Hearing the whisper from her shadow, Kaguya Sumeragi was not surprised.
In fact, the voice in her shadow had existed ever since she arrived in this strange world from her original one.
Although Kaguya Sumeragi still did not know who the presence in her shadow was, from the current situation, it seemed the other party bore her no ill will.
Therefore, faced with the shadow's question, Kaguya Sumeragi was not particularly surprised. Instead, she asked with curiosity, "You think I'm lost?"
"Are you not?" the voice in the shadow chuckled. "Although you do possess the bloodline of Japan's Imperial Family, it is, unfortunately, the bloodline of an Imperial Family from another world."
"Although the influence of a certain something made Prince Tomohito acknowledge you as his daughter, I believe you should be clear about the actual situation."
"Apart from that cheap father of yours, not many in this Imperial Family care about you, especially when you haven't demonstrated your value."
At this point, the shadow paused before reminding Kaguya Sumeragi, "Heh, in my opinion, it would be best to leave the Imperial Palace as soon as possible. This place is no longer safe."
Hearing this, Kaguya Sumeragi's expression remained unchanged. Still smiling, she enquired of the shadow, "You seem to know something?"
The shadow let out a laugh. "I do indeed know a few things. What, you want to know?"
But Kaguya Sumeragi just smiled faintly and said softly, "Although I don't know the reason, I think you probably don't want me to die just like this, do you?"
"...Heh."
The shadow gave a cold laugh, then paused before saying, "Although the scent is very faint, the aura of a Bloodline Hunter has already appeared in this Imperial Palace."
"I'm not sure if it's one of those so-called lucky ones, or one of those priests, but regardless of which it is, if you continue to stay in the Imperial Palace, you will only end up as promotion material for a Bloodline Hunter."
"If you don't want to die, get rid of your so-called imperial status as soon as possible and leave this place."
"Judging by the current situation, this place will likely become a Bloodline Hunter's pasture."
Hearing the shadow's words, Kaguya Sumeragi said with some surprise, "Promotion material... is that the material you mentioned that can turn people into supernaturals?"
"People with imperial status will become promotion materials for those Bloodline Hunters?"
"What exactly are these so-called Bloodline Hunters?"
The shadow fell silent for a moment before explaining, "...They are a group of madmen who worship the God of Life and Domination."
"And they are the last people someone like you—hailed as noble yet without a shred of supernatural foundation—should ever come into contact with."
"As for anything else, it's useless for you to know more."
Hearing the shadow speak this way, Kaguya Sumeragi fell silent for a moment, then said, "So what I need to do now is to leave the Imperial Family?"
"You had best do so," the shadow said flatly.
"Then where I should go after leaving the Imperial Family becomes a problem..."
As she said this, Kaguya Sumeragi sounded somewhat troubled. "In this world, a woman of Japan's Imperial Family automatically becomes a commoner after marriage."
"Does that mean I need to find a suitable person to marry myself off to as quickly as possible?"
"Heh." The shadow gave a cold laugh. "Just doing that won't be enough to shake off those Bloodline Hunters."
After speaking, the shadow paused for a moment, then added, "Didn't you fool someone from a DNA testing company into creating a certificate stating you have no blood relation to Prince Tomohito?"
"Make that public. Let everyone know, especially the Bloodline Hunters."
"Only then can you be removed from their target list."
Hearing this, Kaguya Sumeragi showed surprise. "You mean to say, even an imperial woman who has become a commoner can become their material? What's the principle behind that?"
The shadow did not explain, only saying flatly, "Knowing these things is meaningless for you."
Seeing this riddle-like statement, Kaguya Sumeragi frowned but still chose to believe the shadow's words.
She suspected that the shadow was some kind of existence parasitising her.
Unless absolutely necessary, it naturally would not want her, its host, to die.
With this in mind, Kaguya Sumeragi took a deep breath and said, feeling a slight headache, "If that's the case, it seems I can only give up my status as a member of the Imperial Family."
Kaguya Sumeragi was well aware of the importance of status.
No matter which world one was in, a good status and background could provide a level of assistance hard for ordinary people to imagine.
Take, for example, the status of a princess of Japan's Imperial Family.
Even if Kaguya Sumeragi did nothing, this status could provide her with a monthly allowance of over 500,000 yen and access to major figures in Japan's financial conglomerates and political circles, thereby enabling her to obtain information unavailable to ordinary people.
Therefore, when Prince Tomohito had sought her out to acknowledge their kinship, and the paternity test had come back positive under the witness of the Imperial Household Agency staff, Kaguya Sumeragi had immediately put on a performance of a loving father and a filial daughter.
A few months later, after confirming the situation of the Japanese Imperial Family in this world, Kaguya Sumeragi set about preparing a fake paternity certificate, intentionally leaving some room for manoeuvre.
As long as Kaguya Sumeragi wished, she could jump between the identities of an imperial relative and a non-imperial relative at any time.
And if all this was handled properly, she could completely and gracefully withdraw from the cesspool that was the Imperial Family.
And now, it seemed the time to withdraw had come.
"What a pity..." Kaguya Sumeragi sighed softly.
If it weren't for the Bloodline Hunters the shadow mentioned, she could have used her existing capital to continue being an imperial relative, secretly making contact with political and business figures, and ideally joining a mystic side faction to gain the power to protect herself.
And in fact, that was what Kaguya had been doing.
At the very least, she was currently on good terms with the daughter of the Head Priest of Meiji Shrine. If she could maintain her status and secure a recommendation, becoming a Shinto Priest at Meiji Shrine would not be difficult.
But now, it seemed she had to give up on her plans.
Thinking of this, Kaguya Sumeragi shook her head, a smile returning to her face as she walked towards the location of Japan's figurehead monarch.
Just as she drew near, through the exquisite, traditional sliding door, Kaguya Sumeragi heard a voice full of sorrow.
"So this is their reply to me?"
Kaguya Sumeragi's footsteps halted.