Soft confinement had begun three days ago. Even when morning came, no handmaiden appeared. By noon, still nothing. Hina sat near the latticed window, gazing blankly at the rooftops beyond. The autumn tiles blurred in her vision. She couldn't tell if her eyes were dry or if hunger was distorting her sight. She pulled out her smartphone. The screen remained dark. The battery had been dead for a long time. She pressed the power button anyway, though nothing changed. It had become a habit, this pointless gesture. (I wonder what my friend Haruno is doing right now.) On the school trip bus. Everyone's laughter. The smell of the lunch her mother had packed. The sound of her father's footsteps echoing down the hallway this morning. All of it felt distant. She didn't know if she could go home, if she would ever go home. And yet here she sat, hungry, in front of the latticed window. Her stomach growled. Despite her attempts to suppress it, the sound echoed clearly through the small four-and-a-half mat room. Hina wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her forehead against them. Her head felt heavy. The heaviness that came from hunger was different from the urge to cry. It seeped slowly through her thoughts, blurring them. (Will I die like this?) She pushed the thought away immediately. *Don't give up,* she told herself. But her inner voice sounded weaker than it had the day before. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. --- As evening fell, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Slow footsteps. Unhurried. A measured, calculated stride. Hina lifted her head. Beyond the latticed window stood Sakura. Her lavender kimono caught the thin evening light filtering through the hallway. Her sharp, narrow eyes looked down at Hina quietly. A single handmaiden stood beside her, her gaze averted from Hina. Sakura approached the lattice. She stopped three paces away, maintaining her distance. "[cold]Tomorrow, there will be a council," Hina's hands gripped the lattice. "[serious]My recommendation to the lord has already been decided," Her voice was low and quiet. Not angry. That was what made Hina's skin crawl. "[cold]I intend to argue that execution is appropriate for a guest who touched upon the castle's secrets and is suspected of leaking them outside," "[scared]That's not true, I didn't——" Sakura smiled, just barely, at the corners of her mouth. "[cold]Look forward to it," With that, she turned on her heel. The hem of her lavender kimono was swallowed by the darkness of the corridor. Her footsteps faded. Silence returned. Hina remained frozen, both hands gripping the lattice. It would end tomorrow. Those words turned her blood to ice. *No, I didn't do it, please believe me——* even if she screamed those words, no one would come beyond this lattice. Yoshihayate's cold silver eyes surfaced in her mind. That moment when those eyes had turned to ice again. Night fell. She lay on the futon but couldn't sleep. When she closed her eyes, Sakura's smile came. Yoshihayate's back appeared. She thought she heard the voices of retainers——*execution is appropriate. Execution is appropriate. Execution is appropriate.* Perhaps she had been delirious. When she realized it, her eyes were open and her cheeks were wet. The dark four-and-a-half mat room. The oil in the lamp hadn't been refilled since yesterday. It was nearly gone. Then, there was a presence outside the latticed window. Hina sat up. Slowly, she moved toward the lattice. There was a person in the darkness. Dressed entirely in black, crouching in front of the lattice. Only half of his head was illuminated by the faint moonlight outside. Short black hair with red mixed through it. One eye was red. It was Kagemaru. Through the gaps in the lattice, something was passed through. A folded cloth bundle and a bamboo tube. When she opened the bundle, it contained dried rice. Hina's hands trembled. Three days. It had been three days since she'd had proper food. Saliva pooled in her mouth. Even in this situation, her body was still alive. She ate. She ate quickly. She knew it was unseemly, but she couldn't stop. The water from the bamboo tube soaked into her parched throat. With each swallow, warmth seemed to return to the depths of her body. Kagemaru said nothing. He simply sat there. Outside the lattice, he waited until Hina finished eating. Hina swallowed the last grain. Holding the bamboo tube in both hands, she looked beyond the lattice. "[whispers]……Why are you helping me?" Her voice was small. Hoarse. "[whispers]You're supposed to be my enemy," Silence fell. A long silence. Kagemaru faced away from Hina, away from the lattice. In the darkness, only his profile was visible. At last, he answered quietly. "[cold]……Don't know," Just two words. But his ears were red. So red that even in the darkness, it was unmistakable. Something spread slowly through