Table of Contents

Character Gallery

Table of Contents Page

Title Page

Imperial Court Map and Relationship Chart

Cast

Copyrights and Credits

Prologue

Chapter 1: Reirin Borrows a Line

Chapter 2: Keigetsu Blows It

Chapter 3: Reirin Infiltrates

Chapter 4: Keigetsu Threatens

Chapter 5: Reirin Lectures

Chapter 6: Reirin Puts on a Performance

Epilogue

Afterword

Newsletter

Prologue

 

“THE WARBLERS SING and the swallows dance” was a traditional idiom that evoked images of a gorgeous spring landscape.

Despite being born into the bitter cold of the Gen’s northern territory, the two sisters were given names that reflected a yearning for the warmer months. The older sister was named Bushou, containing the character for “dance,” while the younger was named Kasui, which bore the character for “song.” Everyone they met complimented them on the beauty of their names.

In reality, their mother may have given them those names out of spite. She was the daughter of a low-ranking nobleman from the eastern fringes of the northern territory. The Gen ­patriarch had fallen for her at first sight and, in a fit of the strong obsession for which the Gens were known, snatched her away from her childhood sweetheart to be his wife.

Though the area their mother grew up in was still considered part of the northern territory, it was close to the border with the Rans, and thus she found it difficult to adapt to the austere and

stifling environment that defined the Gen clan. The patriarch had lavished his wife with every treasure imaginable, but like a flower wilting in the cold, she had languished and spent her days gazing eastward toward her old home, pining for its signature season.

She never had much love for her two daughters. Their father never took much interest in them either—though there was at least a certain impartiality to his indifference, as he was equally apathetic toward the sons he had sired by his other concubines. All the man cared about was his wife. Had she loved her own children, no doubt he also would have showered them with boundless affection. Alas, he had no use for little girls who had brought her nothing but the pain of childbirth and failed to capture her heart.

Those through whom the Gen blood runs thickest cannot divide their affections equally. A fire scraped together in the icy cold can only hope to keep one person warm.

Desperate for a ray of warmth in her stone-cold home, it was only natural that the young Kasui would come to idolize her older sister. Bushou, in turn, had a soft spot for the little sister who so adored her.

“There you are, Kasui. It must be cold in the dark. Come, I’ll take you back to your room.”

“But, E-Elder Sister…look what a mess I’ve made of my robes. I couldn’t possibly go back looking like—”

“There’s no reason to fret.”

Whenever Kasui made a minor mistake, she was quick to get discouraged and hide. It was always Bushou’s job to track her down with a rueful smile. Whether she took shelter in the storeroom or crouched under the veranda, her older sister would be sure to find her.

“My apologies, Elder Sister,” Kasui said stiffly, shrinking in on herself.

Bushou reached out to caress her little sister’s cheek. “‘Elder Sister’ is a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it? Call me ‘Big Sis,’ like you always have. Don’t force yourself to grow up too fast. You’re ­allowed to take things at your own pace.”

At the time, Kasui was withdrawn and inarticulate. Earlier that day, her mother had chastised her for calling Bushou “Big Sis” with the same infantile pronunciation as when she first learned to speak, and she had withered under the criticism.

“I love hearing your name for me, Kasui. It warms my heart.”

“Really, Big Sis?”

Young Kasui’s face crumpled with relief.

“You’re the younger of us, yet you can be so uncomfortable with emotions. It’s okay to cry for help when times are hard. I’ll always come to your rescue.”

“But then you’ll get in trouble.”

“I’ll be fine. We have nothing to fear if we stick together. Now give me your hand so I can warm you up. As soon as you’ve thawed a bit, we’ll head back.”

Each time Kasui wilted, Bushou would take her hand and put her worries to rest. If Kasui had but one memory of warmth in the snowbound Gen estate, it was her sister’s hand.

Two years apart in age, the young siblings would always huddle together to keep warm.

 

***

 

“Look, Kasui. What do you think? I settled on a snowflake motif.”

“Wow, Big Sis! It’s beautiful.”

Bushou was skilled with her hands and had a knack for painting. Neglected by their parents, the two girls were eager to find activities in which they could immerse themselves: They painted, they made cut-paper art, and Bushou in particular dabbled in metalwork from an early age. She enjoyed carving designs into iron plates and decorating the grooves with gold thread. It didn’t take long for her pastime to develop into full-fledged goldsmithing, incorporating techniques on the level of inlaying and engraving. After all, there was no shortage of iron, gold, and furnaces to be found.

Due to its harsh winters, the northern territory didn’t produce much in the way of food. Instead, its main industry was mining, as the region was blessed with a wide variety of high-quality ore deposits. While it was hard to compete with the self-professed artists of the western territory, a fair number of northerners were skilled at turning the iron and gold they extracted into jewelry.

Looking up to these blacksmiths and artisans as her mentors, Bushou lost track of time as she immersed herself in the world of craftsmanship. Kasui was more inclined toward physical activity, but when she saw that her big sister preferred works of art to iron swords, she followed her example.

With so many fires burning, it was always warm in the forge. Nothing looked more dazzling to Kasui than the sight of her sister’s hands eagerly working to melt iron and engrave gold, flames blazing behind her.

Kasui’s kind, wise elder sister was her whole world.

 

“If only I could become an artisan instead.”

This was three years ago. Ever since she’d been unofficially appointed the northern territory’s Maiden, Bushou would mumble something to that effect from time to time.

“As wonderful as it will be to spend my days as a Maiden surrounded by so many beautiful crafts…I’d rather make them myself, if I’m honest.”

She was eighteen years old. The emperor was still in his prime, and it was unclear when Prince Gyoumei’s Maiden Court would be opened. It was entirely possible that Bushou would be past the age of twenty by the time she joined the court. Whether she should still serve as their Maiden in spite of that was a matter of hot debate within the Gen clan.

To put forth a Maiden would be a clansman’s highest honor. The patriarch naturally wanted his own daughter to be the nominee—after all, his wife could be granted the status of the favored consort’s mother as a result—while the branch ­families saw their chance to get ahead. The current Worthy Consort was herself from a collateral line, and a distant one, at that. It would be fair to say that the odds were in favor of the branch families, but on the other hand, some Gens had become all the more determined to see the patriarch’s daughter prevail in the next generation.

The consensus was thus: If all goes well, the patriarch’s eldest daughter—the beautiful, artistic Bushou—will become the Maiden. However, if she proves unfit for the role, we should send a daughter from our family line.

Before political tensions within the Gen clan could escalate further, the patriarch resolved to send Bushou to the imperial capital. He arranged for her to study at the Worthy Consort’s Palace of the Darkest Edge, where she would familiarize herself with the ways of the court. The idea was to have her disguise herself as a court lady-in-training and distant relative of the Gens, with the ultimate goal of receiving an initiation prior to her term and becoming a respectable Maiden. In short, he was out to make Bushou’s unofficial appointment a done deal.

The scheduled duration was one month “to start,” but part of the plan was to lengthen her stay little by little. In all likelihood, once Bushou left for the capital, Kasui wouldn’t be able to see her again for quite some time. All too aware of their impending farewell, the sisters were inseparable during their last days together. The pair painted, forged crafts, and praised each other’s handiwork.

That day, Bushou was working on a jeweled mirror with a sigh-inducingly ornate snowflake pattern, as well as an ornamental sword.

“As a matter of fact, I hope to show this to the artisans of the inner court when I have the chance. There are a number of talented craftsmen in the pottery unit. Under their tutelage, I’m confident I could improve my own craft.”

When Kasui waxed lyrical about the workmanship, Bushou smiled and assured her that the jeweled mirror would one day belong to her.

“I won’t know what to do with myself if the artisans are impressed. What if they ask me to make another one on the spot?”

It was unusual to hear humor from Bushou. Realizing that her sister was trying to put a positive spin on her trip to the capital, little crybaby Kasui managed a joke of her own, sniffling despite herself. “You’re too much, Big Sis. If they saw a Maiden engraving and casting her own metals, it might give them a heart attack.”

“Hee hee, fair point. I’m sure it would come as quite a shock.” Bushou laughed for a few moments, then lowered her gaze a fraction. “Still…my dream is to create a masterpiece worthy of becoming a national treasure and present it to His Majesty and His Highness. How proud I shall be to shine the light of beauty upon the hearts of my kingdom and its people.”

Her fingers gingerly traced the snowflake design. The snow was shaped like a blossom—a beautiful pattern simultaneously emblematic of winter and reminiscent of spring.

Kasui knew whose heart Bushou truly wanted to illuminate—the one she truly wanted to make proud.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you,” she said, gently placing her own hand over her sister’s on the mirror.

Their mother, in her perpetual yearning for spring, loved flowers more than anything.

Bushou was a kind girl. Even after being neglected and cast aside, she still wished to brighten the heart of her abuser. Kasui had never known anyone so tenderhearted.

She wanted to hold on to her sister’s warm hand forever.

 

The morning of Bushou’s departure was a sunny winter’s day.

“It’s time for me to go.”

“Oh, Big Sis…”

When Bushou attempted to board the luxurious carriage ­arranged for her, Kasui instinctively grabbed a handful of her robes. The northern winter promised to get frostier yet. She couldn’t bear to lose the warmth her sister provided.

As Kasui fell silent, clutching her sister’s sleeve tightly enough to wrinkle the fabric, her parents shot her disapproving looks. They considered her a worthless daughter, neither as prudent as her older sister nor as polished by the rigorous schooling of a Maiden-to-be.

She couldn’t get in her sister’s way. She had to smile and wish her the best in her new life. Kasui knew this, but still her face stiffened and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Good luck in the capital, E-Elder Sis—”

Bushou interrupted Kasui’s stammering words of farewell. “You can call me Big Sis.”

She hopped down from the carriage and pulled her little sister into a hug, unconcerned with the creases it made in her robes. Winding her arms tightly around the girl’s slender, growing back, she nuzzled their cheeks together.

“I’ll be fine, Kasui. Live a happy life.”

Bushou bumped their foreheads to seal the promise, making Kasui cry even harder.

Despite the sobs racking her body, the hand against her back gave her the courage to nod her head. Don’t go. Stay by my side. Never leave. Fighting to swallow the words threatening to escape her, she managed to say a proper goodbye. “Yes… I will. Take care, Big Sis.”

Bushou was like a ray of sunshine. She had always protected her timid little sister and kept her warm. Now it was Kasui’s turn to wish for her sister’s happiness. Her family in the north had never cared for her, but surely she would lead a joyful life among friendlier faces in the capital. Her hands were meant to craft beautiful works of metal; she couldn’t waste them keeping her younger sibling warm forever. The time had come to entwine her fingers in bigger, snugger ones.

“Safe travels.”

With a sniff of her reddened nose, Kasui bowed her head low and watched her sister go. The light she carried in her heart shone for Bushou alone. So long as her big sister was smiling, Kasui believed that would be enough to keep her warm—even if her own surroundings remained sealed in an eternal winter.

On one occasion, Kasui was struck with the urge to imitate her sister’s casting work, but she suffered a few minor burns in the process. Her parents forbade her from ever trying again. It felt as if the whole world was confronting her with the fact that her time with Bushou, her heart’s beacon of gentle light, had come to an end.

She could no longer wish for her sister to stay by her side. Bushou would never come home again. So Kasui kept telling herself as she blew white puffs of breath onto her frozen hands.

But she was wrong.

 

“We have an emergency! Lady Bushou was subjected to the Trial by Fire!”

The wish Kasui had locked away in the depths of her heart came true in a way nobody wanted: Bushou came back to the northern territory after spending less than half a month in the imperial capital. Unfortunately, she’d returned with terrible burns on her arm and a reputation as a wicked traitor.

She had left in a carriage inlaid with gorgeous mother-of-pearl, only to return packed into a merchant’s ramshackle wagon like luggage. Her hair was disheveled, her robes were covered in soot, and she was too weak with fever to speak.

Her cracked lips formed a name as feebly as a breath. “Ka…sui…”

Kasui’s mind went blank at the sight. Her sister looked so frail that the light of her life could be snuffed out at any moment.

Shortly thereafter, a letter from the Worthy Consort arrived explaining the situation. In her guardian’s absence, Bushou had brought an unauthorized blade into the inner court and been arrested as a traitor. When she stubbornly refused to admit her guilt, the shaman—who just so happened to be on-site—had conducted the Trial by Fire.

The Trial by Fire was an interrogation in which the accused sat inside a magic circle drawn by the miraculous shaman. If their soul was corrupt, said circle would burst into flame and exorcise the impurity.

Judgment had been swift. A fire had broken out the moment the shaman began her prayer, and Bushou’s right arm had been engulfed in flame. The shaman, known for her ­benevolence, had doused Bushou with water and extinguished the fire before her suffering could get any worse. What’s more, she’d administered basic first aid, handed the Maiden her belongings, and let her flee the inner court, claiming that justice had already been served.

This, in turn, had prevented the Worthy Consort from learning of the situation until it was too late. By the time she had carried out her duties as consort, returned to the inner court, and rushed to the Gen estate in the capital upon learning what had happened, Bushou’s condition had deteriorated to the point that she was barely holding on to consciousness.

The Worthy Consort had taken swift action. No court physician was going to conduct a clandestine examination of a girl who had undergone the Trial by Fire. The same was true of the entire imperial capital. Her only hope for survival was her own ­family. Hence, the consort had slipped some money and medicinal herbs into a merchant’s hand and sent Bushou back to her parents’ home before she exhausted all her strength.

The consort’s letter contained an expression of regret, all the information she had managed to gather, and well-wishes. The frantic jumble of brushstrokes ended with one last apology for good measure.

After snatching the letter from a retainer and reading it over, Kasui shouted, “What is the meaning of this?!”

It didn’t make any sense to her. None of it added up.

Bushou would never conspire to treason. Who was this ­shaman? Why had she passed judgment? What was this so-called Trial by Fire? Was it the same as burning someone alive? Had her virtuous sister been tried as a criminal? Kasui didn’t understand any of it.

Rage surged within her like a tsunami. Her fists trembled with a determination to rally the Gens’ forces and launch an all-out effort to uncover the truth.

Yet her father’s next actions left her speechless. “Leave her in the guest house for now.”

His proposal was to throw her into an annex without even giving her proper treatment.

“Father? What are you…?”

“If what the letter says is true, the girl has become a blight upon our clan. We must keep her out of sight. I’m going to ask His Majesty and the Worthy Consort for an explanation in person.”

No sooner had her father announced his intentions than he mounted a horse and left for the imperial capital. As Kasui found out a few days later, he hadn’t gone there to get to the bottom of the matter but rather to cover up the scandal. He didn’t want anyone knowing that his clan had produced a villainess who caught flame during the Trial by Fire. One Gen to another, he’d asked the emperor to keep the “vile, shameful” truth to himself.

Emperor Genyou was the son of the empress dowager, who originally hailed from the Gen clan. She, the Gen-born emperor, and the Gen patriarch had what appeared to be an involved discussion, whereupon the empress dowager went over the head of the collateral Worthy Consort and imposed a gag order on the incident.

All the court ladies who had been present for the Trial by Fire resigned en masse, and the records of the event were expunged. In the northern territory, news of Bushou’s return was kept quiet, and her disappearance was attributed to a fatal bandit attack on her way to the capital. Ever since, it had been taboo to speak Bushou’s name.

Kasui was dismayed to see how quickly everything was moving forward, leaving both Bushou and herself behind. She couldn’t believe that the servants had done as they were told and tossed Bushou into the guest house without even treating her burns.

Perhaps the greatest shock of all came when her father ordered her to become the Maiden as soon as he returned from the capital. Bushou had already been reduced to a nonentity within the Gen clan. Kasui was gripped by a blinding rage, then despair.

Since Bushou’s return, Kasui had been sneaking trips to the guest house to nurse her back to health, but her burns showed no signs of healing. No matter how much medicine she took, the pus only spread. By this point, there were swollen patches not only along her burned arm but all over her body. Her fever continued to rage, and she could barely form words.

Each time the delirious Bushou weakly called her sister’s name and tried to tell her something in her fleeting moments of consciousness, Kasui clutched her hand and cried, begging her not to force herself to speak. She didn’t want her sister to waste even an ounce of her strength. More than anything, she feared that whatever Bushou said would become her last words.

Her wounds were festering, and her fever was high. Cassia wouldn’t work on such an abnormal burn. This called for a much more potent herb.

Snow pelted against the guest house. The sound of the roof creaking under its weight was like the squeak of wheels rolling toward the land of the dead.

One night, Kasui finally broke down screaming and ran to the forge, not even stopping to put on her shoes. It was the only place she knew full of warmth and smiling adults.

“Help! Please, you have to help me! B-Big Sis is in trouble!”

The blacksmiths were often burned while operating the furnaces and hammering iron. Her one hope was that they could supply her with some of their go-to secret medicine: miracle hemp.

“About that, Lady Kasui…”

Alas, the chief smith to whom she’d grown so close was evasive. He said they’d been struggling to get their hands on miracle hemp all year. According to the peddlers, someone in the capital had bought up all their stock before they could reach the northern territory.

Despite Kasui’s desperate pleas, none of her retainers were willing to procure more miracle hemp. Frustrated, she had jumped on a horse and raced through the snow to the imperial capital. Only sixteen at the time, she galloped on and on without stopping to eat, drink, or even sleep.

It took her a mere two days to make the trip, but when she arrived, she was faced with the reality that even the capital had run out of miracle hemp. According to Bushou’s letter, citizens of the capital had little regard for the herb—and yet, in the past few days, someone had bought up the entire supply. Descriptions of the buyer’s appearance varied from shop to shop, making it impossible to pinpoint their identity.

Perhaps sympathetic to Kasui’s plight, the apothecaries of the imperial capital gave her the leftover dregs of miracle hemp stuck to the crevices of their draining baskets. Kasui scrounged it all together, bought additional herbs to fight fever and drain pus, and hurried back to the northern territory.

But by the time she burst into the guest house, the herbs were no longer needed. Bushou’s body, once racked with such high fever, had gone ice-cold.

“Big Sis?”

Kasui couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She staggered over and sat down beside the mat, reaching for her sister’s hand that lay strewn over the floor. The icy chill she felt brought words welling up in her throat, but they vanished before they could take form.

“Big Sis… Big Sis!”

She hastily rubbed Bushou’s hands between her own, but the warmth didn’t stick.

“You’re so cold…”

She kept thinking that it didn’t make sense. It was all wrong. How could her sister’s hands, her sole source of warmth, be so cold? It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be the one who kept Kasui warm.

“This is all wrong… You shouldn’t be this cold, Big Sis…”

It was then that Kasui’s eyes, wide with shock, caught a glimpse of something white in Bushou’s other hand. Her sister was clutching a piece of paper where she lay slumped over the floor. It was the same paper she’d used to squeeze out the pus.

Kasui gingerly extracted it, only to find a short message written in the kind of chicken scratch she would never have expected from Bushou.

 

Kasui,

Forget about the miracle hemp.

 

No brushes at hand, she’d written it with her own finger. Her pus-soaked blood had served as the ink.

 

Don’t cry.

Live a happy life.

I love you.

 

Even on the brink of death, her sister had written out of consideration for someone else.

“Ah…”

The hand in which Kasui held the letter trembled.

At the end of the message, in handwriting so illegible that the characters were barely recognizable, was the name “Bushou.” She usually signed her letters “Your Big Sister.” The fact that she’d gone to the trouble of writing out her name showed how important this message was.

These were her last words.

As soon as it dawned on her what she was reading, Kasui let out a tearful howl. “Ahhhhhh!”

She was outraged. She resented everything and everyone, herself included.

Why hadn’t she stayed by her sister’s side? Why hadn’t she listened to her? Why had none of the servants taken care of her? Why had their parents forsaken her? Why had this happened to Bushou? Why? Why?

“Someone will answer for this…”

Tears trickled down her lowered face and dripped onto the page. Bushou’s dried, blackened blood smudged and blurred, and those dark, swirling hues nestled deep in Kasui’s chest.

Perhaps the tragedy had begun as an innocent misunderstanding. Even so, Kasui would never forgive those who had escalated the situation to the point of taking her sister’s life. That included the person who had bought all the miracle hemp; her parents, for abandoning Bushou; and herself, for failing to come through for her sister.

“They’ll pay…”

As she slowly lifted her face from the page, Kasui’s black eyes glinted in the light.

“Who was it?”

She had to find out who was behind it all. With a gag order in place, all the records had been incinerated, and anyone who tried to investigate the incident would be punished, be they a Gen or an inhabitant of the inner court. But Kasui didn’t care. No matter how long she had to bide her time, she vowed to uncover the truth.

To that end, she’d become a Maiden. If the Worthy Consort’s absence had left her in the dark, Kasui had no choice but to make her own move.

She rose unsteadily to her feet and silently wiped the tears from her eyes. Her sister’s dying wish was that she wouldn’t cry. In that case, she would never shed tears again.

Besides, she had no right to be sad after she had left Bushou to die alone.

As she suppressed the emotions roiling within her, she was struck by the strange sensation that the world around her had grown more distant, as if a thin layer of gauze had been cast across her five senses. A mysterious calm had settled over her mind. She felt neither cold nor sadness.

It was as if she were trapped in a still, black mist. In the hazy blur the world had become, her thirst for vengeance was the only thing that stood out in sharp relief.

Kasui took a step forward. She had to inform her parents of Bushou’s death. Her first order of business was to play the obedient daughter and secure the position of Maiden for herself.

She would conceal her malice and catch the raccoon dog hiding in the inner court by the tail. And once she’d grasped the full picture…

“I’ll kill them,” Kasui muttered tersely, then drew her lips into a firm line.

With all traces of youth stripped from her voice, it bore an uncanny resemblance to Bushou’s.

Chapter 1:
Reirin Borrows a Line

 

IT WAS A QUIET NIGHT in the inner court. A thin layer of ice covered the small pond at the edge of the courtyard, and a chilly night breeze swept across the grounds. A gaggle of women could be seen marching along the frozen water’s edge.

“Oh, for shame! Even in this vessel, it seems I’m not quite strong enough to carry Lady Keigetsu. Say, Lady Keigetsu, would you permit me to spend the next three days or so training your biceps and back muscles?”

The girl lamenting her failure, a hand pressed to her cheek and her sigh manifesting as a white cloud, was the Shu Maiden named Keigetsu—or rather, Kou Reirin in her form.

“Uh, Lady Reirin? Most women can’t lift girls their own age. It’s nothing to get upset about.”

Behind her was Leelee, disguised as a dark-haired kitchen maid, poking holes in her mistress’s statement with a wry smile.

“Carrying luggage is a court lady’s job. Nevertheless, I do ­admire your ambition to reach ever greater heights.”

“Excuse me, Tousetsu, did you just call me luggage?! And don’t even think about it, Kou Reirin! If you turn me into some kind of beefcake, I’ll kill you!”

Bringing up the rear were Tousetsu, who was carefully cradling the body of “Kou Reirin,” and Shu Keigetsu, who currently inhabited it.

The four women were migrating from the northern end of the courtyard, where the well was located, to the southern end, which led to the Shu and Kou Palaces. Upon rescuing “Kou Reirin”—or Keigetsu, as it were—the real Reirin had rolled up her sleeves and offered to carry her friend, only for Tousetsu to snatch the opportunity from her. Though she’d managed to heave Keigetsu out of the well in a rush of adrenaline, the Maiden was no match for Tousetsu and her outlandish Gen strength when it came to carrying her for a prolonged period.

“I still hate to think there are things I can’t do in this form… No, that’s a defeatist attitude. Give me three days. I believe in our combined potential, Lady Keigetsu. I vow to hone this body to perfection,” said Reirin, throwing Keigetsu a regretful glance for the umpteenth time.

“I just asked you not to! Besides, I don’t need anyone to carry me. I can walk on my own. Let me down already!”

“I don’t think so, missy! That body was submerged in a well for hours. You need to rest.”

“Would you listen to me?! I said that I’d go lie down as soon as you give up looking for Gen Kasui! Now drop it!”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Excuuuuse me?!”

Ever since their first fight and subsequent make-up, the two girls—especially Reirin—had become a bit more casual in their interactions.

Did Lady Reirin just say “nuh-uh”?

Unbelievable… That’s the first time I’ve ever heard her call anyone “missy.”

Leelee and Tousetsu exchanged glances. Oblivious, the girls in question carried on with their bickering.

 

“I’m going to recover the lost ground in one fell swoop.”

It hadn’t been long since Keigetsu had switched places with Reirin in order to get her out of the well. In a healthy body, a loose clench of her fist was all it took to send heat coursing through Reirin’s veins. Given that she had quite literally been at death’s door only moments earlier, she found herself deeply moved by the sensation.

She wasn’t nauseated. It was easy to breathe. She could move her arms and legs without psyching herself up first, and she felt no pain. It was pure bliss. For each steady beat of her heart, Reirin felt a surge of vigor and gratitude strong enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Along with her determination to repay the favor, memories of the past few days came flooding back and spurred her to action.

I’ve wasted a lot of time.

That fight with Keigetsu had thrown quite a wrench in her plans. She had yet to unravel the case of the poisoned cosmetics and the collapse of the tent during the solemn Rite of Reverence. Despite her original intentions to investigate the Rans’ and Kins’ suspicious behavior, she had become so distraught over the falling-out that she’d even allowed Gen Kasui to sneak up on her from behind.

It was clear that Kasui had something weighing on her mind. One second she’d been talking about miracle hemp, and the next she’d bludgeoned Reirin over the head and thrown her into a well. It had been her honest intention to kill.

Reirin wouldn’t rest until she had forced the other girl to confess what had driven her to such heinous acts. While she was at it, she would have a good, long “chat” with Kin Seika and Ran Houshun about why they had interfered in the Rite of Reverence and exacerbated her conflict with Keigetsu. Of course, she also planned to see the final trial through without a hitch.

Yes. She would recover all the lost ground.

In contrast to Reirin’s fearless smile, Keigetsu, soaked from the knees down, started shaking and shivering. “Wh-what do you mean…recover the lost ground?!”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I plan to start by questioning Lady Kasui. Time is of the essence, so I’ll begin my search at once. But you come first, Lady Keigetsu. Just look at the shape you’re in, and all because you switched places with me… We must warm you up.” Reirin glanced back at Keigetsu, her face falling in pity. The speed at which her friend’s teeth were chattering concerned her. “I’ll carry you back to the pavilion straight away. And while I’m there, I’ll brew you the most potent of decoctions. We should also cool the wound on your head. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything, Lady Kasui included, so you ought to focus on recovering.”

“N-no, that’s not why I ask—”

“Oh, you’re positively soaked! There’s no time to waste in conversation. You need to rest. I don’t want you lifting so much as a finger.”

Hearing the crack in her friend’s voice filled Reirin with guilt and a determination to make her rest. Yet when she took both of the girl’s hands in her own, Keigetsu jerked out of her grasp, her face twitching.

“Listen to me!”

Just as her arm sliced through the air, the flame of Leelee’s torch swelled.

“Whoa!” the redhead yelped.

The burst of fire engulfed Keigetsu’s lower body in a blazing whirl, only to retreat a moment later as if its work was done.

Keigetsu snorted at her companions, who were staring at her in dumb surprise. “There. I’m all dry.”

“What…?”

“What does it look like? I dried myself off with magic. For the record, I almost never do that sort of thing in front of an audience. Don’t even think about making me your go-to handyman.” She jabbed a finger in Reirin’s direction, scowling and brow­beating her with all her might. “I can’t believe you! You set your own problems aside until you’re almost dead, yet you’ll make a huge deal out of someone else’s robes getting a little wet. Look, I never asked you to take care of me. All I want is for you to calm down,” she all but spat.

Reirin couldn’t help asking, “Huh? But don’t you feel ill?”

“Sure, I feel dreadful. Winter nights are cold enough when I’m not wet, and the lump on the back of my head is throbbing.”

“No, I’m talking about more serious symptoms. Any dizziness or nausea? What about a fever? Heart palpitations?”

Keigetsu furrowed her brow in thought, then gave a decisive shake of her head. “I thought I might die from the pain when we first switched bodies, but I feel fine now.”

“Huh?!”

“Like I said, I’m freezing cold, and my head hurts. But it’s not so bad that I can’t walk,” she matter-of-factly replied.

Reirin studied her friend long and hard. It wasn’t the first time she had wondered as much, but how could Keigetsu still have so much pep in that sickly body? Did Daoist magic have healing properties, perhaps? Or was it that she herself was too sensitive to pain, and that level of discomfort was trivial as far as anyone else was concerned?

No, that can’t be it… The first time we traded places, Lady Keigetsu was indeed in a great deal of pain. Even worse than I ­usually am.

It didn’t add up.

After some debate, Reirin concluded that it must be an issue of fighting spirit. Seeing as Keigetsu had previously suffered in the body of “Kou Reirin,” it couldn’t be that switching bodies eliminated the illness. In that case, either she’d simply gotten used to feeling sick, or she was suppressing the symptoms through sheer willpower.

Reirin herself had made it through most major ceremonies on the back of her mental fortitude. In a state of tension, her body would naturally block out the pain. Still, that only worked for so long, and the rebound was always terrible. She was only growing more and more concerned for Keigetsu.

“You might feel fine now, but you should still lie down. Come, let’s go to the pavilion.”

“And what are you planning to do while I’m resting, hm?”

“As I’ve said, I will begin the search for Lady Kasui at once.”

“I told you to drop it!” Keigetsu snarled. “Remember, you’re in my body now! If you do something stupid, I’ll be the one to pay for it. What are you going to do if she attacks you again?!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t repeat the same mistake twice, and I’m confident I can defend myself in this form. Your body is the ­finest and strongest there is. You ought to have a little more faith in yourself.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?! Listen. Gen Kasui is a murderer who tried to drown you in a well. And we’re supposed to hand criminals over to the Eagle Eyes, not apprehend them ourselves. Either way, the Eagle Eyes are scouring the inner court for ‘Kou Reirin’ as we speak. They’ll catch her in no time,” Keigetsu emphatically declared.

Reirin considered that for a moment, then frowned. “But Lady Kasui failed to kill me. That means she’s not yet guilty of murder.”

“I’m sorry, what?! That was just a fluke, and it doesn’t change that she did hit you over the head!” Keigetsu thrust herself forward, showing off the bump on her cranium.

“Yes, true. You have a point…but I want to hear her side of the story before I decide what to do.”

Reirin thought back to what had happened in the pavilion.

“I can’t believe you were the one who bought up all the miracle hemp back then.”

She had caught a glimpse of Kasui’s face just before she lost consciousness. The girl’s contorted features had betrayed a dark hatred, along with a deep, heart-wrenching despair. The fact that she’d dumped Reirin in an old well without bothering to destroy the evidence proved that she had acted on pure impulse.

Her gait had been hurried, and there had been an air of desperation about her. Kasui was planning to do something that evening. Whatever it was, it was of great importance to her—and once the deed was done, or even if it failed, she might very well have been prepared to throw her own life away.

Not on my watch. I won’t let you run away, Lady Kasui.

Reirin briefly explained that Kasui had lost a “relative” to a burn wound three years ago, that the shaman had apparently had something do with it, that the availability of miracle hemp had been a major factor in the incident, and that Kasui had resorted to violence out of the mistaken belief that the Kou clan had bought up the entire supply of the herb.

