Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Prologue

turned toward the golden-haired woman and bowed.
    "Thank you."
    The golden-haired woman just smiled. Gyokuyou, who had been watching the scene satisfyingly,  suddenly straightened up and turned to leave.
    "Ah! Gyokuyou..."
    "Taiki, you must call me Lady Gyokuyou."
    Taiki looked up at Sanshi.
    "You should call her Lady Gyokuyou."
    Taiki nodded. He didn't know why, but he didn't doubt anything Sanshi said. Even though Sanshi  called him Taiki, a name he had never heard before, he felt like he should always have been called by this  name, because it had come out of Sanshi's mouth.
    "Lady Gyokuyou... I feel like all of this is very unimaginable!"
    He didn't quite know how to express his feelings of uncertainty.
    Gyokuyou smiled as she looked at him.
    "You will get used to it very soon. Just ask Sanshi if there is anything you don't understand."
    Once again, he looked up at Sanshi. Sanshi gave him a smile--Sanshi didn't really have any expression
    on her face, but he thought he saw a small trace of a smile.
    "Yes."
    He tightened his hold on Sanshi's hand, and he felt Sanshi reply with an even stronger squeeze.
    "Sanshi, Sanshi! Let us get a good look at this child!"
    "Come here, Taiki. I'll help you change your clothes."
    "Don't change your clothes yet. Have a drink of water. Or did you want eat a peach?"
    "There are still plums and pears."
    After Gyokuyou and the woman wearing the bracelet left, the nyosen swarmed upon him, leaving Taiki  surrounded and not knowing what to do.
    Although the smiling faces of the nyosen let Taiki know that they were welcoming him, this situation  was still a little too unusual. He held onto Sanshi's hand tightly and leaned towards her. The nyosen saw this  and laughed.
    "Ah, he just wants to be with Sanshi!"
    "Sanshi, you can't have him all to yourself!"
    "Taiki, come over here."
    Finally Teiei could not watch this any longer.
    "Taiki won't know what do with all of you like this. Everyone calm down a little bit, and let Sanshi  take care of Taiki." After saying this, Teiei turned to Youka, who had been standing to one side. "Take Taiki  back to the palace. It should be better to take him to Rosen Palace."
    Teiei knew that up until now Youka had been preparing Rosen Palace for Taiki's return. Youka looked  gratefully at Teiei for a moment and then vigorously nodded her head.
    Youka walked slowly to Taiki and kneeled down so that she and Taiki were at the same height. Taiki  looked straight at her.
    "Your servant wholeheartedly welcomes your return."
    Taiki felt the arm, which Sanshi had laid upon his shoulders in order to protect him, loosen. Sanshi  gently pressed him forward, closer to the kneeling Youka.
    "May I ask who you are?"
    "I'm called Youka."
    "Lady Youka..." He had only said this much before the nyosen that surrounded him burst out again in  laughter. Youka's face carried a smile upon it as well.
    "Please just call me Youka. You only need to address Genkun as Lady."
    "Genkun?"
    "She is Lady Gyokuyou."
    Taiki looked at Sanshi, and Sanshi nodded. Thus, Taiki accepted this way of speaking.
    "Then... Youka, who are you? Why do you call my arrival a return?"
    "I am a nyosen who lives here on Mt. Hou, and you, Taiki, are the master of Mt. Hou. In fact, you were  born here!"
    Taiki's eyes widened and he stared at Youka for a moment.
    "I was born here...?"
    "Yes." Youka nodded. "You could also say that this is your homeland."
    "But..."
    Youka shook her head to stop Taiki from continuing.
    "We could not find you because a change occurred in the world and you drifted to another place. We  really searched for you for a very long time." An expression of both joy and uneasiness crossed Youka's  face. "We were all so worried, because we didn't know where you were or what kind of life you were living.
    You've finally come back, which is something that we are all very happy about. We truly welcome your  return."
    Taiki only stared blankly at Youka.
    So he wasn't the child of his parents.
    When this thought occurred to him, it was as if all his uncertainties had been resolved. He now had a  very good explanation for why his grandmother disliked him so much and for why he never felt like he fit  into his surroundings.
    In truth, he had never really gotten along with his family. That wasn't what he had wanted, so he had  tried hard to improve relations with his family. However, it seemed like they always had a chasm between  them that was too wide to jump over.
    Like many