Chapter
VIII
The laugh, that interrupted
everyone’s thoughts, came from General Takeshi. “Well it seems you have failed
your majesty,” said General Takeshi “at least it now gives me the pleasure of
disposing both you and your nephew at the same time”. “What are you talking about General Takeshi?”
asked Emperor Hisashi. The General smirked. “Simple your majesty,” he said “I
have been your general for years, but my real desire has always been to become
emperor of Japan. And now I will make my dream come true by getting rid of you
and your nephew and claim the throne for myself. And killing you will be more
fun than killing any peasant or servant”. He drew out his sword and pointed it
towards Emperor Hisashi. “You traitor!” shouted Emperor Hisashi and pointed his
sword towards General Takeshi. “Traitor, me?” chuckled General Takeshi “says
you who killed his own father to become emperor”.
Everyone was confused with what
General Takeshi had said; Emperor Yoshitoshi, Hisashi’s and Annika’s father, died
from a sudden illness and no one knew what he died from. “Since I’m about to
end your reign your majesty,” said General Takeshi “I will tell them the truth
now. You see everyone twenty three years ago, just before Emperor Yoshitoshi became
dreadfully ill, he started making preparations of passing his crown. Of course Hisashi
would have been given the crown anyway, as he was the only son and prince. But
the emperor had other ideas; around that time General Masao had asked him for
Princess Annika’s hand in marriage, and the emperor accepted it. The emperor’s
idea was to pass the crown to his daughter and General Masao, after they got married.
The truth is the emperor knew full well that his son was a cold and cruel
person, and would become a wicked and cruel ruler. So he intended to pass the
crown to Princess Annika instead. Hisashi heard of his father’s planning and of
his sister’s marriage plan to General Masao, and got very angry of this. He
couldn’t believe that his sister and her fiancée were to become the next
emperor and empress of Japan, instead of him. So to get what he wanted, he made
up a poison and gave it to the emperor while he slept, and kept on giving it to
him every night until the night he died. The emperor did not die by an illness;
he died from being poisoned by his own son”.
After General Takeshi spoke the real
truth of the emperor’s death, everyone was shocked by this. General Masao,
Prince Hayato, Nobuko and Master Ronin were shocked most of all. “I know I said
that Emperor Hisashi was an evil and mad man,” Master Ronin whispered to Nobuko
“but this is worse than what I said”. “As for his sister,” said General Takeshi
“well the truth is he didn’t want her to marry General Masao and give birth to
his children, as they would have been heirs to the throne. Not to mention he
had always been in love with her ever since they were children. Hisashi didn’t
want any other heirs to take his place, nor did he want his sister with any
other man, so he intended to have her as his wife and have her give birth to
his heirs. That way his right to the throne would be secured, and he would have
his sister all to himself. But since Princess Annika had given birth to an heir
two years after she ran away, his majesty’s right to the throne is now insecure,
so Hisashi’s plans have all failed now”. Emperor Hisashi got ready to swing his
sword at General Takeshi and began to act insane. “So what if I killed my own
father?” he shouted “so what if I wanted to marry my sister?! The throne is
mine and only mine! And I will not let anyone take it from me! Not my nephew or
even you General Takeshi!” He began to swing his sword at General Takeshi, but
General Takeshi defended himself with his sword. Soon a big sword fight broke
out between Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi.
The councillors backed away towards
the back of the throne room, so they wouldn’t get caught in the fight. General
Masao and Prince Hayato didn’t do anything to help; they did not intend to
interfere with this fight. “Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi have both gone
mad” General Masao said to his son. Nobuko and Master Ronin just watched the
fight too, wondering how the fight will turn out. “Things have turned out worse
than I ever thought they would be” said Master Ronin. The sword fight was a
terrifying one; the swords were clashing at each other like crazy and Emperor
Hisashi was fighting like he was a warrior from hell. When the swords clashed
at each other again, General Takeshi quickly took a dagger out from his belt
and stabbed Emperor Hisashi into the heart. Everyone gasped as Emperor Hisashi
screamed and fell down dead. General Masao stared hard at Emperor Hisashi’s
dead body. ‘It was my desire to dispose of him,’ he thought ‘but as long as
he’s now dead, it’s fine that someone else has done it’.
General Takeshi took some deep
breaths. “That was fun” he said. Then he pointed his sword, now stained with
blood, at General Masao and Prince Hayato. “Now that I’ve gotten rid of the
emperor,” he said “I will now get rid of you two, and then the throne will be
all mine for the taking”. Nobuko stepped forward. “No you won’t!” she shouted,
in her normal voice, “Sorry to ruin your plans General Takeshi, but you will do
no such thing!” Nobuko took out her katana sword, but when she did that her
straw hat fell off her head, loosened her hair and revealed to everyone,
especially to General Masao and Prince Hayato, that she was a girl, not a boy.
General Masao and Prince Hayato were surprised to know that their friend had
been a girl all along. General Takeshi looked at Nobuko, and then smirked.
“Well then,” he said “I’ll have a greater pleasure killing you, than when I
killed your family, Nobuko Okamoto”. “You may have killed my family General
Takeshi!” said Nobuko, crossly, “but you will never kill another family again!”
