Meirin’s eyes sparkled and she puffed out her chest. “Yes, that warrior was none other than Lord Sekiei! I sometimes still dream about how he shot down pirate after pirate, hee hee! He looked so brave. Don’t you think it made for a dramatic meeting?”
U-Um... I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as my gaze drifted towards Hakurei next to me. She was sipping her tea and when she put it down, she smiled at Shizuka.
“This tea has a very complex flavor. It’s delicious, Miss Shizuka.”
“You’re much too kind, Lady Hakurei.”
Hakurei and Shizuka were enjoying a peaceful conversation; it looked like they got along quite well. In comparison... When I looked back at Meirin, she was pouting.
“H-Hey!” she said. “Listen to—”
“I understand.” Hakurei placed her cup back down on the table and looked up to meet Meirin’s eyes. Once again there was the illusion of lightning striking down between them. “What you’re saying is, a ship from our army saved yours. During this meeting, you learned about our food shortage, which had been the reason we’d come to Rinkei. And then...” She glared at me right as I was reaching out for a mooncake. Hakurei’s frigid beauty was so intimidating that I leaned away from her. “You parents took a shine to our freeloader. Is that right?”
“You’re quite sharp. Yes, that’s exactly what happened.”
The entire time Hakurei and Meirin conversed, I made myself as small as possible. I felt like a frog under the menacing stare of a snake—no, a dragon. Chou Hakurei was terrifying when angry.
A clap rang through the air so suddenly that Meirin, Hakurei, and I all jumped. When we turned to look at where it came from, we saw Shizuka standing there with a wide smile on her face.
“Lady Meirin, I believe that Lord Sekiei and Lady Hakurei still have errands they need to run. What do you think about letting them go for the day?”
“Huh?” For a moment Meirin gave Shizuka a blank stare before recovering to say, “Uh... Y-Yes! That sounds like a very nice idea. Lord Sekiei, you’ll still be staying in the city, right?”
“Hmm? Yeah, I will.” I nodded. We’d probably be hanging around in Rinkei until father returned from the grand chancellor’s house.
The next person Shizuka turned to was Hakurei. “Lady Hakurei, I have a gift for you to bring back with you,” she said with a cheery smile. “Please follow me into the manor. ♪”
“But...” Hakurei glanced at me.
“I won’t leave without you, don’t worry.” I gave a light wave of my hand.
Hakurei’s expression softened and she stood up. She offered Meirin a quick bow and then headed across the bridge, back towards the manor. After offering Meirin and me a nod, Shizuka swiftly followed; it seemed that we’d caused Shizuka to have to step in as mediator. I drank the last of the tea and smiled at Meirin, who still had a dissatisfied look on her face.
“That was Chou Hakurei. What do you think? She’s impressive, right?”
Meirin’s lips pursed and her brow furrowed. “I can tell that she’s smart,” she finally said—though she didn’t sound happy about it. She grabbed the last cake on the table and shoved it into her mouth as she said with a childish pout, “But I won’t lose! I’ll be the one to emerge the victor!”
“Is this even a competition?”
In lieu of answering me, Meirin chose instead to chew loudly on the mooncake. After she finished, she sat up straighter and placed one hand on her impressive bust. “Today’s tea-tasting contest ended in yet another loss for me. However! The words ‘losing streak’ and ‘ungratefulness’ do not exist in the Ou family’s dictionary! Lord Sekiei, please give me an order! I swear on my name that I shall complete any task you give me, no matter how impossible it may be, and stand at your side as your wife! Oh, this has nothing to do with the sword and bow, by the way. I’ll look for them for you as thanks for the paddle steamer! ♪”
Ou Meirin was as talented as she was stubborn. Though we’d only known each other for a short while, I’d learned this lesson the hard way. One day I’d said as a joke, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a boat that could move at top speeds even without wind?” Well, it looked like she’d actually gone and constructed such a ship. On top of building extravagant things, she could use those mountains of money to wiggle her way out of most problems in general. As sad as it was to say, it was money—not love—that made the world go round.
In order to make Meirin give up on me, I simply had to give her a task that was literally impossible to complete! But, coming up with one was easier said than done. That was when my eyes landed on my sword, propped up against my chair. A sword, huh?
Meirin was still waiting for my response, so I said, casually, “Then can you find me the Heavenly Swords that the Twin Stars of the Tou Empire were said to have wielded? If I can get my hands on those two swords, then I’ll seriously consider marrying you.”
Her eyes, big enough under normal circumstances, widened even further. “The Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars... The legendary twin swords used by heroes from a thousand years ago...” she kept murmuring. Then, in a searching tone, she asked, “What you promised, though... You’re telling the truth, right?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“And you won’t go back on your word?”
“Never.”
On the way to Rinkei, I’d more or less finished Book of Tou, as well as other history books covering the time after the Tou Empire’s collapse. In the millennium after Eifuu left the government, no one had ever found the Heavenly Swords. Not even Meirin could find something that simply did not exist.