Shoan quietly hides a smile of her own as she bends down to listen to the shugenja.

"I imagine clans that don't have libraries and histories like the Ikoma have to make a great public display of their bloodlines. We know who are ancestors are, and each of them speaks for themselves. But for the Unicorn....well"

Cocking her head as the list goes on....and on....and on....
"I can see why they're worried that 'Emek' 'Emin' and 'Esin' might get mixed up in the histories and then they end up with a marriage they'd regret."

<snip>

So she smiled. First it was forced, to let the hormones flow through her brain, and then it was genuine. For all her failures, both vocalized by herself and her superiors, she still had her own little happiness. "We will see who smiles more," Nozomi boasted. "Perhaps your lips will end up hurting."