Guardians of the Prince

I opened the curtains, and the gentle morning light streamed in through the window. It felt slightly warm on my cheek.

Spring was approaching.

I went to the full length mirror in front of me, and gave myself a once over. A white blouse with a navy blue pinafore-style dress, and a white apron. The lace-brimmed bonnet on my head was a little twisted, so I adjusted it.

“Perfect.”

I nodded, and left my room.

I walked a little bit down the hall, and exited into the outer passageway, where I could see the garden. I stepped out into the sunlight, and took a deep breath as I stretched.

Ah, the wind was warmer than before. Spring really was coming around.

Thirty spring breezes, wasn’t it? I read it in a textbook somewhere, in a Chinese poem. The person who composed the poem wanted to go to a certain place so badly they couldn’t stand it, but they couldn’t go for some reason. As the poet kept yearning, the spring breeze blew thirty times – in other words, thirty years had passed. I felt like I was on that kind of timescale.

I’d long since stopped being confused about living with the prince in Gaduelyon. But how many springs had passed since I’d left Japan…

Once I got thinking like that, my mood did start to drop a little.

Then one night a couple of days later…

After the prince went to bed, I headed to the small drawing room to go over the next day’s schedule.

“Uh, an exorcism ceremony!?”

I was surprised, and repeated my question to Mr Taval, who was sitting in front of me. “That’s a big grandiose, isn’t it?”

Mr Taval was in charge of Shiz Cagna, and he was wearing a suit with his white hair tied back into a bun as usual. He explained the situation with wrinkles around the corner of his eyes from a smile.

“When spring comes, and things get warm, people’s hearts get excited, evil things can creep in. This is an event to drive such things away. There weren’t  any such events in your home town, Lady Nanny?”

Ah. Maybe, like Setsubun1? Hmmm… “Now that you mention it, we did have something similar… Like, driving away bad things, and calling forth blessings.”

“Precisely. Around here, each block holds their own event, but we have one at Shiz Cagna every year as well. The guards defeat a person who plays the role of an evil spirit, and they drop them down a hole.”

“A hole?”

“It’s not a very large one. It’s not much bigger around than a person, and only deep enough to go just above the knees. The person playing the evil spirit takes off their costume and climbs out of the hole, and we burn the costume in that hole and then bury the hole. So the spirits can return to the earth.”

I see. Of course.

“The spring breeze has started blowing, so I’ve been thinking I’d like to hold this event before too much longer, but I’m not sure when would be good.”

“Hm, alright.”

Mr Taval and I arranged all the details, like the schedule for the evil spirit exorcism and who was going to play the evil spirit, keeping in mind any lucky days for us and the prince’s schedule and stuff.

It was my first time with this event, so it was kind of fun. Maybe it’ll exorcise my depression too!

A few days later. The sun went down, and the exorcism started right away.

Ms Millet, the head of the maids, had prepared the evil spirit costume over the winter, and the guards took turns as to who would be chasing the evil spirit, so those roles were immediately decided. As for the hole, the gardener decided on the day in question where it should be, and he dug it right up. I guess it wasn’t that formal of a ceremony.

It started at the carriage porch in front of the entryway. They’d lit bonfires in place of electric lights today, but the light only covered the immediate area, so the trees and shrubberies further in sunk into darkness. People who worked at Shiz Cagna, or lived here, were lined up here and there on the stone pavers, and along the little path into the garden. Of course, the prince was watching the situation very confused.

With everyone watching, the person playing the evil spirit staggered off at a run, chased by three guards carrying spears. One of the three guards was Mr Kahzam. Since he’d been transferred out of the royal castle, he was still a newbie here at Shiz Cagna, so it seemed he’d been immediately slotted into the role.

The mask on the evil spirit’s head covered their face completely. It was made of animal skin with Shin written on the forehead and cheeks. They were wearing a hairy cloak sort of like a straw raincoat. Overall, they gave a rounded silhouette.

Standing in front of the hole that had been dug in the corner of the garden, the person playing the evil spirit turned around. The three guards stuck out each of their spears in turn, and the spirit avoided each one in the order. Finally, Mr Kahzam, who was at the head of the trio, pretended to bring his weapon down in a big arc, and after lightly imitating a hit on the evil spirit’s head, he stabbed forward like he was going to press the tip of his spear into the evil spirit’s chest.

The person playing the evil spirit fell into the hole onto their bum. The whole was filled with mulch, so even if they really fell, they wouldn’t get hurt.

