E12 - To Choose a Consort

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:02] Takimoto
    Please wait, Your Highness!
[00:04] Takimoto
    What is the meaning of this?
[00:06] Takimoto
    First, you decline to show yourself for
    a year, and now, without notice, you...
[00:11] Nazukihiko
    As promised, I have come
     to choose my consort.
[00:14] Nazukihiko
    I require no one's permission.
[00:16] Takimoto
    This is so sudden.
    We are not ready to receive you.
[00:19] Nazukihiko
    I don't mind in the least.
[00:20] Takimoto
    This will not do.
[00:22] Takimoto
    I have a duty to protect their ladyships!
    Even at Your Highness's command, I cannot—
[00:27] Nazukihiko
    Takimoto.
[00:28] Nazukihiko
    You need only attend to my sister.
[00:31] Nazukihiko
    I will arrange matters today.
[00:37] Yukiya
    You really made her mad.
[00:39] Nazukihiko
    Let her fume.
[00:41] Nazukihiko
    More importantly, Yukiya...
[00:42] Yukiya
    Not to worry. Everything is as it should be.
[00:46] Yukiya
    So would you fill me in already?
[00:50] Yukiya
    What are you trying
    to get out of this choice?
[00:56] Nazukihiko
    I wonder.
[00:58] Nazukihiko
    Heaven knows how this will go.
[01:07] Cha-no-Hana
    He wishes to make his choice here,
     without blinds or screens?
[01:13] Ukogi
    My lady?
SIGN    YATAGARASU
SIGN    The Raven
    Does Not
    Choose
    Its Master
[03:10] Yukiya
    Ladies of three houses and
    Your Highness, Princess Fujinami,
[03:14] Yukiya
    thank you for your patience.
[03:28] Yukiya
    First, the third daughter
    of the North, Lady Shiratama.
[03:34] Nazukihiko
    Lady Shiratama.
    You have been patient this past year.
[03:38] Nazukihiko
    As the youngest lady in the rite,
    you must have found it difficult.
[03:42] Cha-no-Hana
    Why, of course she has.
[03:49] Shiratama
    I have a duty to make
     an imperial marriage.
[03:53] Shiratama
    I must repay my obligation
    to the parents who raised me,
[03:57] Shiratama
    To my ladies-in-waiting,
    and to the people of the North.
[04:02] Shiratama
    My own feelings have
    no place in the matter.
[04:09] Nazukihiko
    I see. How admirable.
[04:12] Nazukihiko
    But what will you do if I do not marry you?
[04:15] Nazukihiko
    How will you repay your obligations then?
[04:24] Nazukihiko
    Lady Shiratama, have you ever
    once tried to make your own choice?
[04:29] Nazukihiko
    Ever made your desire
     to do something plain?
[04:35] Nazukihiko
    Bound by your birth and
    making an excuse of your bonds,
[04:39] Nazukihiko
    you have lived only as you are told,
[04:42] Nazukihiko
    lamenting your misfortune all the while.
[04:45] Nazukihiko
    I might generously call it "self-sacrifice,"
    but it boils down to laziness.
[04:50] Nazukihiko
    You cannot possibly answer my question
    when you have no thoughts of your own.
[04:57] Yukiya
    You didn't have to put it like that.
[04:59] Nazukihiko
    Now, what will you do with the child?
[05:12] Cha-no-Hana
    What child?
[05:15] Masuho
    He cannot mean Shiratama is...
[05:24] Cha-no-Hana
    My lady!
[05:25] Cha-no-Hana
    Did you meet with Kazumi
    in Cherry Blossom Palace?
[05:29] Shiratama
    What?
[05:31] Cha-no-Hana
    You did meet with him, didn't you?
[05:38] Shiratama
    Kazumi?
[05:41] Cha-no-Hana
    Your Highness, please have mercy!
[05:43] Cha-no-Hana
    Lady Shiratama meant no harm!
[05:45] Cha-no-Hana
    Any blame should fall
    squarely on my shoulders!
[05:49] Cha-no-Hana
    I beg you, let me see to it!
[05:52] Cha-no-Hana
    I will instruct my lady well and
    deliver her as a perfect, untouched bride!
[06:00] Nazukihiko
    Well, Shiratama?
[06:03] Nazukihiko
    Depending on your answer,
    I am prepared to make you my consort.
[06:12] Ukogi
    T-Truly?!
[06:14] Kikuno
    Marry her?!
[06:16] Cha-no-Hana
    My lady, tell him you will!
[06:19] Cha-no-Hana
    My lady!
[06:28] Shiratama
    Kazumi...
[06:34] Cha-no-Hana
    My lady!
[06:35] Shiratama
    Don't come near me!
[06:38] Shiratama
    No one will touch this child.
[06:41] Shiratama
    I will keep it safe.
