Chapter 400: Words that Pierce the Heart! Shattered Pride and Tatsuya's Advice

Inside the private room, the scent of sandalwood incense hung suspended in the air.

Hearing Tatsuya’s mocking and disdainful words, “Truly, quite the… Oiran, aren’t you?”, the smug satisfaction that had just risen in Kozuki Hiyori’s heart instantly froze into ice.

Her delicate, coy expression froze completely on her peerless face.

Her watery eyes widened slightly, looking in disbelief at the man towering over her.

“Truly, quite the Oiran?”

What did that mean?

In this man’s eyes, was her tragic plea, where she had set aside her status, and her use of her physical charms to win him over, merely a lowly courtesan flaunting herself?

Tatsuya casually shook off her delicate wrist, which had originally intended to stroke his cheek.

That slight force caused Hiyori to instantly lose her balance.

Accompanied by the faint sound of silk clothing rubbing against the tatami, this number one beauty of Wano Country fell back onto the soft cushion in a somewhat disheveled state.

The exquisite hair ornaments on her head swayed slightly, and a few strands of hair hung messily beside her cheeks.

For twenty years, the charm she had been so proud of, which had made countless men infatuated with her, was completely trampled into the dirt at this moment.

A flash of shame, anger, and indescribable humiliation crossed Hiyori’s eyes.

She bit her rosy lower lip hard, looked up, and loudly questioned Tatsuya before her:

“Lord Tatsuya! Since you have long known my true identity, why use such methods to humiliate me?”

“In the eyes of a high-and-mighty deputy of an Emperor of the Sea like you, does the last bloodline of the Kozuki Clan deserve nothing but such mockery?!”

Faced with Hiyori’s questioning, Tatsuya didn’t even blink.

“Humiliate you? No, I am merely stating a ridiculous fact.”

“Do you really think those little tricks you play in the Flower Capital can deceive the world?”

“Using the identity of an Oiran of the pleasure district to frantically accumulate wealth, using the lust of those scumbags to swindle them out of their family fortunes.”

“And then secretly acting as a so-called chivalrous thief to help those starving poor people…”

Tatsuya let out a short laugh: “Is this the so-called ‘revenge’ you have plotted while lingering on for twenty years?”

“Such clumsy tricks, like children playing house, cannot shake the iron-fisted rule of Kaido and Orochi in the slightest.”

“Besides saving a few more civilians about to die of illness, and slightly soothing your own inner guilt, does it have any impact on the big picture?”

“This is nothing more than a ridiculous method used by the weak to self-soothe amidst endless despair!”

Watching Hiyori’s face turn pale as paper, Tatsuya’s gaze became increasingly sharp, like a blade capable of dissecting a human heart:

“I think you’ve become addicted to being an Oiran and have long forgotten your original identity and the responsibilities you should bear, haven’t you?”

“For these past several years, you have been at the center of power in the Flower Capital.”

“You were only one step away from your father’s killer, Orochi!”

“Yet what have you done?”

“You haven’t used your beauty and status to collect even a single piece of core intelligence, let alone planned a single decent assassination attempt.”

“The so-called ‘patience’ you always have on your lips is nothing more than you living in luxury in the Flower Capital, content with the status quo and shirking your duties.”

“You have heaped all the burdens of the Kozuki Clan onto Denjiro’s shoulders alone, relying entirely on him to carry the weight for you in the darkness!”

Hiyori’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.

She wanted to retort, but found that her throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, unable to make a sound.

Because everything Tatsuya said accurately pierced the dark side of her heart that she had never dared to face.

Tatsuya slowly bent down, closing the distance between him and Hiyori:

“You always shout with utmost determination that ‘Orochi must be killed by my own hands to comfort my father’s spirit in heaven’.”

“But in reality?”

“When it truly comes to the decisive battle of swords and bloodshed, do you dare to pick up a sword?”

“If I’m not mistaken, when that time comes, your only role will likely be hiding in a safe corner of the ruins, pitifully playing your shamisen, right?”

