The conversation which was at it's peak when Kaori approached the door of the family hall, had, in that moment, completely died down. Pipes were being puffed in forced solemnity, and there were more people in the hall than she had imagined. Lady Kaneko must have invited the whole town for dinner.
The men sat around the rich looking young man, starting daggers at each other like the bet they were making depended on the first to wink. A host of young ladies kept close to Kohana whispering and giggling about something they were discussing, they occasionally stole glances at the young men. The lady and lord Kaneko sat with the older lady who had come with the young man discussing something seemingly important. Her eyes finally fell on the dining table and discovered it was empty, her stomach growled in protest.
At last, Lord Gereth, the earl of their town, a soft spoken man who hid a vicious nature she was sure, known not to bother with social gatherings of this nature but still had to be here because the Kanekos were an old noble family sitting on too much ancestral wealth and he couldn't afford to slight them yet, broke the uncomfortable silence, by saying in a somewhat bored tone to lord Kaneko, 'I heard your young lady isn't your first daughter, why is she getting a marriage proposal ahead of the older one?'
Lord Kaneko, in a strained voice, tried to keep his words polite, after all, this was the early not an ordinary man. He took a few sips of his wine, cleared his throat and replied, 'You heard right, my lord. However, the first young lady has a weak body constitution and poor skin, we would be keeping her with us to take better care of her.'
After this short discourse, the dining room once again fell back into silence. No doubt, it was lady Kaneko who put the words in her husband's mouth, the mas wasn't so… eloquent. And earl Gereth knew that.
While all was being said the person in question had already found herself a seat to plant her butt in. She signalled a maid to being more food as she was hungry.
Ayame after being so rudely called upon by that lowly Kaoru hesitated not knowing if she should refuse. Deciding against it she left and returned later with a tray full of food.
Kaoru ignored Ayame's glowering and dug into the quite shamelessly while listening in on the conversations going on around her.
From Kohana's own mouth she heard her fiancé was a lord from beyond the sea, she couldn't catch his name though. Unlike here where high ranking noblemen like her father could be called a lord, in his land it was a title that came with a position. That man with hoop earrings seemed to be from behind the sea too, but their attire were different and he had a more lordly disposition compared to her younger sister's fiancé.
A small family dinner had become a mini social gathering, Kaoru clicked her tongue, marriage was a happy indeed. Kohana seemed to be okay with the man but she could bet all her money though she had none that she wished it was Koinu, haha! She wondered why she was sent for if she was going to be treated as air.
Standing up, Kaoru excused herself using their lie that she could no longer handle the stress to retire to her rooms. The following morning the wedding preparations began in earnest and a certain heavily tanned redhead arrived at the doorstep of the Kaneko house.