Hina's chest. It was warm and painful, an emotion she shouldn't have been able to feel in her current state. On the night before her execution, separated by only one lattice, this person alone was there. That simple fact threatened to shatter her emotional control. Kagemaru said nothing more. Before dawn, he vanished without a sound. The space beyond the lattice became empty. Only the bamboo tube remained in her hands. Hina held it to her chest and closed her eyes. --- When morning light began filtering through the latticed window, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Soldiers. Two of them, talking as they passed. "[serious]There's been movement again from the northern mountains," "[serious]Last night?" "[serious]Word is that a ninja from the Togari clan has infiltrated the castle. Black garb with a red armband is the identifying mark," "We're to capture them on sight," The footsteps faded. The corridor fell silent again. Hina couldn't move. The scene from last night replayed in her mind. Black garb. Red armband. That figure crouching outside the lattice. It all matched perfectly. The hand that had passed the dried rice. The water from the bamboo tube. The time spent sitting beside her without saying anything——was it all part of a mission? A calculated move to extract her from the castle? The kindness she had begun to believe in crumbled beneath her feet. She could almost hear the sound. *(Were those red ears a lie?)* Hina collapsed to the floor. Her legs gave out and she simply sat there. She cried silently. If she made a sound, someone might hear. So she cried without voice, tears falling alone. But even as she wept, a question wouldn't fade. Were those red ears an act? Could someone perform that convincingly as part of a mission? The contradiction tormented her further. With no answer forthcoming, time simply passed. --- Past noon, the door opened. Two soldiers stood there. They looked at Hina and jerked their chins silently. *Come,* they meant. Her legs trembled. But Hina stood. *Don't run,* she told herself. Even if she ran, there was nowhere left to go. The great hall of the main palace was vast and empty. Autumn sunlight streamed through the openings, creating white rectangles on the tatami mats. Yoshihayate sat at the head of the room. His deep indigo hair was tied back, his black kimono immaculate. The sword scar on his left cheek caught the light from the side, standing out starkly. His eyes——were stone. Both his silver left eye and his black right eye seemed to reflect nothing. Retainers lined both sides of the hall. At the edge of the room stood Sakura, accompanied by a handmaiden. Her expression was the one Hina feared most. A quiet smile with all emotion suppressed. Hina was led to the center of the hall. A soldier gestured for her to kneel, but Hina remained standing. One of the retainers raised his voice. "[angry]It is clear that this guest is a spy. Torture will loosen her tongue. Execution is appropriate!" Another retainer continued. "[serious]We cannot overlook the crime of leaking the castle's secrets to outsiders," Voices overlapped. *Execute her, execute her.* Words accumulated in the hall. Hina watched Yoshihayate's face. Those eyes didn't change. Cold as stone, emotionless. He listened to the retainers' voices without speaking. Yoshihayate looked at Hina. Hina looked at Yoshihayate. Amid the overlapping voices, only the two of them seemed frozen in place. Her legs trembled. Sakura's smile returned to her lips. *(It's over.)* That's what she thought. But——she didn't bow her head. She was terrified. Her legs shook with fear. But there was something she had to say. If she didn't say it, it truly would be over. Even if saying it meant the end anyway. She had to speak. Hina drew a breath. "[serious]I'm not a spy!" Her voice rang through the hall. It trembled, but it didn't stop. "[serious]I wanted to protect your castle. I wanted to protect your people. The soap, the calculations——all of it was true. I've never lied once. That much——that much is not a lie!" The hall fell silent for a moment. The retainers' voices ceased. Hina looked only at Yoshihayate. His eyes——wavered, just for a single beat. Something moved through the stone-like silver. Not quite surprise, not quite pain. Something she couldn't name. A small tremor. But Hina saw it clearly. In the next instant, one of the retainers raised his voice. "[angry]Execute her!" Other voices followed. Again they became a wave, filling the hall. Sakura's smile returned. Yoshihayate still said nothing. Hina stood on trembling legs, watching only the eyes that had wavered, waiting for his answer. In the hall where retainers' voices overlapped and crashed, only the space between Hina and Yoshihayate remained strangely quiet. Yoshihayate's mouth moved slightly——before she could hear what came next, the retainers' voices grew louder.