As a general, she cannot be a good daughter of Kage.

Around nine o'clock in the evening...the sky has turned pitch black. Only the chirping of cicadas and the desolate moonlight are left in this butterfly house. It is clear that the day is always filled with a lively atmosphere. Sure enough, no one can defeat sleep?

click...

The general who finished drinking tea and returned the tea set walked out of the tea room with her. When she was about to return to her room along the corridor——

"?"

Inadvertently she caught a glimpse of someone sitting on the eaves of a high building. She paused in her footsteps and tilted her head slightly to look at the purple figure on the eaves as if searching...

Is that... forbearance?

This petite girl was sitting alone on the brick roof with her knees in her arms, seemingly looking at the sky, motionless.

The bright moonlight shone on the other person's side, coating it with a somewhat desolate silver gauze, making the girl who was originally alone feel even more lonely at the moment.

"...?"

Perhaps feeling the gaze on the ground, the other party was slightly startled and lowered his eyes to look at her position, and looked at her.

"(wave)…"

The next second, the other party smiled at her and waved gently. At this moment, she seemed like a fairy under the moon.

"What are you doing?"

she asked aloud.

"Me? Well - moon viewing, do you believe it~?"

The other party said to her in the same sweet and delicate voice as always.

She tilted her head slightly and looked at the moon in the distance. The moonlight today was indeed beautiful and suitable for appreciation.

"General...can you sit with me for a while? Just for a moment."

It's just that the other party made a profound invitation to her at this time, and it was also a sincere invitation. She didn't know why she always felt that Ren was not as strong as during the day, or felt a little more fragile.

"..."

She did not answer, but spoke with her actions. She jumped on the eaves as lightly as the wind with her toes, and silently stroked her skirt and sat next to the other party, that is, on the roof. Her clothes had been changed into her usual casual clothes. It was the plain purple and white kimono, with her hair down.

"It's so beautiful...General."

Shinobu sighed after seeing her appearance.

"Is it the moon?"

She asked subconsciously after hearing it.

"The moon is indeed beautiful, but...it's still not as beautiful as the people here."

"...glib."

She heard her subconsciously gently smoothing the hair on her shoulders.

"Look at the stars over there... they are twinkling, as if they are waving to us. Who are they?"

Shinobu raised his finger and pointed at the stars dotted in the sky that looked like the Milky Way, and couldn't help but ask.

"...According to legend, the stars in the sky represent people who have passed away and the past."

Looking at the stars she was born with, she answered him like this. Instead of hugging her knees like Shinobu, she stretched her slender legs wrapped in white stockings forward and tilted them beautifully. Her slender calves also moved slightly with gravity. Pulling down, the herringbone high heels also detached from the soles of the feet due to the influence of gravity, and were seductively hooked by the delicate white silk feet, exposing the round heels with light skin in the white.

"Where are the people who passed away...including family members?"

Shinobu asked.

"...Maybe there is."

After hearing this, he glanced at the other party.

"Maybe my sister is there too?"

"...?"

elder sister?This was the first time she heard the other party say this title... The other party has a sister?

In fact, the word 'sister' is very sensitive in her mind... After all, Ying has a sister.

"Your sister..."

"Well...she passed away and was killed by a ghost...remember what I said before? There was a winding ghost that killed my relatives."

Shinobu's expression didn't change at all, as if he was talking about something normal. Maybe he was used to it?

"That relative is my sister, Butterfly Kanae."

"..."

She didn't answer, but listened quietly, and her legs that were originally crossed slowly lowered them intentionally.

"Pfft...you know, I wasn't like this before~?"

It was as if I saw the general lowering his legs, and couldn't help but smile fondly at his delicate and cute character.

"I can tell...after all, your current personality is very troublesome for me."

She replied.

"Haha...that's right. I used to be...generally speaking...the kind of young, energetic, competitive, and easily angry type."

"...I have no idea. Do you really have that kind of period?"

After thinking silently but with no results, she gave up and asked. She couldn't imagine the forbearance like that, it was too inconsistent.

"Yeah... maybe I'm a little weird myself. At that time, I always spoke out and could easily offend people."

He couldn't bear the self-deprecating ridicule.

"After my sister passed away... Phew... I decided to imitate their behavior and treat others with a 'smile', just like I do now, because I always feel like my sister is by my side and has not left."

"You're not smiling now..."

The observant general said this at this moment.

"...Well, I didn't smile...Maybe I missed her. Every time I think of her, I will be very angry. Angry at those evil spirits. I hate them. My sister and parents were all killed by each other."

Ren lowered his eyes and gave a rare cold voice.

"You don't show any expression when you're angry?"

she asked.

"Pfft...have you noticed all this~?"

Ren was stunned for a moment, then smiled softly and covered her jade lips.

"You are also missing...the other person now?"

"Well...even though it's been so long, it would be a lie to say you don't miss it, right? It's something engraved in your bones...no matter how much time passes--"

Shinobu shook his head slightly,

"——I have never been indifferent. Occasionally, I miss you so much like today, and I will sit on the roof and look at the stars."

Shinobu gently raised his hand as if to grasp the stars in the distance...squeezing his palm slowly.

"I can understand how you feel."

Seeing the fragile girl in front of her, her purple eyes lowered slightly, with a complicated look on her face.

"Huh? General...could you also..."

Ren was stunned for a moment and then asked worriedly.

"...It's not me, it's...my mother - my mother."

She shook her head silently and explained it, and almost said 'my mother'. Such a childish name would make her embarrassed in front of others.

"Your Majesty...?"

Shinobu understood immediately after hearing this, and his eyes became sad.

"Well... my mother has an older sister, and they are twins."

She nodded and spoke softly...

"That is to say...the daughter's sister..."

"…she passed away."

The general answered.

"..."

Shinobu opened his eyes slightly.

"She was very kind to her mother, very gentle... The two relied on each other to go a long way and experienced a lot. After her death, her mother was severely hit and unable to recover. She closed herself off and didn't see anyone every day. At that time, she's born "After she fell in love with me, she told me her thoughts every day, exposed her fragile heart to me, and even cried to me. At that time... she could only do this."

"..."

During this period, Shinobu said nothing and listened to the story carefully. Her voice was very calm and suitable for telling stories.

"And then? What happened to her?"

Shinobu asked with concern.

"Later, she... came out, she came out strong, for me, for... this 'family', 'I can't let myself get up again, there are important people waiting for me,' she persuaded herself like this, Encouraging.”

"I can see that she has changed, changed a lot, whether it is personality or... thoughts, they are all changing, for me and this 'family'."

Family means the country that belongs to them - Rice Wife.

"She must still be thinking about her. I understand this feeling, but I can't say that I feel the same way, and I'm not qualified to say... I have never experienced the grief that my mother felt when she left her relatives, and I don't want to feel it either. I'm afraid. To understand, I don’t want her to leave me, never.”

At this point, her eyes were filled with a glimmer of water... even the ninja across from her could see her.

"So...I understand your feelings. This grief will never be erased. Even so, we cannot be immersed in the past and cannot extricate ourselves. There is a long road ahead, and we can only look forward, because this is the meaning of living, no ?"

She looked at the other person again... and relaxed her mood.

"General...are you okay?"

Ren asked, stroking her face painfully.

"I'm fine... Just like you, I'm used to it. Besides, as her daughter, I will give her spiritual support and prevent her from making the same mistakes again."

"...So gentle, General, and of course...your maternity too."