“Yesterday, I was stopped by your father and couldn’t ask, but you… What’s your intention in proposing marriage to that person?”
My half-sister Yuki, who doesn’t look much like me even though we share the same father, is glaring at me with eyes filled with blatant caution. Well… I understand that she’s saying this because she’s worried about Yuki. The two behind her feel the same. It’s not pleasant for a man who suddenly appeared to take away their sister, the main family member. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be considerate.
“What do you mean, what’s my intention? The reason is what I told you the other day… but why are you asking such a thing?”
“Because… because it’s strange! That person is, that…!”
It’s hard to get to the point, but I kind of understand what she’s trying to say. Yuki and Miharu, who didn’t get along well before they met Miyako, seemed to have been good friends. But Yuki is a person who is despised as a hated child by both her father and her vassals. There’s no way they would approve of Miharu, who is first in line to succeed to the throne, getting close to such a person, and the two were kept at a distance by the adults around them.
(I sympathize with that. I can imagine that it must have been a difficult situation to resist.)
But no matter what the reason, the fact that Miharu distanced herself from Yuki for the sake of self-preservation, saying “I’m scared of being scolded by adults,” has left Yuki isolated. Even if she later feels guilty and starts to watch from a distance, it’s no good if she doesn’t do anything.
(And then, the guilt turns in a bad direction.)
In the scenario, I’m sure, the guilt she felt towards Yuki becomes distorted over time, with the words of those around her and the pressure of being the next queen, and she starts to take a harsh attitude towards Yuki. I don’t know what kind of attitude Miharu is taking towards Yuki now, but in two years, when the dragon seal, which can be said to be the proof of the emperor, resides in Yuki, she feels as if her time, which she has been educated as the next emperor, has been denied, and the relationship between the two worsens. At the start of the story, she was supposed to be unable to be honest with her honest feelings of “I want to be friends again,” and would curse whenever she met.
(I skipped some parts of the original, but in the end, I had the impression that she cared more about the eyes of those around her than about Yuki. She doesn’t want to lose her position as the next emperor, so she distances herself from Yuki in order to fit in with those around her. The two behind her are in a similar situation, caught between their position as leaders of a large number of subordinates and their guilt towards Yuki.)
It’s not a bad thing to run for self-preservation, but it depends on the time and place.
There’s no way I could like a character who hurts my favorite character and then kills her without any atonement. Whether that impression from my previous life is carried over into this life, to be honest, I don’t have a very good impression of Miharu. (In the end, Miharu hurts Yuki terribly, finally gets the dragon seal, and uses it as a stepping stone to grow mentally.)
Of course, I must firmly prevent such a future. As a result, if Miharu doesn’t get the dragon seal and can’t grow mentally, I don’t care.
Rather, by me pushing forward with Yuki’s survival route with all my might, there’s a chance that the two of them can reconcile in the best possible way, so I’d like them to thank me later. If Yuki wants it, I’m willing to help.
“If there’s nothing else, may I be excused? I need to hurry back to my territory…”
When I say this with an apologetic look on my face, Miharu seems to think she can’t hold me back any longer and steps back.
Seeing that, I stand up to leave the place, and Yukika, who has been watching the exchange until now, speaks to me as if to replace Miharu.
“Wait, Kuni Hisa of the Hanazashoin. I just want to ask you this. You won’t do anything bad to Princess Yuki, will you?”
“…I see. So that’s why the three heroines were ambushing me, to ask me that.”
Well, there’s no need to dodge the question here. Let’s just be honest.
“Of course, Shibamoto. Once we’re engaged, I’ll do my best to ensure that my wife can enjoy a happy life. …Rest assured, I won’t do anything like oppressing Princess Yuki, being swayed by the words of others who care about appearances.”
The last line is a bit of sarcasm towards those who didn’t help Yuki in the original story, who didn’t even try to help. I left the three of them, who were making faces as if they had bitten into a bitter bug, and left the place.
＝＝＝＝＝
On the night that Kuni Hisa returned to his territory from the Yellow Dragon Castle, Miyako Tayama, a young girl working as a maid in the castle, who was invited into Yuki’s hermitage, was writhing with her cheeks reddened in surprise as she heard the story.
“That’s… what can I say, it’s very passionate! Just imagining being wooed so fervently makes me feel embarrassed too!”
“Yes… even now, just remembering it makes my heart pound… it’s very embarrassing…”
“It’s something that every girl wants to hear at least once. Especially Kuni Hisa of the Hanazashoin, he’s a promising handsome man from a prestigious family, and he’s already a hot topic among the maids and lower-class women! Being proposed to by such a person, it’s really like a princess!”
“Stop it! Don’t tease me, Miyako!”
In response to Miyako’s excited chatter, Yuki, who was already blushing and sweating strangely just remembering what happened during the day, muttered in her heart, “I’m glad I consulted with you.”
The bright and positive Miyako is Yuki’s most important friend and someone she can look up to. Talking with Miyako like this helps to distract her, and her fluttery feelings are finally calming down.
“…But I’m glad. It seems that someone who can truly love you has appeared.”
Yuki looked up at Miyako, who was murmuring in a heartfelt manner. Her expression was filled with joy and relief.
“I’ve always been frustrated. You’re such a good person, why do people say bad things about you just because of your looks? It’s so old-fashioned to say that you’re a hated child or unlucky just because your eyes are red! In fact, I’ve been with you since we were little and you’ve never done me any harm, so other people should just treat you normally. They’re all cowards, or narrow-minded.”
“Mi, Miyako… you shouldn’t say things like that where other people are… If your superiors hear about it, you’ll be punished…”
“Yes, I understand.”
Yuki gently admonishes her, but to be honest, Miyako’s words are really comforting. Even Miyako has been treated in various ways by those around her for being in charge of Yuki, who is treated as a hated child, but she still treats Yuki the same way. Such a person is precious to Yuki.
(Even my mother and father, and my sister who shares my blood, couldn’t accept me…)
There was a time when she and Miharu were close. When they were still innocent and didn’t have any prejudices, Miharu used to come to play at the hermitage. But at some point, Miharu, who had become aware of her own position, began to frown and leave in silence whenever she met Yuki, and they stopped having face-to-face conversations. As for her birth mother, as soon as she found out that Yuki was a hated child, she started to vent her hatred, saying, “Why did you have to be born?” Even if Miharu cursed at her whenever they met, and sometimes even used violence, Yuki couldn’t even go to the main palace where her mother was.
(I understand… Unlike Miyako, who is a commoner, they have a public position.)
If Miharu, the Imperial Princess, is associated with a person with a bad reputation, it will affect her future support, and her mother has been scorned by her husband and vassals for giving birth to someone like her, and has become mentally ill and shut herself up in the castle. In this era, when many of the people in power believe in superstitions, having a hated child born into the royal family means that. So it can’t be helped that they hate me and keep their distance… but that doesn’t mean my heart wasn’t hurt.
“I thought there might not be anyone among the important people who understood you, but there are people who understand you! People who understand you! So, what do you think of Lord Hanazashoin? Do you think he’s cool, or have you already fallen in love with him?”
“That’s… I don’t really know myself.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
Kuni Hisa himself said it, but it’s impossible to say whether or not you can fall in love with someone you just met today. How Yuki will feel about Kuni Hisa… that will depend on the future.
(But… he was the only one who said he didn’t care about my eyes…)
Every man, including my father, looked at me as if I were something abhorrent, but Kuni Hisa was different. Even now, after some time has passed, I can clearly remember his passionate gaze, looking straight into my crimson eyes.
I’ve never met a man like that in my life. Remembering that, Yuki’s face turned red again with embarrassment.
