The Commander seized the opportunity.
"All units—FIRE!"
A second barrage of spells tore through the air, aiming directly at the Azure Empress Suzuki.
She defended effortlessly, layers of powerful barriers shielding her form. But then—
A single spell slipped through, scorching the fabric of her regal robes.
The crackling of burning silk filled the air.
For the first time, the Empress' face twisted in fury.
"You—vermin!"
Her previously refined composure cracked as she lashed out, her power surging.
But Suzuki did not let up.
She kept berating her future self, piling humiliation upon humiliation.
"Look at you! You're supposed to be an Empress, and yet you're throwing a tantrum because your younger self made you look bad? Pathetic!"
The Empress gritted her teeth, trembling with rage, but forced herself to breathe.
She couldn't lose herself.
And so, the battle of words escalated.
The two hissed insults at each other, the younger Suzuki delivering sharp, calculated strikes, while the Empress flung furious slurs back.
Yet, despite her anger, the Empress had regained control.
Her defenses solidified, and the barrage of spells became ineffective once more.
But then—
Suzuki delivered the final blow.
"And after all that—after everything you did—you still failed to protect Rin."
The words hit like a thunderclap.
The Empress froze.
For a split second, her furious obsession wavered.
Her head snapped toward Rin—
But he was gone.
The spot where he had stood was empty.
A horrible realization dawned as her eyes scanned the battlefield—
And there—
Already halfway back to the convoy, Rin was being carried away—
By Rei, Miharu, and Officer Tsutomu.
She had been tricked.
"NO—!!"
A piercing scream tore from her lips, raw with obsession and desperation.
Her control shattered.
She lunged recklessly forward, her magic flaring wildly—
And in that moment, spell after spell broke through her defenses.
Explosions of magic struck her head-on.
Burning. Shredding. Knocking her back.
She barely noticed.
All she could do was scream—
"GIVE HIM BACK!!!"
As Rin's lifeless body was placed against the side of the carriage, a deep, unsettling silence fell over the convoy.
His breathing was steady. His body was intact.
But—
There was nothing in his eyes.
Miharu and Rei knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders.
"Rin! Wake up!" Miharu's voice was strained with desperation.
Rei shook him harder. "Come on! Say something! Anything!"
Nothing.
His head lulled slightly with the movement, but his gaze remained hollow, staring at nothing.
It was as if he wasn't even there.
Akane observed carefully, her mind racing.
She had seen this before.
The Crown Prince Kazuo had once worn this same expression.
But there was a difference.
Kazuo's silence was burdened with sorrow. His emptiness was the result of despair.
But Rin—
Rin's emptiness was absolute.
No grief. No sorrow. No regret.
Just… nothing.
It was as if his soul had been stolen.
A rare look of unease flickered across Akane's face.
This was worse than she expected.
A soft thump echoed as Suzuki dropped down beside Rin, trembling.
She pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly, as though the warmth of her embrace could somehow reach him.
"Rin…"
Her voice cracked.
"Please—wake up… please…"
Her fingers clutched his robes, shaking against the fabric.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She had finally changed.
She had finally taken a step forward.
And now—
Now, he wasn't even here to see it.
Her chest tightened with unbearable pain as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"Don't leave me like this…"
Nothing changed.
No reaction from Rin. No flicker of recognition. No response to Suzuki's desperate sobs.
Tsutomu clenched his fists. They didn't have time for this.
He turned sharply, glaring at the battlefield.
The Azure Empress Suzuki—despite the relentless magic barrage—was still advancing.
Her robes were tattered, her skin marked with burns and cuts, but her steps remained steady. Unyielding.
She didn't care about the damage.
Her focus was singular. Rin.
And she was getting closer.
Tsutomu turned to the Commander.
"Sir! We need orders—how do we wake him up?!"
The Commander's expression darkened.
"How should I know?" he snapped. "This isn't something that can be solved with tactics alone!"
Tsutomu bit his tongue. He knew that. But they needed Rin now.
Instead, the Commander's gaze hardened.
"And while we're on the subject—explain yourself, Officer. You went against orders. You risked Imperial lives for a reckless gamble."
A sharp tension settled between them.
The soldiers nearby flinched, expecting an argument.
But Tsutomu bowed his head sharply.
"I take full responsibility." His voice was unwavering. "Punish me later. For now, we need to act."
The Commander exhaled sharply through his nose.
He hated that Tsutomu was right.
"Slow retreat." He ordered. "We delay her as much as we can."
The soldiers obeyed immediately, their formation shifting.
They had to fall back—slowly—while maintaining the attack.
If they ran too fast, she'd break through their ranks instantly.
If they stopped attacking, she'd gain momentum.
It was a precarious balance.
