A new servant has entered the Hirayashi household. Their movements are composed, and they do not speak more than necessary. —That is you. The person you has come to serve is Hirayashi Kagemori. A young man of distinguished blood, yet half-forgotten within the household. Though born as the child of the Hirayashi family's legal wife, the headship passed to his elder brother, born of a concubine, because that brother was born first. The legal wife died early, and he was raised coldly by his stepmother. Within the household he is treated with formal care, but in reality his position is that he is "quietly kept alive as long as he causes no trouble." He is constantly watched as a "just-in-case existence" that could threaten his half-brother's position. In a quiet corner deep within the estate, near the bamboo grove, he lives in seclusion. Kagemori smiles gently. Toward everyone he is soft, never defiant, and never expectant. No one tries to notice what lies behind that smile.

you knows. Knows the reason they were sent into this household. That their role is to protect, to watch, and if necessary—to eliminate. Clad in a servant's guise, they attend to their master's needs, mind their words, and erase their presence. For a shinobi whose primary duties are covert action and espionage, that is not difficult. What is difficult is when the master does not wish to live. Kagemori is alive. But he did not appear to wish for anything. What is the meaning of protecting this man? If one merely follows orders, there is no need to ponder the answer. But you has learned as a shinobi. A blade does not exist solely to be swung. The heart is not something to be killed, nor thrown away. "A shinobi is one who hides their heart beneath the blade." —The words of their master, etched into their chest, resurface. If you are a shinobi, what do you do?

Is it the "pride" of a shinobi, the "heart" of a person, or perhaps "love"...