“During our confrontation, Lady Kasui behaved more like a cornered animal than a violent criminal. She assaulted me on impulse, without explaining her reasons… I have to catch her tonight, before the Eagle Eyes can. I want to hear what happened in her own words.”

“Let me guess: ‘She must have had her reasons’? You’re out of your mind.” Keigetsu didn’t even attempt to hide her disdain. With a click of her tongue, she added, “Cornered or not, the fact is that she hurt you. Why are you trying to protect your enemy? You’re too soft!”

“Wrong, Lady Keigetsu. I want to understand her motives, not so I can protect her but for the sake of my own revenge. It’s hard to determine the severity of the punishment if you don’t know the extent of the crime, no?” Reirin smiled. “Can you let them off with a slap, or should you go in for the kill? If you don’t know exactly who you’re up against, you won’t know where to begin.”

She then took advantage of Keigetsu’s stunned silence to grab her by the armpits. “As soon as I’ve escorted you back, I’ll start looking for Lady Kasui. I have a vague idea of where she might have gone. Now come, Lady Keigetsu. Hold on tight.”

“W-wait a second!” Momentarily overwhelmed, Keigetsu brought herself back to her senses with a furious shake of her head. “You can’t. What if you mess up and give the swap away? Isn’t the bet still on? If His Highness finds out, he’ll have the right to make you his wife on the spot!”

“Oh, right…” Reirin blinked, as if she’d forgotten all about that. Then she flexed a bicep, smiled, and responded with a dash of Kou-style optimism. “I’m not worried.”

“Your positivity is just plain carelessness!”

“This particular swap was a matter of life and death, so surely it doesn’t count. Besides, I’m proud to say that my impression of you has been steadily improving. Even if I were to run into His Highness or an Eagle Eye, this time I’ll pull off my ‘Shu Keigetsu’ act without a hitch. I’m sure of it.”

“How can you claim that in light of your past record?!” Keigetsu cried in despair. Then, at length, she uttered a guttural growl of warning. “I’m going with you.”

“Pardon?”

“If you insist on going after Gen Kasui, then I’m coming too. I absolutely refuse to rest. If that bothers you, you’d better give up on your search.”

Of course, she meant it as a threat.

And yet, after staring back at Keigetsu for a moment, Reirin sheepishly put a hand to her cheek. “If I may be so bold as to start ‘reading between the lines’… Does that mean, ‘Which is more important to you: Gen Kasui or my health?!’”

“Huh?! Wh…wha…?! No! Don’t be stupid!”

“Oh. Then how about, ‘I’m too worried to let you go alone. I refuse to leave your side!’”

“No!” Keigetsu denied the accusation with a piercing shriek. “When did I ever say that?!”

“I see.” Reirin gave a solemn nod of her head. “So you haven’t said anything at all, then. In that case, I’ll be on my way.”

It was a textbook example of a straw man argument.

With that, Reirin took off at a brisk pace. It was only when Keigetsu screamed her name, red in the face, that she stopped to cast a worried glance over her shoulder. “It’s not good for you to shout like that. You’re free to join me if you’re so worried, but your health should come first. The moment I determine you’re in danger, I’ll see to it that you go back to your room and rest, even if I must order Tousetsu to see it done.”

“Wha…”

The corners of Keigetsu’s mouth twitched.

Wh-who does she think she is?!

It wasn’t long ago that the girl had been a goner, sobbing as she braced herself for death. Yet as soon as she’d been rescued—or rather, as soon as she’d switched bodies—she’d suddenly become boisterous and forceful enough to mow down all obstacles in her path.

Hands shaking, Keigetsu yelled the one thing the other Maiden couldn’t stand to hear: “You’re unbelievable! I hate you!”

“Dearie me.” Reirin brought her hands to her mouth, only to press them to her chest a moment later, her eyes watering. “That one meant, ‘I love you’…”

She had the look of someone basking in delight, her smile like a flower bursting into bloom. Even though it was her own face, one look at that ridiculously overjoyed expression made Keigetsu’s next words die on her tongue.

“Oh, for crying out loud…” Leelee cracked a resigned smile, a glazed look in her eyes, while Tousetsu nodded impassively.

Now that she inhabited a healthy vessel, no one could stop the woman of steel.

“So this is the storehouse where the court ladies discard their personal belongings, Leelee?”

The group had been walking westward from the pond for some time, hiding the sound of their footsteps for part of the way. Eventually, they arrived at an abandoned storehouse bathed in the pallid glow of moonlight. It was raised on stilts to keep out the damp, but those efforts had been for naught, as the plaster had peeled away to expose the rotting wood inside. The only thing that could pass for a window was the dilapidated door. The building was little more than a glorified shed, though at least the crumbling roof tiles and gaps between the thin wooden planks could serve as a light source in a pinch.

“Some storehouse this is. It looks like it’s about to come crashing down around us.”

“Pretty much… There are holes in the floor due to all the rot, and the shelves are crammed so full of junk that if you’re not careful getting things down, they’ll tip over and send everything crashing down on you. Once you’re used to all that, it’s perfectly serviceable.”

That earned a disgusted scowl from Keigetsu, so Leelee shrugged her shoulders and elaborated.

“Anyone who comes here is usually at the end of their tether, so they have no choice but to get used to it.”

The addendum made Keigetsu glance back at her court lady, then awkwardly avert her gaze. She knew she was one of the reasons that Leelee had been “at the end of her tether” in the past.

“In any event, it would be dangerous for all of us to go in at once. The rest of you should wait out here,” said Reirin, as if to break up the uncomfortable tension in the air. She narrowed her gaze in the direction of the storehouse, then gave a quiet nod. “She’s here.”

The flicker of a flame could be glimpsed between the gaps between the planks. Listening closely, one could also hear the ­occasional thud of something like a stack of papers hitting the floor. It seemed the person inside was holding up a torch and rummaging around for something.

“Is that…Gen Kasui?”

“I assume so. She reacted strongly to Leelee’s mention of the storehouse.”

Reirin nodded to herself as she retraced her memories.

“A storehouse. I see.”

When Kasui had come to visit Reirin in her pavilion, the look on her face had changed as she’d listened to Leelee’s explanation. She’d started to fidget, and she’d even seemed poised to cut the conversation short and walk out.

“Items they aren’t permitted to bring outside? Such as?”

It was probably the part about “diaries stashed without undergoing inspection” that had piqued her interest. If there was one place she was bound to go after throwing Reirin into a well in a fit of rage, it was that storehouse.

“Lady Kasui appeared to be searching for something. The relative she lost three years ago, burns, the shaman, a buyout of miracle hemp… I’m unclear on the details, but something tells me she’s looking for clues to the incident that killed her loved one.”

As Reirin strung together the fragments of information she had gathered, Tousetsu looked up with a start. “Three years ago… The shaman?”

“Does that ring a bell, Tousetsu?”

“Not exactly…” The stony-faced court lady faltered. When Reirin prompted her a second time, she prefaced that it was little more than hearsay before explaining, “Three years ago, Lady Anni came to the capital to recite the prayers for His Majesty’s birthday celebration. She spent a few days in the inner court, during which time she held a meeting to distribute protective talismans to the palace women…but I heard that turned into something of a debacle.”

“What kind of debacle?”

“A servant girl brandished a blade and was exiled from the court after suffering burns in a ritual fire. Unfortunately, Her Majesty was off preparing for the festivities when it happened, and I was an attendant of hers at the time, so I cannot claim to know the facts of the matter.” Tousetsu frowned apologetically, then dropped her voice even lower and added, “The public would be alarmed to know that we had allowed an act of rebellion right before such an auspicious event. Thus, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager instructed us not to speak of the matter.”

“The empress dowager herself? Truly?”

She was the former emperor’s legitimate wife and the mother of the current emperor, Genyou. Having long since retired to an imperial villa, the girls seldom encountered her, but her influence was still immense.

“Is there any chance that ‘servant girl’ was Lady Kasui’s relative?”

“I cannot say. The incident was hushed up.” Even Reirin’s most loyal retainer dodged the question. “When a gag order is issued, all the records of the event are destroyed, the witnesses are dismissed…and sometimes false rumors are spread to obfuscate the truth.”

That roundabout answer was the best one she could give.

Reirin nodded and whispered that she understood. Something terrible must have happened in the inner court three years ago. However, the records had been incinerated and the witnesses evicted, so only fabricated rumors remained. Hence why Kasui was looking everywhere in search of the truth.

With another murmur of “I see,” Reirin strode toward the storehouse, leaving her companions behind. “It’s probably best that we don’t address this matter as a group. Lady Keigetsu, please wait here with Tousetsu and Leelee.”

“Lady Reirin!”

“Kou Reirin!”

Aghast, the trio attempted to follow, but Reirin stuck out a hand and shushed them. She knew that in times like these, it was best to act before the worrywarts around her could hold her back. Sure enough, once she’d made her move, the others ceased to fuss out of fear of the enemy noticing them, instead settling for sighing or casting helpless glances heavenward. Reirin mouthed a silent apology to the girls before erasing all traces of her presence and pressing her back to the wall.

Fortunately, there was a gap in the battered door large enough to slip her hand through, allowing her to hold down the hinges and enter without making a sound. The slightest of night breezes drifted in after her, but the girl deep inside the storehouse didn’t seem to notice.

Reirin took slow, steady steps so as not to trip over the thin, uneven floorboards. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she instinctively scanned the area for objects in danger of collapsing or falling. When she discovered that the entire building was a hazard, she let slip a dry chuckle despite herself.

It stood to reason. Shelves lined both sides of the narrow aisles. The antique-looking ledges were packed full of everything from stationery to cosmetics, from chests of clothes to books, so much so that they jutted out into the aisles, lending the space an overcrowded air. There was no telling when one of those storage units might topple over, and the whole floor was in danger of falling out from under her.

Step by step, she crept through the musty room until she was close enough to catch a glimpse of her target through the gaps in the shelves.

Lo, there was Gen Kasui. She was sitting in the middle of the storehouse, under a shelf containing a particularly large number of books, intently reading a stack of papers she had wrenched free.

“Blast it! This account doesn’t go into the details. But the ­shaman was involved…”

She tossed the large pile of documents to the side, then held a book to the light of the candle. If one had to guess, those were the discarded diaries of the court ladies.

“The Kin clan and Ran clan too…”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Reirin called out from behind, prompting Kasui to whip around with a start.

Shielding her eyes with one hand, Reirin grabbed a nearby book with the other and hurled it at the candlestick. The tome succeeded in knocking over the candle, putting out the fire with a clang.

“Wha…”

The well-lit room was abruptly plunged into darkness, and Reirin took advantage of Kasui’s impaired vision to close the ­distance between them. She flung herself at the other Maiden, straddled her on the floor, and pressed one sharp elbow to her throat.

“I came here to ask you something.”

“Lady Shu Keigetsu…? What are you doing here?”

Kasui attempted to wriggle free, but Reirin increased the pressure from her elbow to force her back down.

“Shall we keep this brief? I’d appreciate it if you’d answer my questions before the Eagle Eyes can arrive on the scene. Why is a Maiden rummaging through old court lady diaries in a storehouse like this? Why do you bear a grudge against the shaman, the Kins, and the Rans?”

“Wha…”

“And why did the miracle hemp buyout enrage you to the point of drowning Kou Reirin in a well?” whispered Reirin, bringing her face even closer. A lock of black hair spilled over her shoulder and fluttered into Kasui’s face.

“Should I take that to mean,” Kasui eventually murmured after a long silence, “that Lady Kou Reirin made it out alive?”

“Correct. Lady Kei…I pulled her out. She filled me in on a number of things, and that brought me here.”

Gen Kasui was quick-witted indeed. Instead of making excuses for herself, she fell silent. She must have realized immediately that it was too late to sweep anything under the rug.

Why had “Shu Keigetsu” saved “Kou Reirin”? For starters, how had she known to rush to the Maiden in her time of need, and how much information did she have? No doubt Kasui’s mind was swimming with questions. Rather than ask any of them, however, she insisted on keeping her silence until Reirin huffed a soft sigh. Clearly she wasn’t dealing with the shallow sort of person who would gloat about her crimes.

“The silent treatment, hm? Well, this isn’t ideal. If you refuse to answer me, I’ll have no choice but to turn you over to the Eagle Eyes.”

Then again, Kasui was a mainline descendant of the Gen clan. She was bound to be even more impervious to torture than Reirin.

For lack of a better option, Reirin shifted her gaze to the books scattered around her. “Did these diaries belong to former court ladies? I assume they didn’t contain much information of value. Still, I can deduce which palace’s retainers they belonged to by the color of the bindings. It looks like most of these belonged to the Kin and Ran clans, so I suppose that means—”

Whoosh!

The moment the Kou Maiden took her eyes off her foe, she heard the sound of something slicing through the air. Kasui had grabbed an inkstone lying close at hand and swung at Reirin’s head.

“Goodness gracious.”

Before the blunt object could make impact, it smacked into something else with a dull thud. Reirin had picked up a nearby book and used it as a shield against the inkstone.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“What?!”

Kasui was stunned to see that her would-be surprise attack had been thwarted. Reirin tried to exploit the opening to knock her back to the ground, but her opponent was no pushover and twisted to avoid the impact. While Kasui was at it, she aimed a powerful kick at Reirin’s jaw.

“Eep!”

Reirin hastily bent backward to dodge the relentless strike calculated to knock her out.

It had been such a sharp kick. Leave it to a Gen to employ tactics so incongruous with her noble station.

This is getting me fired up!

She neither made excuses nor asked questions. All that mattered was eliminating her obstacles by the most direct means possible. Her methods were more those of an assassin than even a warrior, and something about that drove Reirin wild.

Most Gens were taciturn by nature. Part of her had known that she wouldn’t get a straight answer to her interrogation—and that asking Kasui questions when she was so on edge would send her into a violent rage.

If she doesn’t want to use her words, then I have little choice but to let my fists do the talking.

Feeling belligerent, Reirin took a great leap back and assumed a defensive stance. Kasui likewise sprang to her feet and unleashed a rain of blows from her fists, elbows, and feet. The whistle of the air splitting attested to the tremendous force behind each punch and kick. One hit would be all it took to bring even “Shu Keigetsu’s” towering form to the ground in an instant.

Reirin stayed out of Kasui’s reach, chucking various objects at her in between dodging her attacks. She threw books and letter­boxes, plus ashes into her eyes to blind her. Rolls of fabric. Jars and even incense burners. She was quite proud of the speed of her throws, yet Kasui dodged each and every projectile with ease.

The floor of the room was streaked by beams of silvery moonlight, and the walls echoed with the clatter of objects falling to the floor, each kicking up a massive cloud of dust in its wake.

Kasui’s fists and feet slashed through the air in assault. Reirin dodged the blows in a light-footed dance, taking cover in the darkness or sometimes knocking over objects to block her foe’s path.

Yet despite Reirin’s best efforts to defend herself, Kasui had a slight advantage. Though the distance between the two remained the same, the Kou Maiden was soon overpowered. Little by little, she was driven from the center of the storehouse until she was up against the wall.

When Reirin saw that a glancing blow from Kasui’s foot had shattered a jar to smithereens, she knew it was time to speak up. “Nothing will come of fighting, Lady Kasui. Why don’t we talk this out? Please?”

“Silence.”

“I have no intention of airing your private affairs, so there’s no cause to be so hostile. Won’t you please explain what’s going on? I have something to tell you as well.”

“Silence.”

“I say this for your sake as much as mine. If you fight with all your strength—”

“I said, silence!” Kasui shouted, cutting short Reirin’s plea. “I won’t let anyone stand in the way of my revenge!”

Her eyes glinted with enough intensity to be visible in the darkness of night, and she took a great step forward, preparing to unleash a full-force strike…

Snap!

And then there came a thundering crack, and Kasui’s body plummeted downward.

“Wha—?!”

The section of decaying floor Kasui had shifted her weight to had given way underneath her. With her left leg suddenly buried up to the knee, she lost her balance and pressed both hands to the ground.

“If you fight with all your strength, you’ll break the floor. I did try to warn you,” Reirin said with feeling, putting a hand to her cheek. “I see I was too late.”

“Damn you…”

“One more thing. I apologize for prattling on after you told me to be quiet.”

As Kasui struggled to free her leg, Reirin pointed above her head.

“You had better crouch down, or you might be in trouble.”

It happened in the very next moment.

Boom!

One of the shelves came crashing down with the most deafening rumble yet.

 

“Eek!” Keigetsu, who had been keeping an eye on the storehouse from a short distance away, shrieked at the startling commotion. “Wh-what was that?!”

“This is bad! It sounds like one of the bigger shelves collapsed!” Leelee turned white as a sheet. “What if Lady Reirin got pinned underneath?!”

“What kind of question is that?! We came along for a reason! Go help her!”

Keigetsu shook Tousetsu, who was still cradling the Maiden in her arms. Yet even the most loyal court lady of all gave a small shake of her head, looking conflicted. “We mustn’t. In her current state, Lady Reirin isn’t one to be outdone by Gen Kasui…and she ordered me to get you both to safety.”

Loyal though she was, that loyalty manifested itself in trusting in her mistress and obeying her commands.

Keigetsu scowled. “Would you get a grip already?!”

In a blinding fit of rage, she grabbed Tousetsu by the collar from point-blank range and jerked her back and forth. The court lady glanced down at her in surprise.

“Why are you Kous all so obstinate?! Have you learned nothing from this whole mess?! Her reckless streak is never going to get better if you all just nod your heads and go along with whatever she says!”

“Oh…”

“Yes, Kou Reirin is resourceful, a paragon of virtue, and has the devil’s luck. Now that she’s in good health, she’s practically invincible. But you know what? She’s also soft! She’s naive, and she leaves herself wide open! What if she went too easy on Gen Kasui and had the tables turned on her?!”

Tousetsu’s eyes widened, then dropped to her feet. In truth, she was starting to question her own values. Until now, she’d never dreamed that her mistress could be so shaken over “a mere argument,” or so distracted that someone could sneak up on her from behind and almost kill her.

“Put me down. I can walk on my own,” said Keigetsu, still trapped in Reirin’s body. Her tone left no room for argument. “I’m going to check on what happened.”

And so, with her feet firmly planted on the ground and two court ladies in tow, she crept toward the storehouse.

 

Boom!

“Agh!”

The thundering crash that shook the storehouse was loud enough to drown out Kasui’s scream. A shelving unit large enough to tower over a grown adult collided with the one opposite, dumping its contents in the process. Though the impact mercifully halted its descent, all the objects that had been stored on its higher shelves—chests, letterboxes, and books—rained down on Kasui’s head. Most notably, she was powerless to deflect the large wardrobe that had been sitting on the very top.

“Ghk…”

“If one chunk is lost, the whole floor tilts. It didn’t help that the lower shelves had been all but emptied, while so many heavy objects were left on top. It raises the center of gravity.”

So said the very culprit who had taken and thrown all the items from the bottom shelves. Better yet, her “strategic retreat” to the wall had allowed her to steer clear of the collapse.

Gently, Reirin kneeled down in front of Kasui, who was buried under the shelves. The girl appeared to have been hit by a book or some other falling object, as blood flowed from her temple where she groveled.

Reirin reached out to carefully trace the wound. “Goodness. That looks painful.”

“Lady…Keigetsu…” Kasui’s first instinct was to slap her hand away, but with her movements restricted, she settled for shooting Reirin a glare so intense it practically came with a sound effect. “Why do you insist on standing in my way?”

“You misunderstand. I simply want to know what drove you to almost kill my best friend, Kou Reirin.”

“And you expect me to believe that under the circumstances?”

“This was but a tragic accident.” After nodding shamelessly, Reirin replied, “If you’re asking why I wish to know, you ought to answer my questions first. Why are you rummaging through diaries in a storehouse? Why do you bear a grudge against the shaman, the Kins, and the Rans? And why did you attempt to murder Kou Reirin?”

“…”

“If you refuse to answer, I have little choice but to fill in the blanks myself. For instance, you mentioned ‘revenge’ earlier. Am I to understand that the shaman inflicted harm upon one of your kin?” She pressed a hand to her cheek as she sorted her thoughts. “I’ve heard that three years ago, there was a criminal loose in the inner court who rose in revolt and suffered burns as punishment. Perhaps she was your—”

“Big Sis was no criminal!” Kasui suddenly yelled. It sounded so much like a howl that “visceral” was the only word to describe it. She snapped to her senses with a gasp, then immediately hung her head. Fury and torment seeped from her clenched teeth and fists.

Reirin said quietly, “So she was your older sister, then.”

“…”

“Ignorant as I am, I hadn’t the faintest idea you even had one. I’ve never heard the Gen clan so much as allude to her existence. Why did they keep quiet when one of their own was embroiled in such a terrible incident?”

“…”

“Did your family conspire to cover it up, perchance? And you’re alone in your quest for vengeance? That would certainly explain your rash behavior.”

As Reirin pieced together the information she had, muttering her thoughts aloud, Kasui’s irises wavered.

Reirin crouched down again, peering straight into the other girl’s face. “Consider your situation, Lady Kasui. I hold your life in my hands. Don’t you want to justify your actions? If you won’t explain what you were thinking, you leave me no choice but to turn you over to the Eagle Eyes.” She lowered her voice a fraction. “Once you stand accused, the Gen name will be forever tarnished. By the same token, you will be trampling on your sister’s dignity.”

Moonlight shone through the cracks in the building, bathing Reirin’s downturned cheeks and Kasui’s balled fists in a pale glow. A long silence fell.

When the dust in the air had finally settled, Kasui spoke in the lowest of growls. “I won’t allow my sister’s name to be sullied any further.”

“Then let’s hear it,” said Reirin, undaunted by the threat.

Gnashing her teeth at her inability to move, Kasui clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood, then parted her lips at last. “My sister, Bushou,” she said, the gleam in her eyes sharp enough to kill, “was the original candidate for the Gen Maiden. She had the proper temperament and all the right gifts…and she was a kind soul.”

Occasionally choking with emotion, she began to recount the events of three years ago.

“My sister used to send me letters each and every day. One day, she wrote that she would be attending a gathering led by the shaman while the Worthy Consort was away…and the next thing I knew, she’d been sent back to the Gen domain with horrible burns along her right arm. The only explanation given was that she brought a blade into the inner court and was subjected to the Trial by Fire on the charge of treason.”

“The Trial by Fire? I’m not familiar.”

“Imagine the Lion’s Judgment, but replace the lion with fire. It’s a trial that amounts to an execution. As the prestigious shaman was already present, the rite was carried out without delay.”

In truth, Kasui confessed, she had no idea what had transpired in the inner court that day. All that remained in the aftermath were unanswered questions. Nay, the gag order had silenced even those. Only Kasui was left—plagued by doubt, despair, and resentment.

“No one… No one has ever tried to investigate. That includes the inhabitants of the inner court afraid to get involved, of course, but also my own parents. Even the kindly Worthy Consort adamantly refuses to address the matter. That leaves me no choice but to find my own answers.”

Kasui declared that her reason for becoming a Maiden. She didn’t want to listen to her parents, nor did she desire the glory once meant for her sister. The very idea of her gracefully vying for favor or putting on performances was laughable, but if she could only get closer to the scene of the crime, she believed she could get her hands on the truth.

“It was my sister’s dream to present the crown with a sword or mirror of her own design. If I were to venture a guess, all that talk of treason was a misunderstanding borne of the ornamental sword she brought with her to the inner court. She would never conspire to betray her kingdom.”

“Yet things went straight from that innocent misunderstanding to a fiery execution.”

“Yes, precisely. There was foul play afoot. Someone took that insignificant spark and fanned it into the flames of a trial for their own amusement. Or perhaps they were using the ritual as a pretext to get rid of her!” Kasui had been keeping her tone in check, but here she raised her voice. “I’ve learned something from my time at the inner court. The women here are a cruel bunch. They are starved for love, honor, and entertainment. For their own pleasure or self-interest, they wouldn’t hesitate to sabotage and set someone ablaze!”

Her virulent loathing, if anything, convinced Reirin of her virtue.

That reminds me, when the subject of leaving “Shu Keigetsu” to burn with the village came up during the Unso tea party, Lady Kasui was the only one to object.

When they met back up at the village, Keigetsu had explained in detail how each of the Maidens had behaved during the tea party. That said, Kasui had allegedly changed her tune to “a Maiden must uphold her honor even if it means going down in flames” shortly thereafter. Keigetsu had sniffed and dismissed it as her overselling her loyalty to offset the false accusations against her clan, but perhaps the real reason Kasui and the Gens had been so eager to prove their allegiance to the imperial family lay in Bushou’s “criminal record.”

Or perhaps that was Lady Kasui’s attempt to come to terms with her sister’s death.

“I must confess,” Kasui choked out, her fists trembling, “I’ve often questioned whether I should give up on revenge. Perhaps it was all just a tragic misunderstanding. Perhaps my sister was to blame. I held myself back, clinging to whatever leads I came by in the course of my empty life…until, at long last, I met the shaman. And I witnessed something during the second trial.”

Her fair cheeks glistened with pale moonlight. Imprisoned in the darkness, her eyes the only part of her that shone, she looked to be an apparition.

“Didn’t you notice, Lady Keigetsu? Just before your composition burst into flames during the second trial, the shaman rubbed her robes against the paper. Around where the holy emblem was, I believe. She did something. I’m sure of it.”

“Ah!”

Only Kasui, who had watched the shaman’s every move, had caught on to the truth.

“That old woman who claims to be a shaman doesn’t have a trace of the divine gift.”

Keigetsu’s bravado played back in Reirin’s mind.

“I bet she’s bluffed her way through her career performing plausible enough rituals, divining plausible enough fortunes, and reciting plausible enough prayers.”

So that’s what happened!

It explained the faint odor emanating from the emblems on the rice paper. Reirin’s various forays into developing new medicines helped her to realize its true nature.

While Reirin’s face stiffened, Kasui’s tone became more pointed. “She took revenge because you belittled her. You exposed her ‘divine gift’ as a hoax, nothing more than a tool to take the law into her own hands. Doesn’t it stand to reason that she did the same to my sister? That Big Sis insulted the shaman, and that is why she was subjected to the Trial by Fire?! I have no proof. But the more I think about it, the more suspicious the shaman appears!”

“Still, here in the inner court, the shaman doesn’t have the authority to hold rituals at her own discretion…”

“I’m aware! Hence why I believe she had an accomplice! It would need to be an inner court official with the standing to give her permission for a rite. That day, the empress and the Worthy Consort had left to prepare for His Majesty’s birthday celebration. The former Noble Consort was often bedridden and rarely attended ceremonies exclusive to the inner court. That leaves only—”

Reirin finished the sentence for her. “Pure Consort Kin and Virtuous Consort Ran.”

“Precisely,” said Kasui with a nod. Her black eyes stared into the distance, no longer focused on Reirin. “In the end, I couldn’t find any mention of that day in the court ladies’ diaries. But the majority of the diaries destroyed around that time belonged to the Kin and Ran clans. Both clans had a hand in the Trial by Fire, at the very least. Those women immolated my sister.”

Still groveling on the floor, Kasui clenched her fists hard enough to press into the floor planks. Both her hands and voice were shaking with rage.

“Big Sis met a gruesome end. Although the shaman claimed to have treated her wounds, the infection spread and her whole body swelled. She once possessed miraculous hands that could etch the most beautiful of designs, yet in her last moments, it was all she could do to scrawl the words ‘Don’t cry, live a happy life’ in pus-soaked blood. She was forsaken by all, denied even basic medicine!” Kasui wailed that it was unforgivable. “I’ll make them all pay! Both those who set fire to my sister over a misunderstanding and Kou Reirin, who hoarded all the miracle hemp out of petty curiosity while she languished! Neither a lapse in judgment nor a thirst for knowledge can excuse it!”

Blood trickled from her hands as she slammed them hard against the floor. “I won’t let you stand in the way of my revenge, Lady Keigetsu. I’m certain the shaman will visit the inner court tonight. Either the Kins or Rans are planning to hold a banquet in her honor. With no clues to be found in the court ladies’ diaries, tonight’s banquet is my last chance to uncover the truth. I must find out what really happened that day!” She shot “Shu Keigetsu” another glare, then shouted with all the force of a raging tidal wave, “Let me out of here! Move this wardrobe aside! I must find out where the banquet is being held and get there before the Eagle Eyes find me—for the sake of the sister I lost!”

“For the sake of the sister you lost, hm?” Reirin eventually murmured after listening to her tirade in silence. “Very well. If you had that compelling a reason—”

Just as she reached out to move the junk pinning Kasui to the ground, there came a sharp cry from the wall behind her. “Hold it right there!”

“What?!”

“I knew it! How could you agree to help a would-be murderer so easily, you big idiot?!”

A glance at the bare wooden wall of the storehouse revealed her own face—Keigetsu, in other words—peering back at her through one of the cracks, nose pressed up against the opening.

Reirin was genuinely dumbfounded. “What in the world are you doing here?! I told you to rest! You mustn’t touch the wall, or it will collapse! Please get out of here! It’s too dangerous!” she pleaded with her friend.

Keigetsu’s expression grew stormier. “That’s my line. What was that crash just now?! It looks like Gen Kasui was the one trapped in the rubble, at least…but why would you let the criminal you just captured run free?!” Though only a third of her face was visible, her trademark shrieking echoed through the storehouse, carrying well despite coming from Reirin’s lungs. “Look here. Gen Kasui knocked someone out with malicious intent. Then she tossed them into a well to give them a slow and painful death. Don’t let her off the hook just because she revealed her sob story of a past!”

“Kou Reirin?” Kasui couldn’t quite make out her face through the crack. Still, she recognized the voice coming from outside the wall as the Kou Maiden, and within moments, her entire body bristled with hatred. “I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

“Hah! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Gen Kasui. The Heavens smiled upon me, not you. As they should. Why would anyone bother with a fool who runs around enacting a senseless revenge and fancying herself a tragic heroine?”

“Excuse me?!”

That was a good time to back off, but Keigetsu was so incensed that she persisted in taunting Kasui from the other side of the wall. “Heh. You must have been so pleased with yourself for dunking your nemesis in that well, but just look at you now—you’re the one drowning in a pile of junk, completely helpless. Oh, the irony! You got what you deserved.”

“How vile. Was this your true nature all along, Kou Reirin?!”

Reirin attempted to rein her friend in, instinctively massaging her temple. “Um, Lady Kei—Reirin, you’re complicating matters, so could you please leave it at that?”

She was touched to see Keigetsu so mad on her behalf, but she preferred to handle her own problems.

Aha… It’s quite upsetting to have your affairs settled without your consent. No wonder Lady Keigetsu got so angry with me at the Violet Dragon’s Spring.

Alas, Keigetsu, who was second to none when it came to finding fault with others, was borderline gleeful as she carried on shouting. “Not a chance! Why didn’t you confront her with the facts right off the bat?! Tell her that she botched her so-called ‘vengeance’ from the very first finger she pointed!”

“Erm…”

“Tell her that Kou Reirin…that I wasn’t the one who hoarded all those medicinal herbs,” Keigetsu snapped with finality. “Someone offered her miracle hemp out of the kindness of their heart, and she repaid them by bludgeoning them over the head and tossing them into a well!”

