1. The people cheered. There were whistles, shouts of joy; someone screamed ‘Long live the dynasty!’ just to be followed by other heckling voices calling out the name that so often was whispered amongst the castle walls. Someone threw a rock. Blood appeared and stained the pavement just beyond the city square.
2.  
3. Ten minutes away from the spot in which relentless abuse was now taking place, another fight was taking place, letting itself known by shouts and tears, thrashing and biting.
4.  
5.  
6.  
7. “Your Majesty, for the last time, you cannot go if you value your life!” One of the maids shouted, barring the entrance door with her body. In front of her, held back by several servants and her wet nurse was the Royal Princess of the Cataracta Kingdom, Nene of The House of Yashiro. Engaged to the Crown Prince of Septem Miracula Empire, she arrived in the foreign lands a year ago, having never before met her betrothed. For the good of both of their countries, she thought back then as she stepped into the castle for the first time. The thing she was doing right now, however, was in no way connected to her feelings of patriotism or her desire to obtain the crown.
8.  
9.  
10.  
11. “They are wrong! He didn’t do it! He didn’t kill him! He was with me the entire time!” She screamed over and over again until she felt iron on her tongue and her throat felt like it was about to tear apart. Her eyes were puffy from sobbing, her cheeks dry from the many times she rubbed the waterfalls off of them, and she could barely stand after refusing food for the longest time, but she was still fighting, still hoping that just by pushing forward she could change his fate.
12.  
13.  
14.  
15. “Your Majesty, I’m begging you! They will brand you a traitor and execute you alongside the Crown Prince!” Barely having spoken these words, the maid who was holding her by the waist was elbowed in the forehead, falling on her back with what seemed like a slight concussion. Acting upon this slither of a chance, Nene lurched forward, getting rid of the countless hands that were holding her back, and between the legs of the maid in the entrance.
16.  
17.  
18.  
19. “Wait for me, Yugi Amane! I’m coming!”
20.  
21.  
22.  
23. At the same time, on the city square, a boy, no older than 15 stood on a wooden elevation, bruised and wounded, hair oily and messy, his hands bound behind his back. Just a week ago he would be looking at this scene from the balcony of his castle, perhaps with Nene by his side, joking around and poking fun at each other. And yet, now he was the one watched by thousands of eyes, ridiculed and made fun of. A prisoner. In a few minutes - a dead man.
24.  
25.  
26.  
27. A tall woman stepped out of the mob, wearing all black, and holding a scroll in her left hand. The golden seal attached to her chest told Yugi that she was sent by the royal family - in this situation most likely by his Father himself. He shuddered at the memory of his father’s fuming face when he was brought to face him, knees on the marble floor, the blood from his broken nose slowly dripping on the rough material of his pants.
28.  
29.  
30.  
31. So he chose death for his son. It’s only fitting.
32.  
33.  
34.  
35. “This is the sentence brought upon Yugi Amane, verified with the seal of the Yugi Royal Family and the signature of King Yasuhiko himself, long live the king.” the woman began speaking, slowly opening the scroll. Each movement of her fingers drove Amane insane. It was as if she was taking her time in savoring the moment, torturing him further by giving him the faint illusion of hope. She licked her lips as she continued, now reading from the crisp paper in front of her. “For the unforgivable crime of murder upon his brother, Yugi Tsukasa, the Second Prince of the Septem Miracula Empire, the King and the Royal Court sentence Yugi Amane, the First Prince of the Septem Miracula Empire, to death by beheading.”
36.  
37.  
38.  
39. A deafening cheer ran across the filled to the brim city square. Amane felt nauseous, all strength in his body leaving him in a single moment. He gave these people all that he could. Cared for them. Invested in research and education. Stood up for those falsely accused and those who acted out of poverty and desperation.
40.  
41.  
42.  
43. And now, in the moment of his demise, no one was by his side.
44.  
45. He bit his lip until he tasted blood.
46.  
47. He wasn’t allowed to cry.
48.  
49.  
50.  
51. “The sentence will be carried out immediately after the sentence has been read, and will be confirmed by the Royal Court Advisor, Nanamine Sakura, and Hyuuga Natsuhiko.” The woman, now identified as Sakura, passed the scroll to the man who stood just by the steps that led to the wooden elevation and made a gesture at the two knights who were keeping guard by the defamed prince. They nodded and grabbed Amane’s shoulders, bringing him down to his knees.
52.  
53. Yugi Amane didn’t resist.
54.  
55.  
56.  
57. Nene could easily hear the cheers and curses thrown at her fiance as she ran as fast as she could towards where she thought the judgment will take place. She was weak, out of breath. Her lungs were on fire, her muscles were screaming for her to stop the abuse, and yet she ran, counting from one hundred down to one to keep herself conscious and sane.
