The voices of the retainers filled the great hall without waiting for Yoshihayate's answer. Execution is appropriate. Execution is appropriate. Hina watched only Yoshihayate. Just now, those silver eyes had wavered. Only for an instant. But they had wavered, certainly. Hina had staked everything on that single moment. Standing on trembling legs, she waited only for his response. Then. From the corridor leading deeper into the inner chambers, a clear footstep echoed through the great hall. A slow gait. Unhurried. Yet something in that sound stilled the turbulent air of the hall in an instant. An elderly woman with white hair gathered high and neat stepped across the threshold. The retainers turned. Hina saw her too. A small frame. Yet her spine was perfectly straight, each step pressing the hall's floor with certainty. Sharp black eyes swept across the murmuring retainers in turn. No one could escape that gaze. It was that kind of eyes. "[serious]Wait, if you please" The voice was not loud. Yet it reached to the corners of the hall. The retainers' voices stopped. Hina did not know this woman. She had never met her once since coming to the castle. Yet everyone fell silent. That alone told Hina what position this elderly woman held. The old woman bowed quietly toward Yoshihayate in the place of honor. As if that courtesy alone was sufficient, she immediately raised her face and walked toward the center of the hall. Sakura's eyes wavered for the first time. The old woman's gaze fell upon Sakura's documents spread across the floor. She bent down, lifting an edge through the cloth. Light slanting from the side made the ink's luster float above the characters. "[serious]Please observe the ink used in this document, my lord" Yoshihayate's silver eyes looked at the old woman. "[serious]Having long managed the inner chambers, I can discern it. This luster and brush thickness belong to the ground ink exclusively used by Okiku, the head lady-in-waiting of First Consort Sakura. Not once has this type of ink been brought into the guest quarters. I manage them myself, so I can say with certainty" Hina forgot how to breathe. This woman——she was standing here now, for her sake. One of the retainers raised his voice. "[angry]An old woman's assessment is no evidence!" The old woman glanced at the retainer, then reached into her sleeve. What she withdrew was a small ledger. "[serious]Then I shall answer with numbers" The old woman looked at Hina only once. In that gaze, there was neither anger nor pity. Only fairness. "[serious]Since Minase of the guest quarters taught the soap-making method to the kitchen, the number of those with fever in the castle has decreased to one-third. The comparison with last month is recorded in this ledger. Furthermore, since Minase began assisting with supply calculations, the waste of rice has been reduced by two bales per month. This too is recorded. Numbers do not lie" The great hall fell completely silent. Yoshihayate said nothing. In the long silence, only the sound of pages turning in the ledger could be heard. Hina could see Sakura's face change from blue to white. Yoshihayate spoke without lifting his eyes from the ledger. "[cold]Bring Okiku" Two retainers ran. After a time, Sakura's head lady-in-waiting was brought in. A woman in her early forties, usually brisk in her movements. But now her legs were unsteady. The moment she was forced to kneel before Yoshihayate, her body began to tremble in small convulsions. Yoshihayate said nothing. He simply looked at the document, the ledger, and the lady-in-waiting, in turn. That silence was the answer to everything. "[crying]……I am deeply sorry……" The lady-in-waiting's voice cracked. "[crying]The insects placed in the bedding, the ink marks on the walls, the forged documents——all of it was at First Consort Sakura's command……! I was……I was merely……" The great hall fell completely silent. Sakura's lips trembled. She tried to say something, but the words would not come. For the first time, her face bore the expression of one who had lost the words to refute. Watching that face, Hina felt an urge to cry. Not from anger, but from a sense that it had been so long. Yoshihayate stood. All eyes gathered upon him. "[cold]Sakura" Just one word. Yet that voice carried the coldness of a blade. Sakura bowed her head. "[cold]In this castle, I do not permit lies used to bring ruin upon others. Your position as First Consort is suspended. You are confined to the inner chambers" Sakura said nothing. With her lips sealed, she only continued to bow. "[cold]Release Minase from house arrest" That single word drained the strength from Hina's legs. Her knees buckled. The corridor's