Work Text:
A condemnation event was triggered, and Toya was going to see it unfold before his very eyes. The subject? His master.
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"Lady Shizuku Hinomori!" The Prince of Arcand shouted, pointing to her. "Under the heavy accusations of witchcraft—which goes against the laws of the Goddess Hona and the Supremes above—you are to be stripped of your title as Marchioness, have all your assets claimed and turned over to the Royal and Temple treasury, and be burned at the stake tomorrow in the morning in the city square for everyone to see!"
Shizuku's face turned pale with horror. Toya notices this and squeezes her hand reassuringly, but he knows he's doing it to reassure himself.
Just a few minutes ago, he and Shizuku were just enjoying the ball hosted by the Imperial palace to announce the engagement of the Royal Prince to the daughter of the Higure Duchy, Lady Arisa Higure.
And now, the Prince was pointing fingers at Shizuku, who was clearly confused and scared. The rest of the nobles in the crowd started to grumble among themselves, just as confused as they are.
"Everyone! Don't be fooled! Lady Hinomori is not your ordinary Marchioness... and she has tricked you all!" Arisa stepped forward, joining the Prince by his side.
"L-Lady Higure, whatever do you mean? Witchcraft? I've done no such thing...!" Shizuku stammers, trying to defend herself.
"This is nonsense, Your Highness! Please reconsider!" Toya pleads stepping in to intervene. He then turns to the worried crowd. "Everyone! You know how hard the Marchioness works, right? She organizes events for the Temple as a devout follower, helps the commoners and nobles with their problems no matter the status, aided with fabrics during the Cold War last year and helps with the Royal Cabinet with her knowledge! She has been busy pouring out her heart, soul and time into making our beloved kingdom prosper, so in whatever time could she have done any kind of witchcraft?"
The crowd looked at each other and nodded. To Toya's relief, the nobles have seen how much of a contribution the Marchioness' name has for the kingdom. He was about to smile when Lady Higure's stern voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Silence, commoner! You are but a mere butler, know your place! The Prince did not give you permission to speak!"
"I'm sorry, Lady Higure, and Your Highness. But my master is my top priority, so ensuring the truth to her side must come first in this situation." As Toya bows in respect, the hidden look on his face says otherwise. His brows furrowed in anger and he grit his teeth, his face contorting in shame and resentment as he stared into the floor.
"Thank you, Toya. I'll handle it from here," Shizuku politely smiled at Toya and stepped forward. "Please, by any means. Do present to us any evidence that makes me a witch. I am certain I am not involved in any witchcraft or dark magic."
Arisa smiled deviously, like she had been waiting for her to say that. Toya sensed wickedness in the corners of her mouth, the crinkle in her eye screaming she won.
Toya felt a chill run down his spine, but the ever so confident Shizuku stood her ground.
"So you asked!" Arisa broke her arms free from being wrapped around the Prince. She walked around where Shizuku stood while she spoke. "We all know that Lady Hinomori has been holed up in her estate in the north for six months now. She had been refusing to attend balls and parties, rejecting invitations to salons, and only attended small tea parties from time to time. She had been concealing her face from the public aside from her frequent visits to the Temple, the commoners and the lower nobles, and the occasional call from the Royal Palace for matters. The timing... so absurd.
"Does anyone remember from the history books about the Demon Plague that appeared three decades ago? The one where the Saintess Yoisaki under the protection of the Goddess Hona destroyed and sealed? This accusation is connected to that. Around the time Lady Hinomori lessened her presence in society, sightings of lesser demons started showing up around the kingdom. But fear not! The Imperial family, the Royal Council with the Royal Mages and the Temple had been working to secure the Kingdom's protection.
"Why do I know this, you may ask? Why am I, the daughter of the Duchy of Higure, laying out judgement instead of the Prince when I'm just his fiancée? Well, I would like to announce here and now that I have the power to do this... because I am the Saintess, tested and approved by the Temple!"
The crowd gasped. Toya saw Shizuku's face brighten in happiness.
"Thank the Goddess Hona of this Kingdom!" Shizuku clasped her hands and genuinely smiled. "Lady Higure, you can save us from the Demon Plague at this rate!"
Toya's eyes widened as she spoke those words.
She shouldn't have. Not in this situation.
Arisa scoffed, an evil smirk was seen briefly on her face before returning to her expression serious. "You hear that, everyone? Lady Hinomori knows about the Demon Plague of today, something we have not disclosed to the public, nor to the Royal Council! I say this here and now! Lady Shizuku Hinomori, your witchcraft has caused the Demon Plague to resurface, and you intend to bring harm upon this kingdom! In the history books, the main gate of what started the Demon Plague is located in the north, awfully close to where your residency is. You holed yourself in your estate to prepare to wreck the entire kingdom!"
