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“Lady Nanako is still asleep, but she looks a lot better now, so she will probably recover fully soon.”
“Mhm. I’ll have to trouble you to take care of Nanako and explain the circumstances to Lady Shimizu when she returns. I’m going to meditate for the next few days, so don’t bother me unless there are some special circumstances before Lady Shimizu arrives.”
“Yes!” The maid acknowledged.
Lily’s house was still undergoing repairs, so she entered one of the vacant rooms in Shimizu’s house that faced the bamboo garden and closed the doors before she began meditating.
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She was going to use the huge amount of magatama fragments she obtained this time.
However, even Lily couldn’t use so many magatama fragments at once as her limit was around 55 grams each day.
And Lily had already consumed 100 grams of magatama fragments today morning.
The fluctuations from the perfectly shaped magatamas contained a gentle yet wonderful energy that permeated into Lily’s body. This energy elevated her strength rapidly and also made her feel extremely invigorated.
However, Lily felt that her progression had slowed down ever since her penetration force had surpassed 3000 kan1. Although she had absorbed these 100 grams of magatama fragments skillfully this time, according to her estimations, the increment in her penetration force was less than 1000 kan and lied somewhere between 700 to 800 kan. Furthermore, it was becoming even slower.
This was actually reasonable as the requirement of the body’s strength would also increase along with the increment in penetration force. If someone wished to surpass their limits to reach the next stage, it would require them to strengthen their body substantially.
If not, Lord Kamakura would have just used all the magatama fragments in possession of the Genji and increased his power so much that he would have become unparalleled in the entire world, so, reaching the next stage wasn’t as simple as it appeared. However, the ways to train to the higher stages were a secret, so Lily was still clueless about them.
Shimizu returned on the night of this day.
“This is
” Shimizu revealed a puzzled expression when she saw an unknown woman lying in the guest room of her house.2
“Lady Shimizu, this is Nanako, an attendant sister of Lady Lily. She got bullied by Tokugawa’s faction after she got admitted here as Lady Lily still hadn’t returned by then
”
The maid explained the turn of events over the past few days to Shimizu in a few simple sentences.
Shimizu nodded silently and asked, “Where is Lily right now?”
“She’s meditating in the room adjacent to the bamboo garden right now.”
“Hah? She’s here? You should have told me that earlier.”3
Shimizu walked past the corridor and arrived at the room surrounded by a bamboo forest at the western corner of the house and knocked on the door gently, “Lil’ Sister Lily?”4
A moment later, the sound of footsteps echoed from within the room as Lily got up to open the door.
“Sister Shimizu!” Lily seemed to have already forgotten the despondence and embarrassment from that night. Her face was fully flushed right now, and she was swathed in a humid womanly scent all over as she greeted Shimizu delightfully.
Shimizu also felt a little relieved after seeing Lily’s expression as things would have become awkward between them if Lily had held a grudge towards her because of the punishment she had given Lily.
Shimizu entered the room and ordered the maid to bring the tea set.
She and Lily made tea for each other and chatted over it in a prim and elegant manner.
“Lil’ Sister Lily, you really surprised me,” Shimizu fiddled with the tea brush as she prepared the tea and said, “You obtained the first-class merit in the expedition just a while ago and have now defeated Tokugawa Shigetsugu, obtaining the 3rd rank in a single stretch, and even received a great amount of magatama fragments as a reward for it. Your progression even makes me, your big sister, feel a bit envious sometimes.”
“Hehe. Sister Shimizu, please don’t make fun of me. I’m still much inferior to you.”
“It’s only been a short while since you entered the dojo,” Shimizu sipped the green tea gently and said, “However, it’s different for me. I have hit a roadblock in my training recently and my health is also too volatile.”
“Sister Shimizu, please don’t say something so sad ever again. You are also a beautiful woman who is just in the prime of her age,” Lily grabbed Shimizu’s hand gently. Her hand radiated a humid warmth while Shimizu’s hand emitted an ice-cold chill.
