Also from book 12

“…Who are you?”
“This is the first time you have ever laid eyes on me. I am Hyou Ruka, elder sister of the head of the Hyou clan, Hyou Riou.”

A cruel smile played across Shusui’s lips. It was a sneer which would never have appeared on Shusui’s face.

“I see. Certainly, it as Riou said. You are completely different from the previous king. The child of that demonic man has an unexpectedly gentle gaze. ”

Ruka opened the door of the cell, then glided inside. With white fingertips, she lightly raised Ryuuki’s jaw.

“Ho, ho. Amazingly that man left the world early in such a way. How unexpected.”
“Are you talking about… my father?”
“And now, I didn’t expect you to come here at all, so I’ve come to see you.”
Ruka did not pay the slightest bit of attention to Ryuuki’s responses.
“Though I think you are a king more easy to manage than Seien.”
“Elder brother….?”
“So, what about leaving the throne?”

Ruka declared this from vermillion lips, as if singing.

“With a weak attitude like yours, there’s no way you can follow in that man’s footsteps. It’s just hard for you. From the beginning, it was not as if you wanted to do so.”
The light of the lamp wavered.
Within Ryuuki’s head, there was a fog-like vagueness.
“You don’t need to worry. You can be properly replaced.”
“Replaced….”

“Heh. Didn’t Uu Uu tell you? They usually pass this down at the time of the succession. Did you appear to be that unreliable? The relationship between the imperial house and the Hyou clan is like that of the front and reverse of a coin. Without either, the other shall perish. There is a reason the bloodline of King Sougen has continued for so long.”

Ruka did not at all have the air of giving a kindly explanation.

“Since that man killed them right and left, they have become rather few in number. Those who are qualified to be king other than you, that is. So, if you throw away the throne, it’s not really that much of a problem. —I’ve been watching. Wasn’t it so hard for you that you were in tears?”

“…..”

“You are not king. Up till now, you have done nothing. You must recognize it yourself. You are not king. Taking up politics for the sake of one woman is unworthy of a king. Because of this, public opinion will turn against you. Until you were alone, you couldn’t see a thing. That’s natural. When the elder princes all died, you didn’t try to do anything. Even when you succeeded to the throne, you shut yourself in the Inner Palace. And for these two years, for the sake of a woman, you have only played at being king.”

Ryuuki bit his lips…he could not deny this. Ryuuki had just spent these last two years becoming the king Shuurei desired.

At this honest response, Ruka laughed, like a bell ringing.

“What kind of king do you aim to be? Don’t say something like “a good king.” That will just make me laugh. That is what a single woman wanted of you, not what you wanted. And besides, what is a good king? Isn’t that something like grasping at a cloud? What kind of king do you yourself aim to be?”

“I…” [note that he said watashi, and not yo here.]

“You run and run and run. Until you have come to a place like this. Truly foolish. What an idiot. So much so, it’s adorable. Were I young, I wouldn’t mind making you one of my lovers. I would treat you well. If this body is all right, we could share a bed as well.”

Then, she lovingly stroked Ryuuki’s pale cheek.

“You rule for the sake of a woman. You prepared official positions for the sake of a woman. You won’t marry, for the sake of a woman. So what’s next? Really, you put your officials and the people through a lot of trouble. Even though Ou Ki has scolded you many times, up till this moment it hasn’t bothered you. I feel sorry for Uu Uu. Giving his all, he’s running around every day, so that your place as king can quickly be confirmed, but you brush him off. Foolish ministers for a foolish king. If there is no substance in them, “flowers” are not at all useful. –If that woman is so wonderful, then step down from the throne and be with her. If you have come this far for the woman, she probably will not refuse you. Then she can take care of you after that. ”

She laughed brightly. Her laughter was dizzying.

“—Now, you can say you wish to step down. After—-someone will succeed you. Foolish child, while possessing the throne, you have not even tried once to be king. Just accepting what there was as sufficient, the things given to you as they were given. Only sitting on the throne, day by day doing deskwork out of inertia. When you don’t fill empty positions, the ministers will begin to crumple. The talented veterans shall age, and finally pass away. After that, what will you do? You haven’t tried to groom officials. You haven’t put in the labor to gain the hearts and minds of the officials. You cannot take back these past two years of inaction. You are unsuited for the throne. There are others more suited for it. The Hyou clan does not recognize you. And it’s not only the Hyou clan.”

Ryuuki’s face rumpled. The woman’s fingertips sweetly ran along Ryuuki’s neck.

“Truly, you’re adorable. Now, you can say yes. Things will become easier. Let’s end it at that. Right now, you can cede the country without involving others.”

“…No.”

The woman with Shusui’s face furrowed her delicate brows.

“…What?”
“We said no. We will not throw away the throne. We have decided not to.”

Because he should not have run away, he had run away.
He did not want to know that he could not answer expectations.

“As king, or as Shi Ryuuki?”

He had been unable to answer that question.
And that was incredibly painful.

….He now understood.

Why was it so painful? Why had he found it so painful that he had up till now wanted to run away? When he was a prince, he had thought that he didn’t want to be king. Only because Souka had begged him to ascend to the throne, had he agreed to the succession. And after that, using the pretext of waiting for his elder brother, he had not taken up rulership. Then, he met Shuurei, and thought that for Shuurei’s sake, he would become king. When Shuuei and Kouyuu were no longer by his side, he was alone and lost his confidence. Up till now, his resolve had been “because the two of them said it was good,” so what was at the bottom of Ryuuki’s firm principles as king, was not actually at all resolution. That was why he had easily wavered.

That was to be expected. Ryuuki was not king. He was not at all the king.

Realizing that he was no longer king, he became anxious, impatient, pained to the point his breathing was strained. He was ashamed at his inability to answer Riou’s question. But the more he ran away from the throne, the more painful it was.

Ryuuki had wanted to be king.

Not for Shuurei’s sake, not for Shouka’s, neither because he had been reluctantly made so by Shou Taishi, but from the beginning, Ryuuki had thought he wanted to be king. Not for anyone else’s sake, but for his own.

That was why, since he was not, hating his pitifulness, hating his uselessness, his inability to live up to expectations, he had come face to face with his immaturity up till now, and denied his own self.

Only one who is king may arrive at the shrine of Houkyouzan [Houkyouzan: Mountain of the Jewel Mirror.]

It was not that he had, alone, slipped away from the boat and patiently climbed Houkyouzan because he really believed in those words. Neither was it that he wanted evidence that he really was king. He only wished to confirm his desire, coming from the depths of his heart, that he wished to become a true king.

That even if alone, with no one else around him, that he would continue to wish this.

It was late, perhaps. But Ryuuki was still king. At the very least, as long as he was king, he would work hard, and he would not step down of his own will. Even if he was left all alone.

“We are king. Until the last, I will not throw away this self. I shall not become solely Shi Ryuuki.”

As king, he would get Shuuei, and return to the capital. He would return to Yuushun, who was patiently waiting for him, and to Seiran. He would no longer flee. He would not take refuge, relying on the personal name of Shi Ryuuki. Ryuuki was Ryuuki, but at the same time, he was king, and would never throw away this other self.

Ryuuki would no longer say that he did not want to be king.

“We are the king. We will no longer run away. Until the end of our life, we will continue to be king.”

“—Well said, your majesty.”

There was an unexpected voice on the other side of the bars.

Ruka turned, as if also surprised.

Standing over there—was Shuuei, grinning with satisfaction.

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