Sachiko looked at it from the side, the way that she spoke with her son. Her eyes were soft, she was enamored with him. It was something that she never did know, but she guessed that mothers showed their love in different ways. Some coddled their children as long as possible but some had made it their job to ensure that they were as safe as possible by giving them all they needed to know to survive on their own.

It was almost disconcerting, but she didn"t say anything. What did she know of funerals and their customs? She a.s.sumed that nothing was wrong, but this was a little strange. She had gone worse, it was something that she never fully comprehended. But she didn"t know enough to comment.

But the gaze was still there. It was still glancing over her as though her entire being didn"t belong here, that she was no more a stranger to her. But she knew it, there was no masking her intention. And Sachiko spent a lot of it getting familiar with her enough.

She was sitting on the table, with one free for her. There was no servant as she had almost no use for one here. Even as she kept her father"s words in mind, but she knew that this will be dangerous. No matter where she was she will have been on a lot of risks.

"Sit down." There was something that needed to be said after all. There was a rare moment which they talked to each other about this. Only when there was something that they needed to tell at them at the end of the day. This was something that she needed to announce, hence why she asked them to come back. It was to Sachiko more than Masaki, as she will have sheltered her.

Sachiko didn"t need it. "There is something that you need to know."

"What is it?" Keeping their conversations brief had been something they did, many times. They didn"t have much to say each other, even till now.

"The Shogun"s son wants your hand." In the surface, it made sense, it was incredibly reasonable for them to have expected something like this. They were a powerful clan as well, which only gave this an added benefit. But for her, it was a prison. She didn"t wish for her to marry someone, if not she will have done so. All talk of it was only on the surface and nothing more. It was to keep them from thinking that nothing was wrong.

"Of course. I"ll do my best."

"You"ll be heading to Okiban, I made a couple dresses for you." To make herself look presentable, and to keep the reputation of the family in check. She knew this from the start. "Masaki needs allies, and wedding the Shogun will be good."

There was no happiness, perhaps she was tired from faking it in front of all the others. She kept her face straight except when it came to her. "Take a good rest before they come, as it will be a long journey." Advice that was necessary, as traveling even when mostly sitting down was exhausting. Having a chance to visit him was a good thing, as much as it gave her a chance. A chance to see her options.

She stood up with a servant rushing in to help her. Leaving her alone, even as she was still processing it.

Even as she didn"t believe that the shogun"s son will be courting her. It didn"t seem likely, given how she heard the tradition of arranged marriages. But such matches seemed to be how the shogunate worked. Political alliances for them was convenient when children were young, betrothed to any who felt that the shogunate was a good ally. Both from aboard and local.

But she knew that it rarely was honored till then. With many shoguns having no designated bride and often only marrying one from a recent courtship. That after a while, even a betrothal seemed to be redundant. As many knew that it was theoretical and abandoned the moment a better alliance was offered. And most of the feudal warlords followed suit, with only the imperial family still adhering to the strict rules of them.

And this could go both ways. As the Shogun"s son could be doing this to win favors or to genuinely seek an alliance. But she nearly forgot, even as certain families still kept to such an arrangement. Most notably had been her clan.

Kaede came to her, holding a small pot of tea. Which was something that she did not expect? She had not expected something like this at the end of the day. Not to mention that she needed to ask Kaede one thing, which she didn"t think of until now. Whether she wanted to follow her, to be with her. She didn"t know what to say, given just how distant she was on the way back. Given how she did only her part and never more. It worried her, but she knew that it was best if they were in private. "Do you wish to retire?"

She poured for her, knowing that it helped. Drinking something, anything helped with this. She needed to pack, she needed to think. But she didn"t need any help doing it. "Yes, just after a short drink."

When she poured, she had left something on the table. A pistol. She eyed it, surprised at what she was gazing at. A pistol, which her father told her to get. She didn"t even have time to think about it. "What sort of servant will I be if I didn"t know your every need?"

She smiled at it. Taking the chance to put it into her sleeves. "I only got it just on the day itself, since I couldn"t find the merchant who sold this. But she is acquainted with me so I got you one for a discount."

And that her family paid her certainly factored in as well. Perhaps she was wrong, or the past few days of travel had given her some time to think otherwise. "That was mostly an act to throw them off, to think that I am just a servant. That I have not been tasked to help you."

She gave a smile, one which reminded of their time here. Her mother never trusted her, and Kaede even less. She was right on some level, Kaede knew far more than the regular servant. But at the same time, she was someone whom she could trust far more than the normal servant. Even those who had pledged their loyalty to her. She was far more capable and resourceful. And at the same time, more observant than them.

