The dark moon hung above the sky. Chiye was kneeling silently on the Tatami floor¹, gazing blankly at the darkness. The wooden engawa² veranda was open, allowing the glow from the moon to enter pierce the darkness covering room Chiye were currently in.
This kind of setting is very familiar to Chiye.
So long as she did something that would arouse dissatisfaction and anger from her parents, this was the type of punishment she will receive. Not only is it a punishment of kneeling for a whole night long, but she must also circulate her curse technique and use it throughout the night without a stop.
Summoned curse spirits are guarding her in the shadows, preventing her from taking any rest and attacking her should she dare attempt to lessen her punishment.
Chiye was ever so familiar with this. She had suffered through this countless times.
The first time it happened was when Chiye was at the age of 7. Disobeying the orders of her father to copy scriptures and train, she went and seek her older brother to play. What do you expect? A child would always follow their hearts desire and a child's desire to play was strong.
Quite unfortunate that Chiye cannot act like a child when she's a child. She has to train from dawn to dusk, forced to catch up to his brother's progress.