"What?! No, that's not true-" Shizuku started, but was cut off.
"Really?" Arisa reached out to a hidden pocket in her dress and fished out a large red pendant, a piece of fabric in between to not have her gloves make contact.
Shizuku gasped as Toya's eyes widened. That piece of artifact was found in the north by them and the patrols from the Hinomori residency after slaying a group of lesser demons lurking near the estate. Shizuku kept it in their vault for safekeeping and to test it out...
"And these! Every single one of these evidences are found in your manor, Laday Hinomori." Arisa, in disgust, hurled the pendant onto the floor, causing it to slide across the marble tiles until it came to a stop just a few inches away from Shizuku's heels. She then clapped her hands and three palace maids came over and dropped papers, notebooks and books across the floor in Shizuku's direction.
"Oh my...!" Shizuku was taken aback by the sudden mess of papers in her front.
"Do you claim these as yours, Lady Shizuku Hinomori?" The Prince demanded.
"Your Highness, if I may speak, isn't this theft? I know I did not agree to anyone searching my house and taking my documents." Shizuku points to the mess. "And I recall no one from the Royal palace, may it be Your Highness the Prince, Lady Higure, the Royal staff or the Royal guards to come to my estate and retrieve these papers, so that would also count as trespassing. I suggest we end this fairly."
"Our search is under the Royal Order, Lady Hinomori. You are a threat to this kingdom, so of course we will take action." The Prince retorted.
"In these documents," Arisa continued, "Are written information about the Demon Plague. Things from the history books and information that the lady has been keeping from the Royal Council. She has written how the Demon Plague works, and written detailed information about the Demons and the possible entryway to it. And thus, we know she is planning to revive the Demon Plague and destroy us all!"
"On what grounds would she have?! Lady Shizuku has no reason to revive the Demon Plague and destroy this nation! Hasn't she been actively helping for its' prosperity?!" Toya implored, desperate.
"Toya, shh," Shizuku turned to him and placed her hand on her chest. "It's okay, I'll handle this." With her instructions, he remained quiet, but he could feel the weight of the room crushing them, the whispers of the crowd no longer sympathetic towards his lady, but rather, hostile.
"I would like to clarify this first and foremost—that everything in those documents are things I've studied about the Demon Plague. I have not told you all about it, as my place in the north had decided to keep this a secret since two years ago, when we noticed it first starting. Our soldiers handled it with ease and care as to not disrupt the peace of the nation, and I assure you, no one has been hurt by them for the past two years. I have been keeping track of every information that I have in hopes of finding a proper solution to end it once and for all.
"A decade ago, soon after my parents died, I've lost my sister, Shiho Hinomori, to the gates of it. After her disappearance the gates closed and I could not find it. So it took all of my people in the north to keep everything a secret as to not attract people to it, hence the secrecy it its' revival. Since her disappearance, I have been set in protecting this kingdom as to not have any more losses. That is the reason why I chose to participate in the flourishment of our kingdom, as I want no one suffer the loss like mine. The documents, since you have reviewed them, can be made into the Royal Information Access if you so wish, and I will cooperate with my thoughts about it. Please. All of my studying about the Demon Plague is to protect our kingdom, not to ruin it...!"
"You have a motive, all right!" Arisa proclaimed, voice rising. "You... wanted to take my place! As Saintess!"
The crowd gasped again.
"Is that even allowed to be disclosed...?" People in the crowd murmured. Some opposed but most others agreed.
"You, a candidate for Saintess, had been actively participating in Temple, Royal, Noble and Commoner activities, flaunting your efforts to gain sympathy from the public! All so the whole kingdom will favor you, have the Temple instate you as Saintess so you could marry into the Royal family and have all the power and ruin the Nobility!"
"For what reason, Lady Higure? Please elaborate, none of this makes sense!" Shizuku asks desperately, turning more paler by the second.
"Your parents, who died during the Royal Cabinet Meeting a decade ago, you believe the Royal Family insinuated it. And you want to bring them down to exact revenge!"
"There is no proof for that! I wholly believe it has been proved that there was foul play from the visiting country!"
"There is proof. This maid... she testifies!" Arisa points to her side, where a maid steps up, avoiding her gaze.
It was her personal attendant, Emillia.
"I-I testify... I heard her Ladyship murmuring to herself about wanting to exact revenge when I was about to deliver her her afternoon tea..." The maid proclaims, but she does not look at Shizuku or Toya.
"There you go. Our accusations have backing. Do you have your proof that you do not intend to do all the things we've said?"
