Volume 1 - CH 1.3

——I was heedless. I knew I had to do it before long, but…

Jusetsu pressed her hand to her hair as she returned to Yamei Palace and took out a rosewood box from a cabinet. She placed it on a table, then brought over a druggist’s mortar1 from the kitchen. It was a tool for grinding medicinal herbs and the like. Jusetsu opened the lid of the box, took out some dried alder cones and areca nuts, and tossed them into the mortar. She began grinding the ingredients with familiar motions.

She crushed the ingredients finely. The finer, the better. As she was single-mindedly grinding the ingredients, Xingxing suddenly flapped its wings violently behind her. Just as Jusetsu was about ask what was the matter, she turned around with a start.

She almost let out a cry. There was someone standing there. It was Ei Sei.

“W-Where did you come from?”

The front doors had not opened once. “I entered from the back door so that I would not be conspicuous,” Ei Sei answered with a cold expression.

Ei Sei glanced at the mortar, but then returned his gaze to Jusetsu, seeming uninterested.

“Has those clothes been helpful to you?”

He was looking down at Jusetsu’s palace lady dress. Her heart was beating wildly because of the shock, but Jusetsu nodded to not let it show on her face.

“Yes, it has been helpful.”

“In what way?” His tone was polite as he questioned her from beginning to end.

Jusetsu’s brows knitted together as she answered. “I heard a story from a palace lady. I have ascertained that the earring ghost is possibly Han-oujo, who died during the reign of the previous emperor.”

Han-oujo, Ei Sei muttered.

“Do you know of her?”

“I have been Dajia’s personal attendant for a long time, so there are many things I do not know about the inner palace during the previous reign.”

Especially during the time when he became the deposed crown prince, was what he was saying.

“So, can you investigate the current whereabouts of the palace ladies who served as Han-oujo’s attendants or handmaids?”

Ei Sei got a serious look on his face.

“In order to investigate, we must peruse the palace lady register in the Palace Servants Bureau. There has to be a reason for perusal, and it would be considered suspicious if we try to check the register without a reason. Dajia did tell you this yesterday. He does not want our movements to be known by those around us.”

How bothersome. Jusetsu was fed up.

“——Well then, let us do this.”

What is it now? Ei Sei’s eyes seemed to say.

“I wish to take on an attendant.”

“…An attendant?”

""

Now? Ei Sei seemed puzzled.

“The girl named Jiujiu from the Palace Table Bureau will do. I do not know her family name.”

“Huh?”

“However, with the surface reason of selecting an attendant for me, you should check the palace lady register in the Palace Servants Bureau. It is true that you are preparing an attendant for me, so there is nothing unusual about this. What do you think of that?”

Ei Sei’s eyes widened slightly, but he bowed with his hands clasped in front of his chest. “Very well, I accept your plan.”

Their conversation ended, and he took his leave—or so she thought. Before he turned towards the back door, Ei Sei brought his face close to Jusetsu’s ear and whispered into it.

“Are those ingredients dried alder cones and areca nuts?”

Jusetsu’s face stiffened.

Ei Sei touched Jusetsu’s hair, and then removed his hand.

“——Who exactly are you?”

When it was late at night, Jusetsu left Yamei Palace. She was heading towards a small pond on the western side of the palace. There were no flames burning in the hanging lanterns, and only the moonlight illuminated her surroundings. All was silent except for the sounds of insects in the grass.

She was holding a small bowl in her hands. It contained a substance that consisted of the powdered alder cones and areca nuts mixed with ashes and other ingredients, then kneaded with hot water.

Without minding that her nightclothes were getting wet, Jusetsu stepped into the pond. She bent over and dipped her loose hair in the water. The water was still cold at this time of the year. Even more so now that it was night time. Feeling like she was about to freeze, she washed her hair many times over. The color gradually faded from Jusetsu’s black hair. She ran her fingers through her hair, which shined silver in the moonlight.

Striking silver-colored hair.

It was Jusetsu’s original hair color. From the time she was brought to Yamei Palace, she had dyed her hair black and applied makeup to her eyebrows and eyelashes. When she had been a servant girl, her hair had been grey from all the dust and sand covering it. It was thought to be grey hair, although it was no less oddly colored. ——That was how she narrowly escaped death.

Silver hair was the mark of the previous imperial family.

