Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Want to do it with me too?
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"Want to do it with me too?"
"It wasn't that my sister and Mother were always on bad terms from the start."
Nobuyuki spoke quite matter-of-factly. Il-yeong silently began to focus on her story.
Oda Nobunaga.
Dota Gozen, who had held her firstborn daughter in her arms, truly cherished her. Back then, no one in the Oda Clan could have imagined any succession struggles—no words needed for that.
But the year she turned fifteen.
An incident erupted.
—Screeeam!
—Fire! Fire!
Flames broke out across the main halls of Kiyosu Castle. If it spread to the civilian homes, most of which were wooden structures, the damage would be catastrophic. The retainers of the Oda Main Branch, lords of Kiyosu at the time and bearing the title of Yamatonokami, frantically hauled water to extinguish the blaze.
Fortunately, their tireless efforts and a timely downpour put out the fire quickly. Soon after, as the Main Branch samurai investigated the cause, Oda Nobunaga shouted out.
—I started the fire!
She wasn't dressed in the revealing style she favored now, but her attire was far from proper formal wear. Those words from her mouth were enough to send ripples through all of Owari Province.
The Oda Main Branch at the time cowered under the fierce aura of Oda Nobuhide, the Tiger of Owari.
But even so, a main branch was a main branch.
They couldn't simply let Nobuhide's eldest daughter openly admit to arson, so they lodged a formal protest. Inevitably, Oda Nobunaga was summoned by her father, Oda Nobuhide.
With a creak—, the meeting hall doors slid open.
Numerous heavyweights sat in a row, and at the head seat, Oda Nobuhide, alongside Dota Gozen and Hirate Masahide, fixed their gazes on her.
As Oda Nobunaga strode confidently into the hall, Dota Gozen cried out to her with a face full of worry and anger.
—Nobunaga! What on earth possessed you to do such a thing...!
Though her words asked for an explanation, she had no intention of hearing it. She believed her daughter's wayward behavior had crossed the line and planned to reprimand her firmly right there.
But at that moment, Oda Nobuhide asked.
—Why did you do it?
He didn't scold her first, declaring her wrong.
He spoke in a calm tone. Yet in Nobuhide's voice, affection for his daughter took a backseat to raw curiosity.
—...I.
Nobunaga's shoulders trembled slightly as she faced Dota Gozen, a reaction she hadn't shown before. But soon, she met her father's eyes with bold resolve and spoke.
—I merely did what was obvious.
She said it with utter conviction. Unlike Dota Gozen, whose face twisted in displeasure, Nobuhide nodded as if to say, go on.
—I was insulted.
Her story went like this: While she was rummaging through books in the Main Branch's library, she overheard samurai from the Main Branch chatting as they passed by.
—They said our family will eventually be absorbed back into the Main Branch once Father dies. And when that happens, they'll slaughter our entire household.
Her words caused a massive stir. If true, the Main Branch samurai were the ones who deserved to commit seppuku first. Even Dota Gozen softened her expression a bit and said to Nobunaga.
—So you set the fire to scare them?
It was extreme for a childish prank, but not entirely incomprehensible. But at that moment, Nobunaga shook her head.
—No, Mother.
She locked eyes with her watching mother, her golden gaze flashing as she replied.
—I did it with the intent to kill them all. To burn the entire castle of Kiyosu to the ground.
Silence fell.
It was a chilling statement, even setting aside that it came from a fifteen-year-old girl.
But the one who broke that silence...
—Hahaha! Hahahahaha!
...was Oda Nobuhide's hearty laugh. He looked at her as if appraising a fine specimen, then turned to Hirate Masahide beside him and said.
—What a gem she is, Masahide.
—Indeed.
Hirate Masahide nodded in agreement. Both men shared the same thought: In these chaotic times, such ruthless resolve was essential. Moreover, they themselves aimed to subjugate the Main Branch. How could they resent a daughter who already grasped that their family stood above them?
