velviyushino
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- Parts 12
In the quiet, struggling village of Hanayori, Kocho Shinobu fights every day to keep her fragile world from falling apart. She lives with her gentle but blind father, Himejima Gyomei, her ailing older sister Kocho Kanae, Kanae's devoted husband Shinazugawa Sanemi, and Sanemi's younger brother Genya. Ever since a severe illness struck Kanae and Sanemi lost his job after a tragic accident, the burden of supporting the family has rested heavily on Shinobu's narrow shoulders.
Sharp-tongued, relentless, and hopelessly stubborn, she jumps from one job to another-fired again and again for her temper. Still, she refuses to give up. Every coin she earns is another hope of buying Kanae's medicine.
But everything shifts the day Gyomei receives an unexpected letter from the royal family of Mizunagi-ōkoku. Longtime friends of the king and queen, they had quietly taken note of Gyomei's mounting hardships. And in an effort to help, they extend an offer that stuns the entire household:
An arranged marriage between Shinobu and their son-Prince Tomioka Giyu.
The offer could save Kanae's life. It could rescue the family from ruin.
But neither Shinobu nor Giyu wants it.
Giyu, already known for his cold, unreachable demeanor, has no interest in marrying a fiery commoner he has never met. Shinobu, infuriated by the idea of becoming some prince's political convenience, openly rejects it. The two dislike each other instantly-before they've even spoken a full sentence. Yet the situation leaves them with no choice.
To prepare her for life among royalty, Shinobu is forced to enroll in Kōden Academy, an elite school where princes and princesses from neighboring kingdoms are educated together. Thrown into a world of polished etiquette, hidden rivalries, and suffocating expectations, Shinobu must navigate nobles who look down on her, court politics she never asked for, and a fiancé who would rather ignore her than acknowledge her existence.