The summons came quickly before jua could rest
A soft knock.
A single word through the door:
“Come.”
Jua rises at once.
The mistress was standing waiting in the hall, wrapped in a layered silk kimono the color of storm clouds rolling over the sea. She looked as if the world did nothing but indulge her since the moment she first opened her eyes.
“We’re going into the city,” she announces, fastening a jeweled hairpin.
Her voice soft.
Smile practiced.
Posture polished.
Jua lowered her head in a bow, hiding a tremble in her hands.
She followed the mistress down the stone steps of the estate as dawn pulled itself across the sky. The gates open slowly and heavily—groaning under the weight of everything untouched by war.
And Jua took one step and another into the city of Japan.
---
Tokyo was a contradiction breathing.The war had carved the city into two creatures.
The city glowed with electric lamps and bathhouses and the clack-clack-clack of wooden sandals on stone. Shops opened early. Merchants bowed and called out prices. Fresh bread steaming in the cold air, and the fragrance curling into Jua’s empty stomach.
It looked normal. Alive.
But the posters on the walls told another story.
Men needed for battle.
Honor in death for the Empire.
War victories painted bigger than truth.
Meanwhile, Families with swollen eyes walked home from government offices holding folded letters to their chests — notices disguised in polite language. Children tugged on the ends of military coats, asking when their fathers will come back.
Soldiers marched with their polished boots and strained expressions.
Japan was shining but on the other side it was crumbling, pretending not to notice.
Inside the mistress’s luxurious carriage, it smelled like plum blossoms and expensive incense. The windows tinted, and the world outside looking farther away than it truly is.
The mistress sits elegantly.
Jua sits small.
Both of them quiet for very different reasons.
A few minutes passed before the carriage came to a halt, two guards step down and help the mistress out gracefully as jua followed behind. The café they were facing was a jewel box carved into the heart of Tokyo — gold-trimmed windows, glass teacups, polished floors that reflect the faces of people who’ve never known hunger.
The moment the lady entered ,the air shifted.
“Lady Reika! Lady Reika, over here!”
A chorus of girls waves from a velvet booth, all ribbons and laughter and tiny porcelain voices.
Their hair shining like lacquer.
Their hands glittering with rings.
Their problems soft, fragrant, and expensive.
Jua stands behind her mistress’s shoulder, her presence a shadow only meant to pour tea and bow at the correct times.
It wasn’t long before gossip began
A new kimono pattern.
A handsome officer.
A rumored engagement.
But the talks of war crept in the same way snow falls
“Have you heard the latest reports from Joseon?” one girl murmurs, dropping her voice as if the word itself might bite her.
Fans pause mid-flutter.
“My father says the Korean forces are gaining ground. They’ve reclaimed three outposts this week alone.”
A subtle panic ripples across the table.
Another girl gasped softly “But… aren’t we winning?”
“Not anymore,” the girl whispers. “The Koreans fight like men who’ve already buried themselves.”
Another girl leans forward, lowering her tone until it hovers like smoke over the table.
“My older brother sent a letter. He wrote about their general… Kang Damho.”
Jua’s heartbeat stutters.
“He captured one of our military’s most valued strategists. A man with access to everything. My brother said the officer endured starvation, beatings, and days without sleep before he broke.”
“So he told them?” another asks, horrified.
“He begged for mercy in the end,” she replies. “But Kang Damho killed him himself. Slit his throat before he even reached the border.”
Gasps.
Trembling hands.
A fan drops to the table.
“My brother saw it,” the girl continues. “He was hiding like a coward behind a broken cart, shaking too hard to move. When he came back to Japan, he couldn’t sleep for weeks.”
“What does he look like?” someone whispers. “This general?”
“No one has seen his face,” another girl mutters, leaning closer. “He must be… unpleasant to look at.”
A third girl shakes her head, recalling her brother’s story. “The only part he saw… was his hair. Long. Like a woman’s. Completely unfitting for someone who’s supposed to be at war.”
“They even call him the Black Moth,” she says.
“Why?”
“I do not intend to know, I’m only speaking of what I’ve heard.”
The girls shiver.
And behind them, Jua’s lungs forget how to function.
Her long hair falls over her face, hiding the way her eyes darkened.
“I swear,” another girl sighs dramatically, “if we ever find traitors here in Japan, servants stealing food, or spies hiding among us I’d deal with them myself.”
“How?” someone giggles nervously.
“I’d kill them like that Korean general.”
Her laugh is light and pretty
“As slow as necessary. As cruel as necessary. After all… loyalty matters more than life these days.”
The young lady smiles.
Elegant.
Thoughtful.
Cold.
Jua wanted to know what she was thinking but a feeling of something crawling down her spine with thin, icy fingers shut her thoughts down in a heartbeat .She straightens herself , continuing to pour the ladies tea as they chattered away.
---
The carriage rocked gently as it rolled down the lantern-lit road, the night faintly smelling of rain. Jua sat across from the young lady, hands folded neatly in her lap, though her fingers trembled ever so slightly.
She tried to keep her eyes lowered, tried to focus on the rhythmic clatter of hooves rather than the conversation she had overheard. As slow as necessary. As cruel as necessary. The words circled her thoughts like moths around a dying flame.
The lady’s silhouette was reflected in the carriage window—a graceful outline framed by the soft glow of lantern light. Nothing about her peaceful smile matched the chill in Jua’s spine.
“Koyuki,” the lady said suddenly.
Jua’s spine stiffened. “Yes, my lady?”
“You’re quiet.” The woman tilted her head, studying her with an expression too gentle to be comforting. “You’ve been thinking very hard ever since tea.”
“I… I didn’t mean to trouble you, my lady.”
A soft laugh. “Oh, you’re no trouble. But your mind is loud—terribly loud. I could practically hear it over the horses.” She leaned back, eyes half-lidded in amusement. “Tell me, Koyuki-chan…aren’t you curious?”
“Curious, my lady?”
“About what Id do.” The lady tapped a gloved finger against her knee, thoughtful. “About betrayal.”
Jua’s breath caught. “I—”
But the lady didn’t wait for her answer. Her gaze sharpened, all softness falling away like silk slipping from a blade.
“If someone I trusted betrayed me,” she continued calmly, “I would make certain they understood the weight of their choice.” Her voice remained light, elegant, almost melodic. “I would torment them… not with blood or pain. No.” She smiled faintly. “With fear. With regret. Until they wished for an end a decision I would decide the timing of.”
The carriage seemed to grow colder.
Jua pressed her knees together, staring down at her hands.
“You see,” the lady murmured, “im sure you understand kiko that loyalty is the last currency left in times like these. Those who squander it…” She exhaled softly, as if discussing nothing more serious than fashion. “Must pay the difference.”
Silence layered itself thickly between them. Outside, the wheels clattered on, oblivious.
She smiled at her and leaned a hand on juas, it was hot different from the coldness the lady had given off “ Why do you seem so startled , are you going to betray me “ she joked .
jua tried to smile “ of course not my lady “
“ Then smile Abit more” the lady pulled a strand of her behind juas hair but even that slight gesture sent chills down her back “ we’ll have some tea and cake when we get back home “
Jua swallowed hard, nodding unsure whether the icy feeling crawling down her spine was fear or recognition.
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