She didn"t show anything. But deep down she was glad, glad to have someone she could talk to again.

"Will you follow me into Okiban?" The question that she would have asked later, that wasn"t on their mind. But here no one was listening, most of the staff fussed over their newly returned new Daimyo. Whom they had not seen since he was a mere boy.

"Of course I will."

When Mutsu knocked on the door of Kazuho"s house, he was rather glad to see him once more. Anyone whom he could trust was important, and Mamoru was the person he trusted most here. Apart from his companions that is. He didn"t exactly know where to begin when it came to finding out more about Saitou Sachiko. Other than to take some caution, and to slowly look for leads.

He will do best if he didn"t rely on Sasaki too much. That was an incredibly foolish move by all means. Even as Mutsu came over with a letter. He opened it, to find that Kaede was unreachable. As she was no longer in f.u.kusei, but back to Senwari. Not entirely bad, but still he was limited by his options now.

If he wanted to know more, it meant that he needed to look at other places for information. Mamoru knew little about Sachiko and even less about Rin. Kazuho had never spoken about her in front of them when he was Kouya. Thus he could guess that not long after she had become Rin, and that it wasn"t too long after he was gone. But there was quite a bit regarding the Saitou clan, but nothing apart from the same as Sasaki. No one could truly find any dirt on them. Anything that could suggest something more.

It was too perfect for such a clan. For a clan who has recently stepped into this, the Sasaki took decades to know how to suppress information. Or even how to utilize it. It was rare for them unless they had been a part of the underworld. And most of the time the Sasaki had known and often kept it quiet, for the Shogunate to use the next time.

And many clans had committed sins that will have lost them respect, something they used to sell to the Shogunate and in return gives the Sasaki protection and the ability to cover as many crimes as it was possible using their influence.

"Thank you, I"ll write a reply letter." Before he burned the letter, better for them as a whole. Before he took another piece of paper, before starting to write it. Taking a small brush, dabbing it in ink before writing.

There was only something that he needed to write in here, his own suspicions. About just who might be behind the Saitou"s sudden change in direction. And just what may have occurred back then. This was mere speculation, but for Mamoru, Kazuho knew he will have understood. It was something that he could grasp because he knew Daishin, explaining his own theory. He had coded it because it was dangerous information to leak out.

When he was done, and the letter dried. He placed it into an envelope before pa.s.sing to Mutsu. "Do not let anyone read this under any circ.u.mstances."

"Of course, Kazuho-sama."

"You don"t need to call me that. Kazuho will do fine." Before he pa.s.sed Mutsu some coins, and the boy smiled at them. He left the next instant, even as he still was nowhere in finding out more about the Saitou clan and Sachiko.

He wasn"t sure about how he should proceed from here, but he knew that he had to consider it carefully. Asking the wrong person could mean getting into trouble. Anyone would since he was asking after a hime, a n.o.blewoman. He couldn"t just get information, he needed to be able to ask them with the possibility of them not doing anything to him.

That they will not find his questions strange. And then, link it all up to know that there was more with him than met the eye. He had to be careful to whom he looked the question into.

"Do you know anyone here whom can help me?"

"One." That was his own expectation too. "Ayakazu. She took care of her after that, and she mentioned that she let her step into her new life."

Which could mean many things, but one will be that who offered her. On the surface, the Saitou clan was the obvious choice. But deep down, he knew that it was far from that simple at the end of the day. And it seemed that if there was anyone who could give him a good idea what was her situation then, it will have been Ayakazu.

At that point, he held onto the hope. "And she knows quite a bit about the Saitou clan."

He doubted that he could have found someone else. Sasaki was a bad idea to ask unless it was necessary and important to him, Mamoru was wholly unable to help him. And if Shinrou trusted her, then he will too. There were only certain things that he knew Shinrou was better at, and when he was here Shinrou had more experience in this than he did. Or he had his own contacts that he could also rely on more than anything else.

"Then it seems that I need to visit her again." Even as he remembered that the information of Sachiko staying there had been told to him by Shinrou. But he will not question her, the same reason why he will not have asked anything about Mutsu. And he figured that he didn"t need to know everything either. The same reason why he never made the effort to know more about Masami.

"I"ll take you there, she did always like to see me."

"Then we go tonight."

"Good choice, to make the visit before the first drop of snow falls." It will be sometime soon, as the days had begun to get colder.