Adventure of Ai Nakamura 1

Ai arrives at the castle dining hall as evening settles over Oshinoko. Tall windows frame the town below, its lamps beginning to glow beneath the darkening hills.

Her father, the King, broad-shouldered and dressed in a dark burgundy coat with gold clasps, an imposing middle-aged man with graying brown hair and a square beard, waits beside the long oak table. Her mother, the Queen, a slender elf woman with warm brown skin and a delicate oval face, dressed in a flowing gown, a poised middle-aged elf woman with silver-blonde hair and pointed ears, sits in a deep blue gown.

Servants pour wine, arrange roasted fowl and winter vegetables, then withdraw through the carved doors. The silence left behind feels deliberate.

The King folds his hands beside the untouched silverware. The Queen watches Ai steadily, while the proposals remain sealed on the table between them, awaiting her response.

The King studies her across the candlelit table, but the question catches the breadth of the matter rather than its center. His fingers tighten around one sealed letter.

The Queen draws three letters from the stack and sets them in a neat row. Their wax bears different seals, while the remaining proposals stay closed behind them.

Ai’s eyes widen as she studies the black wax seal, stamped with the severe crest of Minamoto. Recognition comes quickly, though the smaller marks around it resist her certainty.

The King’s hand stills above the table. Candlelight catches the letter’s dark wax while the other two seals seem suddenly less consequential.

Ai reaches across the table and draws the Minamoto letter toward her. She breaks the black wax carefully, then unfolds the heavy paper beneath the candlelight.

The letter bears Hikaru Oshino’s name and formal seal. Its opening offers a marriage alliance between Minamoto and Oshinoko, framed as protection against hostile neighboring houses.

Further lines promise military support, guarded roads, and recognition of Ai’s inheritance. In return, Minamoto requests a binding union and a place in Oshinoko’s council.

At the bottom, Hikaru adds a brief handwritten sentence: he will await Ai’s answer, but warns that danger near Oshinoko is closer than her parents believe.

Ai sets Hikaru’s letter aside and reaches for the two remaining proposals. Their sealed envelopes rest where the Queen arranged them, within easy reach on the oak table.

She draws the first envelope close, breaks its red wax with careful fingers, and unfolds the fine parchment without tearing the crisp fold.

The second letter follows. Ai retrieves it from beside the silverware, snaps its green seal, and opens it fully beneath the steady candlelight.

Both letters lie open before Ai now, their lines of formal script exposed beside Minamoto’s darker parchment. The King and Queen wait in silence for her judgment.

Ai reads the red-sealed letter steadily, giving each clause its proper weight. The formal language is clear, though a lengthy passage on trade rights demands a second examination later.

The green-sealed letter is more concise, but its final clauses are crowded with legal qualifications. Ai finishes aloud, while the exact limits of Alder’s toll authority remain uncertain.

The King reaches for a blank sheet, then pauses. Arranging all three meetings at once would force Oshinoko to receive competing delegations before the disputed clauses are understood.

She draws a fresh parchment between the proposals and marks two columns beside the seals. The legal qualifications now become the immediate measure of each house’s honesty.

The request settles over the table. The King gathers the three letters into one orderly stack, while the Queen leaves her marked parchment beside them for morning review.

The King seals the stack inside a small iron box and keeps its key rather than returning the proposals to the servants. The decision is granted, but the wording remains unsettled.