Kou, Kurou

紅玖琅

As the youngest brother following Shouka and Reishin, he serves as the proxy head of the Kou family. Due to his lengthy rule, many outsiders consider him the true leader instead of Reishin.
A man devoted to tradition and family loyalty, Kurou leverages the immense power of the Kou to protest Reishin's arrest, single-handedly bringing nearly half the country to a halt by ordering clan members to stay away from work.
He was the one who persuaded their father, the former family head, to bypass Shouka in favor of Reishin as the next clan leader, regarding Shouka as useless. Personality-wise, he shares more similarities with Reishin than with Shouka.
Although he may hold a low opinion of his eldest brother, this does not stop him from taking action against those who act unfavorably toward Shouka. When Kurou discovered that the servants at Shouka's residence had stolen all the valuables while Shouka was in shock over his wife's death, the proxy head ordered that every servant be found and subjected to the tortures of Hell. This was carried out, and their severed ears and eyes were sent to their families as a warning against any such future behavior toward a member of the Kou family.
Unbeknownst to Shūrei, Kurou travels to the capital to provide her with more protection than Shouka could offer once she begins her path as an imperial officer. To this end, he grants her the protection of the Kou clan through a travel pass issued for her journey to the Sa Province to assume co-governorship.
Although the mark on the travel pass belonged to the Kou (Yellow) clan, as Kijin issued it, the special "seven-colored" ink used could only be produced by the Kou (Crimson) clan, marking her as a person of importance to them.
He intends for Shuurei and Kouyuu to marry, with the two of them leading the clan in the future.