Even if Gyoumei had allowed it, Reirin wasn’t interested in advertising Genyou’s past to anyone who would listen. She instead provided a rough summary that omitted the particulars of the incident from twenty-five years ago. The other girls were familiar enough with the rules of the inner court that they inferred the circumstances and declined to press the matter.
“So that’s the story, hm?”
“Indeed. His Majesty’s more concerned with taking revenge on the sorcerer than cracking down on the Daoist arts. We offered our help as experts in the field of magic. Should we succeed, he’s willing to end the persecution altogether.”
The Maidens all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh, good. Then you needn’t worry about an immediate execution,” said Seika.
“That’s such a relief,” Houshun agreed.
“Joining forces with your oppressor is exactly the kind of move I would expect from you, Lady Reirin,” said Kasui. “You never cease to amaze me.”
Keigetsu scowled, a bit miffed that Kasui had spun this into an excuse to compliment Reirin. “I’m not sure that ‘joining forces’ is the most accurate way to describe it. It’s more like we have to succeed at this revenge quest under threat of death.”
It was infuriating how quick these three were to put the prince’s butterfly on a pedestal—particularly when her true nature was that of a raging boar.
“This woman takes such an aggressive approach to negotiating that my heart nearly stopped a dozen times over,” she went on. “I swear she’s going to get us both killed one of these days.”
They’d only managed to force the emperor into negotiations by getting one over on him and letting things come to blows. Even now, their execution was merely postponed, and Genyou had threatened to kill them if they didn’t come up with a plan to catch the sorcerer by noon. When Keigetsu drew attention to these points, Reirin sheepishly covered her ears and joked, “Ouch!”
Kin Seika jumped to Reirin’s defense, thrusting a finger in Keigetsu’s direction. “Why must you always be so critical, Lady Keigetsu? Lady Reirin was only doing her best to help you.”
“My point is that the way she goes about it is too chaotic!”
“The absolute nerve of you to complain after someone came to your aid! You are the practitioner of the Daoist arts, and you are the one who cast a body-swapping spell. You are the only one here His Majesty is truly out to get. Lady Reirin was kind enough to offer her cooperation despite shouldering none of the blame, and you repay her with criticism? How entitled can one person be?”
Kin Seika always took the moral high ground. Her platitudes tended to strike Keigetsu as laughably naive, but she managed to hit where it hurt just as often.
Keigetsu had only meant it to be a bit of lighthearted banter, so she bristled at the incredibly blunt scolding. She automatically blurted out, “I never asked her to—”
“Now, now, Lady Seika,” Kasui cut in to mediate, dousing the sparks of conflict. “I imagine it’s less that she took issue with Lady Reirin’s methods and more that she was simply worried. We all know Lady Reirin’s penchant for outrageous stunts.”
Reirin attempted to side with Keigetsu as well. “Yes, that’s exactly—” The moment she opened her mouth, however, the other three Maidens pricked up their ears with looks of concern, and she bit back the rest of her sentence.
It was hard to say if her status as the empress’s niece, her nickname of the prince’s “butterfly,” or her poor health was to blame, but people tended to lavish Kou Reirin with an excessive amount of attention. They would listen intently to everything she said, work out the implications, and take those under careful consideration. If she jumped to Keigetsu’s defense now, it would only reinforce the idea that Shu Keigetsu was the bully and Kou Reirin was the victim.
Lately, Reirin found that frustrating. She didn’t want people to peer up at her with longing or look down on her in pity. She wanted them to engage with her casually, just like they did with Keigetsu.
When Reirin chose to hold her tongue, Houshun stepped up to smooth things over. “Exactly. Lady Keigetsu was only concerned. The moment she heard that Miss Reirin had gone missing in the mountains, she risked everything to run to her rescue, remember? She’s a wonderful friend.”
“Would you please not make me sound so sentimental?!” Keigetsu shouted, denying the assurance outright. “I-I wouldn’t waste my time worrying about this dauntless boar of a woman!”
As soon as she said it, Keigetsu realized she might’ve been too harsh. Still, yelling was the only way she knew how to distract from her burning cheeks. Hearing people dress up her actions with pretty words like “concern” and “friendship” made her deeply uncomfortable.
“I felt responsible, that’s all. It would weigh heavily on my conscience if she died in my place, but there was no deeper reason for it. I’d do the same for anyone. I’m not entirely without scruples. You hear that, Kin Seika?!”
Voice hitching, Keigetsu hurled whichever words first popped to mind. Even she was a bit appalled by her own bravado, but she was also confident that Kou Reirin would dismiss this level of vitriol as a “love bite.” After all, Keigetsu had defied the emperor to rush to her rescue. If Reirin still had doubts about Keigetsu’s feelings of friendship or concern, there had to be something seriously wrong with her.
“Lady Keigetsu!” Tousetsu called out from her place by the wall, a hint of panic in her voice, then promptly shut her mouth.
“Goodness, Lady Keigetsu, you needn’t shout so. You’ve made your point quite clear.” Kou Reirin brought a hand to her cheek and smiled like always. Of course she did. It was practically routine for Keigetsu to shout insults she didn’t mean and for Reirin to let them all roll off her back.
“Anyway, this is no time to be having pointless arguments.” Keigetsu opted for a change of subject to dispel the lingering awkwardness. “We have to come up with a plan to catch that sorcerer by noon, or His Majesty will have our heads for sure.”
“Right.” Reirin nodded, happy to jump on the segue. “I am quite ashamed that I failed to pick out the sorcerer back on Treacherous Tan Peak. In hindsight, there were so many hints.” As she sighed, her sleeve slid down the hand still pressed to her cheek. Upon glimpsing the red braid tied around her exposed wrist, Reirin caressed it as though reminded of its presence. “I really should have suspected something as soon as he gave me this bracelet.”
Keigetsu stared at Reirin’s wrist and the red bracelet on it, forgetting all about her inner turmoil of moments ago. “What is that?”
Thinking back on it, she had noticed that Reirin was wearing an unfamiliar wristband when Akim bound her hands that morning. Most of their conversations since the previous night had taken place in the dark, and they’d had their hands full working to outmaneuver Genyou, so Keigetsu hadn’t been in a state of mind to inquire about the new accessory. Now that she was looking at it up close in a secure room, however, she felt a faint, uncanny aura emanating from its red thread.