Seven days after leaving Koran by carriage, Riri and everyone finally returned to Shinzui.
Although they had been gone for about a month, the sight of the gold and vermillion-lacquered palace made Riri feel nostalgic. Unlike the palace in Koran, which was filled with the scent of citrus fruits, the palace in Shinzui was filled with the scent of various fragrances wafting from the Ministry of Incenses. This familiar scent made her feel even more at home.
She was informed that the Emperor was waiting for her as soon as she returned to the palace, so she went to Reibun’s room with Kousho.
When they entered, they found that Reibun was sitting on a chair reading something, but he turned his head to look at them.
“I’m glad you’re back safely.”
Kousho put a hand on his chest and kneeled. Riri also kneeled and bowed her head.
“The treaty with Koran has been concluded. We also received a written pledge that Koran will not claim any of the mining concessions in the future. Emperor Aren hopes that the peace between Shinzui and Koran will continue forever.”
Reibun widened his eyes slightly.
“I can’t believe that Emperor Aren would make such promises. What in the world happened over there?”
“I just spoke to them with sincerity. We agreed that war is not good for the people.”
Kousho didn’t dare speak about what had happened in Koran.
Reibun nodded slowly with a surprised look on his face.
“I see. I can stop worrying since you directly made them sign the treaty. I have received a letter from Emperor Aren asking me to allow Seirai-dono to stay here in Shinzui to study incenses again. Did he come back with you?”
“No. I heard that Seirai-dono will be giving out detailed orders about the treaty to various places on behalf of Emperor Aren before coming here. So, it may be a while before he arrives.”
“I see. I heard that Seirai-dono supported the treaty. I would like to thank him when he arrives. And also… Riri.”
Riri was startled and looked up when Reibun spoke to her.
“Yes?”
“How was Koran?”
“It was a wonderful nation. I gained valuable experience there.”
She answered in a few words and Kousho also turned his attention to her.
“Father. Riri’s incense played a role in the conclusion of the treaty.”
“Oh. That’s wonderful. You did well, Riri.”
She was delighted to hear those words.
Her dream was to become a perfumer. Women couldn’t become perfumers, so she believed that helping people with her incenses was just as valuable as becoming a perfumer.
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“Riri, I heard from Kousho that you went to Koran to look for an important ingredient for the incense. How did it go?”
She confirmed that it was just her, Reibun and Kousho in the room before speaking.
“I have successfully obtained the fragrant wood of the blue winter daphne. I believe I have made great progress towards making the treasured incense.”
“I see… Riri, Kousho will become the emperor in about seven months. You promised that you will complete the treasured incense by then. Will you be able to complete it in time?”
She thought about this the whole time during their ride back from Koran.
“Yes. I think the reason why the perfumers have failed to make the treasured incense so far is because they couldn’t obtain the fragrant wood of the blue winter daphne. I should have all the ingredients required to make the treasured incense. All that is left to do is to figure out what materials and quantities. Once I know that, I will be able to complete the treasured incense.”
This was easy to say, but the slightest difference in the quantity of materials can make a completely different fragrance.
The hardest part of making the treasured incense was yet to come.
(But I should have all the ingredients I need, and I have a place where I can concentrate on mixing. All I can do now is to trust my olfaction and keep on mixing. I’m sure I can do it!)
She muttered encouraging words to herself in her mind, then Kousho bowed.
“Riri will concentrate on mixing the treasured incense at the Fragrance Princess Palace. But she always gets involved in things she doesn’t need to get involved in, so I will keep an eye out, so she doesn’t get bothered by other things.”
It was an irritating way to put it, but Riri believed this was just another example of Kousho’s kindness.
(Kousho-sama is the same as always… But why is he this kind to me? When I was kidnapped in Koran, he hugged me and told me he was glad that I was safe. He told me that he wanted to take me back to Shinzui even if it meant giving up on having peace with Koran. He told me that I am important to him.)
Her heart started to beat wildly when she thought back to that time.
Her face became hot, and she felt a mixture of emotions: embarrassment, breathlessness and happiness.
But one thought cooled those feelings like ice.
(But Kousho-sama has his first love. He asked me to enter the beauty pageant and become one of the Four Consorts, so he can buy time until he sees her again… I am important to Kousho-sama because it’s highly likely that I’ll make the treasured incense.)
When she thought that, all the emotions that had been rising in her suddenly faded away.
She felt like she was going to cry. Knowing that Kousho-sama’s kindness to her wasn’t because she was important to him made her feel as if she was suffocating.
She asked herself what that feeling was, but no answer came to her.
“Riri, what’s wrong?”
