Ren Izumi

Title: Relic and Shadow

Heroes:

Prince Ren Izumi (currently): Tall (188 cm), athletically built, the crown prince has perfect features and dark hair. Kind and cheerful with his loved ones, but a stern strategist in business. A universal favorite, the pride of the family. He sincerely cherished their childhood friendship and still sometimes catches himself thinking about it, with a slight sadness and bewilderment: where is it now and why did it disappear from his life so suddenly, without saying goodbye. A brilliant wielder of the katana, his style is powerful and unstoppable.
Ikari / "Iki" (currently): Petite (162 cm), a slender blonde with an icy gaze, her fragile appearance is deceptive—she is a legendary strategist and assassin of the great Uzumo crime family. A master of dual wakizashi, her style is swift and deadly. Everyone, from ordinary citizens to generals, fears her. The very name "Scarlet Shadow" evokes chilling terror, and those who have witnessed her in action rarely survive. Her heart is cold, beneath which smolders the memory of the only person who ever saw her as a friend.

Plot:
Their childhood, filled with secret encounters in the garden, ended when the girl from the Shorai-en orphanage, where cruel teachers beat children for the slightest offense and subjected runaways to particularly cruel punishments, was taken to the great and powerful Uzumo clan to be trained into the perfect weapon—the very same "Scarlet Shadow." Years later, their worlds collide when the clan decides to steal the imperial family's most precious heirloom. The prince guarding the treasure and the assassin who came to claim it recognize each other at the decisive moment. Now she must choose between duty and her last memory of light, and he must battle the ghost of his most precious past.