The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

don't see from the palace."
    "Yes."
    "Well, then, let's straighten out all this paperwork. Sorry, but would you read it aloud to me?"

Chapter 44
    " E nho," Youko called out. She stopped in front of the screen doors to the study.
    "Is that you, Youko?" came the warm reply.
    "Excuse me," she said, and walked in. Enho was sitting at his desk by the window. He glanced over his shoulder at her. She said, "Sorry, but could I have a few minutes of your time?"
    "Go ahead. What's on your mind?"
    It was as if he had anticipated her concerns. Youko smiled nervously. "I was thinking of going to see the capital of Wa Province."
    "Meikaku. So you've developed an interest in Wa?"
    "Yes," she answered honestly. "Rangyoku says that she'd rather arrange a marriage of convenience than accept a homestead in Wa. Better to marry and then get divorced. That got me curious about what makes Wa Province such a rotten place. I want to prevent her doing something like that, if I can. Rangyoku would surely not do it because she wants to. That conditions in this kingdom could drive someone to...."
    Enho suddenly smiled. Taken somewhat aback, Youko queried, "Enho?"
    "I see. Marriage is a more conservative tradition in Japan." He motioned to her, and as she usually did, Youko sat down in the chair next to him. "You needn't fret that much over this. Marriage is not so weighty an institution here. Tell me, why do people get married in Japan?"
    "Um . . . because it's lonely all by yourself."
    "And that's why people feel it necessary to get married? It's certainly true that living without a spouse is lonely. So people want somebody to be close to. Here it's called a common law marriage."
    "Well, I guess there's the problem with children."
    "In this world, children are only born when a petition is brought to the riboku. You must be married to do so, else the Rishi will not allow it. But if you simply wish to live with someone, formal marriage is not necessary."
    "Ah."
    "If you want children, you have to get married. Otherwise, a common law marriage will do. In order to petition for a child, a couple must reside in the same town and attend the same Rishi. That's pretty much the way it works. So if you get married, you have to move. One of them has to move to the other's city. Splitting up by itself doesn't mean they'll have to move back to the town they came from. And if their current hometown is an unwelcoming place, they may seek out relatives elsewhere."
    "So you can move to different kingdoms that way?"
    "Yes, you can. But you have to transfer your census registry to the same kingdom as your spouse. You can't marry a citizen of another kingdom. This is one of the Divine Decrees and must be observed. To ask for children, you must be married and residing in the same town, and to get married you must both be citizens of the same kingdom."
    Enho flashed a knowing smile. "When it comes to the riboku, there is no other way but to petition Tentei. It possibly has to do with the same reason that a king must be from the kingdom he rules. Apparently, there was once a king who solemnized a marriage between a man and woman from different kingdoms. Even though they went to the riboku and tied a ribbon to the branch, they were never given a child. Eventually they dissolved the union. The Reason of the World rejected them."
    "That is strange," Youko said to herself.
    Enho smiled nonchalantly. "In Japan, God is not necessary. But here, God is. Tentei is necessary for the logic and reason of the world to work. Are you familiar with the first of the Divine Decrees?"
    "That the temporal world must be ruled with humanity, according to the Way."
    "Correct. Turn your back on the Way and you will inevitably oppress the people. There is an absolute cost for straying from the Way. You can turn your back on the Divine Decrees and establish your own laws, but they will never work to your satisfaction. The Reason of the World is woven into the Divine Decrees. As it says in the legends, Tentei Himself handed down the Divine Decrees to us."
    "Makes sense." Such a strange world this is, Youko once again thought to herself.
    "Based on what you have told me, marriage in Japan is designed for the protection of the family. It is a system structured to preserve the integrity of the family bloodline. Here, though, there is nothing like a family bloodline. When a child turns twenty, he separates from the household. No matter how wealthy a person might become, that wealth cannot be