Chapter 2: Princess Asagao's Place of Residence

                                    

                                          
On the day after she met the wretched wild dog (Koremitsu actually) in front of Aoi's house, Asai left her house right before noon.
                          
She had a lot of issues to consider, so she did not let her chauffeur drive her out, choosing instead to straighten her back and walk at a regular pace towards a tranquil residence area.
                          
She would stroll alone on the streets whenever her thoughts were in a deadlock. Thus, she would be able to sort out the main points of the issue and find a way to resolve them.
                          
However, the intense rays of summer reflected off the asphalt, giving off a searing heat that caused her to lose her usual poise.
                          
There had been one issue occurring after another in recent days regarding the one topic Asai had been most concerned with, the power struggle regarding the heir of the Mikados.
                          
There is the Rose faction supporting the first wife of the Mikado's head, Kazuaki's mother Hiroka, and the Wisteria side supporting the second wife Fujino—till this point, both sides had been on equal standing. Asai joined the Wisteria faction, continuing her fervent support in secret.
                          
Currently, the only child inheriting the bloodline of the Mikado head was the eldest son Kazuaki. If Kazuaki were to become the head, Hiroka and her main family, the Udates, would expand their power vastly. Hiroka herself was infamous of her cruel and stubborn personality, so many were utterly terrified of it. Leaving aside the assumption that Kazuaki was meek in personality, it would be a massive problem if that mother of his had such great authority.
                          
It was because of this that Asai chose to join the Wisteria faction.
                          
Kazuaki was the only child of the head.
                          
Is that so?
                          
There is still one final gambit with the Wisteria—
                          
She muttered this to herself.
                          
The Tōjōs, who had supported the Mikados in management, had just joined the Wisterias, and the results were startling.
                          
However at this point, there was a major commotion amongst the Roses.
                          
The opportunity came when Kazuaki did something in front of everyone that left his mother speechless.
                          
Before that, everyone had assumed Kazuaki was a kind, dreamy, typical cultured rich boy.
                          
No, that was what they were made to assume.
                          
It was when all the important figures related to the Mikados were gathered at a summit. Because of a little verbal gaffe made by one of the subsidiary company chairmen, his mother let out a loud outroar in front of everyone, and Kazuaki in turn tried to coax her and ease the atmosphere.
                          
Because of that incident, everyone related to the Mikados knew that Kazuaki was not a puppet who would respond to his mother's beck and call.
                          
With that, there was no issue about letting Kazuaki take over the Mikado family.
                          
To Asai, her biggest miscalculation was that the head of the Tōjōs, Masayuki, had thrown in his support for Kazuaki. Because of this, the heir to that family, Shungo Tōjō was so displeased by this arrangement, he wanted to slam his fist on the table.
                          
"There is no way Kazuaki can be a leader of men. His true personality is still the spider of the Udates—Rokujō. Father however feels that no matter how this person is on the inside, it does not matter as long as he can maintain a facade perfectly in front of others. The momentum is shifting towards Kazuaki, and the Tōjōs will be serving the next head of the Mikados, Kazuaki."