The three of us stepped through the gate like any other travelers.
Kaida spat in the dirt. "I hate places that pretend to be polite."
"Then don't pretend back," I muttered.
Kiyomi didn't speak. She kept her hood up. Her steps quiet.
But her eyes?
Scanning everything.
And she knew it too, this wasn't a place she could hide in.
We found an inn tucked between a candle maker and a shrine shop.
The innkeeper gave us a room without looking up, without asking names.
He never made eye contact with Kiyomi.
Kaida flopped onto the futon. "Someone's going to try something tonight."
"Agreed," I said.
Kiyomi didn't sit.
She stood at the window.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then there was a knock, not on our door.
Below, at the inn's back door.
Followed by a voice.
Low and confident.
"Three travelers. One sellsword. One fox-girl. One drunk."
"Tell them I'd like to speak. Just a conversation."
Kaida reached for her sword.
Kiyomi looked at me.
"They know," she whispered.
Only a few powerful people know. And one of them just found us.
Kaida pressed her back to the wall beside the door, sword in hand. Her smirk was gone. She didn't like this.
Good.
Neither did I.
The voice spoke again.
"No need for blades. I come on behalf of a client. They're… curious about the girl with the charm marks."
I stepped toward the door.
"What client?" I asked.
Silence.
Then: "The kind that doesn't like questions. But pays very well for answers."
Kiyomi moved quietly behind me.
Kaida whispered, "Want me to kill him?"
"No," I muttered. "We want him to think we're scared."
Kaida grinned. "I can fake that."
I finally slid the door open—
Just enough to see the man standing there.
Short hair. No armor. No weapon. Just a long coat and calm eyes.
"I only came to deliver a message," he said.
And he held up a letter. Folded. Unmarked.
But sealed with a golden crest.
Not a family's.
Not a clan's.
Imperial.
Kiyomi inhaled sharply.
She didn't reach for it.
She didn't have to.*
Her fingers brushed her charm pouch.
The new mark on her arm glowed faintly in response to the seal.
Kaida didn't miss that. "Toki?"
"I see it."
The man handed me the letter.
"Your time is limited. The Empire doesn't like… loose ends."
And then he walked away.
Because he knew: They already had eyes in this town.
I closed the door..
Kiyomi spoke first.
"…They know I'm alive."
I turned the letter in my hands.
The golden wax caught the firelight.
Kiyomi stood behind me, her arms crossed—defensive. Like if she didn't hold herself together, the weight of this moment would crush her.
Kaida sipped the worst sake this inn had to offer.
She knew this wasn't her moment.
I broke the seal.
Read it.
Didn't speak for a while.
Kiyomi's voice was soft. "What does it say?"
I looked up at her.
And I hated that I didn't have a lie ready.
"It says," I murmured, "your father requests your presence at a secure location outside the capital."
Kaida spat her drink.
"Wait—father?"
Kiyomi didn't react, didn't deny it.
The letter wasn't long.
"You are not forgotten.""The blood you carry is not yours to throw away.""Come willingly. Or not. But come you will."– Imperial Seal
Kiyomi turned away. Walked to the window.
Didn't look out.
Just stared at the glass.
Kaida finally spoke. "So. That's who's chasing us."
"No," I said. "That's who's watching."
The Empire hadn't sent blades yet.
Only a a reminder, a leash made of gold.
I dropped the letter into the fire.
Kiyomi didn't stop me.
She just said:
"We're leaving at first light."
The alley behind the inn, the sky was still dark. The road ahead empty.
Kiyomi pulls her hood over her head. Her face is unreadable.
She's ready.
But the weight of that letter still clings to her like wet silk.
So I say:
"You sure we shouldn't wait for a palanquin? I hear princesses travel better when carried."
She shoots me a look.
Sharp, but her lips twitch, almost.
Kaida raises an eyebrow. "Princess?"
"Turns out I've been escorting nobility," I mutter. "No wonder she's got that look every time I do something uncivilized. It's in the blood."
Kiyomi tightens the strap on her charm pouch, doesn't rise to the bait.
I lean in a little closer and murmur:
"You ever demand a footrub, I'm putting you back in the fox crate we pulled you out of."
That finally earns a reaction.
She elbows me.
Not hard, just enough to say shut up, but don't stop.
And just like that, for a second—
She wasn't an imperial secret, just a girl.
And I wasn't a blade bound to protect her, just a man who could still make her smile or atleast I was trying to.
We walked out of Ueno before the sun rose and the shadows followed.
Kaida walked ahead, flicking stones with the tip of her blade like she was bored. I didn't believe it for a second.
She was thinking. That was worse.
Kiyomi trailed beside me, arms folded, hood down. She hadn't asked to stop. Hadn't complained once. That wasn't like her.
"So," Kaida finally said. "We gonna talk about it?"
"About what?"
"Don't play dumb, Ronin. The whole emperor's-secret-daughter-thing. You knew something. Before Ueno."
Kiyomi glanced between us.
I didn't look at either of them.
"…Maybe," I said.
Kaida snorted. "Gods. You're worse than nobles."
"I knew she wasn't normal," I muttered. "Didn't take a genius. All that etiquette, all those damn scrolls, the way she says excuse me before kicking me in the shins."
Kiyomi coughed. "I don't kick."
"You aim low."
Kaida raised a brow. "But you didn't ask?"
I shrugged.
"She hired me. I didn't need to know her blood. Just what she needed protecting from."
The road went quiet again.
Then Kaida grinned.
"Guess that makes you the empire's most expensive babysitter."
"Bodyguard," I corrected.
"Same thing."
"Not if you're doing it right."
Kiyomi stayed quiet.
But she smiled, just barely and none of us noticed the figure on horseback watching us from the ridge.
Cloaked with a scroll in hand.