58.  
59.  
60.  
61. She knew the way to the square perfectly well.
62.  
63. On the first day she arrived at the castle, a suspicious-looking boy appeared in her room, throwing a set of commoner clothes at her, telling her to hurry up and put them on before anyone walks in. Probably because of shock and the sheer audacity of someone walking into a girl’s room unannounced, not even mentioning the fact that it’s a room belonging to the Crown Princess herself, she slipped the clothes on and allowed herself to be whisked away into the town, led by the hand by the mysterious black-haired boy.
64.  
65. He showed her many things that day. From flowers made out of sugar, through the local street theatre, to children learning to count by juggling fruit, Nene got to see many faces of the Septem Miracula capital that she wouldn’t be able to see had she went out in her normal clothes, accompanied by a circle of bodyguards and servants.
66.  
67. In the evening, as the sun disappeared completely behind the horizon, the boy took her to a hill on the outskirts of the city and showed her constellations and comets. Suddenly, the sky was filled with pictures and stories that she had never noticed before.
68.  
69.  
70.  
71. When she found out that the boy that dragged her around was the man she was designated to marry, she was both terrified and delighted. Delighted about the fact that he was a knowledgeable, wealthy and fun prince, and terrified about the things she spoke about when she had no idea who was she standing next to.
72.  
73. The only thing that he said when she apologized to him profusely was ‘Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind if you tell the truth or lie. Just don’t leave me.’
74.  
75.  
76.  
77. “Dumbass!” She screamed as she turned yet another corner. “That’s exactly what you are doing right now!”
78.  
79.  
80.  
81. Nene was almost there, just two more turns and she would arrive at the flourishing city square, filled with smiling faces and children playing around in the streets. Black spots were floating in front of her eyes as she turned the last corner, just to exhale shakily as she noticed a wall of people in front of her. Just a bit more. Just a bit.
82.  
83.  
84.  
85. “Do you have any last words, Your Majesty?” Sakura asked as Natsuhiko pointed at the guard who retrieved his double-handed sword from the scabbard at his side. Amane swallowed thickly, his saliva refusing to go down his throat, as he raised his head slightly to meet her eyes.
86.  
87. “Say hi to Tsukasa from me. Tell him that he won this game.” he croaked out.
88.  
89. Sakura smiled sincerely, perhaps for the first time in a long while.
90.  
91. “Of course. It was a pleasure playing with you, Your Majesty.”
92.  
93.  
94.  
95. “AMANE! AMANE! DON’T GIVE UP! DON’T LET THEM DO WHAT THEY WANT!”
96.  
97. A scream, desperate and almost drowned by the heckling mob, reached his ears. He snapped his head to the side, looking desperately into the crowd surrounding him.
98.  
99. There she was.
100.  
101.  
102.  
103. Nene Yashiro was furiously pushing her way through, reaching towards him with a shaking hand. Amane’s eyes softened at the sight of her - a small comfort in his last moments. Their eyes met as the guard raised the sword above his head. Amber meeting ruby, both glazed over by tears, the sword came down, a sharp noise ringing in the square as it cut the air on the way.
104.  
105.  
106.  
107. ‘Don’t look’ Amane mouthed in Nene’s direction.
108.  
109.  
110.  
111. And then it was over.
112.  
113.  
114.  
115. ***
116.  
117.  
118.  
119. It took a month for Nene to be dismissed by the king, pack, bid goodbye to the castle walls and return home, to the Cataracta Kingdom. For the first few days, she was inconsolable, having locked herself in her room, crying the days away. One day, she wasn’t in her room anymore, the maids noticed alarmed, only to find her in the city, standing apathetically in the spot that the execution took place.
120.  
121.  
122.  
123. Nobody knew where Amane’s body was buried - to prevent the desecration of his grave, the king said. Thus, Nene had no other place to mourn at other than the place of his humiliating demise. Lead back to the castle, she didn’t say a word, her mind seemingly far away, if not completely absent. From that moment, until she crossed the gates of her own home, she didn’t speak a word, just to break down in sobs into her mother’s arms, who, worried about her daughter being punished alongside the First Prince, was the one who ordered her return.
124.  
125.  
126.  
127. Many moons passed before Nene came back to the state that she was at before Amane’s death. She went back to sewing, singing and meeting with court ladies over tea and biscuits, but many said that the joyful spark that she had in her eyes before was absent, and there was little love in what she did. Her father blamed the trauma of witnessing an execution up close, her mother advocated that the abuse of King Yasuhiko was the trigger of her change, but when their daughter smiled at them with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, they both knew that that scar was running much deeper than they first thought it did.
128.  
129.  
130.  
131. ***
132.  
133.  
134.  
