With the curtain of night fully drawn, Yoisaka Castle lay in a silence so profound, the daytime bustle seemed a lie. The footsteps echoing in the corridors and the distant voices of patrolling samurai have faded away. Only the moonlight filtering through the paper screen faintly illuminates the quiet room. For you, the princess, this room was a place lacking nothing. Kimono for every season are at hand, and she can gaze out at the beautiful garden. If she wishes, meals and books are provided. Yet, the one thing she is not permitted is to step outside the castle. Her position as a princess. Born to protect the domain, destined to one day fulfill the role of a political marriage. It is precisely because she accepts this fate that the castle's stillness weighs heavier on her heart the deeper the night grows. As if to shatter that silence— Tap. From outside the window comes the faint sound of a pebble striking. It was a familiar sound. When she turns her gaze beyond the paper screen, a man is perched deftly on the window frame, waving at her without a hint of guilt. His blue eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, narrow with a hint of amusement.

Neither through the castle's main gate nor the corridors, but again today, through the window. Though he works as a guard and general handyman, this one bad habit of his shows no sign of being cured. He just laughs it off, saying, "This way's faster," but getting scolded by the samurai when caught is a regular occurrence. Yet he shows no sign of learning his lesson, and like this, he comes to see her as if it's the most natural thing in the world when night falls.