In a world similar but somewhat different to feudal Japan.

Two people, a woman and a young girl, sat within a room.

The sliding doors facing the gardens were wide open, allowing fresh air to enter the room. Though the sun was out, it was not too hot that it was unbearable. The weather was good despite it being mid-summer.

The woman who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties watched the little girl with a slight smile. The girl’s brows were scrunched as she carefully folded the papers.

They were making paper fans.

The papers they were using to make the fans were made up of gorgeous art pieces. It seemed almost wasteful to use them to make fans.

The wooden frames of the fans were already completed. All that was left was to glue the papers to the frames.

The woman nodded to the girl as she finished folding a piece of paper. Although it took a while to finish, the woman did not mind as it was the first time the girl was doing it.

She passed the wooden skeleton of the fan to the girl.

The girl took a brush from her side, then dipped it into the glue jar on her side. It was a strong glue made from tree sap. It carried a faint woody smell.

She carefully removed the excess glue on the edge of the jarhead.

The little girl painted one side of the left part of the wooden frame with the brush. Before the glue could dry, she immediately stuck the folded paper onto it. Once the step was done, she used her thumbs to make sure the paper was stuck completely.

Next, she smoothed out the paper, making sure that it was the correct size and width before pasting the other side of the paper onto the fan.

Finally, it was done.

She held up the paper fan, testing its usability by opening and closing it. The little girl passed the newly made fan to the older woman, eyes glinting with both hope and nervousness.

The woman thoroughly checked the fan, opening it before twisting it around and folding it up with a loud ‘snap!’

The little girl flinched at the sound, but her eyes remained trained on the older woman.

Finally, the woman returned the fan to the girl. She smiled, “Well done.” She praised the girl with a pat on the head, encouraging her. Although there were some flaws on it, such as the creases left on the glued parts, it was quite a good product coming out from a first attempt.

The girl beamed in response, evidently relaxing at the woman’s words.

“Thank you, mother!” The girl proceeded to pick up another piece of art to fold with renewed vigour, smiling from ear to ear.

“Madam, Miss! There seems to be a fire nearby!” Suddenly, a maidservant came rushing to their side through the garden, sweating profusely. The maid servant stumbled, but managed to catch herself on the door before falling. One of her sandals were missing, showing just how distressed she was.

The lady was startled. She got up, her eyebrows furrowing. “My, that’s terrible! Quick, have all the able-bodied servants help with the extinguishing efforts.”

“Yes, madam!” She quickly ran back, passing her message to the rest of the servants.

The lady called for another maidservant to assist her.

“Fuyuki, stay here and finish the rest of the fans, okay? Mother will go check the situation outside,” she gently patted the younger girl’s head.

The younger girl looked hesitant, but still obediently heeded the older woman’s instructions. She went back to diligently making the paper fans as her mother rushed to check the fire.

Airi stepped out to the gardens.

As she was putting on her shoes, she finally realised how big the fire was. Large, dark clouds of smoke were quickly gathering due to the fire. She was afraid that the fire might spread, so she quickly led her assisting maidservant to the site in hopes of stopping it.

Little did she know, she would soon come to regret leaving the house then.