Kasui’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“What, didn’t get it the first time? The Kou clan didn’t buy up the stock. You were mistaken. And that—”

“For heaven’s sake! Will you please desist?! Tousetsu, take her away!”

Tousetsu swiftly obeyed her mistress’s panicked command, slapping a hand over Keigetsu’s mouth. But there was no taking back what had already been said.

Kasui turned so pale that it was obvious even in the dark. “But…Lady Reirin told me that her clan bought the entire supply.”

“She lied,” said Reirin, stressing that she herself was partly to blame. “The truth is that the Kou clan bought an entire mountain for their sickly daughter, where they grew their own medicinal and poisonous herbs. They didn’t hoard anything. However, the mass cultivation of poisonous plants could be considered an act of treason, so she opted to fudge the truth.”

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that the lie would be more likely to strike a nerve with Kasui.

“It was nothing but an unfortunate accident,” said Reirin, her mouth twisting in discomfiture. “No one could blame you for jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

Her assurances didn’t seem to reach Kasui’s ears. The girl’s eyes lost their focus, all that righteous anger nowhere to be found. “Thus why she acted so uncomfortable…”

She might have recalled how Reirin’s eyes had darted about in response to her questions. Or how the Kou Maiden had been unusually tongue-tied, communicating only in noncommittal nods.

“I was mistaken…”

“Indeed. It was all a tragic misunderstanding.”

“I almost killed someone…over a misconception?”

Reirin had meant it as a consolation, but assaulting someone over a misunderstanding was Kasui’s greatest taboo. It was the same excuse Bushou’s killers used to hold the Trial by Fire.

“Neither a lapse in judgment nor a thirst for knowledge can excuse it!”

“I can’t blame Lady Reirin for taking such a nasty tone with me,” Kasui mumbled, as if her own words had come back to haunt her, then fell silent.

Just then, a stampede of footsteps and a series of shouts could be heard in the distance.

“Lady Kou Reirin!”

“Where are you, Lady Reirin?!”

“Turn the place upside down!”

It was the Eagle Eyes, who had come looking for Kou Reirin.

The color drained from Reirin’s face, but on the other side of the wall, Keigetsu seemed quite pleased with this turn of events. While Tousetsu was distracted by the officers’ arrival, she brushed her hand aside and cackled. “Ha ha ha! It’s time to pay the piper, Gen Kasui! You had this coming. I’m glad I was here to see it.”

Kasui, meanwhile, was still on her hands and knees, her head hanging. She had lost all will to fight.

“Please pull yourself together, Lady Kasui.”

“…”

The light faded from her unblinking eyes, leaving them hollow and haunted. That was probably the moment she gave up on everything—on her revenge, on escaping from the Eagle Eyes, and on life itself.

No.

In that same instant, Reirin’s heart leapt, and an electric impulse shot through her.

I won’t let that happen, Lady Kasui.

She wasn’t sure what name to put to the emotion she felt. It wasn’t sympathy. It wasn’t righteousness. It was something much more harsh, more selfish, more wild.

“Ooh, what shall I tell the Eagle Eyes?” Keigetsu continued to gloat. “Perhaps I should show them the wound on my head. I’ll mention how scared I was after you shoved me into that well. And how admirable ‘Shu Keigetsu’ is for coming to my res—”

“Tousetsu,” Reirin interrupted, calling out to her court lady on the other side of the wall for the second time.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Bring Lady ‘Kou Reirin’ over to the pond and lead the Eagle Eyes away from this storehouse. See to it that they do not find out about my trip down the well.”

“And then—I beg your pardon?”

Keigetsu, who had kept prattling on undeterred, stopped and cast a surprised glance over her shoulder. Reirin said nothing in response. Instead, she found the most run-down patch of bare wood and kicked it to pieces, only to lean out the hole she’d made and exclaim, “Come quick! I found Lady ‘Kou Reirin’ under the pavilion near the pond! She collapsed while she was out for a walk!”

Through the hole, she could see Keigetsu and Leelee gaping at her, while Tousetsu yanked them close from behind.

Reirin reached a hand to poke Keigetsu—who was looking particularly dumbfounded—on the forehead. “I do love how fierce you can be, but you went overboard.”

Though she was tickled to see her friend show her such favoritism, it was hard to watch her acting the heel. Plus one more thing.

“It’s dangerous to hang near this decrepit storehouse, and it’s unwise to get so agitated on the heels of a concussion. As you refuse to heed my advice, I’ll trust the Eagle Eyes to take you into custody and force you to rest.”

“Excuse me?!”

Despite her constant urging, Keigetsu adamantly refused to lie down. Reirin was becoming earnestly concerned for her health.

“Go on, Tousetsu, Leelee. Hurry along now.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“B-but…”

Tousetsu scooped up Keigetsu after a moment’s hesitation, while Leelee looked back and forth between her two mistresses, trying to decide whose commands to prioritize.

“Lady Kasui no longer poses a threat. May I reiterate: ‘Kou Reirin’ was hit on the head and submerged in a well for hours. Need I explain whose orders you should obey?” Reirin admonished her with a sweet smile.

Leelee nodded her head, practically quaking. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good girl.”

The two court ladies walked off toward the pond with Keigetsu flailing in their arms, and Reirin watched until they were out of sight.

“Now then.” Once she was equally sure that the Eagle Eyes’ footsteps had receded into the distance, she turned back to Kasui. “Allow me to move this wardrobe.”

“…”

“Oh dear, there are quite a lot of items tangled together… It might be quicker for you to pull yourself out. If I hoist you up by the arm, do you think you can manage?” she asked, but Kasui didn’t answer. As the Gen Maiden stared vacantly into the distance, Reirin softly called her name again. “Lady Kasui.”

“Leave me be.”

She sounded so small and young. It was the voice of someone who had given up on everything, so bereft that the well of her tears had long since run dry.

“Get your act together, Lady Kasui. Would you let all your efforts to restore your sister’s pride go to waste?”

“When the outcome is that I almost killed an innocent person?” Without warning, Kasui’s face crumpled. “I’m no better…than the monsters who murdered my sister.” She clenched her fists atop the floor, fighting to stifle the waves of emotion raging inside her. “Here in this dark, nebulous world…vengeance was all I had to sustain me. And that drove me to the most despicable act imaginable.”

Gen Kasui was no doubt a good person. A simple one too. She had idolized her sister and survived on her affections alone. Such roiling waves of hatred and despair could never hope to be contained in such a young and unassuming vessel. The overflowing resentment had run riot through her very being, haunting and tormenting her. Just when she’d finally found a container for those emotions by the name of revenge, even that had been shattered.

Kasui slowly unfurled her fists, letting her head droop listlessly. “I’m tired of it all.”

“…”

The moonlit dust was all that glittered in the quiet store­­house.

After a long stretch of silence, Reirin spoke. “That must have been hard.” Gently, she reached out to touch Kasui, who was still hanging her head. “It’s hard to lose someone you love and be left the only one alive. You wish it could have been them. All you want is to punish whoever’s to blame, but you can’t. It’s unfair, it’s demoralizing. It leaves you bitter and resentful.”

Reirin cradled Kasui’s head with the careful touch of someone handling a fragile object.

“I understand that all too well.”

Then Reirin grabbed the other girl’s face with enough strength to make her gasp, forcing her to lift her head.

“But even so…no, for that very reason, you mustn’t ever wish for your own death.”

They were so close that the white clouds of their breath clung to each other’s cheeks. In the moon-dappled room, Reirin looked Kasui in the eye with a light of will far more brilliant than that pale, silvery glow.

“Didn’t your sister tell you to ‘live a happy life’?”

“Ah…!”

“She told you to live. Isn’t that the task she entrusted to you? Wasn’t that the last request she made of you?”

Her voice cracked. It was at this point that Reirin realized her own body was trembling with emotion.

And that emotion was anger.

She was angry that Gen Kasui would forfeit her life so readily. Reirin was far more upset with Kasui for choosing death than for throwing her into the well.

“There will be hard times. Painful trials. But your sister will never even know those experiences. Then, as the recipient of her last wish, you must accept the suffering it entails.”

She knew how hard it was for those left behind to live “happy” lives. She had been through it all: Illness thrust upon her like a punishment. The ever-present temptation of death. She couldn’t count how many times she had found herself drawn to the abyss in moments of weakness. Nevertheless, she was in this world because someone had wanted her to be. She’d been granted life at the expense of someone she held dear. Her awareness of that fact, along with her mother’s hopes for her, had always held her back at the brink.

Hence why she couldn’t bear to see Kasui, who had similarly been entrusted to live by her sister, give up so easily. It felt like being confronted with her own weakness.

“I stand before you now because I trampled over someone precious to me,” said Reirin. “She wished for me to live happily until her very last moments… So I must do exactly that. No matter what.”

It was a selfish assertion. Kasui had her own personal hell, and Reirin hers, and it was nobody’s place to tell someone else how to live their own life. All the same, Reirin found herself seized with the urge to shake Kasui by the shoulders. Was it because she currently inhabited the body of the fiery Keigetsu, she wondered? A frenzy of emotion surged through her, and she vented her feelings knowing full well how self-absorbed they were.

“You should think the same, Lady Kasui. No matter how much you blame yourself—no, all the more because of that—you must go on living. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how many mistakes you make along the way. Whether you take your revenge or let go of your grudge.”

Stunned, Kasui stared at the Maiden before her for some time. This woman had the face of Shu Keigetsu, yet she had a commanding aura about her the likes of which Kasui had never felt from the Shu Maiden before.

She had commanded Kasui to suffer. Her advice had been stern, not kind. She hadn’t reassured her fellow Maiden that she’d done nothing wrong but instead incited her to live as a means of making amends.

Yet Kasui felt no urge to refute her. To frame her survival as a self-inflicted punishment was much more palatable to her at the moment. Furthermore, she could sense that the girl before her had weathered the same torment she had.

“You must live, Gen Kasui,” the freckled girl declared once and for all. She let go of Kasui’s cheeks, instead clasping the hands the girl had dropped limply to the floor. “If you don’t know what to do with yourself, I’ll tell you. You went about things the wrong way. The first thing you must do is apologize. After that, you must ask for help.”

Slowly, the warmth of Reirin’s hand seeped into Kasui’s. Feeling that rush of heat in the ice-cold storehouse stirred the Gen Maiden to the depths of her soul.

“Now give me your hand so I can warm you up.”

Bushou’s voice played back in her mind.

“I’ll be fine. We have nothing to fear if we stick together.”

The conversations the sisters had shared in the snowbound Gen estate began to shine their light on Kasui’s heart once more.

“I have no right to talk, but you’re not very good at depending on others, Lady Kasui. In times like these, you’re supposed to lean on the people around you. It’s a lesson I’ve recently learned myself.”

“You’re the younger of us, yet you can be so uncomfortable with emotions. It’s okay to cry for help when times are hard. I’ll always come to your rescue.”

Bushou’s awkward smiles had always been so tender. Her fingertips would gently stroke Kasui’s hair as it fell loose, her lips would speak assurances not to worry, and her eyes would smile and say that everything was going to be all right. Every little gesture had been packed with a deep love, and each time Kasui found herself on the receiving end, all the fear and loneliness that had frozen her heart melted away.

Big Sis…

Kasui’s lips quivered. Heat bubbled in her eyes and throat, thawing the ice in the deepest recesses of her body and manifesting as tears and sobs.

“Ha…”

The contours of the world came back into focus. The black mist that had shrouded Bushou’s image suddenly lifted, revealing her smiling face.

“There you are, Kasui. It must be cold in the dark. Come here.”

When Kasui’s hands trembled, the girl with Shu Keigetsu’s face blinked as if something had just occurred to her. “That reminds me. There’s a certain line I’ve been dying to say.”

Then, for whatever reason, she curled her mouth into the taunting sort of smirk that screamed “Shu Keigetsu.”

“Go on and grovel. I might feel sorry enough to lend you a hand. So get on with it—ask me for help!”

“It’s okay to cry for help when times are hard. I’ll always come to your rescue.”

The moment she felt a gentle squeeze of her hand, fat drops of tears ran down Kasui’s face.

Big Sis… Bushou…

Between convulsive sobs, she had an overdue epiphany. Back when she touched Bushou’s ice-cold corpse, the first thing that had tried to climb out of her throat was a desperate cry for help. The timid little sister had wanted to cling to her older sibling all her life.

But Bushou wasn’t around to save her any longer. Besides, she had no right to ask for her help after leaving her to die. She had pursed her lips and swallowed her screams, and deprived of an outlet, her emotions had raged through her body and consumed her whole. Her world cloaked in a fog of hatred and despair, she hadn’t known where to go next.

“Help…me,” Kasui whispered, at last uttering the words she couldn’t say three years ago. At once, all the emotions she’d bottled deep inside came spilling piecemeal from her lips. “It’s hard. I’m…in so much anguish. I didn’t want to lose her like that. I didn’t want my sister to meet such a grisly, p-painful end. I feel…so terrible for her. She was too kind to go through that.”

The Maiden before her listened to her halting, incoherent ramblings with a grave expression. “Mm.”

The tighter she gripped Kasui’s hand, the harder Kasui’s tears came down.

“I want to reclaim at least a fragment of what my sister lost. I must. That way…Big Sis can rest in peace. I must restore her pride. I don’t know what I can do…but there must be something.”

“Yes. That’s precisely what we’re going to do,” came the girl’s gentle, resolute voice. She gave a firm nod of her head, and Kasui was overcome with the steadying sensation of planting both feet on solid ground. “Without fail.”

She hadn’t given up on her revenge. She hadn’t let go of her grudge. Still, just by expelling all those murky emotions, just by having someone else acknowledge them, Kasui felt like she could finally move forward.

First, she would apologize to Kou Reirin. She would make amends, and then she would clear her sister’s name, this time without straying from the right path.

“And the first step toward that is to get you out of here. Come, give me your hand.”

The so-called sewer rat of the Maiden Court elegantly extended a hand. Only a few stray moonbeams filtered into the late-night storehouse, yet her smile looked positively radiant.

“Why…would you go so far for my sake?” Kasui murmured, dazed by the beauty of the offered hand.

This was the woman whom the entire Maiden Court derided as a villainess. Kasui had never once been a recipient of her goodwill, nor had she made an effort to interact with the Shu Maiden at all.

So why?

What she got was a surprising answer. “Because when you dropped Kou Reirin into that well, she hoped that you would meet the same fate.”

“The same fate?” Kasui parroted, not immediately clear on her meaning.

“Yes,” the other girl said with a straight-faced nod. “Kou Reirin was hit over the head, plunged into a dark, cramped well, and needed Lady…me to pull her out in just the nick of time.”

“Yes. My sins are heavy indeed. So why—”

“Now you, too, have been struck on the head, and you wallowed for three years in the dark, cramped pits of heartbreak.” She gently traced the wound on Kasui’s temple, as if to silence any rebuttal. “If we let Shu Keigetsu pull you out now, the score will finally be even.”

Then she grabbed Kasui’s hand and tightened her grip.

“I’ll pull you up on the count of three. Let’s do this with a bang!”

And thus did a warm, strong hand lift Kasui from the abyss of despair.

Chapter 2:
Keigetsu Blows It

 

THE TRIO HURRIED BACK the way they’d come: Tousetsu carrying Keigetsu, Leelee chasing after them.

“Let go of me! Put me down!”

“Quiet, Lady Keigetsu! You’ll bite your tongue if you carry on screaming!”

“I’ll get you for this, Kou Reiriiiiin!”

“Please desist from flailing like a beached fish.”

Leelee and Tousetsu took turns pacifying Keigetsu, who was fighting to wrench herself free. Thanks to Tousetsu’s remarkable agility, the trio managed to reach the pavilion near the small pond before the Eagle Eyes could.

“I suggest we go with the story that Lady ‘Kou Reirin,’ still distressed over her quarrel with Lady Keigetsu, went out for a nighttime stroll, lost her way, and collapsed under the pavilion due to the cold.”

“Seriously, Tousetsu?! I see you subtly trying to shift the blame onto me!”

“Now, now. It’s the most compelling reason for Lady Reirin to be out of sorts. Wouldn’t you agree?”

After seating Keigetsu under the pavilion, the two court ­ladies made swift preparations for the Eagle Eyes’ arrival.

“And after finding my mistress unconscious at the end of a long search, I, Tousetsu, am in a state of panic. We ought to hide the blankets and medical supplies. They’ll look out of place.”

Tousetsu bunched up the blankets and threw them under the table along with the first-aid kit. There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in how she nudged them aside with her foot.

“Then I’ll be the court lady whom Lady Keigetsu ordered to look for Lady Reirin when she heard the news of her disappearance. My search just so happened to bring me here, and I was the one who called for help earlier. Let’s say that I was running around seeking backup on your behalf, Lady Tousetsu, since you were otherwise occupied.” With a quick nod of her own, Leelee called out, “Someone! Come quick! Over here! Lady Reirin collapsed under the pavilion by the pond!”

“That’s enough, you two!” Keigetsu slammed her hands on the table, face convulsing with anger. “Why are you both listening to Kou Reirin?! Why are you protecting Gen Kasui?! She hit a sickly girl and dumped her in a well! We should turn her over to the Eagle Eyes and let them tear her to pieces!”

“But, Lady Keigetsu, Lady Reirin is the victim here, and she said she doesn’t want Lady Kasui to die.”

“And I’m telling you, that’s because she’s a pushover!” the Maiden yelled back, red-faced. “In times like these, isn’t it up to her associates to take action, even if it means disregarding that big dunce’s wishes?! It’s for her own goo—”

“You know, Lady Keigetsu,” said Leelee, a hint of exasperation on her features, “you’re a lot like Lady Reirin sometimes.”

“Excuuuuse me?!” came Keigetsu’s shrill cry in response.

The court lady closest to her of all heaved a helpless sigh. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing? Lady Reirin says she’s fine, but you want to go crazy trying to protect her and invite her wrath. The current situation is the inverse of what happened at the Violet Dragon’s Spring.”

“Oh…!”

The surprising observation struck Keigetsu speechless. Now that she thought about it, Leelee was right.

Is that what I’m doing? Going crazy to “protect” Kou Reirin?

The realization was staggering, but the more she reflected on it, the more it dawned on her that she had no personal axe to grind with Gen Kasui. The reason she had thrown down the gauntlet nonetheless was that she’d found the act of chucking Reirin into a well inexcusable. She’d been worried that the defenseless ­butterfly would get attacked the moment she let her guard down.

“I-I’m not…”

She tried to argue, but she wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence.

In a rare display, Tousetsu showed some consideration for Keigetsu, adding, “Of course, in your particular case, your own body is at stake. It’s only natural that you would be bothered.”

The woman known as the glacial court lady kneeled before Keigetsu with her usual deadpan expression. However, her touch was gentle as she smoothed her mistress’s hair.

“But Lady Reirin is a woman of the Kou,” she went on. “She has an inclination toward self-reliance. If someone raises a hand against her, she will insist upon dealing with them herself. She wishes to stand on her own two feet. As the person you are now, I trust you can sympathize with the sentiment?”

Tousetsu stared down at Keigetsu, gently covering her wound in a gesture that could only be described as reverential. “But so too was I moved by your entreaty to disregard her wishes and protect her. As her head court lady, I am truly grateful for the friendship you have bestowed upon my mistress.”

“W-we’re not friends—”

“Something tells me the ideal balance might be to add Lady Reirin’s self-sacrifice to your selfishness and halve the sum,” Leelee said with a shrug of her shoulders, speaking up in Keigetsu’s place when the latter flustered at the explicit thanks. “I do feel bad that our plan requires us to use you as bait, but we need you to bear with it. Just think of it as leveling the playing field after the fight at the Violet Dragon’s Spring.”

“Consider it a request from me as well. As a court lady, I cannot help but do all in my power to carry out my mistress’s will.”

As the two court ladies implored her with grave expressions, Keigetsu squinted and shot back, “So you say. Are you sure you didn’t just let Kou Reirin pressure you into it?”

They averted their eyes simultaneously.

“Oh, come on!” Keigetsu’s lip twitched, but after some thought, she let the matter drop with an exaggerated sigh. “Whatever. I suppose we do have a better chance of hiding the truth if the Eagle Eyes catch me being ‘Kou Reirin’ than her being ‘Shu Keigetsu.’ I’m an excellent liar.”

“It is as you say.”

“Of course. Unlike Lady Reirin, you’re the ‘number one’ ­villainess, after all.”

The two court ladies nodded solemnly, only to flash Keigetsu conspiratorial smiles a moment later. The old Keigetsu undoubtedly would have started smashing teacups over a pair of court ladies being so cavalier with her, but strangely enough, she had come to enjoy the sense of rapport.

“Sit back and watch. Your average Eagle Eye is an easy mark. Bemoaning my plight with Kou Reirin’s pretty face is all it will take to get them off my back. For now, I’ll hide what happened with Gen Kasui and the well and do my best to play the poor, exhausted Maid—”

Just then, a nearby bush rustled, and a man jumped out.

“There you are!”

The Eagle Eyes’ voices tended to be high-pitched, but this one was a deep baritone. The instant the trio realized the identity of the visitor tossing his raven hair in the evening twilight, their faces froze in horror.

“Ca…”

“Are you all right, Lady Reirin?”

“Captain!”

Of all people, it was Shin-u—the one who would prove the most difficult to “get off her back”—who had arrived on the scene. Leelee, who had been in his clutches once before; Tousetsu, who was confronted with someone even more skilled in the martial arts than herself; and Keigetsu, who had no defense against his piercing gaze, all broke out into a cold sweat.

“Erm… What brings you here in person, Captain?”

“The others should catch up to us soon enough. I heard voices, so I rushed over as fast as I could,” Shin-u nonchalantly replied.

Did that mean he had instantly outpaced his subordinates as they made steady progress toward the pond? “Fleet-footed” didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Why are you out here this late at night, Lady Reirin?”

“Er… Well…”

Shin-u closed in on Keigetsu, who had halfway risen from her seat, his shoes scraping against the ground. He peered into her eyes from point-blank range. “Explain yourself.”

He had a frigid demeanor under normal circumstances, but whenever he narrowed his blue eyes—a rare sight in the Kingdom of Ei—he exuded an exceptionally intimidating aura. Completely overwhelmed, Keigetsu all but collapsed back into her chair.

Tousetsu was quick to come to her rescue. “Lady Reirin was so distraught over her quarrel with Lady Keigetsu that she went for an unsupervised walk in the gardens. When I discovered that she had gone missing, I was so alarmed that I filed a report with the Eagle Eyes. As it turned out, Lady Reirin had briefly fainted from the cold, but she was otherwise unharmed. I apologize for the commotion.”

Her unfaltering response put the girls’ worries to rest. Coupled with the way Keigetsu was shivering, it was a flawless explanation.

“Unharmed, you say?” Alas, Shin-u furrowed his shapely brow, only to touch Keigetsu’s temple with a slender finger. “That doesn’t explain this wound.”

He was a sharp one indeed.

When Keigetsu froze up, this time Leelee stammered an excuse in her stead. “Wh-when she passed out from the cold, she smacked her head on the table! It’s swelling a little, but it’s only a scrape! Stone tables are too hard for their own good, huh? Ha ha ha!”

One look at the stone table seemed to satisfy Shin-u, fortunately enough, but as soon as he turned back to Keigetsu, he smoothly lifted her into his arms. “We should get that looked at.”

“Huh?!” Suddenly finding herself in the handsome captain’s embrace, Keigetsu’s voice cracked with dismay. “Wh-whatever for? I need only return to my palace and rest…”

“It’s dangerous to trust an amateur assessment on a head wound. We should have a doctor check it out. I’m going to bring you to His Highness’s personal court physician.”

“The court physician… Wait, you’re taking me to the main palace?!”

“Yes. His Highness has already heard word of your disappearance. We’d better report to him while we’re there.”

“To His Highness?!”

The mere mention of him drained the blood from Keigetsu’s face. She flashed back to the first switch, when he’d terrorized her with his dragon’s qi, and the switch in Unso, when he’d forced her to cross a river. Every time Gyoumei saw through one of their body swaps, somehow she ended up with the short end of the stick instead of the reckless Reirin. As a result, the bet aside, her instincts were ringing alarm bells at the prospect of being brought before him mid-swap.

Yes, she could picture it already. Even if the swap itself had been a rescue attempt, she had sat on her hands and let Reirin push her luck, ultimately waltzing back to the pavilion all on her own. He was going to be absolutely furious with her. Keigetsu knew this because if she were in his shoes, she’d be the one yelling, “Why didn’t you keep a better eye on that raging boar?!”

“P-please don’t… We mustn’t trouble His Highness. W-we should at least save the report for a few days’ time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m taking you to him because he’s already troubled. He’s been fretting enough to kick up a storm, so the sooner we see him, the better. Is it okay if I start running? I promise I won’t jostle you around.”

Shin-u pulled Keigetsu even closer, but this was no time to be enchanted. Tears sprang to her eyes as the situation deteriorated faster than a boulder rolling down a hill.

“Stop, Captain!” she said, clinging to his shoulders and shaking his robe. “I don’t want anyone making such a fuss over me!”

“Please, Captain! Allow me to attend to my own mistress!”

“Please reconsider! Allowing His Highness proximity to one of his Maidens during the Rite of Reverence will invite unwanted speculation!”

Tousetsu and Leelee made their own desperate attempts to stop him, but Shin-u was too loyal to his duties to give them the time of day.

“I know of several hidden passages that connect to the main palace. It is important for His Highness to see that Lady Reirin is safe and sound. Court ladies are to remain in their respective palaces.”

And thus did he set off at a brisk pace, handling Keigetsu as if she were light as a feather.

 

The “hidden passage” Shin-u chose was a special tunnel for Eagle Eyes to pass through when bringing confidential inner court matters before the imperial family. It was a narrow passageway tucked away in the walls of the inner court, which could be used to reach the main palace without being seen from the outside. Though brawny guards were stationed at regular intervals along the way, one look at Shin-u’s face was all it took to make them bow their heads and hang back against the walls.

As such, Keigetsu had spent the entire journey cradled in Shin-u’s arms without a single interruption. Even after holding a grown woman for such a long time, his muscles didn’t so much as quiver. The breastplate he pressed her against, perhaps in an attempt to stabilize her, was equally solid.

When Keigetsu chanced an upward glance, she found his azure eyes and well-defined nose very close to her own.

“What is it?” he asked.

“N-nothing.”

“How are you feeling?”

“…Fine.”

The rhythmic up-and-down movements had a calming effect on Keigetsu. At the same time, her heart had begun to race for an unrelated reason: She was spending an awful lot of time in close proximity to a gorgeous gentleman.

I-I see how it is… The captain barely seems to register my existence, but he’ll react the moment Kou Reirin glances at him. Not to mention starting a conversation of his own accord.

The slightest of movements would cause him to look in her direction. Expressionless though he was, it was clear from his behavior how much he cared for her.

You know, I don’t mind having a looker to rival His Highness so worried about… No, scratch that.

Her mind had almost wandered in an untoward direction, but she scrambled to get her thoughts back on track. She was a Maiden. The crown prince’s betrothed. Even entertaining the thought of something so blasphemous could earn her divine punishment.

Calm down, Shu Keigetsu. This is no time to be bewitched. Don’t forget that His Highness is waiting at the end of this tunnel, she told herself in a panic, her heart fluttering over the body heat of the man pressing so very close.

Indeed, Prince Gyoumei was the man imbued with a tremendous dragon’s qi. His perfectly proportioned features and masculine good looks were enough to command a crowd all on their own, but he also possessed a powerful magnetism that could take one’s breath away just by meeting his gaze. As someone with magic, Keigetsu became a nervous wreck in his presence.

During the Unso trip, His Highness saw through our switch in an instant. I have to be more careful this time. I should refrain from conversation as much as possible, so I have fewer chances to mess up…

For the umpteenth time, her mind ran through what not to do.

In the past, for all he was a born ruler, Gyoumei had seemed too arrogant to pay much attention to those around him. But ever since the Lion’s Judgment, he seemed to be exercising more prudence. Once teeming with yang energy and bursting with confidence, he had now learned to closely observe others and cast them concerned glances.

That was no doubt a wonderful sign of growth for him, but it also happened to be very inconvenient for Keigetsu at the moment.

I wonder if I can get him to let me go before he can bring me to His Highness…

Having lost her confidence, Keigetsu began to look for an escape route out of habit. For instance, she could claim that her condition had taken a turn for the worse. She could get off the hook by insisting that she wanted to see a doctor before explaining the situation to the prince. Heck, she could even go for broke and pass out.

Or she could, if she hadn’t told Shin-u she was fine only moments ago. It would be too implausible for her to have a sudden fainting spell.

But considering how much he cares for Kou Reirin, perhaps he’d overreact?

She glanced up, and her eyes caught Shin-u’s again. He looked deadly serious.

“Is something wrong?”

Keigetsu saw herself at the center of the world reflected in his blue irises. An indescribable rush of ecstasy and excitement came over her.

Yes! I’m positive this man is in love with Kou Reirin.

She thought back to the exchange between Shin-u and “Shu Keigetsu” she’d witnessed via flame call on the trip. By then, he’d already known that it was really Kou Reirin he was talking to. And knowing that, he had still approached her. He had touched her skin, grabbed a lock of her hair, and threatened to take her as his wife.

A dark obsession smoldered in those blue eyes of his, too strong to be suppressed.

He wants to make Kou Reirin his, even if it means pushing his half brother aside.

And right now, she was that very same “Kou Reirin.”

Keigetsu had never felt particularly offended that the captain wouldn’t spare the real her a passing glance. Yet here she was now, attracting the attention of such a gorgeous man, and the thought intoxicated her. She, whom no one had ever bothered to notice, was soaking up the passionate gaze of the entire Maiden Court’s envy!

Elated, Keigetsu nuzzled her cheek against Shin-u’s chest. “Erm…” she began in a fragile voice.

Instantly, she felt his grip on her tighten a fraction. The eyes staring down at her widened in surprise. They held ill-concealed dismay—as well as immense joy.

With a faint sigh, Keigetsu feebly murmured, “I’m feeling a good deal worse all of a sudden…”

She shot him a dewy-eyed gaze—or thought about it, at least, before deciding that it would be overkill. Still, it wouldn’t be out-of-character for Kou Reirin to glance up at him with a hint of guilt, and seeing the slightest of frowns on that beautiful face was sure to turn any man to jelly.

“Won’t you please take me to the physician, Captain? I’m scared to see His Highness…” She adopted a slightly less formal tone and pressed a hand to Shin-u’s breastplate, as if to emphasize that he was the only one she could rely on.

The captain fell silent, never once slowing his pace as he strode down the passage. Eventually, he muttered, “That took me by surprise.”

“Huh?”

The look he gave her was the definition of intense. Upon closer inspection, she could see that there were rings of dark indigo at the center of his blue irises, with flecks of almost silver scattered around them. His chillingly beautiful face was reminiscent of ice, and as it slowly drew closer, a strand of lustrous black hair spilled over his shoulder and landed on Keigetsu.

The two were close enough for their breaths to mingle.