“The samurai of your Wano Country will bleed out on the battlefield, risking their lives to defeat Kaido.”

“Denjiro will block all dangers for you and personally kill Orochi for you.”

“And you, the noble Princess, only need to change into the most beautiful new kimono after the smoke of battle clears, and walk out in the most glorious posture.”

“To accept the gratitude and kowtowing of the hundreds of thousands of people of Wano Country, and peacefully enjoy the glory of restoring the country that others bought with their lives.”

“You…”

Hiyori’s pupils trembled violently, her breathing ragged.

Tatsuya straightened up, his gaze cast toward the Flower Capital outside the window, shrouded in false prosperity:

“When you were in the pleasure district of the Flower Capital, wearing priceless, magnificent twelve-layered kimono, enjoying the adoration of countless men.”

“Did you know that just a few dozen miles away in Kuri.”

“The civilians your father once protected with his life are enduring excruciating pain, drinking the deadly poisonous water discharged by the weapons factory just to live one more day.”

“Those two tears you shed here, this light, airy sacrifice of your so-called ‘abandoning dignity’.”

“In the face of the true suffering that those bottom-tier commoners experience every day, it is completely worthless.”

Tatsuya turned his head:

“In the end, you simply lack the courage to draw your sword and face death.”

“You fear death, you fear Kaido’s power.”

“So you can only comfortably hide in the umbrella of men’s desires and protection, lingering on like a parasite.”

“Kozuki Hiyori, your hypocrisy and weakness are truly sickening.”

This long, piercing argument stripped away the psychological defenses and self-esteem of Kozuki Hiyori, layer by layer, down to the bone.

She had always used grand and tragic terms like ‘enduring humiliation for the sake of the country’ to numb herself and hypnotize herself.

She thought she had made a huge sacrifice that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

However, today, this man before her had coldly torn off this magnificent fig leaf.

“No… that’s not it… I didn’t…”

Hiyori slumped powerlessly onto the cold tatami, covering her face tightly with both hands.

Warm tears gushed out like a broken dam from between her fingers, dripping onto her expensive silk kimono.

In the spacious and luxurious private room, Kozuki Hiyori’s irrepressible, miserable sobbing began to echo.

Tatsuya stood where he was, quietly watching this number one beauty of Wano Country crying into a tear-stained mess.

“No need to cry in front of me, it’s meaningless.”

“We will go to Onigashima to defeat Kaido, but this is definitely not for you, nor for your so-called noble Kozuki Clan.”

“It is for ourselves, and for the citizens of Wano Country.”

“Your so-called Kozuki bloodline has made you feel superior since childhood, deserving of the adoration of all of Wano Country.”

“But you forgot, while this bloodline grants you power, it also brings heavy responsibilities that cannot be shirked.”

“Put away your tears, and don’t continue to run away.”

“If you still want to stand on the land of Wano Country as a Princess in the future, then go and properly think about what you should be doing now.”

Having said that, Tatsuya slowly lowered the brim of his hat, hiding his cold, sharp eyes back into the shadows.

He didn’t look at the woman on the ground again, pushing open the gorgeous shoji door of the private room, which was carved with intricate patterns.

In the magnificent and empty room, cold wind blew in through the open door, causing the candlelight to flicker uncertainly.

In the room, only Kozuki Hiyori was left, slumped alone on the tatami.

She clenched her fists tightly, her sharp nails digging deep into her soft palms until fresh blood seeped out, yet she seemed not to feel any pain.

The ‘Komurasaki’ who had always maintained nobility and elegance and made countless men bow before her was now completely devoid of any image.

Her carefully applied makeup was completely ruined by tears, and snot and tears flowed freely across her face.

She bit her teeth, which had turned white from overexertion, and stared dead at the empty doorway Tatsuya had left through with red eyes.

Her body trembled violently due to shame, self-reproach, and uncontrollable emotional fluctuations.

In this suffocatingly silent private room, she whispered that name over and over again:

“What a joke… what a joke…”

“Crimson Eyes… Tatsuya…”