The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

life. Perhaps it's in their nature. Who wouldn't want to live the life of a queen or empress or princess?"
    "Well, unfortunately, not everybody is a princess."
    "No, indeed. But you are."
    "I'm . . . " not the princess royal, Shoukei started to say, but Rakushun wagged his tail. "You are the princess royal. That fact notwithstanding, I'm not saying this with any ulterior motive in mind. The people of Hou sure didn't like you, though."
    "Why . . . ?"
    "I've met my fair share of refugees from Hou. They all hated the late king. Not a one of them had a good word for you, either. You are a very unpopular person."
    "It wasn't my fault!" Shoukei shouted. She couldn't for the life of her understand what everybody had against her.
    "It is your fault. Because you were the princess royal."
    "Because of my father."
    "Your father became king. So you became princess royal. That, indeed, was not your fault. But when a man becomes king, the mantle of responsibility falls upon his shoulders, and upon the shoulders of the princess as well, like it or not."
    Shoukei gaped at the rounded back of the rat.
    "There are two kingdoms with a princess or prince, Ryuu and Sou. The empress of Sai had a son, but he died before her coronation. The prince of Ryuu is a minister of state, working on behalf of the kingdom. The prince and princess of Sou also assist the king. The princess is the director of the national health service. Before, the sick were treated at homes, and the doctor visited them there. Nowadays, they are admitted to a hospital where doctors can care for them. That system was initiated by the princess royal of Sou. So, tell me, Shoukei, what did you do?"
    "What?" Caught off guard by the question, Shoukei just stared at him.
    "There once was a princess who remonstrated with her faltering king and was killed for it. And the word is that after the king of Kou died, the princess of Kou and her brother joined the work brigades along with everybody else. The kingdom collapsed, and they could do nothing to stop it. So they took responsibility. They volunteered. Until the next king is chosen, they'll work to save their ravaged country. So, what did you do?"
    "But . . . my father never asked me to do anything."
    "You're missing the premise of the question. That is something you should have addressed."
    'But . . . . "
    "You knew nothing? Nothing of what the princesses in other kingdoms were doing?"
    "I didn't know!"
    "Then you should have informed yourself. I know Hou better than does Shoukei, Princess Royal of Hou. Don't you find that more embarrassing than your tattered wardrobe?"
    "But . . . " she started to say, and swallowed the rest. She didn't know what to say next.
    "Does wearing wool embarrass you? Most people in the world wear wool. No one should be embarrassed to wear the best that their hard work could afford them. Then there are those who do no work and wear silk. Nobody much cares for them. Nobody likes a freeloader who, without raising a finger, gets something they could never afford with a lifetime of labor. That should be obvious. If you know someone who got all that you had lost without an ounce of effort, you'd resent her, wouldn't you?"
    Shoukei shut her mouth to keep from saying anything. In fact, there was a certain empress whom she deeply resented.
    "Something you've been given through no effort of your own demands nothing of you in turn. You never understood that. Hence, your resentment."
    Shoukei struck the floor with her fist. "So you're saying that everything is my fault? Everything happened because I was bad!" She couldn't admit that. Neither did she want to. "My father never asked me to do a thing! My mother said the same thing! What was I supposed to do? They didn't let me go to university. I didn't have the chance to learn anything. And that's all my fault? There are lots of people like that, lots of people who live rich and comfortable lives. Why does it all have to come down on me?"
    "We rightfully reap what we rightfully sow. To profit otherwise is a mistake. And hiding behind misbegotten gains fools no one."
    "But!"
    "You had mountains of silk dresses, didn't you? You could be said to be an expert on silk dresses, couldn't you? But do you have any idea how all that finery came to be? Did you ever stop to think how much labor it took or why it was given to you in the first place? Why the servants wore hand-spun garments and you wore silk? Until you understand that, you won't understand anything, this is