The Moon Hides, the Flowers Bow

This year's coming-of-age ceremony drew a truly enormous crowd.

Nobles of the Neutral Faction from the distant borderlands, frontier lords, and the capital's own aristocracy alike had all gathered—some even without a single child of theirs coming of age this year.

No doubt the Neutral Faction nobles had come to play the part of my newly-minted power base, while the rest had come hoping to catch a glimpse of me, the prince who had never once shown his face at a grand banquet.

Daughter of a deposed Empress though I might be, outwardly at least, the relationship between Aria and me appeared perfectly cordial. And with my fiancée Lapis in attendance as well, there was no way I could stay hidden, or so they must have reasoned.

Well, in truth, that reasoning was exactly right.

The traffic is horrendous.

As the night deepened, the line of carriages streaming into the Imperial Palace stretched long down the road.

Ah, she's here.

Among them, one carriage stood out unmistakably—the one bearing the crest of the Asis Duchy.

Lapis, matured now in a way that ill-suited her former timidity, was already leaning her head out the window with every intention of flinging the door open herself, but Duke Asis caught her arm, murmuring that it was dangerous, and settled her back into her seat.

In any case, thinking that I ought to go out and greet them, I made my way toward the carriage parking ground within the palace grounds.

The nobles who had already arrived were filing into the banquet hall one by one, but—

"Rohen!"

Only one woman, the moment she spotted me, broke into a radiant smile and came running, the hem of her skirt held lightly in one hand.

Lapis, dressed in a blue gown the very shade of her own hair, looked for all the world like a water fairy.

When she finally reached me and opened both arms, I welcomed her gently into my embrace.

…

Try as I might not to be aware of it—

Even veiled by the thin cloth of her dress, the soft ripple of warm skin beneath it was unmistakable, and it made me keenly conscious of how much fuller her chest had grown.

I had become engaged to Lapis in the first place purely to strengthen my power and standing, with hardly any private feelings involved—but somewhere along the way, a rather sticky possessiveness had taken root: the refusal to hand this lovely woman over to anyone else.

That most primal of male desires—to stain the blank white canvas that was Lapis in my color, and my color alone.

But I buried it deep, and smiled at her instead.

"You've grown even more beautiful. Congratulations on coming of age."

"Thank you."

"So—does this mean we can take things a little further now?"

"Wh-when it's just the two of us… you may do… as you wish… b-but…! Th-the engagement must never, ever be broken…!"

The way that desire came laced with such innocence was so endearing that I simply nodded.

"Of course. We'll marry once I graduate from the Academy."

"That's quite… a ways off, isn't it?"

"I've been running toward early graduation this whole time, so it probably won't be that long."

"…Early graduation? That's remarkable."

"Is it? From what I hear, Lapis, you're more than capable of it yourself."

"Perhaps, if I focused only on the fields I've already studied… but I'd rather learn as broadly as I can, if I can help it."

I offered Duke Asis—who had been left standing there all alone—a brief nod of greeting, then took Lapis's hand and began to walk slowly away.

Not straight to the banquet hall, but to wherever Aria was waiting.

She had said she would cast a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic on me today, and a promise was a promise.

"I'll introduce you to my sister. This is your first time seeing her, isn't it?"

"I wasn't in any condition to leave the house before I met you, so… yes."

"She'll be enrolling at the Academy the same as us. Different majors, most likely, but there's a good chance your minors will overlap."

"I'll do my best to get along with her."

With that conversation at its end, I knocked at Aria's chamber and opened the door.

There she stood before the mirror, attended by her maids, dressed up every bit as gorgeously as she had been last night.

"What do you want?"

The curt voice she sent me through the mirror, our eyes meeting in the reflection.

"You said you'd cast your magic on me. And I have someone to introduce while I'm at it."

"Introduce?"

"My fiancée. Lapis."

I stepped aside, and Lapis, who had been waiting behind me, came forward and offered Aria a small bow.

