「Ｋの
私はＫに手紙を見せました。Ｋは
私はＫと同じような返事を彼の
22
After K's situation had settled a bit, I received a long letter from the husband of his older sister. K's adoptive family were relatives of this man, and according to K his opinion had carried weight both in mediating the adoption and in later reversing it.
The letter asked for news on how K was faring. His sister was worried, it added, and could I please respond without delay. K was closer to this older sister, who had married into another family, than to his older brother who had succeeded his father at the temple. They were all three siblings of the same mother, but there was a significant gap in age between K and his sister. From his childhood, K's sister had served as a mother to him, moreso than his stepmother.
I showed the letter to K. He seemed unsurprised and revealed to me that he'd received several such letters already from his sister. He said he'd written back that there was no need for concern. The family his sister had married into, unfortunately, was not well off. However sympathetic his sister might be, she was in no position to offer material assistance.
I wrote back to K's brother-in-law with a similar response as K's to his sister. I assured them, in no uncertain terms, that I would step in on K's behalf should the need arise. This was fully in fitting with my intent. In stating it so, I hoped to comfort K's sister who worried for his future. I also meant it as a rebuke against K's adoptive and birth families, whom I felt had disrespected me.