But at that moment, Nobuyuki witnessed it.
—Ah.
The strange mix of fear and alienation in her mother's eyes as she gazed at her own daughter.
Nobuyuki lifted her sake cup slightly.
She flashed an awkward smile at Il-yeong, who listened quietly to her tale, and said.
"This is why chaotic times are so harsh. Universal morals and common sense become fragile at times."
From that day on, Dota Gozen began distancing herself from Nobunaga more and more. Naturally, Nobunaga veered further off course in response.
"Father wasn't a good man. He built up the clan, but that doesn't mean he was devoted to his family."
To put it kindly, Oda Nobuhide was the man who raised the clan; to put it harshly, he sacrificed everything for power and the family's resurgence.
He had intended to entrust the clan to Oda Nobunaga and trained her harshly for it, twisting her personality into something even more cruel and dictatorial in the process.
Of course, there was no father in all that.
Just a clan lord.
—Clink.
Nobuyuki set down her sake cup. With a bitter expression, she gazed at the moonlight reflecting in the courtyard and added.
"Of course, Lord Hirate looked after such a sister as her guardian, but it couldn't replace a father. And at some point, Mother began projecting her ideals of a perfect clan lord and daughter onto me."
She too had once been a playful girl who preferred light clothes over stuffy kimonos. But she ended up burdened with the duty to meet Dota Gozen's expectations.
A bitter, utterly hollow smile lingered on her lips.
"Phew. Aren't we sisters just a pair of tragic lives?"
The eldest bore her father's ambitions.
The second daughter, her mother's wishes.
At some point, their parents had swapped places in their lives. Inevitably, the sisters grew apart.
Nobuyuki's cheeks flushed red.
Il-yeong gently grasped the sake cup in her hand and said.
"You're drunk."
"...Am I?"
At his words, she raised a hand to her cheek—it was indeed warmly flushed. Il-yeong smoothly took the cup from her hand and said with an inadvertent smile.
"What if I took advantage? Why drink like this?"
He had no such intentions, but her behavior wasn't exactly normal either. At Il-yeong's words, Nobuyuki smirked and replied.
"Who knows."
She deliberately changed the subject.
"That's why it's impossible. The moment I surrender, Mother's wishes crumble, and I lose my way too."
She was like a racehorse, already conditioned by relentless training to charge forward. In the end, they were fated to spill each other's blood.
Nobuyuki's gaze lifted slightly.
She took in Il-yeong's face, looking down at her with complicated eyes.
'He's so handsome. Heh.'
What was he thinking?
He was a good man. Despite what she'd done to him, here he was, coming to enemy territory to dissuade her from the fight.
That sparked a strange curiosity.
Whether from the alcohol or just the mood, she wasn't sure.
"Hikage."
Moonlight glinted off her red lips like a fleeting brushstroke. She lightly wiped the sake from her mouth and spoke.
"Did you do it with Sis?"
And in that instant.
Her golden eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Kuhk!"
It was enough to make Il-yeong, who had just gripped the sake bottle for a sip, choke. He didn't even wipe the sake dripping down his chin, staring at her in flustered panic as he stammered.
"Wh-what do you mean by that?"
His eyes wavered. Seeing him so rarely rattled, averting his gaze with a shaky voice, Nobuyuki somehow felt certain.
'He did.'
She already knew he'd spent the night with Mori Yoshinari on the battlefield. And now her sister too? What a wicked man.
—Slide.
She pushed the sake tray between them aside. Looking at the flustered Il-yeong, she thought.
'Maybe this is the last chance.'
The playfulness she'd suppressed all this time bubbled up unbidden. The loser of this conflict would have no room for excuses anyway. And once Shibata Katsuie fell, it would naturally fall to her share.
"I don't want to lose to Sis..."
So, she softly wrapped her arms around Il-yeong's shoulders and said.
"Want to do it with me too?"