"Your highness... you were right the first time. We can never be together," Yuki avoided his eyes, afraid to see the reality when he once again woke from the illusion.
"I already told you, I don't care about that damned title. If that is the problem... Then, I'll step down as the crown prince. I'm sure a lot of the hyenas will gladly see me go." Jiro chuckled, laughing at the vision he painted in his mind.
Yuki couldn't believe the things coming from the prince's mouth. He had always taken pride in his succession as the next emperor.
Even as a child, he knew of his birthright and the responsibility that came with it. So how can he possibly give up all of that now? Now that the emperor is old and weak, and the monarchy will pass down to him at any minute?
"The kingdom needs you, Jiro. You are the best hope the state has ever had," Yuki stopped him, she felt cold thinking about the number of nobles and governors who would ebulliently kill each other for the position.
Families with their own warlords ransacking each other's domain, causing hunger and violence throughout the country.
Power-hungry hyenas causing wreckage and havoc.
The realm would surely descend into chaos.
Could she bear to be the cause of that?
"Please Jiro, stop this nonsense. I beg you. Please, let's stay as friends once again, but please stop saying such things," no, she realized, she couldn't be the cause of that.
"I'll rather lose the entire kingdom, watch the realm fall apart than to lose you," Jiro reached out for her face and kissed her intoxicating lips.
She was his poison, the reason why he could face all the suffering that may result from his choice, and also the cause thereof.
He had chosen to drink from her cup, and now he was addicted to the freedom she promised. He could never let her go.
For as long as she was by his side, he could stand stripping himself of the title of crown prince, the light of the damned realm.
"I don't want that, Jiro. When you rejected me, that is what I realized," Yuki continued, now almost desperate for him to listen to reason.
"What are you saying, Yuki?" The color of his eyes darkened, the once bright golden eyes now turned into dangerous murky gold.
"I am saying that there are bigger things than us. There are more important things than us being together," Yuki curtailed an impending sob and reigned in her emotions.
"What are you saying? Do you not love me anymore Yuki? No, that is not possible. Yuki, I command you to stay by my side. You are not allowed to reject me. You must love me, Yuki. Love me as much as I love you," Jiro's eyes flamed with anger burning within him.
The thought of losing her was such that it consumed him until all he could focus on was the pain.
Jiro was now on top of her, his hands on her shoulders, and on his face a never-before-seen expression.
An expression of insanity... unrestrained, and threatening to engulf them both in an inferno of torture and torment.
Yuki's eyes widened as she shouted for help when she finally realized... the prince had descended into madness.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"You love me, don't you?" Murder and desperate longing were in the crown prince's eyes.
Sensing the impending doom that awaited her, Yuki's mind failed to function.
"Please, Yuki. Please tell me. I need to hear you say it to me again. That you love me. You love me as much as I love you,"
Jiro's handsome face now looked so heartbroken and sad that anyone who knew him would surely feel pity towards the prince.
"Jiro, stop this. I'm scared. I beg you, let go." Yuki's tears started to fall, drenching her cheeks and her kimono.
Jiro's fists clenched, he started kissing her lips forcefully, demanding a kiss of equal fervor. But Yuki did not return his kiss, she simply could not.
"I will make sure you understand you belong to me. We belong together, Yuki."
Jiro was not used to begging for someone to love him. As the heir apparent, everyone adored and bowed down to him.
And yet here he was, begging her to see him once again. To look at him with those eyes that told him she loved him.
"If you do this, I can never forgive you. Please stop now, please, Jiro," she was now shouting as she continued to fight him off, but Jiro's body was unusually strong, having been trained all his life for battle and leadership. After all, he sparred with the best teachers, even when he was merely a child.
"You will love me again Yuki after I am through, you will belong to me,"
Jiro once against claimed her lips, biting their softness as he crushed his lips to hers. Forcing his tongue inside and sipping down her taste like the intoxicating wine she was to him.
"Jiro, please... I don't want this. Jirooooo!!!! Please, anyone... please help me," Yuki continued to sob in desperation as she felt Jiro's hands on her bosom, tearing open the fabric of her kimono.
"Hush... don't cry please, I'll marry you. I swear on my honor that I will make you my empress. That's enough, isn't it? We can finally be free to love each other," the crown prince kissed her ears as his hands continued to violate her body.
"Honor? How dare you speak of it when you have none," Kaede's baritone voice was full of anger and contempt for the crown prince when he forcefully yanked the door open.
He was the one who found Yuki and the prince inside the Whispering Forest, the boundary between the human and the demon world.
He had left the two to get some venison for them to eat, without realizing that he left the unlikely predator with an innocent lamb.
Kaede drew his sword and threw the prince the sword bearing the crown's insignia.
The prince stood up, "This is bothersome, I would not have wished to kill the chief general's only son," his voice was condescending as he mocked the person he hated the most in this world.
Kaede went out of the hut and awaited the prince who silently followed him, with a grim expression on his face.
"If I was a second later, what would you have done to her?" Kaede asked with uncontrolled temper in his voice, his blue eyes burned with anger and disdain for the crown prince.
Fear gripped Yuki's heart as she looked at the two men wielding their swords with fury. Praying to the heavens for her two friends to remain unharmed.
Kaede landed the first blow as his royal highness was nearly knocked off his stance from the force Kaede placed in his sword.
"I would have claimed what is rightfully mine. Didn't you hear what I said? I will make her my empress. She will rule beside me for all eternity,"
the prince returned the favor, brandishing his sword with equal intensity.
"Then we have a problem, young prince, I simply cannot let you have her."
"And why is that?" Jiro's maniacally laughed as he exhibited the swordsmanship he honed to perfection throughout the years.
"Because the woman you wanted to claim as your empress... that woman... she is min," Kaede's lips twitched in a smile as he met his highness' gaze.
"Then, you simply have to die today," the prince said, with enough conviction to cause Yuki to nearly stumble as she runs away.
"No, my prince. I have every intention of winning," Kaede's grin was sinister as his eyes turned cold and steady, his intention to kill the prince evident with every swing of his sword.
Yuki tried to cover her ears, drowning out the clashing of the swords with her thoughts as she ran away from the two men trying to kill each other.
What had become of the prince? Of the only one she ever wanted?
It was as if she didn't know him anymore.
How could someone so noble, so kindhearted and pure, suddenly turn into a selfish and ruthless monster?