The fabric of her kimono slipped from her shoulders and pooled at her feet like a white camellia scattered by the wind.
Only a close-fitting white underrobe remained. Its fabric was so thin it was nearly translucent in the light, tracing her collarbones, shoulders, and waist.
As the kimono fell away, the underrobe's collar parted slightly, revealing the line where her neck met her collarbone, warm and luminous beneath the amber light.
Her breathing was quicker than before, and a faint blush colored her ears. Yet her pale violet eyes remained steady as she met Yongye's gaze without flinching.
"Lord Yongye."
Her hands kept moving. Her voice was calm and clear, every word weighted with careful consideration. "Is this enough sincerity?"
Yongye leaned against the refrigerator door, a bottle of Iced Coke in his hand. His gaze passed over her face, taut with resolve, followed the line of her exposed neck and shoulders down to her waist, then returned to her pale violet eyes.
He smiled without a word.
It was a bright, easy smile, carrying a scrutiny that made Nōhime grit her teeth.
Nōhime's lashes trembled.
His silence did not make her retreat. Instead, she took half a step forward, her bare feet on the dark gray carpet. The hem of her white underrobe swayed with the movement.
She raised her right hand to the side of her neck. Her fingertip slid an inch along the line above her collarbone and stopped at the open edge of her underrobe.
"I am Nōhime, wife of Oda Nobunaga."
Her voice dropped, its final notes touched with the faintest allure. Beneath it, though, surged a pride rooted deep in her bones.
"After my death, I entered the Takamagahara Divine Kingdom as a Heroic Spirit and served the great goddess Amaterasu. This Divine