Kourin was introduced as a servant in the imperial palace and served as a lady-in-waiting to Kou Shuurei. She was originally a war orphan who collapsed in front of the residence of Taiho Sa and was subsequently taken in and adopted by him. Her deep gratitude and unwavering loyalty to Taiho Sa drove her to extreme measures, including an attempt to poison Shuurei at his behest, after which she intended to sacrifice her own life by drinking poison herself. After Taiho Sa’s death, Kourin was sent to live with his widow Hyou Eiki in Sa province. She later returned to the capital alongside Ro Ensei to deliver intelligence about an unfolding crisis, and then traveled back toward Sa province with Ensei, Shi Seiran, and the newly appointed co-governors Tou Eigetsu and Shuurei. Over the course of the second series, her role shifts from a subordinate whose actions were defined by her devotion to Taiho Sa to someone who becomes entangled in the larger political turmoil of Sa province. She eventually marries Tou Eigetsu. Her manner toward Eigetsu is often a mixture of concern, annoyance, and exasperation, yet she shows clear signs of romantic attachment to him. Kourin’s development traces a path from blind loyalty to a more independent sense of purpose, and her involvement in the Sa province storyline places her closer to the central political and personal conflicts of the series. Her most notable quality is a fierce determination and the capacity for intense personal sacrifice, which later matures into a quieter, if still somewhat prickly, devotion to the people she comes to care about.