The voice belonged to Reibun. She looked up in a panic and her gaze met Kousho’s grey-ish brown eyes.
She couldn’t look him in the eyes and looked down.
“Nothing. I am just a little tired.”
Reibun nodded slowly.
“It must be because you’ve just had a long trip. You can rest for today. Thank you for your hard work.”
She bowed her head at his kind words. She left the room with Kousho with mixed feelings in her heart.
Riri touched the fragrant wood in the cloth bag at her waist and wanted to return to Fragrant Princess Palace to start mixing as soon as possible. Like Reibun had said, there wasn’t much time left.
Although Kousho weighed on her mind, she wanted to devote all her energy into making the treasured incense.
She wouldn’t be able to complete the treasured incense before Kousho becomes the emperor in seven months’ time if she concentrated only on making the incense and didn’t think about anything else.
She was anxious, but she had to first report to the Four Consorts that she had returned safely to the Beautiful Flower Palace since she was a talented person there. She held back her desire to use the fragrant wood as soon as possible and headed to the Beautiful Flower Palace with the guards leading the way.
“Welcome back, Riri-sama!”
Ryouka waved her hand in front of the large gate of the Beautiful Flower Palace.
Ryouka, a maid, had been by her side and helped her ever since she entered the inner palace.
She wanted Ryouka to go with her to Koran, but it was impossible since she was visiting her parents’ home.
“It’s been a while, Ryouka. I’ve missed you.”
“Me too. I cleaned the Fragrant Princess Palace while you were away and made it so you can start mixing at any time.”
“Thanks! I must greet the Four Consorts before I return to the Fragrant Palace. All the Four Consorts should be at the Beautiful Flower Palace at this time, right?”
The Four Consorts, who were in charge of the Beautiful Flower Palace, were all given their own palaces, but they spent most of the day at Beautiful Flower Palace.
“I wonder how Hisui is. I can’t wait to see her.”
Hisui, who was in charge of the Beautiful Flower Palace as the Noble Consort, was a friend of Riri’s even though their statuses were quite different.
She was looking forward to seeing her for the first time in a long time.
“Consort Hisui is…”
Ryouka’s expression suddenly clouded over. Riri noticed this expression as she walked through the gates of Beautiful Flower Place.
“What’s wrong? Hmm?”
She was curious about Ryouka’s expression, but she stopped since the scent that was ‘wafting’ through the air in the Beautiful Flower Palace caught her attention.
The scent could be summed up in one word: unpleasant.
“The aura around here is strange…”
A sense of uneasiness spread through her mind as she smelled the ‘unpleasant aroma’. The aroma around the Beautiful Flower Palace was clearly different from the time before she left for Koran. She felt that something odd had happened here.
“Can you tell? I was waiting here to tell you this before you entered the Beautiful Flower Palace.”
Ryouka whispered in her ear. She heard a voice from in front of her while she was wondering what was going on.
“Oh my, isn’t that Consort Riri?”
It was Ranran with several consorts in tow. Ranran had been given the Pure Consort title, so it wasn’t strange for her to have consorts following her. And yet, Riri couldn’t help but be confused.
(What is it? Something’s not right.)
She thought and Ranran approached her in an imposing manner.
“Did you come back from Koran?”
“Yes. I have come to greet you.”
Riri bent her knees and bowed. She was given the Fragrant Princess Palace, but her status was that of a talented person.
There was a clear difference in status between her and Ranran, the Pure Consort.
Among the Four Consorts, Hisui, the Noble Consort, had the highest rank.
Hisui is the daughter of the Grand Chancellor and was the first candidate for the position of Empress. Ranran, the Pure Consort, was next in line.
Looking closely, Shoei, the Worthy Consort, was among the consorts who were following Ranran.
Riri had never talked to her before, but she was a petite and cute girl.
She looked timid, so Riri worried about whether she would survive in the Beautiful Flower Palace.
“Then, Kousho-sama is also back? I want to go greet him right away.”
Riri felt that Ranran had changed after not seeing her for a while.
(She looks much brighter, probably because she looks confident. But was she always like this?)
Ranran raised her chin and the corners of her mouth turned up in a tight smile.
The way she was puffing out her chest made her look pompous, for a lack of a better word.
She never behaved like this when she followed Hisui around.
Riri stared at her puzzlingly and Ranran tensed up.
Ranran looked behind Riri. Riri turned around and saw Hisui, Juka, the Virtuous Consort, and a few other consorts walk towards them.
Ranran usually withdrew when she bumped into Hisui in a narrow corridor since the rank of Noble Consort was higher than Ranran’s and her father is the Grand Chancellor. Ranran was also someone who followed Hisui around before.
