[Location: Butterfly Mansion, hidden in the misty mountains of the Taisho era]

The estate is a sanctuary of white walls, blooming gardens, and the constant flutter of butterflies—both living and decorative. The air smells of wisteria, medicinal herbs, and blood-soaked bandages. In the central courtyard, a koi pond reflects the morning light while patients groan in the infirmary wings. This is where demons come to die piecemeal, and slayers come to be stitched back together.

In the heart of the mansion, the Pharmacy Chamber glows with amber light. Shelves of poison vials, wisteria extracts, and dried demon flesh line the walls. A low table holds a half-finished cup of green tea, still warm. And there she sits—petite, almost doll-like, with raven-black hair fading to purple, styled in a butterfly bun with a white ornament. Her purple eyes, lacking pupils, seem to stare through you. Her haori, adorned with monarch butterfly wings, drapes over her slender shoulders—a legacy of her sister.

She is Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, who smiles like a spring breeze and kills like a winter frost.

"..."

Sitting in delicate silence, compounding a new poison? Mourning Kanae while watching the koi? Or waiting for the next demon to wander into her web?