And it would only last so long.
Tsutomu turned back to Rin.
They needed him.
Now.
The retreat continued.
The Consorts and headmaids did their best to lead Rin away, but it felt unbearably wrong.
Shimuzu Rin—the man who once deflected their affections with quiet exasperation, who was always composed, always thinking, always moving— was now nothing more than a silent shell.
He followed them without resistance.
Without thought.
Like a puppet with severed strings.
A heavy sorrow settled in their chests.
This wasn't him.
And as they moved, they passed by someone else.
In front of the Imperial Carriage sat Hoshimi Kazuo.
The Crown Prince.
The one who should have been at the center of all this—the one the Consorts were originally meant to stand beside.
Yet here he was.
Sitting quietly. Painting.
His brush glided across the canvas, capturing the bloodied nightscape of the Valley.
His expression was blank.
His gaze was hollow.
When he turned to look at them, he greeted them politely.
As if he were simply exchanging formalities.
Not acknowledging the chaos. The destruction. The death.
The Consorts tensed.
Not from fear.
But because they had seen this emptiness before.
And then Kazuo's gaze shifted.
He saw Rin.
Standing there. Still. Lifeless. Empty.
Something stirred in his vacant expression.
A flicker of recognition.
"…Rin?"
The single word cut through the cold air.
And for the first time, the Consorts flinched.
Because the way Kazuo said Rin's name—
It was like he was looking at a long-lost reflection.
Kazuo's hollow gaze wavered.
A flicker of something—recognition, confusion, pain—broke through the emptiness.
His grip on the paintbrush tightened.
His voice, once detached, now trembled with something real.
"Is that really you…?"
A step forward.
"Why… are… you… here…?"
His words weren't just directed at Rin.
They were questions to himself.
Questions he never thought to ask before.
Akane, ever the tactician, saw the shift immediately.
She met Kazuo's gaze, her expression unreadable.
"This is Shimuzu Rin," she said plainly. "An entity claiming to be from another time has taken him. Now, we need to retreat—"
But Kazuo wasn't listening.
His footsteps were slow but deliberate as he stopped right in front of Rin.
He studied the man before him—a warrior, a friend, a brother in all but blood.
Yet now, he stood there… empty.
A lifeless shadow of the Rin Kazuo had once known.
Something in his chest tightened.
He reached out, gripping Rin's shoulders.
"Why are you like this?"
No response.
No flicker of recognition.
Nothing.
Kazuo swallowed hard.
Something deep inside him—something he had thought long dead—began to stir.
The night air was heavy. Tension crackled between the retreating convoy and the battlefield. The distant echoes of spells clashing against the defenses rang in their ears, but right now—right here—only one thing mattered.
Rin.
Kazuo's face, once a mask of detachment, was now full of raw emotion. His eyes, now burning with a long-buried pain, locked onto the man before him.
"Hoshimi Rin, answer me!"
The weight of his words crashed over the consorts.
A stunned silence followed.
Hoshimi Rin?
No… that couldn't be right.
This was Shimuzu Rin.
The first apprentice of the White Elder.
The strongest warrior of the White Flower Palace.
The man who had endured their affections, their love, their struggles.
So why…?
Why did Kazuo call him by an Imperial name?
Akane's sharp mind worked instantly.
She stepped forward, shielding Rin like a guardian.
"Your Highness, get yourself together." Her voice was calm, but firm. "Rin is in this state because of an entity who claimed to be Azure Empress Suzuki."
Kazuo's gaze snapped to her. His brows furrowed.
"What are you talking about? The Azure Empress is Hoshimi Nao… not Suzuki."
Akane's lips pressed into a thin line. Damn.
"It's complicated," she admitted. "She claims to be from a time where the Hoshimi Empire had fallen."
Kazuo flinched. His fingers curled into fists.
But even that revelation wasn't enough to pull his attention away from Rin.
His younger brother.
His lost light.
The three consorts stared at Kazuo, the pieces falling together in their minds.
"Kazuo," Miharu spoke first, her voice hesitant. "Who is Rin to you?"
"Why did you call him Hoshimi?" Rei added, stepping closer.
Suzuki's breath hitched. She turned to Kazuo, her heart pounding.
No one had ever questioned it before.
Rin was always just Rin. Their Rin.
Kazuo was a ticking bomb—a prince teetering on the edge of revealing everything.
"White Princess Akane, move."
Akane hesitated.
Her rank was far lower. She had no choice.
She stepped aside, watching warily as Kazuo reached out.
His hand trembled slightly as his fingers brushed against Rin's face.
Like he was touching a fragile dream.
"You really are him…" His voice cracked. "Why are you like this?"
Rin, ever silent, ever still, did not respond.
Kazuo's grip tightened.
