Shuuei was preparing to go on a journey. At last, he picked up a sandalwood fan. When he opened it in his hand, there was a faint scent of sandalwood. An elegant fragrance which did not dissipate with the passing of the years. Probably Shusui had long ago even forgotten about this fan’s existence.
“–I cannot return. Farewell.”
None of her final words belonged to Shuuei.
(I’ve reaped what I’ve sown…)

It had been Shuuei who had approached, not stepping in deeply. He had not even tried to find out anything about her origins. Realizing by the sound of her footsteps that his younger sister Jyuusan-hime had returned, Shuuei hid the fan in his breast. Shuuei, who had become homeless after he had been chased out of the Ran clan, now was sleeping in a room in the Inner Palace, actually right next to Jyuusan-hime’s. Ladies-in-waiting who didn’t know the circumstances thought that he had shown an unexpected fondness for his younger sister, saying ‘he’s so worried about Jyuusan-hime-sama entering the Inner Palace, so it can’t be helped,” and Shuuei’s reputation rose. He couldn’t entirely declare that it was a total misinterpretation. When Jyuusan-hime would return late at night, he was fairly upset. He had wanted to go over and ask ‘tell me what happened,’ Shuuei, who prided himself on being an elder brother tolerant of the affairs of love, was astonished at himself. Probably it had simply been that up till now it was decided that it was Jin, and so he had let go of the matter with relief.
Then, he heard a quiet knock on the partition with the next room.

