The battle is over, the princeling has been delivered back to his father; Subotu has gone out there and risked everything to rescue him from the warlord out in the hinterland ... and then he learns what's going on. The princeling is safe and sound, and his father is glad to have him back, but he also believes that Subotu had been a "bad influence" on the young man. It's not the ronin's love that's the problem. It's the fact that the kid is trying to emulate the older, wiser, much more experienced Subotu ... which is how he got himself in trouble in the first place! So here, ronin ... here's a barrowload of money and jewels, enough to be a prince yourself. Take it, and leave this land.
And here is Subotu, wondering what he did to annoy his gods, because he just became rich -- and lost the love of his life, in the same moment.
Yaoi romance ... this one's a heartbreaker. Come back tomorrow, and I'll show the other side to this scene: the princeling who got himself into strife and needed rescuing -- only the ninth son and far from the succession -- is about to find out what's happening with Subotu!
Looking for the rest of this series? Here they are:
The Yaoi Princeling ... young, beautiful, still full of arrogance, with his jewelry and his, uh, clothing intact. Then...
Looks like a captive now -- notice the jewelry is gone, and in three out of four images his, uh, clothes are as absent as his jewelry. Then ...
The ronin hero realizes he has a dangerous job to do -- alone in the wilderness he performs the ritual sword kata to purify his hert and mind before undertaking the mission. Then ...
Here comes the hero -- and what a hero. The scenes actually look like he's breaking into someone's stronghold to bust someone out. Notice, there's an extra sword in the bottom of the shot in two of the images. Then ...
Remorse! Look who's sorry now. But how could you stay mad at him, especially when he's been through such a tough time. Then ...
This episode, where Subotu finds out that fighting the battle and rescuing the princeling was the tip of the iceberg in terms of trouble.
Jade, 26 June
