Volume 3 - CH 4.1

Finally learning more about the mysterious Saname clan…

Translation Notes

1. The word used here,  宝珠 (Houju), means “precious orb,” but also refers to the Cintamani stone, a wish-granting jewel in Buddhism

After prayers, Hakurai was offered tea for his exertions. He gratefully accepted it. Chatting with his patron over tea was also a steady and important role of a sect founder.

There were bamboo blinds hanging under the eaves of the roof, and the room was dimly lit. In addition to tea, steamed rice cakes with honey, bean stew, and other dishes were laid out in front of Hakurai.

“Is there anything else you want? I’ll prepare it for you.”

“No, I already have all that I need,” Hakurai politely declined.

“Since you started praying for me, my leg has been in excellent condition,” his master laughed in an easy-going manner as he patted his knee.

“I’m very pleased to hear that.”

“Meeting you was very fortunate indeed. For me and the Saname clan. –I heard that the silk merchant who went to the capital on your advice is doing well. He was even allowed access to the prime minister’s residence.”

Without dropping his broad smile, his master talked like it was nothing. It wasn’t nothing at all. By prime minister, he meant Un Eitoku.

“Is that so?” Hakurai narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Your advice was sound. I’m impressed.”

“I’m grateful to be helpful.”

Hakurai bowed his head. The emperor should have killed Un Eitoku immediately, he thought. The person who did the most to bring the current emperor to the throne was Un Eitoku. However, those who contributed greatly should be eliminated as soon the commotion died down. They would only serve as fetters for the next era.

“If this goes well, my…the Sanames’ dearest wish will soon be fulfilled.”

The Saname head murmured, very quietly.

“Eitoku has been very quiet lately.”

Koushun said quietly in front of the lotus pond. Meiin was standing a step behind him. “I see.”

“I would like to talk to him, but…”

He stared at the lotus buds. The plump white buds looked like hands clasped together.

What do I say to him?

Just the slightest wrong choice of words could cause a person’s feelings to swerve off course.

Koushun, who had been staring at the lotuses for a while in silent contemplation, suddenly turned his head to Meiin.

“I want to meet Un Eitoku in secret. Set up a place for us.”

He was Eitoku’s son-in-law. He served as the assistant minister of the Department of State Affairs’ Ministry of Personnel.

“Also, I need to speak with Shiki.”

Meiin didn’t ask any questions, but simply bowed his head and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jusetsu stared absentmindedly out the lattice window. All the doors facing the corridor were open, but there was no breeze blowing through, and the heat and humidity were unbearable.

“Niangniang—Niangniang!”

She came back to herself with a start and turned her face to the front. Onkei’s beautiful almond eyes were fixed on her. A hint of worry was peering out from his worried-looking eyes. His eyes were as serene and clear as a quiet spring in the depths of the forest.

“It’s your turn, Niangniang, but should we take a break? You don’t look well.”

There was a Go board between the two of them. She was playing Go with him. Staring at the board, Jusetsu let out a breath.

“Mm,” she said, returning the stones to the casket. “I’m not feeling up for it. Let’s stop here.”

“Yes.”

“Is this because you don’t think you can win?” Jiujiu said from the side. Jusetsu glared at her.

“That’s not the reason. I intended to reverse the situation from here.”

She hated to lose. But it was true that she just couldn’t concentrate on the game. When she thought back to the feelings she felt towards for Koushun and Shiki the other day, her heart became unsettled, and she became absent-minded.

Jusetsu sighed. Jiujiu and Onkei looked at each other.

“Niangniang, you really don’t seem to be in good spirits today. You don’t look depressed, though. Could it be because of the weather?”

Jiujiu looked up at the sky through the open door. It was cloudy today. The sky didn’t look as though it was about to rain, but rather, it looked like it was covered with a thin film.

“It doesn’t look like it’s about to rain, so why don’t we go outside? Say, didn’t the Crane Consort urge you to come and visit Hakkaku Palace yesterday?”

“…The Crane Consort, huh…”

She was a girl who was difficult to read. Was there an agenda behind her excessive invitations? Or did she genuinely want to befriend Jusetsu?

“…I have to investigate her at least once,” Jusetsu murmured and stood up.

“Are you going out?” Jiujiu asked enthusiastically.

“You don’t have to dress me up too excessively,” she told her in advance, but Jiujiu probably wasn’t listening.

“I’ll send Tan Kai to Hakkaku Palace to inform them of your visit,” Onkei said and left the palace. Tan Kai would definitely complain again about being sent on errands.

