Context: Shuuei comes home and meets Gyokuka.

Ryuuren, saying something of unclear meaning like “the great outdoors are calling my flute,” had heartlessly run off into the mountains. Never before had Shuuei harbored such murderous intent towards his brother.

(Just you wait, Ryuuren. I’ll expose this and that about you to Shuurei-dono and Eigetsu-kun—)

In that manor, there were very few servants, as little as possible. Especially after Gyokuka had become Setsuna’s wife, it was about at the level of having an old lady from around the area come once every three days, and to earn a bit of spending money she would help with the cleaning. Gyokuka had energetically learned everything, and now could do most of it.
His three elder brothers did not really like to come in contact with people. Gyokuka had probably observed that.

(…Come to think of it, she’s a rational and active person as well.)

Although she had been told by the lady-in-waiting not to go outside because she would get more freckles, saying “What should I do if I don’t go out in such fine weather? If you’re going to tell me not to go outside, give me a more satisfactory reason,” she unhesitatingly slipped out through the window. Flustered, Shuuei pursued her, but she grabbed his hand, saying “come along as my bodyguard,” and made him an accomplice. “Although I worry about freckles, there’s no helping it, because I like Mr. Sun more.” Shuuei had fallen in love with this carefree, smiling older girl.

The smell of just cooked food floating around, fresh flowers in vases, the air of a summer morning in a silent wood, songs of the far off birds—everything in the building was just as it had been when he was a child.

Shuuei let go of the breath he had been holding. His heart had calmed, like a lull in a storm.

“Shuuei-san, I’ve made you breakfast. Please have some.”

When Gyokuka came with the dishes, Shuuei felt that almost as if it were not true that it had been years since he had met with his sister-in-law. His heart was still slightly pounding, but not as much as he thought it would.

There were well-turned out yellow tamago-yaki on one of the plates. Shuuei smiled without thinking.

“Are these sweet ones? Or are they the ones that aren’t sweet?”
“…They’re sweet! On this alone, I won’t yield no matter what Setsuna-san says.”

Formerly, Setsuna had said something like “Sweet tamago-yaki are not tamago-yaki,” and so the tamago-yaki war had broken out. They were just tamago-yaki, yet still, they were tamago-yaki. Gyokukan stubbornly stuck to making sweet tamago-yaki. Every time sweet tamago-yaki came out, Shuuei’s heart pounded. His eldest brother, who should have been gentle as usual, would glare coldly at Gyokuka, but the moment when Gyokuka would return it with a grin was more frightening than anything.

(…..? come to think of it, Yuki-aniue, more than being sweet to aneue, instead rather showed his true colors.)

“But, on Setsuna-san and the others’s birthday alone, I make non-sweet tamago-yaki.”
Shuuei was surprised. For her to take even one step back like this, what had happened? Gyokuka muttered.

“Because Setsuna unpleasantly insinuated ‘It’s because you continue to obstinately make sweet tamago-yaki that Shuuei hasn’t returned for years’”
“Huh? Wh What a bald faced lie!!”

Even as a pretext that was far too low level.

“Setsuna-san has always been like this. Although he’s kind to Shuuei-san, he’s mean to me.”
“Eeeeh? Is that so?”

They were supposed to have had a destined meeting, then were inseparably close, like the two wings of a bird or the intertwined branches of a tree.

(What?!)

“Before, didn’t Shuuei-san praise me by saying ‘you’re like a fluffy tamago-yaki’?”

Shuuei blushed. Had she really remembered that—

“Ah, but probably Yuki-aniue said the same—”

“Although Setsuna-san used the same words, it was with a sneer that he said ‘this time father’s lover is a mediocre woman like a tamago-yaki.’ Harsh, really harsh. That’s why I was consoled by Shuuei-san’s too-kind words.”

“————……”

Th-the meeting of destiny was this….?

Anyway, Yuki-aniue, isn’t that just too much? Those aren’t words one should say to a woman. Actually, it was something that Shuuei had hardly ever seen, but Yuki-aniue would completely transform when he saw an enemy. For his brimming smile, much like Shouka’s, to suddenly change like that was frightening enough to curdle one’s blood.

However, he had not thought that Setsuna had from the time they first met completely revealed all of his “true self.”