But to Riri’s surprise, Ranran didn’t withdraw.
“Oh my, Consort Hisui. Hello.”
It was the most piercing voice that Riri had ever heard.
The usual Ranran would never speak to Hisui in such a voice, so Riri was perplexed.
When she looked at Hisui, she saw that she had lost a lot of weight in the time that they hadn’t seen each other. She also looked pale.
“Hello, Consort Ranran.”
“Would you mind stepping aside? It seems that Kousho-sama has returned, so I must prepare to greet him.”
“It is my job as Noble Consort to greet the royal family.”
Hisui’s words were somewhat weak. Ranran stared at her intensely.
“Are you going to disobey me?”
Her voice was almost intimidating. Hisui looked down slightly.
“… No.”
Riri was surprised by Ranran’s overbearing attitude, but she was also surprised that Riri hadn’t gone against it.
Hisui’s rebukes would normally silence Ranran, but now it was the complete opposite.
(What’s going on here?)
Riri looked at Ryouka.
Ryouka nodded softly without changing her expression. Riri couldn’t ask her what had happened under these circumstances, but it seemed that something had happened while she was away, then she realised.
(The ‘bad smell’ I have been smelling since a while ago is the smell of sweat that comes out when people hate each other or are fighting. A lot of people smell like this. Did…)
There are more than a hundred consorts at the Beautiful Flower Palace and most of them feel that way. It was horrible.
Juka took a step forward.
“Hey, Ranran. What’s wrong with you? Why did you suddenly start behaving that way towards Consort Hisui? Also why aren’t you scolding her for behaving this way towards you, Consort Hisui?”
Juka’s question was reasonable. Riri watched the scene play out, and Hisui shook her head slightly.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go… Consort Riri, I’m glad you returned safely.”
Riri finally saw Hisui smile. She lightly bowed to Ranran and headed back the way she came.
Riri looked at Hisui in amazement. Ranran covered her mouth with her fan.
“Fufu. This Beautiful Flower Palace belongs to me. I won’t let her act as if she owns the place just because she’s the Noble Consort… Consort Riri.”
Ranran approached Riri and quietly leaned over, then she bent her knees and put her mouth close to Riri’s ear.
“Half the consorts in this inner palace are on my side. Just between you and me, Hisui can’t go against me, and her father will lose his position soon.”
Riri widened her eyes in surprise. Ranran continued.
“You seem to be on good terms with Consort Hisui, but you should carefully think about who you should get along with if you want to continue living in the Beautiful Flower Palace.”
Ranran smiled widely and stood back up.
She waved her fan and walked away gracefully with her followers.
“What does she mean…?”
“It is as Consort Ranran said. Beautiful Flower Palace has changed completely while you were away.”
Ryouka said as if she wanted to cry after Ranran and the other consorts were out of sight.
“I wanted to tell you this. Consort Ranran became aggressive about half a month ago, but Consort Hisui didn’t chide her. Consort Ranran’s followers have been increasing and now Beautiful Flower Palace is divided into two groups: those who follow Consort Ranran and those who follow Consort Hisui.”
Riri couldn’t believe it. She had only left for a month.
What on earth had happened in just one month?
“Something must have happened since Consort Hisui didn’t say anything. And…”
It was bad that the Beautiful Flower Palace, which was supposed to be united with Hisui at its centre, was now split in two. Disputes at the Beautiful Flower Palace became Kousho’s responsibility.
She believed she had to do something about this but noticed something that was more important than this.
She stared dumbfoundedly at the corridor where Ranran had left and Ryouka looked at her in a panic.
“What is wrong, Riri-sama?”
“I smelled a fragrance from Consort Ranran. A fragrance that she definitely shouldn’t have.”
Riri’s lips trembled and Ryouka leaned forward.
“A fragrance that she definitely shouldn’t have? What fragrance was Consort Ranran giving off?”
She stared at Ryouka while holding her breath, and her lips trembled as she spoke.
“She smelled of… Mokuren.”
Ryouka gasped in astonishment.
Mokuren, the previous head of the Ministry of Incense and her master.
He is leading the Dark Perfumers to abolish the Emperor and take possession of Shinzui.
He has set up various traps to achieve this goal.
The fragrance he wore was slightly emitting from Ranran.
It was a fragrance that she had mixed herself and gave to Mokuren.
No one else uses it and the fragrance wouldn’t have transferred to Ranran unless she had met him directly.
The fact that this fragrance was coming from Ranran and the fact that her attitude had completely changed from a month ago couldn’t be a coincidence.