The clan was originally a group of people who wandered down from the north. It was said that they were the descendants of a family that once ruled the country or the descendants of priests, but nothing was certain. It was possible that those stories were made up in order to give themselves dignity.

They were a small tribe living in the highlands who left their land after tribal warfare and consanguineous marriage nearly destroyed them. The members of the tribe had distinctive features. Small chins and narrow noses. Large eyes. Long, thin limbs. Above all, they had shining silver hair, something no other tribe had. Many of those who inherited the blood of the clan had silver hair.

After the emperor before the last ascended to the throne, he relentlessly tried to exterminate the previous imperial family. He searched high and low for any escaped imperial family members and killed them all, even the young children.

Jusetsu was able to bypass his blade because her mother, who was still a young child at the time, was the daughter of a lowly servant woman, so she was not acknowledged as an official imperial family member. That was why she was left out of the list of those ordered to be killed and able to blend into the city by dyeing her hair. It was quite ironic.

Afterwards, Jusetsu’s mother became a prostitute in the red-light district and gave birth to her. There would have been no problem if Jusetsu had black hair. However, just like her mother, Jusetsu also had silver hair.

May this hair be a blessing, not a curse——. With that wish, her mother named her “Jusetsu.”2 She dyed Jusetsu’s hair and raised her secretly while hiding her from the outside.

Jusetsu didn’t know how they got found out and who did it. One early afternoon, the Entertainment Bureau3, which was in charge of the red-light district, brought soldiers of the Southern Command to them. While everyone at the brothel helped them buy time, Jusetsu’s mother escaped with her.

Pursued by the soldiers, Jusetsu’s mother, holding her in her arms, desperately ran away from them through the bustling alleys, but it seemed that the soldiers were only looking for her mother. They didn’t know about Jusetsu, who was raised in secrecy. Everyone at the brothel knew, of course, so it must have been an outsider who reported them. Was it the work of a customer who her mother had been cold to? Even now, she still didn’t know.

Her mother, who realized that she was the only one the soldiers were chasing, sat Jusetsu in the shadow of a gate and instructed her.

“Hide here. No matter what you hear, you must not leave this spot.”

Her mother’s fingers bit into her shoulders.

“Don’t move and stay here. Don’t make a sound. After this, leave this spot before the gate closes at sunset and go home.”

Okay? Her mother whispered, hugged her tightly one more time, and then ran out of the gate.

The shouts of the soldiers and rough noises came immediately after.

The sound of vessels breaking, the sound of a wooden fence being kicked, a scream—Jusetsu shrank her body. Was that her mother’s voice? She desperately wanted to do something, but she couldn’t move her legs. She could only tremble. If Jusetsu left her spot, she would be captured. She didn’t know why they had to run away, but she could tell from how her mother was acting that it would be very bad if they were captured. She was scared. Her legs were paralyzed from the loud sounds of things breaking and the rough shouts of men. She had to help her mother—but even though she thought that, she couldn’t even stand up.

There was another scream. Jusetsu pressed her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She waited for time to pass as she shook.

Before she knew it, the noises had stopped. Jusetsu removed her hands from her ears, which hurt from being pressed too hard, and slowly stood up. She stepped away from the gate and went towards the site of the disturbance. However, other than the grim-faced shopkeepers who had the stools in front of their shops broken and the employees cleaning up shattered vessels, there were only people milling back and forth as though nothing had happened. She had no idea if her mother was captured, and if so, where she was taken. Jusetsu wandered around aimlessly, at a loss. Her mother told her to return to the brothel, but on top of being held, Jusetsu was only four, so she didn’t even know the way home.

In the streets, where various types of people lived, no one cared if there was a child wandering around by themselves. Shopkeepers would even chase them away from their stalls to prevent them from stealing food. While she was wandering around, the sun set and the gate closed. Whispering “Mother” and crying, Jusetsu leaned against the corner of a door and fell asleep.

The next day, she found her mother. She didn’t know where or how she got there. It was probably the execution site.

Her mother’s head was being exposed.

""

Her mother’s hair had returned to its original silver color. It was stained with blood and clinging to her face. Her dry lips were slightly parted and it seemed as if she was just about to say something to Jusetsu.

She was later told by the previous Raven Consort that her mother had been executed for the crime of treason. She was told that there was fear that she would take revenge on the emperor.

