Reborn: The New Empress 20 Ch. 1 - The Fiance

"Princess, what happened inside? I could hear your father's voice outside. Is he upset at you?" Sayaka asked. I looked at her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Sayaka. I'm not the old Sayori. Remember this, I won't let anyone bully me ever again." I said. The look on Sayaka's face said it all. It was clear that she believed me. Now, I have to prepare for my meeting with my so-called fiance. This'll be something I'll be looking forward to.

"What now, princess?" Sayaka asked as we reached my room. I sat down on my bed and looked at Sayaka.

"Now, all we have to do is wait." I said. Not even 5 minutes from when I sat down on the bed, someone came up to my room to announce something.

"Princess, Sir Eiji has arrived to meet you." The servant said. Just as I expected. Sayaka looked at me like I had predicted the future. Well, to be honest, it was like that. I stood up and Sayaka followed after me outside to meet Eiji. As we reached the courtyard, my father was already there and he was talking to an unfamiliar man who I a.s.sumed was my betrothed. I walked closer and they noticed my presence.

"Ah Sayori, you're here. Come here and meet Sir Eiji." Father's tone suddenly changed from our argument a few minutes ago. He's become friendlier which doesn't bode well for this meeting. The man turned to me and I have to say, he was a handsome face. But too bad for him, I'm not attracted to just a handsome face.

"My princess…" He took my hand and knelt in front of me. I remained indifferent to his gestures. I don't feel particularly good about his presence. I don't know if it's just me overthinking things or he's really a bad apple. After kneeling, he stood back up and I politely pulled my hand away from his grasp.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." I greeted politely. He smiled at me as I said my greetings. My father put his hand on Eiji's shoulder and he looked at me smiling. If I had known that my father would be this duplicitous, I would have planned better.

"My daughter has been eagerly looking forward to meeting you. Now, I'll leave you two be as I have a lot of work to do." My father smiled at Eiji before turning his back on him. The moment his back was against Eiji and I was the only one who could see his face, his expression immediately turned sour. He mouthed the words 'do not embarra.s.s me' while walking away. When he finally left, I looked at Eiji who was patiently waiting for me to come over to him.

"I'm sorry if it took me this long to come and visit you my princess." He said. I didn't mind actually. I'd prefer if you never show your face in front of me but I could use you to go against my father.

"No, it's quite alright, sir. I know you're quite busy as one of the Imperial family's soldier." We were walking by the side of the lake near the courtyard.

"Please, just call me Eiji, my princess." He said. I got quite annoyed with him calling me princess all the time.

"Then please, call me Sayori." I said. He looked at me and smiled before putting his hand on the top of my head.

"Okay, Sayori." He said. I don't know if he's being too nice or he's really this nice. I have yet to find out who he truly is. I gently pushed his hand away from my head.

"By the way, I want to apologize for this situation we're in. I know it's not favorable to be engaged to someone you haven't even met but rest a.s.sured, I'll do my best to stop it." I said blatantly. The only way to know if someone is up to something if you bluff them out. Although I will say that I'm serious about ending this engagement.

"No, don't!" Eiji became defensive all of a sudden. He quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat before speaking.

"I mean, I don't want to end this engagement. And I'm not being forced to marry you. It is of my own free will that I decided that it is you that i wanted to be married to." He said. The look in his eyes tell a different tale. I decided to play along with this game of his. Let's see who'll fall first.

"Very well, since it is you that insisted, I will not openly deny it. But I do have questions and I'd appreciate it if you could answer them for me." I said. He looked at me and smiled.

"Very well, my princess." He said. Let's see if you can keep up your game of charades in front of me.

"Why did you choose me?" I asked. My first question wasn't as pressing but it still holds something significant for my investigation.

"I don't know if you remember princess but we actually met a few years ago when you were still a young child. I remember seeing you at the crown prince's birthday party and I felt something when I laid my eyes on you. I can't explain it." He seemed fl.u.s.tered about it. It doesn't seem like he's lying but I'm not sure.

"Is that why you insisted on marrying me or did you just go through with my father's request?" I asked. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head and chuckled.

"It's a little bit of both. When your father talked about it with my father, I knew it wouldn't be a burden on me and I would prefer that my bride would be you." He said. d.a.m.n, he's a really good actor. I can tell that he's lying but I don't want to ruin the fun now.

"That's all my questions. If you have any questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them." I said. He looked up at the sky then back at me.

"How do you feel about our engagement?" He asked. I kept walking, not even bothered to look at him.

"I don't feel anything particular about it. I neither hate you nor love you so I'm on the fence about this one." I said. We stopped at a nearby tree and I sat down by the shade. He followed after me and sat next to me.

"Rest a.s.sured, my princess, I will do my best to win your trust before our marriage." He took my hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. The moment his lips touched my skin, a s.h.i.+ver went down my spine. And it wasn't because I'm falling in love. It's more like I'm disgusted by his sorry excuse for acting. I quickly pulled my hand away from his grasp before taking two steps back.

"Very well, I will try to open up to you as well." I said. But obviously I'm lying. I won't let my guard down in front of this man. He's demeanor is too clean to be normal. He's trying to hide something and I won't rest until I get to the bottom of it.