Nobuko got ready to fight General
Takeshi. General Masao and Prince Hayato got ready to fight too, even though
they were still surprised by Nobuko. “Three for the price of one,” he said
“this must be my lucky day”. He charged at Nobuko, General Masao and Prince
Hayato for a fight. General Masao, Prince Hayato and Nobuko fought with General
Takeshi together. Even though General Takeshi was fighting with three people at
the same time, he was a warrior that wasn’t going to go down so easily. But
then at last, while Prince Hayato and Nobuko distracted General Takeshi,
General Masao was able to slash him in the back. General Takeshi screamed in
pain and then fell down dead.
Nobuko breathed heavily after General
Takeshi died, and then placed her right hand on her heart. ‘Mother, Father and
baby brother, that was for you’ she thought. Just then she noticed that Prince
Hayato and General Masao were staring at her and then bent her head down in
guilt; after all she had been lying to them all this time. She knelt down onto
the floor to apologize. “I am sorry for lying to you for whom and what I am,”
she said “but disguising myself as a boy was the only way I could escape from
the palace and find someone who could help me get rid of General Takeshi and
avenge my family’s death”. General Masao walked up to Nobuko and placed a hand
on her head. “It’s all right,” he said “I understand everything of what you
did”. Nobuko got up from the floor, surprised that General Masao wasn’t cross
with her. Prince Hayato walked over to Nobuko. “I find it hard to believe that
the best friend I ever had was a girl all this time” he said. “I apologize for
not telling you earlier your highness,” said Nobuko. “I said you can just call
me Hayato, Nobuko” said Prince Hayato, holding onto her hands. “Hayato” replied
Nobuko.
Master Ronin walked up to them and
looked at the dead bodies of Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi. “Now that
Emperor Hisashi’s evil reign is over,” he said “maybe now Emperor Yoshitoshi
and Princess Annika can now rest in peace in heaven”. “Yes and hopefully
Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi will get what they deserve in hell” said
General Masao. “I’m happy that no one will suffer because of them ever again,”
said Nobuko “and I’m also glad that they won’t be killing innocent people anymore”.
Master Ronin turned to Prince Hayato. “It is time for you to take your place as
Emperor, Prince Hayato” he said. The councillors stepped forward. “Hail to
Prince Hayato!” they shouted and cheered.
“I am ready to take my place as emperor,” he said “but there is one more
thing I want”. He turned to Nobuko and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Nobuko I want you as my empress”. Nobuko was surprised by the sudden proposal.
“But is it all right for a woman like me to become empress?” she asked. “Of
course it is,” said Master Ronin “a good, brave and selfless woman like you has
the rights to become an empress. And since you care and are willing to help
others, I can tell that you will make a fine empress”. “I agree with Master
Ronin,” said General Masao “I accept you for a daughter in law”. Nobuko looked
into Prince Hayato’s eyes and gave him her answer. “I will marry you Hayato”. She
and Prince Hayato smiled at each other and then they hugged and kissed each
other.
The day after Emperor Hisashi’s
death, Prince Hayato was crowned Emperor Hayato. “Everyone,” he said to the
audience “I know for twenty two years, Japan had suffered under the evil reign
of my uncle, Hisashi. But he and General Takeshi are dead now, and Japan can now
live in an age of love and peace”. Everyone clapped for Emperor Hayato. After
he made that speech, Nobuko stepped forward to become empress and Emperor
Hayato’s wife. She was out of her male clothing and was now wearing a beautiful
red, pink and green kimono. “You’re beautiful” Emperor Hayato whispered to her.
“Thank you” she whispered back. Emperor
Hayato and Nobuko were happy to be with the one they loved. General Masao stood
proud at the side and was happy for his son. He presented Princess Annika’s
silver hair pin with the blue bird and purple flower to Nobuko as a gift. At
first Nobuko felt reluctant to take it, as it was Princess Annika’s, but
General Masao reassured her it was okay. So Nobuko accepted the silver hair pin
and promised General Masao that she would take great care of it. Master Ronin
was happy for the young couple too. “I pray that God’s blessing be with you
both from this day forward” he said. “Thank you Master Ronin” said Emperor
Hayato and Nobuko. Soon Emperor Hayato and Nobuko were married and Nobuko was
crowned empress of Japan. “Long live Emperor Hayato and Empress Nobuko!” the
crowd cheered.
Under Emperor Hayato and Empress
Nobuko’s reign, Japan did live an era of love and peace. The people of Japan
liked their new emperor and empress very much and were happy when the evil
reign of Emperor Hisashi ended. General Masao regained his post as general to
the army and he also taught new recruits how to sword fight. Master Ronin decided
to move out of his temple and move into the palace; he wanted to continue
watching over General Masao, Emperor Hayato and Nobuko. “I intend to live the
rest of my life, seeing how your lives turnout” he explained to them. General
Masao, Emperor Hayato and Nobuko understood his desire and gladly accepted him
into the palace. Emperor Hayato had graves built for the innocent people that
his uncle and General Takeshi had killed over the years, including Nobuko’s
family. He felt bad sometimes for all the evil things his uncle did to the
people, but he knew that they will always find peace now, since his uncle was
now dead.
Nobuko felt happy with her new life
and when she gave birth to her first born son a year later, she was happier
than she had ever dreamed. She still missed her family and her adopted father
Tetsuya, but as long as her new family were always with her, she never felt sad
and lonely again. Emperor Hayato and General Masao were happy to be together,
both in human forms, and not cursed anymore. They all lived happily together
for the rest of their lives.
