She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen her older brother in the last year. Was it any wonder she was indifferent?
However, Hazuki was unable to ignore Hana’s aloof reaction. She looked up sharply and said, “What’s with that cold response?! It’s an amazing achievement!”
“I never said it wasn’t…,” Hana said.
“You’re always like this, Hana. Always so apathetic! You act like nothing’s ever your business!”
Considering how little Hana had to do with her family, apathetic was a fitting description for her attitude.
But Hana’s icy relationship with her family wasn’t one of her own making. Her family had lost interest in her first.
Hana had only gone along with the flow. Why should she have to listen to Hazuki’s accusations?
She had just opened her mouth to fire off a retort when their father interjected. “What is with all the commotion? We are guests in the Ichinomiya residence. Behave.”
Hazuki shot Hana a poisonous glare before hurrying after their father.
Hana followed behind them. After that, the two twins didn’t get another chance to talk.
They were led to the main hall, where a crowd of guests were already seated.
Here and there around the room were young women around Hana’s age. Their fighting spirits and steely resolve were obvious at a glance. Most likely, they had their eyes set on becoming the lady of the house.
All the women were arrayed with luxurious outfits and accessories. Ironically, Hana stood out more with her comparatively modest kimono.
Among those allocated to the branch families, the Ichise family was seated in the second-rate seats along the fringes of the room. Their seats reflected their lower social standing and influence within the Ichinomiya clan. Several generations ago, they used to be seated near the head of the clan, but since there hadn’t been many strong practitioners born to the family in recent history, their position had gradually slipped.
That was all the more reason why the Ichises had hung all their hopes and expectations on Hazuki, whose power and talent rivaled practitioners from the main family. Their parents intended to use Hazuki to claw their way back to the top.
Hana couldn’t have cared less about their family’s standing in the clan. She thought their father should discard his useless pride.
However, their father clung stubbornly to the idea of having authority far beyond his station, despite being an unremarkable practitioner himself. His ambition was nothing more than a nuisance for the children wrapped up in his selfish whims.
Hana had hidden her ability so thoroughly to avoid being used as a pawn in his futile quest for power.
The empty seats around the room continued to fill up.
After a short while, a woman around the same age as Hana’s mother came into the room, followed by a young man around Hana and Hazuki’s age. The buzz of conversation died down instantly to complete silence when they entered.
Then the new lord of the clan made his appearance at long last.
A servant announced his entrance. “The lord of the Ichinomiya clan, Lord Saku Ichinomiya.” The sliding doors opened, and a lone man walked in.
The guests seated around the room bowed their heads simultaneously. Hana followed suit as well.
“Everyone, raise your heads,” he said in a low voice. He spoke softly but firmly.
Hana kept an eye on those around her as she sat back up. Since she and her family were seated so far from the center of the action, she couldn’t make out what the head of the family looked like, but his voice sounded considerably younger than she had imagined.
She had assumed any candidate in line to succeed the clan would have been fairly senior. However, now that she thought about it, the potential brides gathered here were all young women, so he must have been close to her in age.
“I am Saku Ichinomiya. I will be succeeding the head of the Ichinomiya clan. Henceforth, I will be taking on the mantle of the Master of the Barrier, and I pledge to continue protecting the pillar.”
“We pledge our support,” someone in the crowd shouted.
The guests around the hall once again lowered their heads as one.
Master of the Barrier was a title that could only be claimed by the lords of the five clans responsible for maintaining the barriers around the pillars. It was a heavy title to bear, for it came with great responsibility.
But that was a world in which Hana had no part. At least, that was what she believed at the time.
The succession ceremony, grandiose-sounding though it may have been, came with few formalities or festivities. It entailed only the lord’s proclamation of his succession before the clan’s families as witness and the banquet afterward.
The servants brought in the meal, and one of them set a zen tray in front of Hana. The tray had legs and acted as a personal serving table. It was loaded with dishes.
Hana ate her meal silently, surreptitiously glancing toward the head of the room. All the seats of the young women had been moved to the front before the banquet started regardless of their family’s personal standing.
Apparently, the ceremony’s double function as a search for a bride wasn’t just a bad joke.
Thanks to her new seat, Hana could finally see the man named Saku Ichinomiya. The new lord of the house had black hair, a sharp nose, and clean features. His jet-black eyes were steeled with determination.
His good looks had the daughters of the branch families in a tizzy.
He should have been able to find a partner easily without resorting to a group matchmaking session. Hana secretly suspected he was still single because his standards were absurdly high or because there was something wrong with him.
One of the young ladies gathered up her courage and approached to pour him a drink. The rest of the women quickly flocked around him so as not to be outdone.