Shimizu blushed faintly when she looked at the hand which Lily had grabbed.
The curtain of night descended over the skies silently while the two girls chatted with each other and the moonlit bamboo garden portrayed a somewhat forlorn and romantic scene.
“Lil’ Sister Lily
 forgive me for what happened on that night.”
“Huh? Sister Shimizu, Lily never felt like you had done something you need to apologize for.”
Shimizu smiled faintly and seemed to sink deeper into Lily’s bosom that was as deep as the boundless sea, “Lily, you are so bountiful that it actually makes me feel ashamed. I became so emotional on that day because
 of my sincere feelings. I began paying too much attention to you because I had developed feelings for you and felt very depressed when you acted close with other women and even felt angry at it
”
“Mhm
” Lily hugged her bosom and a faint blush appeared on her face, “Lily realized Sister Shimizu’s thoughts, so Lily never felt angry at you. Sister Shimizu’s health isn’t good too, but Lily couldn’t cheer you up, so Lily blamed herself for it
 yet Lily didn’t know what to do as well.”
Shimizu smiled affectionately, “Your words soothe me even more, Lil’ Sister. Actually, it’s quite easy to make me feel happy, it just needs
”
Shimizu leaned closer to Lily a bit and raised Lily’s chin with her slender finger that carried a medicinal scent with it and continued, “It just needs for our relationship to reach the next stage.”
Having such a powerful, noble yet sincere Shimizu lift her chin, it was simply impossible for Lily’s heart to remain unmoved, but
 that feeling was still a step away from the affection between a woman and a woman. Furthermore, even if it was indeed affection, she absolutely couldn’t commit to it.
Hence, Lily didn’t reply to her and just moved her blushing face aside slightly.
The perceptive Shimizu withdrew her hand back after making out Lily’s embarrassment and asked sadly, “Is it because of that woman?”
“Huh?”
It was indeed because of a woman, but Shimizu couldn’t know who she was.
“Uesugi Rei, right? Is she really that better than me?”
“N-No. I’m afraid you are mistaken, Sister Shimizu.”
“Since you like a woman, other than me, who else can it be except Uesugi Rei who you have the most ambiguous relationship with? I got acquainted with you later, so I don’t plan to demand an answer from you, but you shouldn’t hide it from me at the very least. Tell me, do you like Uesugi Rei?” Shimizu’s eyes lit up with the flames of jealousy, but they also contained a deep worry.
What should I tell her?
Although Lily liked her Sister Uesugi a bit, the misunderstanding would only deepen if she gave such an answer. However, she couldn’t reveal her senior sister’s existence to others as she had a faint feeling that it would bring great danger to herself, her senior sister, and the people around her.
“I’m afraid you are mistaken, Sister Shimizu. Lily doesn’t have time to think about love right now, and only wishes to focus on training. As Lily’s current thoughts on love, Lily shall probably stay single throughout Lily’s entire life,”5 Lily felt a little sad as she said these words. Although it probably wouldn’t happen, if Lily failed to awaken her senior sister, she would probably remain single for the rest of her life. She was obviously surrounded by all kinds of luscious flowers, yet she couldn’t let them approach her even if she had some feelings for them.
However, even if she really had to remain single for the rest of her life, she had no regrets at all!
Shimizu sensed the flames of passion encasing Lily’s ice-cold heart and finally believed that Lily and Uesugi Rei probably didn’t have that kind of a relationship. However, she failed to understand why Lily’s heart was frozen when she burned with so much passion.
She lowered her head and began sobbing silently.
“Sister Shimizu. W-Why are you crying
 Lily just wants to remain faithful to someone, that’s all
 Can Sister Shimizu not understand that?”
“No, I’m not crying because of that. I just feel lonely because I have too many burdens on my shoulders, yet no one to share them with.”
