Main World.
Winter, Year 26 of Konoha.
Imperial Palace, Mikoto's side hall.
The snow outside fell harder and harder, blanketing the New Capital's rooftops and streets in white silence. The fire blazed, and the occasional crack of firewood sounded especially clear in the warm room. Mikoto sat beside the bed, holding a cup of tea that had gone completely cold without drinking it. Her gaze was unfocused, as though she were watching the snow outside, or looking at nothing at all.
She had been sitting there for a long time. Ever since returning from the Council Hall, she had stayed there. The children's words still circled in her head-"A clan traitor's grandson is still a clan traitor," "He even stole their noble character," "Start hammering him from the limbs." She was not trying to defend Uchiha Itachi. She just... did not know what to do anymore.
The door opened. Toyotomi Yinglang walked in, his moon-white kariginu glowing softly in the candlelight. Carrying two cups of hot tea, he approached Mikoto and offered her one.
"Swap it out. Yours has gone cold."
Mikoto accepted the cup and lowered her head to look at the pale golden liquid inside. The tea's fragrance rose in wisps, condensing into white mist in the cold air.
"Your Majesty," she said very softly. "I don't know what to do anymore."
Toyotomi Yinglang sat opposite her, holding his cup, and took a sip. "I can allow you to become pregnant. Would you like to bear me a child... to prove there's nothing wrong with your genes?"
Mikoto's pupils contracted slightly. She looked up into Toyotomi Yinglang's eyes. They were calm, without probing or calculation, holding only the equanimity of "you can choose."
"As for those two from before, just consider them killed by Konoha's people in the