Souseimi-taikoutaigou-no-Yotsumemagomusume-Chūgū, also known as O-Tsuya, is the fourth granddaughter of the late grand-queen Souseimi and the fundamental consort to King Yobotansei. For a time she was considered the rival of the mysterious O-Seiyuri (mother to Mitsumi), though the two were also known to perform exceptional ballads together. Her name has been westernized to “Duchess Saccharina.”
As the granddaughter of Queen Souseimi, O-Tsuya was born into the fourth tier of the Mitsukishi social hierarchy, behind the Queen, hereditary princesses, and non-hereditary princesses of the queen’s immediate bloodline. As such, her mother was offered the option of submitting her to the Sen’yaku no Kyūden, where she would be permitted to begin development of regenium or to study as a lady-in-waiting within the palace gardens.
Due to Queen Souseimi’s brutal civil war with her twin sister and co-ruler, Queen Souseibi, Souseimi’s daughter (Queen Komi) wished to reduce the potential for future dynastic splits and incentivized her immediate family to abandon service in Sen’yaku no Kyūden, thus stunting their ability to perform the duties of a queen should another war break out, O-Tsuya’s mother (Princess Hanakyo) chose to submit her daughter to the latter option. This decision proved fateful, as a suspicious Queen Komi later purged the Sen’yaku no Kyūden of many “potential” detractors after selecting her daughter, Princess Kakou, to succeed her.
While her relatives were executed in the purge, O-Tsuya went on to become “Lady of the Golden Koto,” a prestigious position of pleasure and political sway. She even composed a death poem, Mojiretsu no Muketsuna Mitsu (Strings of Bloodless Honey), which both captivated her and haunted many.
As a result of her upbringing and elevation, O-Tsuya developed a keen respect for the balance between servitude and sacrifice. Thus, she did her best never to venture too far into the one without being aware of the value in the other. This decorous and gracious nature made her a natural favorite of many. She became a friend of the future king, Prince-Consort Yobotansei, and tutored and raised his daughter, Mitsumi, in the arts of ettiquette and refinement. She became, in many ways, an adoptive mother to the child.
After Queen Kakou’s assassination and Yobotansei’s elevation to the first male ruler of Mitsukishi, O-Tsuya received the position of “chūgū,” making her the fundamental consort of the king but not his primary (kōgō), a decision that was both crafty and cruel. O-Tsuya is thus the highest ranking woman in the king’s court, but unless she is promoted to kōgō, is more a morganatic wife than King Yobotansei’s equal.
Speculation holds that because she was denied the queen’s reginium as a child, O-Tsuya cannot produce her own and thus is unfit to serve as a queen in the ceremonial fashion it held under previous queens. Whether or not this is true, she remains a dedicated and loyal follower of King Yobotansei. On one occasion she did make a daring play to show him the folly of his ways—a play that may in the end, show she chose sacrifice over service, in the end.
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