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The country of “Tenkou,” with the Kouryuu as its guardian beast, was a great power that controlled most of the eastern part of the continent.
However, due to the struggle for supremacy within the continent, Tenkou disappeared, split into four, and new nations were formed with “Genbu,” “Seiryuu,” “Byakko,” and “Suzaku” as their guardian beasts.
Of these four nations, one was named “Hakurou,” with the Byakko as its guardian beast.
The first emperor of Hakurou, who received the blessings of the divine beast Byakko, built a palace called Gecchou Castle[1] in the capital.
As its name suggested, it was a beautiful castle that gave off a white light like the light of the moon.
From the large south gate to the central part of the castle, there was a neat row of palaces where political affairs were conducted, with the emperor’s residence located on the north side, and the inner palace in the back where the consorts competed for the emperor’s favor.
The inner palace was not only home to the consorts and their ladies-in-waiting, but also to the female officials with official ranks who were in charge of the inner palace, and the maids without official titles who performed menial jobs under the direction of the female officials, making the inner palace a little like a small country.
One female official working in the inner palace, named Kou Matsurika, had just turned sixteen.
With flaxen hair, violet eyes, and a neat and sweet-looking face that gave a good impression without being gaudy, Matsurika would have no trouble finding a husband now that she was of marriageable age.
However, being a female official in the inner palace didn’t mean that the possibility of having the emperor’s favor was non-existent.
In the case where she became pregnant when the emperor’s heir wasn’t born yet, she would be given the title of consort by the emperor. Therefore, even female officials were basically forbidden to have any contact with the outside world.
——In other words, Matsurika was at the height of letting marriage opportunities get away.
“It’s spring now.”
At the beginning of spring, when there was still some chill left in the air, the plum blossoms have bloomed in the inner palace. The small red, white, and pale pink blossoms made a beautiful curtain, adding vivid colors to the garden.
Matsurika couldn’t help but stare at them, spellbound, and saw a pair of birds perching on a branch of the plum tree. She wasn’t envious of the little birds’ newlywed life. She only smiled and wished them happiness.
“I might never marry a man for the rest of my life, but just being able to become a female official makes me more than happy enough…”
Originally, Matsurika entered the inner palace as a palace maid. A palace maid was a woman who wore plain, unadorned, deep blue clothes and toiled away under the direction of a female official, never even seeing a consort, much less the emperor.
Even so, being a palace maid, with a guaranteed salary and no need to worry about bed and food, was a job that women longed for.
Matsurika was fortunate enough to become a palace maid, and she was happy with her position, but after she performed a certain meritorious deed, she was given the position of female official and the official rank of standard eighth-grade.
From that day on, her life of servile labor changed. She could wore beautiful clothing, had enough time to put on makeup while looking into a mirror, do up her hair and put elaborate ornaments in it, and meet face to face with the consorts.
Her current situation was beyond fortunate and was almost frighteningly happy.
“For men, it must be like passing the civil service examination.”
Desiring anything more would be too excessive. The proof was this, see…
“His Majesty is coming!”
“He is as gorgeous as ever…”
After those sudden and reserved exclamations, the consorts, ladies-in-waiting, and female officials all let out ardent sighs.
Matsurika, who was standing apart from the throng, secretly followed the emperor’s figure through the plum blossoms with her eyes.
The young eighteen-year-old emperor “Hakuyou” was a beautiful person with silver hair and gold eyes.
His coloring might be rare for a country situated on the eastern side of the continent, but it was not so special that it earned intense stares in Hakurou, which also served as a gateway to the western countries. Matsurika herself had flaxen hair and violet eyes, but she had never been bullied for her coloring.
“…I would never have been able to gaze on His Majesty’s form if I hadn’t become a female official of the inner palace.”
Hakuyou was an emperor who seemed to have come out of a love story that was filled with the ideals of maidens.
His beautiful face always had a smile on it, his voice was meltingly sweet, he was courteous to everyone, he had a strong sense of duty, but that didn’t mean he was hard-headed, and apparently he could often be seen chatting happily with young officials in the government palaces——…
“Perfect people really do exist in this world.”
The emperor of Hakurou had a large number of consorts in his inner palace, so there were a large number of princes and princesses.
Once one of the many princes, but lacking powerful supporters, Prince Hakuyou chose to leave the imperial family and become a vassal, quickly choosing an independent route. He took both the civil service and military examinations, and was a genius who incredibly passed both.
It happened right after that. The then-emperor, Hakuyou’s father, died too suddenly.
The crown prince, Hakuyou’s half-brother, was only three years old. As a result of discussions between the imperial family, prime minister, and generals, it was decided that Hakuyou would take the throne as emperor in the place of the crown prince, who was too young.
The people all rejoiced at the birth of the new emperor, “Hakuyou,” who had passed both the civil service and military examinations.
Even after he became emperor, Hakuyou still lived up to the expectations of those around him and demonstrated his natural talents to make the country more prosperous, earning the immense trust of the people.
“Oh, I’d like to be spoken to by His Majesty just once…”
“I know, I get you. I dreamed of it, but reality is so cruel~~!”
Listening to the whispers of the female officials, Matsurika recalled a certain inner palace tale.
The main character was a young girl who had just become a female official. One day, her eyes suddenly met those of the emperor, who was passing through the inner palace. The emperor approached her, asked her name, and smiled at her.
From there, they began to care for each other and eventually developed feelings for each other, but naturally suffered from the difference between their positions.
The girl resolved herself and told the emperor that they should end this flirtation, the emperor embraced her tightly and said, “I don’t want to let you go,” and finally gave her the title of “consort”…
The female officials knew that this was just a story.
But they couldn’t help but dream that they could become the protagonist in that story.
(After I obtained something more than I dreamed. I don’t need to be the main character of that inner palace tale. If I can just live my life as a nameless female official without any problems, then that’s all I need…)
Right when she fired herself up to work hard today for the sake of that goal, a senior female official ran up to her.
She seemed to have taken a long way around to avoid passing by the emperor, and was walking quickly through the courtyard.
“Matsurika, the head female official is calling you. Hurry!”
This doesn’t sound good, Matsurika thought as she jogged to the head female official’s office.
It was still difficult to find a speed where she wouldn’t be scolded for being too improper.
Translation Notes
- “Gecchou” (月長) means “Long Moon.” ↵
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Translating whatever I want 