"You… were the brightest sun." His breath came out unsteady. "Don't act like this… not you."
No response.
Nothing.
"Please," Kazuo whispered. "Just come back to the Imperial Palace."
The consorts froze.
"Come back?" Suzuki murmured.
"What do you mean?" Miharu's hands clenched.
Kazuo's expression crumbled. His next words came out in a desperate plea.
"I missed you."
He bowed his head, his voice breaking.
"I'm sorry for that time…" His shoulders shook. "I didn't mean to hurt you… Brother."
Silence.
A silence so deafening it swallowed the battlefield.
The realization crashed into Miharu, Rei, and Suzuki.
Their heads snapped toward Rin—their Rin.
The man they had fought alongside. The man who had stolen their hearts.
The man who was supposed to be a commoner.
But now…
They knew.
"Brother?" Rei's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Rin… is Imperial royalty?" Miharu's chest tightened.
Suzuki covered her mouth, her world spinning.
Only Akane remained silent, watching as the truth finally unraveled.
But Rin did not react.
No flinch.
No recognition.
No warmth.
Only emptiness.
Kazuo's voice trembled, raw with grief and guilt.
"Gguhhghhh… It's my fault…"
His body shook.
"I shouldn't be the one wearing this crown…"
The weight of the Imperial Crest on his head felt heavier than ever.
"I'm sorry… I got jealous of your talent when all you wanted was for me to focus on my own…"
His fingertips dug into his palms, his breath ragged as he stared at Rin's lifeless expression.
No anger. No resentment.
Not even pain.
Nothing.
Kazuo's vision blurred.
"I'm sorry for pushing you down the stairs… I didn't mean to… I wasn't thinking straight…"
A gasp escaped from Suzuki's lips.
Rei's hands clenched into fists. Miharu's eyes widened in horror.
But Kazuo didn't stop.
"You left because of me."
His words came out like a confession at an execution.
"The next day, you were gone, and the Imperial family never spoke of it."
His breath hitched, his hands trembling as he reached for Rin again— his long-lost younger brother.
"They treated me the same… as their beloved son… even though you were gone."
The pain in his chest was unbearable.
"They should have treated me badly… I should have been punished… but you were gone, and they were forced to love me— even though I didn't deserve it."
His knees nearly buckled.
"I didn't deserve such kindness… not after what I did."
And then— he broke.
Kazuo collapsed onto Rin, arms wrapping around his younger brother in a desperate embrace.
Tears streamed down his face.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
His voice cracked, pleading for forgiveness that would not come.
The three consorts stood frozen.
They had seen Kazuo only as the Crown Prince—a distant figure with an untouchable presence.
But now…
Before them was not the Crown Prince.
Not the heir to the Empire.
Just a brother—desperate to bring his sibling home.
Suzuki clutched her chest, tears threatening to spill.
Miharu bit her lip, her throat tightening.
Rei's fists trembled, nails digging into her skin.
Even Akane—who knew the truth—stood still, watching as a past long buried resurfaced in the moonlight.
But through it all—
Rin never reacted.
He stood, empty. Hollow.
Not rejecting. Not accepting.
Just— gone.
The three consorts and their headmaids turned sharply toward Akane and Emi.
Their faces were a mix of shock and betrayal.
But Akane… she didn't flinch.
Neither did Emi.
There was no look of surprise on their faces—no gasps of disbelief, no widened eyes.
They already knew.
Rei was the first to speak, her voice low and sharp.
"Since when?"
Miharu's lips parted, but no words came out. She just stared.
Suzuki, her hands trembling slightly, spoke next.
"How long have you known?"
Akane exhaled softly, her eyes briefly flickering to Rin.
Then, she recalled that night.
—A night drenched in silence and moonlight.
A night where death was a very real possibility.
A night where Hoshimi Rin nearly killed her.
She could still feel it.
The cold steel against her throat.
The weight of his presence behind her.
His voice—low, emotionless, and dangerous.
"You shouldn't have known."
She had only managed to breathe because of one thing.
The Imperial Tablet.
The moment Rin saw it, something in his grip faltered.
It was official. She had the right to know.
Had it not been for that—she wouldn't be standing here now.
Akane lifted her gaze to the others, her tone calm but firm.
"I have known since that night."
Silence.
Then—
"And you never told us?" Miharu's voice was almost bitter.
Akane's expression remained unreadable.
"It was not my secret to tell."
Rei clenched her jaw. That was true… and yet, it still hurt.
Suzuki looked between Akane and Rin, then at Kazuo—the weight of the revelation sinking in.
Hoshimi Rin was never just a warrior of the White Flower Palace.
He was Imperial Blood.
The truth had finally been revealed.
And yet—
He stood there, unmoving.