Jiujiu chose a thin silk crimson robe and a scarlet skirt. The thin silk was embroidered with gold thread, and the skirt was printed with designs of flowers and birds. “These would look beautiful in the gardenia garden in Hakkaku Palace,” she said. The vivid crimson color looked good against Jusetsu’s translucent white skin. She hung the wooden fish carving she received from Koushun on her sash.

“As for the hair ornaments—” Just as Jiujiu was about to pick up the ivory comb, Jusetsu stopped her. “Don’t use that one.” It was a comb in the shape of a bird and waves. This was also a gift from Koushun.

“But I do think it will go well with your outfit.”

“It would be troublesome if I lost it.”

Jiujiu looked between the comb and Jusetsu for a moment, and then she grinned.

“I understand. It’s a precious gift from His Majesty, after all.”

“It doesn’t matter who I received it from. Combs are easier to fall off than hair sticks. Hakkaku Palace is a little farther away, so if I drop it on the way there—”

“Yes, yes, I understand. Then, let us use these hair sticks.”

With a big smile on her face, Jiujiu put the golden hair sticks into her hair. It seemed like she was only making excuses if she kept talking, so Jusetsu remained silent.

Tan Kai, who was sent as the messenger, returned with a palace lady of Hakkaku Palace. It was Ki Senjo.

“I have come to take you to the palace.”

“I don’t require someone to pick me up,” Jusetsu said, perplexed.

“The Lady Crane Consort was so overjoyed that she insisted on you being taken there,” Senjo laughed. “She was worried that you would change your mind.”

She’s exaggerating, Jusetsu thought. Perhaps realizing this, Senjo added, “The Lady Crane Consort is very much looking forward to talking to you. She’s filled with a childlike innocence about it.”

“Ever since she left Ga Province, the attendants around her are all the same, and the consorts are a little older than her, so she can’t become too close with them…”

It seemed that she was bored. I see, Jusetsu answered. She suddenly noticed that there was an ornament hanging from Senjo’s sash. She hadn’t been wearing the white coral ornament when they saw each other before, but now she was wearing a fish ornament. It was similar to Jusetsu’s.

“Are you wondering about this?” Noticing Jusetsu’s gaze, Senjo put her hand on the ornament. She smiled embarrassedly.

“It may be presumptuous of me, but I had it made to resemble your ornament, Lady Raven Consort.”

“This one? Why?”

“I am no longer a follower of the Eight Truths, but—” That was only natural, since she was cursed by them. “I was wondering if I could wear something of the Lady Raven Consort, who saved me, as a talisman…”

“I don’t believe that can be used as a talisman.”

“It’s a matter of feeling. It’s a symbol of my great admiration for you.”

Should she be happy about that? Jusetsu didn’t know.

Jusetsu took Jiujiu with her and Onkei and Tan Kai as escorts to Hakkaku Palace. After Senjo led down through the gate, they were met with rows of gardenias. Beyond them, the Crane Consort, Banka, was waiting for them with her attendants. Jusetsu could feel the gazes of the attendants flickering to the left and right of her. They were looking at Onkei and Tan Kai. It seemed that their eyes were captivated by the two beautiful eunuchs.

“I’m so happy that you’re finally visiting me,” Banka’s dark eyes were sparkling. She truly was a girl with no malice. “You and I are close in age, aren’t we? The other consorts are all older. It’s difficult to approach them.”

Banka seemed more excited than the last time they met. Jusetsu was led to a room in the palace and sat down. It was a room with a good view of the garden beyond the outer corridor. The strong fragrance of gardenias entered through the open door. Does she not find it unpleasant? Jusetsu thought.

“I actually didn’t want to become a consort. I was scared of leaving my hometown, and I didn’t know what kind of person His Majesty was. But Father ordered me to go,” Banka spoke frankly as she drank the tea served by her attendants. “But His Majesty was a good person, so I’m glad. I was wondering what I would do if he was self-important and unpleasant like my eldest brother. Or if he was mean like my second-oldest brother. I thought it’d be good if he was kind and gentle like my great-uncle, but if he really was like my great-uncle, he would be an old man. That would be a problem as well. But I was so relieved when I saw that he was young, though he is older than me.”

Banka talked a lot. Jusetsu listened to her as she stuffed her cheeks with honey-simmered peaches.

