Shion dismissed the impulse with a sigh. It wasn't his. He had no right to read it.

It wasn't long before he heard heavy footsteps approach him. Lord Teru seemed to be taking the task he'd set before himself seriously, at least. For a while the man simply regarded him in silence. That gaze made him feel awkward and uncomfortable. It was as though those eyes were searching him out, but for what exactly? And why?

"I hear Lord Yuma managed to purchase fifty jars."

“Yes, my lord.”

“That will not be nearly enough. Perhaps it can be distributed out to the men as a kind of reward.”

Shion didn't respond. This was inconsequential chatter, meant to lure him into conversation, not what the man actually wanted to talk about. It had nothing to do with the question being asked by those penetrating eyes-

“Shion,” he murmured, leaning closer, “my cousin- did he approach you?” The man's proximity was strangely intimidating.

"No, Lord Teru."

"What do you think of him?"

"I- hardly know him." Teru's fixed stare made it clear he wouldn't be allowed to get away with such a nebulous response. Shion sighed. "It is as though there are two versions of him, one of which is true and another which he puts on and wears like a mask."

"Yuma would not be where he is without that of which you speak. It is a fundamental part of his nature, not so easily removed."

"That may be so, only- there seems to be great conflict between them."

"There is," Teru admitted, "but you are a fool if you think you can resolve it. The man who finds himself caught between two opposing forces will inevitably be slaughtered by one side or the other."

Perhaps Lord Teru already understood that he found Yuma attractive. Even so, he couldn't fathom why the man found it so necessary to warn him against further pursuit. Surely it couldn't be as dangerous as that-

"You speak as though you and Lord Yuma are enemies."

"No, Shion," the man answered softly. "Not at all. I am his greatest ally. I understand him better than anyone."

"You," a voice suddenly murmured, close in front of them. "You are the one who brought the poultice, are you not?'

That voice-

The man at the gate, the one whom he'd already sought to protect from Kagamine's wrath-

Shion looked up just in time to see the samurai fall prostrate before him.

"Forgive me, if you ever can. You were the only one who tried to help our lord, and I- I did not believe you. I lied to you. I took the medicine you had so generously brought for him, and I emptied it out on the ground- I thought it might be poison-" The words tumbled out so frantically Shion could hardly distinguish one from another. "If I had simply trusted you, or taken more care to find out the truth, our lord might still be with us-"

He stared down at the man's back, not knowing what to do or say. Teru had fallen absolutely silent. His sharp eyes watched the scene unfolding before him with a cold, intensive interest.

"I have failed him," the man sobbed, "in so many ways. I have failed the entire province, and everyone within it-"