Epilogue
A little earlier.
… The emperor headed toward another cell after he visited Seien. It was where the second concubine was kept. Since Director of Administrative Inspection was Ou Ki, the jail was clean, and it was well heated.
Deep in the cell, pale, frail but beautiful woman was sitting as if she was barely alive.
The emperor stared at the second concubine.
... It had been years since he saw her last. He shared the bed with her only once at the wedding night. She became pregnant with Seien immediately, so he stopped visiting her, and after she retreated to the villa for convalescence, he rarely saw her.
‘She is still a beautiful woman.’
Her untarnished beauty that made her praised as Lady Lily of the Valley was still exquisite. The emperor did not particularly care about appearances, but he was certainly surprised when he saw her for the first time. On the other hand, it was all he felt.
Now she was even fairer and more beautiful than she was then, and she looked as if she might vanish like a snow crystal by a mere touch. She still looked like a girl even though it had been more than ten years since she gave birth to Seien.
Who could have imagined?
She made a deal with the Hyou family, reported Seien’s actions in detail to them, and requested a death curse. Moreover, she drove the sixth concubine to suicide by sending her the cosmetics, and arranged the circumstances carefully so her son, Seien, would look like the culprit. She gradually controlled the concubines’ actions by using the assassins borrowed from Hyou family and ladies in waiting, then at the end, used her own father and had him falsely accused of treason.
Ou Ki noticed the deed between Hyou family and Suzuran early, but he could not obtain a definite evidence and had no choice but to go along with her to the end. Ou Ki probably did not even imagine the plan to remove Seien would be fulfilled this way.
In a bed in her villa, she devised a scheme quieter and more carefully than anyone else. Suzuran won.
“—Suzuran.”
Suzuran’s long eyelashes fluttered at the emperor’s calling. The emperor was truly impressed.
“How could you do this all by yourself?”
Suzuran smiled fleetingly like a flower petal.
“… I wanted to hear those words from you.”
It was like a sweet whisper of love.
“Was the reward for Hyou family my life?”
“Yes. They looked to be happy only with Seien’s, though.”
“Was it you who drove the sixth concubine to have a tantrum so she threw Ryuuki’s bean bags into the pond?"
Everything was on her palm.
“Did you want Seien to die that much?”
“No. But he was the biggest obstacle to your governance… Seien is a kind who will become the eye of a war without wishing it. As long as he exists, the battle for the next throne will be accelerated. The feuds in the harem won’t be quieted, and the resolution will take longer. I thought it would be better to nip off a bud as soon as possible…”
It was the same political view as the ones of Ou Ki and Setsuna. Even the heartlessness to choose politics over love of blood relatives.
She wasn’t a woman whose only value was her beauty.
“Why did you think something like that?”
Suzuran kept silence. She muttered haltingly with a confused expression like a girl.
“… According to my father, I am supposed to be ‘happy’…”
She didn’t feel very happy.
Moreover, she didn’t even know where her happiness was.
So, she thought. What was ‘happiness’ for her presently?
… She was scared when Seien visited her. But she was waiting for him to come as well. Because Seien reminded her of her husband whom she met only once at her wedding night.
She felt sick at her heart when her father talked about Seien and the emperor. She was envious. Even the husband who does not care about his wife would pay attention to ‘work.’ She would be evaluated, acknowledged and allowed to be at the side of that cold profile.
‘I only wanted it once.’
… She knew that she didn't have many years left. So, just once. Just once, she wanted his eyes to only look at her.
How wonderful it would be if she did something for her husband and was praised by him.
Then she started collecting information at the villa.
It was merely a coincidence that Seien became the target. No matter how she twisted the matters, it was her son who was the biggest disservice to her husband and his country. It wasn't like she never wavered, but it was something that concerned the future of the country.
Her husband would certainly do the same.
But it was her husband himself who saved her son.
Things went astray gradually since then.
“Did you want me to die?”
Suzuran closed her eyes.
He possessed many beauties in his harem, yet didn’t give the status of Empress to any of them.
She didn’t care if he was cold. No concubine could capture his heart.
But as she collected various information, she realized that he was paying attention only to his children.
He gave them bean bags, and granted the treasured swords. He saved each prince’s live once.
‘Why?’
She had realized he had someone else in his heart. No other woman could live in his heart. But he had a heart to care about his children. Yes – he has a heart.
So she decided.
“I wanted your heart. If it’s impossible, then your life.”
It was enough as a reward for the Hyou family.
“Your Majesty, it was me who ordered the death curse. Only I can reverse the curse. Which one will you give me, your heart or your life?”
The emperor stared at Suzuran.
There was only one answer.
“—You won, Suzuran. I will give you my life. My life is yours.”
Suzuran smiles as if she was about to cry.
-- He didn’t even give her a lie saying he loved her to the end. Honesty that was almost cruel.
She couldn’t forget him since she met him just once. He was scary but attracted her to no end. It was that one night when those cold stares were hers only that kept her in the harem. Hoping he would visit her again under cover of darkness.
But it never happened again.
Every woman who loved this man became unhappy. Unhappy--, but wanted to be near him. Couldn’t give up. So they wouldn’t leave the harem.
She knew. As his name, this conqueror was the one who always invited conflicts.
Suzuran told him with a tearful smile.
“… you are the worst husband.”
“Yes.”
“But… I was happy.”
She was happy. Her wish came true. The emperor came to see her by himself, alone, and was looking at her.
What a happiness it was.
“Then I won’t reverse the curse. I will have your life.”
“It was a mistake to take you as my wife.”
The emperor folded his arms, and sighed deeply.
“All the great strategists and generals in the past died without being able to take my life. – I should have made you my retainer.”
It was the highest praise even Ran triplets could not get. Suzuran smiled.
How wonderful it would have been if that were the case. Even if she wasn’t loved, she could still be at his side. She would be needed. She was truly envious of the men who could serve this conqueror with their lives.
There was no regret. She was not shameless enough to ask the emperor to kill her.
Suddenly, she remembered the youngest prince.
The gentle prince who gave her lilies of the valley.
… She was delighted. If she had known she had such a lovely prince, she would have given a second thought about killing the sixth concubine.
“Your Majesty…, could you pay attention to that youngest prince even a little?”
“Why don’t you care about your own son?”
‘… Ignoring his own deed…’
Suzuran pictured Seien in her mind.
They couldn’t be a mother and a son no matter what. But unlike her husband, she could still understand him.
'He is exactly like me.’
He could never be happy if his nature of choosing only all or nothing did not change. But just a little. He was a kind of a boy who would be satisfied if he could find even a little bit of true happiness.
After all, he survived in the imperial court only with the little happiness he had with that youngest prince.
He would have been happy if his mother was not her. Suzuran knew.
Even if he found out that the perpetrator was her, he would still try to protect her. Just as he never stopped visiting her, with rationalizing it as duty or something.
… It wasn't like they could not love each other. They just didn’t try to love each other. They probably were too much alike. They were similar in weakness, facileness, and even things they dislike. They both dislike themselves, so they gave up even before they tried.
But Seien had changed gradually.
He brought lilies of the valley, and cut peaches for her. They weren’t calculated acts like before, but genuine. By spending time with that youngest prince, Seien’s ice melted, then he thought about the various things he once disregarded coldly, his heart was shaken, and he started to show his true face gradually between his mask-like smiles.
... It was true she hesitated because of that.
But if she left Seien, someone else would do the same thing. It was too late for Seien to change, and Suzuran was running out of time. The end would be the same even if she didn’t do anything.
Then his true hell began.
End