8Sanada's Point of View
Great, just great. I knew I shouldn't have listened to Seiichi when he told me to actually visit Yuuri's family, but I listened to him anyway - and look what happened! I'm stuck in some world I've never been to and people keep staring at me for no reason. They keep saying something about "double black" - and they're pointing at me while saying it. It was bad enough being whacked by broomsticks, but now I've got someone that looks scarier than me - and I strike fear into all of my teammates - glaring at me, as if I actually meant to come here and cause whatever it is he's blaming me for.
The scary guy finally opened his mouth and said, "As a prince of Shin Makoku, you must learn our customs. Lord von Christ will be here in a few minutes to begin your lessons."
I retorted, "I'm no prince. This is my first time here."
He glared at me and said, "I do not care if you've never been here. And you are a prince - as a relative of our king, you are a member of the royal family whether you like it or not. It's time you start acting like it."
I growled at him, "I didn't even know my cousin was actually a king until I woke up in this place. I see no reason to become the prince of it. I just want to go back to Japan!"
He snapped at me, "The people of Shin Makoku need you here! If something should happen to Yuuri-heika before Shinou can choose a new king, you'll be the one to take his place until someone else is chosen."
Before I could say anything else, he left the room.
I think I like Yuuri's godfather better.
A man with long silver hair and purple eyes walked into the room that I was sitting in. He said, "Good afternoon. I am Lord Gunter von Christ and I will be instructing you about the customs of Shin Makoku."
This guy seemed nicer than the last one, so I just decided I would comply for now. I asked him, "Why did that other guy say I was a prince? People referred to me as the Emperor back in Japan, but that was only in the tennis circuit - I've never been here before, and I just found out today that my cousin was the king of this place."
He calmly answered me, "Gwendal is very blunt about things. He is right about you technically being royalty, here, though," and then he raised his voice in excitement, "To think that Heika has such a fascinating cousin. We really should not be surprised. Oh, happy day! If I had known you were coming, I would have started planning your welcoming party months ago. I do apologize, young prince, but your lessons shall have to wait."
Before I could say anything, Gunter walked out of the room. I screamed out my frustrations, thinking that nobody was around, "What the fuck is going on here? I don't want a welcome party, I just want to go home and hang out with Seiichi - is that too much for me to ask? I don't think so! But no, I had to be nice and go to my weirdo cousin's house, and now I'm stuck in some castle with people that think I'm a prince!"
A sudden chuckle startled me and I turned around. Fortunately, it was someone that had no problem speaking Japanese - the others all had strange devices in their ears; Yuuri told me it was something that allowed them to understand and speak in Japanese, which is how I know that the person who walked in on my ranting knew Japanese - there was nothing in his ear aiding him in understanding what I just said, speaking of which...
I asked him, "How much did you hear?"
He responded, "Everything you said after Gunter walked out. I can't say that I'm surprised, Yuuri-heika was the same way when he first came to Shin Makoku, and now he's forged a pretty strong alliance with several predominantly human countries."
I frowned at that, "I thought everyone here was human. Who are you anyway? I know that you're Yuuri's godfather, but I never got your name - and why do you call him 'heika'?"
He laughed, "My name is Conrart Weller - but most people, including Yuuri-heika, call me Conrad. It's a little bit easier to pronounce. We call Yuuri 'heika' because he is our king, and it's only proper to call him that - although Yozak tends to refer to him as kiddo. As for everyone being 'human', you couldn't be more wrong. There are several humans in Shin Makoku, but the inhabitants of this castle are mostly mazoku - or, at least, half-mazoku."
I sighed, "Could you tell me what a 'mazoku' is? I don't think I've ever encountered any back home."
Conrad replied, "Well, to put it in simpler terms, a mazoku is a demon. Their lifespan is significantly longer than that of a human, even if one is just half-mazoku. You are half-mazoku yourself. However, your line has been on Earth for such a long time - you'd only slow down your aging and gain powers if you were to come into some position of mazoku authority such as becoming the next Maou of Shin Makoku or Earth - the Maou being the ruler of the mazoku population."
I groaned, "I don't want to be in charge of any population. I have enough trouble controlling the Rikkaidai tennis team!"
He laughed in response and said, "It might be a bit hard to understand now, but it should be easier to accept once it's had enough time to sink in. Your cousin has done this country a great service, and it would be a shame if we were unable to treat his relatives with the same reaspect. Shori only received slightly less luxurious treatment than yourself since he was chosen to succeed Bob, the former Maou of Earth. As far as we know, you aren't set to succeed anyone or inherit anything from your family on Earth - so the citizens of Shin Makoku have assumed that you'll be staying here to occupy the throne should anything happen to Yuuri."
I growled, "Let his fiancé do it!"
He sighed, "Wolfram is expected to perform the duties of a queen, not a king - despite being male. Your occupation of the throne would be temporary, and that's with the worst-case scenario, since a new Maou is usually chosen before there is even a need for one."
I raised my eyebrow at that, "Then why does everyone keep calling me a prince? You just said I most likely wouldn't take over for my cousin because somebody else would be chosen instead."
Conrad answered me promptly, "People like a failsafe, In the event that a new Maou isn't chosen before the current one steps down, someone would need to take their place. After the events of the last war, people don't want to take their chances with someone that hasn't been trained for it. Stoffel, my uncle, almost ruined this kingdom because he became power hungry."He paused for a moment, and then continued, "The way you carry yourself now, although not typical of a prince, shows that you would not become power hungry like Stoffel did. We're literally telling you that you have power over most of us, and you don't even want it - a true prince doesn't only have loyal subordinates, but he also has a kind heart that allows him to empathize with them."
I scoffed, "Kind heart? I slap my teammates whenever they lose matches. Does that seem kind to you?"
He laughed again, "It's a good thing you just became a prince now. If you had been announced as the prince earlier, you'd be expected to marry those people."
I coughed, "Marry? I slapped them - that's not a proposal!"
He just smiled and said, "A slap on the cheek is the equivalent of a marriage proposal in Shin Makoku."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was completely in Sanada's point of view. I just wanted to torture him a little bit. Consider it me getting revenge for all the people on the Rikkaidai tennis team that have been slapped by him.