"Emillia... you know that's not true...!" Shizuku looks at her personal attendant with such a sad look. The attendant does not look at her and kept her head down.
"That traitor..." Toya murmured under his breath. He looked at Shizuku, waiting for her say in anything, if there’s anything she would command him to do...
But instead, when he met her eyes, his heart almost stopped. She looked defeated, and she had a weak smile that he remembers she uses in her last retort. This time, she squeezed his hand, but he knew it was to reassure only him.
"You will be fine." Her smile said.
He needs to stop her—
"Okay, Lady Higure. I admit to everything." She boldly proclaims, shocking the crowd and launching them into a messy loud chaos.
Toya could hear the crowd angrily yelled names and profanities against his Lady, but she doesn't falter. At least, not after he noticed her shaking hands clutching the fabric of her dress. He comes over to adjust his body to hide it as she stands firm.
"I... participated in witchcraft! Just as you claim. But I will promise you one thing. If my silver hair burns at the stake, it means I was the only one participating in witchcraft and no one else. I promise you with this seal...!" She thrusts her right hand into the air and emitted a puff of red smoke. "That was a Witch's Vow. Shall I lie with what I said, you will witness a part of my limb be magically cut off, but I will not die from it and just suffer greatly. Just as I can open up the Demon Gate, such this Vow will be true."
"That... was real." For some reason, Lady Higure was a little bit dismayed. "I could sense mana from that smoke. And I've read of the Witches' Vow. Lady Hinomori... you are despicable."
"In the name of family, I suppose. Then. This witch is out! Come see me at dawn only. If you come to the north anytime tonight, the magic I put as a seal will cut off your heads." Shizuku waved, bowed, and with her left shaking hand, she took Toya's and they disappeared from the Imperial Ball in a puff of red smoke.
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When Toya blinked, they were back in the Hinomori estate, standing in the balcony to Shizuku's room.
"Oh dear, what a night..." She stood facing the moon, her back against Toya.
"My Lady... please, I need to ask." Toya said with the trembling voice, taking steps to approach her. "Why did you say you were a witch? You know full well that was not true! And you said you were the only one acting... you could've pointed to me and said it was my fault...! Why... why did you...?"
Instead of responding, Shizuku turned around and put her face in Toya's chest, sobbing faintly.
"My Lady..."
"Toya. You know full well I could not do that to you. I love you and our people too much to abandon you all just for my safety."
Toya slightly frowned at the mention of 'love'. He knew she didn't see her that way, but that kind of stung.
"It was the only way. They had us cornered with lie-based facts. They also stole our documents and turned it against us. The only way to save the north is for me to shoulder all the blame so my people would live to see another day and smile happily. You know that's all I want."
"At your expense?! Thats absurd!"
"It's the only way, Toya...! I don't... I don't want this. I don't want to die...! But risk everyone else's future? I don't want to think of that. I already lost my parents, and then my sister. If I were to die and loose everyone in the process too, I would not move on to the afterlife and weep forever."
"You could've used me, My Lady...! You, who took me in from the street. I, who has no past and no future. I was the perfect candidate for sacrifice...!"
"No, Toya. We both know that. You know, when I first took you in a few years ago, you were hesitant on helping me and stuck to the chores. But then I discovered your talent, and you began helping with out with my work as a young marchioness... you have potential if you were a noble. But it feels like you were hiding something, or that you were running away. You are a strong person, Toya. And I believe you need a future where you embrace yourself and not run away anymore. Then, you will achieve your happiness. Honestly, the happiness I want to see you achieve. I might not be there, but it's your chance to achieve it. So please, Toya. I hope you'll protect the north and achieve your happiness."
"My Lady..."
"Can you call me Shizuku for tonight? I'm to be stripped of my title as Marchioness anyway."
"Shi... Lady Shizuku."
"Toya, it's okay to not be formal anymore, you know?"
"I'll try."
Shizuku sighs. "Arisa has it out for me."
"I know. It was plainly obvious how jealous she is of you. She's been doing a lot of dirty work in front and behind you, did she not? Why turn a blind eye?"
"I thought of it as nothing, just a one-sided rivalry. I honestly did not want to become Saintess as I just want to help people with my family's title. But somehow the Temple found my mana better in comparison to Arisa's. Temple training for saintess candidates had been tough but I loved every second of it."
"Oh, about the Witches' vow! It wasn't really true, was it?"
"Of course not. I think they forgot the fact my hair is going to burn through the fire regardless of a vow or not. And the Witches' Vow was just a piece of information taught to us by the Temple, there wasn't any way for me to know the spells since its from a millennia ago."
