I had no idea that this village wasn't under any of those Empires. I thought it was under the Kosaki Empire.
Arashi said his eyes narrowed to the slits, "I don't know about the dispute between Emperor Yaguchi's young son and the Yamaguchi Clan but it is most probably because of this village. But of course, it is my assumption."
"Let me give some light to the dispute then, Mr Yuan." A deep voice came and we moved our gazes toward Arashi's chamber.
There was a young man around Arashi's height with long dark hair, standing against the sliding door. But his body felt weak and even though he had a beautiful face, it had bruises and cuts. He looked tired.
Arashi went toward him immediately and gave him his shoulder to support. "I told you not to move around much."
The man chuckled, "Well, I feel a little better and after Mrs Yuan's excellent cooking skill, I feel like running around."
"Your wounds would open." Arashi said with a straight face.
"Don't worry, I believe in Mr Yuan's medicinal skills as well." The man said with a grin but then coughed as Arashi looked at his stomach with cornered eyes.
I regained my posture and sat on my knees as Arashi gave him a chair. I was assuming he was the prince so I bowed to him. Of course, even if he wasn't from my Empire, he was still superior to me.
Both Arashi and the prince looked at me with wide gaps in their mouths.
The Prince asked, "Err... Mr Yuan, have you—"
"No."
He nodded. "I see." He looked at me with a gentle smile and said, "Please don't bow, Mrs Yuan. I may be a Prince but you don't serve me."
I nodded.
He introduced himself, "I am Prince Sen from Yokoto Empire."
He sat on the chair and asked, "I hope you know about the war between Wansai and Kosaki?"
I nodded.
"The problem started after Wansai won the war. The clans under the empire had gotten influential powers after the war. Although the Wansai Prince had forbidden everyone from robbing the Kosaki Empire, the strongest clans had other plans in their mind."
I thought the Wansai Prince was just an egoistic prince who didn't rule over Kosaki to show off his powers. Well, that was the rumor all Kosaki learnt after the war. Why would he leave the Empire after winning it? To belittle the Kosaki Empire, of course.
That was what my father said.
"The clans started to rob and kill people from Kosaki who were near their borders and with tricks they even expanded Wansai's borders. But that wasn't all." He said, "Because we, the Yokoto Empire, shared a side with Wansai as well, they started to rob us as well."
I had never known that the Wansai Empire was that evil. So, the rumors about the Wansai Prince were all true. No wonder my father hated that man.
"We don't want another war because the last war cost a vast economic problem in our empire as well even though we hadn't participated." Prince Sen said, "We were defending everything until now but their eyes fell on this village, Godoyama."
I looked at him with wide eyes. "They want to spread their borders here as well?" I asked. Wansai was so greedy!
He nodded. "Godoyama is surrounded by five mountains and if any of the Empire had this village, not only would they have all the mountains under their border, they would also get the upper hand if there was another war."
Now I realize. If they got the mountains it would be easier to fight from above. The enemies from both nations would have to climb the mountains to engage in the battle. No wonder Wansai would want to have this village.
"But how come this village was unscathed even after the war? Wouldn't all three Empires want to get this village?" I asked because it had been five years since the village was still peaceful and the people seemed to have no knowledge of this.
Well, I had never seen anyone in this village with any worries or anything. They lived here as if peace was permanent for them and besides, I loved this village.
The Prince chuckled. "Because someone had been protecting this village after the war."
I looked at him with questioning gazes. "Who?"
The Prince shrugged and I wanted to pester him to tell me the name of this person.
I wanted to know this person as well. I tried to recall everyone from the village. The village elder! But he was so old...
I could assume that he didn't want to disclose it and Arashi never mentioned anything about it, so it was better not to beat around the bush.
The prince said, "I came here to form a small treaty with the village but my man and I got caught by the Yamaguchi clan. They wanted to kill us and they wanted to make it as a warning for Yokoto."
"But that would start a war!" I said.
"Of course, that is what they are planning, I suppose." The Prince said with a worried face.
I looked at the prince and saw how cruel they were. It was certain that they went for the kill. He had a deep wound around his chest and stomach. He could have died. My eyes moved at Arashi and my heart filled with warmth and pride. If it wasn't for him, maybe the Prince of Yokoto would have died and there would have been a war.
And then I realized, a war meant a lot of deaths and wounded people. I asked, "But if they start a war here then all the villagers here—"
"Would be ended as sacrifices in the war." He ended the sentence confirming my worry. "They don't care what happens to the villagers as long as they get the mountains."
I was just about to break there because I had never seen any war before my eyes. But how my father was wounded made me think, it was fairly a cruel thing. I didn't want to witness a war if all the villagers would be sacrificed. I recalled all those little children, Hina, and other elders of the village, Arashi. They had become like a family to me and I would not want a war.
I looked at Arashi who still seemed like nothing had happened and the situation wasn't this dire. How could he manage to stay like that?
I was a bit envious of him since I was scared after what Prince Sen said.
"Then shouldn't we tell the villagers?" I asked.
The Prince shook his head. "No need. We don't want them to panic. Let them live the peaceful life they are leading."
My brows knitted together on my forehead. "Then—"
Prince Sen said, "I have already formed a treaty but all we need now to get Kosaki's Emperor to form a bond with us as well."
I nodded. "So, who will go to the Kosaki Emperor?"
"It was my purpose to go there but you can see, I am wounded heavily so..." He looked at Arashi, "I have given this task to Mr Yuan."
My eyes bulged out from my sockets. What!
Arashi seemed a bit tense as he portrayed a displeased face but the Prince smirked at him.
Prince Sen said, "Well, I believe in Mr Yuan's skills, so it would be better if he went there instead of me."