beast for most of her childhood and adolescent years.