The Emperor's Rose

Chapter 71//The Imperial Symbol

The Emperor felt his heart destroy in his chest. His eyes opened as wide as the lake, his pupils focusing on the woman in front on him. Fire ran through his veins, scorching him. "Y-you...love me?" The Emperor stuttered, taking a hesitant step forward; the floor boards creaked underneath him. Aiko nodded, her shiny hair swishing.

"I do..."she replied. As she said this, she realized how deeply her love for him ran, and for how long she had loved him.

The Emperor's mask, that he had kept on for so long, was starting to crack, but before it could fall to the floor and shatter, the Emperor grabbed it once more, sneering at Aiko. "Oh please, this is just a trick to keep me here with you," he hissed, his hands clenching as his heart cried harder. Aiko's face contorted in horror. "Concubines do it all the time; one of them even pretended to be pregnant." The Emperor scoffed, standing straighter.

"I'm not lying, Hisato....please believe me..."Aiko begged, grasping his arm tighter.

"Oh really? Then, what about Hashimoto?!" He started speaking in a quite tone only to raise his voice suddenly.

Aiko felt her heart stutter before a realization hit her in the chest, piecing her with Musubi-No-Kami's arrow. "I was never in love. I was nostalgically attracted to a faded memory of his past." Aiko whispered, her lips slightly chapped.

"From his past? What do you mean? Explain!" The Emperor demanded, confused.

Aiko looked up, tears of humiliation and pain danced in her warm eyes. She rubbed them until they were red so the tears disappeared. "When I was small, I used to run away from my house, daily. It was impossible to live there and I was treated as a slave. One day, on one of these escapades, I met a boy. He was probably older than me. We didn't want to know each other's name since he were both running from something and we didn't feel like taking our name with us in our escapes, so he started calling me 'his rose' and I called him 'my knight'. We were in love and happy until one day he went home and never came back. I thought Hashimoto was him, but my love for 'my knight' is over. My heart only beats for you," she finished, her eyes rising to look at the Emperor's reaction.

Her face twisted in confusion as she saw the Emperor stare at her with wide eyes, his hand outstretched, almost touching her but grasping the air in front of her. His eyes were sparkling, a smile spreading on his face. He took a deep breath. "Do you know why I changed the imperial symbol to a rose?" He asked in a quite voice, stepping closer to her.

Aiko shook her head. His reaction was confusing. She had expected him to shout or scream, but not this.

"Because..."he wrapped his arms around her and hid his face in her hair. "I am the Knight in the story, and now, I remember you clearly...my rose..." he whispered in her ear.