"Some people are loyal. Some are not. The trick is knowing which is which."
The message burned in my mind all night.
He's alive. Hide. Wait for me.
Who sent it? Ren himself? Someone working for him? And why "hide"? What danger was coming besides the one I already knew about?
I didn't sleep.
By dawn, I'd made a decision. I couldn't trust anyone based on game knowledge alone. People were more than code. More than scripted betrayals.
I had to test them.
Starting with General Tanaka.
I sent for him after breakfast. Private meeting. No advisors. No servants. Just him and me in my study.
He arrived looking wary. Soldiers always looked wary in courts—like they expected a trap.
"You wanted to see me, My Lady?" His voice was rough. Honest.
"Sit."
He sat.
I studied him. In the game, he died defending her castle. Loyal to the end. But that was just data. I needed to feel it.
"Tell me about the border disputes," I said.
He blinked. "The border disputes?"
"The ones Fujiwara mentioned at council. You looked like you wanted to speak."
He was quiet for a moment. Then: "With respect, My Lady, the border disputes are a distraction. Small fires Fujiwara fans to keep everyone looking away from the real fire."
"And what's the real fire?"
His jaw tightened. "The garrison at North Pass. Fujiwara's been moving troops there for months. Claims it's for training. But those troops haven't rotated out. Supplies keep going in. Soldiers don't come back."
Game memory. North Pass was where the first battle happened in Chapter 5. Fujiwara's forces, attacking from an unexpected direction. Tanaka died there.
"How do you know this?"
"I have eyes. Men who report to me, not to him." He leaned forward. "My Lady, I don't trust Fujiwara. Never have. He smiles too much and means too little."
I nodded slowly. "I don't trust him either."
Tanaka's eyes widened slightly. Then narrowed. "Then why do you let him sit on your council? Why do you let him bring you tea and documents and—"
"Because removing him without proof makes me look weak. And a weak lord invites more predators."
He stared at me.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he laughed. A short, surprised sound. "You're not what I expected, My Lady."
"What did you expect?"
"Someone... softer." He gestured vaguely. "You were always polite. Quiet. Let others speak first. I thought..." He trailed off.
"You thought I was weak."
He didn't deny it.
I smiled. Her smile. It felt strange on my face. "Weak people don't survive, General. They just look like they do."
He nodded slowly. Something shifted in his eyes. Respect, maybe. Or caution.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Tell me everything. Every troop movement. Every supply order. Every whisper about Fujiwara. And tell no one that we spoke."
He stood. Bowed. "You have my word, My Lady."
"General."
He paused.
"Be careful. If Fujiwara suspects you're watching him..."
"I know how to be careful." A grim smile. "I've survived this long."
After he left, I sat alone in the study.
One ally. Maybe.
I spent the afternoon reading her journal.
Page after page of observations. Fujiwara's movements. Suspicious meetings. Names of minor officials who'd switched allegiance. Dates that meant nothing to me but clearly meant something to her.
She was building a case. Documenting everything. Preparing for a confrontation.
But something stopped her.
The last entries were different. Shorter. Less detailed. More personal.
Day 3.
I dreamed of him again. His face. His voice. The way he used to laugh.
They say he's dead. I saw the banner. I saw the blood.
But I don't believe it.
I can't.
Day 7.
A message. Anonymous. Just one word: "Alive."
I burned it. But I kept the ashes.
Day 12.
Today, Fujiwara smiled more than usual. He thinks I don't notice. He thinks I'm still grieving, still weak, still useless.
Let him think it.
I've hidden everything. The journal. The letters. The proof.
If I don't survive, someone must know.
Ren is alive. I feel it.
And when he returns—
The page ended.
The next page was torn.
I pressed my hand to my chest again.
That warmth. That ache.
She loved him. Desperately. Fiercely. Even believing he was dead, she loved him.
And now I was her.
What happened when he came back? What happened when a man who loved Lady Kaito looked into my eyes and saw... me?
I didn't have an answer.
But the message said he was coming.
And tomorrow, Fujiwara would try to kill me.
That evening, Aya helped me prepare for bed.
I asked casually, "Do you know the name Takeda Ren?"
Her hands froze on my obi. Just for a second.
Then she continued, face carefully blank. "I... have heard it, My Lady."
"What have you heard?"
A long pause. Then, quietly: "That he was your betrothed. That he died in battle two years ago. That you... that you never spoke of him after."
"He's not dead."
Aya's hands stopped again. She looked at me, eyes wide. "My Lady?"
"The message. It said he's alive. That he's coming back."
Aya's face went through several emotions—shock, hope, fear—before settling into something unreadable. "If that's true, My Lady... it's dangerous."
"Dangerous how?"
"If Lord Ren is alive, and Fujiwara finds out before he returns..." She swallowed. "Fujiwara has reasons to want him dead. Reasons that go beyond politics."
I waited.
But Aya just shook her head. "I've said too much. Please, My Lady, ask no more. I serve you. I'll always serve you. But some stories aren't mine to tell."
She finished undressing me in silence.
That night, I lay awake staring at the ceiling.
Ren was coming.
Fujiwara was plotting.
And tomorrow, someone would try to poison me.
Three separate threads. All tangled together.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time since waking in this body, I didn't feel like a stranger.
I felt like someone with a reason to fight.