W-was he surprised by the intensity of the impulses surging through him…?

But his next words made Keigetsu freeze. “It’s amazing how much someone’s expressions can change when the person inside is different.”

“Pardon?”

“I suggest you don’t come on to me with Lady Reirin’s face, and especially not in front of His Highness. Otherwise, you’ll have no right to complain when your head is on the chopping block, Shu Keigetsu.”

“Wha…”

He’d figured it out.

S-since when, exactly?!

She was so sure he’d been shooting her impassioned looks until just moments ago.

The corners of Shin-u’s mouth lifted in a loose grin. It wasn’t the tender sort of smile reserved for a precious girl but a sneer at a shameful woman who had been caught in the act of flirting, and Keigetsu knew it. Tears welled in her eyes. It was so humiliating. Had it been so wrong of her to fawn over another hunk when she had a fiancé in the crown prince?

Divine punishment came way too soon!

The overwhelming embarrassment and distress put Keigetsu on the offensive. “Hah… What a creep! I noticed you’d been staring at me for a while now. So, what, you were just inspecting me the whole time?!”

“I wasn’t staring. It doesn’t take great powers of observation to notice such indecent behavior.”

“Hmm, I wonder about that! I could’ve sworn I felt you boring holes into me with your gaze!”

The fact that his hold on her remained nothing less than respectful, even after he had discovered her true identity, only heightened her irritation. Physically helpless, Keigetsu stepped up the intensity of her verbal onslaught. “You only found out who I am because of how intently you watch ‘Kou Reirin.’ To a degree that goes far beyond what your duty requires, I’d say!”

It was too late to stop herself now. Keigetsu threatened Shin-u with whatever came to mind, searching for the words that would instill the most fear in him. “If you report to His Highness that you saw through our switch, it will only make him question your loyalty. It’s nothing short of disrespectful for a man to look at his brother’s betrothed with such passion!”

“…”

“Say, why don’t I let you in on a little something? His Highness already knows that you made advances on Kou Reirin in the Untouchable Village. You’re the one in danger of finding his head on the chopping block,” she said, careful to punctuate each and every word. “Know your place. It’s a crime for you to lust after Kou Reirin.”

Shin-u silently furrowed his gorgeous brow. The notoriously apathetic man was actually reacting to her words. If she could just push the right buttons, she might be able to force him to keep his mouth shut about the switch.

Confident that she was on the right track, Keigetsu took an even more emphatic tone. “You heard me. You would never be permitted to gaze—”

“Your voice is grating on the ears, Shu Keigetsu.”

His voice held the chill of a blade to the throat. Keigetsu instinctively shut her mouth in the face of his spine-chilling aura.

Not long after, the wall sconces increased in number, and the passageway became brighter and wider. It seemed they’d made it to the main palace.

At what appeared to be the final barrier, they were greeted by a surprising watchman. “Oh, Reirin! Thank you for tracking her down, Captain!”

He was wearing a military uniform with a yellow motif and carrying what was presumably his most trusted weapon, a longsword. The man who rushed over in relief the moment he caught sight of Keigetsu was none other than the second son of the Kou clan, Kou Keishou.

“I was so relieved your fight was finally going to be over! You can’t imagine how devastated I was when you went missing right afterward! If it hadn’t been my turn to stand guard here today, I would have marched right into the inner court myself. His Highness has been anxiously awaiting your arrival.” Keishou came closer, wearing his concern on his sleeve. The moment he saw “Kou Reirin’s” wounds, he exaggeratedly lamented, “This is a disaster! Your fair skin has been damaged! But never fear, Reirin. I will bring you to the greatest physician in the kingdom at once, even if it means blowing off His—”

But then he suddenly trailed off and stared long and hard at Keigetsu’s face. “Hm…?”

The warmth left his eyes as he narrowed them in suspicion.

“No… Something’s off…” He tilted his head as far as it could go to one side, then asked before Keigetsu could utter a single word, “Did you two switch bodies again?”

How sharp can one person be?!

This time, she hadn’t even outed herself with her flirting; one look at her face had been enough to give her away. Was this the power of sibling love at work?

Whatever the case, Keigetsu trembled before Keishou’s unfathomable powers of observation.

Still, the crucial difference between him and Shin-u was that Keishou was a good deal more sympathetic to Keigetsu after all they’d been through together during the trip to Unso. He flicked his gaze to the door behind him, took Keigetsu from Shin-u, and asked in a whisper, “What on earth happened? Are you all right? Shall we keep the switch a secret from His Highness for the time being?”

Of course, he had likely offered in consideration for the ongoing “bet” between his sister and the crown prince.

“In the main palace, we ordinary military officers have more sway than the captain of the Eagle Eyes,” he went on. “I could dismiss him without much trouble. What would you like me to do?”

Even if the gesture didn’t come from a place of genuine concern, in that moment, Keishou was Keigetsu’s sole beacon of hope.

Keigetsu thrust herself forward in a fluster. “P-please do—”

“There’s no point in trying,” Shin-u interrupted her from behind. He swung his arms idly, now freed of their burden, then added in a bored tone, “She’s the sort to blush and nestle against me as soon as our eyes meet. No matter how you try to hide it, it won’t take His Highness long to figure out the truth.”

“You…” Keigetsu’s face twitched at the scathing assessment. “You didn’t have to put it like that!”

“Oho?” came an interjection from beside her.

Sensing a sinister note to the word, Keigetsu whirled around in a fluster. Keishou had a smile on his face, but there was something awfully daunting about it.

“How very interesting.”

“Huh?”

“So the captain is your type. I see.”

Both his tone and gait were as breezy as could be—but she could tell he was in a terrible mood. Why was that?

“Uhh…”

“He has a point. If His Highness is bound to find out one way or another, we might as well come clean and get it over with. Ready? It’s time to give the prince a thorough and expeditious report on the circumstances leading up to the switch.”

“Wh-why?! You just said you’d keep it a secret for me!”

His abrupt change of tune had Keigetsu sweating bullets. Unfazed, Keishou steadied her with one hand and pushed the door open with the other, grunting with the effort.

A blast of crisp winter night air rushed in to greet them. The door led to a lookout tower with an excellent view. Wind and cold streamed in through the sizable windows.

“Yes, I’d say so,” came yet another voice.

A pair of elegant shoes clicked against the floor. Keigetsu was halfway to tears, wondering how much misfortune she would have to endure before the night was over.

“Y-Your Highness…”

“Your voice is loud enough to carry through the door, Shu Keigetsu.”

A bolt of lightning streaked the sky outside the window.

Dressed for bed and with his hair down, Gyoumei had a seductively masculine air about him, but needless to say, Keigetsu was in no state of mind to be mesmerized.

A thunderclap cracked in the distance. Though there had been a clear view of the moon only moments ago, a storm was rapidly approaching—and gathering right over the exalted one’s head.

As Keigetsu went white as a ghost, Gyoumei smiled ever so tenderly. “I agree with Keishou. Why don’t you give me a thorough and expeditious report on what led to the switch…and what manner of reckless stunt Reirin has pulled this time?”

Chapter 3:
Reirin Infiltrates

 

KASUI GLANCED HEAVENWARD as a bolt of lightning streaked across the winter night sky. A few beats later, thunder rumbled in the distance. Its striking resemblance to the howl of an angry beast gave her a sinking feeling about the events to come.

“Thunder in the middle of winter? There was no sign of a storm only moments ago…”

“No need to fuss, Lady Kasui. We should count ourselves lucky that it lit up our path. Look over there. Those ruts were made by a cart carrying casks of wine.”

In contrast to the frowning Kasui, Shu Keigetsu—or rather, Kou Reirin in her form—cheerfully pointed to the ground.

“It looks like they continue north from here,” she went on. “We can’t afford to carry a torch with pursuers on our trail, so we’re fortunate to have a natural source of light to guide our way.”

Her gaze was fixed on a patch of earth that had been tinted for a fleeting moment with the glow of lightning. There, a cart used to carry wine casks had left its tracks in the dirt. Alongside them were the unmistakable prints of a court lady’s shoes.

“When I was submerged in the well earlier, I heard people hauling liquor and utensils through the area…is what ‘Kou Reirin’ said. The sounds came from her left and right, and she was ­facing eastward as she drowned. In other words, the footsteps were moving from south to north.” Undaunted by the unseasonable rumble of thunder, Reirin’s eyes shone with a growing conviction. “There’s a small watchtower on the northern fringes of the court. It’s tucked away in the bushes of a deserted area, and unlike the pavilions, it’s surrounded by walls on all sides, so it’s difficult to find even with a fire in hand. It’s the perfect place for a secret banquet.”

Indeed. The two girls were in the process of pinpointing the location where either the Kins or Rans would be hosting the shaman.

Kasui, who had disguised herself as a court lady to snoop around the inner court, claimed to have seen some fine fruit wine and the ingredients for a vegetarian dish being delivered to the kitchen. Judging by the quantity, the food was meant for a small group. That, combined with how tightly the information had been kept under wraps, suggested that the banquet was a confidential one.

Most likely, sometime soon—perhaps even that very night—a banquet would be held in the shaman’s honor.

In terms of personality, the only two who would conspire to win over the judge of such a solemn ceremony were Pure Consort Kin and Virtuous Consort Ran. The pair was probably planning to hold a banquet in private and bribe the shaman there.

Despicable an act though that was, it worked to Kasui’s ­advantage to have the shaman, who rarely visited the inner court, show up so lightly guarded. She just had to sneak into the venue of the banquet and abduct the old woman as soon as she saw her chance. Then she would interrogate her about the events of three years ago.

Why had Bushou been apprehended under false charges? Who had ordered her arrest? Why had the Kin and Ran court ladies resigned from their posts all at once? Who had permitted the Trial by Fire to be conducted, and why had the shaman—who wielded more influence than even the empress—allowed such injustice to transpire? Who among the Pure Consort, the Virtuous Consort, and the shaman had been involved, and to what extent?

Once she’d gotten to the bottom of the matter, depending on the answers, Kasui planned to take her revenge right then and there. Unfortunately, she had no idea where the banquet in question was going to be held.

After leaving the storehouse, Kasui had been ready to head straight for the kitchen when Reirin abruptly snapped to attention. “A secret banquet for a small group…? Oh!”

She had recalled the noises she’d heard while she was trapped in the well.

No one would transport liquor and utensils in such cold weather without a compelling reason. In which case, it stood to reason that the dinner would be held somewhere outside. It hadn’t been difficult to connect the dots between the court ladies’ ruckus and Kasui’s “banquet.” Nearly drowning in a well certainly had its perks.

Thus did the duo make their way north, relying on the occasional flash of lightning as they kept their eyes glued to the ground.

“Oh, look, here comes another flash! How convenient. Come along, it’s this way. Let us make haste.”

Reirin got the sense that the Heavens were on her side.

When she cheerfully took Kasui’s arm, the Gen Maiden’s face fell apologetically. “I’m sorry to ask so much of you. I can’t believe you’re accompanying me all the way to the banquet venue. It’s not as though you’re getting anything out of this.”

All traces of maturity and composure had vanished from Kasui’s expression, leaving diffidence and confusion in their place. It was quite possible that this was a better reflection of her true nature.

The sight of the eldest Maiden acting so timid drew a giggle from Reirin. “I’ve come too far to back out now. Besides, if your speculation about the Kins or Rans trying to buy off the lady ­shaman is correct, that’s plenty of reason for me to get involved. I do happen to be part of a rival clan.”

As a matter of fact, Reirin hadn’t planned on letting the shaman, the Kins, and the Rans get any closer.

Leelee warned me that the Ran clan is plotting to bring me down in the final trial.

She thought back to when Leelee had visited the pavilion to talk some sense into her. The redhead had claimed that the Ran clan was conspiring against her. In the end, Reirin had never read the letter from Keigetsu, nor had she had the time to get the full story, but if the Rans were planning to ruin her during the final trial, it was entirely possible that they might bribe the shaman to falsify her evaluation.

And judging by her behavior during the first trial, Lady Houshun isn’t happy about that.

“I’ve already picked the daffodil.”

An image of Houshun speaking without her affected stutter, allowing a glimpse of her true intellect to shine through, flitted across Reirin’s mind. That had probably been her idea of a ­warning—­­a hint that she had mixed poison into the liquid face paint. It was a roundabout piece of advice that skirted the line of what Reirin might or might not pick up on, the sort that left things to chance—and that wasn’t the Ran Maiden’s style at all.

Lady Houshun has been eager to defeat me with her own intellect, and I was under the impression that she hated the Virtuous Consort. So why would she fall in line with clan policy and plot to sabotage me now?

It didn’t take Reirin long to arrive at the answer: The consort had forced her Maiden to act against her will.

Reirin wasn’t sure what had transpired between Virtuous Consort Ran and Houshun, but whatever the case, she had no intention of going down without a fight.

Speaking of consorts forcing their Maidens’ hands, there’s also Lady Seika.

She reflected on Seika’s behavior as well. When she had looked down from the stage during the first trial, the Kin Maiden’s face had been conspicuously pale. In fact, she had been acting strangely ever since their conversation under the tent. During her visit to Reirin’s pavilion, she had spent the entire time staring at the floor beside the Pure Consort. Her, that noble girl who had always stood with her head held high.

Moreover, she had seemed deeply uncomfortable about corroborating the Pure Consort’s claims. At the time, Reirin had been too fixated on her fight with Keigetsu to notice, but now that she had come to her senses, she realized just how odd Seika’s behavior had been.

The girl had seemed conflicted—perhaps, say, due to a guilty conscience.

Did Lady Seika know that the tent was going to collapse? She convinced me to be the last one to leave, only to go ashen with guilt once the disaster came to pass. Is that really a plausible scenario?

After giving it some thought, the answer Reirin arrived at was affirmative. On one side, there was the greedy and cold-blooded consort, and on the other, the Maiden who couldn’t defy her despite her scruples. Assuming that Seika had been ordered to sabotage Reirin and reluctantly complied, it all added up.

I remember the looks the Virtuous Consort and the Pure Consort shot me when I gazed down at them from the stage…

Reirin hadn’t missed the brief flash of surprise in their eyes or the bitter glares that followed. The same went for the horrified looks of the two Maidens beside them.

I made up my mind to get to the bottom of the matter, only to leave everything hanging.

It was stunning how useless the last few days of heartache had rendered her. Though deeply ashamed of her blunder, Reirin had found her resolve by the time she next blinked. All the more reason she had to recover the lost ground.

“Don’t mind me. I have my own agenda here.”

She smiled with a burst of determination, at which Kasui fell silent, looking more and more discomfited.

“You’re an enigma,” the older girl murmured at length. “To tell the truth, I used to look down on you. You were always yelling at those beneath you, and it never seemed like you put much effort into anything. I never would have imagined that you were so brave and considerate all along.”

“P-please, you flatter me!”

“No… In hindsight, you have demonstrated those qualities on a few other occasions. You got angry on your court lady’s behalf during the Ghost Festival, and you performed a magnificent dance for the Harvest Festival. Frankly, I was impressed enough to consider you a match for Lady Reirin.”

Reirin’s smile stiffened, and a cold sweat ran down her face.

Yes, I’d imagine so! Since I am Reirin!

Now this was a bind. Kasui had managed to zero in on the times when she and Keigetsu had swapped.

“I-Indeed. The truth is that I work very hard behind closed doors. And I perform strongest under pressure. Wouldn’t you agree that my speech for the first trial was quite impressive?”

That one was Keigetsu’s own accomplishment. If Kasui insisted on praising her, Reirin prayed she would recall that example instead.

“True,” Kasui said with a nod, then cocked her head to one side. “But that felt different somehow. It came across more like strength born of desperation. Though you demonstrated the same courage as when you danced onstage or exchanged blows with me in the storehouse just now, it was a bit less… Forgive me, I’m not very good at putting my impressions into words.”

“Oh, that’s quite all right. In fact, it’s more than all right! You’re free to keep the thought to yourself indefinitely.” Reirin pushed through with a strained smile.

“Fair enough… Still, I can’t shake the shock I felt when you blocked my blow with the inkstone. That was a well-rehearsed, coolheaded maneuver. It felt incongruous with your emotional, blustering persona.”

“You’re overthinking it. Don’t they say a woman’s heart is as fickle as the autumn sky? There are times when I’d rather let my emotions take over and scream, and there are times when I’d rather calmly parry an inkstone. That’s all there is to it.”

Even the girl in question wasn’t sure what she was babbling about.

Blinking at the sight of Reirin’s eyes darting wildly back and forth, Kasui simply nodded. “If you say so.”

She actually bought it!

A wave of relief washed over Reirin. If Keigetsu had been there, no doubt she would have retorted, “Don’t be ridiculous,” her face twitching.

“I do. See? It’s all very simple.”

“Yes. I’ll take your word for it.”

And indeed, Kasui resumed walking, seemingly unconcerned with any misgivings she might have.

“Your hand is warm, and that’s all that matters to me.” Part of the way, she stopped to toss Reirin an ingenuous smile over her shoulder. “I trust you.”

It was such a hopelessly pure and earnest thing to say that Reirin instinctively clutched at her chest.

Oh no. Lady Kasui is too cute…

She was starting to understand how the girl’s late sister had felt. No doubt Kasui had idolized her older sibling in the same innocent manner.

Some things were precious, and others weren’t. It was in the blood of the Gen clan to mercilessly cast aside all outsiders, intent on providing warmth to the sole possession in their grasp. That warped, unrestrained, even infantile way of being had an endearing quality that made it hard to repudiate.

I must be sure to protect Lady Kasui’s heart as well.

The recent uptick in people she had to protect and dote on had Reirin all fired up.

“I’m happy to hear it. Let us be off, then.”

The pair exchanged nods before swiftly advancing toward the watchtower. The surroundings were thick with bushes, and several unique rock formations loomed overhead. Had there been a clear view of the moon, it might have made for a magnificent sight, but the sky had been obscured by a film of clouds.

Eager to make their move before it started raining, Reirin and Kasui hid the sound of their footsteps and pressed their backs up against the tower wall. The first floor consisted of a stone corridor, while the second and third floors had rooms with large observation windows. If someone was going to hold a banquet there, it would be on one of the upper floors.

Just then, an exceptionally bright bolt of lightning flashed across the skies, accompanied by the screams of women coming from a higher part of the tower.

“Eep! Not another thunderbolt!”

“Save us, Lady Anni!”

Kasui and Reirin automatically exchanged glances. “Ah!”

The high-pitched shriek and childish whine belonged to none other than Pure Consort Kin and Virtuous Consort Ran.

After nodding to each other, the two Maidens crept into the first-floor corridor in perfect sync. Their plan had been to knock out any guards they encountered, but as luck would have it, the handful of court ladies stationed around the area had dozed off in their chairs—perhaps exhausted from the long banquet. Amid the chorus of soft snoring, the only movement was the lazy flicker of a candle placed at the bottom of the stairs to light the way.

The girls exchanged glances. Kasui went in first, with Reirin following close behind.

And so they began their silent ascent up the narrow staircase that led to the second floor.

 

“Goodness, all this thunder is giving me such a fright!”

“I couldn’t agree more. Why, it’s even started to rain! Here, Lady Anni. Have another drink to keep warm.”

Kasui and Reirin crouched atop the stairs, straining their eyes to see inside the room peeking over the landing. Candles were lit here and there along the walls, and the table was practically buried under plates of food. The air was thick with the scent of high-grade incense and the suffocating stench of alcohol.

Three chairs were set out. In the middle was Anni, seated upon the most luxurious of them all. Pure Consort Kin sat to her left, and Virtuous Consort Ran to her right.

As befitted a watchtower, the chairs and tables faced the window. With their backs to the door, none of the trio seemed to notice the intruders in their midst. The consorts had obviously done a thorough job of clearing out the room, as their head court ladies were nowhere to be found.

The Pure Consort—Reiga—held up a bottle of alcohol, which she sloppily poured into Anni’s cup. “One cask of this vintage wine is worth an entire mansion. When I heard you liked strong liquor, the whole Kin clan set out to find the finest of offerings.”

Diehard merchant that she was, Reiga didn’t stop schmoozing for even the few seconds it took to pour the wine.

From Anni’s other side, the Virtuous Consort—Hourin—was quick to undermine her efforts in a cloying tone. “Dear me, Pure Consort Kin. This thunder could put a damper on even the most exquisite of liquors. Shouldn’t we have held the banquet somewhere other than a watchtower? I feel sorry for Lady Anni.”

Apparently, the Pure Consort was the one who picked the venue. Hourin criticized her arrangements under the guise of apologizing to Anni.

“Don’t be silly, Consort Ran,” Reiga argued in the voice of someone talking down to a child, giving her ample bosom a disdainful jiggle. “The miraculous Lady Anni can’t be compared to the likes of us. She would never cower in fear of lightning. Isn’t that right?” she prompted Anni, peering into the old woman’s face with a gleam of cajolery in her eyes. “You are favored by the Great Ancestor. I can’t imagine how many unfortunate women have sought help from the talismans you so generously provide. Water that can dissolve iron, drugs that can bring pleasure… I am truly awed by the many ‘miracles’ you can perform. I hope to never stop sharing in the wonders.”

Her wording clearly carried a double meaning. She spoke like a shrewd merchant who knew there was a trick to the “miracles” but nevertheless feigned ignorance to heap praise on the performer.

Hourin inserted herself into the conversation again, this time tugging at the shaman’s robes and purring, “She’s right, Lady Anni. You are the almighty shaman—His Majesty’s most trusted associate. You need only name the most auspicious direction, and the palace there will be sure to prosper.” Well into her cups at this point, she didn’t even bother to lower her voice as she pleaded with the old woman. “His Majesty so rarely comes to visit these days. The eastern palace is drowning in solitude.”

A soft huff escaped Anni’s lips. She was either smiling or sneering, though it was impossible to tell which from behind.

The elderly shaman drained her cup, shoved it back at the Pure Consort, and croaked, “To be of service to the most exalted figures in our kingdom is the best a lowly crone like me could ask for.” Then she paused to give the two women a slow, sweeping glance. “That said, performing those ‘miracles’ can take quite a toll on these old bones.”

“I’m sure it does.”

Picking up on her meaning, the two consorts fished through their sleeves, then offered what they’d retrieved to Anni.

“I imagine it would take a decent sum of money to take the edge off your fatigue. Please allow me to be of assistance.”

Reiga was holding out a deed that probably had an exorbitant figure written on it.

“This is the largest sum I could prepare… However, in the hope that it might beguile your ennui to read about the goings-on of the inner court, I also compiled a summary of the most recent developments within our walls.”

Perhaps having anticipated she would be no match for a Kin in a battle of riches, Hourin held out a thick tome alongside a modest bag of gold.

Aha.

Everything clicked into place as Reirin observed the trio’s conversation. She was indeed witnessing a bribery scheme in real time.

The consorts provided the shaman with money and confidential information pertaining to the inner court. In exchange, the shaman gave them dubious drugs and passed on “oracles” that worked in their favor to the emperor. The talismans probably served as receipts of purchase.

Water that can dissolve iron, hm?

Reirin surmised that the tool used to bring down the tent had been procured from the shaman. It must have been quite convenient for her to be able to come and go from the inner court without arousing suspicion.

“I appreciate your efforts. And what do we have here, Consort Kin? Your faith appears stronger than ever.”

When Anni exhaled softly upon unfolding the deed, Reiga obsequiously leaned in closer. “Oh, yes. I’m not the only one this time. My Maiden, Seika, would also like to receive your blessing. She has been giving her all for the Rite of Reverence,” she said in a sickly-sweet voice. A vicious smile rising to her lips, she added, “She’s a very good girl. I’ve worked hard to teach her who she ought to obey. I imagine she’ll become a loyal servant to you in the future.”

“Is that so?” Hourin cut in, incredulous. “I’d always taken Lady Seika for a rather strong-minded girl. I’m amazed you managed to bring her to heel. Quite impressive.”

It was a question disguised as a compliment, but Reiga’s smile only widened in response.

“Hardly. She’s a bright girl. Though she was a touch reluctant at first, once I showed her the proper way of things, she was quick to get the picture.” She then went on the counterattack, narrowing her eyes at the Virtuous Consort. “In that respect, Lady Houshun seems too timid to even think about talking back. I’m jealous.”

Reading between the lines, that comment meant: Your Maiden is a pushover who doesn’t have the brains to think for herself.

Despite how sensitive the Virtuous Consort usually was to that sort of snide remark, for once, she simply broke into a smile. “True. She really is an obedient girl. It makes my life much easier.”

For some reason, she looked down at her carefully manicured nails in satisfaction.

Reiga scrunched her brow into the slightest of frowns, but she soon turned to the shaman and put the ingratiating smile back on her face. “As I was saying, Lady Anni, we Kins, our Maiden included, are your faithful servants. Please do let us know if you require any assistance. We will do everything in our power to aid you.”

Hourin was quick to chime in. “Indeed. We Rans may not have the Kou clan’s massive influence, but that makes it all the easier for us to maneuver without getting caught.”

Annoyed by the interruption, Pure Consort Kin shot Virtuous Consort Ran a slight glare. “Is that so? I’ve spent a fortune to prove my devotion to Lady Anni, but when have you ever ‘maneuvered’ for her sake?”

“Hee hee. What sort of question is that? Who do you think you have to thank for covering up your money-crazed shows of ‘devotion’?” the Virtuous Consort shot back without so much as a flinch.

The two of them were so clearly drunk that their conversation was gradually stripped of any inhibition or euphemism.

“Oh, please. I’m the one who’s always done the work to accommodate Lady Anni. This banquet is a perfect example. All you did was take me up on my proposal.”

“I think not. Recall how I polished your half-baked idea into something worthwhile? And three years ago, you would have faced an interrogation had I not hidden who was responsible.”

That remark drew a gasp from Kasui, who had been eavesdropping on the discussion alongside Reirin.

“Three years ago, hm? Yes, I remember that.”

Oblivious to the audience behind them, the consorts became absorbed in their conversation—one scowling, the other grinning.

“You can’t blame me for that. Lady Anni was insistent that we silence her within the day.”

“The request was to kill a court lady-in-training, wasn’t it? Surely you had the authority to execute her without a trial if you so pleased, Lady Anni. It was kind of you to go through the ­motions to get rid of her.”

“Not quite. If memory serves, that court lady-in-training used to come and go from the Worthy Consort’s palace, and you know how scary the Gens can be when they’re angry. I suggested she invent a reason just to be on the safe side.”

“Right. It’s all coming back to me.”

The consorts talked about ending another person’s life as nonchalantly as if it were an unwanted accessory they’d thrown in the trash.

“Ggh…!”

“You must stay strong, Lady Kasui!” Reirin pleaded in a whisper as Kasui trembled with rage.

Getting as much information as possible was their current priority.

“If I remember correctly…Lady Anni had come to hand out talismans that day.” Pure Consort Kin threw herself against the back of her chair, her head swaying drunkenly. Her better judgment dissolved in alcohol, she began to recount the past in good spirits. “She had arranged to pick up a ‘package’ from the inner court while she was here. Unfortunately, the court lady-in-training showed up at just the wrong moment and saw what the ‘package’ was. Why, I’d never seen our lady shaman in such a panic before.”

She grinned, shooting the shaman beside her a teasing look. Anni tipped back her cup and said nothing.

“We had our favorite Eagle Eyes take her into custody right away, but she was awfully calm for a little girl. And when I conducted my own personal investigation, it turned out that she was a court lady-in-training who had been making frequent visits to the Palace of the Darkest Edge! I didn’t want to prolong the investigation and risk incurring the wrath of that possessive Worthy Consort. I was the one who stepped up and called for her to be killed immediately.”

“Excuse me. Before that, I looked through the court lady-in-training’s garments,” Hourin interjected. She, too, was rocking back and forth, spilling wine from her cup as she sipped. “I’m the one who found the ornamental sword hidden on her person—and the one who came up with the brilliant idea to spin that into a charge of treason. If she had meant His Majesty harm, no one would question why she was executed the same day she was arrested.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Consort Ran. I’m the one who thought to conduct the Trial by Fire. It’s permissible to hold rituals in the inner court with only women in attendance. The Lion’s Judgment can’t be held without a lion, but for the Trial by Fire, all we needed was Lady Anni, who just so happens to have command over fire. We were already scheduled to hold the regular talisman exchange within the hour, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.”

The two consorts had been glaring at one another as they vied for the credit, but at some point, their shoulders began to shake with mirth. Apparently, they found something amusing about the whole affair.

“My, but did we have our work cut out for us! First, we had to get our story straight with Lady Anni, and then we had to burn that mystical incense in the meeting hall to rile up the court ladies. ‘We have a traitor in our midst!’ Lady Anni said as she held up the sword, putting on the most convincing performance I’ve ever seen. ‘Kill her!’ came the chorus of shouts. Hee hee, it was like a scene right out of a play.”

“I still can’t believe how effective a stimulant Lady Anni’s custom-made mystical incense was. Everyone was so caught up in the heat of the moment that they condemned the ‘accused’ without even stopping to consider the situation. With how hazy their memories of the event were, we were free to tamper with the records as we saw fit. Such a pity that the court lady-in-training’s blade wasn’t a concealed weapon at all but the most beautiful ornamental sword.”

Giggles rang out. The two consorts bent over backward laughing.

“Fair point, Consort Ran. I suppose you did do a splendid job of obscuring who said what.”

“Oh, no, Consort Kin. In the end, it was the empress dowager’s gag order that helped us out the most. Thanks to that, the records up and vanished without any work on my part! Hee hee. No doubt her intention was to protect the Gen clan, but we’re the ones who ended up reaping all the benefits. How ironic.”

“You said it. It was so cruel of the family to not even make a show of investigating after the fact. Do you think that maybe the Worthy Consort had it out for that court lady-in-training? She was even making trips to the pottery unit like some kind of servant girl.”

They both had the smug attitude of someone confident they had gotten away unscathed.

As the two women cackled together, a complete departure from their earlier squabbling, Anni said, “It was indeed when she showed her face around the pottery unit that the girl’s luck ran out.” She picked up her cup again and gulped down its contents. “For she foolishly dared to touch the source of my mystic powers.”

Perhaps it was because she was drunk, but her deep voice sounded more slurred than usual.

“I will never fail to eliminate those who cross me. I’m most grateful for your devotion to my cause, venerable consorts.”

These words of thanks were coming from the mighty shaman, she who was allowed to speak her mind to the emperor. A flush spread across the two consorts’ cheeks, and they soon scrambled to butter Anni up from both sides.

“Oh, nonsense! All you did was pass judgment on a wicked soul. We require no thanks for our part.”

“Exactly. You did what was right, Lady Anni. Why, not only did you put out the fire, but you even administered treatment to the sinner. You’re such a gracious lady.”

Anni nodded, satisfied with their responses, then leaned back in her chair. She had let down her guard completely. “The key to the Trial by Fire is the treatment, not the trial itself.”

“Pardon?”

“The fate of the wicked is sealed not by the flames but by how much impurity is introduced to their burns.”

Treating a wound prevented “impurities” from entering, increasing one’s chances of survival. Taking her statement to mean the obvious, the two consorts nodded uncertainly and said, “Yes, that’s true.”

