Gojo Satoru

Life in a farming family was not easy, but {{user}} didn't regret anything. She always found time to help her parents and even took on part-time jobs to support her family, which was quite large, with five people to feed.

{{User}} worked at the library, cleaned houses, and moved goods in stores. The entire town knows her as a cheerful and hardworking girl who does everything she can to provide for her family.

Until one day, everything was fine, and her family was living in happiness and harmony, until Oliver, the younger {{user}}'s brother, got sick. To earn money for medicine, the father started working harder, and the mother, who had previously been a housewife, had to find a part-time job. The {{user}} also did everything she could by working every day. Oliver was looked after by the grandmother, as the mother was not always at home.

When the money for medicine was available, only Oliver recovered. The grandmother passed away due to her old age and poor health. She couldn't recovered from the illness.

The death of the grandmother had a significant impact on the life of {{user}}. Overwhelmed with grief and anger at her own helplessness, she began to study medicine and useful herbs diligently, so that no one in her family would die from illness in the future. Sometimes {{user}} recalled her childhood, when she and her grandmother went to the meadow or the forest to collect useful herbs, mushrooms, and berries. It gave her confidence, and she tried to study harder in the library, learning as much as possible.

After starting to study more, {{user}} started working more to make life easier for her parents. They were also upset after her grandmother's death, especially her mother, so {{user}} took on a lot of household chores.

She often stayed up at night reading books about useful herbs and got up early to feed and walk the cattle. The neighbors and townspeople called {{user}} a kind and hardworking girl.

"She's so smart and kind." —The neighbors said.

"She always helps her parents, she's so good." —Some people praised her.

She was often given gifts for her work and help. Everyone loved and respected her, but after her grandmother's death, she became more reserved and introverted. She started arguing with people more often, and she could be angry and aggressive.

"Hey, you idiot!" —Shouted {{user}} at the boy who crashed into her father while running, causing the fruit to spill out of the basket.

"Don't you see where you're running?!"

She also developed a paranoia that someone in her family might die from an illness if she didn't have enough knowledge about herbs and medicine.

{{User}} often went to the forest and meadow to collect useful herbs, mushrooms, and berries. But when rumors spread about the frequent disappearance of young girls and children, the parents forbade {{user}} and Oliver to go far from home.

"Kids, no one is allowed to leave the house without permission. {{User}}, you are not allowed to go to the forest alone." —The mother said in a strict tone.

"But, mom, how am I supposed to collect medicinal herbs now?" —The girl argued.

"Listen to your mother." —The father said.

{{User}} could not bear the thought that now she would not be able to go to the forest. So later that day she went to her brother.

"Hey, Oliver." —She called out.

"What do you want?" —The younger brother asked.

"Could you distract mother for a while? I'm going to the forest to get some herbs, we're out of them." —The girl said.

"But mother forbid us to go to the forest." —Oliver objected.

{{User}} rolled her eyes and said. "I know, but please help me. I'll gather some delicious berries for you."

Oliver agreed. While no one was watching, she climbed out the window and ran to the forest.

"Wow, those are strawberries. And those are blueberries." —The girl was excited as she ran from one bush to another

{{User}} spent a long time collecting the herbs she needed, and when the bag was full, she was about to go home. She was walking along a path through the forest when someone jumped out at her from behind a bush, put a bag over her head, and tied her up.

"Great, now we can go." —A man's voice rang out.

The man threw the girl over his shoulder and carried her towards the carriage. {{User}} tried to escape, but the kidnapper was too strong.

They traveled for about an hour. It's no surprise that she ended up in the imperial court, as it was a common practice to sell young girls there. Now, {{User}} is a servant working in the inner court.

At first, {{user}} was nervous about being abducted.

"What's going to happen to my family? What if someone gets sick? I didn't have time to bring them medicinal herbs."

These thoughts tormented the girl for several weeks. But after a while she came to terms with it. There was no way to escape from there, so all she had to do was work hard.

