Synopsis: The first prince, by the emperor’s permission, is gathering Chagum’s belongings to burn them and purge the curse. Shuga investigates the drought sign.

This was a Shuga episode. It started out with him visiting Chagum’s mother, the second empress. She seems to have transferred to another house. She said that since she moved, she has learned to do housework for the first time. She is proud that her hands are becoming what one would call “mother’s hands”. I think Shuga felt a little awkward during the visit. He felt responsible for triggering the chain of events that would lead to Chagum’s “eventual death” (he consulted the Holy Mage afterall). The second empress asked Shuga to confirm that Chagum is still alive, that is if Shuga really wanted to repay her. I don’t know if it is known within the court that the second empress hired a bodyguard to protect Chagum. If so, the emperor would have dealt with her.

Meanwhile, the Emperor hopes to purge the water friend’s curse by secretly burning Chagum’s belongings. Sagum, the first prince, said that holding those at court to secrecy is becoming increasingly difficult. He asked if he could be entrusted with the task of purging the curse. The emperor agreed.

When Shuga learned of it, he was furious. He found Gakai and some others retrieving Chagum’s stuff. He protested saying that it won’t do anything to remove the curse but Gakai would have nothing of it, saying that perhaps Shuga only wanted to console himself by looking at Chagum’s possessions. This led to a bit of confrontation.

The first prince summoned Shuga. He told him that how he reacted towards the matter of Chagum’s belongings wasn’t expected of him. Shuga retorted that what Sagum did wasn’t expected of him either. He told Shuga of how before, he and Chagum were playing. They injured a bird and Chagum suggested they bring it to the palace for treatment. But when the emperor found out, he reprimanded Chagum because the feather’s are bad for Sagum’s asthma. Shuga stepped up and told the emperor that he was being overprotective and that concern for innocent lives that have come to harm and affection towards animals and plants would be a better way to nurture qualities of a ruler. It was then when the Holy Mage assigned Shuga to be Chagum’s tutor.

Sagum showed Shuga Chagum’s belongings. Shuga, then, realized that the first prince took them so he can protect them. Before leaving, Sagum told Shuga that he would have like to see Chagum as emperor with Shuga as his Holy Mage. Shuga, then, resolved to investigate the reason why the drought sign has not yet disappeared despite Chagum’s “death”.

As Shuga investigated, he found out that the fish catch was still good and that the fish were even bigger than usual. As for the vegetables and fruits, harvest was good everywhere. This puzzled Shuga. If there was an impending drought, it would have affected the fish and the plants. Shuga then had a serendipitous meeting with Tanda who was gathering roots from a rare type of grass. Shuga told him that he was investigating any drop in precipitation. Tanda showed him a praying mantis’ egg. He explained that if it is close to the ground there will be little snow next winter. Shuga was shocked. He told Tanda of a possible water shortage but the fish catch and the produce harvest seemt to contradict it. Tanda said that if there is a drought, the plants and the animals were preparing for it (thus, the large fish, for example). This shocked Shuga and confirmed the drought’s coming. I guess Tanda also understood about the drought.

This was a good episode. It provided character development to those in the court, especially to Shuga. It also returned to the main theme of the series which is the water fiend’s curse. Anyway, I wonder if Shuga would try to look for Chagum. If he is alive or if it is known that the drought sign persists because Chagum is still alive, what would Shuga do?