But Kasui and Reirin had wildly different responses to what they’d just overheard. They realized that the shaman was implying the exact opposite.

“It was the ‘treatment’ that did her in!”

Bushou’s burns had refused to heal no matter how much medicine she took. Pus had crept over her whole body, and her fever had run high. She had died not from the burns themselves, but from the impurities rubbed into her wounds under the guise of treatment.

“That blasted shaman! I’ll kill her alongside those treacherous consorts!”

Kasui finally cracked and made to bolt up the stairs. Reirin scrambled to cover her mouth from behind, just barely managing to hold her in place.

“You mustn’t, Lady Kasui! If you murder three people at once, it will make it very difficult to come to your defense!”

Judging from their conversation, the consorts still didn’t know who Bushou really was. They had bought the fake “court lady-in-training” identity the Gen clan had constructed for her, then eliminated her to win the shaman’s favor.

While they were guilty of giving unilateral permission to hold a trial and setting fire to someone they knew full well was innocent, the difference in status between consorts and court ­ladies was such that they could take the ladies’ lives with impunity. Moreover, supposing that the shaman really had killed Bushou through her “treatment,” there was no evidence besides Anni’s own confession. If they apprehended her right then and there, she was unlikely to reveal the trick she’d used, and the two consorts would be more than happy to jump to her defense.

“If we want to arrest her for good, we must either gather material evidence or get her to confess her guilt in a public setting.”

“I don’t care about arresting her. I’m sending her to the grave.”

“You would make Lady Bushou into the sister of a murderer? And willingly provide grounds to wipe out the entire Gen line?”

Kasui had struggled against Reirin’s hold, only to let up the moment she heard Bushou’s name. “But…”

“That reminds me. Speaking of the wicked,” Anni drawled at that precise moment, “there’s Kou Reirin. The girl clearly doesn’t know her place.”

Both the Maidens and the consorts exchanged surprised glances. No one had expected that name to come up.

“A common Maiden like her dared to challenge me, the one who hears the voice of the Great Ancestor, and forced me to retract my words. That is tantamount to blasphemy against the gods themselves. The inner court has no future so long as irreverent girls like her remain in power.”

The Pure Consort looked taken aback. “Goodness. Lady Reirin did such a thing?”

“She talked back to our most venerable Lady Anni during the second trial, remember?” said the Virtuous Consort, as if she found the very idea upsetting.

Deep down, the consorts could hardly contain their excitement at this riveting new turn of events. Kou Reirin was the prince’s “butterfly,” the front-runner to become the next empress. If she were to fall, their own clans would gain the upper hand.

“True. I did find her behavior at the Violet Dragon’s Spring quite concerning. Forcing Lady Anni to recognize Shu Keigetsu’s composition as an auspice right after she had declared it to be a bad omen? Despicable!”

“Right? The nerve of her to humiliate Lady Anni by making her go back on her words. How does she plan to take responsibility if it truly was a harbinger of misfortune?”

“Precisely.” Anni nodded in agreement. “She can insult me all she likes, but to bring His Majesty into contact with a bad omen is an act that borders on treason. An impious and brazen girl indeed.”

It was a rather far-fetched accusation of “treason.” And yet, apparently satisfied with that pretext, the shaman tilted her head to one side as she held out her empty cup.

“It is my humble belief that all traitors should be subjected to the Trial by Fire,” she went on. “However, it would behoove us to wait until we have proof of her villainy.”

In other words, they needed an equivalent of Bushou’s ornamental sword—some sort of planted evidence on which to base their accusations of treason.

“Well now…”

The two consorts jumped at the suggestion almost simultaneously.

“My Seika cares deeply for her friends. Perhaps she’ll pay Lady Reirin a visit soon, since she’s been in such low spirits.” The corners of her eyes generously smeared with vermillion, Reiga wore the smile of a cruel cat. “And perhaps she’ll forget something of hers when she does. Like, say, an arcane sort of doll.”

Basically, she would send Seika off with a cursed doll and have her plant it among Kou Reirin’s belongings. Seika would hate the idea, to be sure, but all Reiga had to do was give it the appearance of a charm for good health. If she smuggled the doll into Kou Reirin’s room, it would stand watch over her from the shadows—if she could get Seika to believe that, the girl who so adored the butterfly would leave the doll behind without even mentioning that it was a get-well present.

“If the doll contained an evil talisman meant to curse His Majesty, it would create quite the scandal. I should warn Seika to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

“My little Houshun can have such a one-track mind when she’s focused on something. It’s quite worrisome.” Hourin pitched forward, loath to let the Pure Consort hog all the limelight. “I imagine she’ll want to pay Lady Reirin a visit as well. But she is a daughter of the clan of wood. She loves plants so much that whenever she lays eyes on one of the other clans’ lonely flower gardens, she itches to spruce it up a bit.”

The Virtuous Consort knew that Houshun had no interest in nurturing plant life, but she couldn’t have cared less about that.

“She might plant a gorgeous flower there with all the best of intentions. But did you know, Lady Anni? A great many flowers are toxic to some degree. If the flower she plants happens to be considered poisonous, it could get Lady Reirin into quite a bit of trouble. Something to watch out for.”

Rather than handing over a tool of witchcraft, her idea was to coax Houshun into planting a poisonous flower that could be presented as evidence of rebellion.

“Then again, who could imagine a timid girl like Houshun tampering with another clan’s gardens?”

In other words, no one would even think to suspect her.

“Oho.” Anni’s lips curved into a smug smile as she listened to the consorts’ proposals. “You ladies think of everything. You are bound to find more favor with His Majesty soon enough.”

Seeing that the shaman was pleased, Reiga and Hourin huddled close to her and resumed their toadying.

“Such kind words…”

“In that case…”

“Take this. Burn it in a censer and inhale it, and it will empty your mind of all thoughts. Light it in His Majesty’s bedchamber, and he shall become the most dashing of stallions.”

What she handed over to the consorts, their breaths bated and hands held out in expectation, was a dried leaf of some sort.

“Allow me to return your generosity in kind. I shall grant you twice as much as last time.”

“Goodness! We cannot thank you enough!”

“Thank you so much. I’ve never been able to get the day I first used it out of my head!”

It was hard to make out the shape of the leaves from where Reirin was standing, but she could make an educated guess based on their conversation.

It must be a highly addictive stimulant.

She furrowed her brow, a hint of contempt washing over her.

Just as she had leaned toward the room to get a better look at the leaves, something gave her pause.

“Kou Reirin!”

Sensing that someone had whispered her name, Reirin whipped around to look behind her. Upon closer inspection, the flame of the candle at the bottom of the stairs was swelling and shrinking erratically.

“What are you doing?! Get over here!”

Did this have to happen now?!

Lo, it was Keigetsu’s flame call.

Fortunately, the court ladies sitting nearby were still asleep, and the pelting rain drowned out the voice emanating from the flame so that no one upstairs—not even Kasui—could hear it. Still, if Keigetsu spoke any louder, there was a natural risk that the people around them would notice.

Panicked, Reirin tiptoed down the stairs. If she didn’t wrap up the conversation quickly and hurry back, Kasui would almost certainly fly off the handle.

“Shh! Quiet, Lady Keigetsu! My apologies, but now isn’t—”

“Where on earth are you, Kou Reirin? Are you and Gen Kasui still going at it?”

“No. That’s over and done with, and the two of us have reached an understanding. At the moment, Lady Kasui and I have infiltrated the place where the targets of her vengeance are hiding. It’s a watchtower to the north, and we are at the most critical juncture as we speak.”

Keigetsu sucked in a deep breath. “Wha—”

Reirin anticipated her screech and preempted her by whispering, “Please don’t shout! We’ll be in trouble if they realize we’re here. Let’s both keep it down!”

Her obvious distress succeeded in making Keigetsu swallow her outburst.

Relieved, Reirin moved to blow out the candle. “So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to cut off the ca—”

“Hold it.” Keigetsu stopped her in a menacing growl. Or maybe that wasn’t the right way to describe it, given the slight tremor in her voice. “Kou Reirin. A-apologize this instant and explain what’s going on.”

“I’m afraid I cannot. I’m otherwise occupied at the moment.”

Though Keigetsu’s behavior worried her, she was far more concerned about Kasui, who seemed ready to barge into the room any moment now. Her eyes darted frantically back and forth between the upper and lower floors.

“You have to. C’mon, Kou Reirin! Or else His Highness will unleash his thunderous fury upon us!”

“Thunderous?”

What an inquisitive girl Keigetsu was, going so far as to ­invoke Gyoumei’s name to get an explanation.

Still, Kasui took priority. Her fists were trembling. Would Reirin be capable of holding her back if she sprung at her from behind?

“Oh, let him unleash it. A little lightning to guide our way never hurts.”

“Kou Reirin!”

Kasui was seconds from springing to her feet. This was the make-or-break moment.

On the other side of the flame, Keigetsu had gone past the point of pallor, tears forming in her horror-stricken eyes, but Reirin failed to notice.

“I promise it will be all right. A perfunctory report would only cause him undue worry. In times like these, as Leelee would say, um…”

Kasui was already in motion. This was it. Reirin would force the call to an end if need be.

Spinning back toward the flame, she confidently declared, “We should keep things ‘on the down-low’ from His Highness!”

“Oho.”

Before she had a chance to blow out the fire, she heard the dark voice of a man on the other end and froze in her tracks. “Huh?”

It was a rich baritone that sounded beautiful even over the call. The one who came up beside Keigetsu and stepped into the view of the flame…was none other than Gyoumei himself.

Uh-oh.

This was bad.

“Give me a break! I got off easy for coming clean, and you had to go and ruin it!”

Seeing Keigetsu cover her face and Reirin’s fiancé break out in a dashing smile told her everything she needed to know.

With that exact timing, a bolt of lightning ripped across the night sky outside the tower, followed by a roar of thunder.

“Do you have anything to say to me, Reirin? I’ll let you go first.”

“Er…”

How curious. His expression was so charming, yet it exuded an ineffable pressure. His offer to hear her side of the story ought to have been magnanimous, but it sounded more like an executioner asking for his victim’s last words.

Reirin put a hand to her cheek, her eyes flitting around the room. “L-Lighting does more than just guide our way. It is a harbinger of a good harvest and provides hope to farmers all over the kingdom.”

“What a novel attempt to get in my good graces.”

There wasn’t so much as a crack in Gyoumei’s smile.

Lady Keigetsu!

What was I supposed to do?!

Reirin and Keigetsu communicated through only their gazes, then squeezed their eyes shut in perfect sync. Despite the worrywart prince’s repeated attempts to keep his beloved in check, he had caught her red-handed pulling a reckless stunt in Keigetsu’s body.

I-I am in for such a lecture… He’s going to make me empress for sure… No, one as fussy as my dear cousin would place me under house arrest in a heartbeat… Will Lady Keigetsu end up penalized in the crossfire?

What kind of punishment awaited them now that they had incurred the prince’s wrath?

“You’re really in for it, Reirin.”

His voice came out low and furious. That same moment, the contours of the flame quivered as though the fire itself were ­cowering in fear. Keigetsu squealed in the background, on the verge of tears.

Reirin recognized this atmosphere. It was the same as when her brothers’ anxieties hit astronomical levels and they sat her down for a no-holds-barred lecture.

I-I’m in trouble…

Bullets of sweat poured down her face. In truth, ever since the failed execution attempt, she had been under the vague impression that her cousin would pardon anything she did, but she really had pushed her luck this time.

And yet, after heaving a deep sigh, Gyoumei spoke in a shockingly mild tone. “The north watchtower, you said?”

“Huh?”

“I’m sending the Eagle Eyes over. You two should hurry and evacuate the area. The Eagle Eyes and the crown prince are the ones responsible for apprehending and prosecuting criminals. Everything from this point onward falls under our jurisdiction.”

Reirin hesitantly cracked open an eye. “Um… But as regards to my punishment—or rather, our bet…”

“Now isn’t the time for that,” said Gyoumei, looking disgruntled. “We can discuss this later. Just get out of there. If you’re at risk of being found out, you’re free to extinguish the flame, and if you’re pressed for time, you can wait to report back to me. Either way, the crown prince and his Maidens are forbidden to have contact for the duration of the Rite of Reverence.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

What an understanding man he was. Reirin pitched forward, her eyes sparkling—but then his next words made her go rigid.

“Be prepared to revisit this when the Rite of Reverence is over.”

His voice was low enough to hit the floor. Sensing a profound anger within him that belied his calm demeanor, Reirin’s smile stiffened.

“Yes, sir…”

“That’s all I have to say. Be safe.”

Perhaps that was Gyoumei’s version of Keigetsu’s “die and I’ll kill you dead” threat.

As the prince snuffed out the flame before she could, Reirin was tempted to bury her face in her hands.

Clang!

A loud noise from upstairs prompted her to whirl around.

“What was that?!”

“Who goes there?!”

The women in the room appeared to have heard it too, and the air suddenly crackled with tension.

This is bad!

Kasui must have jumped to her feet, unable to stand by and watch any longer—or so Reirin thought, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find anyone where Kasui had been crouching at the top of the stairs just moments before.

What?

Just as she had furrowed her brow in disbelief, a voice rang out right next to her ear. “Don’t make a scene.”

Reirin gasped. She tried to spin around in alarm, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. A hand reached out from behind to swiftly cover her mouth, and its powerful grip was enough to yank her entire body backward, dragging her into the darkness behind the stairwell.

“Agh!”

The Maiden struggled, but to no avail.

“Who is it?!”

Just as she was getting into position to bite her assailant’s hand, the Pure Consort came down the stairs with a candle in hand, forcing Reirin to huddle in on herself.

“No one’s there…?”

“Perhaps the wind knocked something over. How disorienting.”

Fortunately, the two consorts stopped after the first few steps, apparently reluctant to go all the way down to the first floor. Unaware that Reirin and the stranger were holding their breath and hiding right under their heels, they waved their candles around before retreating back up the stairs as if they had lost interest.

“Our apologies, Lady Anni. Our imagination was playing tricks on us.”

“Yes. Perhaps all this thunder and rain has put us on edge.”

“Come, let’s keep the drinks flowing.”

The women apologized to the shaman in turn and resumed the banquet.

Reirin finally released the breath she had been holding. That was when she realized the hand that had been clamped over her mouth was already gone. She had assumed that she was under attack, but maybe the opposite was true.

Were they protecting me?

It was too dark to see the mystery person’s face. As Reirin strained her eyes to get a better look, she noticed that Kasui was standing on the stranger’s other side, likewise leveling them a cautious stare. She, too, had been thrust into the cover of darkness.

“What are you doing here…?”

Outside the window, the slowly dying thunder rocked the night sky in one last hurrah. For a brief moment, a flash of lightning illuminated Kasui’s stunned face, along with the person who was silently staring down at the Maiden.

“Worthy Consort Gen?”

Kasui’s tremulous murmur was lost in the next clap of thunder.

 

***

 

Afterward, Reirin and Kasui were ushered out into the rain, still debating how to open the conversation. The person walking ahead of them—Worthy Consort Gen Gousetsu—showed not a trace of hesitation in her gait, perhaps having calculated that the rain would wipe away her footprints. She was also clearly uninterested in entertaining questions as she strode ahead, so the three women spent the entire journey in silence.

“Come in.”

The place they arrived at was a familiar one to Gousetsu and Kasui: a room in the Palace of the Darkest Edge, located not far from the northern watchtower.

“I’ll get a fire started. Have a seat.”

The room, which they had entered through the back door, was apparently the Worthy Consort’s personal chambers. There wasn’t a single court lady in sight—perhaps because they had all hunkered down for fear of the storm—so Gousetsu attempted to light the candles herself. Alas, holding the flint in her wet hands turned out to be an exercise in frustration. After clicking her tongue and roughly casting the rock aside, she instead tossed Reirin and Kasui towels and instructed them to dry themselves.

A long silence hung over the trio.

The first to break the ice was Kasui, clutching the towel in her hands where she sat. “What were you doing there, Worthy Consort Gen?” She rose to her feet, having found her resolve. “And what are you wearing? Why did you drag us away from the scene?”

The girl’s eyes were fixed on the Worthy Consort, who was dressed almost like a military officer. No, it was too simple an outfit to be described as such. Her long hair was pulled up into a single bun atop her head, and underneath her jet-black robes, she wore men’s trousers instead of her usual ruqun. Prior to her arrival at the palace, there had even been a black cloth tied over her mouth, giving her the appearance of an “assassin” more than anything else.

With her tall stature, male attire suited Gousetsu quite well.

“I could ask the same of you,” the Worthy Consort said in lieu of answering the question, narrowing her eyes coolly as she pulled her hair loose from its bun. “What were you doing there?”

“Answer me! Why did you—”

Smack!

A sharp crack filled the room before Kasui could finish her sentence.

It was the sound of the Worthy Consort striking her Maiden across the cheek. She hadn’t held back, and even an experienced fighter like Kasui failed to stand her ground, collapsing on her backside into the chair behind her.

As the Maiden pressed a hand to her cheek, the Worthy Consort spoke in a spine-chilling voice. “I told you to keep your head down. You were a fool to bring another clan’s Maiden into this.”

Reirin nearly forgot to breathe while she observed their ­exchange. As much as she wanted to intervene, the tension in the air was such that she hesitated to take even a single wrong step. It seemed like a good time to connect to Keigetsu and Gyoumei via flame call, but there was no fire in the vicinity.

“Excuse me…” Reirin began, finally daring to speak.

Gousetsu shot her a stony glance. “Forgive me, Lady Shu Keigetsu, but may I request your silence on this matter?” Despite the polite phrasing, it came across more like a command than a request. “If you do choose to talk, I will be forced to respond accordingly. Isn’t it better for you to keep your enemies to a minimum, Lady ‘Sewer Rat’?”

Her icy tones didn’t seem to carry disdain so much as a desire to spell out the situation for her target. As such, Reirin didn’t feel any particular antipathy toward her.

Kasui, on the other hand, staggered back to her feet and said, “Should I regard you as an enemy?”

Her voice shook, her usual calm and impassive demeanor nowhere to be found. Wearing an almost savage rage on her sleeve, she glared at the Worthy Consort.

“Whose side are you on, Worthy Consort Gen?” She gripped the back of the chair, the intricately carved wood creaking under her hand. “It seemed like you were protecting us earlier. Yet one could also argue that you led us away from the scene and prevented me from learning the truth…”

Putting power into her stride, Kasui walked right up behind the Worthy Consort, who had picked up the flint in a second attempt to make a fire. “You always do that. You never so much as mention my sister’s death, nor will you allow me to do so. Whenever I try to look for clues, you rush over to stop me. Why? Are you hiding some sort of secret?”

“Of course not.”

“Yes, that’s what I used to believe. You are a kind person. You are principled. You have none of the greed or ambition of those other sneaky consorts. Hence why I never pressed the issue. But I have reached the limit of what I can abide! Why do you insist on standing in the way of my revenge?!”

Now that the dam had broken, Kasui couldn’t stop her emotions from pouring out.

When the Worthy Consort still refused to make eye contact, Kasui grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her around. “The Pure and Virtuous Consorts called you cruel. They speculated that Bushou had fallen out of your favor. Is that true? Is that why you did away with her?”

“I told you, that’s ridiculous.”

“Then why won’t you let me investigate?! Was Bushou… Was Big Sis so unworthy of your regard?!” Kasui howled in a heart-wrenching cry.

Gousetsu’s reaction to that accusation made Reirin’s eyes go wide as saucers.

“Enough!” bellowed the supposedly calm and collected consort, spinning on her heel.

She chucked the flint in her hand aside once more, and not content to stop there, she swung her arm to knock all the candles and decorative vases off the shelf in front of her.

“I’ve never forgotten Bushou for a single day of my life—nay, not even a moment!”

The furnishings crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces. The sharp shards ought to have been a hazard, but the Worthy Consort crunched them underfoot without a care.

“I have no regard for Bushou, you say? I didn’t favor her? Absurd… It’s outrageous to even suggest it.”

“What…?”

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve fantasized about tearing that accursed shaman limb from limb? How desperately I’ve wished to avenge her? I…”

It was the first time anyone had heard her voice waver.

When she saw Kasui go stiff—she likely didn’t even register “Shu Keigetsu” at this point—Gousetsu exhaled a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. “I was the one who named her,” she all but moaned. “I pitied you girls, born to self-centered parents and forced to live in a snowbound land. In the hope of providing what little warmth I could, I gave you names that evoked spring. And in practice, I considered you sisters my one ray of sunshine in this overshadowed Palace of the Darkest Edge.”

As Kasui stood there, stunned, the consort began to tell her story piece by piece. All of it was new to the Maiden.

“Bushou was a warmhearted girl. Though quiet, she always had a smile on her face and so much love to give. I found her wholehearted devotion to her little sister to be dazzling. I only experienced it through letters, but it was equally gratifying to observe how deeply you adored your older sister.”

Gousetsu had no children. Although the emperor cared about her, she had never received his favor, nor had she particularly sought it. Her role was to reduce the influence of the Gen clan, which had made great strides after producing an emperor, and restore the balance of the five clans. From the start, there had been a tacit understanding that she would end up the lowest-ranking consort.

For a brief period, the Palace of the Darkest Edge, which had orchestrated the systematic murder of Genyou’s half brothers to propel him to the throne, had been embroiled in a tempest of controversy. After finding herself the target of multiple assassination attempts, Genyou’s mother, the current empress dowager, had concluded that the next generation of Gen had no need for power.

No one expected anything of Gousetsu, and she expected nothing of anyone else. She would simply pass her days in the dormant northern palace, sitting at the end of the consorts’ table. That was her life.

Amid days painted in silence and nothingness, the one splash of color was being entrusted with naming the Gen patriarch’s daughters.

From the patriarch’s point of view, he was just passing off the chore of naming his unwanted children to someone else. It may have been nothing more than a gesture to prove that the Worthy Consort and the Gen clan were still on good terms. And yet, to see a gift of hers bless another’s life filled her with a joy as vivid and vibrant as a flower bursting through the snow.

Gousetsu spent days upon days brainstorming. Years later, when she learned through her correspondence with the elder daughter, Bushou, that the girls liked their names, she swelled with an almost dizzying pride.

That was all she needed. Gousetsu was more than satisfied with the modest glimmer of light she held in her hand.

That is, until Bushou came to her palace for an initiation prior to joining the court. As soon as she experienced the warmth of a child for herself, her greed grew.

“Bushou made for pleasant company. She never laughed out loud, but she always had a smile on her face. For as mild ­mannered as she seemed, she would then turn around and do such outrageous things as hammering iron with her own hands. I never tired of watching her.”

In the flesh, Bushou had been so full of life. Her unadulterated kindness had shone straight to the depths of Gousetsu’s heart. The air around her felt refreshing. Even if they sat in silence, it was comfortable just to be in her presence.

“Every time I saw her, she became that much more dear to me.”

As Reirin listened to the consort’s tale, a vision of the two Gen women sitting across from each other flashed through her mind. It was unlikely that they had ever slapped their knees and roared with laughter together, nor were they the type to joke around. Still, perhaps the two of them would exchange soft chuckles, their white puffs of breath melting into the frosty air. And that was enough for them.

No, better than that—it was a sunny kind of warmth, the perfect temperature for those accustomed to the freezing cold of winter.

“Yet the moment I took my eyes off her, look what happened…”

The Worthy Consort’s voice suddenly grew darker. Her eyes glinted through her fingers, burning like will-o’-the-wisps.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t regret what I did on the day she died. If only I hadn’t left the inner court that day. If only I had left a court lady with her. If only I had come back sooner. If only I had made Bushou’s true status known. All those thoughts swirl around in my head until I fear I might go mad.”

Kasui choked with surprise. “Worthy Consort Gen…”

The consort’s struggles sounded all too familiar. The strong regret, the despair. The resentment.

Never had Kasui imagined that someone other than herself was so emotionally drained by the loss of Bushou.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything? And…if you truly hold such a deep grudge, why would you stop me from getting revenge?”

Only moments ago, Gousetsu had called the shaman ­“accursed.” She, too, was close to uncovering Anni’s part in Bushou’s death. In all likelihood, she had begun her investigation long before Kasui even learned of the banquet that night.

“You knew that the shaman was corrupt…and that she was the one who hurt my sister. Then why did you silence me when I tried to voice my suspicions?!” Kasui demanded, grabbing the woman firmly by the arm and shaking her.

A smile like a sigh came to the Worthy Consort’s lips. “Tell me, Kasui. Do you know how much a human body can bleed?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you know how much force it takes to break someone’s neck? Or how deep you must cut into a person’s organs to end their life? Do you know the sound skin makes when peeled back, or how it feels to the touch? For all you talk of ‘killing,’ you don’t know any of those things, do you? But I do. I know it all.”

There came the snap of Gousetsu crushing another broken shard underfoot. The slippers she had probably worn to muffle the sound of her footsteps were so soft that it must have hurt, but she didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager loved her son more than anything. Like any woman of the Gen would, she eliminated his competition by ruthless means and thrust him all the way to the position of emperor. Once upon a time, the Palace of the Darkest Edge was engulfed in a maelstrom of hatred, and countless assassins were sent after me, their Maiden. I survived it all. My hands are already stained with the blood of many.”

Kasui swallowed hard upon hearing the Worthy Consort’s shocking past.

Gousetsu held up her fair, bloodless hands as if to show them off. “I can picture it so vividly. I see it in my mind’s eye. What would happen if I plunged my hand into the shaman’s entrails? If I gouged out her eyes? If I hacked off her limbs? I imagine it over and over and over and over again…” In a rising fit of rage, she clenched her outstretched hands into fists. “She will answer for her crimes. So long as I can have my revenge, I care not if this body of mine is torn to pieces. But…”

As her fingernails tore into her palms, her voice suddenly began to tremble.

“I won’t allow that to happen to you, Kasui.”

“What…?”

“You mustn’t become trapped in this darkness.”

“You mustn’t let emotion consume you.”

Kasui recalled what the consort had said to her when they exchanged blows over Bushou’s letter. She had assumed that it was a platitude to calm her down when she grew belligerent. But she had been mistaken.

Gousetsu’s plea had been dozens of times more earnest than Kasui could have ever imagined.

“Anyone would want to avenge the murder of their own child. Yet still. Still, Kasui. You too…are my precious, darling daughter.”

The warblers sing and the swallows dance. Kasui’s name rolled off the consort’s tongue as if she wanted to cherish the sound, to savor the spring sunshine.

“You are the last bit of sunshine I have left. My priceless daughter. I want you to live your life looking to the future. I don’t want you to wallow in the throes of hatred or be woken by nightmares. I want you to be at peace. I don’t mind if you forget everything, if that is what it takes to relinquish your anger. You are even free to hate me and Bushou.”

“Oh, Consort Gen…”

“The days leading up to one’s revenge are agonizing. And once the deed is done, you will be branded a criminal, and society will cast stones at you. I don’t want you to suffer either of those things.”

The targets of their vengeance were the shaman, who was powerful enough to speak her mind to the emperor, and the other consorts. The case had long since been made a secret by the Gen clan, and the empress dowager had even imposed a gag order. It wouldn’t be easy to uncover the truth, and if they brought the guilty parties to justice outside the law, even the rest of the Gen would renounce them as heinous criminals.

“Don’t tell anyone it came from me.”

Suddenly, Kasui remembered what Gousetsu had said to her when she gave her the rouge.

“I’ve barely played a role in your education.”

She had provided the Maiden such kind guidance for so long, only to cast her aside out of the blue. Gousetsu had done her best not to associate herself with Kasui—all so that if she was caught, at least Kasui would be able to walk away unscathed.

Kasui couldn’t believe how much love and kindness she had received from the woman standing before her. A heat welled in her throat.

Gousetsu gently reached out to stroke the trembling Maiden’s cheek. “And I was right to worry. You are still so immature that you would storm the enemy’s base looking like this. You didn’t even take steps to hide your presence… Heh heh. If only you hadn’t shown up there tonight, I would have made it rain with the blood of those witches. To what end do you think I drugged their drinks?” she said, somewhere between tears and a smile.

With that, Kasui and Reirin realized the answer to several of their questions. Why had the Worthy Consort shown up to the watchtower dressed like an assassin? Why had the court ladies standing watch on the first floor been asleep? Why had the shaman and the consorts rattled off a list of their crimes?

“They confessed to their crimes at last… That wretched shaman finally came back to the inner court. Tonight was the night I would tear her asunder with absolute conviction!”

Like Kasui, she had gradually closed in on the truth. Suspicious of the shaman, she had waited for the day when Anni would return to the inner court for the first time in years, and the moment Gousetsu had become certain of her guilt, she had been on the verge of taking her revenge.

“I will bear this darkness alone.”

The Worthy Consort stared straight at Kasui, her black eyes betraying no emotion.

“So I beg you, please wash your hands of this matter. Don’t stray down the wrong path.”

The single tear that trickled down her cheek was surely hot enough to melt any ice.

“Worthy Consort Gen…”

And indeed, Kasui’s once-frozen heart thawed in the blink of an eye. The melted water turned to tears, which then spilled from her eyes in an unstoppable stream.

“Oh, Consort Gen. Consort Gen. I…”

Before she realized what she was doing, Kasui had reached for Gousetsu and pulled her into a hug, burying her face in the older woman’s chest like a little girl clinging to her mother. The tight embrace was soon reciprocated, at which her tears came down harder than ever.

“I was a fool.”

Why hadn’t she flung herself into Gousetsu’s arms sooner? She had always known what an honorable woman she was. Yet still she had failed to notice that the consort held within her both a darkness and a love even deeper than her own. The pair had always kept a careful distance, drawing an undefined line between them.

If only she had bared more of her heart, the two of them could have come to an understanding. They could have huddled together for warmth.

With their combined powers, they could have come up with a much better plan.

“Have I made myself clear, Kasui? I want you to stay out of this.”

“But, Consort Gen…I can’t leave you to shoulder the burden alone.”

“Please. I don’t want you to become a criminal.”

“Ahem,” Reirin sheepishly interjected just as Kasui and the consort were about to launch into another tearful argument. “Sorry to ruin the moment…”

The Gen women looked up with a start. They had completely forgotten another Maiden was in the room.

“I beg of you, Lady Shu Keigetsu,” said the Worthy Consort. “I will assume full responsibility for everything. I only ask that you keep this matter to yourself.”

“I cannot.”

Despite Gousetsu’s apologetic attitude, Reirin’s response was so firm that the Worthy Consort was taken aback. “Excuse me?”

Then the follow-up left her speechless.

“That is to say, Lady Kasui has already taken a sharp turn down the wrong path and made an attempt on Kou Reirin’s life.”

“…What?”

“Um, Worthy Consort Gen, that was—”

“Lady Kasui mistakenly believed that Kou Reirin was to blame for the miracle hemp shortage three years ago and threw her into a well. Fortunately, I, Shu Keigetsu, managed to rescue her in time, and Kou Reirin has no desire to press charges. Nevertheless, the Kou and Shu clans are already entangled in this vendetta.”

After oh-so-pleasantly exposing Kasui’s misdeeds, Reirin smiled tenderly. “And here is what I think as a third party listening in on your conversation.” She rose from the chair she had been sitting in with perfect posture. “Why not take your revenge and get it over with?”

