Chapter 104: The Sound of Singing and Crying

A glimmer of light had just appeared on the horizon, and Minamoto Kiyomoto was already walking on the street.

The usually bustling street was now only dotted with a few open shops, with stoves burning and shelves being set up in preparation for the day’s business.

Minamoto Kiyomoto rushed to the Rose Palace, where a maid told him that the princess was not yet awake.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at the bedchamber and spent half a second considering the possibility of ‘stealing the gem while the princess was asleep’.

He kept this plan in his heart and stood guard in front of the bedchamber door like an unshakable sculpture.

From here, he could see the beautiful garden.

At this time, the gardener was rushing to trim the flower branches and sweep the fallen leaves to ensure that what the princess saw was always the most beautiful.

After the gardener quietly left, after a while, a maid came to inform him, “Lord Cooper, Her Highness is awake and has asked you to come in.”

“Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded to the maid and walked into the bedchamber.

The bed curtains, woven with white silk and gold thread, glowed faintly in the morning light.

In the bed curtains, the princess was getting up from the quilt.

Her golden hair was not messy from sleep. Like in a fairy tale, it was always elegant and smooth.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto bowed in salute—this was the etiquette after being promoted to a princess’s knight, which a special person had taught him yesterday.

“Good morning, Cooper,” the princess said, taking off her nightgown, and then her underwear, becoming completely naked.

Her round shoulders, her full and firm breasts, protruded proudly.

And her beautiful and charming slender waist, her full hips, and the legs that were closely connected to her hips were indescribably beautiful.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had just raised his head when he quickly lowered it again.

He also had things he was not good at.

Under normal circumstances, he would practice to become good at them.

Only in terms of experience with women, he had not practiced. He wanted to become proficient with the person he liked, from clumsy to skilled.

“Your Highness, do you need a bath?” the maid asked.

“No, just a wipe will do.”

“Yes.”

The princess turned her gaze to Minamoto Kiyomoto, sized him up, and said in a pleasant and majestic voice:
“A knight who lowers his head cannot protect the princess.”

“Please forgive me, Your Highness’s body is too beautiful,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied dryly, raising his head and trying to look only at the princess’s face.

“Is that so? Thank you,” the princess walked to the large mirror carved with roses.

A maid came over with a basin of water sprinkled with petals. Another maid wet a soft towel and gently wiped the princess.

The third and fourth maids were making the bed, and three other maids were preparing the clothes the princess would wear later.

The princess sometimes raised her arms, and sometimes let the maids wipe the inside of her thighs.

In the bedchamber, besides the sound of seagulls, there were only the extremely slight movements made by these maids.

Minamoto Kiyomoto forced himself to think of Himemiya Izayoi. He wondered if she was also served like this when she was in the Seiryo-den.

She probably was.

In the Hakusan Shrine, where there was nothing, she was also served by shikigami. It went without saying in the Seiryo-den.

‘It might be good to serve in the Seiryo-den.’

Minamoto Kiyomoto imagined himself wiping Himemiya Izayoi’s body, and then immediately stopped—to him, this was no different from looking at the princess’s body, it was too stimulating.

After washing up, the princess put on a beautiful and majestic long dress and a princess crown inlaid with gems.

Minamoto Kiyomoto followed her to the garden, where the princess had breakfast.

Compared to what Minamoto Kiyomoto ate, it was like the difference between first class and fifth class.

After enjoying breakfast, a group of people walked in. There were nobles in golden and blue clothes, knights in armor, and a wizard in a black robe.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at the wizard. She was a beautiful young woman.

The princess and these people discussed political affairs for two hours, and Minamoto Kiyomoto also stood for two hours.

“Your Highness,” after the political affairs were over, a knight reported, “this morning, I received a piece of news. The afternoon before yesterday, a rose knight with red eyes brought three women from an ordinary time and space into the city.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was practicing the ‘martial arts’ from the ‘Xiangye Crown’ in his memory, suddenly came back to his senses.

As if he were on guard against everything, he placed his hand on his sword and stood guard behind the princess.

“Three women?” the princess put down the exquisite teacup in her hand and asked.

“Yes,” the knight roughly described their appearance, especially the Hokkaido miko’s white hair.

“Did those commoners really say, ‘as beautiful as the princess’?” the beautiful wizard questioned.

The knight quickly knelt on one knee and said hesitantly, “…Yes.”

