"Father…" the prince murmured, his voice barely above a breath.
The air in the grand hall froze.
"Akira!"
The emperor's voice cracked like thunder. The prince's head dropped instantly, his posture tightening, his mask hiding the flicker of pain that crossed his features.
"Don't call me that." The emperor turned his back to him, his heavy robes sweeping the polished floor like waves crashing against a cliff.
"You lost that right the moment you were cursed with those eyes… and you know exactly why."
His words rang across the hall, echoing off the cold marble walls.
"You defied the law the second you stepped out of this palace. And then?" He scoffed bitterly.
"You vanished, Caused a mess And when I summoned you back, you dared to delay your return by a week?" The prince said nothing. Not a word, He remained bowed, his silence louder than anything he could've spoken.
The emperor continued, "For your disobedience and disgrace, your punishment is this…..Seven days and seven nights confined to your quarters. Not a drop of water. Not a crumb of food.
You are to seal your spiritual energy during that period and suffer the consequences of your choices." He waved his hand toward the doors making them open with a thud, not even glancing back.
"Now… get out of my sight."
The prince bowed once more, his voice quiet.
"As you command." Then, he turned and walked away, the grand doors closing behind him with a deep, echoing thud.
"Your Highness?"
Zuzu, who had been pacing restlessly in front of the giant door, immediately rushed forward the moment he saw the prince step out. The prince gave a soft smile, tilting his head slightly, calm as ever. Zuzu didn't waste a second. "Did His Majesty give you any punishment?"
The prince shrugged casually. "No. He just wants me to rest in my room for a while." Zuzu squinted, unconvinced. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Or what, you think I'm lying?" The prince placed an arm lazily over Zuzu's shoulders, steering them down the corridor as if everything was fine. Zuzu still looked doubtful, his face scrunched in mild suspicion, but he didn't press further. He just sighed and muttered under his breath,
"I know you're lying."
———————
The world was on the brink of destruction when the Great War of the Three Realms erupted. The cause of it was an evil energy that nearly destroyed everything. In desperation, the gods combined their strength and called upon the Three Supreme Gods to help save the world…
Seirou sat by the bed, reading from a massive book while Astra struggled to keep her eyes open, dozing off in between. Seiya sat in the corner, quietly fixing the string on his bow.
"Astra," Seirou said, pausing mid-paragraph. "You're the one who begged me to read this, and now you're sleeping!"
He snapped the book shut with a loud thud.
Astra jolted, eyes wide, startled awake. Even Seiya flinched, nearly snapping his bowstring.
"Oye! Can't you scream a little lower? I almost broke it again!" Seiya snapped, clutching his bow like it was on life support.
Seirou rolled his eyes and pointed at the thick book in his lap. "Do you know how hard it was for me to sneak this from your master's room? I nearly got caught when i was just trying to sneeze—literally. I sneezed so hard, the scrolls on the top shelf fell."
Seiya scoffed, stretching his arms lazily. "She's definitely getting punished again. No way she memorised even one line." He turned to Astra with a smug grin. "Astra, is your memory that of a goldfish? No wait not even a goldfish forgets this fast."
Astra, without a word, grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at him only for it to fly off-course again and smash into a nearby vase.
Crash.
Seiya burst out laughing. "See? I told you! At this point, even blindfolded donkey have better aim!" Seirou sighed, glancing at the broken mess. "The innkeeper's definitely going to charge double now…"
Seiya was still chuckling when he casually added, "Relax, we'll earn enough to cover it during the performance anyway."
There was a pause.
Astra blinked. "…Performance?" Seirou slowly turned his head toward Seiya, the death glare already forming.
Seiya froze, realising what he'd just blurted. "I mean—what performance? I didn't say performance. You're hearing things. Must be the side effect of venom."
"Seiya…" Astra narrowed her eyes, sitting up straighter now, fully awake. "What performance are you talking about?" Seiya started inching toward the door. "Nothing big. Just… they said it's a small gathering event and wanted us to perform with costumes. And maybe swords. And maybe a fire act."
"What?" Astra said, now clearly suspicious. Seirou was rubbing his temples. "You really have a talent for shutting up at the wrong time." Seiya laughed nervously. "Okay, okay! yes we might be performing at the Moonlight Festival tomorrow."
Seirou, still glaring at him, muttered, "You had one job… one."Seiya held up his hands. "Hey, I didn't mean to spill it. It just… slipped out."
They both looked at Astra, who sat silently with her head lowered, her fingers fidgeting with the blanket. Seiya scratched the back of his neck, then glanced at Seirou. They exchanged a quick signal, a silent agreement.
Seirou sat on the edge of the bed, his voice softer now. "Astra… we didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just…" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "You're not in the best shape right now."
Seiya nodded, leaning against the bedpost. "Yeah. You always overdo things even when you're not supposed to get out of bed. If you saw us performing, you'd try to sneak in a sword flip or something and pass out halfway through."
Still, Astra didn't look up.
Seirou sighed. "It's not that we didn't want you there. We just… don't want to see you get worse."
"…I'm not that weak," Astra finally mumbled, her voice low. Seirou knelt beside her. "We know you're not. That's the problem. You push yourself too hard trying to prove that, even when you don't need to."
Astra's lips curled just slightly, her fingers loosening. "I just… wanted to cheer for you guys like before." Seirou hesitated, then reached into his pocket and subtly slipped a small, cloth-wrapped bundle into her hand.
"What's this?" she blinked, "Just a bribe," Seirou said, looking away, pretending not to care. "Sweet almond mochi. From the inn's kitchen. Don't tell Kaen." Astra looked down at it, then back at them. The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"You two are the worst at hiding things," she whispered. Seiya grinned. "And you're the worst at aiming."
"Shut up," she muttered, but she was already unwrapping the sweets. Seirou gave a satisfied nod. "Alright, rest well and don't let them know we told you."
Seirou pushed his twin as they walked out, closing the door behind them. Astra sat alone for a moment, staring at the sweets in her hand.
"…Idiots," she whispered, but smiled.