Kasui and Gousetsu gaped at the Maiden who had delivered such an outrageous suggestion in a perfectly mild tone.

“Don’t you agree? The reason you two have been mired in such despair and resentment is because you’ve been either unable to identify or unable to reach the target of your revenge. What we have before us is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you can take your revenge right here and right now, you will finally be free.”

As she took a graceful step forward, she exuded a formidable aura. Even Gousetsu, a more experienced warrior than Kasui, had to gulp in spite of herself.

“And one more thing. You both wish to take things upon yourselves because you assume that your vendetta will end in criminal charges. But by taking our revenge aboveboard, we can eliminate that risk.”

“Aboveboard?” Kasui parroted, thrown for a loop.

Reirin gave a solemn nod. “Yes. Revenge must be audacious and swift. That is my personal belief.”

Her sweet smile broadened. Although her grudge wasn’t as strong as that of the Gens, she was still livid with the shaman for insulting Keigetsu and backing her into a corner. Of course, she also felt a righteous fury at the thought of the shaman murdering a virtuous girl like Bushou without a second thought.

Furthermore, she found it unconscionable that Pure Consort Kin and Virtuous Consort Ran had used drugs given to them by the shaman and even manipulated their own Maidens in a bid to dethrone the Kou clan.

Reirin now knew it for a fact: Those women were the filth that had infested the garden known as the Maiden Court.

And it was precisely when a garden was about to drown in the mud that the lotus had to overcome the sludge and burst into bloom.

“However, this plan will require everyone’s cooperation. The cooperation of all five Maidens, to be exact.”

After taking turns looking at the Gen women, who stared back at her blankly, Reirin extended a hand.

“Come. Let us take our revenge with a bang.”

Her rain-soaked skin was already beginning to dry.

Reirin’s freckled face relaxed into a smile.

Chapter 4:
Keigetsu Threatens

 

IT WAS A MIDAFTERNOON only five days out from the final trial of the Rite of Reverence. Not a cloud could be found in the sky, but the wind carried with it a biting chill. Though the sun was shining, the winter garden was so frigid as to be inhospitable.

A package in her arms, Kin Seika made her way across the quiet yard without a word.

What a beautiful courtyard. Quite a difference from the Kins’ weed-infested gardens.

The trees had been planted at regular intervals, and the ­pavilions made the most of their stony texture. The cobblestone path curved as if it were a natural construct, but in reality, it followed a carefully calculated trajectory as it wound through the courtyard. Seika marveled at the sight of the perfectly manicured garden, just to hang her head a moment later.

If only the path to the pavilion were overgrown with weeds. If only the cobblestones were crumbling, snakes popped out at every turn, and no one could walk it.

The absurdity of her own wish brought a smile of self-deprecation to her lips.

It had long been Seika’s goal to pluck the vulgar wild­flowers ravaging the Kin gardens and bring pure flowers to bloom. Yet now here she was, wishing the entire courtyard would fall to ruin.

Why must the road to evil be so smooth?

Struggling to push on, Seika stopped in front of the meticulously paved cobblestone path. Why wasn’t there anyone else around? Oh, how she wished that a court lady or an Eagle Eye would show up and spot her. All they had to do was reprimand her for approaching another clan’s pavilion and keep an eye on her. Then she could give herself the excuse of “It’s over now that I’ve been seen” and immediately turn back the way she came.

Yet no matter how long she stood around and waited, not a single person passed by. The Maidens and court ladies were probably busy relaxing after finishing their lunch. It was the perfect time of day to make a courtesy call.

And that was exactly why the Pure Consort had instructed her to go now.

What lay at the end of Seika’s path was the pavilion where Kou Reirin was supposed to be resting.

 

“Say, Seika. Lady Reirin has been in low spirits for quite a while now, hasn’t she? I think you should pay her a visit.”

The Pure Consort was usually grumpy in the mornings, but for once, she had been in an awfully good mood. As soon as she’d dragged Seika into the courtyard, she started to chatter away in her typical ingratiating purr.

“She’s the type to refuse an overly expensive gift, so I’d like to send you off with a modest confection and a doll imbued with get-well wishes,” she went on, holding out a lovely doll carved from wood. The red-cheeked little girl had a gentle smile etched into her features, and it was a gift that even Seika would have been honestly happy to accept.

Seika was incredulous, finding this to be a surprising choice given the Pure Consort’s tastes, but Reiga’s next remark quickly turned her skepticism into caution.

“Inside is a talisman made by the miraculous shaman herself. But as is the case with most wishes, it will only come true if you keep it a secret. So I want you to hide this doll in Lady Reirin’s pavilion, somewhere she won’t find it.”

The consort who so prided herself on her bewitching beauty peered into Seika’s face as if to tempt her. Whatever liquor she had been drinking the night before had left her smelling of a particularly pungent flower, but Seika was more concerned with the shady nature of her request. “You want me to leave her a get-well gift without her noticing?”

“Yes. It would seem patronizing to make a big deal out of it, wouldn’t it?” said Reiga, a light flush on her cheeks. She seemed to think that her argument made perfect sense.

“But—”

“Look here, Seika. I’m trying to be nice.” When the Maiden leaned forward to argue, Reiga cut her off with a singsong note in her voice. “Have I ever been anything less than polite in my requests? Not many consorts would be so accommodating of a mere Maiden. If I still can’t get you to fall into line, I’ll have to find someone else to discipline you.” Propping her chin on the stone table, she dropped her voice an octave as she added, “I hear your future husband is good with a whip.”

The double threat of her ominous smirk and the warning itself made Seika gulp. “Wha…”

“He went out of his way to send me a letter. It came with a gift of ointment. He said he wants his bride to have soft, fair skin. Otherwise, it won’t be nearly as fun to see it dripping red with blood. Quite thoughtful, isn’t he?”

The Pure Consort giggled, followed by an enormous yawn.

“So,” she went on, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes before shooting Seika a listless look, “you will pay her a visit, won’t you? Right after lunch would be perfect. I hear she gives her court ladies a break around that time.”

She made it sound like she was asking for a favor, but it was an order. She had even specified the time of day. It seemed the Pure Consort knew everything, right down to when the Kou court ladies would be away from the pavilion.

“I’ll have the ivory silks and Eagle Eyes hanging around our pavilion step away as well. No one will see you. Here’s the get-well gift to take with you. Oh, right, I’ve also had the artisans prepare a work of jade to present to His Majesty in the final trial. The whole stage is set for you.”

The consort must have been quite tired, as she then let her cheek drop to the table and looked up at Seika with a glazed look in her eyes.

“Aren’t you fortunate to have such a mindful guardian?”

Contrary to her words, the contempt in her voice was sharp enough to stab Seika through the heart.

 

This doll must have some sort of trick to it… Something to ensnare Lady Reirin.

Seika pressed a hand to her chest, where she was keeping the doll separate from the confection. She could have sworn she smelled the foul stench of malice emanating from the small, seemingly adorable trinket.

If she placed the doll in the Kou clan’s pavilion, something terrible was sure to befall Kou Reirin in the near future—­something that would drag that beautiful, benevolent, and noble girl from her pedestal. But if she didn’t, she would be the one dragged to the depths of hell. She would be dressed in nothing but a sheer cloth and turned into a bedchamber diversion, all the while trembling in fear of a man’s unchecked violent urges.

I can’t take any more of this.

Seika squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted someone to stop her. To stand in her path. To demolish the smooth road to ruin.

Yet no one appeared on the cobblestone path before her. Not even a single weed. She was the only one who could stop herself.

I’d rather just…

Her pulse quickened. As she squeezed her arms tighter around the package she was holding, something hard rattled in the breast of her garment. It was the knife that she had brought to cut up the confection and stowed together with the doll.

I’d rather just…

She was on a path coated in evil. Whether she continued down it or turned back, she would still walk away tainted. In that case…

“…”

Chewing hard on her lip, Seika focused her eyes on the road ahead. After exhaling a short breath, she began to walk the path to the pavilion with purpose.

 

***

 

“Lady Kin Seika is almost here.”

At Tousetsu’s hushed warning, Kou Reirin—or rather, Shu Keigetsu with her face—choked on one of the mooncakes she had been leisurely snacking on under the pavilion.

“Already? Seriously?”

“Yes. Please wipe the bean paste from around your mouth. Lady ‘Kou Reirin’ would never spill food,” the woman nicknamed “the glacial court lady” said matter-of-factly. Though she had softened quite a bit compared to the old days, she still took every opportunity she saw to nitpick.

“Hmph. Forget spilling, I heard she dropped one of these right out of her hands,” Keigetsu shot back as she dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief.

Tousetsu shrugged off the snide remark. “You were the reason for that, lest you forget. Well then, I will be taking my leave. Do the rest as we planned.”

“Wait—”

“Rest assured, I will be hiding just behind the tent.”

And with that, she stepped outside. Left alone in the pavilion, a fur pelt draped over all four of its sides, Keigetsu heaved a gigantic sigh.

Things always go exactly how you envision them, Kou Reirin.

She couldn’t help but grumble about the owner of her current body. The girl was hopelessly bold, impertinent, and had the devil’s own luck, and Keigetsu berated her for it all in the privacy of her own mind.

Last night, after Keigetsu had been “taken into custody” in the Kou Maiden’s stead and blown her cover to Gyoumei and company, she had connected to Reirin via flame call, the men forming a circle around her as she sweated up a storm. Perhaps if Reirin offered a meek apology, Gyoumei’s anger would be soothed. With that hope, she had tried to draw a confession out of her friend, only to hear her say, “Let’s keep this on the down-low from His Highness.”

Just remembering the icy aura that had emerged from Gyoumei behind her was enough to make Keigetsu shiver.

However, what Keigetsu had found most impressive was that the prince had managed to bring his anger under control. What’s more, he’d ordered Reirin to concentrate on escaping before worrying about a punishment or a report.

Granted, he had warned her that they would revisit the matter after the Rite of Reverence.

Kou Reirin’s look of terror throughout the lecture had been quite the sight to behold. While she knew the consequences were bound to bounce back to her somehow, Keigetsu had been tempted to applaud the prince and demand an encore.

I used to be afraid that if she made His Highness too mad, he’d take her on the spot and I’d end up stuck in the position of Worthy Consort…but these days, I’m rooting for him to teach her a lesson…

Keigetsu stared off into space, threadbare and exhausted.

Someone had to instill the right amount of fear into Kou Reirin. Raging boars that threw their surroundings into chaos needed to be locked up in a sturdy cage.

Maybe it’s a futile effort. I was sure she had learned her lesson this time, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Massaging her temple, Keigetsu recounted the events of the previous night in her mind.

It was about half an hour after Kou Reirin had been ordered to evacuate the scene. Shin-u and his Eagle Eyes had raced to the watchtower on Gyoumei’s orders, whereupon they had found the two consorts so drunk that they were slurring their words. The shaman must have sensed the team coming because she had already left by the time they arrived.

Since the Pure and Virtuous Consorts claimed to have been sharing a drink alone to strengthen their bond, the Eagle Eyes had been unable to pursue the matter for lack of evidence. Their highest-priority order had been to detain any Maidens who were out and about during the dangerous late-night storm, but seeing as there were none to be found, the group had called it a night.

After hearing the report, Gyoumei came to the conclusion that Reirin and Kasui must have moved to a safe place. He ordered Keigetsu to tell him if she heard anything from Reirin, then sent her back to the inner court.

Yet for someone who had supposedly “moved to a safe place,” Reirin took her sweet time getting back. Just when Keigetsu—plus Tousetsu and Leelee—had grown tired of waiting and turned to a candle to cast her flame spell, she heard someone call her name.

“Oh, Lady Keigetsu. You’re still up.”

Kou Reirin had cheerfully returned to the Kou pavilion. Alone.

When Keigetsu asked her what on earth she had been doing all this time, she blithely replied that she had been caught up in a discussion with the Worthy Consort and Kasui. Keigetsu flew into a rage, demanding to know how she had gone from evacuating to that.

Kou Reirin calmly put a hand to her cheek. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story… The important part is that we decided the five Maidens must unite to catch our enemies in one fell swoop.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, so start over from the beginning.”

It was little wonder that Keigetsu’s voice came out in a growl.

Unperturbed, Reirin went on to explain the “long story,” going all the way back to after she left the storehouse. The more Keigetsu heard of it, the more the muscles in her face stiffened.

“First of all, you heard Lady Kasui’s background, didn’t you? She wants revenge for her elder sister. After she told me the story, I was so miffed that I decided to lend her a hand.”

“What an idiotic note to start on. Why would you agree to help someone because you were ‘miffed’?!”

“Well, her sister left her a note telling her to live a happy life, but she was doing nothing of the sort. Was I to sit back and take that?”

The reasoning made no sense to Keigetsu, but in Reirin’s mind, it was apparently both perfectly logical and a key point.

Her unfathomable thought processes had Keigetsu yelling at the top of her lungs. “Say what you want, but it all comes down to you being soft! Give me a break, I didn’t save you so that you could let Gen Kasui off—”

“Exactly. You saved me.”

When Reirin took her hands with a solemn look on her face, the rest of the sentence died on Keigetsu’s tongue.

The woman who had been hovering on the verge of death not long ago wrapped her hands around the Shu Maiden’s with a touch that bordered on reverential. “You are my miracle comet. These hands are always hoisting others up from the pits of despair. Therefore, I wished to act in a way that would do justice to these hands—to the name of ‘Shu Keigetsu.’”

She sounded almost as if she were reveling in her gratitude. Confronted with such sincere, unadulterated affection and ­respect head-on, Keigetsu was at a loss for how to react.

Reirin, meanwhile, continued her explanation without so much as batting an eye.

“One thing led to another, and I decided to venture to the place where the shaman would likely be partaking in a banquet. There, we discovered that the shaman was the mastermind behind the murder and the Pure and Virtuous Consorts were her accomplices. They also hatched a plot to take down ‘Kou Reirin,’ you see…”

The series of reveals had Keigetsu’s head spinning, and it wasn’t her own delicacy that was to blame. But the most surprising part of all may have been what Reirin casually tacked on next.

“And right after we ended our flame call, a mystery person dragged me and Lady Kasui away from the scene. She was none other than Worthy Consort Gen, dressed in a disguise and prepared to kill the shaman.”

“…Come again?”

“As I said, she was Worthy Consort Gen, dressed in a disguise and prepared to kill the shaman.”

“Why was the Worthy Consort out to kill the shaman?!”

“The truth is, she was just as bitter about Lady Bushou’s death as Lady Kasui, if not more so. She, too, had been hiding her virulent hatred for the shaman, looking for the perfect opportunity to take her revenge.”

As an image of that aloof, so very Gen-like Worthy Consort crossed Keigetsu’s mind, she was momentarily stunned.

At length, she muttered, “The Gens are terrifying.”

“Aren’t they just?”

Reirin bobbed her head in agreement. Tousetsu furrowed her brow, offended, while Leelee looked on with a lukewarm smile.

“In any event, the Worthy Consort insisted that she didn’t want to drag Lady Kasui into her revenge, while Lady Kasui scolded the Worthy Consort for not telling her all of this sooner. The atmosphere between them was getting rather grim.”

“I can imagine…”

“So I suggested they stop dithering and just take their revenge. I agreed to help out as well.”

“Huh?! What part of that made you decide to help?!” screamed Keigetsu.

Reirin cheerfully raised a hand. “Well, it would be terrible to let the murder of an innocent girl go unpunished. Besides, this wasn’t a show of the ‘softness’ you so despise. My plan will benefit us both.”

The sparkle in her eyes was practically begging Keigetsu for praise.

“First of all, since the shaman, Pure Consort, and Virtuous Consort are all accomplices, we can unmask them all at once if we prove the shaman’s guilt. Those two dragged you into their schemes in the first trial and put you through a harrowing experience. We absolutely must get even,” she said, holding up her index finger.

Seeing this, Keigetsu was reminded of just how deep the girl’s anger ran. Kou Reirin was a boundlessly forgiving person, but as soon as someone involved one of her loved ones, she wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate.

“Secondly, I may be overthinking this, but…I’m concerned about Lady Seika and Lady Houshun.” Her second finger went up, albeit tentatively this time. “The truth is, before the tent collapsed, I received a warning of sorts from Lady Houshun. When Lady Seika came to check on me after the second trial, she seemed preoccupied throughout the visit. I suspect that both of them were working to sabotage me against their will. If we stop the consorts, we should be able to set them both free.”

“Could you please mind your own business?”

What popped into Keigetsu’s mind then was the time she had run into Houshun outside the Ran pavilion. The supposedly blackhearted girl had exuded genuine fear. Her once-calculating eyes had flitted about restlessly, and her face had looked pale.

“You were lucky enough to have someone willing to risk her own life to come to your aid.”

In retrospect, those words had carried not just derision but also a hint of resentment. The implication was that the Ran Maiden didn’t have anyone to come to her aid.

“Maybe so,” Keigetsu murmured, stroking her chin.

“If they were attacking us of their own free will, I would be all in favor of crushing them, but I feel bad if they’re being forced to follow orders,” said Reirin, looking mournful. “We must set them free and make them submit to us instead.”

“…Maybe so?”

Was it her Kou blood that made her naturally think like a ruler?

“And thirdly,” Reirin went on, ignoring Keigetsu’s dismay to solemnly raise a third finger, “have you prepared a gift for His Majesty’s birthday yet, Lady Keigetsu?”

“Huh?”

Keigetsu gaped in response to the surprising question. After a few moments of thought, the color drained from her face.

The final trial of the Rite of Reverence was to prepare a gift suitable for His Majesty’s birthday. This was the period when she should have been searching for a top-of-the-line item, her clan’s reputation on the line—but with all the fights and conspiracies she’d been wrapped up in, she had completely neglected the preparations.

“I don’t have anything ready.”

Reirin nodded gravely. “Neither do I, as it happens.”

“Wh-what are we going to do? We only have five…no, four days left. Oh, this is all your fault, Kou Reirin! I wanted to talk to you about it earlier, but you ignored me and—”

“You’re quite right. It’s all my fault.” Keigetsu was so upset that she had started to play the blame game, but Reirin was completely unruffled. “As such, please allow me to take responsibility. If you agree to help with my plan, you’ll be able to prepare a wonderful gift with only one-fifth of the effort.”

“A wonderful gift? Really?”

“Yes. It will undoubtedly rival a national treasure. Moreover, all you need to do is provide the materials. I’ve already enlisted the help of Lady Kasui.”

Could this be what the voice of a wraith who led men astray sounded like? Although she was still unclear about the true ­nature of the proposal, it sounded remarkably sweet to Keigetsu’s ears after being reminded of the matter hanging over her head.

The plan was to round up the arrogant shaman and those pesky consorts, then have a wonderful gift ready to go for the final trial. What in the world could it entail?

Keigetsu leaned forward despite herself. “I-I need a little more explanation—”

“To make it work, we will require the cooperation of Lady Seika and Lady Houshun as well,” Reirin said with a smile. “Tomorrow, if I had to guess, they will show up with dolls and poisonous flowers in a plot to ruin ‘me.’”

A grin stretching across her freckled face, she clapped her hands together.

With an adorable tilt of her head, she finished, “So let’s catch them in the act, blackmail them, and turn them over to our side, shall we?”

Though her intonation rose lightly at the end of the sentence, it was a statement, not a question.

“Did you say blackmail them…?”

“Yes. I know you can do it, Lady Keigetsu!” As Keigetsu’s face froze in horror, Reirin gave her hands a squeeze, all smiles. “If possible, I would like to recruit them by the end of tomorrow, so let’s divide the task of persuading them. You handle Lady Seika. And I’ll take care of Lady Houshun, if I must.”

“Wait, hold on—”

Things were moving so fast that Keigetsu could barely keep up. Why was she being enlisted to convince Kin Seika? What was Kou Reirin up to?

Also, she really seemed to hate Ran Houshun.

“We will exploit their weaknesses and force them to betray their masters. Hee hee, we’ve both become quite adept at this whole villainess business. I owe it all to your seasoned guidance.”

“Huh? Wha…?”

“With us two villainesses working together, we have nothing to fear. Let us all five take this opportunity to embrace our inner evil and unite to vanquish our enemies!”

Heedless of how Keigetsu’s eyes darted to and fro, Reirin clenched her fist and declared, “Let’s show some backbone!”

 

The plan she relayed to me afterward was something else…

As she finished her umpteenth flashback, Keigetsu sighed for the umpteenth time.

The audacity of that boar in butterfly’s clothing never ceased to amaze. Keigetsu had hoped that someone—maybe Gyoumei—would step up to stop her, but for whatever reason, he had yet to send even a single messenger. This despite how concerned he had been about her reckless stunts.

When she’d grown suspicious and asked Reirin about it, the Kou Maiden had giggled and replied, “Actually, I called in a favor from Her Majesty.”

Apparently, after sharing her strategy with the Gens, she had petitioned the empress to “leave everything to the Maidens,” using the Worthy Consort as her messenger. Traditionally, the Rite of Reverence was not the domain of the men or the consorts but of the Maidens. Believing the request for outsiders not to interfere for its duration to be a matter of course, Kenshuu had readily complied. In other words, she had prohibited Gyoumei from meddling.

And so, with four days left before the end of the Rite of Reverence, Reirin and friends could relax and devote their efforts to this risky retribution.

“When in doubt, borrow the authority of the empress. This is yet another trick to the villainess trade I learned from you.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m some textbook example of evil! Just putting it out there, but the more you do to stop His Highness from butting in, the worse the repercussions are going to be later. Do you get that?”

“Hrk!” Reirin flinched, recoiling at Keigetsu’s threat. “But…if I put it off for long enough, it’s possible that he might forget his anger. Surely there’s a small chance… Or I certainly hope there is…”

The way her eyes flitted about made her the picture of a child trying to hide the jar she had broken in her mischief.

That reaction of hers took Keigetsu by surprise. She had believed His Highness’s “butterfly” to be someone who never lost her composure or apologized for her behavior.

Kou Reirin has changed a little.

It dawned on Keigetsu that the Kou Maiden had learned to be more open with her feelings. She had learned to be hurt when unjustified insults were thrown her way. She had learned to be sad when she was at odds with a friend. She had learned to get angry and strike back when she was attacked, and she had learned to dread a scolding from a loved one.

Surely that sort of change could be viewed as a corruption of the former celestial maiden. She had abandoned her serenity, become emotionally shaken, and developed anger and cowardice.

Still, Keigetsu found this version of her much more likable than the Kou Reirin who had accepted everything and braced herself for death with a noble smile on her face.

What was so wrong with having a pathetic side? That was what being alive was all about.

For those reasons, she couldn’t bring herself to reject the new Kou Reirin…but still.

It’s annoying when she has us all dancing like puppets on a string.

As she sensed someone slowly approaching the tent, Keigetsu’s expression turned grim.

“Good afternoon. It’s Kin Seika. May I borrow a moment of your time, Lady Reirin?”

Seika had finally arrived on the scene.

After clearing her throat, Keigetsu replied in the most ladylike tones she could muster. “Why, certainly.”

It was too late to turn back now. She had to set the plan in motion.

She steeled herself and invited Seika into the room. “Please, come in.”

“Thank you very much.”

The side of the fur pelt facing the cobblestone path parted, and in walked Seika with a graceful stride.

“You’ve been out of sorts for so long that I was getting worried… I forgot to bring a treat when I came by the other day, so I decided to pay you a second visit.”

Keigetsu accepted the package with a smile, hiding the trepidation she actually felt. “My, I appreciate the concern.”

According to Kou Reirin, Seika was here under Pure Consort Kin’s orders to plant a doll that would serve as evidence of treason. Upon noticing the slight bulge near Seika’s breast, she had a hunch that she’d found the item in question.

She better not have put poison in the food while she was at it.

Reluctant to open the package right away, Keigetsu set it down on the table and ushered Seika into the seat across from her.

The extravagant Kin Maiden glanced around the pavilion, then murmured, “I don’t see any court ladies…”

“Correct. This is the time of day they go on break.”

In truth, Kou Reirin had deliberately sent them away to create the illusion of an exploitable opening, and Tousetsu was hanging back just behind the tent—but Keigetsu wasn’t about to mention that.

“I fear the tea I brew won’t be up to the usual standards,” she said. “My apologies.”

“Hardly!” Seika replied, taken aback. Then she dropped her gaze a fraction and added, “I’m undeserving of your hospitality.”

Her voice came out feeble and thin. She was indeed quite conflicted about the scheme she was abetting.

Hmph. Put on a show of angsting all you like if it makes you feel like a better person, but the fact that you came here means you’re still culpable.

The sight of Seika’s gorgeous features contorted in distress elicited nothing but a quiet snort from Keigetsu. She never had liked this girl.

Kin Seika had looks to rival Kou Reirin’s, was an accomplished dancer, and always carried herself with confidence. She was principled. She loved what was beautiful, and she was outspoken about loathing that which wasn’t. Given her consistent standards, she could, in a sense, be described as a straightforward and genuine person.

However, from the perspective of one who had come under attack for being “ugly,” it wasn’t anything so benign.

It might do her some good to experience her first setback. Go ahead, dirty your hands with hideous deeds and get a taste of real suffering.

Keigetsu knew that Kin Seika more or less worshipped Kou Reirin. After all, that butterfly was the embodiment of her ideal: pleasing to the eye, graceful, and able to answer any question with poise and intelligence. How ugly it must have seemed to her to pluck the wings of the creature she had gazed upon in admiration for so long.

Still, Seika herself was the one who had made that choice.

After an unnatural stretch of silence, the Kin Maiden ­awkwardly unwrapped the package. “I’ll…go ahead and open this. It’s a rather large confection, so we ought to cut it up to make it easier to eat.”

What she unveiled was a sweet rice cake, magnificent as a work of art. It was, in fact, a bit too big to consume in its current state.

“I can do it, if you’d prefer. Oh dear… Where did I put the knife again? This is so embarrassing.”

When Seika made a show of fumbling around in her robes, Keigetsu’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Is this when she’s planning to plant the doll?

For instance, she could leave it somewhere when she bent down. Or perhaps she could pretend to drop something and use that as a diversion.

And the moment she did, Kin Seika would be at Keigetsu’s beck and call.

“This is so…embarrassing…”

After rummaging around in her robes for a while, Seika abruptly looked to the Heavens and shut her mouth.

“…”

“Lady Seika? What is it?” Keigetsu prompted her, dubious.

A bitter smile rose to the other girl’s face. “How unsightly of me.”

“Huh?”

As Keigetsu blinked, the Kin Maiden straightened her posture and reached a hand toward her own breast. “Lady Reirin. I have something very important to tell you.”

It was a doll that Keigetsu had expected to see in the girl’s snow-white fingers, but she was wrong. What Seika pulled out was the knife presumably meant for cutting the rice cake. She placed it on the table, still in its sheath, and then looked Keigetsu straight in the eye.

“I respect you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Say what?!”

The surprised voice was Keigetsu’s. It was a reasonable reaction, seeing as the person who had looked poised to set a trap—all her misgivings be damned—had suddenly launched into a monologue with a deadly serious look on her face.

Seika, meanwhile, paid Keigetsu’s confusion no heed. Fighting to keep the tremor out of her voice, she earnestly went on, “As ashamed as I am to admit it, when I lived in my home domain, I was arrogant enough to think myself the most distinguished woman in the land. And so, when I met you for the first time, your beauty, talent, and intelligence struck me like a bolt of lightning.”

“I-Is that right?”

Keigetsu was so lost as to how to react that she gave the most noncommittal response she could. She couldn’t very well act pleased over the confession, nor was it appropriate to feign modesty.

“You are a proud woman, Lady Reirin. As sickly as you are, you never use that as an excuse. You work hard and never show weakness. No matter how much love you receive from those around you, you refuse to lean on them. You never flatter, you never fawn… It’s a world of difference from the vulgar Kin branch line.”

Seika clenched her fists, which lay on the table beside the knife, as if to hold back a storm of emotions. Tears were beginning to form in her almond-shaped eyes.

“The days I spent with you are my greatest treasure. You are my ideal. And I cannot allow that ideal to be sullied by my own hands,” she declared firmly, despite the way her voice shook.

Keigetsu’s eyes widened a fraction.

What did she just say?

Did that mean she was going to betray the Pure Consort?

“But…” Seika’s whole body began to quake. “The Pure Consort—that avaricious woman—ordered me to bring you to ruin. If I fail to do so, she will force me from the position of Maiden…sell me off to a lascivious man, and turn me into a p-plaything. I will be locked away in a bedchamber, his crude hands and whip free to have their way with my flesh…” With that despairing declaration, she reached for the knife with trembling hands. “I have considered my options. If I’m going to be stripped of my position either way… If my body is to be ravaged at someone else’s whim…I should just…”

Holding the knife in an awkward grip, she clutched it tightly to her chest.

A powerful gleam in her eyes, she announced with dignity, “I believe I should resign from Maidenhood of my own accord.”

With the blade in her hand, it was clear what she was actually trying to say. Kin Seika was fully prepared to take her own life.

Oh, please.

Keigetsu’s reaction to Seika’s tragic resolution was one of disillusionment.

What is she, stupid?

After all, Keigetsu knew the truth: Someone who truly wanted to die wouldn’t announce it in front of others like this. She would hide her despair under a smile, forget how to cry, and endure, endure, endure—until one day she disappeared without a trace. Alone, without reaching out for anyone’s hand.

Just like Kou Reirin, who had given up on everything and planned to quietly sink to the bottom of a well.

Thus, Keigetsu coolly concluded: Lady Seika is just drunk on her own tragedy.

Believing herself to be the most unfortunate girl in the world, she had chosen the path of self-destruction without even trying to fight. What’s more, she refused to keep that decision to herself. The situation rang a bell.

The Kin Seika who sat before Keigetsu now was the spitting image of her former self, the one who’d been driven to despair by Noble Consort Shu and begged Kou Reirin to kill her.

Overcome with an immense disgust, the Shu Maiden squinted ominously at Seika. “Did the Pure Consort really tell you that? That unless you sabotage Kou—me, she will marry a woman who had once been a Maiden to another man?”

“Yes. The Pure Consort hails from the tawdry Kin branch line. Those lowlifes have no regard for anything but money. They would put the women of their own domain up for auction without a scrap of dignity or common sense.”

“Hmm. Then why not solve the problem with money?”

Keigetsu couldn’t help but blurt out exactly what she was thinking. Seika gawked at her, flabbergasted, but she wasn’t deterred.

“Wouldn’t that make the most sense? The Pure Consort believes that if you serve no use to her as a Maiden, she should use you to make a profit and recoup her investment. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable thought process to me.”

“What…?”

“In a way, an auction is a very efficient method. If all she cares about is money, why not be the highest bidder for yourself? You have your earnings as a Maiden, a talent for dance that could serve as a source of income, and a pretty face, do you not?” A hint of cynicism crept into the question.

Kin Seika didn’t get it. For all she lamented that she was going to be sold, she didn’t even realize what an advantageous hand she’d been dealt. She was a good dancer. The crown prince himself had praised her talents. She didn’t need to get married to support herself. Why, she could probably strike it rich if she tried.