[06:43] Shiratama
    You expect me to marry the Prince?
[06:46] Shiratama
    I will never...
[06:50] Shiratama
    I will never lose Kazumi again!
[06:56] Nazukihiko
    I see you have finally chosen for yourself.
[06:59] Shiratama
    What?
[07:04] Kazumi
    Shiratama!
[07:15] Shiratama
    Ka...
[07:17] Shiratama
    Kazumi!
[07:24] Shiratama
    Kazumi. Is it really you?
[07:28] Kazumi
    Yes. Yes, it's me.
[07:33] Kikuno
    What is going on here?
[07:35] Kikuno
    Was Kazumi not the scoundrel
    that Takimoto beheaded?
[07:38] Ukogi
    I saw it with my own eyes.
[07:42] Yukiya
    That was someone else entirely.
[07:44] Ukogi
    Someone else?
[07:45] Yukiya
    Kazumi did sneak into Cherry Blossom Palace
     that night to see Lady Shiratama.
[07:51] Yukiya
    But the intruder in the Autumn Hall
     led to heightened security.
[08:05] Kazumi
    When morning came, I managed to
    change shape and escape the palace, but...
[08:16] Kazumi
    Shiratama, forgive me.
    I know I worried you.
[08:21] Shiratama
    Kazumi, don't leave me again.
[08:25] Shiratama
    I want to be by your side,
    and be with you always.
[08:36] Cha-no-Hana
    This...
[08:38] Cha-no-Hana
    This cannot be.
[08:41] Nazukihiko
    I have spoken with a hill raven couple.
[08:44] Nazukihiko
    They lead a meager life, without
    a house to sleep in, let alone finery.
[08:50] Nazukihiko
    So when winter comes,
    they nestle on tree branches in raven shape.
[08:58] Nazukihiko
    "It gets cold," they told me with
    a laugh, but they do not mind that.
[09:05] Asebi
    Lady Shiratama looks so happy.
[09:10] Ukogi
    That took years off my life.
[09:13] Yukiya
    Still, Your Highness went
    out on a limb that time.
[09:16] Nazukihiko
    How so?
[09:17] Yukiya
    That bluff about Lady Shiratama's child.
[09:21] Nazukihiko
    Oh, that. The odds weren't so bad.
[09:25] Nazukihiko
    Shiratama was agitated,
[09:27] Nazukihiko
    and Cha-no-Hana pressured her,
     as I expected she would.
[09:32] Nazukihiko
    I doubt those two have done anything
    that might lead to pregnancy.
[09:36] Nazukihiko
    Still, I suppose Shiratama chose
    the story she wanted to believe.
[09:46] Ukogi
    But in that case, who was that brute
    of a raven Takimoto beheaded?
[09:55] Yukiya
    Next, the first daughter of the West,
     Lady Masuho-no-Susuki!
[10:03] Nazukihiko
    Your father sheltered me in childhood.
[10:07] Nazukihiko
    I see that you approach this rite
    with a strong sense of duty.
[10:12] Masuho
    I merely wish to aid Your Highness.
[10:17] Masuho
    Yet I never imagined...
[10:21] Masuho
    that we four who began the rite
    would be but three a year later.
[10:35] Masuho
    As such, I hope you will
    answer a question I have.
[10:38] Nazukihiko
    Ask it.
[10:40] Masuho
    It concerns Hamayu.
[10:43] Masuho
    I cannot bring myself to believe that
    she truly sought to take Your Highness's life.
[10:50] Masuho
    Surely you have realized the same?
[10:53] Nazukihiko
    And what if I have?
[10:55] Masuho
    Restore Hamayu's honor.
[10:57] Masuho
    She may truly have been an assassin,
[11:02] Masuho
    but by refusing to act, she worked
    to defend Your Highness instead.
[11:09] Nazukihiko
    I see.
[11:11] Nazukihiko
    But why, Lady Masuho,
    do you ask for this now?
[11:15] Masuho
    Because I feel I ought to.
[11:17] Masuho
    My pride will not allow me
    to look the other way.
[11:21] Masuho
    If I did, then even if you
    chose me as your consort—
[11:25] Nazukihiko
    Do not bother. How can I restore her honor
     when she has said nothing in her defense?
[11:30] Nazukihiko
    And I have no interest in your "pride."
[11:41] Masuho
    Why did you go an entire year
     without visiting us?
[11:45] Nazukihiko
    Because I had no need to.
[11:47] Masuho
    "Need"?
[11:49] Masuho
    I do not take your meaning. How can
    you choose a lady without meeting her?
[11:55] Masuho
    We came to Cherry Blossom Palace
    to become women worthy of you.
[12:00] Masuho
    Each day, we refine ourselves and vie for—
[12:03] Nazukihiko
    Nonsense.
