The next day, I decided to step outside to take some fresh air. I felt like I had a rough day yesterday. And who knows what my sister is planning, she has been so quiet lately.
Strolling outside the palace garden was one of the few activities I did in my leisure time aside from embroidery.
I sat down on the grass to rest, then Sayuri surprised me with her sudden approach.
She glared at me softly and my heart sounded in fear.
"So, this is what you do in your free moments?" Sayuri asked.
"Y-yeah, I do love talking walks in the garden." I said. "Sayuri... Are you mad at me?"
Sayuri laughed hysterically.
"Me, mad? Oh, no... I'm enraging mad! And I'm going to end your life for ruining my proposal. And yes, I don't have to wait to become the empress before taking my chances out on you, Suzuha!"
I froze as Sayuri put her face close to mine.
"Suzuha, the perfect girl that everyone loves. They see you as a blessing... But not for long..." Sayuri said, in a threatening tone.
Sayuri dashed out of the garden laughing like a psychopath, as I remained threatened. What could she possibly do to me, I wondered curiously. Sayuri was full of surprises and she looked like she would do anything it takes to murder me.
Weeks went by, and a terrible famine came upon Akarui during the spring season. There was barely any water or crops. People were dying out of thirst and hunger. And to make matters worse, my father fell sick and most of the supplies being spent on him. My mother, empress Naka, wrote many letters to various nations, including Okinawa. But they refused to help us because of the engagement controversy. No other nation wanted to help us aswell. We were doomed.
My uncle who was my father's younger brother Gentro, came to attend to dad as he was a specialist doctor.
"This is bad." Uncle Gentro said. "He needs more supplies. "
"Oh, father!" Sayuri said, with sorrow.
"Emperor Naka will soon die if we don't take action." Uncle Gentro said.
"Why is this happening to us!? Isn't Akarui blessed?" My mother questioned herself.
"Mother... What if it may be Suzuha?" Sayuri suggested, sneakily.
"What are you saying?" My mother asked in surprise.
"Yeah, what are you saying?" I looked into her eyes. She was plotting something.
"You know how everyone says that Suzuha was a blessing? What if she is actually a curse, what if she's the problem?" Sayuri said.
"Hmm, she has a point." Uncle Gentro said.
"No, Suzuha can't be a curse." My mother defended me.
"Think about it, Suzuha is too perfect. Maybe her blessings has ran out and she is now a curse to Akarui. The heavenly above probably decided to curse her for what she did on my engagement day." Sayuri said.
Uncle Gentro and my mother looked at me and they nodded in agreement.
"No, I'm not a curse! Tell them, mother!" I yelled being frightened.
"Sayuri, what must we do to break this curse?" My mother asked.
"Kill her." Sayuri said.
The room fell silent. Then my mother ordered some guards to take hold of me as I struggled to let myself loose.
"Mother, please!" I called after her.
"We must first test her. Let's see if she truly is a curse to us all." My mother said.
"Oh, you'll see... Suzuha is curse..." Sayuri proclaimed.
I was led out that day as my mother sent for a priest. My mother, empress Mayi, sat on her throne as a few but much citizens of Akarui watched in shock. Whispers filled the room as the priest walked in, looking all holy but old with his grey long beard.
"Citizens of Akarui, he began. We are here to see if Suzuha is really a curse to Akarui. Let us begin!"
The ceremony began with the priest pouring something like oil on my head and then he declared, "Suzuha has a dark soul, not like the one we used to know. She is a curse and she must be put to an end."
Everyone gasped and the whispers grew louder. I was in the middle of the palace court terrified, alone with no one by my side. I broke into tears as my sister walked up to me and smirked. She crouched to my level and spoke, "Don't worry, Suzuha. I'll make sure your death would be quick and nothing like pain. Now this is how I felt all these years."
"Sayuri..." I called out to her.
"Don't call me by my name. You're a curse, remember? Goodbye, Suzuha." Sayuri got up and left.
My mother broke into tears as my uncle Gentro consoled her. The priest then handed me a cup of lethal poison set by my sister, Sayuri. I took it with trembling hands and said to myself, "This is my end. Suddenly, everyone hates me like it's my fault that I'm a curse. I wish I wasn't born like this, I wish I wasn't Suzuha..."
I drank from the cup as my sister snickered to see me doing so. My mother couldn't bear it again and exclaimed, "No, my daughter!" She broke into tears as uncle Gentro tried to hold her back.
I colasped to my death as the poison had done it's affect. Everything went silent as I heard my mother screaming as my last hearing and my sister laughing hard.