One more round (Day 13 EE

[Hiruma Daichi]

Daichi sighed internally and took a few bites of his food before speaking. "May I speak candidly Otomo-sama?"

[Otomo Mariko]

"Of course," Mariko replies. "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

[Hiruma Daichi]

"We indeed are Otomo-sama." He replied with a polite nod. "Which is why I'm making this effort here today."

"I want to make this marriage work, I want for the Clans to see that the Crab still see the worth in close ties to the Imperial families. Something I'm unsure is felt fully by all the Clans. Which might be why I've seen terribly few if any weddings to Imperials made this year."

"It's a shame and something I wish to remedy but also something I have limited options for while still being able to serve the interests of my Lord and earn his approval on such things."

"So if the Otomo can't make certain suggestions that the Emerald Office and the Kasuga look at Crab for certain positions. i would ask you to offer me options of what might be possible to convince Kaiu-dono that this is as good a match I think it is."

[Otomo Mariko]

"Whyever did Hiruma-san think that his Yasuki comrade was suggested for a marriage to a Miya in Otosan Uchi?" Mariko asks. "Did he think Yasuki-san would simply have been a kept man? I've no doubt he would excel in such a role, of course, but it would seem to be a waste of talent and expertise.

"And whyever did Hiruma-san think that a marriage to a Seppun administrator, widely experienced in multiple courts, was suggested for him--a partnership in which he would be able to exert influence not only near the Capital, but in a diversity of courts?

"Was it not thought that they would remain in contact with their kin, even as they would themselves be in positions to advance those kin?"

She takes a sip of her drink.

"But as to the scarcity of marriages to the Families--we are not so numerous as the Clans, even the Younger ones. And as this season has shown, concerns of descent have implications when the Families are involved. That there are as many whose marriages were not arranged even before they were born as are this year is a rarity, and one not likely to occur again for long. Although there is one prominent marriage that will soon be in the offering, I believe, once all this," and she waves a hand about, "upset is addressed.

"If we are speaking frankly, as friends, of course."

[Hiruma Daichi]

Daichi nodded, he personally didn't approve of so much openly spoken disloyalty to the family one married into. It seemed the sort of thing that the Otomo expected though.

"I will let Kaiu-dono know of your feelings on the matter Otomo-sama and bother you no more with my feelings on things." He replied dipping his head politely. "I'm sure you will receive the final word on things tomorrow."

[Otomo Mariko]

"I'm sure I will," Mariko agrees.

[Hiruma Daichi]

Daichi simply nodded as he started to eat once again. letting the silence sit for a while.

[Otomo Mariko]

After a while, Mariko will pose a question:

"Does Hiruma-san expect to return to the front after Court?"