“Impossible!”

“How can anyone compare to Her Highness’s beauty!”

The nobles and knights immediately retorted.

The princess raised her hand to stop everyone and said nonchalantly, “Knight Croix is just relaying. There’s no need to blame him. Get up, Knight Croix.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Croix stood up, a layer of fine sweat already on his forehead.

“Cooper,” the princess called.

“Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto bowed.

“Are these three people the defective products you were responsible for before?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly knelt on one knee, “Your Highness, please give me another chance. This time, I will definitely not let them escape again!”

“Not only did they escape, but they also dared to run into the city,” the princess suddenly laughed. “As expected of the hope in the mouths of those prisoners—the miko.”

“Your Highness, after I go back, I will immediately search the city and definitely find these garbage!” Knight Croix knelt on the ground again and said loudly.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at this guy named Croix and remembered him along with the soldier named Branwen from yesterday.

“Your Highness,” at this time, Belladonna knelt down. “Please leave this matter to me!”

“Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto also said, “forgive my bluntness, but neither Knight Croix nor Knight Belladonna are a match for those three. Please leave this matter to me!”

“Cooper, what do you mean?!” The two of them stared at him angrily.

Minamoto Kiyomoto did not say a word, waiting for the princess’s order.

The beautiful garden, the exquisite Western-style pavilion, the princess’s golden hair draped over her shoulders, her eyes as blue as a lake, surrounded by everyone. Anyone who saw it could not help but feel a sense of dizziness—like a scene from a medieval court oil painting.

“Belladonna,” the princess said.

“Your Highness!” Belladonna replied.

“Leave this matter to you. You must find these three people, and… that red-eyed rose knight.”

“Yes!” Belladonna’s face was still serious, but her eyes were excited.

The expedition yesterday, in front of the princess, she was easily repelled by the enemy, which made her unable to sleep all night. Now, she finally had a chance to prove herself.

After settling this matter, the princess’s gaze turned to the wizard, “Once a new defective product enters the holy land, report it immediately.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” the wizard held her skirt and bowed gracefully.

After everyone left, the princess also stood up and walked in the garden.

“Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said softly, “Lord Belladonna is definitely no match for those people. She might lose her life because of this.”

The princess sniffed a rose. Her fair face was even more delicate than the flower.

“Of course I know. Cooper, you are the only one here who is their match,” she still closed her eyes, immersed in the fragrance of the flowers.

“Then you?”

“That’s why I kept you by my side, isn’t it?”

“…So it’s to prevent those attacks! I was negligent,” Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly realized.

“The red-eyed rose knight—” the princess let go of the flower branch, stood up straight, and looked at him with a smile. “Cooper, who do you think it is?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto, through his mask, his face in the shadows, looked directly at the smiling Princess Noi in the sunlight.

This golden-haired girl was as confident as he was.

Now he could be sure that the other party knew his identity.

Knowing his identity, and still daring to keep him by her side, what was this?
Letting the tiger return to the mountain, in order to observe the tiger in its natural state?

“No matter who he is, he will die by my sword,” Minamoto Kiyomoto met the princess’s blue eyes, his tone firm, as unshakable as a steel furnace lid.

“Very good,” Princess Noi nodded.

She turned around, then suddenly turned back and asked, “You’ve seen those three people. Are they really as beautiful as me?”

“…The princess’s beauty is unparalleled,” now was not the time to be honest.

“What if I ask you to kill them?”

“Your Highness’s will is above all else.”

Princess Noi laughed.

A gentle breeze blew, and the leaves of the orange tree rustled. She looked at the hundred flowers on the orange tree and hummed a song softly.

The song was like a gentle breeze blowing from the sea, with a hint of warmth, refreshing the heart.

For the next two days, Minamoto Kiyomoto, on the one hand, looked for opportunities by the princess’s side, and on the other hand, planned to rescue the cultivators.

Kamibayashi Miko, Himemiya Izayoi, and the Hokkaido miko were moved by Minamoto Kiyomoto to Cooper’s house to cultivate the ‘martial arts’ from the ‘Xiangye Crown’, which was originally not worth mentioning.

◇

A few days had passed in September. On the fifteenth, Chiba, which had been sunny for half a month, began to rain lightly.

The windows of the literature club were tightly closed. There was no wind, and the lifeless curtains hung in the corner like a corpse.

Shima Yu elbowed Takashi, who looked up from his book and looked at her with confusion.

