Chapter 2
The Arrival of the Ōgi Set

One morning, as the rising sun tinged the sky over Kyōto with shades of pink, an unexpected parcel arrived at Yuki's residence. It was a gift from her husband, a rarity that immediately piqued her interest. With delicate hands, she undid the silken ties around the package, revealing an ōgi set, an old and lesser-known variant of shōgi.

The set was magnificently crafted, its pieces finely carved from an ancient wood whose grain told stories of craftsmen from another age. Each piece was a small masterpiece, minutely chiselled, with kanji characters engraved by an expert hand. The board, an ōgiban, was itself a work of art, with its clean lines and its smooth surface, inviting beneath Yuki's fingers.

With the set came a letter from her husband detailing the provenance of this treasure. He had found it at the shop of a renowned antique dealer, a man who knew the stories and legends behind every object he sold. In his letter, he expressed his wish to share hours of play with Yuki on his return, a thought that awakened in her a feeling of warmth and anticipation.

Curious about this game that seemed to have come straight out of a bygone era, Yuki summoned one of her maidservants, a young woman schooled in arts and letters. Together they pored over the rules of the game, exploring its strategies and moves, in a dialogue that mingled excitement and concentration.

The following afternoons were devoted to learning and practising the game. Yuki discovered an unexpected passion for ōgi, finding in its complex rules and strategies a stimulating intellectual challenge. She already imagined herself playing against her husband, picturing with pleasure the games that awaited them. The game brought a welcome novelty to her days, breaking the monotony of her solitude.

However, what began as a simple, innocent pastime, meant to fill the empty hours, turned little by little into a consuming fascination. Yuki often found herself playing alone, immersed in imaginary games in which she faced invisible opponents in duels of the mind.

Her nights, once peaceful, were soon invaded by strange, recurring dreams in which the game of ōgi became the centre of a mysterious and bewitching universe. These dreams, peopled with dark figures and moonlit landscapes, drew Yuki into a world where reality and fantasy seemed to merge, marking the beginning of an adventure that would overturn her existence.