You continued thinking.
If Kaguya-hime was truly a thorn in his side, Laodie wouldn’t have failed to mention her even once. This could only mean that Laodie’s hatred for Kaguya-hime wasn’t that great. Or in other words, he knew Kaguya-hime was just a tool, a chess piece.
The piece itself wasn’t at fault; it was the player who made the moves. His target for revenge had always been Amaterasu—the one standing high above, the elder sister who sent Kaguya-hime to divide his authority. Not Kaguya-hime, who was used as a pawn.
If that was the case, everything made sense.
The more You thought about it, the more convinced he was that his reasoning was correct.
What did Amaterasu rely on to rule Takamagahara? Was it ability? No way. If Amaterasu really had combat strength, would she have been scared into hiding in Ama-no-Iwato and refused to come out? A complete coward.
She relied on her bloodline!
She was the eldest daughter of the creator god Izanagi, and Laodie was her younger brother, one of the Three Noble Children. At the root of the Shinto system, it wasn’t about “who could fight the best” but “whose lineage was the most legitimate.” If Kaguya-hime really managed to overthrow Laodie using his own offspring, would Amaterasu accept that?
Tsukuyomi was her own younger brother, a direct descendant of Izanagi’s bloodline. If he could be overthrown, how could the system of the Three Noble Children continue? Wouldn’t that tell the lesser gods that the creator god’s bloodline wasn’t so noble after all?
If Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto could be replaced, then Amaterasu’s own position could be moved too? Wasn’t that inviting the lesser gods to rebel? After all, overthrowing the superior was a traditional pastime of the island nation.
Even in the myths, when Susanoo rebelled against her, she didn’t strip him of his status as one of the Three Noble Children. She only banished him from Takamagahara. Why? Because the identity of the Three Noble Children was innate, not something she could change. Nor would she change it—doing so would shake the very foundation of her rule.
So Kaguya-hime saw through this clearly—she was forever just a chess piece to balance Tsukuyomi, to weaken Laodie’s influence, but Amaterasu would never allow her to replace Laodie. So she simply gave up. What’s wrong with being a chess piece like this? You get faith, you get backing, you lie back and relax comfortably—isn’t that flying high with pleasure?
And Laodie knew this perfectly well in his heart.
So he only wanted to replace Amaterasu, to let Tsukuyomi’s bloodline become the Emperor. He didn’t hold that much hatred for Kaguya-hime. The “worst-case scenario” that Mom had told him about—something about Kaguya-hime’s divine descent, combining with the Divine Child to give birth to a child of dual divine bloodlines who would usurp authority and completely rule the moon—was probably just speculation by the Shinto family clans, not the true game among the deities themselves.
It all connected.
Everything connected.
You felt much more at ease. The messy clues in his head over the past few days had finally come together like pieces of a puzzle.
He was about to tell Chihaya his thoughts when he turned to look—
Chihaya was watching Futaba in his arms, and the aura around her was starting to get unstable again.
You opened his mouth.
‘Forget it. Better not say anything.’
Chihaya was Laodie’s miko. She had been raised since childhood with the education of “serving the deity with reverence.” She probably wouldn’t speculate about deities like he did, treating them as ordinary humans. If she heard him guessing about the gods like this, she would definitely be displeased, and she wouldn’t believe his one-sided story either.
Besides—he shifted his gaze to the side.
Hitomi was still sitting right there.
It probably wasn’t polite to gossip about Amaterasu like this in front of a member of the Nissho Clan. Hitomi might have a gentle personality, but she was still Amaterasu’s miko after all. Some things could be said in private, but saying them in front of others was a different matter.
With that thought, he averted his gaze from the two girls and looked at the moon again.
Don’t ask him why, with a girl in his arms, he would look at the moon instead of the girl in his arms.
If he really looked at the girl, Chihaya would definitely have words with him later. The oppressive presence of a heavy woman was just too authoritative.
He looked at the moon and felt that the oppressive presence behind him had lessened a little.
***
Futaba lay in You’s arms with her eyes closed, calculating the plan she had just devised in her mind.
Lady Kaguya didn’t want to go any further. This couldn’t be explained away by simple “salted fish” mentality. It could only be that Amaterasu Omikami didn’t allow it—didn’t allow any deity to challenge the system of the Three Noble Children. Lady Kaguya saw through this, so she simply stopped competing.
So the so-called “possibility of Kaguya-hime descending on a miko and procreating with the Divine Child”—that was complete nonsense.
Amaterasu Omikami would not permit it.
Lady Kaguya herself had no such intention either.
But what about the reverse?
‘If I marry the Divine Child, and manage to actively summon Lady Kaguya’s consciousness into my body…’
‘Doesn’t that mean—’
‘I can use this as a bargaining chip to threaten a deity?’
Futaba felt her very soul trembling.
Not from fear, but from excitement.
Threatening a deity. Using marriage with the Divine Child as leverage to blackmail Kaguya-hime.
If she could really succeed, what a beautiful picture that would be. Didn’t Lady Kaguya say she had a malicious streak? Well then, she would show Lady Kaguya a real streak of malice.
The moment the plan succeeded, Lady Kaguya’s expression would surely be delicious.
Futaba couldn’t help but laugh just thinking about it.
She would use a Curse Art to summon Lady Kaguya into her body, then wrap her arms around You-kun and say to Kaguya-hime in her heart—
“Lady Kaguya, you wouldn’t want me to be carrying You-kun’s child right now, would you?”
That’s right.
This was the grand plan Futaba had just come up with.
Of course, she didn’t yet have a personal understanding of just how difficult this plan would be. She didn’t know what conditions were required for the Curse Art to summon a deity, whether such a technique even existed, how to learn it, whether her own Spiritual Power was sufficient, or what to do if Kaguya-hime didn’t cooperate. But none of that mattered.
What mattered was—she had a goal. With a direction set, the rest was just slowly feeling her way forward, wasn’t it?
As for whether to tell Chihaya and Hitomi about this?
Of course not.
Watching Chihaya try to guard against her while she herself joined this family—wouldn’t that be more interesting?
Well then, Divine Child.
No, You-kun.
I, Tsukuyomi Futaba, truly intend to marry you, you know.
Are you ready?
Now then, the first thing to do was—
Futaba opened her eyes and sat up from You’s arms.
Her movements were natural. She adjusted her collar, tucked her hair behind her ears, and then looked at Chihaya with a smile.
Futaba looked at Chihaya and the others first.
“Chihaya, Hitomi, Mai-chan—”
She paused, her tone a bit more serious than usual.
“Thank you. For earlier.”
Chihaya’s expression improved slightly. When Futaba had sat up from You’s arms earlier, the low pressure aura around her had noticeably dissipated.
“You’re welcome.”
Her voice was still cool, but her tone was softer than before.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
Hitomi also smiled.
“It was nothing.”
Mai nodded, flashing a big grin.
“As long as Futaba-nee is okay.”
But her eyes kept watching Futaba.
Futaba looked at Chihaya and smiled.
Then she said something.
Her tone was light, as casually as if she were asking, “Nice weather today, isn’t it?”
“Chihaya, the Divine Grace of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto that you said you’d share with me earlier—is that still on the table?”
The air froze.