After the death of Genji, he showed special favor to the bereaved Kaoru as well as the Empress Akikonomu, who did not have a child, in accordance with the will of Genji ('Nioumiya' (His Perfumed Highness)), but he did not know the secret concerning Kaoru's birth (therefore he seems to have taken Kaoru as his younger brother by a different mother).
なお源氏没後、遺言により遺児薫を子のない秋好中宮と共に寵遇しているが（「匂宮」）、薫の出生の秘密は知らない（よって薫が異母弟だと誤解していると思われる）。