The Courtship
Chapter 9
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With the news of his father's impending death, Prince Muso met with his father and the Count. It was a courtesy to his father that he was involved, the old man couldn't quite remember his name.
"Who are the eligible noblewoman women in the area? I don't much care for getting married or the bride. She just needs to look the part, won't have her getting too involved."
"Prince, you must also look for a beneficial political marriage." Count Naraku reminded the Prince. He had made it his priority to gather the best potential suitors for the Prince.
"Yes, yes. There are a few neighboring provinces being contested at the moment: Kōzuke, Sagami, Shimōsa, and Shimotsuke. The main contenders would be us, the Takeda Clan, and Uesugi clan."
"Uesugi has two sons, no daughters. But he has looked a young female demon after her father passed, the girl's name is Shiori. She is really young and if we were to approach Kenshin, we would have to do so with tact. He was close to her father and swore to protect her." Count Naraku read from his reports.
"She's powerful for a half-demon, sure. But she is much too young to produce an heir and that is the only reason I'm getting married." Prince Muso was a little annoyed, what was the Count thinking? He knew the issues that plagued this kingdom.
"My Prince, she is extremely powerful, her ability to form and hold barriers would be an asset to this kingdom."
The king was mumbling about something, both men quieted down to listen but they only managed to understand Takeda before they gave up trying.
"Right, Count, what about the Takeda clan?"
"There are two women that are high enough in the clan that would prove beneficial to you. The daimyō has adopted an extremely powerful miko into the family, Hitomiko. She would be an asset to us, few can match her spiritual powers. Then there is a noblewoman that is close to the Takeda family, Yura. She is a powerful demon that has little issue fighting should she be needed to."
"Send a letter to Shingen Takeda to see if he is interested in forming an alliance with a mutually beneficial marriage. We could help him with his pesky Oda problem and hopefully scare the Uesugi to keep them from squabbling over the contested provinces."
"I will have it sent at once my Prince." And with that, Count Naraku was gone.
Prince Muso looked over at his father, the new doctor they had hired didn't seem to be doing much for him. They had originally hired a Healer to deal with him, but he was fired in order to allow a doctor trained in Western Medicine to work with him. Prince Muso now wasn't sure if that was the right choice. He decided at once to fire the doctor and to look for a new Healer. At times like this, it would be easier to shove the old coot out the window so he had one less thing to worry about. It was an idea, but he sighed and walked out of the room. It will happen soon enough.
Prince Muso spent the better half of the next week working with Countess Kagura planning a dinner to meet the two ladies from Kai. He left most of the planning to her, she was the best at these matters. Know what sake goes with what meal is the reason a female is needed on the grounds. So he was there to answer her basic questions, but mostly he stayed out of her way and trusted her judgment.
Once everything was planned Prince Muso sent Count Naraku and Countess Kagura to lead their guests from Kōfu through the mountains to Edo. It was a long dangerous journey and it wouldn't do well to have his guests attacked on the way.
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I am not going to pretend to be an expert on Japanese history during this time period but I did and have been doing some research into the areas and who was where. In keeping with Inuyasha being in the same area it took place in the Manga/Show I would guess that Muso would take place of the Hojo clan.
