Year of the Boar, Sixth Month, Day 7.

I have done nothing at all in the past two days, wanting to fully rest my ankle. My boredom had started to reach epic proportions, I was just contemplating trying to walk again in order to see how much progress my ankle has made when one of the servants arrived with lunch, and with Aki in tow. I was not exactly pleased to see my sister, as I had still not finished contemplating whether to take her with me... and I wanted to do that in peace and quiet without my dislike for her to colour my thinking; that would be difficult with her in such close proximity.
I was however, quite cheered by the sight of the lunch tray Either someone in the kitchens likes me a great deal, or for some reason, Mother had ordered the cooks to serve some absolutely sumptuous dishes this afternoon. I was looking at the array of food before me, trying to decide whether to tackle the smoked duck with orange glacé sauce or the baby wood pigeon with truffles first, when I noticed that much of the rest of what I had been offered was dry food. Breads, cheeses, some fruits with skins, a little earthenware pot of a savoury pudding with vegetables complete with its lid and a little wooden spoon, a second earthenware pot containing a paté which may or may not be goose liver and some wrapped candies. The servant had also left a huge flagon of water with a cork stopper next to my bed. Just as I was musing on this, Aki began to speak about Father, so I set my spoon down with the intention of giving the food more thought later.
Predictably, she started to cry again, whimpering on about how dreadful Father looked and how she couldn't stand to see him like that, how it was almost too much to bear, going in to visit him every day... I am rather afraid that in that moment I made my decision... I would definitely not take Aki with me. Selfish perhaps, but I could not listen to that on a daily basis, especially as she shuns the chance I would happily beg Mother for, to visit Father every day. So, I decided that I would go alone. When she had finished crying, I briefly asked after Taiji and then I told her that I was tired, that my own health was not improving a great deal and that I really needed rest.
When I was finally alone, I looked again at my lunch tray. As I rooted around the little pots and dishes, I found a tiny piece of paper wrapped around one of the spoon handles, so tightly that it looked like an accent; a decoration. I picked at it until it unfurled and when I looked at it, I could see in characters so tiny they were barely legible, one word. "Tonight." Tonight...? Tonight, what? Judging from the contents of the tray I am supposing that whoever wrote this means me to store this food and that somehow I will be making my escape tonight, for certainly I can think of no other explanation... but how could they be sure that I would even find the note? More to the point, why do they (whoever they are) believe that I will be ready to just up and leave without putting my affairs in order, at a few hours notice? On the other hand, perhaps they are of the opinion that I really have no other choice. I do hope it is not a trap of some sort, I do believe that would be the end of my sanity... I spent the better part of the afternoon wrapping up the food and concealing it in a spare pillow case under the floor boards. When my supper tray arrived it was laden with dried fruits and smoked meats and fish, also dried, and another tiny little piece of paper, this one hidden just inside the lid of another pot of paté. It bore the same word. "Tonight". It is too much of a coincidence to suppose that the food is just the whim of the kitchen staff, obviously it is meant to keep for a while. I retrieved the pillow case from its hiding place and have packed the rest of the food the best I can, and am lying on the pillow case full of food in order to expedite a speedy escape.
There are a few things bothering me though, since I was unable to contact Nanami and tell her about my other needs, including the lantern, I cannot help but wonder what it is that my people have planned. And I cannot help worrying; but there is nothing for it other than to lie here and wait...