Inside the study, Lily knelt down beside Ayaka and straightened her dress.
As Ayaka looked at Lily, there was a hint of anguish in her eyes, “Lily, are you angry with me for punishing you?”
Lily shook her head, “Lily disobeyed Lady Ayaka’s order. As My Lady said before, Lily made her own decision. This is the price I should bear for my actions.”
“Lily, I know that you did this from the standpoint of what you think is right, as well as to find the real murderer who killed Madam Yoruko as soon as possible, but… I want you to understand,” Ayaka flung her long sleeve, pulled Lily to her side, and used her slender jade fingers to support Lily’s chin, “For you, I don’t care about right or wrong. I only care about where you put me.”
Ayaka’s gaze was so penetrating that it caused Lily’s heart to palpitate for a while.
“Lady Ayaka is my master. Of course, in the sense of a vassal and lord kind of master. Although I am a courtier of the Heian Dynasty, for Lily, my allegiance is not to the emperor, but to Lady Ayaka.” Lily said without half a word of falsehood. Perhaps, this promise added a premise in her heart that the most important thing was to take care of her senior sister.
Ayaka shook her head, “That is not what I want to hear. Although you are talented in martial arts, you don’t understand politics. I only ask you, would you betray me for that woman?”
“That? That woman?” Lily recalled her painful buttocks and suddenly felt a sense of loss. The beating she received today wasn’t only because she had disobeyed Ayaka’s order, but because she had shown too much trust in that woman in front of Ayaka.
“Lily has never betrayed Lady Ayaka. The decisions Lily made were also based on the interests of Lady Ayaka in order to complete the mission that My Lady has entrusted to me. Perhaps, the method was a bit unusual, but since Lady Ayaka entrusted this task to Lily, Lily must do her best in her own way. Even if I was punished and given another choice, I would still do it again.”
“…” Ayaka shook her head, “You know very well that this is not what I am asking. Lily, I want you to be loyal to me not only as a vassal, but also as a woman. Only to me, okay?”
Saying that, Ayaka approached Lily, parted her warm lips, and wrapped her arms around Lily’s waist without hesitation, wanting to kiss her.
But Lily still reluctantly pushed Ayaka away.
“What’s the matter? Weren’t you quite obedient just now?”
“That’s because Lily disobeyed an order. As a female vassal, I should be punished. However, Lady Ayaka, when I think of Madam Yoruko being tragically killed like that, Lily really can’t agree with what My Lady is doing at this time. Lily knows that My Lady is very sad, but My Lady should not treat Lily as an object for you to escape!”
Lily flung her red sleeve and moved to the corner of the study, her hair hanging down.
Ayaka looked at Lily, and for some reason, there was a bit of sadness in her eyes, “Do you think that I really just treat you as an object to comfort my sorrow?”
Ayaka got up and was about to leave with a flick of her long sleeve1, but when she came beside Lily, she stopped, “Did I hit too hard just now?”
“I don’t know…but this is what Lily should suffer when she makes a mistake.” Lily lowered her head and blushed.
“If it hurts, I’ll rub it for you again?”
Lily shook her head, “Lady Ayaka is busy with official matters. Lily doesn’t dare to disturb you again. Lily is already flattered that you took time out of your busy schedule to discipline Lily.”
“…Okay,” Ayaka turned her head to leave, “If there is any progress in the case, please report it to me at any time. By the way, Lily, onto a different matter. You risked your life to deliver the message of the heavenly way, which is a great merit to the court and my Fujiwara Clan. I have asked for a full twelve days and nights of enlightenment time for you to observe the sacred relic. You can arrange it yourself.”
After saying this, Ayaka walked away with a flick of her sleeve. Although she was wearing men’s court clothes, her tall back and slender waist which twisted along with the movement of her buttocks were full of feminine charm.
Lily couldn’t help blushing when she saw it, but she made Ayaka angry and put her in a difficult situation again. Although Ayaka was angry, she actually still thought of her well-being in every way. In such a crisis, she did not forget to exchange her merits for enlightenment to aid her training.
Lily wasn’t unaware of Ayaka’s thoughts, but whether she was looking for solace or hiding her true feelings, Lily couldn’t accept it…
After all, in Lily’s heart, that position was only reserved for her senior sister. Lily and Ayaka could only have the relationship between a vassal and master.
After Ayaka left, Lily lay there and rested for a while. She had been through a lot in the past few days and was tired, so she fell asleep unknowingly.
…….
The extended night in Heian-kyō continued. Just when Lily was entering dreamland, in the dark streets of Heian-kyō…
Several young female samurai wearing kimonos of various colors or revealing armor with swords on their waists, and some young and delicate female onmyoji in hunting clothes were walking between the dark streets, quietly approaching the place deep in the alley where the lights were bright and the sound of drumming was constantly heard.
Around them, there were also several female ninjas who were jumping on the roofs of the surrounding houses and following along.
The women stopped at the entrance of the dark alley, near the place where it was bright and noisy.
