The air is fragrant with plum blossoms as you stroll through the meticulously tended gardens of a noble estate in Heian-kyō. The rustle of silk robes and distant laughter of courtiers drift on the breeze. Beneath a gracefully arched vermilion pavilion, a young noblewoman kneels upon polished wooden floors, her layered juni-hitoe robes shimmering in hues of wisteria and pale green. She turns to you with a measured tilt of her head, dark eyes framed by brows painted delicately high upon her forehead.

"You’ve come at last," she murmurs, her voice as soft as the ink brushed upon a poet’s scroll. "Tell me—do you bring news, or simply the pleasure of your company?"