Gekkei

Gekkei (月渓) is the governor of Kei Province in Hou. He leads the rebellion against Chuutatsu, the king of Hou, and willingly commits regicide, believing that the sin of killing the king and the kirin are better than allowing the king to continuing executing lives for trivial offenses. Gekkei reveals that while Chuutatsu had been far too harsh in his rule, Gekkei knew that the austere king's expectations of others had been overextended. When his laws did not improve the lives of his people, the king mistakenly believed that even harsher laws were required and continued to enact increasingly harsher laws each time his laws failed. Gekkei led his uprising because he had become aware it was too late to restore him to the rightful path and there was no longer anyone willing to stop the king, who had become fanatic in trying to ensure his people were righteous.

After executing the king, the kirin, and the queen, Gekkei spares Shoukei's life, in spite of the deep resentment and loathing the populace holds over her for not stopping her father. After removing her from the divine registry, he places Shoukei in village under an alias until her identity is revealed after three years. When he rescues her, he sees that she still has not realized her faults and coldly sends her to the kingdom of Kyou to prevent further chaos in Hou. However, he worries about Shoukei's welfare after she is exiled from Hou, particularly after hearing she has fled from Kyou after stealing from the queen of Kyou.

Despite leading the insurrection against the king, Gekkei refuses to lead the provisional government to maintain order in Hou until a new monarch is chosen, even with tacit support from the queen of Kyou. Instead, he retreats to the Kei Province to continue his duties as his governor, believing that leading the provisional government would equate him to becoming an usurper. He reluctantly accepts the responsibility after learning Shoukei's fate and how she has changed and learned to accept responsibility for her actions.