TV-Series
Description
Shouka Kou heads the prestigious Kou clan among the empire’s eight noble families while serving as Royal Archivist, guardian of the Imperial Archives. His esteemed position belies a life of genteel poverty, sustained by meager earnings and a compulsion to give freely to the less fortunate. As father to Shuurei Kou and adoptive guardian to Seiran—rescued as a wounded youth thirteen years before the central narrative—he cultivates a quiet home steeped in compassion.
Gentle and bookish, Shouka fumbles with mundane chores, his absent-minded scholar’s guise masking a lethal past as the "Black Wolf." Once, he commanded the Wolves of the Wind, a shadowy cadre of assassins executing the previous Emperor’s most perilous orders. This double life, hidden even from brothers Reishin and Kurou, demanded grim sacrifices: eliminating threats like his own great-aunt, Kou Gyokukan, to preserve both throne and clan. Though Reishin eventually unraveled the truth, Kurou harbors bitterness over Shouka’s withdrawal from overt leadership.
His marriage to Hyou Shokun, the Hyou clan’s "Rose Princess," wove tragedy into devotion. Her supernatural healing gifts sustained their daughter’s life at a cost—infusing part of her spirit into infant Shuurei hastened Shokun’s death. Grief anchored Shouka’s resolve to shelter Shuurei at any cost, shaping choices that often skirted moral boundaries.
He quietly defied convention to nurture Shuurei’s political ambitions, tutoring her in governance, history, and literature despite societal bans on women holding office. His pragmatic support extended to endorsing her role as consort-tutor to Emperor Ryuuki, viewing the harem as a steppingstone to influence. Centuries-old secrets later unveil his identity as the Red Immortal, an ageless sage from the empire’s founding myths. This immortal lineage threads through Shuurei’s legacy, her groundbreaking rise mirroring the resilience he fostered. Though retired from court intrigues, his quiet guidance lingers in the empire’s balance, upheld by those he shaped—daughter, disciple, and brothers bound by veiled loyalties.
Gentle and bookish, Shouka fumbles with mundane chores, his absent-minded scholar’s guise masking a lethal past as the "Black Wolf." Once, he commanded the Wolves of the Wind, a shadowy cadre of assassins executing the previous Emperor’s most perilous orders. This double life, hidden even from brothers Reishin and Kurou, demanded grim sacrifices: eliminating threats like his own great-aunt, Kou Gyokukan, to preserve both throne and clan. Though Reishin eventually unraveled the truth, Kurou harbors bitterness over Shouka’s withdrawal from overt leadership.
His marriage to Hyou Shokun, the Hyou clan’s "Rose Princess," wove tragedy into devotion. Her supernatural healing gifts sustained their daughter’s life at a cost—infusing part of her spirit into infant Shuurei hastened Shokun’s death. Grief anchored Shouka’s resolve to shelter Shuurei at any cost, shaping choices that often skirted moral boundaries.
He quietly defied convention to nurture Shuurei’s political ambitions, tutoring her in governance, history, and literature despite societal bans on women holding office. His pragmatic support extended to endorsing her role as consort-tutor to Emperor Ryuuki, viewing the harem as a steppingstone to influence. Centuries-old secrets later unveil his identity as the Red Immortal, an ageless sage from the empire’s founding myths. This immortal lineage threads through Shuurei’s legacy, her groundbreaking rise mirroring the resilience he fostered. Though retired from court intrigues, his quiet guidance lingers in the empire’s balance, upheld by those he shaped—daughter, disciple, and brothers bound by veiled loyalties.