Hyou Riou (younger)

Hyou Riou Jr. (璃桜 Hyō‎ Riō‎) is the Secretary of the Cave of Immortals (Sentoshō‎) and the son of Hyou Riou Sr., the de jure head of the Hyou Clan. He shares the same name (both pronunciation and kanji) as his father.

Appearance
Riou has a strong physical resemblance to his father. As he grew older, he was said to look more like his grandfather, Ou Ki.

Personality & Characteristics
Seen as a mysterious individual from his clan, Riou is considered to be rather mature for his age and many remark that his personality is reminiscent of his mother's and grandfather's. He tends to utilize a impolite and familiar speech pattern with people, save his father and grandfather. Though he often complains about having to do things he doesn't want to do, Riou is said to be very frank and intelligent, possessing a natural intuition for politics and has been highly educated by the Hyou clan.

Plot
Riou follows his father's orders without question and went on missions for him. He was first introduced during the Sa Province plague while Tou Eigetsu was taking care of the sick at "his village". Riou currently works in Kiyou as the Secretary of the Department of The Cave of Immortals. Ryuuki often confides his feelings for Shuurei to him.

He later takes Shuurei to the Hyou Clan and is seen trying to impede the locust plague from happening. He is aware that Shuurei has little time left before the Kou Immortal awakens and tries to help her by bringing her to the Hyou Clan, an action that extends Shuurei's existence in the world a while longer. The way his father yearns for the Rose Princess, Riou cares for Shuurei. When his father asked Shuurei to die and let her mother wake up, Riou angrily stood up protectively in front of her as he declared to his father that he will not let it happen even though he is always obedient to him.

Ryuuki adopts Riou as his son at the end of the last novel and names him the Crown Prince. However, Riou much later gives up his right to the throne to Ryuuki's daughter, Shi Chouka, and becomes the Prime Minister of Saiunkoku.

Swordsmanship
As a son of the Hyou Clan, Riou is well versed in the art of swords. He was seen fighting off the assassin dolls of the Hyou Clan with much expertise.

Medicine
Riou is also very knowledgable about medicine as a member of the Hyou Clan. When Shuurei's health was on decline during her stay in the Hyou domain, Riou was often seen concocting medicines for her.

Supernatural Awareness
Although Riou was born powerless, as a member of the Hyou Clan he retains the ability to detect supernatural entities and occurrences. He was able to sense the supernatural storm that had occurred when the Red Immortal's healing powers accidentally triggered inside Shuurei.

Fortune-telling and Face-reading
Riou is able to read the stars very well, a skill famous in his clan. He is also said to be extremely good in face-reading (観相), and was able to tell at first glance, just by looking at his face, that Ryuuki would eventually be separated from the people he loved.

Koto
Riou learned to play the koto with Ryuuki, under Ou Ki's teaching, and he is said to be a very good player, although not as good as his grandfather.

Kou Shuurei
When Shuurei treated him affectionately and with kindness, he was grateful to her and started to feel emotions because it was something that he was never able to experience in his own clan. When his friend Ren died, he reflected on how, by meeting Shuurei, Riou was able to experience the things than Ren wanted. He later tried to save her by bringing her to his clan.

Shi Ryuuki
Riou met Ryuuki in the Archives when he first came to Kiyou to become the Secretary of the the Department of the Cave of Immortals. At first, Riou felt obliged to keep company to the king, but saw him as a nuisance. They eventually became close and Ryuuki also talked to him about his feelings for Shuurei. Ryuuki also thinks highly of him and although Riou is often complaining about the king, he genuinely cares for him, and was in great turmoil upon learning that he would have to choose between him and his grandfather. Ryuuki later adopted him as his son and heir, which irritated Riou. Still, he was very loyal to Ryuuki, up until the later's death.

Uu Uu
Uu Uu was at the Department of the Cave of Immortals before Riou arrived, and was the one to ask Ruka to send him. Uu Uu taught Riou about the pride of the Hyou Clan and their duty, and was very proud of Riou. Riou worried since he was an old man and thus carried him on his back quite often. Uu Uu died quite violently, and Riou was not only the one to find his body, but also took part in the trial of Uu Uu's murderer. Uu Uu's death left him in lot of pain and sadness.