[12:06] Nazukihiko
    Are refinement and rivalry
    worth touting with such passion?
[12:11] Masuho
    I merely wish to convey our feelings.
    Each day seemed like a thousand years to...
[12:18] Nazukihiko
    Allow me to enlighten you.
[12:20] Nazukihiko
    Cherry Blossom Palace does not
    exist for you to play house in.
[12:25] Nazukihiko
    It exists for me to choose a woman.
[12:28] Nazukihiko
    And I am looking for
    only one quality in a bride.
[12:32] Nazukihiko
    Patience.
[12:33] Nazukihiko
    Nothing else matters.
[12:55] Masuho
    So you were testing us.
[12:56] Nazukihiko
    You are welcome to think that.
[12:58] Masuho
    Do not be absurd!
[13:01] Masuho
    Do you know how grueling it is
    to simply wait with no end in sight?
[13:05] Masuho
    You can survey Cherry Blossom
    Palace from on high,
[13:08] Masuho
    but Shiratama fretted herself into illness.
[13:12] Masuho
    Hamayu might have
    even avoided expulsion.
[13:17] Nazukihiko
    Do you mean to say I should have
    visited when I had no wish to?
[13:21] Masuho
    No. I am merely speaking of feelings.
[13:24] Nazukihiko
    You would do, you know.
[13:28] Nazukihiko
    You have a sense of duty,
    and you can act when you need to.
[13:33] Nazukihiko
    Your personality leaves something to be desired,
    but even so, you would make a fine empress.
[13:42] Nazukihiko
    Masuho-no-Susuki,
    first daughter of the West,
[13:46] Nazukihiko
    I do not find you particularly special,
    and I do not love you, either.
[13:52] Nazukihiko
    That will not change if I marry you,
[13:55] Nazukihiko
    nor will I favor the Western House
     due to your family ties.
[14:01] Nazukihiko
    I will take any number of
    concubines if the need arises.
[14:05] Nazukihiko
    Given the right circumstances,
    I may even abandon you.
[14:09] Nazukihiko
    But I will not allow you to complain or
    to become intimate with any other man.
[14:16] Nazukihiko
    You must stifle yourself
    and live only for me.
[14:20] Nazukihiko
    If you are prepared to accept all of that,
     I will make you my wife.
[14:27] Nazukihiko
    Masuho-no-Susuki, make your choice.
[14:42] Kikuno
    My lady.
[14:45] Masuho
    Kikuno, give me your dagger.
[14:50] Kikuno
    M-My lady!
[14:52] Asebi
    Lady Masuho-no-Susuki!
[15:10] Masuho
    Your Highness, though I appreciate
    your proposal, permit me to decline.
[15:16] Masuho
    Even if you were to command me,
[15:19] Masuho
    I have just dedicated myself to the
    Mountain God, and thus could not comply.
[15:26] Nazukihiko
    You leave nothing to chance.
    You did not need to go that far.
[15:33] Masuho
    I find I am more stubborn
    and simpleminded than I thought.
[15:39] Masuho
    But that is the price I pay
    for living with pride.
[15:45] Masuho
    I could not become the woman you desired,
    but if anything, I feel refreshed.
[15:51] Masuho
    Your Highness has my gratitude.
[15:55] Nazukihiko
    I am glad I could be of service.
[16:03] Kikuno
    Oh, whatever shall I do?
[16:05] Kikuno
    I must fix your hair, then return to
    the Autumn Hall for fresh clothes—
[16:08] Masuho
    Calm down, Kikuno.
[16:10] Masuho
    His Highness is watching,
    and he has yet to make his choice.
[16:21] Yukiya
    Now, finally...
[16:40] Nazukihiko
    Lady Asebi.
[16:42] Nazukihiko
    I have desired to speak to you for a long time.
[16:45] Asebi
    I feel the same way.
[16:49] Asebi
    I doubt you remember, but when
    we were small children, you and I...
[16:56] Nazukihiko
    I remember.
[16:58] Nazukihiko
    You looked like a cherry blossom sprite.
[17:01] Nazukihiko
    You still do.
[17:19] Nazukihiko
    The court is nothing but a history of blood.
[17:25] Nazukihiko
    Becoming my consort means
    always living within its confines.
[17:31] Nazukihiko
    Can you endure that?
[17:35] Nazukihiko
    Two lives were lost in
    Cherry Blossom Palace this past year.
[17:41] Nazukihiko
    Do you still wish to become my wife here?
[17:47] Asebi
    I am sure you will think less of me for it,
[17:50] Asebi
    but I wish to marry Your Highness,
     no matter the cost.
[17:57] Nazukihiko
    "No matter the cost"?
[18:19] Nazukihiko
    Shortly before Samomo passed away...
[18:22] Nazukihiko
    you used her as a messenger to
    exchange letters with someone, correct?