"I think our talk ends here. I'll be going back to my room." I said. I was about to walk away when he blocked my path.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He smiled at me and offered his hand.

"I shall take you back to your room, my princess." He said.

"It's Sayori." I said before accepting his hand. He led me all the way back to my pavilion. When we arrived, he knelt in front of me and bid his farewell.

"I shall take my leave, Sayori. I'll be back everyday to visit you." He said. I faked a smile before pulling my hand away from his.

"I'll be waiting for you." I said sweetly. When he left, I rolled my eyes and went inside. Sayaka was already there waiting for me.

"How was your walk with sir Eiji, princess?" She asked. I sat back down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"I found out a lot about who he is and what he's up to. I need to keep a close eye on him." I said. He's just too suspicious.

"Then what are we going to do now, princess?" Sayaka asked. First of all, I need to know who gave me the poison and where it came from.

"Sayaka, didn't the doctor say that the poison that was used on me could be found in a type of fish. Before my poisoning, was there any instance that I consumed fish?" I asked. Sayaka looked at me and shook her head.

"Princess, don't you remember? You asked me not to bring you fish ever again after you almost choked on a fishbone." She said. So Sayaka didn't know about the fish but if it wasn't from her, who could've brought fish to me? And why did Sayori eat it if she doesn't like fish? Something's not adding up here.

"I think I know what fish that poison came from." It may not be as famous here than it is 500 years in the future. Fugu fish otherwise known as a puffer fish has a toxin that can kill a human in just under 20 mins. Given the extreme detail the doctor said about the poison, it couldn't have been something else. Up until the present time, if you want to eat fugu, you have to get it from a chef who's licensed.

"Tetrodotoxin…" I muttered out loud.

"Did you say something, princess?" Sayaka asked. I shook my head.

"It's nothing Sayaka. I want you to do something for me." I said. She stood up and went close to me.

"What is it, princess?" She said. I stood up from the bed and walked around the room. I familiarized myself with Sayori's stuff.

"I need you to ask around with the other maids if they saw someone that day who gave me fish or any type of food. You're the only one who's supposed to be allowed to bring me food. See if you can gossip around the area and find out." I requested. Sayaka nodded and accepted her duty. Shortly after our talk, she left to get me dinner. As I was waiting for her, I heard someone outside my door.

"Princess, are you there?" This voice was too familiar for me to not notice. I better hope that this girl wouldn't test my patience tonight. I opened the door and there she was.

"Do you need anything?" I asked. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I heard sir Eiji visited you today. Did he leave already? Can't stand to stay longer with you?" She said. This girl, Hitori Maeko, she's the one who really wants Eiji. As far as I can remember, she's been chasing him for years but Eiji never reciprocated her feelings. What's more annoying is that she's my cousin that's why she can come in and out of father's palace. How tedious.

"Not really, he's been a total sweetheart and he'll be visiting me everyday." I rubbed it in her face. Her expression quickly changed. She looked sweet and innocent one second and then hostile the next. Without hesitation, she grabbed the front part of my kimono and pulled me outside. There she proceeded to hit me left and right.

"Eiji should've been mine. If you didn't try to flirt with him, he would've been mine by now." She pushed me and I fell down. She pinned me between her legs and continued to hit me. I didn't try to fight back. If I did, I would look like I was the one who started it. I just let her hit me as much as she could. Her punches weren't even painful at all. It was clear that she doesn't know martial arts and her strength is next to null.

"Maeko!" Someone shouted. She stopped hitting me momentarily and looked over to where the sound came from. Father arrived and behind him was Eiji. Maeko realized what was happening, she quickly stood up and put some distance between us.

"Uncle, it's not what you think." She started. Father ignored her and he went to my side to help me up. I was a bit dizzy from Maeko hitting my head multiple times so I had a hard time standing up. All of a sudden, I felt a pair of muscular arms pick me up. I opened my eyes and saw Eiji carrying me.

"Sir Eiji…" Maeko started but she was quickly dismissed by Eiji.

"What do you think your doing to my fiance?" He said angrily. I stayed silent while they argued in front of me.

"From now on, Maeko you are not allowed to enter my palace especially around Sayori's room." Father declared. Maeko tried to persist but father called in the guards to throw her out. She couldn't do anything to save herself. After what happened, Eiji carried me back into my room. He set me down on my bed.

"Thank you, Eiji." I said. He shook his head.

"You don't have to thank me. It's a good thing that I missed you so much that I decided to come back." He said with a smile. I wanted to vomit right then and there. It was obvious that he was lying. It's hard to pretend not to know something when you're 100% sure that he's guilty of something.

"It's a good thing you did." I answered. Sayaka entered the room with my dinner in hand.

"Princess, are you okay? I heard about what happened." She said as she quickly made her way to me.

"I'm fine Sayaka. It's a good thing Maeko was weak or I would've been beaten to death before father and Eiji could arrive." I said. But honestly, I knew that something like this were to happen and so did Sayaka. When I talked to her this afternoon, I told her about the possibility of someone coming to my room to try and harm me. I told her to tell my father about something happening in front of my room and I told her not to interfere if something were to happen. Needless to say, my plan worked and I didn't expect for father to call Eiji back. It really sheds some light to what type of relations.h.i.+p my father has with Eiji's family.