“Big brother….are you there? Can I come in?”
Realizing that she was a bit different from normal, Shuuei went straight to open the door. Jyuusan-hime was idly standing there. Seeing that Shuuei was dressed in traveling clothes, her eyes widened a bit.
“Jyuusan-hime….what’s wrong? Come in. I’m not leaving yet, so it’s okay.”
“Okay…”
When Jyuusan-hime saw Shuuei’s face, she smiled as if a bit relieved. She went inside, unhesitatingly approached the chair Shuuei had been sitting in before, and skillfully sat down near it, leaning on the chair’s slender leg. When Shuuei sat down, the palm of his hand fit on Jyuusan-hime’s head well.
That had been there way of sitting since they were children, and at those times, his sister looked to Shuuei as if she were a kitten coming up to someone wanting to talk to them. When he stroked her small head, he felt some tension unraveling there.
“…..What’s wrong? It’s rare for you to want to be taken care of.”
“It’s nothing. Elder brother, you’ve now become Seiran’s lackey, which is like being unemployed, and you’re now eating thanks to my work. The head lady-in-waiting is busy. I’m just a little tired.
“….Ah. Sorry for being such an unreliable big brother….”
It was pitiful that he couldn’t argue with that. Maybe a hermit crab was better than him, because it at least had a house. Jyuusan-hime closed her eyes. She had always loved being patted on the head by Shuuei like this. She could be spoiled by him when she liked for as long as she liked. She took Shuuei’s fingers and rubbed her cheek against them like a cat.
“That was a lie. Sorry, big brother. I think you’re a hundred times cooler than you were before. Even though your salary is low and you’ve been demoted, even though you’re overworked by that old-maid-like Seiran-san, I like watching you struggle and give your all, much more than watching you before then. Like always, you’re the ‘spoiled young master-type,’ carefree, your looks as your only good point….but, you’re helping the king.”
“Jyuusan-hime….?”
“….You’re going to help Shuurei-chan, right? You know where she is, and what happened.”
Shuuei choked on his words, and then after awhile told her about what Suou had said. After Jyuusan-hime had heard all of this, she was not distraught like the men had been.
“That’s right. Only you can go. The king can’t move for anyone. Seiran can’t either. However, if some super low-ranked small fry decides to go on their own, no one will have any problems with it. After that, if someone gets mad, you’ll apologize. The only thing you have to lose, big brother, is your love. You don’t have a clan, official rank, or savings. The Censorate can’t take anything from you. And weren’t you also rejected by Shusui-san?”
“What do you mean by that?! I wasn’t rejected yet, so it’s not all unrequited love!”
“You never learn and you never give up, but those are your good points, big brother.”
Shouka, who had become the leader of the Kou clan, and Shuuei, who had been disinherited by the Ran clan. On one hand, there was an incredible gap between them, but Shuuei had never lost his meaningless self-confidence. To have a baseless self-confidence was the mark of a young master. And her elder brother was a man who would do things when the time came to do them. ….Probably? Yes, probably
“….The only one who can move now is you, big brother. Please, go to the Hyou clan quick.”
The cast of Shuuei’s face changed slightly.
Under Jyuusan-hime’s baton of command, sometimes the outcomes of the mock battles between Jin and Shuuei had completely reversed.
“Jyuusan-hime… is something bothering you?”
“….Maybe it wasn’t a miscalculation on ‘someone’s’ part that Shuurei-chan now has been taken to the Hyou clan…”
Jin had appeared in the shrine in Nine Colors Cove along with Shusui.
They had been drawn in all along. Shocked that Jin and Shusui were involved in the assassination of the Undersecretary of the Military, they had not thought too deeply at the time about why he had said “come and chase me” right before he left.
Why had Jin been fighting alongside Shusui, who was a member of the Hyou clan?
“…Ever since that spring, all kinds of things have happened, and each time, the king and you would keep rolling backwards down a hill, so no one noticed it, but…..during that time a lot of dangerous things have happened to Shuurei-chan? Why is that? It was only to her.”
“The Censorate is a dangerous place. Also it looks like she kept on investigating things even though Kouki-dono would glare at her.”
“…..are you saying that if Shuurei-chan investigated any more on her own, that there is ‘someone’ who would be inconvenienced?”
“…It seems there is.”
“If we’re talking about Shuurei-chan, then mightn’t she get some evidence? Yes, maybe even already gotten it? Even though she herself hasn’t realized it.”
Considering that Shuurei had been set her eye on the provincial administration, the possibility of that was fairly high. She was conducting several investigations in parallel. Even if she could not herself pick up new tasks one after the other like Riku Seiga, she tried to dig out suspicious points in the work she had been given.
Within them.
“Since Shuurei-chan has become ‘the only daughter of the Kou clan leader,’ she can’t be assassinated anymore. The Kou clan would never allow that. That’s why they planned to quickly get her into the Inner Palace, and cleanly ‘dispose’ of her. It’s like a whirlwind. The Inner Palace has security like a sieve, so she could be killed anytime. It isn’t rare for a high ranking consort to turn up dead.”
“Wait a second. At that time, that was the only…”
“…It shouldn’t have been the only way. There’s another princess of the direct line of the Kou clan. There’s Kurou-san’s daughter Sera-hime, isn’t there? She’s a talented woman, whose fame is known all over the land, a beautiful princess who receives countless proposals of marriage. It would have been more normal to ask for her rather than the daughter of the eldest son at a time of rupture with the Kou clan. Certainly if the Kou clan would agree.”
Shuuei had been jabbed in tender spot, and couldn’t say anything. It was…. as she had said.
“……the person who proposed it….was Ryou Anju-dono.”
“It doesn’t matter. Everyone was thinking the same thing. They thought it would be a good idea to get rid of Shuurei-chan, so no one opposed him. Of course, that goes for for you and the others too, big brother.”
“—Jyuusan-hime!”
“I don’t want to hear any excuses, big brother. You probably began to think that sometime that Shuurei-chan being an official was an obstacle. The tab for the king bending the law, and making them register her as an official, and her turbulent promotion and demotion, which the king bears full responsibility for, has cursed him, and eventually, Kouyuu-san fell. He’s kept on being pushed into a corner because Shuurei-chan is there. She’s like a walking bundle of material for criticism. You can’t say that you never thought that this was a way to clean this all up at once.”
There fell a complete silence, as even the insects had stopped making noise.
“….But that wasn’t Shuurei-chan’s fault. It’s what you and the others did on your own. Shuurei-chan simply stayed quiet and paid your tab for you. If it were me, I would have hit you all. —Why did you keep quiet until someone else like Ryou Anju said it? Why didn’t you or the others say it? Why didn’t you lower your heads, and say ‘sorry, please stop.’? Isn’t that something you should apologize with all of your might to Shuurei-chan for, since she’s worked herself to the bone?”
These were strict but correct words. Shuuei looked down, and acknowledged them with pain.
“….That’s true. It’s as you say. ….We’ve done a cruel thing, to Shuurei, to you as well.”
The memory of the time he heard that Shuurei had decided to withdraw from office without a word, was on his tongue, a touch of bitterness. Shuuei and the others had not protected her, but had made use of her in various ways, and in the end…thrown her away. They had pushed all of the mess they had made onto her.
Suddenly, Jyuusan-hime’s sharp spearpoint softened.
“That’s why I like you, big brother. You don’t try to blow smoke around others with rationalizations, like Seiran-san.”
“….Then, the king…”
“I didn’t say that to him, and I won’t. Because that person has already realized. It was because the king thought, and though, and that was his answer that Shuurei-chan also accepted it. I won’t say he made a mistake. That’s also another path. I’m complaining now because I wanted you to know something. Because I thought it would be bad if no one was angry, about people being thrown away easily like things. Someone may be silent, but that doesn’t mean they have no complaints. I won’t say this again. Somehow, the bill is going to come back to you. If you have learned that, then try to pull yourself together, so that you can hold your head up to Shuurei. After this, I won’t say again ‘Shuurei-chan was necessary,’ even if you split my mouth open.
“……”
“…….What’s this silence?”
Jyuusan-hime got up angrily, and slowly grabbed her brother by the collar.
“—You want to say something!? You want to say something, right?! Isn’t this too fast?! You don’t think you’re pathetic?! All of you are such losers! Have you got anything hanging between your legs, big brother?!?”
“…..That’s crude, Jyuusan-hime. No! Probably only I thought that for a second!”
“What do you mean, thought for a second! You dull eggplant! all of you are dull eggplants who couldn’t become autumn eggplants! You should all be lined up in a grocery store at half off! Laughed at by the housewives who say ‘Please, I’d only buy if they were 80% off!’ Know the cold breeze of the world!”
“Eh, ehhhhhhh?”
Even so, each word that Jyuusan-hime had spoken earlier pained his chest.
Someone may be silent, but that doesn’t mean they have no complaints.”
….If that was true of Shuurei as well, maybe the gossip was half true.
“Really! But, since you were going to go before I said anything, never mind. There may be other ‘someone’s’ who are chasing after Shuurei-chan, so be careful.”
“But what’s this ‘someone’ up to? But then, even if Shuurei-dono comes back, then—”
Shuuei shut his mouth. Jyuusan-hime violently ruffled her hair.
“That’s right. But, when she returns, up until she officially quits and enters the Inner Palace, Shuurei-chan will still be a proper censor. Mightn’t there be something she investigated and found in the Hyou clan? Even if she’s been deliberately shoved into the Inner Palace and cleared out of the way. Of all places, it’s the Hyou clan. There’s enough of a possibility that Shuurei-chan might investigate what that ‘someone’ is trying to do together with the Hyou clan, and come back.”
–Jyuusan-hime had said that ‘perhaps there was someone who miscalculated about Shuurei having been brought to the Hyou clan.’ Shuuei put his hand to his mouth. Everyone had only been thinking of Shuurei’s safety.
“Is that ‘someone’s’ goal to kill Shuurei-dono? The Hyou clan is outside of royal authority. …. It’s possible.”
“Considering Shuurei-chan’s condition, maybe it was to make sure of her death. Or, maybe it was to make shure that she would never leave the Hyou clan. But, there is another possibility—How about this?”
“….another one?”
“….The problem is, does that ‘someone’ want to let Shuurei live, or to kill her?”
“‘to let her live’?”
“….Sorry, I don’t want to say more than that. Go, big brother. You shouldn’t go, and then regret doing it, but then, if you don’t go, you might regret it. You’re worried about leaving the king’s side, but Kouyuu-san and Seiran-san are still here. And me…. If worst comes to worst, I’ll protect the king as much as I can.”
Feeling something in her last words, Shuuei looked at his younger sister. It wasn’t that there was a hint, only now that he felt that ‘something’ which he had sensed ever since Jyuusan-hime entered the room had now dropped right before his eyes.

