I slept with Ansei’s remains a day following his passing.

Macabre? Perhaps, but by then so was I—coated in sap, sweat and grime. I brought him down from the tree with the last of my strength, his corpse wrapped all around with webbing. It served as an appropriate burial shroud.

I made his grave in the garden, at the foot of a new maple. The tree would grow up mighty on the strength of his body. It was the only shrine I had to honor him by.

A week later, I administered the antidote to Okugawa, and was heralded a hero for saving his life, however temporarily. As Ansei had promised, it was not a long life.

He died not long after the birth, in the blissful illusion of fatherhood to mine and Ansei’s lovely daughter. Most people are capable of this kind of self-deception. Who would not have been proud to think himself the father of a child so lovely?

I called Madame Sato to the Western Capital to stay with me and assist me through my pregnancy. I learned only much later that she was an Earth Kumo Queen, and Ansei’s mother had sent her to me to teach and to prepare me for the role I would yet play.

When the time came for my child’s birth. Madame assisted, and held the newborn babe in her arms with all of the pleasure of a rightful grandmother. She, too, had lived for that moment, and would live to see my daughter grow and teach her to understand and respect the goals of reforms she would make.

Stolen novel; please report.

I never met Ansei’s mother again, after her first appearance to me in the spring inn. And yet, she and I are connected and I know she is not yet finished with me.

The revolution was brilliant in its conception and execution. In the Earth Kumo pattern, no more did emperors battle their sons and daughters to retain power. No more did their heirs assassinate their fathers.

No emperor’s reign could continue long at all. The stability the system brought peace and prosperity. Who can tell how many lives were saved after the grafting of arachnid blood into the Ruling House’s chain of succession? I like to think not only our own peoples’, but the lives of many more nations’ as well.

When my daughter took her throne, she exercised her father’s gifts to preside over the greatest advancement in agricultural productivity and efficiency that the eastern world had ever seen, enriching the people and Ruling House, generally.

She initiated social reforms recognizing women’s contributions, ending slavery. With the creative spirit she acquired from both of us, she promoted the arts, literature and music foundational to a renaissance period which followed her reign.

I cannot tell of my daughter’s private life. That is her story to set down in the annals of our family history. Not mine.

If I am honest, I cannot say I never regretted the course I took. Even a brilliant daughter is not fully compensate for the loss of a mate. Yet, I knew my daughter’s value. It was measured in Ansei’s life, and I love her fiercely. She was full of days and much beauty.

You may ask how long I lived before Ansei’s star reunited with mine. They were days both short and long. I learned well how to savor their agony. But their end was as final as time. And our love is now the architecture of the Heavens.