"Hello. My name is Lapis Phil Asis."

"Ah… it's nice to meet you."

Was it just me, or was the grudging air of being forced to accept this a little too strong?

Was she trying to get a read on Lapis from the very start?

Not that I was in any position to say a word about it. I had no confidence in my ability to mediate between women, and besides, this might simply be the defense mechanism of a girl who had spent long years under the shadow of her traitor mother's name, met everywhere by less than kind eyes.

"So…" Aria began.

"Yes?"

"When are you going to do it?"

After that dry greeting, Lapis might as well not have existed. Aria came straight toward me and fired off the words like a dart.

"You did promise me a magic, didn't you?"

"Ah… right."

At that, I gave a faint smile and nodded, then used Rapid Adjudication to strip away the limits on my word usage for fifteen seconds.

Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers was not a word that applied to wide areas—without this workaround through Rapid Adjudication, it would have been meaningless. What else could I do?

"Clear Mirror, Still Water."

The amplification of positive emotions described in Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers fell within the same category as the charm and bewitchment wielded by Miho and Medusa among the Hundred Ghosts.

It wasn't at a level that could override a person's reason—but even so, just in case, I used Clear Mirror, Still Water to calm the waters of my own mind.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"…"

"You'll be able to tell once you show yourselves in the banquet hall."

With those parting words, I opened the door and turned to leave.

"Take your time coming in, you two. I'll go on ahead."

Etiquette would have me escorting Aria myself, but the picture of the two of them walking in together might, in the end, be the better one.

Things between them looked a touch awkward, but Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers did not discriminate by gender. It simply amplified whatever positive emotion each person already harbored.

So if they stayed together for a while, surely the spell would coax their relationship into something a little warmer.

After all, this was their very first time meeting face to face—there was no room for ill will to have formed yet.

Having settled on that thought, I stepped into the banquet hall alone.

"His Highness Prince Rohen enters the hall!"

The voice rang out thunderously, and at once the eyes of the gathering turned toward me—in exactly three distinct groups: the capital-region nobles friendly to the current royal house, the nobles stationed in the frontier territories, and the Neutral Faction led by Duke Asis.

Never before had I received gazes this fervent, but it wasn't particularly unpleasant, and I walked naturally toward where the Neutral Faction nobles stood.

At that, I could see the shoulders of the Neutral Faction men rising considerably.

"Where is Lady Lapis?"

She'll be entering shortly, together with my sister. I didn't think it fitting to escort either one of them myself, so I thought this might be better all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around.

"I see. Certainly, that is…" the Duke said.

Shall we move a little further inside?

"By all means."

I took the first steps, Duke Asis falling in at my side to attend me, while the other Neutral Faction nobles followed behind.

The sight so resembled the way I led the Hundred Ghosts that I allowed myself a faint smile.

"Pardon the intrusion, Your Highness. I came merely to pay my respects."

Some time after I had exchanged words with the Neutral Faction nobles through my writing, a man came pushing through the crowd.

I knew who he was. One of the capital's nobility who had been among my father's supporters, friendly with the current royal house—and the most powerful of them all: Marquis Amor.

His title was title enough, and the power he held was considerable, so several of the Neutral Faction nobles coughed awkwardly, their expressions stiffening.

What to do with him…

Frankly, treating him with outright contempt now wasn't the wisest judgment either. Objectively speaking, aside from turning a blind eye to the slander against my mother, his faction had undeniably been backing the imperial family.

Marquis. I would have visited you in time. I didn't expect you to come to me so readily—I had thought quiet silence and discreet observation were your particular talents.

"…Yes, Your Highness."

The Marquis flushed red at my reply and quietly withdrew.

It was an insult that wasn't dressed as an insult, and surely it displeased him—but he let none of it show, no doubt because I had left him a measure of room to recover.

Then—shall we continue where we left off?

Then or now, it seemed, the necessity of choosing one's side well never changed.

