Shin’s late mother had been born into a distinguished family, and Kansa, being her wet nurse, originally hadn’t needed to do any manual labor. However, during Shin’s mother’s childhood, the family’s status had declined considerably. Kansa and the other servants found themselves in difficult situations, struggling to scrape by, so they took on side jobs. It went without saying why Shin’s mother married into the Saname family.
“Out of curiosity, young master…” said Kansa, a friendly look in her eyes. “Have you done something so naughty that you’re reluctant to show your face in front of your father now?”
Shin smiled awkwardly. “I’m not a child, you know.”
“You were never naughty, even when you were young. You were always so well-behaved. The most shocking thing you ever did was catching that whole basket full of frogs.”
No matter how old Shin got, Kansa always made the same sorts of comments. He owed her so much.
Although she was still smiling, there was now a tinge of concern in her eyes. “Has your father scolded you for something?” she asked.
“No,” replied Shin, lowering his gaze. “My father never scolds me. You know that.” Shin’s father wasn’t interested enough in him to bother with that. Shin knew that full well.
“Young master…”
Just as Kansa was about to say something else, they heard footsteps crunching against the dried-up leaves outside. It was exactly like she said—you could immediately tell when someone was approaching. Even so, no one had ever turned up while Shin was there.
Before he even had the chance to question who it might be, he heard a voice.
“Shin, are you there?”
The voice was gentle, but there was something peculiarly frosty about it too. It was a voice that Shin knew very well.
“Ko,” Shin replied.
He stepped outside to find his younger brother, Ko, standing there. Ko was his next-youngest brother out of all his siblings. He was dressed in a long, plain grayish-blue robe, and wore a faint, indecipherable smile on his face.
“Father is waiting. He was going to send someone to collect you, so here I am.”
My father never misses a trick, thought Shin.
Of course, it was only natural that he worked out where Shin was. He saw plenty of different people on his way here, so word of his return would’ve spread right away.
Kansa rushed out of the house in a fluster. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault for keeping him here…”
“No. I’m the one who decided to visit,” said Shin.
Ko pretended not to hear him. “I’d rather you refrained from taking advantage of my older brother’s kindness,” he said, reprimanding Kansa. While he possessed the kindest-looking face of the brothers, Ko was the strictest and most cold. He resembled his father in that respect.
Kansa hung her head repentantly. “Ko…” Shin began.
“Come on,” said Ko, marching right ahead. Shin turned back to Kansa. “I’m sorry.” “There’s no need to be.”
“Weren’t you about to say something a moment ago?”
“No, it’s all right. Now, hurry up and make your way back,” she said. Kansa then gave Shin a languid smile—one that pained him in his chest to see.
“I’ll be back,” he said, before leaving her behind and catching up with his brother.
“Trust me, Ko. It wasn’t like that…” he said to him.
“Is it not reasonable to assume that your own father would be the first person you greeted upon your return? That woman is toxic for not suggesting so.”
“Kansa was our mother’s wet nurse!”
“And? You should have gone to see her afterward. Are you aware of the sort of things the local people are going to say about you? Do you want them to think that you and our father are on bad terms? You’re the next in line!”
Shin said nothing in return. Talking to Ko made him feel like his body was being covered in thorns. Ko never raised his voice or hurled abuse at him, but his words were still like cold prickles piercing his skin.
“You should stop coming here,” Ko said. “Why?”
“Didn’t you know? Kansa has been saying bad things about our father. To think that it’s our family that’s been keeping her afloat… That woman really has no shame.”
“She has…?” Shin asked.
Ko let out a small laugh. “You get taken advantage of because you’re too kind. Well, the way you were brought up may be partly to blame there, but still…”
Shin took offense to that. “We were both brought up the same way.”
“Being the heir and being the second-in-line are two extremely different things.”
I don’t think they are, Shin thought to himself.
In reality, there had been quiet speculation that Ko was going to be the one to inherit their father’s position.
“You need to be more mindful of your position—especially at the moment. I hear there’s been some sort of trouble in the imperial capital.”
“Were you notified about that already?” Shin asked. “Of course we were. You know who our father is.”
A cold sweat came over Shin—his brother had a point. Considering everything that had been going on, the awkwardness of seeing his father was no excuse to have made this detour.
Koshun had directly issued Shin with a secret order—to find out what his father was going to do. That was when he learned Jusetsu was a surviving member of the previous dynasty, and that it was the reason his father, Choyo, viewed her as a danger. He was informed that his father once used Hakurai to threaten her.
It had all come as quite a shock. Although it wasn’t impossible to work out what his father was thinking, resorting to violent means was a step too far—and to make it even worse, the target of his animosity was just a young girl. Jusetsu’s pale face flashed in the back of Shin’s mind.
“That upheaval is the reason you’ve come back, isn’t it, Shin? Shin…?” Ko’s skeptical-sounding voice startled his older brother.
“Oh… Umm, yes.”
“That’s why our father is so eager to see you. He wants to hear the details.”
“Is that so…” That’s the reason he has been waiting for me?
Perhaps the fact that Shin stayed in the imperial capital against his father’s wishes wasn’t such a big deal after all. He might have been worrying himself over nothing.
“Has anything changed over here while I was away?” Shin asked. “Not particularly. Oh, but now that you mention it…” “What?”
“Never mind—it’s best you hear it directly from our father.” “Just tell me,” Shin demanded impatiently, but Ko just smirked.