'My father is dead.'

The torch completely blinded her left side as Senue's people made way for her to pass.

She dared just a single glance at her father as she lowered the torch to the funeral pyre, but all she saw was a body. He was above her, his face out of sight. The yellow camellias identified him as the former leader of the Honoka Clan, but that was no longer her father.

The realization hit her like a blow, her lips trembling as all the composure she struggled to maintain collapsed in an instant. Her eyes stung, more with tears than with the heat of the spreading fire.

Senue set fire to the other ends of the pyre, and, sobbing, watched as what was left of her father was reduced to ashes.