The Heresy of Happiness

For the stoic samurai Takashi Himura life has always been a path paved with honor and cold steel. But his world is upended at the Eien City Cherry Blossom Festival by Akiko Matsumoto a spirited merchant's daughter with a warrior's heart and secrets of her own. When a royal decree sends them on a quest for the mythical Whispering Falls their journey through treacherous mountain passes becomes a dance of sharp wits and sharper blades. They soon discover they are not merely seeking a legend—they are being hunted. As a shadow conspiracy reaches from the darkest alleys to the Sun-Kissed Palace itself Takashi must question everything he serves. He faces a choice between the duty he has always known and a dangerous heretical idea his own happiness.