Hyeong Daesung tried not to gawk openly at the traditional Yamato-style estate that Hayakawa Kaede called home. It was custom built in a district that the general populace couldn’t even access without permission, with its own walls for privacy, a huge and lush courtyard, and enough rooms to comfortably house at least twenty people. It was a reminder that not all of Yoshika’s aspects were as humble as Lee Jia.
“Ancestors, do you live here by yourself?”
Kaede shook her head as she guided him through the courtyard.
“Of course not. It’s far too large for me to maintain alone.”
Dae almost sighed in relief, but then she kept talking.
“Aecha has been invaluable in handling the day-to-day affairs of the household.”
He couldn’t help but feel a bit aggrieved for his poor sister. Certainly she took pride in her work as a handmaiden, but wasn’t that asking a bit much? Kaede must have either noticed his expression or sensed his emotions because she gave him an arch look over her shoulder.
“She does have a staff, you know. I trust her with a budget, and she only personally attends to things she deems too important to delegate—or that she enjoys. I promise, I’m not mistreating your sister.”
“Of course not, hehe. I would never imply otherwise!”
Dae cursed internally as his old nervous tick insidiously crept its way into his voice. He’d mostly rid himself of his nervous chuckle, but every now and then it snuck up on him like that.
Then again, he was quite nervous. Kaede had invited him on...not a date, per se, but certainly a private dinner. In her home. Which was conspicuously absent of any staff, including his aforementioned twin sister.
“Where is she, by the way?”
“Off catering to the celebration at the academy. I understand they’ve made a breakthrough?”
“Oh! Yes, I suppose so—hardly impressive enough to warrant such revelry, but it’s good to enjoy success and the recent announcement makes for a good excuse.”
Kaede nodded pensively.
“It does. I’m sorry for dragging you away from it.”
“Not at all! It’s been a while since we caught up. I’ve been so busy with work, I’ve hardly had time to...”
“Date?”
He nearly tripped on a rock.
“N-no! I would never be so presumptuous!”
“Why not? Any social engagement between two people can be considered a date, can’t it?”
“That is...not the connotation the word has in its typical informal use.”
Kaede covered her mouth and giggled, and he realized she was teasing him. It was oddly uncharacteristic from the normally stoic woman, and a side of her that he’d only rarely seen. Uncomfortably, he was reminded of the earlier incident with An Eui, and hesitated before they went inside.
“Miss Hayakawa, I hope this isn’t about my conversation with Eui the other day.”
She paused, her lips forming a thin line. After a moment she shook her head and sighed.
“It is and it isn’t. Eui was attempting to speak for Yoshika, but you have to understand that we are not a monolith. Neither are we completely distinct individuals. We are both, and that can be difficult to navigate, both for ourselves, and for those around us.”
“That’s putting it lightly. You know in the academy, attempting to make sense of your identity is practically its own informal field of study.”
“I can believe it, and I’d love to study their notes myself some time. It’s not always easy, and we don’t always get things right. In Eui’s case, we messed up. But I don’t want you to think of this as an attempt to make up for that mistake. This is not between you and Eui, or even Yoshika. Just you and I. Dinner—a date, if you like, but only if that’s what we make of it.
“We are friends, Dae, and we were before I joined Yoshika. I regret that we’ve drifted apart. Forget about Lee Jia or An Eui, forget about Yoshika and your meddling little sister. Right now, we are Hyeong Daesung and Hayakawa Kaede—friends catching up over dinner. Whether the future would have us be more or less than that is for the future to decide. Are you amenable to that?”
Dae scratched the back of his head, that accursed chuckle bubbling its way out of this throat once more as he smiled awkwardly. Maybe he’d been overthinking it a bit—he had a tendency to do that.
“Hehe, I suppose I would like that, yes.”
Kaede smiled back at him and nodded.
“Good. I think I would as well.”
It was perhaps Yoshika’s greatest advantage that she could be many things at once. She didn’t want to be the great empress worshipped by half the continent, leading the world into what she hoped would be a brighter future, but parts of her—like Kaede—had been raised to be leaders, so it wasn’t a completely uncomfortable position. At the same time, she had the ability to let herself live the quiet and peaceful life she craved.
