A short scene occurring early in the books.


Kou Province—In the main house of the Kou clan, she scanned the report her brother-in-law had handed her. The woman was around her mid thirties; beautiful, with long wavy hair, the strength of the will hidden within her eyes left a strong impression. Within her refined expression, something of an indifferent atmosphere could be felt.

Right next to her, her younger brother-in-law waited for her reply, with a troubled face.

When she had finished, she put a hand to her forehead and sighed. At once, her brother in law requested her response.

“Yuri-aneue.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Kurou, you’re young, so get rid of those creases between your eyebrows.”

His elder sister-in-law did not hesitate to poke her finger between his brows and grind it there. Kurou patted that area, but he did not make a face.

“…The Ran clan, the capital, while I’ve been working flying around here and there, things have advanced all at once. If Reishin had acted, he could have bought some time. He’s been pushed this far….. Ah well, there’s no way Reishin, who doesn’t care about politics, would have done anything anyway.”

The area between Kurou’s brows wrinkled. Yuri gazed at her diligent brother-in-law. Really, Kurou was the one who should have become an official. As an official, he would have exhausted himself for the people and country, at the side of the king, unswayed by emotions, and mindful of his own position and responsibilities. But, there was no use saying that kind of thing now. When Reishin had taken the exam, Yuri had wondered if that was really okay, but she wouldn’t have been able to stop him.

Yuri closed her eyes.

Now the time to pay the bill for the things they had turned a blind eye to had come. That applied to Yuri as well.

“Kurou, is it okay if I don’t do the work of the Kou house for awhile?”

“Yes. ….. Somehow, please do something for elder brother and Kouyuu.”
Yuri was moved by the sight of Kurou deeply bowing his head.

Kurou loved the clan more than anyone, loved his two elder brothers, and had recognized Kouyuu as his nephew, despite not being tied to him by blood.

Yurki knew that of the three brothers, he was the kindest, the strongest, a youth both of deep emotion and broad mind.

Yuri pinched Kurou’s nose. Truly, he probably wanted to fly off there right away.

“…You idiot. These are my husband and my son. It’s only natural. You don’t say ‘please help them’…. Now, I’m going to go straight to Kiyou. If I don’t, they’ll end up alone.”

Truly, they hated to be left alone.

She had thought they would be alright together, so she had left Reishin and Kouyuu and flown around the countryside. Standing up, her heart made a strange sound, and she put her hand to it. Her fingers were shaking.
—Maybe she should have stayed with them. Suddenly she was attacked by a strong sense of regret.

With them, even if they were together, perhaps they were always alone.

That was because what they were both the worst at was loving and being loved. Because they had no confidence in that, they strongly depended on others. They thought if there wasn’t some proof of that, then things were no good.

And that was why they were always ending up putting themselves on the back burner.

(Please, king, Yuushun-san. Don’t get rid of them before I get there. Don’t say you don’t need them.)

Because what the two of them most feared was being abandoned, being left alone by their loved ones.

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