At this point, the person playing the evil spirit took off the animal skin mask and the straw raincoat. And then, leaving the costume behind, they borrowed one of the guard’s hands and escaped from the hole.

Taking the hand Mr Kahzam had stretched out, the person playing the evil spirit climbed out of the hole. There was applause from the crowd.

“Thank you, Mr Kahzam,” I said, letting my hair down from where it had been pinned up.

“Ko- Kohme!?”

""

Mr Kahzam’s dark green eyes flew open, and I could tell he was dumbfounded.

The costume was burned, and the gardener filled the hole back in. That concluded the ceremony, and everyone went into the entry hall.

The prince went to take a bath with the maid Lauren, and the people who still had work to do immediately scattered around Shiz Cagna.

Mr Lahzt kept remembering the night’s events and couldn’t stop laughing, and Mr Kahzam glared at him resentfully.

“You knew, didn’t you Dr Lahzt!? That Kohme was playing the evil spirit.”

He laughed. “I’m the one who recommended her for the role. You never even suspected I did you, Kahzam.”

“No, but you told me yourself that the young man who’s the gardener’s apprentice was playing the evil spirit!?”

“Oh yeah, his parents live in town. He’s probably playing the evil spirit on his block right about now. Really though, did you not suspect Kohme at all?”

“I did think…. The evil spirit was kind of petite… Guh– ” Mr Kahzam mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, looking back at me.

I was wearing a blouse and riding (anpy riding) pants, which were a little dirty around the bum, so I put on a cape meant for outdoor wear, and took a seat on a sofa in one corner of the entry hall. I’d been wearing the costume without the cape a little while ago.

“Kahzam was so surprised, oh my god–”

Mr Lahzt burst out laughing, and Mr Kahzam glared at him. “Doctor–” he started, but Mr Lahzt fled, muttering about, “Well well, isn’t it time for me to go to work.”

It was now just me and Mr Kahzam in the entry hall.

“They said anybody could do it, so I gave it a try. I’ve been in kind of a heavy mood lately, so I thought I’d try and blow it away. Um…. Was it bad?”

I looked up at Mr Kahzam, puzzled.

Mr Kahzam got very serious, and suddenly knelt down in front of me.

“Kohme, please. Don’t put yourself in a position where I’ll be attacking you. I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“But– I mean, attack? It’s just an imitation, isn’t it–”

I plastered a smile on my face, but Mr Kahzam’s reply came rapid fire.

“Even if it is! Pointing a spear at you, Kohme… And even thrusting it at you. Is there any guard who’d act like that towards a noblewoman, even as a joke?”

Noblewoman, what… I thought, but Mr Kahzam was deadly serious.

To me, it had felt like playing the role of the demon at Setsubun – actually, in the Hino household, Koaya or I would play the demon and Nanao would throw beans at us – but it seemed it hadn’t been like that at all for Mr Kahzam.

Mr Kahzam’s unusually strong tone felt more like he was on the verge of tears rather than he was angry.

“I’m– I’m sorry,” I apologized quietly, and the wrinkles between his eyebrows disappeared like he was surprised.

“No, I’m sorry… I’m just taking it out on you. I’m kind of frustrated. I mean jeez, it was you the whole time, and I didn’t notice anything.”

Mr Kahzam slowly got off his knees, and flopped down next to me with a sigh.

Then he glanced up at me, his head still down.  “Is there… anything that’s been bothering you?”

“What?”

“You said your mood’s been heavy.”

“Oh.”

I shook my head, flustered. “It’s really not a big deal. I just thought, wow it’s really spring, and I got kind of lonely. But honestly, I’ve felt a lot better lately.”

I continued, hesitatingly. “You cast out all the gloom, so I think I’m happy, you know?”

“I’d prefer to cast out your gloom without using a spear, maybe a bit… of a gentler method…”

“Like a spring breeze?” I said, and Mr Kahzam finally turned towards me, and nodded, smiling.

I was relieved too, and smiled back at him.

Mr Kahzam was the person who could always give me peace of mind, and even with the spear pointed at me, I’d felt perfectly safe. But if I told him that, he’d probably tell me, ‘Even that’s no good!’ so I kept quiet.

I’d left Japan and come ten thousand miles to this place.

Spring’s coming was to let us know that time had passed.

And here, a gentle spring breeze was blowing.

[Spring Breeze, Ten Thousand Miles – end]

Footnotes

a spring cleansing sort of ritual where someone dresses up as a demon, and the other people in the household throw beans at them and tell them to get out and take their bad luck with them.