The Imperial Gardens were, objectively, stunning.

But after spending two days trapped inside the East Palace, the perfectly trimmed bonsai trees and rake-patterned gravel just felt like a very expensive prison yard.

I sat on the smooth wooden edge of the veranda, letting my legs dangle over the massive koi pond. I had ditched the heavy formal layers of my Crown Princess attire for a simpler, dark purple silk robe. It was still too fancy for my taste, but at least I could breathe.

"The orange one is definitely the boss," Rin announced.

My little sister was lying flat on her stomach on the wooden deck, her face inches from the water. She tossed a small crumb of a steamed bun into the pond. Instantly, a massive, aggressively fat orange koi fish swatted three smaller fish out of the way with its tail and swallowed the crumb whole.

"Look at him," Rin whispered in awe. "He has zero manners. He is a warlord of the pond."

"He is a glutton," Yuki corrected from above.

The twelve-year-old ancient cat spirit was currently hovering upside down from the sloping tiled roof of the pavilion, his arms crossed. His twin white tails swished lazily in the humid air.

"And frankly, the water aesthetic here is terrible," Yuki complained, his upside-down face scowling at the pond. "The rocks are placed with no respect for the natural flow of spiritual energy. It’s giving the fish bad vibes. That’s why they act like barbarians."

"I think he’s just hungry," I laughed, leaning back on my hands.

It was a quiet afternoon. Akira had been summoned to another endless meeting with the Imperial Military Council. He had hated leaving me alone, but I practically had to push him out the door. We had to play the game. If the Warlord refused to attend his own council meetings, the Emperor would use it against him.

Besides, I wasn’t alone. I had an ancient deity and a fearless nine-year-old.

"Well, well. A touching scene of peasant simplicity."

The cold, sneering voice cut through the peaceful bubbling of the water filter.

I didn’t jump, but my spine immediately stiffened. I slowly turned my head.

Walking down the white gravel path toward our pavilion was Second Prince Jin.

He looked like he had just stepped out of a high-society painting. He wore flawless, pale green Kamakura silk robes embroidered with silver willow branches. Not a single hair was out of place. He carried a painted paper fan, tapping it lightly against his palm. Behind him stood four heavily armed Imperial Guards, looking incredibly serious.

But I didn’t see a pristine prince. I just saw the coward who sent assassins to my home while my husband was fighting a bone giant.

"Second Prince Jin," I said, my voice completely flat. I didn’t stand up. I didn’t bow. I just stayed sitting on the veranda.

Jin’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows twitched at the blatant disrespect, but he forced a tight, fake smile. He stopped a few feet away, looking down at me like I was a stain on his expensive boots.

"I see my new sister-in-law is enjoying the gardens," Jin said smoothly. "Though I suppose anything is a step up from the filthy basement you crawled out of. Tell me, do you miss the smell of wet ash?"

He was trying to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to flush with embarrassment or yell at him so he could call me an uncouth savage.

I just stared at him.

"Not really," I answered honestly. "But I do miss the quiet. The capital has a lot of mosquitoes. They just buzz around making annoying noises."

Rin snorted loudly, quickly covering her mouth with her hands.

Jin’s fake smile vanished. The paper fan in his hand snapped shut with a sharp crack.

He took a step closer, stepping onto the smooth, mossy stones that bordered the edge of the koi pond. He signaled his guards to stay back. He wanted this to be intimate. He wanted to intimidate me.

"You think you are so clever," Jin hissed, dropping the polite act entirely. "You think because my idiot brother Ryu lost his title, and your brute of a husband was handed the crown, that you are safe here?"

"I think you’re standing awfully close to the water," I pointed out mildly.

Jin ignored me, taking another aggressive step onto a flat stone right at the water’s edge. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a vicious whisper.

"My father only brought that demon here to leash him," Jin sneered, his dark eyes flashing with pure hatred. "He doesn’t want Akira on the throne. And he certainly doesn’t want a magic-less, illiterate floor-scrubber staining the Imperial bloodline. You are just the rope, Kitsune. And ropes can be cut."

My heart beat a little faster, but I kept my face totally blank. He was just confirming exactly what Akira and I already knew.

"Is that a threat, Your Highness?" I asked calmly. "Because the last time you sent men with swords to cut me, my husband’s cat threw them through a brick wall."

Jin scoffed, a nasty, arrogant sound. "You survived by sheer luck in the North. But you are in my domain now. And that overgrown Warlord isn’t here to protect you."

"Excuse me."

The whiny, thoroughly annoyed voice came from right above Jin’s head.