[18:27] Asebi
    Yes.
[18:29] Nazukihiko
    With whom?
[18:30] Asebi
    An Eastern manservant. Kasuke is his name.
[18:35] Ukogi
    My lady! When did you do such a thing?!
[18:37] Asebi
    Can you blame me, Ukogi?
    You refused to tell me anything.
[18:41] Asebi
    I wanted to learn about my mother.
[18:45] Asebi
    But Kasuke wrote that he couldn't
    put something so important in writing.
[18:50] Asebi
    So I said, "Why not talk, then?"
[18:55] Nazukihiko
    You invited him to Cherry Blossom Palace.
[18:59] Asebi
    Yes.
[19:03] Masuho
    You invited... Tell me you are joking.
[19:09] Nazukihiko
    A lady in Cherry Blossom Palace corresponding
     with a man, then arranging a tryst.
[19:15] Nazukihiko
    Even you must realize what a serious
    breach of protocol that constitutes.
[19:22] Asebi
    I'm so sorry. He is only a manservant,
    so I thought it wouldn't matter.
[19:27] Nazukihiko
    A manservant is still a man.
[19:29] Asebi
    A man?
[19:31] Asebi
    But he's a hill raven.
[19:35] Asebi
    It was nothing so grand as a tryst.
[19:38] Asebi
    And anyway, Kasuke never came.
     He broke his promise.
[19:43] Nazukihiko
    No, Kasuke was a man of his word.
[19:47] Nazukihiko
    He came to Cherry Blossom
    Palace at your call,
[19:50] Nazukihiko
    but he would be killed before he saw you.
[19:52] Nazukihiko
    On a moonless night.
[20:01] (Flashback) Masuho
    Who's there?!
[20:01] (Flashback) Kikuno
    Intruder!
[20:05] (Flashback) Wisteria Guards
    There he is! I found him!
[20:11] Masuho
    He was the intruder?
[20:17] Asebi
    Truly?
[20:19] Nazukihiko
    And that was not the first time
    you had summoned Kasuke, was it?
[20:25] (Flashback) Futaba
    Even now, I cannot get
    that night out of my mind.
[20:30] ---
    First Lady of
    the Eastern House
    Futaba
[20:31] (Flashback) Futaba
    My house held a New Year's party.
[20:35] (Flashback) Futaba
    I dismissed all my attendants
    and remained alone in this room.
[20:39] (Flashback) Futaba
    That was always my way.
    I am not fond of lively occasions.
[20:49] (Flashback) Futaba
    I thought one of my ladies had returned.
[21:02] (Flashback) Futaba
    That voice... That stinking breath...
    They still cling to me.
[21:08] (Flashback) Futaba
    Again and again, he whispered in my ear,
[21:13] (Flashback) Futaba
    "I'm so glad. You finally called for me...
[21:17] (Flashback) Futaba
    Second Lady."
[21:29] Yukiya
    "Second Lady"?
[21:35] Nazukihiko
    By all rights, Lady Futaba, the first
    daughter of the East, should be here now.
[21:41] Nazukihiko
    But unable to reveal what had befallen her,
    she pleaded pockmarks and declined.
[21:47] Nazukihiko
    The second daughter of the East
     was chosen in her place.
[21:50] Nazukihiko
    You, Asebi.
[21:59] Ukogi
    Y-Your Highness does not know her.
[22:02] Ukogi
    My lady could never maliciously
    entrap someone. It is not in her nature.
[22:07] Ukogi
    I beg your pardon, but I am told Lady Futaba
    has always been difficult and inclined to brood.
[22:14] Ukogi
    Who can say if she told you the truth?
[22:16] Ukogi
    And that intruder died in raven shape,
     making him impossible to identify.
[22:22] Ukogi
    Nothing proves he was Kasuke,
[22:24] Ukogi
    and we cannot question Samomo,
    who carried the letters.
[22:29] Ukogi
    Surely this is all supposition!
[22:31] Ukogi
    How can you claim that
    my lady orchestrated it all?!
[22:41] Nazukihiko
    Very well.
[22:44] Nazukihiko
    In that case, let me tell you...
SIGN    Kasuke
[22:47] Nazukihiko
    what your beloved lady has been up
     to while your eyes were turned.
[24:30] Narrator
    Of the prospective consorts,
    only Asebi remains.
[24:35] Narrator
    What do her clear, beautiful eyes behold?
[24:42] Narrator
    After unraveling every mystery,
    what verdict will the Prince deliver?
[24:49] Narrator
    Next time: "Ravens Shouldn't Wear Kimono."
SIGN    Ravens Shouldn't
SIGN    Wear Kimono
SIGN    YATAGARASU:
    The Raven
    Does Not
    Choose
    Its Master
SIGN    Illustration: Natsuki