Chapter Seventy-Four: Hiaki Gou, the General of the Right Wing
I vacated other people from the area, turned on the “switch” in my brain and started to process information. The first step was to fill my head with the necessary data for my work: the documents the court ladies had prepared, the discussions I had with each merchant, and my list of suppliers. I memorized the texts word for word.
Next, I applied the information to each task and looked for the best solutions and methods of execution. My job was to understand the situation in each department and parcel out directions almost like a mission control would have in my previous life. Without assistance, someone like me wasn’t cut out for the position of manager, but since I had increased my brain’s calculative capacity with magic, I could assess scenarios in consideration of all the details available.
After I finished parsing most of the information and generating instructions for everyone, I rose, brewed a cup of tea, and turned off my mental switch.
“Phew…”
I relaxed my mind, pushing work to its outskirts. When I worked, I concentrated hard. When I relaxed, I unwound completely. That minimized my mana expenditure—some advice I had received from Lord Raiya.
As I helped myself to the tea, I glanced out the window on a whim. A silhouette caught my eye, that of a very conspicuous person dressed in crimson. Outside, a tall, straight-backed, good-looking man with short black hair was carrying containers of raw materials alongside servants.
Startled, I stood up from my seat. “Is that the General of the Right Wing?!”
He seemed to have noticed my sudden movement, because he raised one hand outside the window with a smile before approaching the entrance to my workshop. Frantically, I opened the door and greeted him with a bow. He grinned and bowed to me in return.
Nervously, I said, “I did not expect to see you toting our goods, General.”
“I happened to pass by.” He shrugged. “Didn’t have anything better to do at the moment, so I helped out. And some of your ingredients are imported from Meridiona, right? I wanted to take a quick look at those.” His voice was cheerful and well-projected, crisp even from a distance though he didn’t up his volume like Suzuiro. “Also, don’t call me ‘General’; that makes me sound like an old geezer. Just call me Hiaki.”
“Thank you, Lord Hiaki.”
“Mm-hmm. Looks like you were hard at work too, huh? Get some rest while you can.”
“Thank you.”
Unlike the other men I knew—the emperor, Lord Yukinari, Lord Raiya—the General of the Right Wing, Lord Hiaki, was the picture of traditional masculine beauty. He was tall and muscular, and although his smile softened his features, the gaze of his copper eyes was the piercing stare of a lion. He had been stationed in Meridiona for a significant amount of time, and the country was engaged in constant conflict with Centoria. Do all military officers on the front lines have such a dominating aura?
For a moment, I recalled the commanding presence of my former fiancé.
“So, what were you doing?” He studied me curiously. “Oh, you were having tea. Can I have a sip?” Immediately upon asking, he nimbly plucked the lidded teacup out of my hands and downed it all in one big gulp.
“Ah!” I gasped in surprise. “Sorry, I drank a little from that. I shall make a fresh pot.”
“Nah, it’s fine, I just wanted to get some good tea in my stomach. Drinking roasted tea makes me feel like ‘Ah, I’m home!’ You know what I mean? In Meridiona, all the men swig spirits and liquor on the job, in broad daylight. I can’t overstate my relief when I come across someone sober over there.”
“Wow…”
I hastily summoned a maid and asked her to prepare tea. Lord Hiaki, meanwhile, observed my every move.
“Hey, Sai, just wondering,” he said. “What was your original name again? Back in Centoria, I mean.”
“I was Sai Cutrettola.”
“Ahhh, so that’s why you’re called Sai Sekireimiya now, ‘Sai of the Wagtail Palace.’” He put a hand to his chin. “It’s practically a literal translation. You’ve never thought about changing it up a bit more?”
“The emperor respected my original name and so bestowed this sacred name upon me, so I wish to keep it.”
He sighed. “What a shame. You should have gotten him to give you a cuter name. ‘Sai…’ That sounds like ‘vibrant’ in our language, so maybe Ayairo, ‘vibrant color’?”
His suggestion spurred me to voice a question that I had been wondering for a while. “On that topic, women’s names in this nation usually end with -iro, or ‘color,’ right?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there a reason for that?”
“Who knows? Not a clue, though I’ve heard theories in passing. You know how Orient is covered in snow in winter, and it’s boring white everywhere, right? It doesn’t help that our hair and eyes are all shades of Orient Mist, so you only see similarly dull blacks or grayish colors on us. People wanted girls at least to have some sort of brilliant color in their life, so they started a tradition of ending girls’ names with -iro. That’s a pretty widespread story.”
