Asking Otoha about those two families was something I already thought of doing way before. But I held off until I got sufficient reason to do so. I could also ask my parents but I guess I would be saving that as a last resort. For now, I just wanted a general idea of how big or strong those two families are.
“Ichihara and Kujou? Ichihara isn’t a noble family. However, their construction business could be said to be national-level. The Kujous are based in Kyoto. They’re part of the old school nobilities who still held onto their tradition of sending their women to tie up business ventures. They’re not that strong politically. However, their roots as a Noble House were deeper than the Kaneko or Hasegawa. They’re part of those old cliques close to the Shogunate.” Instead of Otoha, it was Hitomi who answered me. Otoha simply nodded, agreeing to everything she just said.
In short, one was a business giant while the other was a deeply-rooted Noble House.