Before Jusetsu knew it, she was cowering on the roadside. She hadn’t eaten since she ran away, but she didn’t feel hungry. Her heart was emptier than her stomach, and she couldn’t move.

Afterwards, Jusetsu caught the eye of a slave dealer and was sold to the You clan as a servant girl. The hair dye soon faded from her hair, but it seemed that everyone around her thought that her slightly dirty white hair was due to the harsh manual labor.

——One autumn day, about two years later, an arrow flew from somewhere and pierced the roof of the You house’s gate. Master You was furious, asking what was going on, but his color changed when an envoy from the imperial palace came.

The arrow shone gold. It was a strange radiance, different from “beautiful.”

The envoy brought Jusetsu to the palace. She wondered if she was going to be killed, but she didn’t have any desire to resist. Ever since she abandoned her mother and saw her decapitated head, Jusetsu had become empty on the inside.

Passing under the gate on the western side, the envoy took Jusetsu to a large palace. That was Yamei Palace. The envoy was a eunuch.

Inside the palace, she was met with an old woman dressed in beautiful clothing. That was the previous Raven Consort, Reijou.

She told her that the arrow was transformed from the feather of a golden bird, that it would fly to the next Raven Consort, and that Jusetsu was that very Raven Consort.

Reijou looked at Jusetsu with sorrow-tinged eyes.

“You must live here from now on.”

What a cruel fate, Reijou sighed. After that, she told Jusetsu why her mother had to run away, and why she and her mother had silver hair. Reijou knew everything.

If Jusetsu’s true identity was discovered, she would meet the same fate as her mother. However, since she was chosen, Jusetsu had to live here.

Reijou dyed Jusetsu’s hair and raised her in the palace without letting her go outside to the best of her ability. Even when she was dying, she was still concerned about Jusetsu’s future.

From Reijou, Jusetsu learned how to read and write, how to speak, and how to use the arts of the Raven Consort. Although Jusetsu wasn’t born with any uncanny powers, she had mysteriously acquired them after her arrival at Yamei Palace, and with Reijou’s guidance, she was able to use them at will.

It was Reijou who once again filled the empty Jusetsu. Reijou poured all kinds of things into her. Her knowledge, wisdom, and love.

——However, deep down in her chest, there was something missing.  

It would never be filled.

Jusetsu rose from the pond and wrung her dripping hair. Now she was going to re-dye her hair. She placed her knee on the side of the pond and reached for the bowl with the dye. That was when it happened.

“!”

She sensed the presence of people and looked up with a start. And then, she gasped.

Standing there on the other side of the pond was Koushun. Ei Sei was standing behind him. She couldn’t see their expressions from this distance. However, there was no doubt that they could clearly see Jusetsu’s silver hair shining in the moonlight.

Jusetsu stood and broke into a run like a scared rabbit. She hurried back to her palace and closed the doors. She then sank down on the spot.

There was no way that he, the emperor, didn’t know the significance of her silver hair. She had been careless. She should have been more cautious. This was all because she had panicked, thinking that she had to re-dye her hair immediately. When Ei Sei had pointed out the alder cones and areca nuts, Jusetsu had answered, “This is medicine.” It wasn’t a lie; these ingredients were used in medicine. However, because Ei Sei had pointed them out, she was spurred on by the thought that she had to dye her hair all the more immediately before she raised any suspicion. Panic is the greatest cause of failure—Reijou had told her that.

This was the end. Jusetsu was going to be executed.

There was a quiet knock on the doors. Jusetsu stiffened.

“…You forgot your bowl by the side of the pond. I’ll leave it here.”

The voice belonged to Koushun. A momentary silence followed. Holding her breath, Jusetsu strained her ears to hear what he was about to say.

“Make sure to wipe your wet body properly. You’ll get sick if you don’t.”

I’m returning tonight, he said, and she heard footsteps leaving the doors. Jusetsu stood up and cracked open the doors slightly. Koushun turned around.

“…Do you not have anything more to say?” Jusetsu’s voice was shaking.

“No,” Koushun answered without even moving an eyebrow. “I didn’t see anything tonight.”

Jusetsu held her breath. What does he mean? She turned over his words in her mind many times. As though anticipating that, Koushun added, “I mean exactly that.”

Koushun turned his back on Jusetsu and descended the steps. Ei Sei, who had been waiting below, followed him, and they went back through the walkway. Jusetsu watched them until she could no longer see their backs.