Ah, that makes sense. As someone brought up in Centoria, I found the natural complexions of Orient citizens refined and elegant, but people who actually grew up amid those hues likely had a different impression. I had noticed that many of the buildings were coated in crimson paint, perhaps so they would stand out from the all-encompassing white snow.
He shrugged and added, “Some people say it’s for a different reason though.”
“What might their theories be?”
“The survival rate for women used to be appallingly low, so people decided the color of their burial clothes from the get-go and named the babies those colors. Or that parents didn’t put much thought into the names and simply named their child after whatever color caught their eye.”
“O-Oh… I see…”
We shared a wry smile. A maid deposited tea and sweet kinako mochi onto the table between us, and Lord Hiaki gave her a friendly smile as well, thanking her. Hm. That’s an unusual attitude for a person of high rank.
“That aside, if I remember correctly, the Oriental character for ‘Sai’ is…” He paused. “His Majesty chose it, right?”
“Yes.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “‘Someone who serves and belongs to god,’ hm?”
“…Huh?”
“Should I call him devious? Or maybe possessive’s more accurate.” He wore a meaningful smile, gazing at me while he drank his tea.
Did he possibly come here because he has business with me? I guessed.
Without warning, he stood up. I followed his example, and he stepped toward me. And leaned forward.
My eyes widened. “Wha—”
He was close, too close. Instinctively, I backed away, only to feel the wall press against me. He edged forward as if to cage me with his body and, with a thud, placed his elbow on the wall and looked down at my face.
“Um, Lord Hiaki…?” I asked uncertainly.
“Hey, Sai. I want to ask you something, and I’m serious.” Although his smile was soft, his eyes glinted like a hawk’s.
I shuddered. I couldn’t escape.
In a low voice, he asked, “Will you be my wife?”
“Huh?!” I didn’t even have time to comprehend his words. His fingers brushed my cheek, and…his lips inched closer…
There was a loud slam.
At the last instant, something flew through the air between us and struck the wall—a dagger. Blood seeped from his neck and drew a trail as it trickled down.
Its scarlet hue snapped me out of my panic. “Lord Hiaki! You are injured!”
“Oho? So this is Sekirei Palace’s chastity apparatus, hm? Well, well, if it had been anyone else, they’d be missing a head right now.” He grinned to himself as he rubbed his neck, then walked over and pulled the knife from the wall. He inspected its engraved signature. “Hmm, this was crafted by the swordsmith favored by the Kiriya clan. The Left Wing is quite the capable man.”
“Oh…” I remembered what Lord Yukinari had told me the day he first showed me around Sekirei Palace:
“Every location inside the former Inner Palace is within a web of magic. If anything happens, the invader’s neck will immediately part from their body, so please rest assured.”
The security system he had mentioned back then must have activated.
I looked at Lord Hiaki worriedly. “Are you all right? I shall attend to your wounds at once!”
“No, I’m perfectly fine. This is nothing; it’s barely a scratch. More importantly…” He cackled to himself as if he had discovered something humorous. He lifted his fingers to his mouth to lick off the blood as he asked, “Sai, is that really the first thing you should worry about after someone tries to kiss you?”
A chill ran down my spine, and I froze. For a moment, I had convinced myself it was a misunderstanding. After all, why would any man want to kiss me?
But he had confirmed his intent with his own words. He had tried to kiss me.
“General… Why? Why would you do that to someone like me…?” I stammered.
“Because I want you to be my wife.” He reached out and gripped my chin, forcing my head up.
✦ ✦ ✦
I saw my frightened expression reflected in his copper stare, his eyes rather resembling a blazing inferno. I was pitifully powerless before him.
“I’m not joking,” he pressed. “I want to marry the Wagtail Priestess.”
“That is not something I can decide. I…will obey the emperor’s decision for marriage partner of the Wagtail Priestess.”
“Huh.” He released his hold on me.
My knees jellied, and I couldn’t stop myself from sliding to the ground.
Lord Hiaki stroked my head. The motion itself was gentle, as if he were trying to soothe a spooked animal. “I’ll come to talk to you about this again. For now, well… Remember me, will you?”
The sound of his footsteps grew distant.
For a long while after that, I couldn’t even climb to my feet.