Published: March 21, 2026
"Even so, it's rare for you to let fourteen out of fifteen border incursions slide by. One would think you'd draw your sword and cut them down on the first offense."
After savoring sukiyaki, the next dish served was a simmered stew. It wasn't the sort of throw-everything-in-and-simmer, travel-food stew we often ate—this was a delicate dish where each ingredient had been cooked by the proper method. To someone unskilled with cooking like me, it just looked like chikuzenni.
When I said that while pinching a carrot with my chopsticks, Kohana Sakuya averted her eyes with an awkward expression. She definitely went berserk earlier.
"...Well, there are various circumstances on our side as well."
"What are you saying? Have you forgotten that you drew your sword and almost charged out at the first opportunity?"
Kaminari Miki, seated between Nanase-kun and Ms. Amelia, said this flatly to Sakuya, who was trying to play it off. Tsukimi Yayoi on the other side only let out a wry smile—she must have been dragged into Sakuya's rampage too.
"K-Kaminari...!"
"After all, it only served to provoke the 'Butterfly Flower Society' pointlessly at that time."
"That's easy to say!"
"The 'Butterfly Flower Society'—what is that, anyway?"
Not the moth orchid but 'butterfly flower.' It was probably the name of some group. I wondered if Ms. Ueno, who had taught us the flower language of the hollyhock we offered at Saran's grave, might know.
I cut the conversation off mid-sentence and, unlike the flustered Sakuya, quietly asked Kaminari Miki—who was calmly nibbling at her simmered dish—what it was. She wasn't hiding her mouth with a fan like during the meeting, after all.
"The 'Butterfly Flower Society' is an anti-war organization within this country. Though small in number, their activities are extreme. Initially, the Kaminari family took the lead in overseeing them as a controlling force to prevent them from running wild."
"Overseeing them...?"
That a wartime nation had an anti-war organization was unsettling, but wherever people gather, opinions split and opposition inevitably arises. The reason we hadn't known was probably because the country had been peaceful during our stay.
Miki arched an eyebrow at my surprised question.
"Yes. After the lord of our family—Kaminari Miki's—betrothed was executed without charge, an obvious provocation directed at our family, how could we continue to preach pacifism?"
"N-No..."
"It was likely because the betrothed was executed that the Kaminari family, who represented the anti-war faction, were targeted."
A cold sweat formed on my brow as Miki tilted her head with a deadpan look.
When she's expressionless, she has an almost doll-like eeriness.
"I'm terribly sorry, but the power balance inside the country has changed considerably since you were last here. The Kohana family was always pro-war, but after the declaration of war the Kaminari family has leaned that way too, and the Tsukimi family—formerly neutral—has now become the head of the anti-war faction."
So the Kaminari family, formerly the anti-war leaders, shifted toward neutrality or pro-war—losing the domestic balance—forcing the previously neutral Tsukimi house to become the anti-war head.
Even if the engagement might have been a political marriage without love, Miki's reaction seemed excessive at first. But remembering what Ms. Noah said—that in Yamato Country people value family name and honor over life—it made more sense.
Whether she realized I understood or not, Miki lowered her gaze.
"...Lior-sama wished for peace between the two countries. I know full well this situation is far from what he desired. Still, as head of the Kaminari family, I cannot simply yield."
"It's okay. It'll be fine, Miki-chan. The Tsukimi family originally rose to act as the moderator when Yamato's extremes of pro- and anti-war destabilized things. They'll handle the forces the Kaminari family had been holding down. We'll play the part of adversaries on the surface, but we'll restrain them. Right!"