A Lesson in History

It was supposed to be a refreshing morning - one that would make anyone calm and savor the cool morning breeze. However, that day did not appear so bright for the prince of Kasai as he began it by receiving a loud angry threat from the blond girl telling him to rise from his comfortable bed or she will dump his hot breakfast on him. He hurriedly slurped his soup even though it was scalding. Anna with her arms folded across her chest as she leaned on the wall was watching his every move. Her piercing eyes reminded him of a hawk getting ready to grab its prey with its sharp talons. Cold shivers ran down his spine as he likened himself to a mouse being fattened up to be that hawk's breakfast. As soon as he had consumed the last drop of soup, his personal maid snatched the tray from him and ordered him to make his bed while she takes the dirty wares to the kitchen for dishwashing. By the time that Anna got back, the prince had successfully fixed his disorganized beddings and had smoothened every wrinkle on his blanket. The girl thanked him by shoving the heavy volumes of today's lesson into his hands then pushing him towards the balcony of his large room.

Yoh gulped and avoided the cold stare of his private tutor. They sat at a small table for two by the balcony of his room overlooking the huge palace garden. The pile of old and thick hard-bound books rose like a tower in between them - shielding the prince from whatever negative energies the blond girl is throwing at him. He was slightly disappointed that the pile was not high enough to block his view from his tutor's frightening gaze. I wonder what she'll make me do next….

Anna had her eyes fixed on the wimpy-looking boy in front of her. She was quite surprised that the prince of Kasai submitted to all her demands as if he was the servant and not her. He was used to doing manual labor which she had expected of him after putting on the servant boy act in order to spy on their kingdoms. Maybe he was just too afraid of her or too guilty for making her take on the life-threatening ordeal of co-inhabiting with the enemies. If it hadn't been for him she could have sought the aid of the king of Kaminari right away. She was certain that their friends from the other kingdom had already heard of the demise of the Kouku royal family. She was slightly hoping that her people would not consider her dead. After all, her supposed-to-be bloody corpse was missing from the crime scene. She couldn't stop asking herself if they even tried to look for her - if her fiancé was devastated that she was gone. Ren might have left for the academy without even knowing that I'm still alive. It's your fault, Yoh. You're going to pay dearly for this, Your idiotic Highness.

Prince Yoh blocked his face with his arms when he saw Anna seize a book from the pile but the dusty volume did not land on his head. Instead, he found the girl skimming through the pages with her brow furrowed. She must have been looking for a topic that's too difficult for me so she could punish me if I don't know the answer.

Upon reaching the last page, Anna slammed the book shut. This is ridiculous! How can I teach him something that I'm not familiar with? The girl turned her gaze back at the prince. She thought she saw him shudder when their eyes met. I guess I have to settle with what we both know. Anna cleared her throat and gave the prince a stern look, "For our first lesson, we will be discussing about the history of the four kingdoms. If you failed to give me a correct answer, you will be doing my servant tasks of cleaning your filthy room for the whole day, understood?"

The prince's face brightened up. He knew the topic too well. Faust who had been like a tutor to him when he was still working for his father as a medicine man told him plenty of stories about the four kingdoms. He could definitely get away with this.

"What are you grinning about?" his tutor snapped at him.

"Amm… nothing Anna…"

"So do you understand my terms?" the girl asked him impatiently.

"Yes, Anna."

"As a first question, who started the war between the four kingdoms a hundred years ago?"

"Err.. we did…"

The blond girl peered at him. That was a very bold confession coming from the heir of Kasai, the kingdom that was the root cause of the disorder in which they were now living.

"So why did your despicable kingdom start the war?"

The prince was not sure if that was an objective question coming from his tutor as she had asked it with spite.

"It's because King Asaha Douji wanted to rule over the four kingdoms..."

"Who was the kingdom that was first subjugated by your tyrannical relative?"

"It was the kingdom of Kouri."

"Hah! If that King Asaha of yours wanted to display his military prowess, he should have conquered Kouku first which is far stronger than the little kingdom of Kouri."

"Err… I don't think you should belittle Kouri, Anna… They are actually - owww!" Yoh rubbed the part of his head that had connected with his tutor's fist.

"That is for being a know-it-all."

"I'm sorry…."

"So how and when did the war end?"

"The war ended after King Asaha's fifty years of reign. It ended because the childless king was assassinated by Duke Yohken Asakura. He was the direct ancestor of the Asakura royal bloods."

"But your ancestors did not stop the war from happening again, am I right?" The blonde raised an eyebrow at the prince.

"Err… But Anna… it was your kingdom that started the war again…"

There was a hint of embarrassment on the girl's cheeks. "That is true. The war had already brought inerasable scars and wounds that cannot be healed and forgotten. Our forefathers had lost sons during the battle. It was inevitable that they sought revenge for their loss."

"Yes, it was revenge that fueled it but Faust told me that it was not because of those that had died during the first war but those that died after it that caused the second one."

"Who cares about what your false father tells you? I bet you got your lying ability from him." Anna shot up from her seat then grabbed the pail of water and the two scrubs she had brought earlier when the prince was still sleeping. "This is the end of our first lesson. Don't bother me when I'm doing this hateful chore of cleaning your room."

Yoh stood up smiling and took the pail of water and a scrub from her. "I don't think I'd like to go outdoors right now." He knelt down on the floor and started scouring it rigorously. Anna watched him from the corner of her eye as she polished another side of the room. She couldn't help but notice how the prince was actually enjoying doing menial jobs.

You're a different breed of royalty, Yoh Asakura.