It was the first day the harem members were allowed to settle into the palace. They had recruited nearly a hundred young women for Emperor Saihitei to choose from to be his bride. I am one of those hopefuls, Houki.
I didn't necessarily want to leave my village, but the money they were willing to exchange for me would be enough for my family and friends to live on until they could get the crops to be fruitful again and pay their rent. A few weeks ago, I thought I might marry my childhood friend Tendou, and that we'd have a quiet life just tending the rice paddies. I was looking forward to a simple life, but I loved everyone there enough to leave them forever. Tendou and everyone else will always hold a special place in my heart, but I'm prepared to find new love.
The palace looked bigger than I imagined it, but it was hard to enjoy when there were so many other excited women bustling about to settle in. I traded in my tattered clothes for ones made of fine silk, and my new maids eagerly pinned up my hair. It was nice to feel beautiful and clean, but all the other women were too giddy for me to feel very relaxed.
They would calm down soon enough, I hoped, and tried to budge my way past them to find my quarters. Along the way, I briefly looked at all their pretty faces and compared myself to them. Becoming the emperor's wife wasn't a contest, I reminded myself. Considering the prestige and riches associated with it, though, it was treated as such. They were all beautiful, but only face stood out among the rest: the one which looked like mine. Her face curved in all the same places, and her expressions were even similar to mine. It was like looking in a mirror, but having no control over my reflection.
My look-alike didn't take long to notice me, as well. In her eyes, she looked both happy and heartbroken, and as if she were looking for something. "Kou… rin?"
"Kourin?" I cocked my head slightly. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. My name is Houki."
Her bewildered expression turned sour quickly. "Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. I was simply introducing myself. I'm Kourin, pleased to make your acquaintance." She smiled and bowed politely, but there was a sneer behind her lips. I hadn't done anything rude to deserve a sneer, and it certainly didn't sound like she was introducing herself before.
"The pleasure is mine, Lady Kourin," I bowed in return, careful to hide my defensiveness. "Have you found your room yet?"
"I have," she nodded. "Are you having trouble finding yours?"
Her feigned concern made me feel nauseous. "Yes, the palace is so large that I--"
"I suppose that's to be expected of a poor girl who isn't used to lavish buildings," Lady Kourin smirked. "I heard from a few of the other girls that a girl who looked similar to myself came from a small village a ways off from the capital."
"How kind of them to speak of me," I replied sarcastically. I hadn't even been here more than a few hours and the other harem members are already gossiping.
"It's uncanny, isn't it?" Lady Kourin stepped closer to me with a contemplative finger to her chin. She was definitely from a higher class family and may never had had to work in a day in life, judging from the silky skin on her hands. Mine, in contrast, was scraped and blistered from working. At least a life of gathering rice made my hands, as well as the rest of me, fairly strong. Lady Kourin continued by observing my face. "There's an odd resemblance between us, despite that we have vastly different lives."
"Now that we'll both be living in the harem, I'm sure we'll become far more similar," said I.
"Oh, no. It's not going to stay the same for long," she whispered in my ear as she stepped behind me.
There was plenty I would have liked to have said back to her, but that would be sinking to her level and playing her little game. I may not have been as sassy as her, but I had more dignity. I started to walk away, but tripped. If only I had noticed before that Lady Kourin had intentionally stepped on the end of my dress.
"Oh, my goodness! Are you alright?" she helped me up as other members of the harem looked on with great interest. "Don't worry, you'll get used to wearing long dresses like this soon."
"I certainly will," I brushed my skirt off. "Thank you for your kind welcome, Lady Kourin."
"The pleasure was mine, Lady Houki," she sent me a threatening smile as we parted ways. Marrying the emperor was not a contest, I reminded myself again, but the competition would be fierce as long as women like her were around.