Magi - Shortstories   von -Arulithia-
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                   Kapitel 7: A heartfelt confession [JaEi]
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It was one of these days when Ja’far leaned back in   that chair of an office
in the Kou empire, far away from his home in   Sindria. The king himself was too
busy to come over for a little talk   about trading routes, but unfortunately
for the white-haired man it was   important enough to send him instead. This
stay should have been one   week at maximum but due to some incidents and the
return of lady   Hakuei’s troops it was way longer. Everything went a little
over board   but when Sinbad contacted his best friend via long distance magic  
communication Ja’far stated that he would be able to handle this matter  
without the king coming over. If he could not to even that alone, what   kind of
advisor and second in command would he be?
Several weeks   passed while Ja’far and the advisors of the empire argued
about where to   send ships and how much they were allowed to transfer into the
national   economical business. It almost seemed as if they wanted to engulf the
  wealth of Sindria by flooding their economics.
Ja’far talked to Hakuei, the oldest princes of the   empire and daughter of
the empress a lot these days after long   discussions. Her gentle voice calmed
him down but he felt pity for her   since she came back from the battlefield
with several injuries. Some of   them already healed, some did not. It was sad
that the empress bound her   down to stay in the palace since the blue-haired
woman seemed to be the   only one with reasonable motives and ways to fulfill
the goals of the   Kou empire. At least that was what Ja’far could tell by her
words and   behavior.

He did not even notice her changing gradually   while time passed by and the
more he was shocked when the princess some   when approached him in a rather
surprising way. It was almost night when   the young man finally came back to
his chambers. Sighing he closed the   door behind him and put away his keffiyeh
before he moved on through the   room with a candle socket in hand. Much to his
surprise he found   princess Hakuei in his bed, just wearing a thin garment. The
woman   seemed to be waiting for Ja’far to arrive but nonetheless she looked  
surprised when the advisor finally entered the room. Her hand moved up   to lay
on her chest as her eyes met his. The shaking in her voice was   unmistakable
when she spoke out what brought her here. 
Under   Ja’far’s shocked gaze the princess slowly confessed to him that she
kind   of liked him, his attitude, his ways of thinking and his looks. She  
felt like that for some time now and did not feel like telling him but   since
Hakuei was about to leave to a campaign the next day she put up   all her
courage and asked Ja’far to spend he night with her if he did   not mind.
The advisor almost let go of the candle in his hand while   the lady in front of
him, who was always a little reserved, spoke so   casually about such matters
and for a short moment he did not know what   to respond. Silence filled the
room while both of them stared at each   other until Ja’far finally set the
candle stand aside and knelled down   in front of the princess to take her hand.
It shook and was rather cold   there in his hand.  

“I’m sorry lady Hakuei, you are   a very pretty lady with a wonderful
character and I feel honored that   you like my company to such extend, but I
don’t feel the same for you.   It would be wrong to sleep with you under these
circumstances. Yes, you   would experience a moment of happiness but in the end
it would not last   and you would wish for it to continue. That would be even
worse than   being turned down now. Please understand my point. I’m terribly
sorry I   can’t make this happen.” Seeing her disappointed face he sighed
deeply.   He would have asked her to return to her room but this would be even  
more of a slap to Hakuei’s face. Therefore he got up and smiled at her.   “I
don’t want to bother you, so I will just go and find myself another   room to
stay, feel free to sleep here. I don’t mind.” With a bow he   excused
himself and left in silence. Ja’far could not describe in words   how sorry he
felt for her but what else should he have done? Telling the   princess that he
laid eyes on someone else in the empire meanwhile? No,   certainly not.

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