Around the same time, one man had his ear pressed to the other side of the door.
“Oh, good. Sounds like they made up.”
As Keishou eavesdropped without a hint of shame, he cast a pitying glance at his companion, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Really, though, Your Highness, how did you get stuck mediating between your future wives?”
Needless to say, the other man was Gyoumei. The long-suffering crown prince gazed out of the cloister, his eyes glazing over. “An excellent question.” His voice was tinged with exhaustion, but the look on his face said, What am I going to do with those girls?
Keishou leaned forward to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Gyoumei tore himself away from the wall and muttered, “At least we can focus on meeting Father’s demands now.” A sharp light glinted in his intelligent eyes. “No self-respecting crown prince would leave all the strategizing to his Maidens. It’s time to come up with a plan of our own and put an end to this.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Keishou responded with a bow, his expression sobering.
At that moment, the door opened from the inside.
“Oh! Your Highness! Brother Junior!”
“You were listening through the door?!”
It was Reirin and Keigetsu.
“This is His Majesty’s bedroom, so we couldn’t very well leave you Maidens to use it unsupervised,” Gyoumei said, and Keishou hastily agreed.
“Exactly! It’s definitely not that we were planning to step in if things came to blo—”
As the men made excuses, one defiantly lifting his chin and the other flapping his hands back and forth, Reirin cut them off with a smile. “I’m glad you’re here. We worked out a new plan to catch the sorcerer, and we would like to hear your thoughts.”
“A new plan? Already?” asked Gyoumei, incredulous.
Brimming with confidence, Reirin replied, “Yes! We have devised a clever strategy that draws on our strengths.”
“Your strengths?”
The two men looked the Maidens up and down, then traded puzzled looks.
“Another explosion?” Gyoumei mused aloud.
“It could be vandalism,” Keishou suggested.
“Arson…”
“Don’t discount blackmail.”
As they whispered among themselves, Keigetsu flushed a deep red. “Excuse me, Your Highness, Lord Keishou! Kindly refrain from lumping me together with this madwoman!”
Reirin met the men’s reactions with a blank stare, then bashfully pressed a hand to her cheek. “Oh, don’t be absurd. I would never do anything so outrageous.”
The other three fixed her with looks of disbelief. Unfazed, she clapped her hands together and tilted her head to one side.
“You see, we were thinking we’d act the part of proper Maidens,” she said, “and focus our efforts on singing.”
With a smile that at least looked sweet, Reirin went on to convey the plan she had discussed with Keigetsu.
“Oho.”
“Intriguing.”
The crown prince and his trusted aide nodded along, stroking their chins and folding their arms.
Reirin’s brother broke into a pleased smile. “Good for you, Reirin. You’ve learned to think up plans that rely on the help of those around you.” He glanced at his younger sister, then at Keigetsu. The look in his eyes was one of heartfelt gratitude. “It’s a welcome change.”
After that, they worked out the details and divided up the roles, then traded nods and strode out of the room in perfect sync. They passed through the cloister and arrived at a gorgeous pond with lotuses floating on the surface. In its center was the open-air pavilion where Genyou was playing his flute.
“We extend our greetings to Your Imperial Majesty,” Gyoumei called out to him from behind, speaking on behalf of the group.
His father paused his song. On the end of his flute hung a bloodstained tassel.
As Genyou slowly turned around, Gyoumei knelt, while the other three prostrated themselves.
“If you’ve thought of a plan, out with it. If not, leave me at once,” the supreme ruler of the kingdom bluntly commanded.
Reirin lifted her face. “Then allow me to start, if I may be so bold.” Meeting the emperor’s icy gaze with Shu Keigetsu’s radiant eyes, she firmly declared, “We have devised a plan to catch the sorcerer.”