This volume covers the part where after Shuurei passes the exam, she works in the palace, while there is some kind of conspiracy involving a fake ring.

This starts off with Sou Taifu reminiscing about Sa Enjun, and how he would go around saying that he supported the king to gain fame/power etc, but in reality, how he actually cared about the nation and the people, and it ends with Shou Taishi and Sou Taifu drinking, and Sou Taifu grabbing the jar (he distracts Shou by going “look, there’s Hyou Eiki!”) which turns out to contain the ring, which Shou Taishi has used to house the ghost of Sa Enjun. Amusingly Sou Taifu isn’t even shocked that Sa Enjun has returned as a ghost. Instead he just asks why he has returned to his youthful appearance. XD

Anyway, things continue much like they do in the anime, except in the conversation between Reishin and Ryuuki, there is more exposition. I tend to think that Reishin and Kourou’s characters are more fleshed out in the novel, because we get the backstory in narration as opposed to dialogue. (Because the only people who know the story are the three brothers, so they would feel no need to recap it to each other, especially because Reishin and Kourou are both pretty touchy about it. To recap: Their dad thought that Shouka was unsuitable for the clan leadership, so at a clan meeting where Reishin wasn’t there, Kourou and the rest of the clan chose to exile Shouka. Shouka didn’t mind this, but Reishin was enraged, and accepting the clan leadership against his will (Shouka asked him to), followed Shouka to Kiyou, where he became an official, despite not really having much of a passion for governing the country, nor loyalty to the emperor (in the conversation between him and Ryuuki, they discuss how Reishin will not swear loyalty to Ryuuki, but that Ryuuki shouldn’t really take this as an insult, since Reishin also was not really a supporter of the previous emperor either, and he was esteemed as a wise emperor). He detests the clan so much that he wished to destroy it.

As for Kourou, he has a strong sense of pride as a member of the clan, and stays in Kou Province and is the de facto leader of the clan. Also, paradoxically, he resents Shouka for not being suitable material as clan leader (too nice, spends all his time reading, lives in run-down house, lacks ambition), while respecting Reishin (because Reishin has obvious ability) and backing him as clan leader even if Reishin apparently doesn’t really support the clan (to the extent that Shouka speculates the reason Reishin didn’t have any children was not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to, as a kind of revenge). Reishin, on the other hand, adores Shouka and seems to dislike Kourou, and doesn’t want him near his house. Despite this, Reishin and Kourou are quite similar in many ways (am not sure if it is the narrator saying this or Shouka who was thinking this), except they are 180 degrees opposite on whether Shouka is a respectable person or not (and also, you have to feel sorry for Kurou in that all the real responsibility for running the clan falls on him), and in essence, the three brothers are alike (this is what Shouka thinks, I think) in that they can, if they decide to, become horrifyingly cruel, cutting down everything for the things important to them, controlling their feelings perfectly. Well, Shouka notes that he even fooled his youngest brother and his parents, meaning that Reishin is the only one of the family who knows he is the Black Wolf. Then he says that Kurou is actually most honestly nice one, and that they shouldn’t have left the administration of the clan to him because he was too kind.

Also, Kurou picked up Eigetsu when he noticed him drunk and passed out on the road, before Shuurei found him, and in return for putting him up, he had Eigetsu tell him about Shuurei (and Eigetsu also gave him the box containing the fake ring). Anyway, it is also mentioned that Kurou has children, but despite this, as in the anime, he wants Kouyuu to marry Shuurei and take the clan leadership, because he believes it would be the best thing for the clan.

Another conversation which I don’t recall from the anime: Kouyuu, Shuuei, and Ryuuki are discussing how Seiran in reaction to the kidnapping finally decided to enter the Urin army, and Ryuuki once again says he would have preferred to assist Prince Seien. But Kouyuu criticizes his fantasizing and says that he (Kouyuu) never knew Seien, thus he doesn’t regret his absence, and the king he serves is Ryuuki.

Other notes: How Shuurei gets into the palace is slightly different, and she also talks to the court about the suffering endured by the people during the war for the imperial succession. Also, the bad guy was trying to poison Eigetsu and Shuurei, but Eigetsu saw this and prevented it. I can’t remember if this was in the second novel or this one, but I think it is implied that Ran Shuuei was 2nd after Kouyuu. Also, Tei Yuushun beat Kou Kijin and Reishin to be Jougen in their year. (Tei Yuushun volunteered to be sent to Sa Province, where he has been for the last ten years.) BTW, I also get the impression that the imperial examinations are filled with a lot of irrelevant stuff, which is why Ensei got such a bad score, even though he had tons of practical experience.

Anyway, I think this novel is kind of weak because the villain is just some venal minor guy, who was under surveillance by Ryuuki and Ran Shuuei anyhow, and Kurou also decides to make an example of him. So, because a lot of the real reasons behind the plot are not known to Shuurei, this is in some ways a very expository story. Interestingly, in the atogaki, the author says that she was thinking of making the subtitle “Fear! The Kou family attacks!” XD The Kou family are indeed quite fearsome, even though they have an irritating habit about not telling each other things. (”Adoptive dad, do you really love me? Or did you just pick me up on a capricious whim?” “Look, of course I do! It’s all there if you analyze the name I gave you like a code. See, it’s my favorite tree, although no one knows that it’s my favorite tree because I like to keep my likes and dislikes secret, and your given name is an expression of my wish that you live freely!” “Shuurei, I AM your uncle!” “Actually, younger brother, I was not just sitting around doing nothing. It was kind of hard work assassinating people and running the Wolves of the Wind, not to mention rescuing and raising Prince Seien and educating the emperor.” Kurou is indeed the most straight-foward.) It’s kind of hard for me to understand what she’s saying, but I think she said that in this book, the shadow leads were Kouyuu and the Kou family, and that many people felt the Kou family had rather taken over the plot, to which she says that since the storyline is moving to Sa province, the young people will have more airtime. XD :D) She also says that people found Kouyuu’s name difficult to read. Since I can’t tell the difference between obscure and simply infrequent kanji, I didn’t find his name particularly bizarre, so it’s interesting to see that people find it hard to read in Japanese.

She also says that in this novel, you can see more of Ryuuki’s development. Indeed, I think this comes through more strongly in the novel than it does in the anime, or maybe you have to notice it more. He is actively doing a lot of stuff on his own, with Kouyuu and Shuuei assisting him. Shuurei also notes that he seems much more adult (at one point she notes that he *is* indeed three years older than her) and more imperial.

tags>>saiunkoku