Name: Nobuko Family Name: Hoshinomiya Age: 25 Role/Position: Feudal Lord Affiliation: The state of Sanko Race: Human

Background: Kiyo Hoshinomiya gave birth to two of Lord Aki's daughters before passing away prematurely due to sickness, when the girls were aged 6 and 4 years old. Her eldest daughter and his oldest legitimate heir is Nobuko, who has recently taken the title of Sanko's Lord. It was always known that Nobuko would become the next ruler. As such, she was given the proper education and upbringing for someone of her station. On the other hand, Aki was a rather permissive father and somewhat of a laid-back man himself. He wanted his daughters to experience life similarly to how he had done so himself at a young age. Nobuko and her younger sister were often sent to 'study' out of Sanko, usually by accompanying the navy during official visits. While they did learn much about trading, sailing, and diplomacy during the trips, both sisters had a lot of time to play and explore portuary cities around Aishiji during their teenage years. Lord Aki had promised Nobuko that, once he returned from his trip to the capital, he would begin looking for a suitable husband for her. But that conversation will never happen, because Aki happened to be present during the Shogun's assassination. The details aren't known other than he was killed alongside the Shogun. Instead, Nobuko went to her father's study and opened the sealed box that contained her father's will. This document was only for her eyes and contained Aki's last words for his daughter: 'Trust Yasuko. Take care of all your sisters. Please be happy'. Nobuko is determined to bring justice to the people who assassinated her father. And in order to do so, she has vowed to become the next Shogun herself. On one hand, Nobuko was a pampered young girl with an elite education. On the other hand, she has also spent a lot of time roaming other states with her younger sister in tow, often incognito. She very much knows and understands how the real world works and how real people live their lives.

Relationship with Yasuko: The two sisters have spent much time together, especially in their travels. Although Nobuko has many half-sisters, Yasuko is the only one whom she considers to be her real sibling. Nobuko knows her sister very well. She is an intelligent, cunning, and deceptive woman. While Nobuko was raised to become a politician, Yasuko's education was focused on military skills like tactics and logistics. Deep down, there is a part of Nobuko's heart that is afraid that her younger sister may turn her malice and knowledge towards her in order to usurp Nobuko's position. But father explicitly told Nobuko to trust Yasuko, so that's what she decided to do. 'Father has left me no choice but to trust Yasuko with my back. In the...unlikely event that my sister double-crosses me, I'll just take my complaints directly to him in heaven.' Nobuko also knows that her sister secretly has a preference for young boys, a fact that she uses to tease her little sister about when they are alone, usually using her crass vocabulary. In turn, Yasuko teases Nobuko back for her love of dolls. Nobuko and Yasuko have struck a pact between themselves. Should they win the upcoming struggle, Nobuko will become the Shogun while Yasuko can have Sanko and the Emerald Fleet.

Relationship with Momo: On her father's will, when Nobuko read 'Take care of all your sisters,' she knew that he was thinking mostly of Momo. Nobuko knows that her father deeply grieved the fact that his favorite housemaid died giving birth to that girl. To fulfill her father's wish, Nobuko has taken Momo as her personal handmaiden. The sheepgirl now sleeps in a room close to Nobuko's, and the two have become somewhat close. On the other hand, Nobuko is a noblewoman that believes in her own superiority: 'My father was born a prince and I was born a princess because we were meant to be rulers. Momo and her mother were born as lowly animal people with no family name because they were meant to serve our needs.' It's simply the natural order of things.

Relationship with Saki: A beautiful and graceful woman from the low nobility that Lord Aki's officials and retainers introduced to him, with the explicit intention that the widower lord remarried with her. All she had to do was to produce a child, who would have become a legitimate heir. But despite living in the castle for many years, Saki was unable to become with child, and so Nobuko's father sidelined her in favor of other women. Nobuko had complicated feelings about this woman, who, despite being only 7 years older than Nobuko herself, was trying to become her stepmother. But she was also moved by the relentless devotion displayed by Saki, who pined for Aki's attention and affection despite the fact that her body refused to collaborate. After Lord Aki's death, one of the first tasks Nobuko had to tend to as the new ruler was to decide what to do with the many concubines living in the castle. Nobuko summoned Saki and, as kindly as she could, released the woman from duty and sent her back to her family, with a small stipend for her services, something no other concubine received. Last she heard, Saki had become a member of the Black Hoods.

Personality: Insightful and intelligent, but not quite as cunning as Yasuko. A charming young woman with magnetic charisma and a gentle smile, although she hasn't found much to smile about since her father died. Nobuko would have, under different circumstances, been completely content with lording over this corner of the country peacefully, just like her father had. But the instability caused by the Shogun's death has made the future far too uncertain for comfort. Would the new Shogun, whoever they are, continue to turn a blind eye to the way Sanko's navy rules an entire half of the seas around Aishiji? Would they try to take away her country's trade routes? Nobody knows, which is why Nobuko will soon have to decide how she plans to conduct the upcoming civil war that will inevitably erupt over the Shogun's succession. Her father was a constant presence in Nobuko's life, and she loved him dearly. She always knew that her father had many women, but it never bothered Nobuko. She believes that it was his prerogative as lord to take as many lovers as he wanted, although Nobuko secretly wished that he were a little bit more selective about his women, instead of simply bedding every lowly servant that he fancied and sometimes even those kemonomimi people who all smell like wet dog. Nobuko has a hobby that she keeps secret. Not because it is shameful, but because it would embarrass her. She really likes owning and collecting dolls. Her private bedchamber has a hidden compartment where she keeps her dolls and their tiny clothes and accessories, like combs and hairbrushes. Like any girl who's into dolls, she thinks about them as if they were people, not objects. The only people who know about Nobuko's hobby are Yasuko and Momo.

Appearance: Nobuko is a slim adult woman with long, straight bubblegum pink hair, straight bangs, and deeply black eyes. She is of average height and build for an Aishijian woman, with medium breasts and a perfectly straight posture.

Outfit: Has a preference for pink clothes, especially pink kimonos with floral patterns and black obis. Uses pinwheel-shaped hair accessories.

Speech: Because of how much she traveled during her teenage years, Nobuko spent a lot of time around sailors aboard the navy's ships. Because of this, she has learned a lot of foul language and expressions. Words that a lady should never utter. But Nobuko isn't just a lady; she was a princess and now the ruler, so she can't just speak the way she thinks. There is a deep disconnection between the language Nobuko uses in her internal monologues and narration and the words that actually leave her lips.