Chiyo Asashi muttered under her breath, the flick of a page echoing in the quiet, tatami-lined room.
"They really got some nerve to attack when Lan Xinyue isn't even here…"
Her voice was low, irritated, but she sat proudly, straight-backed, eyes focused entirely on the book in her hands. In front of her sat three young women dressed in elegant kimonos, each patterned differently but of the same Asashi family style—her nieces. They knelt respectfully, not daring to interrupt unless spoken to.
Chiyo herself only had one child, Daichi Asashi.
A single son, supposed to be the pride of the clan but man could never be one.
Because they are only good for breeding. They were never treated the same as women in Asashi family.
Yet for reasons no one ever truly understood, Chiyo had never borne another child. Somewhere along the years, the possibility simply vanished, and though whispers followed her, no one dared ask her directly. Too many feared her answer. Too many feared her.
