Excerpt from the book:
...Before them appeared a clean spacious room, furnished with elegant carved furniture and skillfully painted screens. All interior items were expensive and it immediately became clear: the fortuneteller's business was going well.
The woman and her daughters immediately appreciated the quality of the things around them. Such things could be afforded by middle-class aristocrats or wealthy citizens.
After exchanging a number of pleasantries, Ruri invited the guests to sit down at a low table on the tatami mat. Women and girls quickly sat down at the table. The samurai, making sure that nothing threatened their Lady and girls, calmly stood at the entrance to the dwelling.
They didn't seem to bother Ruri at all. She was often approached for a prediction by noble ladies and wealthy townswomen, who came, of course, with an escort.
"My Lady, what do you want to know first?" asked the blue-eyed fortune-teller. "Your future, or what awaits your daughters?"
"First, I wish to know what awaits my eldest daughter. Then, in order of seniority: middle and junior," the mother gestured at her daughters in turn.
"So be it," Ruri nodded.
***
...Suddenly, the girl realized something else: the skies darkened sharply and an impenetrable fog began to cover everything around. The girl panicked and rushed to quickly look for a way out of the forest. But, alas, the irreparable happened: she got lost, but realized it too late.
"If I stand still, I will never leave the forest at all," she reasoned. "The main thing is to go very carefully. And with the help of the great goddess Amaterasu, I will safely get out of here. And I need to find my maid."
Himiko mentally offered prayers, and slowly set off on her way. At first she followed a flat road, then, suddenly, a flat forest path rushed up. The girl, to her great surprise, realized that she was walking along a mountain road.
Suddenly, Himiko heard the purr of a cat, and decided that somewhere nearby there must be housing. "I will ask the locals how I can return to the capital. Maybe they'll let me wait out the fog at their house!" flashed through her mind.
She walked on, from time to time a purr reached her ears. Himiko walked long enough. The fog still enveloped her like a cocoon...