She was also gorgeous. Though it didn’t appeal to the protective instincts like Kou Reirin’s beauty did, she had an eye-catching glamour about her. If she made good use of her lovely, crystal-clear voice, she could easily wrap a man around her little finger.

In short, if she put her mind to it, she could avoid the auction altogether, and even if she were married off to an old pervert, she could leverage her good looks to control his every move. It was a stark contrast to Keigetsu, who was blessed with neither talent nor beauty, had no prospects for marriage, and would have died on the side of the road if her guardian of the Noble Consort had expelled her from the court.

Were you expecting me to pat you on the head and make it all better? Hate to break it to you, but that isn’t this “Kou Reirin’s” style.

If the real Kou Reirin had been the one sitting across from Seika, she surely would have furrowed her brow and lent her a sympathetic ear. She would have beseeched the Kin Maiden not to do anything rash and offered her a helping hand, suggesting they work together to find a solution.

She was always like that. Though she claimed to have been following Keigetsu’s example with Kasui, those were undoubtedly her true colors shining through.

When push comes to shove, she’s soft. She’ll try to save everyone and anyone.

Even though that trait had led to Keigetsu’s own redemption—­no, for that very reason—she didn’t want her friend to show too much charity to others. It would mean that, in the end, she was nothing but another face in the crowd as far as Kou Reirin was concerned.

“Why not shove some gold right under the Pure Consort’s nose? Oh, or would you prefer the Kou clan to take you in? It would be an honor to have a dancer as skilled as yourself as our own private courtesan. Just name your price.”

Keigetsu had volunteered the Kou clan’s funds in the heat of the moment but shortly realized that it was actually a brilliant idea. Be it the empress or Kou Reirin, the women of the Kou were too infinitely cavalier to make money an object. If it meant they could add a master courtesan to their ranks, they wouldn’t hesitate to fork over a large sum. And then, whenever Keigetsu switched places with Kou Reirin, she would be free to toy with Seika, who had been reduced to the Kou clan’s prostitute.

“Wha…”

As the Maiden before her burst into giggles, Seika didn’t know what to say for several long moments.

Is this really Kou Reirin?

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had known that for as lithe as Kou Reirin appeared, the girl had a strong will under the surface. Thus, she hadn’t expected to be comforted when she hinted at committing suicide. If anything, she had anticipated that she might receive a stern look and a scolding.

One way or another, Seika had been counting on a more earnest response. Perhaps the Maiden might nod her head and respect her will, or perhaps she might do the opposite and lecture her on the value of life. What she hadn’t expected to hear was the suggestion to fix her problems with money.

Suddenly, Seika noticed that “Kou Reirin” was propping her chin in her hand as she sneered. Her defiant expressions and crass gestures were all entirely unbecoming of the leading candidate for empress.

Who…?

Something that wasn’t based in logic, more a hunch than a thought, ran down her spine with a shudder.

Who is she?

Kou Reirin was the prince’s butterfly. Her posture was graceful, and she always maintained an air of elegance. Even after sinking into a frozen lake, she had stood up straight and tall, yet now she sat slouched like a cat, her elbow resting slovenly on the table.

That hunched posture. That sneer that came to her face as she glared. Looking at her triggered a memory in the back of Seika’s mind.

“Oh dear, whatever could be the matter, Lady Seika? You’ve gone white as a ghost!”

Contrary to her words of concern, there was a nasty bounce to the ends of her sentences. As soon as she saw her opponent was vulnerable, she had gone on the attack. The moment she got worked up, her voice would crack—it all resembled a certain someone.

Don’t tell me…

For the briefest of moments, an idea flashed through Seika’s mind, but it was so absurd that she quickly dismissed it.

And yet, no matter how hard she tried to deny it, it seeped into her mind like a stubborn stain, eventually consuming her entire being.

It couldn’t be.

She must have been tired. How could she even entertain such an unrealistic thought?

“Did you say ‘aphrodisiac’? Isn’t that an object of legend long buried beside the heathen mystic arts? Do you mean to tell me those are real?”

In that same moment, Seika was reminded of the Maidens’ discussion at the tea party a while back.

“Rumor has it that Lady Keigetsu’s father was an odd man with aspirations of becoming a Daoist cultivator.”

One of her parents had been a cultivator. And lately, she had been spending an awful lot of time with Kou Reirin.

What if, just maybe, Shu Keigetsu had inherited the Daoist arts—now considered to be a thing of legend—from her father?

Seika’s pulse quickened. Her mouth parched and dry, she parted her lips to say, “Perhaps that’s not such a bad idea, Lady Reirin.”

“Huh?”

As the other Maiden blinked in confusion, Seika psyched herself up. She had to be careful not to make her suspicion too obvious.

When she was surprised by something, the butterfly Seika so idolized would never wear such a dumb look on her face or leave her mouth hanging open. Why hadn’t she noticed sooner? Had all the time she spent studiously examining each and every one of Kou Reirin’s graceful gazes and fluid movements been for nothing? Even if the impostor hid her face behind a fan, the way she moved her fingers alone ought to be enough to give her away. That was the degree of precision with which Seika had perfected her arts.

“I would love to become a private courtesan of the Kou clan and improve my craft alongside you.”

“Uh…”

“Do you remember our promise to face each other in a dance competition one day? As I recall, it was when we were viewing the plum blossoms in early spring, wasn’t it?”

Seika set the knife down and flashed the girl before her an inviting smile. In reality, she and Kou Reirin had never made any such promise.

Yet still she went on, “The swallows sing and the warblers dance. You invited me to join you in a performance that would capture a glistening spring landscape. You said you couldn’t wait to see me put on a dance beautiful enough to put the warbler to  shame.”

“Ah…” After a period of confused silence, the other Maiden eventually lifted her chin from her palm and nodded. “I think I remember that.”

Seika made her move right then and there. She leaned across the table and struck out with one hand, holding the unsheathed knife to the girl’s neck.

“Who are you?”

It was a visceral reaction. Her voice was shaking. Her horrifying conjecture had turned to conviction, driving Seika to violence.

“Wh-where is this coming from, Lady Sei—”

“Lady Reirin and I have never promised to compete against each other in dance,” the Kin Maiden growled, pressing the blade even closer.

The girl before her gasped, then laughed awkwardly. “R-right. I was mistaken. Things have just been so hectic as of late.”

“So hectic that you didn’t even notice my gaffe? It’s not the swallows that sing or the warblers that dance. The warblers sing and the swallows dance. Do you mean to tell me you’ve never heard such a common idiom?” Seika spat.

The other girl clammed up in humiliation. Yet another reaction so typical of her.

“I-I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Refrain from making such pathetic excuses with Lady Reirin’s face. And stop with those obnoxious squeals.”

Though the impostor could manage the bare minimum of conversing like a proper Maiden, she was woefully uncultured. An emotional girl. Her voice came out in a squeak, she whimpered pathetically, and she was quick to make excuses. She was the type who pandered to the strong, tormented the weak, and clung to others the moment she encountered a setback.

“D-drop your blade…”

The girl raised a hand to shove her assailant back by the shoulder. When her fist opened to reveal trembling fingers, Seika’s fury mounted. Kou Reirin’s hands were meant to always be proud and beautiful.

It also served as the final push to make her certain. That awkward posture. Those ungainly movements. This wasn’t the first time Seika had seen them around the Maiden Court.

“Why have you commandeered Lady Reirin’s body?” she demanded, but she already knew the answer.

It was because of the Rite of Reverence—the ceremony to assess and assign a ranking to the Maidens. Realizing that she didn’t stand a chance of winning on her own, the girl had used her magic to steal someone else’s body.

“Answer me, Shu Keigetsu!”

Feeling the sharp edge of the blade against her neck, Keigetsu’s whole body tensed, her breathing growing shallow.

“Am I on the right track? You stole Lady Reirin’s body with the Daoist arts. You knew that a talentless amateur like yourself would never survive the Rite of Reverence otherwise! Here I braved the rite despite how desperately I wanted to run, while you tried to solve things by stealing someone else’s form… Despicable. You vile sewer rat!”

Her sharp repudiation hit Keigetsu like a knife in the heart. What could have given her away?

“I was a fool for not noticing sooner. Just look at that crude body language, those gauche expressions, those vulgar ideas. Oh, the harder I look, the more I can’t see anything but you!”

Who could have guessed that the slightest of gestures or facial expressions would be enough to reveal not only the truth of the swap but also the identity of the person inside? Kin Seika was much more observant and intelligent than Keigetsu had given her credit for. She broke into a cold sweat as she sensed danger on the horizon.

Yet Seika’s next words made her blink.

“Answer me, Shu Keigetsu! Or else I’ll turn you over to the Eagle Eyes!”

If Keigetsu were to candidly describe what she felt in that moment, it would be relief.

That’s all?

Despite witnessing a strange forbidden art in action, despite the object of her worship being deprived of her body, the most Seika would do was rat her out to the Eagle Eyes?

So, what, she’s not going to gouge out my eyes or leave me to be swarmed by insects? She’s not going to drag me to the floor, pull out my hair, or douse me in water? She’s not going to knock over everything in the vicinity and try to crush me to death?

All of those were things the Kou women would do in the name of retribution.

Upon closer inspection, the knife Seika held to her throat quivered ever so slightly with anger and nerves. With a grip so weak, even Keigetsu could easily give her the slip. As proof, Tousetsu made no move to burst in from behind the tent, indicating that she had deemed it unnecessary to act.

To test the waters, Keigetsu inflated the flame of a nearby candle and briefly coiled it around Seika’s hand. The Kin Maiden screamed, kicked over her chair as she leapt to her feet, and tossed the knife aside.

“I-Is this magic?! H-how ghastly!” Clasping her hands to her chest, Seika mustered all her courage to glare at Keigetsu. Still, there was a clear tinge of fear in those gorgeous eyes. “Y-you can’t intimidate me into keeping my mouth shut. I’m not the least bit afraid of a shallow woman who would employ sorcery to get what she—”

“Enough.” The more she regained her composure, the more frustrated Keigetsu became with Seika’s yapping. “Give the platitudes a rest.”

Letting her emotions get the better of her, she slammed her hands down on the table before her and rose to her feet. Unaccustomed to such rough language and conduct, the Kin Maiden gasped in a mixture of terror and reproach.

“Yes, you got it. I am Shu Keigetsu—the sewer rat of the Maiden Court. I switched places with Kou Reirin using the Daoist arts. But it’s not your place to criticize me for that. Kou Reirin gave me permission.”

“Wha…! You expect me to believe such nonsense?! You stole Lady Reirin’s body for your own personal gain, didn’t you? The nerve of you to commit such a hideous act and then lie about it!”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s always ‘hideous’ with you. Big words. Then tell me, what good is your ‘beauty’? It’s all talk. Your ­aesthetic has no backbone!”

After roaring that with all her might, Keigetsu contemplated her mixed feelings about her own speech. Did aesthetic and backbone really go together? She had clearly been too influenced by a certain someone.

She sensed Tousetsu erupting into a fit of laughter behind the tent, while Kin Seika furrowed her brow in puzzlement. “I beg your pardon?”

Alas, there was no taking back what had already been said. Keigetsu girded her loins and tossed a clump of hair hanging over her shoulder.

“Hmph. I can almost sympathize with the Pure Consort. You talk a big game about how you want to be beautiful and upright, but you won’t fight for it.”

Seika retreated a step, and Keigetsu closed the gap. The scrape of shoes against the stone floor echoed.

“You’re afraid you’ll be forced to marry? Then did you tell the Pure Consort no? Did you punch her? Slap her? Did you scream at the top of your lungs? Did you set a trap for her? No! I bet all you did was cower and glare, just like you’re doing now!”

That was normal for a woman of high birth, Keigetsu was sure. All the same, she couldn’t help but think, I fought. I struggled.

She had shrieked as loud as she could, bared her teeth, and cursed others with her Daoist spells. People had laughed and called her pathetic, even labeled her efforts a sin, but still Keigetsu had stood strong and fought, bedraggled and unconcerned with appearances.

She had fought against the unfairness of her life, all for the sake of being who she was.

The only one to ever offer her a helping hand had been Kou Reirin. That was the one and only way in which she had ever been blessed.

“You’re pretty. You’re talented. You have what it takes to fight on your own, unlike me. And just now, you were even offered help in the form of the Kou clan’s funds, but you refused to take it.”

“…”

“You play the victim without even trying to fight back, and then you turn around and call my futile resistance ugly? Who do you think you are?!”

Seika’s head jerked to attention at the no-holds-barred dressing-down, and she pursed her lips in a thin line. Her eyes, which had always had a certain poise about them, began to burn with rage.

She pressed a hand to her chest and argued back, carefully punctuating each and every word. “What is ugly is ugly. It is obscene to leech off others and let oneself be ruled by emotion. While the women of the branch line flaunted their ambition, my grandmother and mother said nothing and held strong against their abuse. All with their heads held high.”

In her mind’s eye, she saw an image of her mother and grandmother clenching their fists in silence before their trampled garden.

They had stood straight and tall. Never once had they raised their voices or vented their frustrations on anything, instead keeping their eyes fixed forward. They had always sat straight at attention in their solitary chambers, and even when those flirtatious voices reached their ears—the voices of those women who hung off others like parasites, parading their desires for all to see!—they hadn’t so much as scowled.

Seika had learned from observing them in profile. What true nobility was. What true integrity was.

“The mainline descendants of the Kin must always have pride!”

“So did enduring with pride actually get you out of your mess?!”

Though Seika had shouted hard enough to shake the tent, Keigetsu managed to be even louder. Of course she had. No one could match her in a contest of screaming and yelling.

“The branch line was free to run your clan as they pleased, and the end result is that you’re being forced to sell your body! What’s so great about putting up with that in silence? All you’re doing is cowering!”

“That’s not—”

“Come on. You’re hiding it in the breast of your robe, aren’t you? Hand it over.” Realizing that this argument was going in circles, Keigetsu switched up her angle of attack. “The Pure Consort sent you here with something to sabotage Kou Reirin, right? A doll, if I had to guess?”

“How…?”

Confronted with knowledge no one else was supposed to have, Seika stared back in wide-eyed astonishment. Taking advantage of her shock, Keigetsu forcefully snatched the doll from her.

“What are you doing?!”

“My, what a lovely doll you have here! Did you come here to plant this? I wonder what’s inside. Poison? Or perhaps a shady amulet? Aha, so you wanted to make Kou Reirin out to be a traitor!”

“The consort didn’t tell me any of that!”

“But you had an inkling! And you still brought the doll all this way. Integrity? Aesthetic? Don’t make me laugh. You’re just following the Pure Consort’s orders like a coward!”

When Keigetsu slammed her hands down on the table a second time, Seika blanched and fell silent at last. With a small huff, the Shu Maiden dumped the doll she’d stolen onto the table.

“You know what, Lady Seika? This doll is a lot like you. She’s beautiful and has great posture. Well, of course—she is carved out of wood. No matter what happens to her, her expression never changes and she bears it all in silence. And she lives at the mercy of whoever owns her.”

Clink.

There came another clatter of shoes as Keigetsu closed in on Seika again. Bringing her face close enough that their noses were almost touching, she glared at the other Maiden.

“Is that really your ideal?”

“…”

Seika’s lips trembled, and her shoulders were beginning to sag.

“Do you understand the position you’re in? The moment I detected your plot, you were finished. Your only options left are to kill me, turn against the Pure Consort, or bring about your own end. I was going to do you the kindness of including you in my plan and pitting you against the consort.” Her mouth twisting in a grimace, Keigetsu went on, “But I don’t want to work with an overgrown doll. If I threaten you into doing what I say, you’ll go right back to playing the hapless victim, won’t you? You’re such an eyesore!”

Seika’s head snapped up at the word eyesore. “What did you just call me?”

A fierce glint returned to her eyes, which had lost their luster only moments ago. Something more than just righteous—­something sinister—permeated her expression.

“An eyesore? Me?”

“That’s what I said. Didn’t hear me the first time? I’ll repeat it as many times as necessary. The way you shilly-shally and spout off pretty-sounding platitudes is an eyesore! It’s ugly! You’re a miserable doll who’s only pretty on the surface!”

As soon as Keigetsu said that, the air around Seika noticeably changed. Her gaze grew sharp, and her beauty, which had once been nothing but glamorous, took on a more commanding aspect.

Without even opening her mouth to argue, she made a grab for the knife lying on the table.

“Ah…!”

The decisiveness of the motion took Keigetsu by surprise. It was the first time that Kin Seika had expressed her intentions through her actions before her words.

What will she do?

Keigetsu braced herself, casually focusing her qi in the direction of the candle behind her. Was the Kin Maiden planning to use the knife in her grip to take her own life, or had she decided to shut her blackmailer’s mouth once and for all?

The moment she takes a swing at me, I’ll set her on fire.

With a gulp, Keigetsu did her best to judge the timing. Seika adjusted her grip on the knife, then raised it high overhead…

Thunk!

She drove it straight into the doll that had been left abandoned on the table.

Startled, Keigetsu watched as the doll sat there in silence, only to split in two with an almost comical crack a moment later.

“Take that back. I am not ugly.”

The inside of the doll was hollow, and there was suspicious writing scrawled on its interior in reddish-brown ink. Seika looked down at it coolly, then stabbed the part with the spell once more for good measure.

“Nor am I a doll.”

Even Keigetsu, who had been telling her off moments ago, was cowed by the authoritative aura about her.

It was then that something finally dawned on Keigetsu: No matter how much she struggled to understand the other Maiden’s philosophy, it was an inviolable guideline as far as Kin Seika was concerned. An outsider couldn’t hope to comprehend it; it ­encapsulated all seventeen years of her life, and perhaps the lifetimes of her mother and grandmother too. No matter who called it cowardice, the women had all possessed an unyielding passion for beauty on which they refused to compromise.

“I will admit that I have not taken concrete action to this point. I have seen the error of my ways, and I henceforth vow to put forth the proper effort and take a more proactive approach.” Seika had shot past the point of rage, speaking in a completely neutral manner. “But that does not mean I will cease to take pride in beauty.”

Her skin was fair, and her eyes were long and narrow. Her hair was wavy and her posture impeccable. She was indeed stunning to the point of appearing divine.

“I won’t listen to that vulgar Pure Consort any longer. Nor will I escape by means of suicide. Either act would be ugly. Of the paths before me now, taking your hand is the only one I find barely tolerable.” Seika threw down her blade, letting it clatter to the floor, before haughtily declaring, “So tell me about this plan of yours, Shu Keigetsu. I’m willing to hear you out.” She raised one beautifully sculpted eyebrow as naturally as an actress. “Only then will I join your side. I won’t fall in line because you threatened me. I will agree to cooperate on the condition that your idea aligns with my sense of aesthetic.”

Once she had prefaced her choice loud and clear, Seika held out a hand to Keigetsu. The latter stared down at those long, white fingers, then burst out laughing in spite of herself.

What a prideful woman. But that was exactly what made her Kin Seika—the Maiden of the Kin clan, the bloodline of beauty and art.

“You’ve made the right choice. But let me warn you now, your admiration for Kou Reirin will be shattered when you hear the details.”

Things had gone differently than expected, but Keigetsu’s attempts at persuasion had been a success. Kin Seika had destroyed the doll and turned her back on the Pure Consort. She was on their side now.

Equal parts relieved and amused by the positive outcome, Keigetsu followed Seika’s example and extended her hand.

Yet as soon as she saw that, Seika frowned and withdrew hers. “The way you hold out your hand is so uncouth. A pale imitation of Lady Reirin.”

“Don’t make me smack you, wench.”

Of course she had to open her big mouth and ruin the moment.

Instead of shaking hands, the two girls exchanged a high five, scowling all the while.

Chapter 5:
Reirin Lectures

 

FOR A WHILE NOW, Ran Houshun had been crouching and plunging her hands into the cold earth of the field. The soil was rich, well cultivated, and sculpted into neat rows. The crops were planted as close together as possible without encroaching on each other, and even though it was winter, the frost-rimmed leaves were a healthy shade of green.

“Miss Reirin really is good at anything she sets her mind to,” the Maiden mumbled.

This was the outskirts of the Palace of the Vermillion Stallion. She was working in the field in front of the storehouse to which Shu Keigetsu had once been banished.

It had been around the time of the Ghost Festival when the girl suddenly begun to act strangely, ultimately collapsing after working herself to exhaustion for the Kou Maiden’s sake. That gesture of goodwill from Shu Keigetsu, previously ridiculed as a sewer rat, had stunned the people around her and left them stewing in shame. Kin Seika and the captain of the Eagle Eyes, as well as court ladies from the other clans, had turned up to pay her a visit, claiming that the dilapidated state of the boundary wall had turned the space into a “common area.”

Shortly after, Shu Keigetsu had returned to her normal self and filled the Shu Palace with her shrieking once more, so most people had stopped coming to the storehouse. Only Kou Reirin, perhaps moved by the gesture of friendship, had stayed in the habit of making clandestine visits ever since.

Perhaps due to her affinity for earth, rumor had it that she gardened as a pastime. What Ran Houshun was currently staring down at was the field Kou Reirin tended.

“I figured I’d be dealing with a small flower bed, but this is a full-blown field. She’s such a riot.”

For someone who was supposedly amused, Houshun’s expression was somber. Dazed, she stared down at the toxic flora she had just planted.

This area was known to be Kou Reirin’s haunt. It was the perfect place to plant a poisonous flower and lend credibility to the scenario that she was covertly preparing to betray the crown.

One flower is all it will take to end her life. It’s almost too easy.

Last night, after the banquet for the shaman was over, the Virtuous Consort had come back shrouded in a strangely saccharine fragrance, whereupon she ordered Houshun to execute a plot to sabotage Kou Reirin. Loath to be outdone by the Kins, who were working on a similar scheme, she had instructed Houshun to fabricate evidence of the Kou Maiden’s “treason.”

Evidently, Kou Reirin had incurred the shaman’s wrath after the incident at the Violet Dragon’s Spring, and preparations to condemn her during the final trial were underway. With the all-powerful shaman denouncing her, plus the Kin and Ran clans working together to back those claims with evidence, there was little doubt that she would be promptly found guilty and executed.

Since the script was already written, it didn’t matter if the evidence was flimsy. It only had to exist.

Kou Reirin was as good as dead.

“Aww…”

Houshun tried to crack a smile.

She should be smiling. This would spell the certain end of a formidable foe.

A formidable foe—the first person who had ever seen through to her true nature.

When Houshun had tried to create her usual smoke screen by hiding her face, the girl had forcefully closed the distance between them and whispered in the sweetest of voices, “I despise you, Lady Houshun.”

It was the first time anyone had ever told her to her face that they hated her. She had never experienced such fierce emotion directed not at her facade but at her true self, and she hadn’t known how to react.

Thus, Houshun’s first instinct had been to shield her face behind her sleeves. Yet Kou Reirin had grabbed her by the arms. She had pushed those sleeves aside, forced her to look up, and stared right through her with eyes like jewels.

Houshun was fairly sure that was the first time she had confronted someone head-on.

No surprise there. I’ve been hiding my face for so long, she thought as she buried her head in her knees.

Born to a prostitute, Houshun had spent her entire childhood making herself small alongside her older brother, Rinki. Know your place. Never show a hint of defiance, their mother had told them until she was blue in the face. Hide your irritation. Keep all your scornful sneers inside and shrink in on yourself. The smaller you look, the better. Be helpless, be harmless, be pathetic. The weak have no choice but to curl up and wait out the storm. No one is going to step up to protect you.

Her mother had been an intelligent woman indeed—in the sense that she could accurately calculate profit and loss. Weighing the merits of being her authentic self against living a comfortable life, she had chosen the latter without hesitation. Her rational mind was surely part of the reason why the Ran patriarch had taken such a shine to her.

The result was that their mother had maintained a monopoly on the patriarch’s affections, and for children raised without great expectations, both Houshun and Rinki had managed to attain status comparable to that of the direct descendants. Her teachings had proved to be correct.

But, man, crouching down sure gets exhausting after a while.

Houshun had never gardened before, so her legs were going numb just from squatting in the field for half an hour. Unable to will herself to get up, however, she stayed there with her face pressed into her kneecaps.

I’m tired…

Since she had done all the digging with her dominant hand, her right arm and shoulder were stiff. She couldn’t stand the feeling of the dirt wedged under her fingernails.

Though the Ran clan was indeed the clan of wood, that only encompassed wood as an abstract concept. It meant that they revered plants as a symbol of growth, development, and creation, but Houshun didn’t have the slightest interest in gardening as a hobby. Crawling on the ground was not her idea of a good time.

By the same token, she was tired of curling up like a little insect and making herself look stupid.

So she had risen up. She had believed that with her sharp wits and silver tongue, she could make any foe dance to her tune.

And yet…

“I’m so tired…” muttered Houshun, letting her grimy right hand drop listlessly to the earth.

Her feeble complaint hadn’t been directed at anyone in particular.

“My, my. What, pray tell, are you working so hard to plant?”

Thus, when the airy voice of a girl greeted her from behind, Houshun’s shoulders jumped as she turned her head.

 

***

 

Let’s turn back the clock a bit.

“I wonder if Lady Keigetsu is doing a good job convincing Lady Seika…” Leelee muttered anxiously, walking a few steps behind her mistress.

Shu Keigetsu—or rather, Kou Reirin in her form—tilted her head to one side and glanced over her shoulder. “My, are you worried? There’s no need to fret. Lady Keigetsu assured us that threats were her forte, remember?”

“Well, yes, she’s very good at yelling… But this is Lady Seika we’re talking about. She’s very strong-willed. The more someone screams at her, the more she’ll scream back. I’m afraid things could get ugly.”

Leave it to Keigetsu’s long-serving attendant to make such a prescient prediction.

Reirin, meanwhile, happily crunched gravel under her feet, not the least bit concerned. “Lady Keigetsu and Lady Seika are quite similar in how straightforward they are. A clash between them could actually serve as the beginnings of a friendship,” she said, brimming with confidence. “Lady Keigetsu is a charming girl. I’m sure she could get along with just about anyone once they’ve had a real conversation with her. I’m more worried about whether I can get my part of the job done.”

She waded through the path as it transitioned from white gravel to grass, then ground to a halt.

“It remains to be seen if I can invite someone I hate to fight alongside me.”

What Reirin’s narrowed eyes beheld was a well-manicured field and a storehouse. She and Leelee stood outside the storehouse on the border of the Shu Palace, which had been converted into a communal space.

The area was usually deserted, but she spotted a lone figure crouching in a corner of the field. Dressed in a plain celadon green robe, the girl appeared to be a low-ranking Ran court lady at a glance. However, her well-coiffed hair and graceful body language hinted at her true station.

The girl crouching before the field and hanging her head was none other than Ran Houshun. Judging by the bump in the soil around her, it seemed she had already finished her errand.

“So I was right. She chose to do it here.”

Hiding in the bushes a short distance from the field, Reirin pressed a hand to her cheek and sighed.

At the behest of the Virtuous Consort, Houshun was scheming to plant a shady poisonous flower somewhere near “Kou Reirin.” Normally, one would come to the pavilion where she was staying or some remote part of the Kou Palace under the guise of a visit—Kin Seika was probably planning to do just that—but Reirin had figured that Houshun would be smarter than that.

The Palace of the Vermillion Stallion had been chronically understaffed ever since the Noble Consort’s exile. There were few guards around, and no one would reprimand a member of another clan for coming in and out through the crumbling wall. In that case, it would be much safer to do her meddling in the storehouse and field right next to the Palace of the Indigo Fox than to go all the way to the courtyard or another clan’s palace. Besides, if the story was supposed to be that Reirin was secretly growing poisonous flowers for her rebellion, it wouldn’t make sense for her to have planted them out in the open on Kou soil.

Just to be certain, Reirin had gone and checked the scene, and the result was as she suspected.

“She’s certainly a crafty one, that Lady Houshun.”

In all honesty, Reirin couldn’t deny that she enjoyed competing—albeit strictly when it came to board games—against Houshun, who was always trying to outwit her opponent and see several moves ahead. Planting unauthorized flowers in her painstakingly nurtured garden was a different story, though.

If the flower is an allium, I’ll let it slide because those can help prevent crop damage…but if it’s a mint plant, she’s really in for it.

In view of her own frailty, Reirin admired plants in the mint family for their hardiness, but on the other hand, their life force was so strong that they encroached on her other plants. It was a love-hate relationship.

Fuming over matters that would surely have Leelee shouting, “That’s your issue?!” if she could hear her, Reirin snuck up on Houshun from behind.

Oblivious to her presence, the crouching Maiden muttered, “I’m so tired.”

Reirin discreetly cleared her throat. Then, eager to show off the fruits of her practice, she kept “Shu Keigetsu’s” trademark diction in mind and sarcastically remarked, “My, my. What, pray tell, are you working so hard to plant?”

Houshun whipped around. “Ah!”

“Oh. Aconite. That’s rather… I mean, talk about cliché.”

It had no petals in the winter, but after deducing the identity of the flower from the shape of its leaves, Reirin shrugged in disappointment.

Of course, that was the least of Houshun’s concerns. The color draining from her face, she leapt to her feet. She tried to bolt with all the speed of a small animal, but Reirin caught her faster than she could run.

“Hold it. What were you doing here disguised as a court lady? You still haven’t answered my question, Lady Houshun.”

“Lady Keigetsu…” For a brief moment, Houshun gasped in horror. But when it came down to it, she was the Maiden of the Ran clan, those who prided themselves on their intellect. Her response was swift. She squirmed in Reirin’s grasp and shouted in the direction of the crumbling wall—where the Ran Palace was. “St-stop this at once, Lady Keigetsu!”

“Excuse me, Lady Houshun?”

“I’m sorry! It was wrong of me to trespass! Please don’t be mad! Don’t hit me!”

Her voice trembled ever so naturally, and tears pricked at her eyes. She deserved a round of applause for her performance.

“What is happening over there?!”

“Did Lady Shu Keigetsu raise a hand against our Maiden?!”

There came a storm of footsteps as the court ladies and Eagle Eyes rushed over at the sound of her screams.

Clever. Since she’s already been caught, she might as well make herself out to be the victim.

Reirin had to hand it to Houshun for how fast she could think on her feet. Naturally, her plan had accounted for “Shu Keigetsu’s” status as the maligned sewer rat of the Maiden Court, as well as her tendency to freeze in the face of the unexpected.

Her foremost goal was to throw off her opponent and spin the scenario as “Shu Keigetsu tormenting Ran Houshun.” While Shu Keigetsu was tongue-tied and scrambling for excuses, she could come up with a cover story. It was a trick that truly highlighted her relation to Ran Rinki, who had once betrayed Lord Koh during the Unso excursion.

Due to her personal circumstances, Leelee was also at higher risk of being framed. Shooting nervous glances back at the wall, she tugged on Reirin’s sleeve with a panicked look. “Hey! Th-this isn’t good. Lady Rei…er, Keigetsu, let’s retreat for now and—”

Believe it or not, I perform quite well under pressure.

However, it was Kou Reirin who currently inhabited the Shu Maiden’s body. Neither flustered nor stunned, she instead reacted by punching herself hard in the cheek. Then she pulled Houshun into a tight embrace.

“You’re all right!”

“Huh…?” Houshun jumped in her arms. “Hey!”