Gyokuka, who seemed to be recalling this, said angrily,
“So I had had it, and if it was like this, I decided that I definitely, as one of Setsuna-san’s step-mothers, would not lose to my step-son’s bullying. It was an all out war of resistance. ”

Shuuei spat out the iced tea he had been drinking. It almost came out of his nose. To imagine it was to see a frightening illustration. Come to think of it, for his sister-in-law to have chosen the path of total war after Yuki-aniue had fixed his eyes upon her that much was impressive. It was too marvelous. A hero excelling even King Sougen was here now.

“…But, in the end you became not Yuki-aniue’s stepmother, but his wife, right? Ane-ue.”

Those words tumbled out of him very naturally.

As if she was slightly mortified, Gyokuka’s freckled cheeks reddened.

“…That’s so. Although I don’t really know how that happened, somehow Setsuna persuaded me, so it ended up like that. Though we fought all the time, so it really is strange. We especially went at each other over Shuuei-san.”

“Eh? Me? Wh-what?”

Shuuei suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. To introduce a fissure in the relation between husband and wife was indeed a bad thing–

“When I went out somewhere with you, every time he would hit the ceiling. Saying stuff like, you’re getting your fangs into Shuuei or ferrying him around here and there, or if you’re going to go why can’t you call me? Really! It’s more strange to think that I would invite him to go flower viewing, since he would only say unpleasant things if we were together. It’s obviously more fun to go together with Shuuei. Why did I become the bride of someone like that?”

Shuuei’s eyes popped. It seemed that even now his sister in law did not understand at all, but what this meant was…

(…Yu..Yuki-aniue was jealous of me?)

Setsuna, usually cool and collected, had been jealous of a child. And so without coming out and saying it directly, he had made round-about, unclear accusations and angered Gyokuka.

Shuuei found this somehow hilarious and burst out laughing.
The only person who could make Ran Setsuna into a “normal man” was Gyokuka.

“Aneue…. Are you happy?”

His sister-in-law, with a small smile, put her finger to her lips as if to say ‘it’s a secret.’

“If Setsuna-san and the others were to here this, they would definitely get carried away. …. I’m happy. Although I had thought that it would be great to be Shuuei-san and Ryuuren-san’s mother, I’m happy to be your elder sister.”

“Yes.”

Shuuei then realized that he had now put an end to the impossible feelings he had towards her. That was not as sad a thing as he had always imagined it to be.

“It’s better that you’re my sister-in-law rather than a mother, because no one but Aneue could become Setsuna’s wife.”

It was not because he could never surpass his perfect elder brother. Shuuei had lost. Setsuna had fought against all ods, and in the end, finally had won over both their father and Gyokuka herself, and reeling in destiny, made her his wife. That was alright, he thought. If that was so, there was no helping it. He believed this from his very heart.

Gyokuka smiled. ….. Even now Shuuei did not know whether she had noticed his feelings. He inwardly thanked her for talking to him as though she did not know. Shuuei, without having lost anything, closed the lid on a box, and simply placed it on a shelf somewhere in his heart.

“Shuuei-san, have you found a special person?”
“…Eh?”
“What a face you’re making. So this must be her fan?”

Gyokuka extended her hand, and took it from his pocket. When she opened it, there was a beautiful pattern, and the scent of sandalwood wafted in the air.

“A wonderful fan. And probably a woman as wonderful as the fan.”

“…Very much so. I’m always making her angry, though.”

Shuuei lowered his gaze. From the time they had met in the snow in the Inner Palace, years had already passed. Shuuei’s eyes were still following Shusui, who was still thinking of another man.

Now, gazing at that fan troubled his heart more than standing before Gyokuka.

What that reason was, Shuuei now had already comprehended. And why he had, with such calmness, ordered his feelings towards Gyokuka.

“My my, then from here on you’ve got to work hard.”

“Yes. I intend to do that. That is why I have returned.”

That was not only regarding Shusui. No longer in the eyes of Shuuei, who had said this so clearly, was there the slightest confusion. All of the things he had left half-finished, including his struggle with the king, had been cut off. Gyokuka smiled. She was happy to see this sturdy, handsome brother-in-law. Truly it’s different from being in love, thought Gyokuka as she quietly felt a sense of exhilaration. The time she and Setsuna had awaited was at hand.

“So you have come to fight. I have prepared the Bellflower Room for you. I have straightened up the documents and ordered all of the materials. After you partake of breakfast, please go in. If there is anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

With a serious gaze, Shuuei then replied.

