He could tell she was amused. At least, he could make her smile, even if she hid it from him behind her hand. That... no it didn't make up for what had been done to her, what they'd allowed to be done to her, but it helped. It really did.

The question surprised him. It took him a moment to recover his composure.

"It was..." Lonely, strict? "Solitary." That was the best he could describe it as. The only son of an only son, and he'd gained the clan at a young age, because his grandfather had been trying to save his life. Giving him something, anything, to give him duty because he would never shirk that. No matter how much he wished to join his wife in oblivion.