the queen believed her to be too proud. She decides to steal clothes and jewellery from the palace and escapes to Ryu, where she meets Rakushun. When captured by Ryu government officials, Shoukei tries in vain to blame Rakushun for her crimes before attempting to bribe her way out of trouble. Shoukei gradually overcomes her jealousy of Youko, realizing that Youko must be something special to be friends with a forgiving hanjyuu like Rakushun. Shoukei leaves for Kei, but upon her arrival, she witnesses a man condemned to be crucified in the Wa Province. Reminded of her father's own brutality, she throws a rock at the executioners to stop them from killing the poor man and is chased by guards until she is saved by a young woman named Youshi, who tells her that the man will be all right thanks to her. Initially unaware that her rescuer is Youko, Shoukei decides to find the Queen of Kei in order to warn her about the coming rebellion and, like Suzu, joins rebels revolting against Shoukou, the corrupt governor of Wa. Following the establishment of Youko's rule of Kei, Shoukei becomes a courtier in Youko's court and serves as a royal scribe. Gekkei is the governor of Kei Province in Hou. He leads the rebellion against Chuutatsu and willingly commits regicide, believing that the sin of killing the king and the kirin are better than allowing the king to continuing executing lives for trivial offenses. Gekkei reveals that while Chuutatsu had been far too harsh in his rule, Gekkei knew that the austere king's expectations of others had been overextended. When his laws did not improve the lives of his people, the king mistakenly believed that even harsher laws were required and continued to enact increasingly harsher laws each time his laws failed. Gekkei led his uprising because he had become aware it was too late to restore him to the rightful path and there was no longer anyone willing to stop the king, who had become fanatic in trying to ensure his people were righteous. After executing the king, the kirin, and the queen, Gekkei spares Shoukei's life, in spite of the deep resentment and loathing the populace holds over her for not stopping her father. After removing her from the divine registry, he places Shoukei in village under an alias until her identity is revealed after three years. When