“Then, aneue, …. has anyone, even a priestess, entered the shrine of the Hyou clan?”
Next to this Ryuumin [Resting Dragon] Mountain, on Houkyou Mountain, was the secret sealing shrine of the Hyou clan. [seal=shizume. This refers to silencing or quieting unruly spirits.] According to an agreement, the Ran clan repaired and cleaned it at set periods, but usually there was no priestess in residence. But if Shuuei’s deduction was—

“Yes. Recently there it seems someone is in residence. It seems to be someone of rather high status. Setsuna-san isn’t here now because he has gone to offer his respects.”

Shuuei was shocked. His elder brother had, in person…?!?!?!

That could mean only one thing. The head of the Hyou clan, or someone who could be compared to that, was there. Previously, there had been two times where the Hyou clan had inexplicably taken action. The Hyou clan, which had always been quietly biding its time, had moved at the New Year’s court, and during the strange illness in Sa Province. This would be the third time.

The color of Shuuei’s eyes deepened as he considered this. As he had thought.

The Hyou clan had begun to creep in earnest. There was no way his return and the simultaneous arrival of a priestess at the neighboring mountain were by chance. It was probably so they could with this move get a feel for the movement of the Ran clan. And moreover, it was done quite skillfully.

If they had not sent a priestess to the Nine Hued Cover right after the case of the assassination of the Undersecretary of the Military, she would not have been able to arrive this fast.

Considering the case of Shusui, it meant that the Hyou clan was involved in the assassination.

Come and follow me, Jin had said. Due to the actions of ‘Shiba Jin,’ Shuuei and the Censorate had taken action, and he had needed to return to Ran province before he was dismissed.

“Did Yuki-aniue leave any message addressed to me?”
“I received one. It says “I don’t feel like meeting you.”

Shuuei closed his eyes. …So, as expected, it had come.

Although it had become publicly accepted that the triplets were together the leader of the house, in reality the head of the Ran clan was Ran Setsuna alone.

When it had in the past come time to decide on the heir-presumptive, their father, the previous head, had designated the eldest son, ‘Ran Setsuna.’

It was decided that the two left over would, at this time, be killed. This was because of the deep seated opposition by the relatives who felt that triplets were unlucky. Their father, who had up till now ignored this, letting the triplets all live and raising them, had at that time said this to his three elder brothers: The eldest brother ‘Ran Setsuna’ alone shall live. Decide which one of you will become ‘Ran Setsuna.’ So his elder brothers had decided to all become ‘Ran Setsuna’ together. He did not know whether their parents could tell his three elder brothers apart. However, not one of their relatives could tell which one of them was ‘Ran Setsuna.’ So their father had made this ruling.

“If they cannot tell them apart, there is no choice but for them to regard them all as “Ran Setsuna. So in accordance to the terms, ‘Ran Setsuna’ will be the head. Then, the head will be all three of them at once. ”

But—then said their father, if the day where they were distinguished from one another came, the two who weren’t “Ran Setsuna” would have to die, as promised. If they didn’t want that, then for the rest of their lives they should fool everyone.

Shuuei’s glance hardened. So the ‘head of the Ran clan’ said he would not meet with Shuuei.

“–I am waiting.”

Shuuei had returned so that he could meet the head of the Ran clan. He could not turn back.

Gyokuka smiled slightly in a strained way. [revise: Japanese has a shorter word for "strained" or "bitter" smile. English… doesn't really. Is it because Japanese people smile more when they have mixed emotions?] She knew well just how much his three elder brothers loved Shuuei. But even so, they weren’t easy on him.

“….Aneue, please send all of the information coming in from Kiyou to me. Especially concerning Kou Shuurei and the king.”
“Understood.”

Gyokuka was the only one left who was “neutral” in this manor. She would not ally with either Shuuei or his elder brothers. Although she would give him the information he wanted, in turn she would not give Shuuei information that he hadn’t asked for from her own volition. In other words, if Shuuei overlooked something, it would stay overlooked. That was why she had not said anything about “someone” entering the Hyou clan’s shrine until Shuuei asked her about it.

The battle between Shuuei and his elder brothers had already begun. Even so, his sister-in-law had stealthily given him this encouragement.

“Setsuna-san and the others are quite formidable. Please work hard.”

Shuuei smiled. It was just the slightest bit of partiality, but it made him very happy.

tags>>saiunkoku|translation