Chapter 27: Awakening the Feminine Within?

The eldest son of the Tsukigara clan was humming a tune to himself in high spirits, hiding inside a small storage closet while rummaging through a lacquer box filled with kimonos.

"Now then~ which one should I choose?"

Her eyes sparkled as she enthusiastically lifted kimonos of various colors from the box, deciding which new garment to wear for her outing. At this moment, every sensation in the girl’s mind converged into one feeling: she was incredibly happy, much like a child picking out a new toy.

The young master of the Tsukigara house was often described by retainers and commoners alike as possessing an overly strong ability to adapt, combined with an excessively optimistic nature. Well, in a sense, that was a good thing; she rarely fell into depression, maintained a peaceful disposition, and always looked on the bright side of everything.

Conversely, it was also a flaw. Even after being transformed into a woman, this former male protagonist harbored no complaints and felt little resistance toward the sex change. On the contrary, she began to adapt to the physical changes with a level of "feminine fall" aptitude that could be described as maxed out.

Hmm, visiting a grave is a rather somber affair. It shouldn't be this enjoyable, but it was a rare opportunity to leave the Kurohimeyama estate and get some fresh air. For Tsukigara Yomei, the pressure recently exerted by the Great Princess had been enough to break her into a cold sweat. Every time Kurohimeyama Kohagi met her, the topic of conversation inevitably shifted to having children. She really ought to be excited about the proposal, yet Yomei felt as if she were undergoing mental torture. This had led Yomei to avoid her as much as possible, dodging meetings even when invited.

"Going out will let me avoid her for a while."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief in her heart and refocused her energy on selecting a beautiful kimono. Her gaze turned to the garments as if she were admiring treasures in a jewelry box—an array of vibrant, colorful kimonos made of new fabric, featuring exquisite tie-dye and embroidery, with patterns ranging from traditional pine, bamboo, and plum to hydrangea and chrysanthemum arabesque.

Since the initial "small gift" had been delivered, her fiancée, the eldest daughter of the Kurohimeyama house, Kohagi, had sent a succession of other magnificent garments. They ranged from formal robes to daily wear and even yukatas; it was a complete wardrobe. One had to admit that the young lady’s thoughtfulness and care were impeccable—the clothes fit her body perfectly, leaving no room for inconvenience.

The only one who flew into a rage was her foster sister, Ayaka. She didn't hate the Great Princess’s thoughtfulness; she merely opposed her "brother’s self-debasement." Ayaka felt that such gestures from the Great Princess might awaken the "feminine" side within her brother.

"As the future head of the honorable Tsukigara clan, you must never indulge in this. To accept these gifts is to accept your current identity. Big Brother, you must pull yourself together! You are a man!"

Foster sister Ayaka seemed to have sensed something; she had seized an opportunity to lock all these kimonos in the storage room and, under normal circumstances, would not allow Yomei anywhere near them. Yomei, as the elder brother, had her own complaints about this. Clothes were meant to be worn, and keeping them all stuffed away was a waste.

"Besides, these are all brand new. Isn't the Kurohimeyama treasury a bit too affluent?"

Yomei held a piece of exquisite Yuzen-dyed kimono fabric in her hands and sighed from the bottom of her heart: "The Tsukigara family isn't nearly this well-off. My old clothes were mostly hand-me-downs, occasionally patched up, and at most, I’d get a few new pieces for the holidays. One has to look presentable as a young master, after all..."

She recalled the past and sighed. It wasn't that she lamented the Tsukigara family’s financial distress, but rather that she felt a sense of guilt toward the retainers and commoners who hoped she would revive the family name and reclaim their territory, while she was here indulging in such petty grievances.

"No, there is no point in such negative thinking."

She shook her head. If her thoughts just kept spinning in circles, it was a waste of time, and wallowing in self-pity was meaningless. Yomei was not one to dwell on things; her strength was her ability to look forward.

"Since it’s for a grave visit, I should choose something more modest."

I'll pick this deep purple one; the pattern is relatively simple and elegant... After all, it’s not as if I’m really attending a funeral, just paying respects.

She hummed a little tune, made her selection, and prepared to admire it properly. Suddenly, a cold voice, seemingly from a netherworld demon, echoed:

"Big Brother, may I ask what you are doing?"

Hearing that voice, Yomei felt as if her scalp were exploding. She turned her head stiffly to see a crack in the sliding paper door of the storage room.

"A-Ayaka?"

Yomei’s face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat trickled down her spine.

Behind her, her foster sister Ayaka was tilting her head, peeking through the gap in the door. Her face was expressionless, pale as a mask. The look in her eyes was hollow and murky. Though they were people who had known each other since childhood, in this instant, she became an unrecognizable and chilling presence. Just being stared at by the girl, meeting her foster sister's gaze, drained Yomei of all color, and her breath caught in her throat.

Yomei’s lips turned pale; she shuddered, a terrifying chill rising up her spine, her brain struggling to reject reality.

"L-listen to me, there’s a reason for this..."

"Hehe~ How strange."

The foster sister with the cute, tilted head had her falling strands of hair caught in her teeth. At this moment, a certain dark resentment emanated from the familiar girl—a pressure more terrifying than that of any monster.

