Year of the Boar, Ninth Month, Day 9. Postscript.

Since I put brush to paper this morning, a bird has arrived. Aoki wrote to tell me about Kenta's death. Of course I already knew but Aoki could not possibly have known that when he wrote. He was good enough to let me know that there has been no sign that mother has been searching for me in the north which I was relieved to read; perhaps she thinks I am dead.
Aoki has attended the funeral with Shinshinosuke and Rina and tells me that he has seen Nanami there with Yuika. He has not spoken to her since he has not been able to find a reason to seek her out and is wary of arousing any kind of suspicion. I doubt he would be noticed going to talk to anyone; when I last attended to a funeral, I could not have said what my own maid was doing from stick to stick since I spent most of the time in the courtyard taking part in the various ceremonies one is expected to attend. So long as she was available to bathe me and dress me when I needed her, I was not particularly interested in what she was doing otherwise. The same cannot be said of The Lord and Lady Shimmering Dawn or Yuika, I suppose; it could be that they prefer to know what their staff are doing at all times...
Since Aoki sent the letter, I expect the ceremony has finished but Kaede may well have offered her hospitality and so it is not unlikely that several of the Rulers are still at Silent Thunder. In her position, offering the Rulers of every other House my hospitality would have been the last thing I wanted to do; I would have wanted them to leave as quickly as possible but Kaede is far more concerned with etiquette than I... Aoki writes that father did not attend. Mother was there with Taiji and Aki and she put it about that father was too ill to travel. Is he ill or has he died...? I do not want to believe that mother would be so crass as to hide father's death but it is in her interests to do so. While father is alive, mother is Ruling Lady; once he is dead, she becomes a dowager subject to Taiji's rule... On balance though, if that were her game, she would have to either hide father's death from Taiji and Aki or somehow convince them to go along with her and I cannot see that they would have a reason to do that...