Seien found Kou Shouka out in the pavilion on the pond, and came to stand before him, shoulders straight.<\/p>\n
“Seiran,” Shouka-sama greeted him with a smile. “Isn’t it a lovely evening?”<\/p>\n
“Yes,” Seien said quietly, “but I have something I have to tell you. I’m afraid…” he looked aside for a moment, “it isn’t as lovely.”<\/p>\n
“Ah?” Shouka-sama’s brows rose. “Well, tell me, then.”<\/p>\n
Seiran took a long breath. “I haven’t lied to you, but I haven’t told you the truth either. The truth…” another breath, “is that I am Shi Seien, the second Imperial prince.”<\/p>\n
“Oh yes.” Shouka-sama nodded agreeably. “I know.”<\/p>\n
The evening’s first cricket chirped in the dead silence.<\/p>\n
Seien felt like he’d just run into a stone wall—an invisible one. Carefully he repeated, “You know?”<\/p>\n
“Of course. But you didn’t seem to want to tell us your name when we found you, and it would have been rude to insist.”<\/p>\n
“Rude,” Seien said flatly, staring at Shouka-sama. The man just smiled, and Seien was seized with a sudden suspicion. “Shouka-sama… are you teasing me?”<\/p>\n
“Would I do that?”<\/p>\n
“Shouka-sama!”<\/p>\n
End<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Great Secret is Revealed!