(….Could it be that Jyuusan-hime….the king…?)
Maybe it wasn’t to the point where it could be clearly declared to be love. It was too early.
Ryuuki certainly had a personality which could attract Jyuusan-hime. They has also had things in common. Most importantly, there were very few of the opposite sex who Jyuusan-hime could speak honestly with. She hid it in her bold tone, but due to her past, her sense of caution towards men was especially high. The attitude she took towards Seiran was representative. Even when it was a guard, she did not like to be near men. Shuuei had faintly noticed that her sense of caution towards Ryuuki was weak from the beginning, around as much as it had been towards Jin. Probably it was because she had instinctively knew that Ryuuki’s kindness was real. Probably she had been able to feel how comfortable Ryuuki’s genuine, bottomless gentleness was. A feeling of absolute belief, from the bottom of her heart, that even if they were together, that this person was someone who absolutely would never hurt her.
…That was, for Jyuusan-hime, who was burdened with a deeply wounded heart, more than enough to attract her.

…..For Shuuei, if it was Ryuuki, he had no objections. Perhaps then she would be happier with him than with Jin. —However, that was if it had been before Ryuuki and Shuurei met.
Before, Shuuei had apologized, saying he had done a cruel thing to both Shuurei and Jyuusan-hime. However— Those words rebounded within his heart, with a severe echo.

(…..Jyuusan-hime….)
He couldn’t speak. He had really done a terrible thing. But it couldn’t be undone anymore. Probably Jyuusan-hime had pretended not to notice the feelings sprouting in a corner of her heart. And from now on, she would always do so. Not even watering them or tending to them. If he had chosen only one of them, Shuurei or Jyuusan-hime, in either of them there would have been relief.
Even so, Jyuusan-hime had told him to go and help Shuurei.
“Hmmm? Brother? What’s wrong, you’re not saying anything?”
“….it’s nothing.”

Shuuei drew Jyuusan-hime to himself, and embraced her deeply. Jyuusan-hime seemed to be a little surprised, but she kept quiet. She rested her well-formed face under Shuuei’s jaw.
Jyuusan-hime quietly muttered.
“….hey, big brother. If you were a depressed eggplant lined up there at the grocery store, I’d buy you and take you home…. So, don’t hurt yourself. Come back safely….”

Notes: I’m going to have to edit this a lot later. :/ It’s difficult to translate her speech.

Commentary:

….What is with the grocery store and the eggplants? Is the entire Ran clan strange in the head? Jyuusan-hime, you are a noblewoman of the Ran clan! Please stop with these vulgar remarks! XD

Jyuusan-hime’s speculations are also interesting, but they seem to lead us further and further into the mud. Even after you read the book, it is STILL as clear as mud, BTW. I was trying to make a chart of the various conspiracies going and I just gave up after awhile. >_>

tags>>saiunkoku|translation