Li Meili was her ‘civilian’ identity. The fifth aspect—the last and the least of Yoshika’s personae. At least, that’s what others thought of her, if they knew she existed at all, and she preferred it that way. It’s not that she never acted in her capacity as part of Yoshika, just that her contributions were more subtle. Meili was the face Yoshika wore when she wanted to go incognito, as she had back before ascending from being a mere avatar. All other times, she was just...Meili. An unassuming Qin woman who could blend into a crowd and enjoy a peaceful dinner with her girlfriend’s parents.
Well, relatively peaceful.
The problem with being so unassuming was that even those who knew who she really was sometimes...forgot.
“I’m so glad that we are being returned to the God-Emperor’s fold! I was a little worried about this talk of war, but truly his mercy knows no bounds!”
Pan Zixing nodded sagely in response to Shi Jinghua, his wife, a content smile on his face.
“And with this, the continent will at last be united under his rightful rule. It’s a little unorthodox, but Lady Yoshika is wiser than she seems.”
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Pan Jiaying glanced between her parents, her mouth open in disbelief, then cast a sidelong glance at Meili and gestured across the table as if to say ‘are you hearing this?’
It was not an uncommon scene with her parents-in-law—not that she was officially married to Jiaying, but that was how she thought of them. They didn’t really forget that Meili was Yoshika, but they were eating at a popular public restaurant and Zixin habitually spoke like the politician he was. Jinghua, on the other hand, took a malicious delight in giving Yoshika insults where Meili couldn’t protest too strongly.
She sighed and poked at her food—a delicious spicy noodle dish that Eui desperately wanted the recipe for.
“I don’t think it’s that simple. It seems more like an equal relationship to me. I agree that it’s a good thing, but not that Jiaguo is submitting to Qin.”
Shi Jinghua scoffed and gave her a condescending look.
“It may seem that way to a layman, but this is our area of expertise. They may both be women, but Yan Yue is the scion of a great sect, and as the sitting grandmistress of the Great Awakening Dragon, she would not have to submit to any partner. Perhaps, if it were a man with similar status, but Yoshika is neither.”
Meili opened her mouth to respond, but Jiaying beat her to the punch. They had a private table, but she still wove a subtle privacy spell to prevent Jiaying from disturbing the other patrons with her shouting.
“You are absolutely ridiculous, mother! Dad is the expert, not you, and you were both rice farmers all of five years ago! You owe all of the wealth and power you now enjoy to the empress, and you spend all of it trying to subvert her influence. How ungrateful can you be?!”
“Jiaying, don’t. Councilor Zixin has every right to voice his opinion, and I’m sure Miss Jinghua has learned enough from supporting her husband to know what she’s talking about.”
The betrayed look on Jiaying’s face nearly made Meili wince as Shi Jinghua smirked across the table at her daughter, her voice dripping with smug condescension.
“At least one of you is polite. You should listen to your friend, Jiaying.”
“Girlfriend, mother!”
“That remains to be seen, dear. After all, isn’t this wedding going to complicate matters?”
Of course, the moment it suited her, Jinghua was happy to ‘subtly’ acknowledge Meili’s status. Before Jiaying and her mother could really get into it again, Meili interjected.
“I do have to wonder what makes you think you know better than Yan Yue herself, though. No doubt you are deeply familiar with the law and courts, but that expertise is mainly limited to Jiaguo, no?”
Jinghua blinked, not expecting the pushback.
“Well—”
“Which, I should remind you, Yan Yue is also in charge of as the High Arbiter. So not only is she an expert in Qin law, but also the ultimate authority in Jiaguo’s law.”
Zixin raised a finger to correct her.
“Actually, while Lady Yan dictates the law in practice, the ultimate authority still rests with Empress Yoshika.”
It was Meili’s turn to be condescending as she gave him a flat look.
“So she is, yes. The point I’m trying to make is that you should consider whether you are making your best interpretation, or simply the one which benefits your party most.”
“As you say, Miss Li...”
