Adoption

“Princess Kaguya?”

Hearing Mokou’s words, Miketsu frowned, casting a suspicious glance at her. After a moment of thought, she immediately concluded that this person was definitely plotting something.

“Although this child resembles Princess Kaguya, we can’t just name her Princess Kaguya because of that, can we?” Miketsu said with a wary tone, looking at Mokou’s playful expression.

“Precisely because of the resemblance, I’ll call her Princess Kaguya. This child has a similar aura and experience to that woman. I have a premonition that when she grows up, she will possess beauty and temperament no less than that woman’s. If nurtured properly, she will surely have an appeal that surpasses that woman’s… By then… the name Princess Kaguya, lauded by the world, will be replaced by this child! It will no longer belong to that woman… Hehehe~” With her hands on her hips, Mokou laid out her grand scheme, and Miketsu understood her intentions.

“You… intend to raise a new Princess Kaguya to replace the one from the original legend?” Miketsu asked Mokou with a questioning tone, and Mokou simply nodded.

“Exactly. I can’t stand that woman being revered by so many people based on those false rumors. What I’m doing now is making sure the name Princess Kaguya doesn’t belong to her… Heh heh, maybe once this child’s reputation spreads, that woman will hear similar rumors and can’t resist descending from the moon. Then I can personally exact my revenge!” As she spoke, Mokou cracked her knuckles, her goal not merely to reshape a Princess Kaguya, but to lure the Princess of the Moon out through this new Princess Kaguya, and then directly confront her for revenge.

“So… you plan to raise this child in the Fujiwara Clan?” Miketsu continued to ask, listening to Mokou’s plan, which clearly involved raising the child from infancy to adulthood.

“No~ The one who will raise this child isn’t the Fujiwara Clan, but you, Lord Deity’s Asakura family!” Mokou suddenly pointed at Miketsu, stating directly, which made Miketsu momentarily stunned by her action.

“My Asakura family? If you want to mold this child into Princess Kaguya, why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Heh, I want to reshape a Princess Kaguya to re-enact The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. I want The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter to have a different ending. This time, Princess Kaguya will successfully marry into the Fujiwara Clan, instead of the Fujiwara being wantonly insulted and trampled by Princess Kaguya, their dignity swept away!” Clenching her hand into a fist, Mokou declared resolutely. By now, Miketsu almost understood why Mokou wanted the Asakura family to raise Princess Kaguya.

“So you mean I should adopt this child as my daughter in the name of the Asakura family head, and then marry her into the Fujiwara Clan when she grows up?” Miketsu said with a face full of dark lines, looking at the smug Mokou. If Mokou wanted Princess Kaguya to marry into the Fujiwara Clan to wash away Fuhito’s shame, then indeed, the Fujiwara Clan could not directly adopt Princess Kaguya.

And Miketsu’s Onmyoji identity, Asakura Hao, held a hereditary official position and a mansion in the capital, perfectly capable of establishing a new Onmyo Kizoku family. In Mokou’s plan, Asakura Hao adopting Princess Kaguya was the best possible arrangement.

“Exactly. Lord Deity’s Asakura family also holds a high-ranking hereditary official position, making them a rising noble Onmyo Clan in Heian-kyo, absolutely qualified to intermarry with the Fujiwara Clan.”

“Furthermore, if you adopt this child as the Asakura family head, our two families can immediately arrange the engagement. I have several promising young men in my clan; I’ll go back and select the best one. Then we can be in-laws…”

Mokou enthusiastically recounted her plan, while Miketsu stood by, listening with a face full of dark lines. After Mokou finished speaking, Miketsu cleared her throat and said directly.

“I refuse.”

“Huh? Refuse? Why? Don’t you want to adopt this child?” Hearing Miketsu’s reply, Mokou said, quite surprised. She hadn’t expected Miketsu to refuse so decisively.

“It’s not that I don’t want to adopt her. My official position and mansion in the Asakura family are useless to me, and if someone were to inherit them, that would be my wish. It’s just… I absolutely oppose arranged engagements. If I adopt this child, I must be responsible for her future. I cannot decide her future marriage now; her future happiness must be her own choice.” Miketsu said, gently rocking the tiny infant sleeping in her hands. As a good socialist youth, how could Miketsu engage in such a feudal practice as arranged marriage?

“So you mean you agree to adopt her as the Asakura family head, but without an engagement?” Mokou extracted the meaning from Miketsu’s words.

“Yes, I can adopt this child as my daughter in the name of Asakura Hao. When she grows up, if you want her to marry into the Fujiwara Clan, then let your young Fujiwara descendants pursue her. If they can win her over, then I’ll let her marry them.” Miketsu responded to Mokou, adopting an attitude that whether they could win Princess Kaguya over in the end depended on the Fujiwara Clan’s abilities. Hearing Miketsu’s words, Mokou hesitated, then gritted her teeth and agreed directly.

“Fine! Pursue, then pursue! I refuse to believe that with so many talented young men in my Fujiwara Clan, they won’t succeed!”

“If this child truly becomes Princess Kaguya, I fear it won’t just be the Fujiwara Clan pursuing her then,” Miketsu said to Mokou with a curious smile.

“No problem, I have full confidence in my main family.”

“Heh, then I shall look forward to it.” Miketsu finished, then shifted her gaze back to the sleeping infant in her palm, and softly said.

“From now on, your name will be Asakura Kaguya.”

…

Far from Heian-kyo, in a mansion deep within a bamboo forest, inside a lavishly decorated Japanese-style room, a girl with a Hime cut, her long black hair flowing down, sat quietly. The stagnant feeling that had permeated the entire mansion had quietly vanished.

With a soft sound, the paper door inside the room slid open, and a woman who appeared to be in her twenties, dressed in a peculiar long robe with white hair tied into a single long braid, appeared behind the door, kneeling on the floor.

“I have returned from my investigation. I now have a general understanding of what the outside world is like, Princess…”