Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Chapter 7

happiest between Kei Taiho and Queen Kei."
    "Who did you hear that from?"
    "The nyosen, they..."
    Keiki sighed. Queen Kei had now completely given up on the affairs of government. She had lost her  ruling platform and the kingdom's political situation was in great disorder. The lords looked down on the  queen, and the officials were even more tyrannical.
    "I have already sworn a vow. I have devoted my life to her, and I cannot abandon her. No matter  where my queen goes, even if she does not want me to, I must follow her regardless."
    --However, the problem was that the hardship that came from following her was difficult to endure.
    Taiki looked at Keiki with his deep black eyes, and then moved his line of sight back toward the  ground.
    "...If only I could be as certain about things as you, how nice that would be."
    "Taiki, do you feel regret?"
    Hearing Keiki ask this so plainly, Taiki felt a little flustered.
    "Yes..."
    Keiki simply tilted his head and didn't say a thing. There wasn't any expression on his face either.
    At this point, Taiki couldn't hide it any longer.
    "I...have done something so wrong there's no saving me." The little kirin lifted his head, and his  expression was that of despair. "I...didn't receive a revelation for the king..."
    Keiki was so surprised he didn't know what to say. Taiki's confession was far from anything he had  imagined. "No...revelation?"
    Taiki nodded. "There wasn't any sort of sign. I didn't see any kind of ouki either. At one time, I had  even told him that I wished him well, that he wasn't the one."
    "...Why did you?"
    "At the time...I really didn't want to be separated from Gyousou." The child who was staring down,  lifted his head up and looked at Keiki.
    "What...should I do?" The hands that had grabbed onto Keiki's knees were trembling slightly. "What  should I do to fix my mistake? How do I make up for this?"

    "Taiki..."
    "It's all fake! What's going to happen? Will Tai Kingdom be destroyed? Will the king be punished?  When everyone finds out about this, what will the response from the Heavens and the people be?" Taiki's  tears flowed continuously.
    Keiki was about to say something, but in the end, he closed his mouth. He lightly patted the hands at  his knees and then stood up. Sitting on the floor of the pavilion, Taiki looked up at him. Keiki nodded in  respect. "I'm not sure what to say... For today, I will bid you farewell."
    - - - - -
    Taiki hugged his knees as he sat in the corner of the pavilion and watched the golden hair getting  farther and farther away.
    Was Keiki disappointed in him? He would probably never want to see him again.
    Was this going to become rumor? Or was his deception going to be revealed?
    --When the time came, how would Gyousou deal with Taiki's betrayal?

Chapter 13
    When Keiki called upon Taiki again, a couple days had already passed.

    It also seemed as though he hadn't informed Gyousou of the matter regarding the revelation, because  on that same day during dinner, he hadn't noticed any change in Gyousou's mood. Taiki couldn't help but  sigh in relief, though on the other hand, he also couldn't avoid feeling disappointed.
    As he was spending his time in the afternoon worried like he had been before, a messenger came  from the Inner Halls and requested that he change into formal dress and go to the visitor room. Therefore,  Taiki hurriedly made his way to the Inner Halls and discovered Gyousou and Keiki waiting with him, along  with two other people.
    The man sitting in the center of the room looked of a similar age to Gyousou. It also seemed like this  person was a very important guest. Standing at the man's side was a youth who was probably a little older  than Taiki.
    Like Keiki, the youth had a head of golden hair, which appeared to shine and give off a faint, golden  glow--or at least that's how it looked to Taiki's eyes. There was also a similar golden glow emanating around  Keiki; perhaps this was the so-called kirin spirit. From this, Taiki had guessed that the youth was some  kingdom's kirin.
    --He could now see the spirit of kirin.
    After Taiki paid his respects at the entrance, he looked at Gyousou. There wasn't anything  surrounding Gyousou that he would call ouki.
    He walked inside and kneeled down, waiting for further instructions. Keiki motioned for him to come  closer. "I have brought King En and En Taiho for a visit."
    Taiki opened his eyes widely.
    (King En...)
    It was not hard to understand