"Ayaka doesn't remember... raising my Big Brother to be like this..."

No, no, no, I wasn't raised by you, was I? You’re younger than me!

Yomei wanted to retort, but facing her foster sister in a full-blown rage, she couldn't utter a single word.

"Please sit properly."

The foster sister silently pushed open the door and patted the tatami mat.

*Eek!?*

Yomei knelt down almost reflexively.

"Now it’s time for a lecture. Big Brother, you’d better steel yourself!"

...

The escort mission began on the third day after receiving orders. Hyosuke had done similar work and was familiar with the procedures. Early in the morning, he led his men outside the mansion to wait for the carriage carrying the ladies.

"Hey, we meet again, Lord Hyosuke."

Riding a horse was the white-haired elder, Matsudaira Inomaro. The old man was in high spirits, dressed in standard samurai attire without any armor. Then again, not to mention samurai, exorcists generally didn't wear bulky armor anyway.

"So it was you, elder."

Hyosuke realized why the old man had said he would "come to bother him in a while"—it turned out there was a reason behind it.

"It seems, Lord Matsudaira, that your words last time were intentional?"

"Why do young people have such vivid imaginations?" Old man Matsudaira laughed. "I don't have the ability to foresee the future. Anyway, I hope you’ll put some effort into this escort mission, Lord Hyosuke."

"That is my duty." Hyosuke promised.

Matsudaira Inomaro smiled, his gaze shifting to the side. "Oh, Miss Mei and her foster sister, Lady Ayaka, are here."

Hyosuke turned his head, and in an instant, his expression turned unnaturally rigid.

"..."

What was he looking at?

From the back gate of the mansion appeared two girls. One was wearing a deep purple *furisode* (long-sleeved kimono), accompanied by a girl in a maple-colored *kosode*. They looked like a pair of sisters.

*‘N-no way...’* Hyosuke’s thoughts were incoherent.

The girl was beautiful, with a delicate nose and cherry lips, as if she had stepped out of a painting. Her eyes were slender, her features refined, and there was a beauty mark at the corner of her slightly drooping eye. Her waist-length hair was pinned up and decorated with a floral hairpiece.

However, it was impossible for Hyosuke not to recognize her identity.

"That is Miss Mei, a cousin of our young master, Lord Yomei. Her surname is Nakuya, and she is a branch family of the Tsukigara clan. Beside Miss Mei is the foster daughter adopted by the clan head, Lady Ayame."

Matsudaira Inomaro introduced them with a smile, but the old man keenly noticed that Hyosuke’s expression was quite grim.

"Lord Hyosuke, you look pale. Did you eat something bad this morning?"

"It’s nothing, just caught a bit of a cold draft yesterday." Hyosuke replied stiffly.

Right before his eyes, the gender-bent version of the original male protagonist, Tsukigara Yomei, was chatting and laughing with her foster sister Ayaka as they walked toward one of the ox-drawn carriages. Suddenly, she seemed to notice the gaze fixed upon her and smiled in Hyosuke’s direction.

*‘No, she must be greeting Matsudaira Inomaro, right?’*

Hyosuke sighed. However, she seemed to have adapted very well to the female body—was this a good thing, or a bad thing?

*‘The future is looking rough!’* Hyosuke felt from the bottom of his heart.

...

Though called a caravan, there were only two ox-drawn carriages. These were not the magically modified carriages with folded internal space. The ones used to escort the ladies of the Tsukigara house were ordinary, albeit luxuriously decorated. Except for the oxen pulling them, which possessed the bloodline of half-yokai and half-gods; their ancestors might have been related to an ancient ox-god named "Namatonuka-no-Kami."

"So, we have to take a detour mid-way to visit this place called Snow Yaksha Lake?"

Hyosuke spread out a hand-drawn map. He hadn't expected they would need to detour to Snow Yaksha Lake before reaching Gangō-ji Temple.

*‘Snow Yaksha Lake... Snow Yaksha, wait a minute, could it be such a coincidence?’*

A flash of inspiration struck him, and some related memories surfaced. Could it really be that "Snow Yaksha"?

"Looking at your expression, it seems you’ve heard of this name?" Matsudaira Inomaro was slightly surprised. "It’s an obscure little place, but an old friend of the Tsukigara family lives there, and we happen to be planning to visit them on this trip..."

"No, I haven't heard of that location."

"Is that so?" The old man on horseback was quite talkative: "There is a lake goddess in Snow Yaksha Lake, and there is a legend about her."

Legend has it that a poor woodcutter accidentally dropped his axe into the lake while cutting wood on the mountain. He began to cry by the lakeside, which disturbed the master of the lake, the Snow Yaksha, a beautiful goddess. Seeing the woodcutter crying so sorrowfully, she took out a pair of gold and silver axes and asked him, "Did you lose the gold axe, or did you lose this silver axe?"

The woodcutter replied without hesitation, "I lost the gold axe."

The goddess sneered, "I knew you were a liar."

Following that, she used the gold axe to hack him into eight pieces, crushing even his bones...

"Huh?"