It was funny how people thought they could tell her what to do. The kitsune-advisor was always so insistent, even when Nari was dressed in full armor and ready to leave.
“This isn’t a good choice,” Yanami Sukaru said, maintaining an earlier argument. “You’re trying to take revenge for something that is completely unrelated. Ending a war like this is only going to cause trouble further down the line—the northern nation is getting restless and we can’t afford to switch command if you die out there.”
Nari cast a cold smile at her distant relative. “Do you really think you can stop me? There’s no one left here that I love—why stay?”
“You’re the one that pushed your favorites away,” the kitsune argued impatiently. One of her fox-ears twitched—she truly was angry. “I told you that sending children north was a bad idea. If any of you would listen for a second—”
“Like a fox could give a queen stable advice!” Nari replied. “I’m not listening to you and that’s the end of the conversation. I’ll end the war myself—aside from my own feelings, Masaaki died out there.”
Yanami Sukaru almost perked up, and apparently thought she could still convince Nari to stay. “You know,” the kitsune mused, a cold look on her face, “Little Masaaki Miya would be orphaned if you go out there and die.”
The thought did make her pause for a moment, before she remembered her current relation with the young woman. Nari couldn’t spare any time in keeping in touch with a daughter she sent far north.
Firmly, Nari gave her answer. “She doesn’t need a mother now—she hasn’t had one for a while. She’s old enough to stand on her own.” Nari turned away and took one step towards the entrance of the palace—or, in her case, the exit. “Depending on what mood strikes me, I admit I may not come back. Keep Shunji in line for me.”
“Gods, please don’t leave me alone with that one,” Yanami Sukaru muttered.
“You’re stuck with him from here on out. That’s my last order to you, kitsune.”
Fortunately, the kitsune-advisor didn’t follow Nari as she left—wordlessly, some dozen or so soldiers followed behind her instead.
In the following weeks, Nari broke through Gin’s defensive line; black hair was hard to dye, so she kept it short and hid it all instead. She couldn’t even say that she was aware of what she was doing—she was just acting naturally. There were many ways to end a war, and while this may be one of the bloodiest, she was fine with that. The only outlet the Kuro family had for removing anger and sorrow was fighting; the only one apparently immune to this was Yanami Sukaru, who has lived long enough that grief is nothing more than an inevitable part of life.
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Well, to everyone else, it was crushing. There was no one else Nari loved—her favorite children were sent off so they wouldn’t be cast out when they were older, all of them being physically weak in one way or another, and both of her husbands were dead, now. At least she could take out Gin when she left as well.
Nari had long since dismissed the soldiers that came with her after they gathered her enough directions to lead her to the capital—whether or not they went back to Kuro, she didn’t particularly care. By now she knew what she wanted to do, and she wasn’t going to turn back. This world, and the life she led in it, seemed terribly hopeless without her love and favorite children.
It was early winter when she actually entered Gin no Shuto; she spent nearly two months just…wandering. By now the grief of losing her second husband faded, and stubbornness replaced it—no one liked to admit that Yanami Sukaru was right, so they all ignored her. Nari was no exception; she didn’t want to turn back now, only to hear the kitsune give a dry remark on the subject.
Nighttime had set in once she approached the palace; after a short interrogation, she was able to enter without issue. From there, it wasn’t hard to locate the king and queen—Nari was able to recognize the former due to his silver hair, and judging by how they were chatting, she assumed they were married.
Both of them greeted Nari when she came, allowing her to strike up conversation. The king looked a bit drunk—he wasn’t really focusing on anything, but he wore a grin—while the queen just looked tired. Nari wondered if they believed she was just a servant, coming to check on them or urge them to sleep.
The conversation was actually pleasant—they spoke of their families, and Nari admitted to losing her beloved. She was given honest sympathies for the loss.
After hearing them, Nari smiled slightly. “Well, thank you,” she said. She took a quick glance around her—the king and queen apparently didn’t have guards with them while they were in the palace. “…I will offer condolences to you as well.”
In the second it took for them to process and question her words, she took out a small knife—the king moved to defend the queen, but that only made it easier for Nari to run her blade across his throat. As he fell, his wife tried to run, but Nari caught her and stabbed her from behind. The queen fell as well.
Nari bent down to wipe the Gin blood off of her knife by using the king’s sleeve. She considered, in that time, going into the palace to kill the princess—if she spared a few more moments, she could rid Kuro of Gin’s main royal line. Nari wasn’t sure how long it would take for her to find the princess, however, and whether or not the princess had guards. Besides, Gin still had the Tsujihara family; this wouldn’t be the end of Gin, just a hindrance to it. Although a country ruled by the descendants that shared a last name with a famous bastard—however praised that first queen might have been—could be easier to defeat.
Ultimately, she was given her answer when someone came out of the palace. It wasn’t the princess, so Nari chose to cut her losses there. Hopefully, Shunji did not disappoint her.
After a moment’s pause, Nari lifted the knife to her own throat. It was painful for a few seconds until the blood loss and pain caused her to lose consciousness. She was dead by the time the person came to observe the scene.