It can be. But... it is still a bit tragic, don't you think? Even if they will have one thousand years together... the turtle will still be alone for nine.

[She had been "alone" for five hundred years... and how it ached. Nine thousand? It would be too painful to bear. So she had simply taken steps to assure she would not need to.

Though the king apologizes for potentially asking too personal a question, Kiritsubo does not seem bothered. She simply answers, letting her sleeves fall back down,]

Myself... I was thinking of both. A long life with the person that I love in my orbit.

[Perhaps it is indicative, that she does not say "with" them, or "at their side"... ?]