 The novels illustrate a much darker past for Kōyū, where he had been orphaned as a baby and adopted by a loving elderly couple, who named him "".However, the couple was killed by bandits and Kou had been forced to live as a slave before being abandoned as a sacrifice to stop a flood.Reishin found him at this point and saved him, telling the child that his reasons were so Kou could care for Yuri-hime, who had fallen ill. As Kou and Yuri recovered at the Hong manor, Yuri tricked him into believing the Hong manor was haunted so he would not escape.