Jin blinked, looking up.

Yuki was no longer hanging from the roof. The boy had floated down and was currently hovering exactly at Jin’s eye level, his arms crossed and his fluffy white ears pinned back in absolute disgust.

"You are blocking my sunlight," Yuki said flatly. "And your cologne smells like cheap pine needles and desperation. It is offending my divine nostrils."

Jin stared at the floating twelve-year-old boy in sheer disbelief. He clearly had no idea who—or what—Yuki actually was. To Jin, this was just some weird yokai pet Akira had picked up in the snowy mountains.

"Shut your mouth, you little brat," Jin snarled, actually raising his hand as if he were going to swat Yuki out of the air.

Big mistake. Huge.

Yuki’s turquoise eyes flared with a sudden, blinding, ancient light.

The boy didn’t cast a massive spell. He didn’t summon blue fire or a hurricane. He just looked at Jin with absolute, terrifying disdain, and casually flicked his index finger.

A tiny, invisible pulse of pure spiritual energy shot out.

It hit the slick, mossy stone perfectly beneath Jin’s expensive leather boot.

Jin’s foot shot out from under him like he had stepped on a sheet of solid ice.

"Wha—!"

The Second Prince’s arms wheeled wildly in the air in a desperate, undignified panic. He tried to catch his balance, but his momentum was already completely gone.

With a magnificent, deafening SPLASH, Second Prince Jin fell flat on his back directly into the koi pond.

Water exploded everywhere, soaking the pristine veranda.

For a solid three seconds, there was absolute silence in the Imperial Garden. Even the guards were too stunned to move.

Then, Jin burst out of the water, coughing and sputtering wildly.

His flawless pale green Kamakura silk robes were completely ruined, clinging to him like heavy seaweed. His perfectly styled hair was plastered across his face, dripping pond water into his eyes.

And right as he opened his mouth to scream for his guards...

The giant, fat orange koi fish swam right up to his face and violently slapped his cheek with its wet tail.

Smack!

"GAH!" Jin shrieked, swatting blindly at the water as the fish casually swam away to look for more bun crumbs.

Rin absolutely lost her mind. She fell back onto the wooden deck, clutching her stomach and laughing so hard no sound was coming out.

Yuki floated a few inches higher, pulling a silk handkerchief from his sleeve to delicately wipe a single drop of water off his cheek.

"Clumsy," Yuki tsked, shaking his head in fake pity. "You really should watch your step on the moss, Your Highness. Your spiritual balance is completely off."

"Your Highness!" The four Imperial Guards finally broke out of their shock, rushing forward to the edge of the pond.

They frantically reached out, trying to grab Jin’s heavy, waterlogged robes to haul him out of the three-foot-deep water. Jin was thrashing, screaming curses, looking like a drowned, furious rat.

I stood up slowly, smoothing down the front of my purple silk robe.

I walked right up to the edge of the veranda, looking down at the sputtering prince as his guards dragged him onto the grass.

"You know," I said conversationally, making sure my voice carried over his yelling. "You were right about one thing, Prince Jin."

Jin glared up at me, coughing up pond water, his chest heaving with pure humiliation.

"I don’t have any magic," I smiled down at him, dropping the polite facade entirely. "But I don’t need magic to watch you make a fool of yourself. Have a great afternoon. Try not to drown on your way back to your room."

I turned my back on the Second Prince of the Empire.

"Come on, Rin," I called out, offering my hand to my sister, who was still wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Let’s go inside. It smells like wet dog out here."

"Coming!" Rin giggled, grabbing my hand.

"I am demanding extra premium tuna for this," Yuki announced, floating happily after us as we walked back into the East Palace.

Behind us, Jin was screaming at his guards to let him go, his voice echoing pathetic and wet across the beautiful gardens.

I couldn’t stop the massive grin spreading across my face. The tea party had been fun, but the koi pond was a masterpiece. The nobles thought they could corner us, but they kept forgetting one very important detail.

We weren’t playing by their rules.

I walked into our secure bedroom and immediately walked over to the wooden chest holding my clothes.

"Yua!" I called out to my attendant. "Find me something dark. No shiny silk. I need something that blends into the shadows."

Rin tilted her head. "Where are you going?"

"Akira is at his meetings," I said, a thrill of pure adrenaline racing through my veins. "Which means the Emperor is busy watching him. It’s the perfect time."

I pulled my iron war fan from my sash, setting it on the table.

"I’m going to the Imperial Archives," I smiled. "It’s time for the basement rat to do some digging."