Chapter 88: About Junshi
Chapter 88: About Junshi
"Huh...? My tears won’t stop falling. They’re dripping onto the back of my hand."Lily sees my tears and gives me a gentle "Ufufu" smile.
"Lord Robby, there is no need to cry. This is only natural. We cannot be together in this world, but let us be together in the next one."
So that’s how it is. She’s choosing to follow me in death with the hope that we’ll be together in the next life... I’m happy, but it feels kind of heavy, doesn’t it?
"Lily, the people who commit junshi must have families, right?"
"Of course they do. Many widows are left behind, and children are left without fathers."
"What happens to those people?"
"I don’t know. If they belong to a higher-ranking noble house, the remaining family might take care of them, but for lower-ranking nobles or commoners, they may end up on the streets."
"Doesn’t the country provide anything? Like a pension?"
"There might be something like a one-time payment, but that’s probably the end of it."
I figured as much. In a world without any real social security, that’s how it would be. Yeah, of course there’s nothing.
"That must make it really hard for the people left behind to keep living."
I can’t even imagine how a woman suddenly left as a widow with children is supposed to survive.
"Yes, it’s very difficult. That’s why widows often go out looking for work, but it’s not easy to find any. In some cases, they end up becoming the wife of their husband’s younger brother."
"Eh!? I get looking for work, but becoming the younger brother’s wife? Doesn’t the brother mind? And is the widow okay with it?"
"I’m sure they both hate it. After all, your older brother’s wife becomes your own wife. The person you used to call ’Sister-in-law’ suddenly becomes your spouse, and your brother’s children become your own. But if they don’t do that, the wife and children your brother left behind won’t be able to survive. For the widow, it means becoming the wife of the man she used to see as her brother-in-law."
"It’s amazing they can both agree to it."
"They have no choice but to agree. For a widow, that’s the only way to raise her children. That’s why polygamy exists."
"I see. I thought polygamy was just to fulfill the desires of perverted men, but it was actually born out of necessity."
"That’s right. It can’t be helped. If the younger brother already has a wife or lover, that person becomes the first wife, and the older brother’s widow becomes the second wife."
"Do feelings of love ever develop between the people involved?"