Ryuuki closed his eyes, and to gather his thoughts, started to talk to Riou.

“Riou… what if I refuse the Ran princess?”

“The hearts of the officials will grow distant. The Ran clan, which has persisted in remaining silent up till now, has finally made a move. It will look like you have spurned the offer of the Ran clan, which rarely if ever negotiates. ”

“—But we proclaimed we would be monogamous.”

“So there is no more difficult performance than marrying the daughter of the Ran clan as your sole bride? The thing is that you are the only one who is waiting and not getting married. This is an ideal marriage. ”

“Besides, even if she were to enter the Inner Palace, that’s in no way a guarantee that the Ran officials will return.”

“That’s correct. The Ran house has simply sent the princess. If you refuse, your stock will greatly fall, and if you accept her, the Ran clan doesn’t really need to do anything. Although the officials unreasonably have all these strange expectations, if you refuse, these hopes will automatically convert into despair. Such are their measures. In the end, whatever you do, the Ran clan won’t be harmed. It’s an unscrupulous way of doing things, characteristic of the Ran clan.”

“~~~~~argh”

Riou laid the documents he had finished looking at on the desk.

He looked at Ryuuki, who was clutching his head, and sighed.
“I don’t really understand, but is love such an important thing?”

“It is important. Hugely important. The most important thing in the world.”

“I know a family that, because of this love, is forever circling around in a ring of misfortune. They make both themselves and others unhappy, and see no others but their beloveds. They don’t care what becomes of their own children. It doesn’t even matter to them that their children love them, they’ll calmly make tools of them, use them, and throw them away. And all of that is done because of love. If you love, is everything permitted? I can’t believe that love is the most important thing in the world. I don’t think that Kou Shuurei would be happy if you brought misfortune to the people you must rule, all for the sake of love.”

He remembered how Shuurei had indeed ridden to Korin Village without bringing along a single soldier.

“Also, Kou Shuurei has offered up to you her entire life. I don’t see anything other than that. All of this excess is for your sake. Probably more than being one of your many concubines, she only wishes to be an irreplaceable comrade, I think. Your work hasn’t changed. Even if the Seven Clans cast you aside, even if there is no one around you, you can’t ever change jobs. Your enemies are many. She has chosen, rather than consoling you by playing the erhu in your bedchamber, to become your ally, even if there are enemies all around you, and in the end you are left all alone. You can’t be satisfied by that alone? Aren’t you too used to receiving all kinds of things from that woman? Everyone has limits. If you ask for too much, you’ll crush her.”

Ryuuki lost his voice. There was nothing, nothing he could say in response to that.

“….Well, to both the noble faction and the Hyou clan, seeing the Ran clan rejected will only be amusing. The Sendoukyou [my note: Dept. of the Cave of the Immortals, the bureau Riou is in charge of] has looked over everything. After that, please make a decision.”

What a weird conversation this has ended up being, thought Riou, as he looked back, astonished, on his own actions.

(What is love…. Am I stupid or something?)

When Riou left the room, Yuushun was standing there. He was smiling somewhat uncomfortably, but his eyes were serious.

“You said too much, Riou-kun.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Then let me borrow your words. If you’re not wrong, is saying anything permitted?”

Riou was silent, then scratched his head, ruffling his hair.

“Really? That’s true. Even though you’re around fifty years younger than my father, you seem to be the elder one.”

“…. Riou-kun, don’t ever say that to a woman.”

As if remembering something, Yuushun took a small pouch out of his pocket.

“Ah, that’s right, this is a gift to you from my wife. It’s a ring of wisdom specially made by her. She said that you should split your work equally with Uu Uu-dono, and that children should play often and rest often. That’s the duty of children. ”

“Am I going to push the work onto that pint-sized old man, who looks like he might drop dead tomorrow?”

Yuushun simply laughed at the “pint-sized old man” part. Recently, the sight of Riou carrying around Uu Uu on his back had become one of the charming spectacles of the court. Although Uu-sama was always running around energetically, like a little animal, from Riou’s perspective he appeared to be a lantern in the wind. Since then, the figure of Riou walking here and there carrying around Uu-sama could often be seen, and the heart-warmingness quotient of the palace had gone up fifty-percent.

“Although my father appears to be in his twenties, he’s actually over eighty. Just like a lazy person who doesn’t move, or a snail, he sleeps a lot. Isn’t that how an old person is? Uu Uu works too much for his age.”

….How could he appear to be only in his twenties, thought Yuushun. Was he only a lazy person?

“Next time please come and visit my office. I have some delicious candy there.”

Riou was astonished. The strange king had a strange prime minister. Suddenly, he felt somewhat irritated. Why did everyone treat him like this, with things like candy? While knowing why he had come to court.

“After that please let Uu Uu-dono walk sometimes.”

Riou looked at the back of Yuushun, who with a wave of his hand, had taken his cane and was moving towards the king’s room.

(Come to think about it, there are many mysteries about him, from where he came from, until he entered the court.)

Riou turned to go–and his gaze fell upon the small pouch in his hand. Then he turned back.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes?”

“If you stand around too much, you really will be killed. Unlike the king, you can be replaced.”

“Oh, has the shadow of death come out?”

Riou —without thinking, gulped. Yuushun raised his brows a bit. But he did only that. Then, putting an index finger to his lips, he smiled.

“Human beings will all die sometime. That can be sooner or later, in reality the difference is not really that great.”

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