“Sister Shimizu
”
“Lily, as a woman who has been healthy from birth, can you really understand the loneliness I’ve felt from my childhood till now because of my frailness? It would have been fine if it was just that since there’s a lot of misfortunate women who have naturally frail bodies in this world. However, I got chosen by that ancient mirror even though I’m one of them. Lily, you have probably never experienced how a chosen person feels!”6
Shimizu took out her treasured mirror from her bosom gently and explained, “This is what makes me different from other women, including you, Lily. As an exceptional female samurai, you have a bright future ahead of you, Lil’ Sister Lily. You’ll be rewarded with land and also obtain fame and wealth as long as you keep training and obtain merits, just like most of the formidable samurai of the Land of East. That’s because the Land of East is a region where powerful people can progress their position in the world with ease.”
“And me? Although I have obtained power that transcends this world because I possess the only ancient mirror in this world, I also have to bear a fate that an ordinary girl like you can never imagine!”
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“I can feel that the people who keep trying to eliminate the mirror girls in vain are growing stronger and stronger. I have to protect this mirror as well as the mirror girls and allow them to see the light of the day again. I must free them from the isolation, spurn, and persecution and prevent the boundless darkness of this era from swallowing them whole. Although my body is turning weaker day by day and although I haven’t made much progress in my training because I have reached a bottleneck, I have never once considered abandoning this responsibility! This is fate!”
“Lil’ Sister Lily, I’m a chosen person! This power has given me honor yet also wrought danger upon me. I feel too lonely and burdened by this fate
”
Saying so, Shimizu couldn’t prevent her body from trembling as tears marred her sorrowful face.
“Sister Shimizu
”
“I know, Lil’ Sister Lily, that it’s still hard for you to understand my feelings. It’s impossible for a woman who hasn’t touched the mirror to truly understand the weight of the fate and the danger this power brings, but although I have a frail body, I can endure it and face the threat from the Land of Hundred Demons and the looming darkness bravely! However, my heart
 might fail me before my body does. I wish
 for someone to share this secret with me. I wish for someone to feel concerned for me from behind as I face the enemies bravely. I wish for someone to welcome me at the doors of my home when I return from subjugating monsters in triumph
”
“Lil’ Sister Lily, that person can only be you.”7
Shimizu grabbed Lily’s hand and fell into her embrace, “Lil’ Sister Lily, I’m too tired. I’m not afraid of my enemies, but I’m afraid of loneliness. Lil’ Sister, I don’t care how strong you are or how much merit you have as I can just get all that for you if you want them and even snatch anything you want. I only
 want you to stay beside me.”
Shimizu pressed her face against Lily’s belly and then rested her head on Lily’s thighs, using them as a pillow. She then forgot herself and breathed Lily’s scent from this location brazenly
 this seemed to have pacified her body’s trembling a little.
Lily caressed Shimizu’s dainty shoulders gently. She found it hard to refuse such a lonely and frail Shimizu who bore such a heavy burden on her shoulders, so she just allowed Shimizu to use her thighs as a pillow and rest for a while.
If I am destined to remain in this Heian world as a woman, I would have certainly felt happy and relieved to become the woman of a female samurai who loves me so deeply. If it’s foreordained that I can’t return, nothing is stopping me from pursuing this peace and calm.
“However, I can’t do that
” Lily’s heart filled with countless worries, “Sister Shimizu, you can feel comforted in my embrace, but do you know that I have no one I can talk to about the fate I’m actually bearing? I don’t even dare to implore the Heavens as I don’t know how many dangers I will have to face in the future. This is an unfamiliar world to me
”
Even if Lily felt so repressed, she couldn’t tell it to anyone, so she just comforted Shimizu silently as if she was comforting another self of hers.
She said gently, “Perhaps Lily can’t understand your current feelings, Sister Shimizu, but Lily will always stay beside you and aid you as your training sister. No matter what kind of crisis or terrible threat you face, Lily shall
”
“Never leave your side.”8