Year of the Boar, Second Month, Day 21.

Opium and a long journey by road apparently, do not mix well. By the time my party and I were a quarter of our way back to Dying Crane, having attended the bi-annual Kingdom Diplomatic Talks, I had begun to feel horribly sick. I tried to sleep but the swaying of my litter made me want to vomit. Obviously, I would have waited until we arrived home, but the journey from Pale Twilight takes three days if one stops at an inn overnight and a full day if one really pushes the horses. The Talks were exhausting. I was delighted when they were over and as soon as I could leave without completely breaking protocol, I put my seal to the relevant papers and ordered the servants to get us gone. Naturally several of the other Rulers protested my rudeness, but they had not been forced to receive Lord Shigeru of Fallen Sakura in their chambers until the early hours. In any case, as soon as my party was safely out of the Castle grounds, I lit my pipe... my hand shook as it had been longer than I usually wait between pipes but the weed began to soothe me fairly quickly and until we hit that rough stretch of road just North of Pale Twilight and the my litter began to sway violently, I felt tired but not too ill. A short while after that and I was begging the servants to find us somewhere to break our journey. During the night, it became apparent that it was not merely motion sickness which assailed me and I found myself bedridden with a stomach upset - I should not have been surprised, I suppose - Lord Masaru has always had a penchant for serving unusual and experimental cuisine - I remember my Mother complaining about it even when I was a child. Thankfully the Talks are not often at Pale Twilight.
When I was sufficiently recovered to rise from my sick bed but not yet well enough to travel, I took a turn around the lake behind the inn and there I found the most delightful Tea House. Seeking to partake of the weed, I slipped inside hoping for privacy, only to find Lord Kenta. Since he has not yet Risen, he was not present at the table during the Talks and I had not spoken to him all week. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. That he was in foul humour was evident from his posture, and the look of thunder upon his face. He appeared to be serving tea and courtesy demanded that he asked me to join him, and that I accept. Despite the fact that neither of us really wished to share tea with the other, I knelt opposite the table and waited for him to pour. Naturally I asked him if something ailed him, expecting the usual courtesies in response and I was somewhat flummoxed when he turned those slate coloured eyes of his upon me and told me that all was not well at White Lake. My heart sank as he began to confide what looked like it could be an endless tale of how his Mother, the Lady Yuki and his father, Lord Shunya, did not approve of his liaison with Lady Kaede and had forbidden him to see her. Lady Kaede had also broken her journey at the inn and a few nights ago, there had been an... incident.
My mind reeled as Lord Kenta kept talking, the smooth tones of the South in his accent soothing me even as he told me of his distress. I became transfixed and felt a strange stirring deep within me. As he told me of Kaede's stupidity in posing for a portrait in public dressed in very little, and of the following quarrel, I felt my cheeks heating up and my breath growing short. I found that I could not concentrate on his tale, only on his voice and his eyes as he spoke. Kaede had proposed, he said, and he had been forced to refuse. That got my attention. Silent Thunder, as a Matriarchal House like mine, has some archaic laws designed to prevent starry-eyed girls from proposing marriage to unsuitable men and by doing just that and being refused, Kaede had actually forfeited her House to Lord Kenta. I was stunned. Silent Thunder now belonged to White Lake. Kaede and her entire House enslaved to Lord Kenta... The stupidity of it astounded me. Kaede had always been so clever as a child, as had Kenta, I wondered how either of them had come to this. My hands trembled as I brought my tea to my lips and as I drank of the cup, I felt another wave of nausea wash over me suddenly as my stomach rebelled. Lord Kenta stopped talking abruptly, enquiring as to my health. I felt myself grow pale as I fought the urge to vomit. Haltingly, I explained what had brought me to the inn and begged his indulgence in excusing me. Rising, I made for the door, only to find myself scooped up in his lordship's arms. "Allow me to escort you to your rooms, My Lady" he murmured. "I would not have you become unwell out here."
The following evening, I seemed to be recovered and I ventured to the common room of the Tavern to arrange for a few supplies to be added to my luggage and I ran into Lord Kenta again. Courtesy demanded I thank him for his attentions the previous day, to which Lord Kenta's response was to ask me if I should like to share tea with him again, he had had another quarrel with Kaede, who did not seem to be adjusting to her new status awfully well. As we made our way to take tea, Lord Kenta asked me if I would mind giving the impression that I was romantically involved with him - he wanted to teach Kaede a lesson. I saw no reason to demur, especially since I have never been fond of her and thought that Lord Kenta's attentions could hardly be worse than Lord Fallen Sakura's.
I have been pacing around my quarters for several hours now, thinking on that turn of events, I played my part, making eyes at Lord Kenta, ignoring Kaede, acting every inch the pampered bitch that the rest of the Kingdom believes me to be. Why on earth did I not just tell him to fight his own battles, or just say no to tea...? Instead I find myself smitten with a man who only has eyes for another. He stopped short of taking me to his bed in an attempt to make Kaede realise what she had done, but he kissed me most thoroughly and his caresses were so unlike that of Lord Shigeru that I almost found myself... enjoying... his attentions... He was so gentle, so considerate... I did not know that the act between a man and a woman could be so... so... tender... Still, I must rid my mind of him, I cannot have him, and I must keep Lord Shigeru happy or lose his protection...