Shima Yu gestured for him to look at Itomi Yuki.

In fact, he didn’t need her to say it. Takashi had already discovered it—Itomi Yuki, who had always been quietly reading, was now like an internet-addicted girl, constantly sending messages on her phone.

If she was in love, Itomi Yuki’s face had never smiled.

If she was arguing, she was not angry at all.

But besides these two things, what else was worth typing so seriously and “da da da” on the phone?

Itomi Yuki, whose six senses were getting stronger, raised her head and looked at the two who were staring at her.

“Is there something?” She turned off her phone screen. On it was the learning group of the cultivator academy, which could not be shown to anyone.

Looking at her action, Shima Yu and Takashi looked at each other.

“Um, Yuki,” Shima Yu hesitated to speak, “are you… in love?”

“What?” Itomi Yuki thought she had misheard. “Love? I don’t have time to deal with such a boring thing.”

“That’s right! Love is the most boring thing in the world!” Takashi agreed completely.

Itomi Yuki glanced at him, then looked at Shima Yu. Her friend’s eyes were full of worry.

She rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and simply put away her phone.

“By the way,” Itomi Yuki said in a calm and pleasant voice, “the cultural festival is about to start?”

“Yes, yes!” Shima Yu immediately became excited. “This month is the cultural festival, and in October, there’s also a school trip. It’s great!”

Itomi Yuki sighed helplessly, both because of Shima Yu’s simplicity and because there were too many school activities, which was a waste of time.

“Yuki, is our club going to hold an event?” Shima Yu moved her chair “ding ding kuang kuang” to Itomi Yuki’s side.

“That’s right,” Itomi Yuki thought. “Let’s hold a recitation, to share the articles we usually like.”

Recitation did not require extra time.

“Ah—” Shima Yu wailed. Although she was in the literature club, she only read beauty magazines.

“No, no!” Takashi also immediately refused. “If you want me to recite, you might as well let me perform a parachute jump without a parachute.”

“How can you parachute jump without a parachute?” Shima Yu asked curiously.

“To me, reciting in front of people is that difficult—I’d rather die,” Takashi replied.

“Then forget it,” Itomi Yuki announced happily.

Shima Yu obviously misunderstood her meaning, thinking that when she said ‘forget it,’ she was referring to the ‘recitation’ matter.

“Literature club, literature club…” Shima Yu’s gaze went up, her expression thoughtful.

“How about this!” she suddenly thought of something and replied, “Let’s find the drama club, provide them with a script, and also participate in the play. I’ve wanted to try it for a long time.”

“I’ll be in charge of logistics or ticket sales,” Takashi, regardless of whether this project could pass, first took the easy job.

“How about it, Yuki?” Shima Yu asked Itomi Yuki.

On Itomi Yuki’s fair and exquisite little face, although it was not obvious, there was still a hint of annoyance.

When Shima Yu wrapped her arms around her slender arm and was about to start her coquettish offensive, the door of the literature club was suddenly knocked.

Itomi Yuki first pulled her hand out of Shima Yu’s chest, which was three times her size, and then said:
“Please come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Coincidentally, it was the drama club that came in, asking the literature club to help write a script—mainly asking the top student in the grade, Itomi Yuki.

After a round of discussion, protest, and struggle, Itomi Yuki finally agreed.

She remembered what Minamoto Kiyomoto had said, to cherish the days with her friends.

In addition, besides being anxious to help her sister, she actually had a small thought—with her brother around, her sister would be fine, so she didn’t have to be so anxious.

After confirming the division of labor with the drama club, it was already time to go home.

“Goodbye~”

“Goodbye,” Itomi Yuki waved gently at the two of them and got into her family’s car.

She didn’t like to put on the airs of a young lady in front of her classmates, but after her sister’s accident, her parents demanded that a driver must pick her up and drop her off.

Sitting in the car, Itomi Yuki took out her phone and continued to ask various questions in the learning group of the cultivator academy.

“I’m back.”

“Yes. By the way, Yuki, you have a letter.”

“A letter?” Itomi Yuki’s action of taking off her small leather shoes paused for a moment.

Could it be her sister?
As soon as this thought came up, she immediately rejected it. Anything that entered the Itomi house would be checked once.

It couldn’t be her sister.

“Who sent it?” She changed her shoes, walked into the living room, and her mother handed her a white envelope with a ginkgo leaf printed on it.

