¤Captivated¤

I loved your music.

I still remember that day, when you sat silently by the river. Your hands gracefully tugged at the melody that flowed so soothingly into my heart, as if it belonged there. You were so absorbed by the sound - you did not notice that your surroundings fell silent; you did not even notice the me that stood behind the tree right beside you.

I closed my eyes to embrace the enchanting sound. However you stopped and stood, and my eyes snapped open as I was suddenly pulled back to reality.

"Miss, this Niko was originally five silver pieces, but you are such an experienced player, I shall sell it to you for three silver. Would you like to buy it?" a man, apparently the boss of the music shop, asked.

It's boring today, as usual.

I turned and was about to leave.

"No, I won't." her answer was short and clear.

I stopped on my tracks.

"However……I might consider it for one silver piece." She smiled gracefully to the boss, while a commotion stirred amongst the crowd.

She stood under the sunlight, confident and ……beautiful.

"But Miss! It's a high quality Niko! It should be worth more than that!" the man exclaimed.

"One silver piece," she announced, "is the most I will pay."

"Then how about me paying for you?" I emerged from the tree, a hand on the trunk. I felt her gaze on me, not unfriendly, but with caution.

What a sharp girl.

"Pardon?" she asked as her eyes narrowed.

"I will pay for that niko if you could play these pieces," I named the five extremely difficult pieces.

"Well well…All of them requires at least ten years of practice to be played beautifully," she finally said.

If she have said no, I would have left right away.

"But......I take up your challenge," she smirked. Taking the Niko in her hands, heavenly melodies flowed again.

She……is interesting.

The music finally stopped, and I handed her the five silver pieces. I thought that she will purchase the niko immediately as it was evident that the niko was made for her, but instead……

"Two silver pieces," she handed the money to the boss.

The boss sighed, knowing that he would not be able to win this girl, "Deal."

I almost smiled.

This girl……

She turned around, and suddenly, broke into a smile. I was shocked.

She was an ordinary girl with ordinary looks, but her smile was so warm that it almost burned.

Cheerfully she dangled the money bag in front of me, "Thank you!"

I can't help but laugh.

She looked at me quizzically, then, asked for my name.

"Lin Senya." I replied.

This will be my name now. "What's yours?"

This time, it was her who bit her lips. Hesitantly, she made out a sentence.

"Kourin. My name is Kourin."

I know that she's lying.

She was no ordinary girl, for her manners, her skills, couldn't have come from an ordinary house.

And Kourin was an ordinary name.

I know that her name was Shuurei. Kou Shuurei.

The minister-to-be of the Sa Province, the first female officer in the whole of Saiunkoku history.

I smiled my usual façade as she turned away uneasily.

I know her true identity, but she didn't know mine.

I decided to add something to my little plan.

I will make her mine. After I get bored, I will throw her away, leaving her dirtied and broken.

She turned and met my eyes, and smiled again.

I smiled back.

In the following days we spent together, we may seem close, but actually we are as far as heaven and earth.

She would play niko for me every day, she would always call me 'waka sama', but never my name.

She would comb my hair for me, and scold me when I let down her beautiful, smooth black hair, but she would always pin it up in the very instant I ran my fingers through them.

She would blush when I suddenly bent down to kiss her, but in her eyes, the person reflected was not me, but another man.

She would brew tea for me, but she would never brew me that special tea that she promised to brew for someone else.

So I discarded all the other tea in the room, leaving her with a jug of hot water and a dangling row of binded flowers.

Brew me the tea.

I silently ordered, but instead, she pushed a cup of warm water in front of me.

"No, I won't." she said as determinedly as the first day I met her.

She didn't know that in the water so warm was the only poison that I was not immune to. Neither that she know that amongst the tea petals, lies the antidote.

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You are the one who killed me.

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I wanted to tell her that, so that she will remember me forever. But I didn't.

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In your heart, is there a place for me, even if it's just a tiny bit?

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Slowly I sipped the warm water she poured especially for me, even if its deadly poison, I still feel blessed.

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Until the end, you still won't brew me the tea.

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"Are you sick, You look kind of pale," she asked worriedly as I placed the empty cup on the table.

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Until the end, you didn't let me into your heart.

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I always thought that I was in control, but in reality, I have lost the bet from the very beginning.

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How wrong I was.

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I have lost from the moment I heard her music.

I have lost because I fell in love.

Kou Shuurei, a woman that can't be dirtied, a woman that can't be broken, a woman that will never belong to anyone.

That's why I offered myself instead.

Kou Shuurei does not belong to me.

Sa Sakujun belongs to Kou Shuurei.

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