Dinner didn’t really get any less awkward after that, but at least the food was good, and Jiaying’s parents managed to stay clear of politics for the rest of the night. Jiaying herself stayed more or less civil until they made their way back to their shared home at the end of the night.
“I don’t understand why you let her talk to you like that!”
Meili chuckled and shook her head. They hadn’t even gotten inside yet. Their home was in one of the new residential districts that had been built outside of the original academy walls. Those outer districts had walls of their own—a necessity since the mana density within Jiaguo’s shield wall was enough that magical beasts and elementals could develop locally. Yang Qiu’s hunters did their best to manage them, but the walls helped deter any curious creatures from wandering into the city.
The new construction was a lot more humble than the former dormitories and guest houses that had originally been meant to house high profile guests, students, and teachers from around the world. Mostly they were single-family homes interspersed with larger multi-family complexes like those found in Goryeo—albeit better maintained. Jiaguo guaranteed housing for its citizens, and while some preferred to strike out on their own and live in the villages, the city was popular for its proximity to the academy and the active markets and entertainment districts.
Jiaying’s mother objected to them living in the ‘poorer’ outer city districts—nevermind that the Pan family had been rice farmers living in bamboo huts before immigrating. It was just another petty way to express her disapproval.
Meili sighed, realizing that she’d gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she’d nearly left Jiaying hanging as they went inside.
“If all of my enemies were as petty and ineffectual as Shi Jinghua, life would be a lot more pleasant. She’s a nuisance, but she’s not doing any harm.”
“Tsk, tell that to my teenage self’s crippling self-esteem issues.”
She hugged Jiaying and smiled apologetically.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to downplay it. Her barbs just don’t bother me, I guess, and I’d rather let her make snide remarks about me than judge you.”
Jiaying returned the hug, rolling her eyes playfully.
“Oh yeah, she hardly even called me fat tonight. Ugh, I don’t know why I even bother associating with them.”
“We can cut ties, if you want. It’s useful to have an inside connection to Pan Zixin, but I’d never ask you to put up with mistreatment for that.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not that unfilial, I just like to complain.”
Meili giggled, putting on a pot of tea and then stretching before she flopped down onto a couch.
“Well, I’m always happy to listen! I hope she didn’t bother you too much with all the talk about the uh...wedding.”
Jiaying snorted, shoving Meili’s legs out of the way so that she could join her on the couch. Meili put her feet back up on her girlfriend’s lap.
“Meili, I’ve had five years to get used to you being Yoshika. Yoshika has four other women already, but Meili is just for me. Right?”
She nodded slowly, but furrowed her brows.
“True, it’s just that...it’s a little different. Jia, Eui, Eunae, and I each have our own distinct relationships, but Yue is engaged to...Yoshika. Despite how we present her in public settings, Yoshika isn’t a distinct identity from the rest of us. She’s just...us.”
Jiaying hummed thoughtfully, idly stroking Meili’s exposed shins as she stared at the ceiling.
“Mmm, I guess, but are you, personally, as Meili, going to be cozying up to the High Arbiter? You going to dump me to go cuddle up to the willowy beauty with jade-like skin and emerald eyes?”
“What? No, of course not!”
“Then I don’t care. Yan Yue and I live in different worlds, and you are Yoshika’s foot in this world. Mine.”
Meili cocked her head.
“Not that different. Your father is the head of a prominent political party.”
“My father is a gussied up rice farmer with a self-important wife too high on their status to remember their own roots. He is also my father, and not me.”
“And I’m technically the empress.”
Jiaying rolled her eyes and slumped over to lie next to Meili. There wasn’t much room on the couch, so in practice she was mostly on top of her—not that either of them minded.
“Would the empress tolerate lowly rice farmers condescending to her?”
“Well, actually—”
She cut Meili off with a kiss.
“Let that skinny rich bitch have Yoshika. You are mine. That’s all that matters.”
“What about your garden?”
“You’ll be sleeping in it if you keep sassing me. Now do you want to stay here and talk about stupid things, or should we head to bed and get a bit more comfortable?”
Meili blushed bright red.
“T-the tea...”
“It’ll keep.”
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