Summary

The prologue, “The Tokyo Tattler: The Lost Butterfly gets her wings clipped,” is a newspaper excerpt dated “April 4, 2021” (7). It describes the wedding of Prime Minister Adachi to Haya Tajima (7). At the wedding, everyone focused on Princess Izumi, nicknamed “the Lost Butterfly” (7). It marked her first formal entrance into Japanese society. The next day, Princess Izumi boarded a train to the Kyoto imperial villa—the place where, supposedly, “royals go to repent” (7).

In Chapter 1, Izumi’s best friend Noora tries to convince her to abandon her homework. They are one half of their friend group: the AGG, or “Asian Girl Gang” (9). Izumi cuddles her dog Tamagotchi. They decide to sneak into Izumi’s mom’s room to use her makeup. Izumi’s mom Hanako teaches classes at the local community college. They live in Mount Shasta, California. Noora spots a letter on Hanako’s...