The World Went Silent

Chapter 10

"AAAARRRGGHH!" screeched the princess. Len rushed to the throne upon hearing his lady's scream.

"My lady?" he exclaimed, trying his best to keep the panic out of his voice. There were tears running down Rin's cheeks, and both of her fists were clenched tightly. Len could see that she was holding a crumpled up piece of paper in one of the fists.

"He…" she said, her voice no more than a whisper. "He… rejected me…"

Len's eyes widened slightly. She must have been talking about the prince of blue, who she had finally sent her proposal letter to. He had rejected it. But why?

"It is a mistake," he told his princess firmly, walking up to the broken girl and holding her to his chest. "You may confront him soon, but let's go for an outing to calm your nerves." The girl embracing him simply nodded.

The bustle of street activity was more than enough to lift Len's spirits. Both the princess and himself were wearing typical village clothes; black pants, white shirt and newsboy caps on their heads. "Isn't it fun, my lady?" Len asked, turning to the princess with a smile on his face. She was making a face and tugging at her clothes. The blonde boy giggled slightly and took her hand. "You'll see, this will cheer you up."

Just then, at the worst of times a breeze decided to blow by. Rin squeaked and held her hat on, but Len wasn't so lucky. Before he could secure his hat, the wind had picked it up and carried it away. Laughing, Len released his lady's hand and chased after it. "I'll be right back!"

"Nii… san?" Rin blinked, then decided to follow after her loyal servant.

The black newsboy hat had finally landed on the ground, and Len came to a stop. He was out of breath. Before he could pick up his hat, another hand did. It was a teenage girl, about sixteen years from what Len could tell, with long beautiful green hair.

"Uh… excuse me, that's my-" he started, when the girl turned to face him. Her eyes were the same shade as her hair, glowing with a kindness Len had never seen before. A light shade of pink went across her cheeks as her eyes fell on Len, then she smiled sweetly and offered him the hat back.

"Oh! Here's your hat," she said cheerfully. Len slowly took it, not sure what to think. It was almost as if his entire brain had shut down. "What's your name?"

"L-Len…" the blonde boy stammered. The green-haired girl smiled again.

"I'm Miku, Hatsune Miku," she responded. Len smiled slightly and nodded.

"It's uh… it's a pleasure to meet you, Miku." The girl beamed at him, and then ran off to join a blue-haired man not to far away from them. By that time Rin had finally caught up with her servant, and skidded to a stop beside him. Her eyes were glued, horrified to the couple. That was the prince of blue, her prince… he was in love with a mere village girl! The fourteen-year-old princess clenched her fists, nails digging into her palm. That girl, that peasant was going to pay for this. It was her fault that the prince had rejected Rin!

"Nii-san… I want to go home," she said firmly, turning to him. Len blinked at his sister, not sure what was bothering her. But he wouldn't dare disobey his princess.

"My lady, is something bothering you?" the servant asked once they had returned to the castle. Rin had been quiet the whole trip back, and she was quiet now. On the way home Len had even picked a teal-colored rose for her from the rose bush outside. Now she was holding it in one hand, gazing down at it with an expression Len couldn't read.

"That girl… the green-haired one…" Rin said in a quiet voice, just loud enough for her servant to hear. Then she crushed the flower in her hand, swinging it over her throne. "Needs… to… die!"

Len's eyes widened in shock. He had killed people before; he had witnessed death… but to kill her? Her? He didn't know if he could do it. But still he forced himself to smile at his princess. "Of course my princess, it will be done." Rin narrowed her eyes at him. They were full of malice, pure hatred. Len didn't think it was towards him, but everyone else. Towards Miku, towards the prince of blue, towards her prisoners.

"Princess!" came a male shout as the doors to the throne room were thrown open. Rin looked up at the guard without much interest. "Two prisoners have escaped!"

"…" If Rin could get any fuller of hatred, she would have. "What? That isn't possible!" she snapped.

"We found two of the cells open, one of the guards dead, and the trapdoor in the second cell had been opened," the guard informed them. "And in the first cell was 'Death to the daughter of evil' written in the dust."

Len scowled. It must have been their latest prisoner. She must have killed the guard with the sword she had been left with. This was all his fault. If he had taken the sword away from her, none of this would have happened. He would have to make up for this.

"I'll send a death order!" Rin barked. "Anyone who sees either of the prisoners is required to kill them or risk the guillotine."

"Yes, princess," the guard bowed and rushed out. Rin turned her baby blue gaze back to Len.

"Now… go get some rest, servant. At midnight tomorrow you will kill that girl," she addressed him. Len nodded, his heart aching painfully. She had called him 'servant'. She always used to call him 'nii-san'. It almost felt as if she remembered. But this was the raw proof that she still didn't realize… even after so much time… and making him kill the first girl he had ever had a crush on. She truly was horrible.

"Yes… my lady." Len bowed to her and then exited the throne room. It wasn't far to his living quarters, which was across the hall from the grand bedroom where the princess slept. He was supposed to be able to protect her if something bad happened. Bad things hardly ever happened, because everyone was either too afraid to confront the princess or ended up rotting in the dungeons.

Once he got into his private bedroom, Len shut the door quietly behind him. And then he broke down. The blonde-haired servant threw himself onto his bed, trembling as tears streaked his face. He had done everything… he had done everything his princess asked of him. There was no way he could disobey his lovely sister. But if it meant killing his first crush, the first person he had ever felt attracted to… was this what being the villain felt like? They were the ones killing people, taking away everything. And now he knew what he had put that poor maiden through. He was experiencing it now. He couldn't let his sister feel this way. No, he would protect her, he would do her bidding, even if it meant turning completely to the side of darkness. Len rolled over, looking up at the ceiling, trying to force himself to stop crying. But the tears kept falling, and wouldn't stop. They flowed in an almost rhythmic pattern, and before he knew it the servant had fallen into a dreamless sleep.