Before a golden, glittering idol, a woman knelt on a prayer cushion with her hands pressed together, silently praying.
Shiraishi Yoshijo appeared without a sound. Looking at the idol that bore the same face as his, he said in a deep voice, "Are you worshipping me, or the desire in your heart?"
"You are the emperor, the god, and my man. Of course it is only right that I worship you. As for the desire in my heart..."
The woman named Anna turned and met Shiraishi Yoshijo's gaze. "You know better than anyone. Why ask when you already know?"
"Some things cannot be understood even when they are known."
"Neither can I."
"Tell me?"
"Is there still any point?"
Shiraishi Yoshijo had no answer.
At this point, there truly was no meaning in getting to the bottom of it.
"Uchiha Itachi killed Right Red."
"Is that so?" Anna sighed. "What a pity."
"Do you pity Right Red, or do you regret that I didn't die?"
"Naturally, I pity Right Red. Though he was no good man, he was utterly loyal to us. I never expected him to die by our hands in the end. As for you, I never once thought Uchiha Itachi could kill you."
Anger appeared on Shiraishi Yoshijo's face. "Then why did you arrange for Uchiha Itachi to assassinate me? What good could something so meaningless do you?"
"It wasn't meaningless." Anna turned her head back toward the idol and said softly, "I only wanted to keep you by my side. Ever since you drove away all the women around you, I knew you were going to leave."
"I gave you a choice."
"Why did you have to make me choose?" Anna's voice rose, her anger obvious. "It has always been like this. From childhood until now,