The sacred wedding between Nathan and Sakura had ended successfully.
All of Minami Kyoto seemed to have witnessed it.
Those who had stood outside the castle repeated every detail to those who had been unable to attend. They spoke of Sakura's white and pink kimono, of Ryo appearing beside her in white, and of Princess Kaguya sealing their vows beneath Amaterasu's witness.
For once, the stories spreading through the South carried no warning.
No approaching army.
No cruel lord.
No monster waiting beneath the earth.
They carried the news of a marriage and a new beginning.
The Shogunate had been restored.
Ryo, the Black Ronin who had defeated the Kijin, was now Shogun and protector of the South. Sakura would govern its people, supported by the council and allied with Kaguya and the crown.
For those who had feared that accepting the capital's help meant surrendering everything familiar, the arrangement offered reassurance.
Their customs would remain.
