This is the story of Nii when she was sixteen.
“Miss… love is a wonderful thing.
I pray that someday you will find true love, young lady…I pray…”
Nii listened to the words of her caretaker, who was dying of illness, with cold eyes.
She was a prostitute.
She was born and raised in the Yoshiwara district.
She was born and raised in Yoshiwara, and Nii was the child of an extremely popular courtesan who gave birth to her on a whim.
Nii’s mother’s good looks and exceptional talent.
From a young age, Nii learned every trick in the book and was destined to become a courtesan.
Nii didn’t mind it either, she accepted it as her destiny.
In Yoshiwara, she had seen the tears of prostitutes many times.
Nii did not believe in love at all.
She had seen many women who believed in men, only to be thrown away and torn to pieces.
Love was an illusion.
It had been deeply engraved in her mind since she was a child.
One day at the age of fifteen, she was preparing for her first performance as a prostitute, one day at the age of fifteen.
Her abilities suddenly awakened.
Nii learned the art of fire, and the following year, it was decided that she would go to a training ground in a neighboring town.
On the day of her departure, she was at the bedside of her caretaker, who had little time left to live, when she said goodbye.
“My Lady, please find true love.
Someone like me, someone you can love with all your heart. Someday, for sure, I want to see that person again…”
The man said, and stopped moving.
Nii quietly left the place.
これは、ニイが16歳の時の物語。
「お嬢様…愛とは、素晴らしいものです。
いつか、お嬢様が本当の愛に出会えることを…俺は祈っています…」
病で死にかけた世話係りの男の言葉を、ニイは冷めた目で聞いていた。
彼女は花魁だ。
生まれも育ちも吉原の中。
絶大な人気を誇る花魁が、きまぐれで産んだ子、それがニイだった。
母親譲りの美貌、類まれな才能。
ニイは小さな頃からあらゆる芸を学び、花魁になることが決まっていた。
ニイもまた、それを嫌とは思わず、運命だと受け入れていた。
吉原の中では、何度も見て来た遊女たちの涙。
ニイは愛など全く信じていなかった。
男を信じては捨てられ、ボロボロになる女たちを何人も見て来た。
愛などは幻だ。
ニイの脳裏には幼い頃からそう深く刻まれていた。
遊女としての初披露を控えた、十五歳のある日。
突如としてその能力は覚醒した。
火の術を覚えたニイは、翌年、隣町の訓練場に行くことが決まった。
その出発の日、余命わずかな世話係りの男の枕元で、別れを告げた時だった。
「お嬢様…どうか、真実の愛を見つけて下さい。私のように…心から愛せる人を。いつか必ず、またあの人に会いたい…」
男はそう言うと、動かなくなった。
ニイは静かにその場を後にした。