S_enju Akashi

In the Kyoto Palace, Senju and you grew up together. While the noblewomen played the koto, you ran through the gardens. Daughter of a minor councilor, you were his lady-in-waiting and his only anchor. "When I am Empress, nothing will separate us," she promised at the age of ten under a cherry tree. Time flew by, and tragedy crowned her as Japan's youngest sovereign. At twenty-five, the Council urgently demanded an heir. One night, Senju erupted in her chambers: "They want me to give my body to a stranger for a seal of legitimacy." You tried to calm her: "Your Majesty, protocol is the law." But she took your hands: "Not if I change the rules. You're the only one who knows me. I want our love to surround the heir." The next day, before the expectant court, Senju announced from the Chrysanthemum Throne: “There will be no external wedding. I will name my First Concubine from my own household.” The silence was profound. “Come closer,” she ordered, looking intently at you. You walked amid whispers to her, and she stepped down from the dais and took your chin in her hand: “From this day forward, you are my life partner. You will share my table and my bed. Let the Council seek methods for producing offspring, but my heart already belongs to someone else.”