The Blossoming Flower Princess

In Japan, there is a powerful business family named Sōnton. The family founded and expanded Bara Tekunorojī/ Rose Technology Corporation over generations. The current head of the family and CEO of the corporation is Motoki Sōnton and has a gentle, caring wife named Yuki. They have two sons named Itsuki and Renya as well as expecting a third child.

Very soon, a girl named Himeka would come into the world in the spring and have her fortune read about a month later, as per tradition. The eldest son, Itsuki, has his fortune read six years prior, destined for greatness and good fortune. Renya had his read four years ago, foretelling of great determination and cheerfulness would lead to a long and happy marriage with financial stability.

On the thirty-second day of her birth, the infant with bright steely eyes would have her young life change forever. The family of five went to the shrine they went to for ceremonies and prayers for decades. When the sons of the family saw a woman with braided black hair wearing the traditional Shinto shrine garments, an ominous feeling seeped into their bones, somehow knowing that she did not belong there. The parents walked up to the woman, unaware of their sons in the moment, and inquired about her doing the fortune reading on the infant. The woman hesitated for a moment then lead them into an interior shrine before starting the ceremony. At first, the ceremony proceeded as it should, then, the woman’s face contorted and paled with horror.

“Oh, my! Why this for such a beautiful child?” The woman wailed.

“What is it?” Himeka’s parents exclaimed in desperation, shocked and worried by the sudden outburst.

“The poor thing is cursed! She will bring great misfortune upon the family and the horrible shikigami watching over her will claim the souls of those around her, especially those of your sons!”

“What should we do?” Yuki pleaded.

“She must stay within a room with a seal to suppress the reaper of souls from taking the lives of your sons. It is the only way to spare others from her curse. Take this talisman and sacred chalk. Paste the talisman onto the room’s door and take some chalk and mix it into paint to paint the talisman onto the ceiling to help protect her space. Carry the rest with you so you can write the talisman in other locations that she must go to.”

“Yes, of course! Thank you ever so much for your guidance in this matter!” Motoki exclaimed while Yuki cried and the children coward in fear from the commotion.

As the devastated family departed from view, the woman sighed then smirked ominously.

Heh. I came to steal valuable relics from the shrine only to find my golden ticket of fortune by running into to Sōnton family. Playing the long game to ruin their reputation and business will reap handsome rewards!

Soon after, little Himeka was given an expansive room with an en-suite and balcony within the family mansion. Its walls were painted in a soft, muted pink to last throughout her childhood and the talisman was painted in gold that was laced with some of the sacred chalk. As instructed, the paper talisman the parents received was pasted onto the outside of the door to her room. Once everything was completed, the infant was placed in the room to stay locked away from the outside world.

Her parents thus ignored her, only to provide what was needed for her not to die under their care and erase her presence from the minds of others for years to come. She would remain in that room for over a decade, with hardly any contact or affection from other people, only to have food shoved through a slot in the door as soon as she was old enough to eat on her own. Her brothers would often sneak chances to talk to her in the early years, but the times became infrequent due to the parents’ watchful eye and the studies that the parents enrolled them in for the long, prosperous future foretold for them.

Eighteen long years rolled by for the children of the Sōnton from that point in time. The twenty-four-year-old Itsuki had just graduated from a university with a master’s degree in business administration due to his genius and was on the precipice of inheriting the company and CEO position from his father with the blessing from the board of directors. Renya, now twenty-two, is close to completing his bachelor's degree and is working hard as a co-founder for an already prospering environmental technology company. Renya’s company is stable and growing, with everyone in the company having great financial stability for years to come.

Himeka is now eighteen and her long black hair is styled in the ways of her distant ancestors, falling in love with the fashion and richness of Japanese history. She wears beautiful kimonos that she designed herself and secretly gave her designs for her brothers to make for her. She has such grace and kindness that was hardly shown to her throughout her childhood and gazed out from the balcony for the natural beauty that inspired her designs. On one such day of overlooking the garden from her balcony, Himeka spied on a snow-white peacock drinking some water from the pond before prancing around the garden gracefully.

Wow! Such an ethereal creature is in the garden today. I wonder where it came from.

She let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes momentarily before looking at the garden again. When she did look again the peacock was closer now, closer and looking at her with deep ruby eyes. She was surprised that it came closer and was directly looking at her, but the greater shock was noting a small gold collar around its neck. After a minute of it staring at her, it flew over the wall of the property and vanished from view.

