I wondered a bit about that top Michelle - everything about Orchid & Nuharu seemed to be at opposite ends of the spectrum: Orchid had a poorer, harder upbrining, despite her family's noble hostory, Nuharu had everything handed to her & lacked nothing; Orchid was eager to learn & had very little in the way of an education deemd "proper" for a lady, whereas Nuharu was educated in etiquette & royal history by the finest tutors; Nuharu was prepared for her role as Empress, Orchid came to it by chance & by her own decision. All these things added up to create two women in a very tough situation who reacted completely differently from each other under their circumstances.
Personally, I thought Orchid was the stronger of the two, but then I thought again about how Nuharu dealt with Orchid's pregnancy - it took a lot of strength to go & congratulate Orchid & to deal with the prospect of bringing up Orchid's son, rather than having a much-longed-for child of her own - it must have been very difficult.