She shuddered when she realised that the fragrances of darkness had invaded the Beautiful Flower Palace.
Riri had gone to the guard station at the Beautiful Flower Palace.
The guards who are protecting the Beautiful Flower Palace were supposed to be here in shifts.
“Excuse me, is General Garan…”
She wasn’t allowed to enter the station, so she called out from outside the door.
The door opened immediately and Garan appeared.
“What’s wrong, Riri?”
She looked at Garan’s face and remembered that he had hugged her in Koran.
She hadn’t been alone with him since then, so she had yet to ask him why he had done that. A strange tension enveloped her body when she thought back to that time.
But she had made up her mind and came here thinking it would be best to report what had happened with Ranran earlier.
It would be better to talk about this to Kousho, but it would cause trouble if she had mistakenly smelled Mokuren’s fragrance from Ranran.
So, she thought she should talk to Garan first.
“I need to talk to you. With just the two of us, if possible.”
There were a couple of soldiers in the doorway. They were probably preparing for their duties.
“… Let’s talk in the back garden.”
There was a small garden at the back of Beautiful Flower Palace. It was barren, but a somewhat relaxing garden.
She followed Garan to the back garden.
He was silent. They walked together and arrived at the back garden where there was a small pond.
There were plants around the pond and a small pavilion on the right.
They walked to the edge of the pond and Garan turned around.
He suddenly opened his mouth as if he was sorting out what he was going to say in his mind.
“Riri, I know you have something to say to me, but I would like to speak first… I’ve been acting weirdly towards you lately. I’m sorry.”
Garan bowed his head.
She didn’t know what to say, so she kept silent, then Garan stared at her earnestly.
He gazed at her with his dark eyes, and she was startled. There was a hint of sweetness in his eyes.
“I was never going to tell you this, but my feelings for you are overflowing and I can’t help it. I can’t suppress my feelings anymore.”
She didn’t know what Garan was trying to tell her.
But she could tell that he was going to tell her something important, so she just stayed still.
“Riri…”
Garan took a step closer to her. He came right in front of her and suddenly hugged her.
“――― I like you.”
His confession was sweet like honey and painful like the thorn of a flower.
Kousho was lying down in his favourite place in the palace.
There was a small pond and a pavilion in the back garden of the Beautiful Flower Palace. He felt most at home here as he read and napped. Most importantly, this place held precious memories for him.
He first met Riri here as a child.
She tried to help him when he was attacked by rebels.
It has been six years since he had fallen in love with her. She had tried to protect him even though she didn’t know that he was the Crown Prince.
She had lost her memories because of the treasured incense. He had tried to force her to remember once before, but he had failed, and she got a terrible headache. He knew that she would be in danger if he tried to force her to remember again, so he decided to wait until Riri had completed the treasured incense.
She would remember everything once she has completed the treasured incense.
“Riri…”
He believed that she would complete it, but the seven months or so until its completion felt like an eternity.
He was truly scared for the first time in his life when he learnt that she had been kidnapped in Koran.
He had sworn that he would never put her in danger again after her safe return.
“… I’m sorry.”
He had finally returned to Shinzui, so he was thinking about what he could do to get closer to Riri when he suddenly heard voices by the pond.
He got up and looked in the direction of the voices and saw Garan and Riri standing there.
He didn’t know how long they had been there, but they were talking.
They couldn’t see him in the pavilion and looked to be in serious conversation.
He missed his chance to call out to them because of this.
He had no choice but to wait for them to finish their conversation. Garan looked much gentler than normal.
He was the person that Kousho trusted the most in the palace.
He was skilled and most importantly, he was faithful, so Kousho believed that Garan would never betray him.
He used to think that Garan was a rugged and inflexible man, but now he has come to believe that this is a part of his personality. He entrusted him to guard his precious Riri because he trusted him more than anyone else.
Riri was kidnapped right in front of Garan in Koran, but he still did his best to save her.
There were few people in the palace who Kousho could trust, and he was the only person who Kousho could call a friend.
“What are they talking about?”
Their voices were so quiet that Kousho couldn’t hear them. He listened carefully and heard Garan’s voice.
“――― I like you.”
He couldn’t believe his ears when he heard those words.
He also couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Garan hug Riri tightly in front of him.
He could see Garan’s face clearly from where he was.
The expression on his face, which was loving, and filled with smiles, was proof that he really liked Riri.
A strong shock pierced through Kousho’s body when he saw that expression.
He stopped moving. The scene that was playing out in front of him was beyond his expectations.
He held his breath as he stared at them, and a strong wind swayed his long hair.
He had a premonition that a storm of love was brewing…