Part XIII: The Emperor and the Shogun

The next day, Potash bid farewell to Sun and Fossil to deliver Sun's message to the King of the Stoicheionese Federation.

"Goodbye, Senior Sun!" Potash shouted as she waved her goodbyes.

"Goodbye, Junior Potash!" Sun replied as he waved his hand.

"Goodbye, Potash!" Fossil added.

The Imperial Carriage drove away and a messenger went to them.

"What is it?" Sun asked him.

"Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty. This is a letter from the Duchy of Barhambria." The messenger replied as he gave him the letter.

"Thank you, Mister messenger. Take this as a reward for your hard work." Sun thanked him and give him a pouch of coins.

"Th-thank you, Your Imperial Majesty! You are very generous and kind." The messenger replied, bowed and went away.

Sun read the letter as they entered the great hall.

"Fossil, go to the shipyard and tell them to prepare my ship. We will by the next sunrise." Sun ordered him.

"Wh-what happened, Your Imperial Majesty? Is something wrong?" Fossil asked him as he walked to the stairs.

"We will meet the shogun of the Cherry Shogunate. Tell them to prepare and prepare yourself." Sun replied as he ascended to the stairs.

"As you wish, Your Imperial Majesty." Fossil responded, bowed and went away.

Sun went around the palace to prepare everything and informed Flower of the following event.

Meanwhile, Soil reached the Royal Capital and headed straight to the Royal Palace. Moon was on her balcony when she saw Soil on her way to the palace. She went down to meet her.

"Soil!" Moon shouted as she met her in the doorway.

"Your Royal Majesty!" She exclaimed as they hugged each other.

"Welcome back." She greeted her.

"Thanks, Your Majesty. Here is a letter from the Union." She replied and gave the letter.

"About that, we have matters to discuss." Moon told her.

"What happened, Your Majesty?" Soil asked her.

"The news reached me and I am unhappy of what they did." She replied as they went to the stairs.

"Your Majesty, the letter is an apology letter from the President of the Union." Soil told her as they went up the stairs.

"I will think about it." Moon replied.

"As you wish, Your Majesty." She replied

"Are there anything else?" Moon asked her.

"Nothing else, Your Majesty." Soil replied as she shook her head.

"Well then, you may take your rest." Moon told her and she went away.

Few days passed, Sun, along with Flower, Fossil and the Imperial Guards, reached the Duchy of Barhambria.

"Your Imperial Majesty, Welcome to the Duchy of Barhambria." A man with tall stature, Brown hair, and black eyes in silky clothes greeted them as they set foot on the port.

"Duke, Thank you for the warm greetings. Flower this Duke Catacius Vinicarus, Duke of the Duchy of Barhambria. Duke this is Flower, my childhood friend." He thanked him, shook their hands and he introduced them to each other.

"Nice to meet you, milady." Catacius told her.

"Nice to meet you too, Your Grace." Flower replied.

"Your Imperial Majesty, here is the way." He told them and they followed him while Flower grabbed his arm.

"It looks like Barhambria developed fast?" Sun asked him as they walked.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. It is all thanks to your full support of the agenda that helped us developed in a much faster pace." He replied as they looked around while walking.

A few moments later, they reached the castle. Its towers are towering high and its wall looks hard as a bar of iron. The castle is elegantly designed with granite walls and the windows are made from stained glass.

"Here we are, Your Imperial Majesty. The shogun of Cherry Shogunate is waiting inside." Catacius told them as the drawbridge lowered.

"Many things change since I last visited here." Sun told them as they proceed.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." Catacius replied.

They entered the great hall where they saw the shogun and his family. They went inside and they shook hands.

"Your Imperial Majesty, this is Shogun Meishu Setana, Shogun of Cherry Shogunate. Meishu-sama, this His Imperial Majesty Joseph Solar also known as Sun, Emperor of Sun Empire." Catacius introduced them to each other and they shook hands.

"It is nice to meet you, Sun-sama." Meishu greeted him with an accent.

"Nice to meet you too, Lord Meishu." Sun replied with a smile as they continued to shake hands.

"Let's have a meal together." The duke invited them.

They all agreed and they went to the grand dining hall and they sat on the chairs.

"How did you meet each other, Sun-sama?" Meishu asked Sun.

"I met, His Grace, Catacius when I landed on the island along with Fossil while chasing Moon Realm soldiers. He asked us for help about their problem with the Realm soldiers. How about you, Lord Meishu?" Sun replied and he asked him as they continued to ate.

"I met Catacius-sama through one of my daimyos when they travelled and reached his country." He replied as they continued to eat their food.

"I see. I hope one day I can travel to your country, Lord Meishu." Sun told him.

"I hope I can visit yours to, Sun-sama." Meishu replied.

They finished eating and they went to the gardens when Meishu noticed Sun's sword.

"The design of your sword is like ours, Sun-sama?" Meishu asked him.

"Ah. This one. I inherited this from my father." Sun replied as they walk in the gardens.

"Do you have a wife, Sun-sama?" Meishu asked him suddenly.

"Uh. I don't have a wife. Why you asked, Lord Meishu?" Sun responded.

"I see. I would like you to meet my beautiful little sister. Her name is Kireina Setana. She is single too." He introduced her sister.

"Baka, Onii-chan! I just don't fall in love!" She replied as he hit his head.

