Tengu Mountain, Residence of the Izanagi Clan.
After so many years, it remained just as grand and disciplined as before.
Guards stood watch in every corner.
Soldiers patrolled each street.
The clan's young members gathered at the training grounds, practicing the secret arts of Onmyojutsu.
Unseen shikigami roamed all around—some seemed to be on guard, others appeared to be monitoring something. The entire place was heavily fortified.
This scene vividly demonstrated to outsiders what it meant to be a clan of national pillars, an elite noble family, the very base of imperial bloodlines.
Within the entire nation, the only place more luxurious and more heavily guarded than this might be the Emperor's own residence.
However, those with a keen eye would notice that the security around the Izanagi had become even tighter than before. Each clan member wore a heavy, solemn expression, as if bracing for an incoming storm, radiating a grim tension.
In such an atmosphere, outside a room in the main residence, two young men held a tray of food, persistently calling toward the inside.
"Please, young miss, just eat a little!"
"We're begging you, aren't we? You haven't eaten in days!"
These pleading voices belonged to Subaru and Mutsura.
Their expressions were full of distress. Even Subaru, who had a rough temperament, and the more carefree Mutsura both looked deeply troubled. Their eyes were filled with anxiety.
"Young miss! Please answer!" Subaru couldn't help shouting in frustration. "If you don't say anything, I'm going to break in!"
"That's right, young miss!" Mutsura added. "If this keeps up, it'll be bad for your health! We're begging you—just eat a little. Otherwise, we really will break in!"
As soon as those words were spoken, a voice came from inside the room.
"I don't have any appetite. Take it away. Don't come in."
It was a girl's voice.
Yet that voice wasn't just weak—it was full of exhaustion, sorrow, and even despair, carrying the weight of someone whose heart had already given up.
Such a painful tone made both Subaru and Mutsura unable to stay still.
"Damn it! I don't care anymore!"
Yelling that, Subaru kicked the door open without a second thought and rushed inside.
"Subaru!"
Mutsura was shocked, but he quickly followed.
But soon, both of them stopped in their tracks.
Because they saw the condition their young miss was in.
"Didn't I tell you not to come in?"
Hinowa sat on a futon laid on the tatami floor, looking at the intruding Subaru and Mutsura without much reaction.
For a very simple reason.
Upon closer look, Hinowa looked extremely frail, her face pale, and her once-delicate figure now noticeably thinner. She looked nothing like before—more like someone on the verge of death.
Even more heartbreaking were her eyes—so swollen it was hard to believe—and her cheeks still bore tear stains. Her blanket was soaked, suggesting she had cried countless times, and with unbearable sorrow.
"Young miss..."
"Young miss..."
Seeing Hinowa like this made Subaru and Mutsura tremble all over.
It was a mix of fear and helplessness.
They couldn't believe their young miss had ended up like this.
But it couldn't be helped.
Because it wasn't just Hinowa—they, too, already knew the truth.
From the head of the Izanagi, the leader of the Domon family—Hinowa's grandmother, Domon Kira—they had learned everything.
So they understood very well how devastating this truth would be for Hinowa, how deep the wounds would run.
Even they themselves had almost lost control upon hearing the truth. If their fathers hadn't forcibly restrained them, they might have made a huge scene on the spot.
As for Hinowa, from the day she learned the truth, a part of her heart had essentially died.
Otherwise, how could she have ended up like this?
Subaru trembled as he knelt by Hinowa's side, at the edge of the futon.
"Young miss," Subaru's eyes turned red, his hands shaking as he held the food tray. He choked out, "Please eat something... I'm begging you."
This coarse-tempered Subaru, now sobbing so helplessly, showed just how much of a shock Hinowa's condition had dealt him.
Even Mutsura clenched his fists and knelt beside Subaru.
"I'm begging you too, young miss," Mutsura pleaded. "Even if you don't care about yourself, at least think about Rozen. He definitely wouldn't want to see you like this."
At those words, Hinowa's body trembled slightly.
Then...
"How could that be?" Hinowa muttered with self-deprecation. "Rozen-sama absolutely wouldn't want to see me. More like... he probably wishes I were dead."
As she said that, tears streamed from her eyes.
Seeing this, Subaru and Mutsura were overwhelmed with pain, unable to refute her words.
Because they knew that ever since they learned the truth, their relationship with Rozen had changed completely.
They had become enemies.
Enemies with a blood feud—murder of kin, annihilation of family.
They had learned this more than two months ago, when they returned from England.
Before that, Hinowa and the others had already received orders from the Izanagi—warning them of a terrifying omen and demanding their immediate return.
But at that time, Hinowa had just reunited with Rozen and had no intention of returning, so she had been resisting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rozen thought she was just busy with family matters. In reality, he had no idea Hinowa was struggling with this.
It wasn't until the Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machinart began summer vacation—and the Night Party was temporarily suspended—that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found a chance to intervene. Only then did Hinowa have no choice but to leave the Academy and return to the Izanagi with Subaru and Mutsura.
Then, Domon Kira gave Hinowa this order:
"From today on, you will obediently stay home. You are forbidden from ever returning to the Machinart Academy or meeting anyone from the Akabane family again!"
This was a unilateral command from Kira.
Naturally, Hinowa refused to obey. No matter what, she wanted to return to Rozen's side.
In the end, Kira, having lost her patience, revealed a truth that ensured Hinowa would never go back to Rozen.
That was...
"The real culprit who annihilated the Akabane family was the Izanagi. It's time you faced this reality and gave up on that boy from the Akabane. You foolish granddaughter."
As that statement rang out from beyond the doorway, Subaru and Mutsura both froze in shock.
Hinowa also trembled, then lifted her head, for the first time showing emotion in her eyes.
But it wasn't enlightenment—it was hostility and fury.
Under Hinowa's glare, an elderly woman walked in from outside the door.
"Grandmother..."
Hinowa whispered, identifying the person.
It was Domon Kira.