This was just the situation he would have liked to avoid. She was crying now, tears falling from her eyes as he regarded her his expression unchanged. If he knew the princess was so frail-hearted perhaps it would have been more efficient to send Corrin or even Elise, but if father got word that they were sympathizing with the enemy that would be the end of their plan. She didn’t know King Garon, today wasn’t the worst he could do, and it will be worse if she didn’t comply. This wasn’t a negotiation.
But one look at her and Leo could tell she was at the point of breaking. The cold logic with which he presented his reasons mattered little to her in her emotional state. If he could still afford the feeling, he might have felt some extent of sympathy for her, for this princess who had lost everything. But this was war and he was here to attain results. So play to her emotions it was.
“I don’t think you understand, Princess. I could threaten to have your retainers executed or your adviser hanged to force your cooperation–” A scare tactic, to force her to entertain the thought of their deaths and push her so that what he says next will sound like a kindness.
“–but instead, I will give you a choice. You may see one of them. To consult, or conspire with if you’d be so foolish. They haven’t been harmed, as you’ll see for yourself. I give you your retainer as proof. Then perhaps when you’ve calmed yourself you’ll have an answer for me. Is that acceptable?”
He gave her a moment to process his words. There was another motive as well. This course of action would take even the task of comforting the Princess off of his shoulders and onto those better suited.
His words froze her heart, her soul, her entire body -- the thought of more death, the thought of Hana and Subaki being... She couldn’t finish the thought, a sob wrenching itself from her throat, raw and ugly. Blood rushes to her head, thundering in her veins, and hate surges again, that ugly emotion a princess as sheltered as she has never truly had to feel before. Sakura’s life had been a truly happy one, until the Kingdom of Nohr had taken everything. She can almost hear Takumi at her side, snarling Nohrian scum! and wishes she had the courage to say the same.
But as quickly as the wave of emotion consumed her, it ebbed and faded. Alive. They were alive, for now, they hadn’t been taken from her just yet (she didn’t trust the Prince before her not to put their deaths on the table again). But Prince Leo wouldn’t tell her they were alive if he couldn’t prove it, she felt. Regardless, she certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. She didn’t have the courage to conspire, to run away, to revolt (especially not with what she had seen), but advice, or just the comfort of those she loved, would be welcome compared to the callousness of the Prince demanding the impossible of her.
“I-I want to see my retainers,” Though the tears hadn’t stopped, her emotions still running high, the thought of their faces gave her hope. “B-but I... I want to speak w-with Yukimura.” She couldn’t ask Hana or Subaki for advice, but she would not go without making sure they’re safe. Even if it was a glimpse, so long as she had the chance to ascertain their safety, it would be enough for now.
She was terrified. Her body shook with it, with the fear, the anger, the sadness. Sakura knew that he would be unhappy with her demand. But it’s was though the knowledge of their safety ignited something in her -- it was her turn to protect them. So long as she had them, she had something left to fight for.
“I... I will not make a decision u-until I can believe your word, P-Prince Leo.” Her voice shook, but she was proud that she managed to sound as level as she possibly could. “M-my countrymen’s lives d-depend on you honouring your w-word.” There was a surprising edge to the word honour -- something else she remembers Takumi saying, Nohrian scum don’t have any honour. If her retainers were alive, then there was a chance her siblings were too. She disappointed them at Fort Jinya; she was determined, now, not to do so again.
2087
vaporwave
prguitarman
discoholicmusic