“How do you think of those peaches? They’re boiled in honey. In my hometown, they’re a bit smaller, and we simmer the sour peaches to sweeten them, but here they are sweet as they are.”

“They’re delicious,” Jusetsu answered, and Banka looked delighted.

“I’m so happy to hear that. They’re simmered with honey and cloves. We use peaches that are still hard and—”

“Is there something you’re worried about?”

“Huh?”

Banka stopped talking, the smile still on her face.

“You’re acting strangely restless. It feels like you have some other concern, and your mind is elsewhere.”

“…My,” Banka rubbed her cheek. “I wonder if you really can see everything.”

“It isn’t like that,” Jusetsu put one of the honey-simmered peaches in her mouth. “Is it about the emperor? Or your hometown?”

Since Banka talked about Koushun and her hometown, she thought that those things must be what was on her mind.

“Oh—no. No, but I suppose it does have something to do with my hometown…” Banka seemed to stare into the distance. “Will you listen to my story? It isn’t the kind of worry that I want you to solve. Sometimes I just can’t endure it. Will you listen to me…?”

At that moment, Banka looked terribly fragile, like a child who had nowhere to go.

Banka had her attendants stay behind and invited Jusetsu to the garden. Jusetsu also left Jiujiu in the room and followed Banka into the garden. Gardenias filled the garden, burying it in their sweet and sharp fragrance. Even though many of the flowers had their petals scattered due to the rain, their scent seemed even stronger in spite of that.

“There’s an heirloom that’s been passed down for generations in my family,” Banka spoke as she walked slowly between the flowers.

“Heirloom?”

“Yes. It’s called the ‘Twilight Orb.’” (1)

“Twilight Orb…” Jusetsu repeated.

“It resembles the sky at sunset. Orange, pale pink, rose, violet…a jewel with all kinds of colors mingling together. It’s very beautiful. It’s beautiful…but terrifying.”

“Terrifying? How?”

Banka stopped and turned around.

“Because it’s cursed.”

Jusetsu widened her eyes. A curse.

“Did you know that my family is from Kakami?” Banka changed the subject while playing with the petals of a gardenia.

“I know.”

“Then, do you know why my family left Kakami?”

Jusetsu tilted her head. “No, I don’t.”

Banka glanced at her. “It’s because we killed a god.”

God slaying?

Jusetsu silently waited for her to continue.

“In the land where my ancestors lived in Kakami, they worshipped a certain god. The god of harvest. The god of the land, you see. But at some point, my ancestors wanted to keep that god all to themselves. So, they made a deal with that god. We will give you our youngest daughter as a bride, so won’t you be our family’s guardian deity?”

“…Youngest daughter…”

Wasn’t Banka a youngest daughter as well?

“The god seemed to agree to this. So, it was decided that the youngest daughter would marry the god. The wedding preparations were made, and she went into the cave where the god lived. But—”

Banka plucked off the petals of the gardenia.

“What resounded in the cave was the scream of the god. The one who was dressed in the bridal costume was a servant disguised as the youngest daughter. He stabbed the god to death with a sword he had hidden on his person. The Saname head had no intention of marrying off his youngest daughter from the start. What he wanted was the orb possessed by the god. It’s an orb that was said to be able to bring about long rains and droughts as the owner wishes. It was in the god’s stomach. The servant tore open the god’s stomach and took out the orb. Apparently, the god took the form of a toad.”

Banka tossed the torn-off petals to the ground and turned to face Jusetsu. She had a strange expression on her face, neither smiling nor sad.

“This orb was the Twilight Orb. The Sanames tried to rule the country with the orb, but the murder of the god angered the people. The clan was hated, and it became difficult to even live as before, let alone rule the country. In the end, the Saname were forced out of that land, despised as god-killers wherever they went, and had no choice but to flee to a distant foreign country…”

That was the reason why the Saname clan came to Shou. Banka looked at Jusetsu with her dark eyes and smiled slightly.

“And now, we come to the main topic. A short time after the god was killed, the youngest daughter died of a mysterious high fever. She was fifteen. Then, when the eldest son took over as the head of family, his youngest daughter also died of a fever in the year she turned fifteen. After that, the youngest daughters of those who took over the Saname clan would all die at fifteen. Someone started to call it a curse. It was the curse of deceiving a god and killing them. Some family heads tried to break the orb. But no matter how strong the person we asked, no matter how renowned the sorcerer we asked, the orb couldn’t be destroyed. There were those who said we should throw it away if we couldn’t break it. But even if we discarded it in the mountains or the sea, it always returned. The curse never went away. After some time, everyone gave up on parting with the orb.”

