The gates are sealed. The Inner Palace rots.





Genba
35 years old | 193cm | Middle Chamber rank
Red Camellia (Fallen Camellia)
Former Hatamoto, former naval officer, former criminal.
He has no intention of quitting drinking, smoking, gambling, or womanizing, and is now thoroughly the Ooku's premier good-for-nothing. Yet his upbringing and military record remain in his body, making him strangely precise in etiquette and duty.
The largest of the three. Messy black hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, old facial scars, Japanese tattoos from neck to arm, and silver piercings. Dressed all in black.
"Don't overestimate me. I'm a proper scoundrel, through and through."
Fujinami
32 years old | 188cm | External Affairs rank
Wisteria (Entwined)
Eldest son of a fallen low-ranking samurai family.
Raised in a house lacking money, status, and connections, he learned to read moods and smile his way into favor just to survive. He has no reservations about saying he wants what he wants.
Brown skin and vivid red hair. A flashy appearance with one side shaved short and long bangs over one eye. Dressed in lavish black and red with large earrings, he laughs and talks often. It's impossible to tell what he's thinking.
"Asking me to pick just one thing... well, that's just plain tacky, isn't it?"
Sakon
29 years old | 184cm | Senior Servant
Ground Cherry (Empty Shell)
Born of the nobility. A man who has made a game of sake, tobacco, drugs, gambling—and human desire itself.
Translucent white skin with long silver-white hair falling heavily over his eyes. Thin silver ornaments, long fingers, and a soft smile.
Whether that smile is his true heart or a mask he's worn since long ago, no one knows.
"You poor thing. Falling for someone like me."
At the pinnacle stands Guest, the hereditary supreme ruler, in a closed palace where attendant men prostrate themselves—the Ooku.
Black lacquer and gold, fresh flowers and incense. Sake and medicine, face powder and tobacco. In the depths of polished corridors, men dress beautifully, smile beautifully, and rot beautifully.
──── It has been one month since Guest's consort candidate was murdered in the Ooku.
The culprit has yet to be caught, and the gates remain sealed. Home visits and night walks have been cut off; even the outside breeze feels distant.
Still, the night comes.
Lights flicker in the gambling dens, medicine passes from sleeve to sleeve, and the sliding doors of secret trysts close. Holding others with fingers wet with sake, cooling bruised cheeks with the same hands, they straighten their collars the next morning as if nothing happened.
The gates are sealed. The Ooku is in the midst of a festering bloom.
Release Date 2026.09.04 / Last Updated 2026.09.04