"Ey, stop we are in a state meeting! You must not do this." Meishu told her.

"Sorry for my Onii-chan's attitude, Sun-sama. Nice to meet you. I am Kireina Setana, Shogun's imouto, from Setana Daimyo of Cherry Shogunate." She introduced herself as her red wavy hair sparkled as sunlight hit her hair.

"Nice to meet you too, Lady Kireina. I am Joseph Solar also known as Sun from Taiyou County of Sun Empire." He introduced himself and they shook hands.

"You two would be a good match for a couple." Meishu teased them and they laughed.

"Baka, Onii...-chan! Don't tease me in front of people!" Kireina told him as she hit his head and Sun laughed.

"Ey stop. Stop." Meishu told her and she stopped.

"Sorry for the mess, Sun-sama." She apologized and he laughed.

"Well then, Sun-sama. I am quite curious about your sword. Would you like to try for a sparring?" He asked him.

"Yeah, sure. It would be an honor." Sun replied.

"When do you like to do it, Sun-sama?" He asked him.

"It depends upon you, Lord Meishu." He replied.

"Well then, let’s do it now. With real swords." He told him.

"What?!" Kireina shouted.

"Why? We are just in for a spar." Meishu told her.

"What are you doing, Onii-chan? We are in a diplomatic gathering not a sports event!" She yelled at him.

"It is fine right, Sun-sama?" Meishu replied and he asked him.

"Yeah. Yeah. It's fine." He responded with a smile.

"Well, whatever you say." Kireina told them.

"The arena is on this way, milords." The duke told them as they walked northward to the arena along with Flower, Fossil, Kireina and the duke's daughter.

After a few minutes of walking they reached the arena.

"It looks very different now." Sun told Catacius.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. We also put some windows there and a roof." Catacius replied.

"Beware of my brother. He is one of the feared swordsman in our country." Kireina whispered to him as he approached Sun.

"Thanks for the tip, Lady Kireina." Sun replied and he went to the stage.

"What are the stakes, Sun-sama?" He asked him.

"I don't know. You decide, Lord Meishu." He replied.

"Sure. If I won, you will be the husband of my sister. If you won, I will let you spend a day with her." He told him as Kireina went all red.

"What kind of brother are you! Why are you-" She shouted as she heard Meishu but she was interrupted when Sun spoke.

"Well then, that may do." Sun told him as he pulled out his sword.

"What?!!" Kireina shouted and she fell unconscious.

"Let's start the battle! Our battle is a one-point match. Whoever drew the first blood wins." Meishu shouted.

"Well then, I accept the terms." He replied.

They charged at one another. The sounds of their swords rang the whole arena.

"You are strong, Lord Meishu." Sun told him.

"And so, do you, Sun-sama." Meishu replied and they charged again at each other.

They fought and they fought. Everyone was shocked of the fight because they were still unscathed.

"These two men are too strong." A woman with brown hair and blue eyes told them.

"Daughter, they are not just men. They are leaders. The one with the black hair and black eyes is Our Imperial Majesty, Sun of Sun Empire. He is the one who helped us to push away our invaders. The other one with red hair and red eyes is our ally from the Cherry Shogunate." Catacius told her.

"Father, they are really strong. I wonder if you can match them." She replied and asked her father.

"Catalia, my dear daughter. I am too old to match them. But back in my days, I am on par with his father." He replied and they laughed.

"I would love to see you fight with a sword, father." She told him.

"Why not ask Sun to teach you? He is very kind and I think you are a good match." He teased her.

"Father, I don't want to marry yet. I don't want to leave our duchy." She replied as she pouted.

"Daughter, you are old enough to decide for yourself and you can't stay in our duchy forever. Look at your younger brother, he married the daughter of the duke of Alforgia. He rarely visited us because of his duties. I know you are responsible too." He told her as they watched them.

The two, kept fighting and still unscathed.

"Can you still fight, Sun-sama?" Meishu asked Sun.

"Yes. How about you, Lord Meishu?" He asked him.

They kept charging at each other.

"Got you!" Meishu shouted.

"Not yet!" Sun shouted as he jumped on poked his back.

"I concede defeat. You won, Sun-sama." He told him as he dropped his weapon.

"It is a nice battle, Lord Meishu." Sun responded as he put his sword on its scabbard and pat his back.

"You are a strong warrior, Sun-sama." He complimented him.

"We are the same, Lord Meishu." He told him as they walked towards Kireina and the others.

"Well we must follow the stakes, Sun-sama. I will let you spend a day with my sister." Meishu responded.

"Onii-chan! It is good that you lost!" Kireina shouted at him as she hit him.

"Stop! Stop! I lost already." He told her as she continued to hit him.

"Thank you for defeating my brother, Sun-sama. He is rushing me to marry someone. I am very sorry, Sun-sama. I am apologizing on his behalf.

"Don't worry about it. I had fun sparring with him. Let's spar again sometime?" Sun replied to her and asked him.

"What?!" She yelled in shock.

"Sure thing, Sun-sama. Let's do it some other time." Meishu told him and they laughed.

"Your Grace, the dinner is ready." One of the servants told Catacius.

"It is night already?" Sun asked him.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." The servant replied.

"Thanks for informing us." Catacius told him and he went away.

"It looks like we sparred too much?" Meishu asked and they all laughed.

"Well then, let's have our dinner." Catacius told them and they went back to the dining hall.