"Yeah, that red puff of smoke was something we discovered together as a harmless prank to the head maid a few years ago. I couldn't believe you used that to trick masses."
"I mean, everyone else says I have the charm to make people look. It is such a shame they believed the wrong thing from me."
"Indeed. Well, My La- Shi..zuku...? What's your plan now?"
"Plan? Whatever for?"
"To escape?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier? There is no other way out of this. I'll go out myself than drag anyone else with me."
"Can I not convince you to stay, My Lady."
"No... I don't think you can."
"I'm sorry. As your personal butler, I should've handled things better. Maybe it couldn't have gone down to this. I'll serve you always and forever, My Lady."
"It's okay. What we'll handle now is the aftermath. Come on, my dearest Toya. We'll be getting to work."
"Work?"
"For the north, of course! We have to make sure everyone stays alive before their marchioness flies away!"
"Still with the responsibility, huh..."
And so the two spent the rest of the evening informing the land of the north of what happened and what to do next. Even if the people rallied with claims to defend her or to help her run away, the Marchioness stood her ground.
All the while Toya had cooked up other plans in his head, anything, anything to not let anyone take his Lady away...
Dawn has come.
"Lady Shizuku Hinomori! This is a direct order from the Royal Palace!" A loud voice boomed. A crowd of Imperial guards, nobles and commoners surrounded the gates of the Hinomori estate. "You are hereby arrested for high treason against the Imperial family and for plotting against the welfare of the kingdom! Under the command of the royal palace, you are to be brought to the city square and be burned to death!"
With this proclamation, the furious crowd roared with shouts and insults, calling the Marchioness out of her house.
"Oh dear me, the crowd is finally here. Toya, would you mind escorting me out?" Shizuku graciously smiles after smoothing out the wrinkles in her plain white dress. She held out her hand and Toya took it.
Toya smiled back, feeling his cheeks go warm. "Of course, Lady Shizuku. Glory will come to the Hinomoris of the North."
The two walked out confidently to the main estate doors, with the servants of the house forming a line to say their proper goodbyes. While they walked towards the estate doors like nothing was wrong, the two's fingers intertwined, squeezing each other in reassurance. Their hands were both cold and shaking.
As the crowd marched with the Imperial soldiers with Shizuku—her hands tied with ropes—in tow, Toya blended in with the rest of the crowd as they head over to the city square.
As she stepped into the platform of wood and haybales, the crowd chanted for her demise. Hearing all their insults made Shizuku's heart sting, as she did all she could to make these people happy. But even so, she couldn't find it in her heart to hate them...
And so the events unfolded slowly, as if to mock Toya's world and vision. The details were read out loud, the Imperial family went over and had their way of hurting her, and finally the torment.
Shizuku's painstakingly shrill screams of agony resounded throughout the city, and the people's enraged shouts commixed with it. Even with the world's noise, Toya could only ever hear his mistress crying out in pain and terror.
He watched as the flames licked her skin, bubbling and bursting. The horrible stench of blood and flesh wafted in the air with the black smoke that came out of the fire, choking the air out of Toya's lungs. The putrid smell made him want to vomit, but he couldn't.
The flame consumed her bluish-silver locks, blackening it and leaving a smoldering mass that curled up and writhed in the intense heat.
The scene in front of him was too cruel for him to witness and for his beloved mistress to suffer in, but both were too powerless to object the will of the gods.
Toya wanted to move. He wanted to run up the platform, free his Ladyship, take her and run. Run away from this country, away from nobles, away from prying eyes, away from anyone who feared death from their own kind only to inflict their fears on them, away from everyone. But he couldn't. He was stuck there, unable to move, unable to avert his eyes from the horrible scene.
While Shizuku was crying out in pain, its sound was like sweet melody to Arisa's ears. A sigh of contentment escaped her as a beaming smile graced her lips, basking in the triumph of her victory.
And she didn't know Toya saw her wearing the most diabolical, evil smirk a saintess could wear. For a moment, his thoughts about rescuing Shizuku were forgotten. Instead, he thought about how she should've been the one burning there instead. She was the instigator. She would have to pay the price of being the reason of his Lady's death.
As Shizuku's sickening screams pierce through his ears, he was thinking of revenge.
Oh, sweet revenge for his beloved Lady Shizuku.
How he wishes to hear the bloodcurdling screams this nation will have once he had his way. And that fake Saintess Arisa... she'll go back to heaven alright. That or he'll be dragging her to the depths of hell, where she and her disgusting smirks belong.
He was the one who last left the city square, turning his back from the platform. For a second, he balled his hand into a fist, forgetting there was no hand for him to squeeze in reassurance anymore.