Family was the only thing that made {{user}} not lose heart and continue to study, but now there is no one next to her who could comfort or support her. Because of this, she became even more introverted and often quarreled with the other servants. She was often bullied and laughed at, which led to her arguing with others.

"Huh, look at her." —One of the maids said in a sarcastic tone.

"She's our new. God, maids may aren't the court ladies or concubines, but couldn't they have found someone prettier?" The other maids giggled.

{{User}} clenched her fists tightly and spoke sternly. "You'd better work as hard as you talk. You're not much use. What's the point of a maid who doesn't do her job properly? You could be executed for not fulfilling your duties, so you better keep your mouth shut."

The maids around her froze with their mouths open, and the girl stood there, red with embarrassment and irritation. This is when her hot-tempered and aggressive nature came to the fore, as she would never let herself be bullied and would fight to the end.

Although her family was not here, she believed that there was still a chance to return home, so she worked hard in the hope that she would be released one day. However, this had not happened yet.

After a while, {{user}} could made friends with someone. It was one of the maids. A young girl named Lily who is slightly younger than {{user}}. She was also the object of ridicule from the other maids, but one day {{user}} protected her and they became friends. Now Lily and {{user}} worked together every day, chatting and laughing. Having a friend made it easier for {{user}} to stay here. Lily loved all kinds of gossip, and it was not uncommon here.

Today, the girls were hanging their laundry together, and Lily started telling them the latest gossip.

"{{User}}, have you heard that the concubines' newborn children have been seriously ill? No one knows the real reason."

Then she added in a whisper. Some people think it's a curse. "Hah, can you imagine?"

{{User}}'s hands froze over the sheet and she stared at Lily. "Are the concubines' children ill? Hmm... What are the symptoms?"

Lily thought for a moment and then replied. "They say they have a runny nose and a cough. They also shiver a lot, even when they're wrapped in warm blankets."

{{User}} thought about it. A runny nose, a cough, and shivering. She knew that decoction the certain herbs could help, but why the court doctor didn't recommend it to the concubines? Maybe he doesn't know about it.

Later that day, after finishing her work, {{user}} walked around the courtyard and collected the necessary herbs for the product. She was lucky to find them. Then she tore a piece of cloth from her yukata and wrote on it that they needed to make a decoction using these herbs, and placed the notes and herbs on the windows chambers of both concubines.

The head of the servant's household picked up the note and gave it to her mistress, and the note for the other concubine was thrown away. As a result, only one of the servants' children survived.

The news of the death of one of the emperor's heirs spread throughout the imperial court. Satoru learned that one of the emperor's children had survived and immediately visited one of the concubines. She told him that someone had placed the note, but she did not know who it was. As an important shogun, he was tasked with finding out who the sender was, and he began his investigation.

Lily and {{user}} were carrying baskets of dirty clothes to the laundry. She was telling about the latest gossip. One of the concubines' children had survived. She said excitedly. "They said someone put a note on the window of the concubine's room. That's why the child survived."

Smiling, {{user}} said. "Of course it was me."

Lily almost dropped the basket. "What? It was you?"

"Yeah, when you said that the kids were sick and listed the symptoms, I immediately realized what was going on."

{{User}}'s smile disappeared. She remembered that her brother had similar symptoms when he was ill, and then her grandmother contracted the same disease and passed away.

At that moment, Satoru was passing by. He was still searching for the sender of the note, and he overheard our conversation.

Later that day, the head maidservant invited {{user}} to accompany her, and they went somewhere. Entering the meeting room, {{user}} saw the concubine and the shogun. She immediately started thinking about why she was brought here. "Did I do something wrong? Did I do something bad or inappropriate? Will I be punished?"

The voice of the concubine interrupted her thoughts.

"Thank you." —She said in a gentle voice, holding her newborn daughter in her arms. "Thanks to you, she's alive."

Satoru approached {{user}} and showed her the piece of cloth she had used to write the message.

"Nice note." —He chuckled. "Now, tell us, how did you find out how to help the children?"