Only, it struck me as a little novel that I was the one standing on the winning end of it this time.

"…"

"…"

No words passed between Aria and Lapis.

With Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers active, the moment either harbored even the smallest positive feeling toward the other, it should have been amplified until conversation flowed without end.

Which meant, quite simply, that neither of them held a shred of goodwill toward the other at present.

Thanks to which, only the maids standing nearby were left floundering helplessly in the atmosphere.

"Shall we make our way to the banquet hall now?"

Thinking the hour had come, Lapis was the first to break the long silence, addressing Aria at last.

"Yes, let's."

Fire and ice. Oil and water.

The two of them walked side by side, radiating an air of mutual opposition, two elements that could never mix.

"Her Imperial Highness, Princess Aria Paul Bertian, enters the hall!"

"The Lady Lapis Phil Asis, daughter of Duke Asis, enters the hall!"

Nobles danced to the beautiful melodies poured out by the musicians, and as the mood of the coming-of-age ceremony ripened toward its peak, the two women who could be called the masters of the evening pushed open the doors and entered.

The thunderous proclamation of their arrival drew every gaze in the room at once—and the nobles who beheld them froze solid where they stood.

The only things still moving were the eyes that chased the women's every step.

Even the musicians playing the music lost themselves so completely that their performance dissolved into discord—yet not a single soul present noticed.

If a celestial maiden descended from the heavens to the mortal world, surely this is exactly what it would look like.

Myself, I was still under the effect of Clear Mirror, Still Water, and so was spared the amplification of Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers—but everyone else gazed at them as if entranced, unable to tear their eyes away.

Tap.

Tap.

With every single step, Aria and Lapis flaunted their charms against one another, staking out territory as though the very ground beneath them belonged to each in turn.

For this one moment, not a single person looked at Aria through the lens of her mother's treason.

Because everyone who looked at Aria found her beautiful—and with that emotion now amplified, who among them could possibly have laughed at her?

Who are they looking for?

The two women craned their heads this way and that as they walked, until at last their eyes met mine—whereupon, without so much as a ripple in their gait, they came toward me with measured, deliberate steps.

"…"

When they finally stood before me, both extended their hands.

"Have a conscience, would you?"

"Rohen, please…"

Aria, true to her nature, held out the back of her hand to me.

Lapis offered me her palm with a shy smile.

"Choose me."

"Won't you choose me?"

Whichever one I chose, I would earn the other's resentment—wasn't that simply how it worked?

Faced with that merciless dilemma, all I could manage was a pained expression and an awkward laugh.

…

Having traded dances with Lapis and Aria in turn, I slipped away to the garden at the back.

Physically I was fine; mentally, I was utterly exhausted.

What was worse, the effect of Clear Mirror, Still Water had worn off—meaning I was now subject to Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers myself.

Everyone else, no matter how amplified their emotions grew, still kept a brake on them because Aria was an Imperial Princess and Lapis my fiancée; a certain line would not be crossed.

But Aria was subjugated to me, and Lapis was not only my fiancée but close enough to touch—and for me… holding that line was proving considerably difficult.

Besides, I wasn't the star of tonight's show anyway, so quietly admiring the moonlit garden like this wasn't half bad.

Just as I was thinking that, a cold wind swept gently through the garden.

The flowers around me shivered, and all at once bowed their heads.

The moonlight that had been brightening the dark slid behind a cloud and vanished from view.

Soft footsteps on the gravel. I turned my head slightly and glanced down—the color of the shoes told me who it was before I even had to look.

Aria.

I swung my body forward at once, doing my utmost to keep her from entering my field of vision.

"I was wondering where you'd gone. Turns out you were hiding back here."

"…"

"You do have this strange habit of being alone, don't you."

What about the banquet? Why are you out here?

"I danced twelve times. I came out to rest for a bit."

Mid-conversation, Aria seemed to catch on to my awkwardness.

