A candlestick covered with a red gauze shade emitted a faint red glow, beside a neatly made, wrinkle-free bed. On one side of the bed was a wooden window, through which a few simple green plants could be seen near the courtyard wall; on the other side, a rack held a set of red-and-white miko vestments, looking simple and clean.
An open cabinet displayed a little girl's dolls, and a red long sword hung on the wall. This Japanese-style bedroom was not large, and its decorations were simple, exuding a faint antique charm. Perhaps miko of the Edo period had lived in rooms just like this, cultivating their moral character and purifying their desires, detached from worldly thoughts.
Yet in an era when they were supposed to devote themselves entirely to the gods, a young maiden lived day in and day out in such a simple room, forbidden from any romantic entanglements. Her most constant companions from sunrise to sunset were the blooming of flowers and the withering of leaves. When they sat alone by the candlestick in the dead of night, would they think of the childhood sweethearts they used to play with, or the young man in a green robe caught in a fleeting glance by day?
Chapter 59