by Kate Grove
He saved it the last moment. He let out a breath in relief and returned the jar back to its place. Strange, it was heavier than he would expect. He furrowed his eyebrows and drew the wakizashi from his waistband. Pointing the blade at the top of the jar, he quickly removed the lid.
For a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or be furious. His betrothed was hiding inside one of the jars, peering up at him with a red face. Her eyes were looking up at him innocently even though she was caught in an area off-limits to her.
“Get up,” he said, fighting a laugh. His voice sounded raw even to his own ears.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“What was that?” Maybe he heard wrong.
“I can’t,” Ciara repeated, louder this time. “I’m stuck.”
Oh, for heavens’ sake! He couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling up from the deepest part of his soul. Who hides in a jar and then can’t get out of it?
“Sure, laugh at me all you want. I’ll just wait until the rest of eternity,” Ciara grumbled, “or until a gentleman decides to rescue me, while you laugh.”
Katsuo wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Come on, I’ll help you.”
“How?” she asked, eyeing him. She tensed up as he walked closer and bent over her head. He gripped both sides of the jar and it moved to the side. Ciara grabbed the edges and panicked. “No! Wait!”
“Trust me.”
“It’s hard when I’m stuck here!”
“I’ll get you out,” Katsuo insisted and the jar fell sideways.
“Waaaaaait!” Ciara screamed and braced for impact. It never came. Carefully, she opened her eyes and realized she was laying on her side, inside the jar, which was quite intact.
“Now what?” she asked, blinking up at Katsuo. He grabbed a small container hanging from his waistband and opened it. It looked like something Ciara would put cosmetics in. Katsuo dipped a finger in it and Ciara realized there was some kind of cream inside the container. “What are you going to do with it?”
Instead of replying with words, he started to rub the cream on the edge of the jar. It smelled awful. Ciara made a face, which Katsuo caught from the corner of his eye. He chuckled.
“Now, give me your hands.”
“Both of them?” Ciara asked.
Katsuo nodded and put the container away. He reached out his hands, and Ciara struggled to have both of her arms come free from the jar. One was easy, but two at the same time?
By some miracle, she did it. He tightened his hold on her wrists, and before she could do anything, he pulled on her arms. She shrieked, but by the time the sound left her mouth, she was already free.
Ciara sighed in relief and hung her head.
“That was so embarrassing!” she said, burying her face in… something warm? Her breath hitched and she looked up, fearing the worst. Yep, she had just managed to embarrass herself even further, if that was possible.
She was laying on top of a topless Katsuo who had just saved her from a very troublesome situation. She straightened her arms, putting her palms on his muscled torso.
“I’m so sorry!” Ciara scrambled back, falling on her bottom. She stared at Katsuo with wide eyes. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!”
“What were you doing there, anyway?” he asked as he sat up without any help from his hands. Damn, the man had abs. Ciara looked away, her face reddening. She realized he was waiting for her reply. Thankfully, he didn’t have any sharp objects near him, not that she could see.
She cleared her throat and looked back at him.
“I was just taking a stroll and wanted to see the pagoda. And then you came, and I panicked, and I just… hid.”
“Are you aware this place is off-limits? There’s a guard on the path here,” Katsuo asked. He was still amused at her feeble attempt to hide and how she got stuck in the jar. But she needed to know the boundaries. He reached for the fallen wakizashi and Ciara’s eyes widened.
“Yes!” she hurried with her answer. “I did know. I’m really sorry, I just wanted to see this building from up close. It looks so unique! Please don’t kill me!”
Katsuo was taken aback.
“Kill you? Why would I…?” He realized he was twirling the blade in one hand. Ah, that’s why. He put it away in its scabbard then stood to retrieve his katana. He walked back to Ciara who was cowering on the ground. Her hands were shaking badly. He put the katana away, too, and squatted down. Their eyes were at the same level.
“You’d have to do a lot more for me to even consider hurting you,” he said. He was surprised to realize he meant it.
“B-but I wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“Well, as long as you’re not a spy… Are you?”
Ciara fervently shook her head.
“Then we’re good. Just promise me you won’t break any more house rules,” he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Even though he put the weapons away, Ciara felt the danger had still not completely passed.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” she said, determination lacing her voice.
“Good. Come.” He stood up and offered his hand for her. After a moment of hesitation, Ciara took it, and he helped her up. “Let’s go back.”