A female ninja jumped off the roof and said to the female samurai and onmyojis, “Lady Ijuin, the night market is ahead. That is the place where demons and monsters roam and hide in Heian-kyō— a place of dirt and filth.”
Among these women, there was a girl dressed in a gorgeous kimono with a short skirt. She had long, dark green hair, neat bangs, and wore a jade-colored ox horn headdress adorned with flowers on her head. Her name was Ijuin Reira and she seemed to be the leader of their group.
Ijuin carried the arrogance and nobility of a woman born in an aristocratic household. She looked at the bustling night market with eyes full of contempt, “Today is the doomsday of these demons who run rampant in Heian-kyō and engage in all kinds of dirty deals! How can the capital of the dignified Heian Dynasty allow these demons to cause trouble? Kasuga, send the signal!”
“Yes!” The ninja named Kasuga pulled out a cylinder with a fuse from behind her waist. She looked at the dimly lit night market, held the cylinder high, and pulled the fuse.
Whoosh— A bright purple firework flew high into the sky.
At this time within the night market, there was constant singing and dancing. Demons and humans were walking around, doing business, eating snacks, and playing games.
Clang— Ijuin pulled out the tachi on her waist and shouted, “Sword mikos, jade maidens, mirror girls, the imperial court is weak and incompetent, but we can’t sit back and watch the heavenly way collapse and the three archdemons scourge the world. They have even arrogantly opened an evil black market for demons at the foot of the imperial city! Sisters, come with me, level this black market, and kill all the demons!”
“Kill—! Kill!”
“Save the heavenly way, eradicate the three archdemons!”
“Save the heavenly way, eradicate the three archdemons!”
The young girls, each with a heroic and determined look, pulled out their swords and shouted while following Ijuin to rush into the unsuspecting night market.
…
…
Lily was still in a deep sleep. She fell asleep on her stomach last night and didn’t even change her clothes or take a bath. She just fell asleep in her red kimono.
“Miss Kagami— Miss Kagami!”
A maid hurriedly came to the study to wake Lily up.
“What’s the matter?” Lily’s eyes were sleepy and she got up lazily. Her clothes unconsciously slipped down, revealing her large breasts and half of her fragrant shoulders.
The maid couldn’t help but blush and turned her head away. Lily seemed to realize and straightened her clothes as she got up.
“Miss Kagami, Lord Chief Advisor wants you to go over immediately!” The maid said.
“Understood.” For Ayaka to suddenly call her, something must have happened so Lily hurried to Ayaka’s main room.
“Lady Ayaka?” Lily rushed to the front room of Ayaka’s boudoir where Ayaka and Hoshi Murasaki were already waiting.
“Lily, hurry to the night market.” Ayaka said.
“Night market?” Lily looked confused.
Hoshi Murasaki explained, “We got news that a large number of female warriors, mainly sword mikos and jade maidens, suddenly attacked the night market.”
“What?! Sword mikos and jade maidens attacked the night market?” Lily was unable to understand the situation for a moment.
“Lily,” Ayaka said, “This matter is not difficult to understand. Most of the current sword and jade maiden female warriors are some of the capital’s advance guards, composed of young eldest ladies. They must have received the heavenly oracle, and seeing that the imperial court was unable to send troops, they jumped into action themselves.”
“However, the night market is just a place for good-hearted demons and humans to trade, buy and sell. It has always maintained a strict order. Why was the night market even attacked?”
“It’s not so simple. That night market is Tamamo-no-Mae’s territory,” Hoshi Murasaki said coldly, “The sword mikos and mirror girls want to start a crusade against the three archdemons, so naturally, they would attack the nearby night market.”
“This, this is nonsense!” Lily stomped the floor in anger.
Ayaka also shook her head helplessly, “Anyway, Lily, hurry up and go over. I will go to the court soon and gather the ministers to see who secretly incited these young sword mikos and jade maidens!”
“Yes! Lily understands.” Lily got up and rushed off.
The leader of the sword mikos, Yoruko, was just murdered, and the sword mikos and jade maidens immediately broke out with such extreme actions that even caused Ayaka to worry.
As soon as Lily left the chief advisor’s manor, she invoked the demon hound which carried her on its back and they soon arrived near the night market.
At this time, the night market not far away from the street was full of fire and screams of killing.
“Not good! Yuuta…should be alright.”
Lily rode the demon hound and rushed into the burning night market. She couldn’t help feeling shocked when she entered.
The originally lively, peaceful, and beautiful night market was now in a mess with thick smoke billowing and battle raging everywhere… Demons fell to the ground one by one and the many corpses were even interspersed with many human guests and vendors.
On the long night market streets, there were still sporadic battles.
Beautiful and delicate female samurai and female onmyojis were wielding swords and casting whistling bursts of arcane arts, attacking the demons. These night market demons were accustomed to living peacefully here and were unprepared. They were mercilessly killed by the young sword mikos, jade maidens, and the mirror girls, fleeing in all directions and screaming constantly.
“This…what the hell is this?” Lily trembled as she looked at the unbelievable scene in front of her.