“The University of Tokyo,” her mother said.

Itomi Yuki’s clear eyes flashed with a trace of confusion.

“It’s not from the University of Tokyo,” Itomi’s mother further explained. “The envelope is from the University of Tokyo. This ginkgo leaf is the school emblem. I recognize it.”

Itomi Yuki looked at the ginkgo leaf on the envelope.

It was very familiar. She had been to the University of Tokyo twice and was also familiar with Minamoto Kiyomoto. Perhaps she had inadvertently caught a glimpse of the University of Tokyo’s school emblem.

She raised her head. Her mother was looking at her, as if waiting for her to open the letter.

“I remember now,” Itomi Yuki murmured to herself. “I wrote a letter to Professor Takamine before, asking a few questions about the medical exam. It might be a reply.”

“Is that so,” Itomi’s mother didn’t quite believe it, but she didn’t press further. “Go and change your clothes. Get ready for dinner.”

“Yes.”

Itomi Yuki returned to her bedroom. After hesitating for a moment, she placed the letter on her desk, planning to read it at night.

She unbuttoned her pleated skirt, unzipped it, and let the skirt slide to the floor.

The hem of her shirt was slightly long, covering her underwear, making it look as if she wasn’t wearing any.

One by one, she unbuttoned her shirt, took off her long socks, and changed into a short-sleeved shirt and casual pants.

After dinner, she took a bath and watched TV with her mother for a while before returning to her room.

At this time, she would usually start cultivating immediately, but today she had to write a script, and there was a letter waiting for her.

Itomi Yuki spread her notebook on the desk, placed a pencil, and after preparing to write the script, she opened the letter.

Three sheets of letter paper, all from the University of Tokyo with ginkgo leaves printed on them.

She first looked at the signature. It was Minamoto Kiyomoto.

She couldn’t understand. The two of them had each other’s phone numbers. It would only take Minamoto Kiyomoto himself a dozen minutes to come to Chiba. Why did he send a letter?

“Itomi Yuki:”

“When this letter reaches you, it should be September 15th, and I still haven’t come back.”

Itomi Yuki was stunned for a moment and continued to read.

“On September 9th, I participated in a yokai subjugation. It was very dangerous.”

Itomi Yuki read the beginning of the letter three more times and subconsciously bit her lip.

“Don’t be sad for me—if you are sad.”

“Even if I die, I will be the brightest meteor. For the next hundred thousand years, the cultivator world will remember the few things I have done. I am that amazing.”

“The road to Izu Oshima is too far. Be careful. It’s best not to go for a short period of time.”

“As for cultivation, I have been as detailed as possible in my notebook. If you want to ask someone for advice, go to Hakusan Shrine. Behind that banyan tree, Shirako should be there waiting for her Lady Miko.”

Itomi Yuki felt a tightness in her chest and couldn’t help but get up and turn on the air conditioner.

Sitting back in her chair, she picked up the letter again.

“I told you, you will eventually lose your friends.”

“But that’s nothing. If you were an ordinary person, this might be a loss, but you have now embarked on a path with no future in sight. The warmth of a small circle will only limit you.”

“Yuki, your personality is like snow.”

“Snow has a dual nature. Its beauty depends on the cold, so it is a static and fragile beauty.”

“When the spring breeze blows, it will melt and turn into mud.”

“I can’t come back. Your sister is in danger herself. You can only refuse spring now and be strong as snow.”

“I’m not emphasizing what friends are like. What I mean is, since you’ve made a decision, then make up your mind. Don’t hesitate. That will only cause you to lose both sides and be dragged into the mud by the curse.”

“What kind of person we become depends not on our ability, but on our choices.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise and protect you well.”

“If you have the chance to see your sister in the future, please apologize to her for me. I’m sorry.”

“Finally, I have a favor to ask of you. At the beginning of October, please send the other sheet of letter paper to my mother. The address is: Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu City, Shodoshima, Sugan.”

“Don’t overthink it. Live well.”

“Goodbye.”

“Minamoto Kiyomoto.”

Putting down the letter, Itomi Yuki trembled all over and was speechless for a long time.

She felt as if she had been blown to pieces, and as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, her whole body was cold.

A hot and sour stream flowed from her nasal cavity down her throat.

Slowly, she covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes blurred, and crystal clear tears dripped onto the letter paper one by one.

(End of Chapter)