floorboards received her knees. She could not stand. She had been standing for four days straight. Standing in this place too. But she could do it no longer. A hand was placed on her shoulder. The white-haired old woman had knelt beside Hina. Her spine remained unbent; only Hina's shoulder was supported by both her hands. "[gentle]You endured well" The moment those words came, everything crumbled. Hina wept silently. The sound would not come. Only tears, endless tears. Four days of house arrest. The place of judgment. Everything she had endured broke apart with that single phrase. The old woman's hands continued to support Hina's shoulder gently. Hina learned the woman's name later from a lady-in-waiting. Tae——an elder who oversaw the management of the inner chambers. --- Night had fallen. Hina was back in her four-and-a-half mat room. She was exhausted. Exhausted like mud. Sitting still, with no will to do anything, she leaned against the wall. Autumn insects sang. The night breeze entering through the latticed window was slightly cold. Footsteps came down the corridor. Hina lifted her face. The footsteps stopped before the door. After a brief moment, the door opened. It was Yoshihayate. Alone. He had brought no lady-in-waiting, no retainer. His dark indigo hair was tied back, his black kimono neat, the sword scar on his left cheek floating in the light of the lamp. His eyes were not stone as they usually were. Hina tried to rise. Yoshihayate stopped her with a gesture. Yoshihayate sat before her. In formal seiza. A long silence stretched. The insects sang. The sound of the river came from far away. Then Yoshihayate bowed his head. Slowly. Deeply. Hina froze. The man called the Demon General was now lowering his head before her. The man whom the retainers said never bowed to anyone in the castle. "[serious]……Forgive me" The voice was quiet. But heavy. Hina could say nothing. She had no idea what to say in such a moment. Yoshihayate raised his face. His eyes were different from usual. In the depths of his silver left eye, there was something that was not ice. It was a side of Yoshihayate Hina had never seen before. Something stirred in Hina's chest. Yoshihayate slowly extended his hand. His fingertips touched Hina's cheek. Gently. So very gently. As if not to wound, as if to confirm. Hina's pulse struck once, hard, deep in her chest. Her body would not move. Her eyes could not look away. Yoshihayate's eyes looked straight at her. "[gentle]Stay here a little longer——" BOOM!!! A roar like the earth shaking came from the north side of the castle. The window outside brightened for an instant. Flames. Flames were rising from the direction of the watchtower. Yoshihayate's face changed in an instant. That look from moments before vanished. The face of a warrior. Cold, sharp, calculating everything. Yoshihayate stood and seized the sword that had been leaning nearby. "[cold]Run to the inner chambers. Do not move alone" With only those words, he flew from the room. His footsteps echoed down the corridor and faded away. Hina was alone. The warmth of Yoshihayate's fingers still lingered on her cheek. Another explosion sounded outside the castle. This time from the east. The entire castle seemed to shake. The angry voices of soldiers began to echo from the corridors. Hina stood. To the inner chambers. That was what Yoshihayate had said. She had to run. She stepped into the corridor. Torches wavered. Someone was shouting in the distance. She ran. The moment she turned a corner. A body collided with her from the front. In the darkness, black clothing. A red armband. Blood flowed from the left arm and side. It spread slowly across the corridor's floor. It was Kagemaru. In Hina's chest, the soldiers' words returned. Black clothing with a red armband——the mark of the Togari clan's ninja. The night he had given her a hand towel. The night he had brought her dried rice. It all mixed together, colliding within her. Kagemaru's red right eye looked at Hina. "[serious]……I was ordered to take you. But I——" CRASH!!! An even larger explosion came from the east side of the castle. The corridor's pillars shook. Fine dust fell from the ceiling. Kagemaru's words ceased. The sentence lost its continuation. Hina looked into Kagemaru's eyes. She wanted to hear what came next. "[cold]Go. To the depths of the inner chambers" Kagemaru's hand seized Hina's shoulder and pushed her deeper down the corridor. It was a hand stained with blood. Yet it held strength. Hina ran. As she ran, she looked back. Kagemaru's figure disappeared into the darkness of the corridor where explosions continued to sound. The words' continuation remained within Hina as the night went on.