Dark Edge Village

With a small puppy in his tow, Dong-Ha made his way to the norther part of the tent camp, and after after asking some of the heimin to help him, located Seppun Hitako's tent.

Clearing his throat, Dong-Ha addressed the Imperial. "Seppun-sama. It's Iuchi Dong-Ha. Would you have a moment?"

The tent is flung open, to reveal the named Imperial, holding a small, squirmy puppy of her own. "Iuchi-san. Lady Sun's blessings on you. Ah, any idea what the point of this- oh, you have one too."

"Yes." Dong-Ha's puppy sat at his legs, his tongue lolling out. "Could we talk Seppun-sama?" His dark brown eyes lingered on the Imperial. "In private."

"I suppose that would be a good idea. Though, with the tent flaps slightly open, and the puppies present. Customs should be observed, to retain our good name." She puts the puppy on her sleeping mat, and piles some of the cloth around it, to contain it.

Letting him in, she lowers the tent flap, so people could look in, if they wanted, but would be obvious and probably look silly.

"Have you been blessed by Inari-no-Fortune this morning?"

"Certainly." Dong-Ha nodded, having no issues with the arrangement, seeing how he wanted to avoid undue rumors as well. "Thank you." he replied as he stepped in to her tent, seeking for a pillow to sit on. "Uh... I have eaten, if that is what you mean." Some of the Rokugani pleasantries were still alien to him. "I hope Seppun-sama is faring well?"

"Other than the oddity of this pup, hai, I am doing well. Yourself, I hope, are also doing well?"

"Well, I cannot complain, all things considered." All things included an oni, a dragon and a visit from the champion of Fu Leng. But besides those things, Dong-Ha was fine. Figuring she had merely forgotten to ask him to sit down, the young Iuchi helped himself on one of the pillows laying on the ground.

"Though it occurred to me that....I should perhaps ask Seppun-sama why she chose to sing of me.. for me." he blushed. "We barely know each other."

She dipped her head, then looked at him. "I have met few in the short time I have spent at the miai. Especially among those I am supposed to choose from. I am sent here as a duty, to bring back some of your clan with knowledge of Spiritual matters, that we may understand them some small bit, to better protect the Hantei. Thus far, you are the only one I have met with anything approaching that. I have heard there are others - I have simply not met them as yet. So, I had to make a choice, and I chose the one I could best see choosing, if the selection was today."

"But... I am sure Seppun-sama heard the judges. The event was to be a love song." the young man muttered, flabbergasted. "I understand that you have your duty to fulfill, but should not your words have a meaning to them as well?" he insisted. "I am flattered... that you would think of me so highly, but... can I trust that Seppun-sama is honest?" her song had caught him off guard.

"And doesn't it bother you that my heart might lay elsewhere?"

"The choice of love song was an odd one, I admit. But, I have to ask what your heart has to do with marriage? The two are very separate things, after all."

"For the most part, yes." Dong-Ha admitted. "But I would not be a happy man if you only picked me because you had to. I am sure I could.. uh.. become friends with you over time, but... certainly Seppun-sama could have taken time to know people here. Also... I am not sure how I feel about being seen as an interesting... specimen."

She smiles ever so slightly. "I am also an interesting... specimen to my family. I am not trained in our traditional school, but in a different and new one. Mostly so I could then bring back what is new and interesting. My family's duty is always paramount to us. We are the protectors of the Hantei, the Emperor. We must do all we can to fulfill that duty."

"Is there anything that could be done to make a joining between us two in any way amicable? If it helps, I have no problem if you wish to also have a lover. Both of my parents had lovers, and I grew up with that sort of set up."

"With all due respect, I care little how interesting specimen Seppun-sama might be to her family. You said you wish to learn from us, but instead of finding me and asking questions, you are going to use the rules of this... occasion to arm wrestle me to join the Imperial House, so be it. But I will not divulge you the secrets of my Family." Dong-Ha's eyes darkened as he regarded Hitako. "Well..." he blushed as he heard her proposition.

"But but... why...how." Dong-Ha stammered. "Why would you not care?"

She looked at him. Then, she settled into a cushion, and looked at him a moment more. "We are completely different, aren't we? Not just you and I, but the Unicorn and the rest of the Empire. Especially the Seppun. We are duty. There is nothing else for us. Marriage is just one of those duties. Learning more about threats to the Emperor, that is a duty. Learning how to stop them, that is a duty. Learning of things that can be used to protect him, that is a duty. Love, it has nothing to do with duty.

"We see our lives as not ours. They are our Lord's to use as he wishes. And, for us, our Lord is the Emperor. So, we use them as best we can to serve him. For some, that is joining the Hidden Guard, or training others to protect him. For others, it is going out and gathering what is needed to continue to protect him. And, for those in a marriage, it is having more children, to protect the next Emperor.

"Love, however, is not ignored. It is kept to the side, once the duty hours are finished. Once my parents had children - I am the fifth of seven if it matters - they had fulfilled their duty in that way. And, each of them fell in love, and took lovers. You ask how I can be as I am. How I can say what I did. It is because it is what I was raised with. What I grew up accepting as normal."

"I would want to be more than.. a duty." he muttered, sullen. "To live in a harmony with my spouse, if not in rapport. To share the joys of life together. I see that Seppun-sama sees things from a very different angle." Dong-Ha offered her a low bow to avoid causing offense. "Of course we live to serve, but that doesn't mean our liege controls the minute details of our lives. We are free to live within the boundaries of the arrangement. No liege lord worth his or her salt would want disgruntled underlings." That opinion might have been borderline heretical, not that Dong-Ha cared.

"Seven is an impressive number..." Dong-Ha murmured. "Among my kind, such large families are rare." Then he froze again. "But wouldn't it bother you, to to..." he blushed. "..to lie with your husband just to procreate, even when your affections and his affections lie elsewhere. Is that no perversion in the eyes of the Fortunes that sanctified the union."