Chapter 116

EPILOGUE “Ahh, this flavor really does make me feel at home.” Shiren was drinking some miso soup in the Fuyukura home, which was neither very big nor very new. Ryouta had arrived in the morning to make it for her. Ryouta continued to live in his seemingly haunted apartment in the castle. He couldn’t possibly sleep over at the Fuyukura house, where Shiren was living alone. Incidentally, Shiren was still in her pajamas, which already made everything seem very informal. “I even made the broth out of dried sardines. Though I know it’s nothing compared with the stuff they had at the hotel buffet.” “Look, restaurant food is restaurant food. You’re not supposed to eat it every day. Your simple miso soup is way better.” “Really? Thanks. Hearing you say that makes coming here to cook it all worth—” “I think I’ll customize it by adding tomatoes.” She plopped a whole bunch of tomatoes into her soup. “I’m actually starting to wonder if I should trust your sense of taste…” It didn’t seem as though her eating habits had changed very much, even after having such fancy food every day. “Ahh~. The simple life really is best. I don’t think I’m suited for serious work like that of an emperor.” “I’ll have to agree with you there.” As she lazed about the room, Shiren flipped on the TV. There was nothing special airing. But in a way, Ryouta was thankful for that. On the screen, some text read, The Great Emperor’s Little Sister, Lady Shiren—Her True Life. “Hey! What on Earth?! I didn’t hear anything about this!” Shiren grabbed the TV and yelled at it. Of course, no one at the TV station was going to hear her. “Calm down! You’ll break the TV!” But as it turned out, the program was talking about how Shiren had left Oshiro to work on creating peace among all the Sacred Blooded—painting her in a very favorable light. “Hey, so they do understand! The world is finally acknowledging my greatness and beauty.” “They’ve really edited this to make you look good. But I guess they don’t want to harm the image of the emperor’s little sister. And by the way, they haven’t talked about your beauty at all.” “Next, we discuss Lady Shiren’s academics. It is said her grades are very low, and her performance is disappointing.” But things then took a turn for the worse. “She has reportedly gotten zero points on her world-history test. This cannot be good considering she leads a country, but we must trust that gives her a flexible point of view and novel thoughts not bound by common logic.” “Hey! Don’t exaggerate my grades, you terrible reporters! I got two points! Not zero! I got one question right!” “That’s barely any different! It’s basically the same!” “But it’s not the same! Wouldn’t you rather get two snacks from your friend when they come back from a trip instead of zero?!” “That has nothing to do with grades!” “I could score a hundred points by getting two points on fifty tests. I’d be stuck at zero forever if I got nothing but zeroes.” “Yeah, I guess that’s technically right, but that’s not how tests even work!” “Oh, it looks like we’ve been lazing around so long that it’s almost time to go.” VIPs from other countries were visiting that day. “I guess you’ve got your hands full, being the emperor’s little sister and all.” “I can’t change that.” “Who’s coming today? Do you know?” “Not sure, but probably dignitaries from Japan. Big Sis wants to start getting more involved in international diplomacy.” And with that, Shiren went to change out of her pajamas and into her formal clothes. “You’re late, Shiren. You’re two minutes behind schedule.” When they arrived at the castle, Ouka was wearing a dress. “But if I’m late, where is everyone else…?” “I asked you to come fifteen minutes earlier than everyone else.” “Why do you always treat me like I’m chronically late?!” “Oh, there’s no specific reason. Maybe it’s just my way of gently harassing you?” “I don’t care if it’s gentle! Stop it!” Ryouta watched the exchange with a little sigh. But it’s true—things are a lot more fun this way. A relationship where everyone said what was on their mind was much better than one built on superficial niceties. Though I feel like openly saying she’s harassing her is a bit much… “But you’re right on time, in a way. One of our guests has already arrived.” Ouka’s gaze settled on someone behind Shiren. “It’s been a while…or has it?” It was Sairi. “Mom…” Shiren hadn’t thought she’d be seeing her mom so soon. “I invited her as an official guest today. We can’t keep fighting forever.” “I’m glad to see you, Shiren. Things have finally settled down in the New Sacred Blood Republic, too.” When the Holy Sacred Blood Empire’s emperor left, Sairi became president and made the country a republic, replacing holy with new. There had been a bit of a shift in their principles, but there hadn’t been too much chaos. Japan, too, had ostensibly approved the change. The same was true of the old Empire. It had been declared that the new country would be recognized because they’d acknowledged a single emperor. As such, reconciliation was progressing on both sides, and this fact had already been reported in the news.