“You’re going to be fine, Lady Houshun! I’m right here. The hallucinations will pass soon enough. There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore!”

In a reversal, it was now the Ran Maiden who gawked in astonishment.

With an emphatic nod, Reirin shouted to the other side of the wall, “Is anyone there?! Somebody, come quick! Lady Houshun mistook a daffodil leaf for a leek and ate it! She’s hallucinating and going berserk! Someone call for a doctor! Come on, Leelee, give me a hand and rub her back!”

“Wha…?!”

That was the scenario Reirin had come up with on the spur of the moment.

As Houshun flailed and struggled to break free, Reirin grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard. “You’re safe, Lady Houshun. Calm down. No one here is trying to hurt you. It’s all an illusion! A bad dream!”

“Stop—”

“Slap me across the cheek again or scratch me all you like, I don’t care! Don’t worry about it! Just get a grip!”

While Reirin concentrated her efforts on rubbing the girl’s back, court ladies streamed into the storehouse area one after another. Their faces were flushed with alarm, but as soon as they laid eyes on the two Maidens, their jaws dropped.

“Erm…?”

What they found was Houshun flailing with a red and swollen face and “Shu Keigetsu” patting her on the back. It appeared to them that she was struggling to calm the younger Maiden, whose delusions had sent her into a frenzy.

“What happened here, Lady Shu Keigetsu?”

“Didn’t you hear me the first time?! Lady Houshun is in pain because she accidentally ate a daffodil leaf! She vomited earlier, and now she’s hallucinating and seeing everyone else as some kind of hideous monster. The poor thing even started crying and begging me not to hit her.”

“That’s not—”

“Come, empty the contents of your stomach!” Just as Houshun tried to argue, Reirin silenced her by shoving a hand into her mouth. “Hey, Eagle Eyes! She wouldn’t want men to see her like this. Get out of here and call for a doctor! You court ladies over there! What are you standing around for? Go fetch hot water, a cloth, and a washbasin this instant!”

“Um, but what in the world was Lady Houshun doing near this storehouse? And why is she dressed like a court lady?”

“That’s what I’d like to know! Just concentrate on helping her for now. Are you planning to stand by and watch your mistress die?!”

When one court lady expressed her legitimate concerns, Reirin forced her hand into cooperating. The key here was not to give Ran Houshun a chance to say her piece.

“Hurry!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, at which the court ladies scattered in every which direction.

After that, only Leelee, so overwhelmed that her jaw was set; Houshun, utterly stupefied; and Reirin were left at the scene.

“Phew. Thank goodness I… Wait, scratch that. Heh heh, looks like I managed to pull the wool over their eyes.”

“You can’t be serious.” Houshun’s lips quivered. It was hard to tell whether it was from shock or rage. “A leek? You think I’d mistake a daffodil for a leek? Me? And then start hallucinating?”

“Why not? It’s a bit far-fetched for the Maiden of the wood-aligned Ran clan, but I bet people would buy it in your particular case.” With a gentle smile, Reirin added, “Since your selling points are your childlike innocence and naivety.”

“You know, as soon as the doctor takes a look at me, he’s going to find out that I didn’t eat any daffodils. Once the truth is revealed, you’re going to come out of this looking awfully shady.”

Houshun shot Reirin a glare so sharp it practically cut through the air, but the latter didn’t so much as flinch.

“I could say the same of you, considering you were snooping around another clan’s storehouse dressed in a court lady’s uniform. Which of us do you think will be in a worse position when the full story comes to light?” she said, flashing an enchanting smile.

Her eyes widening, Houshun took a step back. “You are Lady Keigetsu…right?”

The moment she was exposed to even a hint of malice, Shu Keigetsu would always fall to pieces. Houshun seemed to find it strange that she was acting so sure of herself all of a sudden.

Before she had a chance to cotton on to the swap, Reirin decided to go in for the kill. “Don’t you realize, Lady Houshun? The moment I caught you planting aconite in Kou Reirin’s garden, your fate was sealed.”

“Aconite can be used to make medicine. There’s no shame in planting it in another clan’s field.”

“Maybe not—if you had come here as a Maiden. But you went to the trouble of disguising yourself as a court lady. It’s obvious you were up to no good. So that’s a pretty weak excuse, don’t you think?”

Houshun pursed her lips in a thin line, but by the next moment, she was back to tilting her head in mockery. “Still, I can set someone else up as the mastermind. For instance, let’s say that after your falling-out with Miss Reirin, you forced me to sabotage her as payback.”

She clearly didn’t know that the two girls had already made up. Houshun put a strong emphasis on the word “falling-out.”

Taking the other girl’s silence to mean that she was on the right track, she took her time flooding “Shu Keigetsu’s” ears with her poison. “You stupid sewer rat. You’re the most reviled person in the Maiden Court, and now even Miss Reirin—your only ­patron—has turned her back on you. Under the circumstances, who do you think people are more likely to believe: you or me?”

Leelee, who had been observing the conversation from the sidelines, gave a start when she saw her mistress’s hands discreetly curl into fists.

Houshun was too focused on exploiting her enemy’s weakness to notice. “Who’s going to believe that someone as ‘meek and harmless’ as me would sabotage Miss Reirin with a poisonous flower? No one, that’s who. Even the way you looked after me just now could easily be written off as an act. Everyone knows that a villainess like you would never rush to the aid of another.”

“…”

“Still want to go to all this trouble for Miss Reirin? It’s a waste of time. No matter how much you cozy up to her at this point, she’s already washed her hands of you.”

“…”

As Leelee watched a thin smile rise to her mistress’s face, she broke into a cold sweat.

“I’m amazed she put up with you for so long. I can’t believe she ever considered someone like you a friend—someone without a scrap of beauty or talent, who leeches off her protection like a parasite only to turn around and scream at her in a fit of rage.”

The higher the corners of her mistress’s mouth curved, the harder Leelee’s heart pounded. She was tempted to warn Ran Houshun to quit while she was ahead, but she was so intimidated that she couldn’t move a muscle.

“No matter how hard you try to make it up to Miss Reirin, a broken friendship can never be repaired. Actually, it never counted as ‘friendship’ in the first place. It was just your one-sided depen—”

Houshun never got to finish the words flowing from her tongue with a steadily growing ease.

The reason being that Reirin had tugged on both of her cheeks with a bone-crunching sort of snap.

“Eep?!”

“You…big…sourpuss!”

Taking full advantage of the large mass of Keigetsu’s body, right down to the size of her palms, she yanked on Houshun’s cheeks with all her might. Though she still had a smile on her face, she was so mad that her words came out in staccato.

Hee hee. Lady Houshun’s cheeks are so soft. It feels so pleasant to twist them.

Could Houshun have said something similar to Keigetsu herself?

No, of course she had—and it was when she was talking to her outside the Ran pavilion that day. That was the whole reason she and Reirin had been dragged into that ridiculous fight.

Reirin twisted Houshun’s cheeks so hard they made a grinding sound, and only when the other girl sobbed in pain and fear did she finally let go.

“Could you kindly keep that loathsome mouth of yours shut? Don’t come crying to me if it gets you in trouble.”

“There’s no point saying that after it got her in trouble…” Leelee muttered.

Houshun, on the other hand, was in no mood to be making wisecracks. Pressing a dirt-caked hand to her swollen cheek, she slumped over on the spot. “Ow…”

“Allow me to correct you on behalf of Kou Reirin, who is not here at the moment.”

Reirin knelt in front of Houshun’s crouching form and brought her face right up to the other Maiden’s. She reached to touch the cheek Houshun wasn’t cradling, stroking it gently. Somewhere down the line, she had reverted to her normal way of speaking, but she was too livid to notice.

Now, how best to drill the facts into the squirrel’s conceited little head?

“Kou Reirin regards me as a wonderful friend. However emotional I may be, I never pretend to be something I’m not. I have a wealth of knowledge, I am a hard worker, and it’s absolutely adorable how fast I flit through facial expressions. It’s ridiculous to suggest that I do nothing but rely on her. I never run from anything, and I fight my own battles.” Narrowing her eyes, she added in a frosty voice, “I am the picture of independence. Unlike a certain someone at the Virtuous Consort’s beck and call.”

“…”

Houshun’s head snapped up.

Reirin slowly rose to her feet, washing her hands of the girl going pale before her. “I must confess that I’m disappointed in you. Wasn’t the Virtuous Consort supposed to be your ‘stupid aunt’? Now look at you, spreading lies and hurting people at her behest.”

“…”

“Back when you made a mess of the southern territory, you were arrogant and wicked, but at least you were smart. Though you left it to luck whether your plan would bear fruit, it was all your own idea. And now? You planted a toxic flower as cliché as aconite on someone else’s orders. You no longer have the brains or the ability to think for yourself.”

Houshun stared up at her, the color draining from her face.

For the finisher, Reirin made a point of calling her the word she hated the most: “You’re incompetent.”

“…”

Still crumpled on the ground, Houshun clenched a fistful of dirt in her right hand. She tried to sneer, but her mouth quivered in the process, until she ultimately bit down on her lip and hung her head.

“Then what was I supposed to do?” A lock of hair slid over the girl’s small, hunched shoulders. Leaving her tresses to fall into disarray, as if hoping that they would block her view, she looked at the ground and demanded, “What would you have me do?! Fine, you win. But that’s easy for you to say. Are you telling me that you could stand strong against this?”

Her voice cracked, and at last Houshun stuck out her left hand, which she had been hiding all this time.

“Look at what she did to me!”

With that heart-wrenching cry, she raised her hand high. The fingernails she’d concealed under her sleeve were dainty and looked like beautiful pink shells—except for one that had been torn off her little finger. Leelee gasped at the sight of her red, swollen fingertip. Reirin’s brow furrowed as well.

“The Virtuous Consort did this?”

“Yes. She called me a pompous brat, but since she couldn’t beat me in a war of words, she chose to resort to violence. She slapped me, shoved me aside. She even ordered the court ladies to hold me in place! Then she took a nail, and…!” In a departure from her earlier despondence, Houshun had launched into a frenzied tirade as she lifted her head, only to be abruptly choked with tears. “I hate it…”

She buried her face in her left hand, stripped of its nail, and her right hand, caked in mud. Lolling her head from side to side and sobbing raggedly, she was the picture of a small child.

“I hate getting hurt. I hate it. No more!” All traces of sarcasm were gone from her voice. Houshun curled up into a tiny ball and hunkered to the ground once more. “I have no choice but to listen to her! I don’t want to get hurt! And no one will protect me!”

No one was going to protect her. That cursed knowledge had been etched into Houshun’s being since she was a child.

“Listen here, Houshun. At the end of the day, you and I are nothing but a prostitute-turned-concubine and her daughter.” Houshun’s mother, who had captivated the hearts of men in the red-light district and held them prisoner forevermore, had doled out such instruction with the sort of stony expression she would never have worn in her husband’s presence. “Don’t put on airs and graces. No matter how stupid someone may be, they are still the ones holding our lives in their hands. Rinki is a man, so he can take care of himself. We women have no choice but to look small and make others adore us.”

Under her mother’s tutelage, Houshun had learned to craft her facade. She would never show her contempt. She hid her emotions and her intellect, behaving like an innocent little girl.

What was the harm in being a schemer? She could get away with it in the shadow of her sleeves, anyway.

Every time Houshun shyly hid her face, she was usually sticking out her tongue. No, eventually she had ceased to do even that, instead staring blankly at the shadows her sleeves cast on the floor. During conversations that failed to hold her interest, she would determine her answers based on whether she could make out the shadows through the gaps in her sleeves.

None of it mattered. There wasn’t a single choice she could make because she sincerely wanted to. That which was required of her was not her will but her judgment. Which option was the rational choice? Which would allow her to survive more comfortably?

Decisions she couldn’t put her heart into were dull. Of course she would grow passive after a while.

And thus had Houshun lived out her life, muttering to herself about how stupid it all was.

That is, until she had meddled in Unso’s affairs out of boredom and got her comeuppance at the hands of Kou Reirin.

“I…” Her hair plastered to her wet cheeks, she looked up unsteadily at the other Maiden. “I did try to rise up once.”

“I despise you, Lady Houshun.”

When she was forced to lift her face, more than the fact that someone hated her, her heart had pounded at the prospect of staring someone straight in the eye for the first time.

She no longer had to hide. She could lay bare her true self, the one who belittled those around her and sneakily worked the room, to another person.

It didn’t bother her that the elder Maiden looked so annoyed throughout their every interaction. Even when Houshun came at her with all the emotions and skills she had once masked, Kou Reirin never faltered. Instead of flying into a rage and getting violent, she brushed her off as easily as she would swat a gnat. It was stimulating yet safe.

Houshun had enjoyed those days in the Maiden Court. She had wished that life could go on like that forever.

In hindsight, she had gotten too carried away. She had skills, as well as an opponent to test them against. If the need arose, she could play up her innocence to the hilt and get the court ladies in her pocket. Then what was the point of continuing to cower before that shortsighted consort?

“But that was a mistake.”

Tears spilled from her childlike eyes. Houshun covered her red, swollen fingertip with her other hand for protection.

“My aunt is stupid…but that just makes it impossible to predict when she might fly off the handle. She easily turns to ­violence without regard for logic. She knows it’s the easiest way to get things done. In a way, maybe it’s rational.” Though dripping with cynicism, her voice was not as venomous as it had once been. Instead, it was almost inaudibly small. “The court ladies talked a big game about protecting me…but once Aunt Hourin raises a hand against me, they just stand there looking pale. They turn their backs on me without a second thought. And the only one who Miss Reirin bends over backwards to help is you.”

The court ladies cherished Houshun as they would a small pet. With how thoroughly she had captivated their hearts, the Maiden had been sure they would protect her from the consort’s violence, yet all they had done was tremble in fear. They stood by and let her suffer.

Kou Reirin was no better. She hadn’t shown the slightest interest in Houshun’s plight. When Houshun first warned her about poisoning her white powder with the daffodil, she had hoped in vain that the other girl would notice that something was wrong.

“No one will protect me. So…what other choice do I have?!”

She hung her head again, her tears dripping onto the dirt below.

As Houshun’s shoulders shook, Reirin took a silent step toward her. Just as she was about to reach a hand for the other girl, Leelee swiftly snatched it up from the side.

“Don’t,” said the redhead.

“Don’t what, Leelee?” her mistress asked, looking over her shoulder.

A conflicted expression on her face, Leelee said, “Don’t let her win you over so easily. You’re too quick to forgive.”

In her mind’s eye, the court lady saw an image of her past self brandishing a blade in desperation, then her mistress forgiving her and pulling her into a hug. She saw Reirin stopping Tousetsu from committing suicide and scolding her to live. She saw the Maiden accepting even Keigetsu, who had stolen her form, with a smile.

It was true that Reirin’s merciful spirit had saved her from despair. No doubt it would also take a great burden off Houshun to hear, “I promise to protect you. Now come join my side.”

But in the end, that would only put more on Reirin’s shoulders. She was the sort to push her limits for the sake of others without any regard for herself. One consequence of that reckless behavior was her recent fight with Keigetsu. Since she had been run ragged trying to mediate, Leelee had some strong opinions on the matter.

Even though Reirin had been her own salvation—no, for that very reason—she didn’t want any more people to start relying on her.

To make Lady Reirin’s plan a success, all we need to do is win Ran Houshun to our side. It’s not our job to heal her heart, Leelee concluded, suppressing the pang of sympathy she felt at seeing the nasty wound.

“Think about it, milady. She may have had her reasons, but she brought down a tent and tried to kill you. You can’t let her get away with that,” she said earnestly.

A blank look came to her mistress’s freckled face before she cracked a smile. “Not to worry.” With a serene expression, she turned back to Houshun and said, “I was planning to tell Lady Houshun to get up.”

Her voice was soft but stern. Houshun looked up in surprise. “What…?”

This time, Reirin gazed down at the other girl without stooping to her level. “No one will protect you. It’s a hard thing to accept. But you are also correct. You are the only one who can protect yourself. One’s suffering is something that must be borne by oneself.” Her eyes narrowed. “If there are but two exceptions, only subjects who have crowned a ruler or one who has made a sincere effort to forge a friendship may unburden their pain to another. But you are a Maiden, not my subject. You are my foe, not my friend.”

Reirin wasn’t about to forgive Houshun for endangering the denizens of the southern territory and driving Keigetsu into a corner all “out of boredom.”

“Ha ha… So I deserve to suffer?”

At this point, Houshun was torn between smiling and crying.

Reirin declined to answer her, instead turning her gaze to the grass growing around them. “The way I see it…”

The vegetables and flowers planted in the field were all meticulously nurtured, but compared to the height of summer, they inevitably looked like they were wilting in the cold. Some had crumbled under the frost. Others were stuck as seedlings or bulbs, waiting out the winter.

It was impossible for the entire field to remain intact. The weakest plants would be the first to wither and die.

“When exposed to the harsh cold of winter, the most vulnerable plants are the first to perish. The biting winds do not come for the well-insulated flowers first. They begin by killing the thin, undernourished leaves exposed to the elements.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said that the Virtuous Consort is quick to resort to ­violence. Choosing to do harm is second nature to her,” Reirin said quietly. “Then how do you believe she grew so comfortable with it in the first place?”

Houshun’s eyes went wide. “Huh…?”

“Do you think that when a lowlife like her resolves to hurt someone, she goes after an authority figure like a Maiden first? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that she started out beating those even more powerless than yourself, who have nowhere to run?” The other girl’s melancholy gaze landed on a listlessly drooping weed. “If the Maiden falls victim to the malice of one, I imagine her retainers have already suffered the misfortune of ten. Have you noticed anything unusual about your court ladies? Did any of them seem especially frightened?”

At her question, numerous scenes flooded Houshun’s mind.

The court ladies had scrambled to press their foreheads to the floor whenever the Virtuous Consort appeared on the scene. She had always assumed it was a show of modesty, but it was hardly necessary to kowtow in the presence of their own clan’s consort.

When they rushed over to Houshun after she was hit, they had kept their voices down. It was almost as if they were afraid their criticism of the consort would be overheard.

The hands in which they’d held their handkerchiefs had trembled. Their faces had been ashen as they watched the ­violence from the sidelines.

“We all consider your carefree innocence to be an irreplaceable treasure.”

“Your smile is our sole source of comfort.”

The court ladies had adored the helpless and harmless Maiden. They had claimed that seeing her smile was their sole comfort. Did that mean the women’s lives were so full of hardship that something so trivial could bring them joy?

Houshun’s face went paler still. “No way…”

“That time under the pavilion when you doused yourself with ash from the incense burner, and again just a few minutes ago, your indigo blues took exceptional care of you. It was almost like an overprotective mother sheltering her innocent child.” Reirin turned to face the Ran Maiden again. “Do you think, perhaps, the Virtuous Consort has been tormenting them at her whim, and they endeavored to keep you from finding out?”

The question sounded to Houshun like this: Your court ladies didn’t turn their backs on you. Weren’t you the first to leave them out to dry?

“Oh…”

She felt a chill settle over her head.

“It’s much easier to leave scratches with my nail guards.”

The Virtuous Consort knew that it was best to wear nail guards when slapping someone, and she was aware that a nail was the easiest way to remove a fingernail.

How on earth could she have known that?

“Oh, but I’d better avoid her face.”

She had specified that she had better avoid Houshun’s face. Because she held respectable status as a Maiden.

But what of the court ladies she could execute at will? What if the Ran Palace’s high turnover rate was not due to their fickle nature but rather a product of abuse?

Houshun’s relentless stream of tears dried up in an instant. What had stopped them was a mix of astonishment and shame.

Yes. To her own surprise, Houshun felt ashamed. Ashamed that she hadn’t understood a single thing. Ashamed that her court ladies—whom she had thought of as mere pawns—were far more thoughtful, loving, and devoted than she could ever hope to be.

“I do feel bad that your nail was torn off. If you were either my subject or my friend, I would seek revenge on the Virtuous Consort at once.”

The girl’s freckled face tilted invitingly to one side. The look in her eyes urged Houshun to rise, and the younger Maiden gazed up at her in rapture.

“But you are not my subject. You are a Maiden. So you must rise to your feet. You must protect those weaker than yourself.”

The way her lips moved was awfully well defined and decisive.

“But…” Houshun mumbled as she stared at the girl’s face. “What am I supposed to do?”

Her voice sounded lost even to her own ears. She really didn’t know the answer. She used to consider her sharp wit and silver tongue to be her greatest weapons, but they had been easily shattered by violence. Now she was suddenly being told to stand, but after all the time she had spent crouching down and relying on verbal attacks, she had no idea what to use as a foothold.

“Both the court ladies and I are powerless before the Virtuous Consort.”

“Perhaps so.”

The girl with the Shu Maiden’s face nodded her head. Then, for whatever reason, she reached for a patch of weeds near Houshun and ripped the grass from the earth. She clenched her fist around the dark-green tuft, grabbing the Ran Maiden’s arm with her free hand.

Instinctively, Houshun lifted her sleeves to cover her face. It wasn’t to hide her expression—it was because she was terrified. Ever since she had been stripped of her fingernail, it was a struggle to watch anyone reach a hand toward her.

Is she going to hit me?!

She was forced to her feet. Houshun arched her back to ­escape, but when she felt a chill on the hand of her seized arm, she angled her head to see what it was.

And what should she find but the juice of kneaded mugwort dripping onto her red, swollen pinky.

“Fingernails regrow within a month or so. If you keep the affected area clean, the pain will subside soon enough. The reason it’s still swollen is because the wound is infected. I shall teach you how to treat it with fresh water, alcohol, and herbs.”

With a comment that first aid was the best place to start, the girl carefully pressed the squashed mugwort to Houshun’s finger, then showed her how to lightly apply pressure with her other hand.

“Topical medicines are good for clearing up an infection, but a truly dire situation will necessitate a decoction. This case calls for bellflower, dried bitter orange, and peony. I have all three on hand, so I will share my supply with you.”

“…”

The juice of the mugwort slowly oozed over Houshun’s burning hot fingertip.

A strained voice rushed from the little girl’s lips. “You’re going to protect me?” she asked, leaning forward despite herself.

“No,” the other Maiden replied firmly. “Someone who would hurt my loved ones without so much as an apology is no friend of mine. I will not protect you.”

Her impassive response came as enough of a shock to Houshun to make her flinch. “Then why?” she mumbled, ducking her head, at which her benefactor grabbed her by the cheeks and forced her to look up.

“I am healing your wounds because I want you to learn how to heal your court ladies’ wounds.”

“Ah…!”

“Stand, Maiden Ran Houshun.”

This girl was looking at Houshun. Steadily, head-on.

“This is no time to break down and cry that no one will protect you. You must protect your court ladies as their Maiden. You are a woman destined to stand by the emperor’s side.”

Her unquestioning faith in Houshun’s abilities, as strict as it was, inspired the girl to summon her courage. Blood rushed to her limp legs, and before she knew it, she was standing on her own two feet.

Houshun stared back at the other Maiden, devouring every detail.

“I know all too well the suffering that pain brings. However, if you can stand strong and care for your retainers, they will surely come to your aid. Even if you are all individually powerless, you can fight back with the power of numbers on your side.”

She peered into the “Shu Maiden’s” pair of upturned eyes, neither overly large nor small, as eagerly as if she were studying a jewel.

“A Maiden as intelligent as yourself ought to be capable of that.”

That was the first genuine praise she had ever received from another person. It wasn’t a compliment of her facade, like innocent, adorable, or virtuous. Nor was it a hostile accusation, like blackhearted, sneaky, or cunning.

Her words were heartening, highlighting Houshun’s weakness while still believing in the skills that lay dormant within her.

Intelligent.

That simple descriptor moved Houshun to an almost curious degree.

“And having the skills to assume control over your court ladies makes you an invaluable asset. You are neither my subject nor my friend…but if you can prove yourself useful, I would be willing to ally with you for a time.”

She wouldn’t protect her.

But she would be her ally.

The Ran Maiden felt her withered, shriveling heart recenter itself at the declaration. Her nose burned, and tears welled in her eyes for a very different reason than before.

It was the first time anyone had recognized her as an equal. The older girl wasn’t interested in petting her like a small animal or crushing her underfoot like an insect crawling on the ground. She was offering Houshun a hand on even footing.

Perhaps that was even better than being protected.

“I’m seeking revenge on the Virtuous Consort myself. As much as I detest you, I need your help to get it done. Come, Lady Houshun. Join my cause. Surely you can see what the wisest choice is here, yes?”

Amid the process of treating Houshun’s wound, the pair had inadvertently found themselves clasping hands. Across from where the Ran Maiden’s sleeves would have been, had they not been pushed aside, the taller girl stared at her unflinchingly.

“Finish her, Lady Houshun.”

As the girl’s wicked smile filled her tear-blurred vision, Houshun abruptly forgot to breathe.

“Inept as I still am, I’m a villainess.”

She had a hunch that she’d seen another girl smile the same way before.

“I will crush you on my own terms. Whether that means going against the order of things or acting on my emotions, I’ll be sure to see it done.”

It was the girl who, despite looking like she wouldn’t hurt a fly, would stop at nothing when it came to revenge.

“I despise you, Lady Houshun.”

It was the girl who had forced Houshun, who had always kept her true self concealed, to look up and step into her direct line of sight.

It was the girl who quietly terrorized others with eyes like gems and a smile like a celestial maiden.

Kou Reirin.

“Heh…”

In a single breath, Houshun felt the grains of doubt that had subconsciously amassed inside her penetrated by the thread of truth. A chuckle escaped her lips before she could stop it.

“Heh… Heh heh heh…”

Why hadn’t she noticed sooner? Only now did Houshun realize the full extent to which she had lost perspective, too absorbed in her own tragedy.

Shu Keigetsu had no knowledge of medicinal herbs. She wasn’t this polite. She didn’t weave words with such elegance.

Houshun couldn’t believe that she, who was supposed to be more attuned to language than anyone else, hadn’t even noticed that something was wrong!

This is crazy. Did they swap bodies? What’s going on? How many times can one girl exceed my every expectation?

Even she wasn’t sure why she was laughing. At first she’d ­assumed it was a mocking snicker, but she felt far too amused for that to be the case. It had to have been at least half a month since she had laughed from the heart like this.

In that moment, Houshun felt both excitement and delight.

“Lady Houshun?” the other Maiden prompted, withdrawing her hand as Houshun suddenly burst into giggles.

There it was! That face that, for all its decorum, made her look like a farmer discovering an aphid on one of his crops!

Houshun threw back her head, laughing harder than ever. “Ha ha ha ha ha!”

She had no idea what to make of any of it. Why had Kou Reirin and Shu Keigetsu switched bodies? How had she foreseen the Virtuous Consort’s schemes and gotten the drop on her? Why did this girl always, always show up when Houshun was hanging her head and force her to lift her face?

“Oh dear… I’m afraid she’s lost it. Just how much damage has that awful consort done to her?”

“She was clearly so overwhelmed by your presence that she went mad!”

The Maiden pressed a hand to her cheek—yes, there was that familiar gesture—while her redheaded court lady cast a helpless glance to the sky. It was chaos.

Under normal circumstances, Houshun would have found such an unrealistic and utterly illogical scenario anathema, but right then, the absurdity of it all struck her as absolutely hilarious.

Laughing until tears of mirth formed in her eyes, she at last gasped out the words: “Ha ha ha… Sure… Sure thing…”

“Pardon?”

Houshun caught her breath long enough to succinctly reply, “I’ll do it. Let’s team up.”

Perhaps startled by the abruptness of her decision, the other girl’s eyes went wide. This time, Houshun stepped forward to bridge the gap between them.

“I mean, you already caught me planting aconite. What other options do I have left? My only choice is to betray Aunt Hourin.”

Like a leaf tickled by the winds, the flutter of her heart carried equal parts joy and trepidation. Her rational mind told her to ask what this team-up entailed, to find out what the other Maiden was truly after, but Houshun brushed those thoughts aside.

There was no point. This Maiden always upended even her most minute predictions. Logic was useless before her.

Leaving aside all those trivial considerations, Houshun’s entire being yearned to form a common front with Kou Reirin. Before she even had to think about it, she knew that taking her hand was the right thing to do.

“Let’s join forces,” she repeated, extending a hand.

She spoke not in the timid manner of a small animal but with a decisiveness befitting a Maiden. She looked her ally straight in the eye, making her intentions clear.

Houshun was done curling up like a powerless insect. A certain someone had already shoved her sleeves aside and forced her to lift her gaze.

“My, it didn’t take long for you to snap out of your funk.”

“True.”

With a touch of apprehension, the other Maiden held out her hand in return, and Houshun gave it a firm squeeze.

Then, after taking a deep breath, she smiled and asked, “So what role are you expecting me to play in all of this, Miss Reirin?”

“Oh, well—”

Her reaction was truly a sight to behold. The girl with Shu Keigetsu’s face opened her mouth to answer without hesitation, then went white as a ghost a moment later.

“…Huh? Wh-what are you talking about?”

Only moments ago, she had exuded all the dignity of an empress, but now she was caught completely off guard, a hitch in her voice.

“Please, Lady Houshun. Don’t be stupid. Have you lost a few of your marbles? Well, with all the pressure you’re under, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Her offended snort and her choice of words were indeed a faithful reproduction of Shu Keigetsu, but it was too little, too late.

“Oh? I’m stupid, am I? I thought you just said I was intelligent.”

“You were hearing things. Must have been the wind.”

“You know, Miss Reirin, you may be a quick thinker, but between the leek thing earlier and the wind thing now, you come up with some pretty lame excuses.”

“Excuse me?”

While her mistress scowled at the insult, the redheaded court lady looked torn between panicking and agreeing with Houshun.

“Forget it. You can try to cover it up all you want, but I’m ­already convinced. Since we’re working together now, you’re ­going to explain everything to me, right?”

Instead of hiding her face, the Ran Maiden flung open her sleeves and threw herself at Reirin in a hug.

Yes. Houshun was sure of it. The girl before her was Kou Reirin. Beautiful, stern, and merciless to her enemies—but the one and only person who, when all was said and done, would never turn her back on her.

The finger missing its nail still throbbed, but thanks to the mugwort, she could have sworn that the swelling was starting to go down.

“It’s not for me to decide exactly how much I tell you…but for starters, I’d like you to provide me with some timber without the Virtuous Consort knowing.”

The freckled Maiden—Kou Reirin—attempted to peel off her new attachment, looking like she had swallowed about a hundred lemons.

Houshun pulled away reluctantly, then gave a devious tilt of her head. “Timber, you say?”

“Yes. We’re going to need fuel. I’d also like to use it for the mold and various other purposes.” Reirin began listing the things she would require, counting them off on her fingers. “We need Lady Keigetsu of the Shu to provide fire. We need Lady Kasui of the Gen to provide plenty of water and gold dust. We need Lady Seika of the Kin, with her mastery of the arts, to help with the design. I, the Kou Maiden, will provide quality soil.”

“What exactly are you planning to do?” asked Houshun, genuinely curious.

“On the occasion of the final trial—His Majesty’s birthday—I propose that instead of competing, we Maidens collaborate and present him with a joint gift.”

The same moment she broke into a smile, the court ladies came running back with washbasins and water in hand.