Shirogane was enough of a gambler to see that a nerve somewhere had inadvertently been struck. He assumed the discomfort was simply upset at the mention of her child, not any sort of guilt over it. He tried to return her smile with a reassuring one of his own. "That's all any of us can do."

Even though he had no intention of doing so himself, nor did he think the practice would actually accomplish anything. But reassurance was reassurance, and if she needed such things, he'd not say anything otherwise.