He went to get his shirt, put it on, and walked back to Ciara, who was waiting for him patiently. He steered them toward the path leading from the pagoda to the castle courtyard.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked. Her voice was small.
“I’m not happy with you, but no, I’m not mad at you, either.”
Ciara let out a sigh of relief and straightened from her hunched posture. For the first time, he looked at her attire. She was dressed like a man.
“Why aren’t you wearing a kimono?”
She puckered her lips.
“It’s easier to move around wearing these clothes,” she admitted. She glanced at him, nervously. “Katsuo, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You use the sword so easily,” Ciara said.
“Years of practice.”
“No, I mean…” She sighed in frustration, trying to find the words. “On the battlefield. You fight people, you kill people. How do you deal with that?”
Katsuo looked at her, puzzled.
“There is war. If I stopped to mourn every time I cut someone down, I’d be dead in a heartbeat.”
“So you just… not think about it?” Ciara asked for clarification.
“That’s not quite right, either. How shall I put it?” Katsuo placed a hand to his chin as he thought. “You do what you must in order to protect something important to you. If it’s killing someone, then that’s it. You know you have to do it. And you put it away to a corner of your mind. Something like that.”
“I see…”
“Have I satisfied your curiosity?” he asked, concerned what brought upon this line of questioning. Did she think he was threatening her? She did beg him not to kill her, not that that had been the case.
“Thank you for your honesty,” Ciara said, giving him a sad smile. “You gave me plenty to think about.”
25
They had just passed the guard on duty on the path to the pagoda. He didn’t react to Ciara’s appearance but bowed to them dutifully. Katsuo made sure to remember his face, however, and tell Taiki to train his guards better.
Ciara seemed harmless enough, but if a dangerous person were to make their way there… Katsuo made a fist with his hands as he remembered that night when Ayaka was kidnapped. It was pure luck and Ciara’s determination that his daughter got back safely. The woman was still guilty of trespassing, though, and he didn’t intend to let the whole incident slide.
“Well, I’ll be going back to my room—” Ciara started to say, but Katsuo shook his head. “What is it?” She asked.
“You didn’t think I’d let you off the hook so easily, did you?” Katsuo quirked an eyebrow, a
nd Ciara looked away. The tips of her ears grew red. So she did think he was going to forget what she did. “You knew well that it was forbidden to enter the pagoda area unless you had my prior permission.”
Ciara looked down as she nodded.
“I cannot let this go unpunished.”
At his words, Ciara froze, and her eyes widened. Katsuo swore he saw her pale.
“W-what do you mean?” Her question came out as a breath. Her big, purple eyes looked up at him, wide in fright.
“Every action has its consequences.”
“I know that,” she replied, looking away again. She cleared her throat after a moment of silence. “What do you have in mind?” Her voice sounded different from before. Detached.
“I’ll think on it. I’ll let you know by the end of the day,” he replied. A little time for her to think on her actions might do good. “You may go now.”
“Yes. Bye.”
She hurried off so fast that Katsuo didn’t even have the chance to ask if she would need help finding her way back to her room.
Ciara didn’t even go to town with Yura that day. She just wandered around the orchard or circled the corridors, careful to avoid people. She had steered clear of Katsuo’s office. Finally, when she could take it no more, she visited the bathhouse and relaxed for a long time. Thankfully, her bath was uninterrupted and she was alone and could meditate. By the time she exited the pool, her fingers had wrinkled from the water. She felt warm and happy until the moment she stepped out of the bathhouse and came face to face with a servant she didn’t know.
“Milady, please come with me. Milord wishes to speak to you.”
“Okay, lead the way,” Ciara said, following the man. He bowed when they reached the door to Katsuo’s study.
“Milord, Ciara-sama is here,” he said, tapping the door.
“Let her in.”
Ciara took a breath as the doors slid open for her. Katsuo’s voice was just as emotionless as his face was at the moment she looked at him. He did the gesture she had learned meant ‘come in’ in this country, and the doors quietly slid closed behind her. For a terrible moment she felt like a mouse trapped with a cat. A big cat. Like a lion.
“You called me?” Ciara asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
Katsuo finally looked up at her and put his paperwork away. He looked taken aback as he gazed at her. Ciara’s eyes furrowed.
“What is it?”
“I thought… I didn’t…”
It was amusing to see him bewildered for a change, and Ciara had to swallow a smile.
“Were you taking a bath?”
“Yes. It was very lovely,” she emphasized the past tense.
