Yan Si set down his wine cup.
The bottom of the cup touched the tabletop with a faint sound. The room was quiet, making the noise especially clear.
"I believe in one principle." His voice was not loud, but it was hard and distinct.
"That is: hold your position, and fulfill your duties."
He looked at Matsudaira Tadanao, who was kneeling on the floor.
"No matter who it is, everyone should have a bottom line. Anyone who crosses that line—" deserves to die.
Matsudaira Tadanao's body jolted.
With his forehead pressed against the tatami, he could feel sweat seeping from his skin, sliding down the bridge of his nose, and dripping onto the pale mat, spreading into a small dark stain.
He was a vassal noble of the Omaeda family, so of course he knew who the man before him was.
The future son-in-law of the Shihoin Clan, the teacher of Yushiro, the next head of the Shihoin Clan, the teacher of the current head of the Kuchiki family, and a disciple of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
Every one of those identities was heavy enough to crush a man to death.
But among the Nobles of Seireitei, who had never meddled in the Human World?
Those upper Nobles—the Tsunayashiro, Kuchiki, and Shihoin—who among them had never supported the middle Nobles behind the scenes?
The Human World's power, wealth, and resources—which of them had not been won through struggle?
The position of Edo Castle's lord had been won by his father with his life, then secured by Matsudaira Tadanao through his own methods.
Did Yan Si really think that his so-called rules could make all the Nobles give up?
Impossible.
He might die here, but the noble system would not compromise.
If Matsudaira Tadanao died today, someone else would take his place