"Why won't you look at me?"

The magic you cast… it doesn't discriminate between caster and target.

Aria stood still and said nothing.

Why did that silence feel so unnerving?

Sure enough, the legs of the motionless Aria moved in a flash, and suddenly her face was thrust right up to my nose.

I had braced myself to some degree and screwed my eyes shut—but Aria went one step further, reaching out a finger to flick me just under the eye.

"…!"

That unexpectedly—and frankly rather threatening—touch forced my eyes open.

"I win the mind games."

And at the sight of me, Aria doubled over, cackling.

"…"

Infuriating—but the moment I caught myself thinking that even this mischievous side of her was beautiful, the emotion I harbored went racing upward, amplified by Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers.

I tried to wrench my gaze away, but then her blindingly white legs came into view beneath the swish of her skirt, and the moment I felt their allure, that feeling, too, was amplified beyond control.

Aria was subjugated to me. Whatever I did, she could not resist—and afterwards, with a written word, she wouldn't be able to say a thing about it either.

Suppressing the desire swelling in me was proving anything but easy.

Which was why I decided that moving locations was the urgent priority—and before I could so much as turn my body, Aria planted herself in front of me and burst into a laugh.

"I haven't even touched you, and yet…"

Tap.

"There it is."

Her knuckles brushed lightly past my chest.

"What's this? Are you looking at me as a woman now?"

Damn it all.

I don't even know anymore.

With that thought, I caught Aria and toppled her backward onto the flowerbed.

Her skirt bunched up past her thighs, leaving the black lace beneath laid utterly bare.

At her chest, her disheveled platinum hair spilled over a shoulder strap that had slipped softly down, throwing her alluring collarbone and the valley of her chest into sharp relief.

The moment I swallowed hard without meaning to, Aria raised a knee to nudge my thigh and flashed me a languid, seductive smile.

"Where did all those years go, I wonder—the years you lived as my little brother?"

"…"

"What an indecent little brother you've turned out to be."

Thinking I ought to silence that insolent mouth of hers first and foremost, I lowered my head—and at that instant a fierce gust of wind slammed into me with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real weight and knocked my body clean away.

A magic circle etched into the ground near Aria. She had cast it, no doubt, with that trademark high-speed casting of hers.

But Aria was subjugated to me anyway, and just as I moved to write my command—

Whoosh!

The paper caught fire and burned to nothing.

So I invoked Rapid Adjudication to free my words for fifteen seconds and tried to carry the power of Lingual Magic into speech—

and only then, too late, did I remember: I had already used Rapid Adjudication. My whole body flinched and went rigid.

Aria, oblivious to all of this, came closer, whispering that she wouldn't let me speak a word, and pressed her hand flat over my mouth.

The feel of Aria's slender fingers against my lips.

the faint, intoxicating scent of her body rising from them.

Every last bit of it fed the hunger, and Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers amplified it further still.

She had come to me of her own accord, after all—there was nothing in this world I could be more grateful for.

"You didn't say I couldn't."

SPLASH!

"Nothing suits the two of us less than this kind of sultry atmosphere."

"…"

Before I could so much as raise my hand, a torrent of freezing water swallowed my body whole, dousing the heat that had been building in me.

The brakes slammed onto a lust that had been swelling by the second, and I wiped my face once, slowly, with a blank expression before looking up at Aria.

"See? Told you I could handle it."

"…"

"Silly, indecent little brat."

Brushing the water droplets from her lightly soaked dress, Aria turned her back on me without a moment's regret.

"…"

And I, staring after her retreating figure for a long while, finally let out a bitter laugh and flopped down right there onto the garden grass.

With Aria gone, the flowers lifted their heads again, and the moon reemerged from behind the clouds.

The moment the effect of Closing Moon, Shaming Flowers began to fade, the realization crashed over me—that what I had just done was beyond any words embarrassing—and I buried my face in both hands.