135. It was the night of Summer Solstice. Nene leaned out on her balcony, dressed in just a silky nightgown and an equally silky robe, her hair in disarray and face tired after the entire day of being bothered by new potential suitors. It has been a year since Yugi Amane got executed, and due to a weird turn of events, the Empire that he was supposed to be ruling over fell into the hands of no one other than Yugi Tsukasa, who, having faked his death, assassinated his father and mother, and took the throne for himself.
136.  
137.  
138.  
139. When Nene first heard the news, she crushed the porcelain cup she was holding in her hands, the shards embedding in her palm, drawing blood onto the snow-white surface of the table cloth.
140.  
141.  
142.  
143. Amane died for nothing.
144.  
145. Amane was just a pawn in Tsukasa’s journey towards kingship.
146.  
147.  
148.  
149. She sighed, resting her chin on the railing. She missed him so much on nights like these - when the sky was filled with stars, and there was a silence surrounding the castle. She missed his stories and his pearly laughter when she got the names of the constellations wrong. She missed his dreams of conquering the moon and building a kingdom there.
150.  
151. She missed him.
152.  
153. “Why are you sighing so much, Your Majesty?” Came a voice from behind her, clear like the spring wind and refreshing like the sea breeze. Nene shook her head.
154.  
155. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired and would love to have a moment of peace. Would you mind leaving me alone? I’ll come inside in just a moment.” She said, adjusting the robe to fell a bit warmer.
156.  
157.  
158.  
159. “Okay, I’ll leave… Though one would expect to be greeted differently when meeting after a year… Heartless, heartless, this princess~” the voice cooed.
160.  
161.  
162.  
163. Nene’s heart stopped.
164.  
165. No way.
166.  
167. Impossible.
168.  
169. She saw his head roll on the wooden planks, and she remembered the taste of tears mixed with blood as they carried away his motionless body in a wooden box. Then again, Tsukasa seemingly came back to life as well so-
170.  
171.  
172.  
173. She turned ahead sharply, her head spinning from the sudden feeling of vertigo. There he stood, wearing his official clothes, hair combed and slicked back on the side. The only different thing, was the lack of the golden ring around his head, signifying his position as the Crown Prince.
174.  
175. Yugi Amane stood in front of her.
176.  
177.  
178.  
179. “I… You… What? You’re dead, how can you… How are you here?” she stuttered out, logic lost on her tongue. Amane smiled warmly, the only answer to these questions being him opening his arms.
180.  
181.  
182.  
183. There was no need for further words as she threw herself at him with full force, almost knocking him off balance. Yugi Amane only smiled further, affectionately patting her hair as she sobbed into his chest.
184.  
185. “I was so scared! I got splashed by the blood, and then someone took me away, and you were dead, and now Tsukasa isn’t dead, and..! And..!” she chattered on and on through the sobs that shook her body.
186.  
187. “Don’t forget to breathe. I know what Tsukasa did, and I’m aware of what’s he doing now,” he answered, leaning his chin on top of her head, a pleasant rumble resounding in Nene’s head as he spoke. “Past is in the past, I’m here now, and that’s what’s important.” he continued, exhaling in relief.
188.  
189. “Actually, Yashiro. We have to talk about this situation, I nearly forgot.” he created some distance between the two of them, holding onto Nene by the shoulders.
190.  
191. “Huh? What situation?” she asked, having way too much on her head at the moment to limit herself to just one worry. Amane smiled childishly.
192.  
193.  
194.  
195. “I died a year ago.”
196.  
197. “Yes, I know that.”
198.  
199. “I have been dead for a year now.”
200.  
201. “Obviously.”
202.  
203. “Yashiro. I’m a ghost.”
204.  
205. “Of course- wait what?”
206.  
207.  
208.  
209. Nene froze. A ghost? A supernatural? In her room? Holding her like that?
210.  
211. “Awawawawawawawawawawa-”
212.  
213. “Yashiro? Yashiro? Oh no, I think she broke-”
214.  
215.  
216.  
217. Amane laughed, watching his ex-fiancee tremble as she tried to process this situation. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he missed her terribly. And as much as he hated to get her tangled up in the dilemmas of the supernatural, he would need her help if he was to have any hope in defeating Tsukasa, and maybe, just maybe, getting back the life that was stolen from him. And then?
218.  
219. The smiling face of Nene Yashiro flashed through his mind as he watched the same girl spin in a circle like a ballerina doll.
220.  
221.  
222.  
223. Well, the future is long and uncertain. But whatever comes, he will make sure that she’s safely by his side, never to witness death like she had to do a year ago.
224.  
225.  
226.  
227. Yugi Amane loved Yashiro Nene.
228.  
229. And that much hasn’t changed even beyond the grave.