Such a wonderous and curious creature! I really want to meet the one who owns such a creature. I bet he is such a wonderful and kind man who finds beauty the same way I do!

This day was also a day that would change the lives of the Sōnton children forever. While the woman at the shrine could not bring her plans to fruition after all these years, she was right about the family from suffering misfortune. At night, Motoki and Yuki Sōnton were coming home from a business dinner when a drunk driver ran a red light and caused a car accident with their vehicle. The Sōnton’s vehicle burst into flames without giving the occupants a chance to escape. The drunk driver, who also was the woman from long ago, also died in the crash, perhaps an act from the divine for her actions but that itself is a mystery. The sons heard the news and prepared for what was to come, sad that this has happened, but also weighing in their hearts was the deliberation of whether this was a tragedy, or an act of karma sent by the gods and ancestors for what the parents did to all the children. Torn between that love and hate, the sons let their sister know of what happened and then let her decide to join them at the funeral. Also torn between that love and hate, the sons carried out the final familial duties to their parents.

Only the sons attended the funeral, remaining silent and grim while other relatives gave heartfelt eulogies to the deceased, unknowing of their dark secret. When they came home, they immediately marched up to their Himeka’s room and ripped off the talisman that protected lies, secrets, and sins. Itsuki knocked before entering the room with Renya and found Himeka on the balcony floor in the fading light, softly crying and holding a gigantic white feather. Renya rushed to her side as Itsuki grabbed a nearby chair and placed it next to them before attending Himeka’s other side.

“Himeka, you shouldn’t be crying out here and on the floor like this,” Renya said as he started to guide her to stand to get her into the chair.

“We don’t want you to get sick, our precious little flower princess,” Itsuki added. “We love you and never believed what that woman said and I’m ashamed our parents believed her.”

“Itsuki…Renya, thank you for everything. Really, I mean it.”

“We shouldn’t have left you alone. It was cruel of us,” Renya stated.

“But I wasn’t alone. Toshiro came to comfort me. To be my light in darkness and leave me his feather as a gift.”

Itsuki and Renya looked at the white feather and realized that it was a tail feather from a white peacock.

“Um, who…? Who is Toshiro, Himeka?” Itsuki asked, voicing the confusion of the two men there.

“He comes to me as an ethereal peacock. His ruby eyes are stunning, peaceful…full of compassion. He has been coming to the garden for a while now. We talk about history and the beauty of nature, just being a wonderful companion and bringing me joy when you two couldn’t because of our parents. Please find him for me! I know you two can if no one else!”

Renya sighed as he smiled softly, “Alright, Himeka. We’ll find him for you, Right, bro?”

“Yes. We’ll do our best to find…Toshiro…but it could take a while.”

“Itsuki…Renya! Thank you!” Himeka exclaimed as she hugged her brothers.

And so, the brothers began their search for Toshiro, the white peacock. The days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months with hardly any result. One day, Renya came to Itsuki and told him of a historical record that he found. The record contained details of the Kujaku family who lived in another province that was cursed centuries ago by a wicked emperor, but that Buddha granted them protection until their bloodline died on the condition that the eldest son from each generation turns into a white peacock throughout every full moon. This family is now a prominent family in the next prefecture and influential.

On the sole act of desperation to make their sister eternally happy, the brothers set out to meet the Kujaku family. They had little hope of success until they saw the eldest son of the family. He was so much like what Himeka described, from his silver white hair to his love of history, that Renya took a chance and showed the young man Himeka’s photo. The man smiled warmly for the first time.

“Himeka…” the man whispered.

“You are definitely Toshiro!” Renya exclaimed. “Please, come see our sister in person! We would be forever grateful!”

So, Toshiro, along with his sister that became smitten with Renya’s determination to make his sister happy, went with the brothers to their home. As soon as he saw Toshiro saw Himeka in person, he proposed marriage on the spot, knowing that it was destiny. A year later, Toshiro and Himeka married, with Toshiro’s sister, Makoto, being a maid of honor and Himeka’s brothers being groomsmen. Makoto received the bridal bouquet and found Renya next to her on one knee with a ring, with Himeka and Toshiro watching expectantly. Another wedding would be planned soon and after the wonderous event, Itsuki officially became the CEO of Bara Tekunorojī, leading it into a new era, free from lies, secrets, and the traditions that caused so much suffering for such a long time. Karma has balanced out all the evil misfortunes that have plagued generations, at least, in this little part of the world.