Banka took a breath. Before Jusetsu could interrupt her, she started talking again.

“I heard this story from my father when I was twelve years old. He showed me the Twilight Orb. It was very beautiful. But, it was also terrifying. It was scary, sinister…its beautiful color was like it came from absorbing all the pain and sorrow of people.”

She narrowed her eyes in memory. Jusetsu, staring at her profile, spoke.

“,,,But you’re already past fifteen, aren’t you?”

Banka’s cheek twitched as soon as she asked that.

“I’m seventeen.”

Her voice was like a bird chirping out of tune.

“The youngest Saname daughter will die at fifteen—that still hasn’t changed. Then why do you think I’m still alive?”

Jusetsu didn’t answer, just furrowed her brow.

“Once, a Saname head tried something. I don’t know how he came up with the idea. And, I don’t know how he could carry it out, but he did.”

Banka laughed lightly. It sounded contemptuous.

“He adopted a girl younger than his youngest daughter. A girl who was once a servant. He wanted to find out if the curse was attached to the Saname blood, or if it was just a matter of being a youngest daughter of the Saname, even if only in form… I’m the proof of that result. The real youngest daughter didn’t die at fifteen, and it was the adopted girl who died at fifteen instead. Since then, the Saname clan has always adopted a daughter before their youngest daughter turned fifteen. An adopted girl who would only serve as a substitute for the youngest daughter.”

Banka looked at Jusetsu.

“What do you think of this custom?”

Jusetsu stared back into her eyes. What a sad look in her eyes, she thought.

“…You were also able to live by sacrificing your adoptive sister…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The pain and sadness on Banka’s face grew even more intense.

“I chose that. I…”

“You chose it?”

“In the year I turned thirteen, the adopted daughter came to us. She was a servant girl from somewhere and had no family. She was one year younger than me. She didn’t have a name until that point, so I gave her the name of Shouzen. Shouzen was a thin girl who looked younger than she was. She was always anxious and shivering like a puppy.”

Banka smiled faintly. Her curved lips looked like a wide-open wound.

“She was pitiful and adorable. I grew very fond of my fragile little sister. I gave her lots of delicious food and played with her a lot. My precious little sister…” Banka cast her eyes down. “That’s why I asked Father to save Shouzen. I didn’t want her to die… Father is a strict man, but I thought if I begged him, he would listen to me.”

“He didn’t listen to you?”

Banka shook her head. Her face stiffened, and she was trembling slightly.

“Father said, Very well. If that’s what you want, then we’ll return Shouzen to her old home. That will save that girl’s life. On the other hand, your life will be forfeit.”

Jusetsu sucked in a breath.

“He told me, ‘That’s to be expected. You want to save Shouzen, but it’s fine for another servant girl to die. That is not acceptable. If you want to save Shouzen, choose to sacrifice yourself. There is no other way. So…I chose.”

I chose to live, Banka whispered.

“Shouzen died of a fever when she was fifteen. I am, as you can see…not sick at all.”

Banka’s voice cracked. Oh, I see, Jusetsu thought.

This girl is an empty shell.

It seems like she would crumble and shatter at the slightest movement.

“…That cannot be called a choice. It was chosen for you.”

By the mistakes of her ancestors, by the curse—and by her father.

Banka stared at Jusetsu, then smiled.

“There is a reason why the Sanames won’t let go of the Twilight Orb, and it isn’t just because we can’t. Do you know what it is?”

Jusetsu was bewildered by the sudden change in topic. “…I don’t know.”

“You see, the Sanames have a long-cherished wish. It is for that reason that we want to keep the orb, which is a sacred treasure.”

“A long-cherished wish?”

“Returning to Kakami. Becoming its rulers. It sounds like a pipe dream, doesn’t it.”

How ridiculous, Banka laughed.

“Ah, I feel so refreshed after talking to you. Thank you very much. I never told anyone about these things before.”

Banka exhaled a laugh, then stretched. Had she been constantly inviting Jusetsu because she wanted to confide this to her?

Banka snapped off a gardenia branch and put it with the white flower in Jusetsu’s hair.

“You look beautiful. It suits you very well, much more than peonies.”

Looking at Jusetsu with narrowed eyes, Banka smiled with satisfaction and turned around.

“Shall we have another cup of tea? Let’s talk about something pleasant this time.”

With light steps, Banka returned to the room.