After noontime the next day, Koushun came to visit again. He was accompanied by Ei Sei and a young girl today.

“I brought the attendant you wanted.”

The girl was Jiujiu. Having been suddenly brought along, she was looking around anxiously.

Jusetsu glanced up at Koushun. His expression didn’t change. His face was blank, just as it had been on his first visit here.

——What is he thinking?

Does he honestly intend to pretend to not see what happened last night? Why?

As she was pondering, unsure of his intentions, she heard a whispered “…Jusetsu?” She looked up and saw Jiujiu’s eyes widening.

“Indeed. You have my gratitude for helping me yesterday.”

When she said that, Jiujiu’s mouth dropped open as well.

“…Huh? What do you mean? Weren’t you a palace lady?”

“I am the Raven Consort. My apologies for the deception.”

Huh? Jiujiu pressed her hands to her cheeks in confusion.

“I want to have you as my attendant. You don’t have much to do, though.”

“Attendant…why me?”

“You told me before. That you wished to work at Yamei Palace.”

“I did, but…” Jiujiu seemed bewildered.

“…Was I mistaken?”

She had recommended Jiujiu to Ei Sei because she had said that, so she thought it was perfect.

“I was just saying things, or rather, I was just impulsive…”

When Jiujiu looked around the room uncomfortably, Jusetsu looked down, thinking, So that is the way it is? After spending time together yesterday, she had thought it might be fun to be with Jiujiu.

“It won’t be for such a long time. But, if you do not want to——”

Even Jusetsu didn’t intend to keep an attendant for a long period of time. It was just an excuse to check the name register, and having an attendant by her side all the time could lead to her secret being discovered.

“Sei, bring that over.”

Koushun, who was quietly watching the two’s conversation, gave instructions to Ei Sei. Ei Sei was holding a tray with clothing placed on it, but he presented it to Jiujiu.

“This is the attendant’s uniform. Please change into these.”

At Ei Sei’s words, Jiujiu’s eyes became glued to the clothes.

“I…I can wear this? Such fine——”

“You’re an attendant, after all,” Koushun said. “But if you would rather stay in the Palace Table Bureau, then we could choose another person.”

“No! That would be absurd. I shall happily work here.”

Jiujiu hugged the clothes to her chest. When she met Koushun’s eyes, she hurriedly looked down. She was turning bright crimson. Jusetsu had mixed feelings about the fact that she readily agreed with just a single garment.

“Now, the main topic,” Koushun spoke after Jiujiu went to the attendant’s antechamber to change. “Thanks to you, we were about to go through the register.”

Koushun spoke as dispassionately as ever.

“Han-oujo had an attendant in her service, and that attendant had a maidservant of her own. The maidservant died of illness.”

“Illness…?”

“The details aren’t known. As for the attendant, she was transferred to another consort after the death of Han-oujo, but currently she is in Sen’e House.”4

Sen’e House was the place where elderly court ladies or court ladies who had sinned were sent.

“Her name is So Kougyou. By the way, there are no other consorts who died by hanging themselves or strangulation.”

Then, that ghost truly is Han-oujo—Jusetsu stroked her sash. The jade earring was tucked underneath it.

“Well then, I shall visit this So Kougyou.”

“You, go to Sen’e House?”

A hesitant color creeped into Koushun’s expressionless face, and he looked at Ei Sei.

“It is not a place where the Raven Consort should visit,” Ei Sei said. Jusetsu laughed scornfully. That wasn’t a line to say to Jusetsu, who was a former servant girl.

“It does not bother me. If I meet this person, I shall know if this earring belongs to Han-oujo or not.”

Right at that moment, Jiujiu came into the room, having finished changing.

“Jiujiu, we are departing.”

“Huh? Where to…I mean, where shall we be heading to, Niangniang?”5

Without answering, Jusetsu opened the silk curtains hanging in the back of the room. The palace lady uniform she had thrown off was still there on the bed.

“I will be changing now. The both of you, leave.”

She said that towards Koushun and Ei Sei. Koushun silently stood up from his chair, and Ei Sei momentarily had an irritated expression on his face. Jiujiu’s eyes widened at how Jusetsu was ordering the emperor around.

Without waiting for the two to leave, Jusetsu closed the curtains and untied her sash.