Katsuo cleared his throat and looked away for a moment before gesturing for her to sit in front of him. Ciara sat on her knees, waiting for him to start talking.
“I’ve decided what you need to do to make amends for your trespassing this morning-”
“I’m still not sleeping with you,” Ciara said firmly.
Katsuo’s eyes flashed golden for a moment, but it disappeared before Ciara could confirm what she saw.
“Why do you always jump to that conclusion?” he asked, puzzled. “Do you actually want to sleep with me but are playing hard to get?”
Ciara gaped.
“I’m not!” she immediately protested.
Katsuo mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
“What was that?” Ciara narrowed her eyes.
“You make me dinner.”
“Ummm… what?”
“You make me dinner today, for just the two of us,” Katsuo clarified. “You can use whatever ingredients you want from the kitchens. There’s just one condition.”
“And what is that?” Ciara asked. “I’m not cooking for you naked!”
“Will you stop that for just one second?” Katsuo hit his fist on the table, making Ciara jump. His ears were red.
“It was just a joke,” she mumbled.
“A joke? So there’s a version where you’d actually cook naked then sleep with me?”
Ciara’s hid her face behind her hands, but whatever remained exposed, Katsuo could see it turn crimson red.
“Can we just move on and never mention it again?” she asked.
“I’m just continuing what you’ve started,” Katsuo simply said and stood up. He rounded the desk, completely silent, so when he reached for Ciara’s hand, she jerked in surprise. She looked at him with huge eyes the color of twilight. As their gazes locked, Katsuo felt some kind of tense energy whirling between them.
“Be careful what you say. The joke might be on you,” he said as he held her hands. Ciara’s breath hitched, and she didn’t move. She felt as if she was trapped by the gaze of a predator.
“You make me dinner tonight. The only condition is that it’ll be Western cuisine.”
“Oh.”
“The head cook can show you where we store the ingredients,” he said and stood up, still not letting go of her. He lifted her hand a little, and Ciara rose from her seated position with his help.
“I’m looking forward to dinner,” he said with a small smile.
“R-right.” Ciara retracted her hand and turned to the door. “See you later, then.”
“See you at dinner,” Katsuo told her as she exited the room.
26
Ciara left in a daze, and by the time she realized she wasn’t paying attention to where she headed, she had already been lost in the maze that was the castle. Confused, she stopped at an intersection and looked up to find red lines painted on the beam of one corridor and yellow puffs on the other. She had never seen these symbols before. The corridors were empty, not even a guard stood around. This meant she was in the inner parts of the castle, but other than that, she was completely lost.
Sighing, Ciara picked the corridor with the red lines and took a left turn. She had crossed a few intersections but stuck to the red-lined corridor. Just when she was about to think she’d never see another human being in her lifetime and she’d die wandering the hallways of an abandoned castle and archeologists would find her mummified corpse centuries later, she finally heard some voices. She picked up her pace, nearing yet another intersection, but just before she rounded the corner, she stopped as soon as she heard her name being mentioned.
“I want that foreigner, Shiara, out of here!” a hushed voice said. It was probably a woman’s voice.
“I can’t help you with that,” replied a muffled voice. It was hard to discern if it was another woman or a man.
“Don’t jest,” she said. “Someone with your skills could easily make her disappear.”
Ciara put a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. Silently, she took a step back, but she was too curious to know more to leave.
“That is true.”
Ciara froze on the spot behind the corner. Were they planning on killing her?
The person whose voice was muffled sighed before continuing.
“She is under close watch, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“You better,” she hissed in response. “I won’t forget your assistance when I’m the lady of this household. I expect you to do your best.”
“I’m not your servant,” the other person grunted.
“Who do you work for?”
Silence was her answer.
“You better decide where your loyalties lie,” she said. “That foreigner and the entire Kitayama family will be out of the picture soon. It’ll be too late by then to decide which side you serve. Choose carefully.”
Ciara heard footsteps retreating and glanced around in a panic. There was a door ajar, and she silently stepped in. She crouched down behind a furniture. A moment later, a shadow passed the spot where she had been standing. Her heart hammered loudly in her chest as if she’d run a marathon.
She waited until she could hear nothing, then a little more just to be sure, before she carefully crawled to the opening and peeked out. Ciara let out a silent sigh in
relief when she realized she was alone. She stepped out from her hiding place and picked another random direction, hoping neither person from the conversation had headed the same way.
Her mind was reeling with what she had heard. People were plotting about killing her! She was in a daze and felt as if she was walking in a nightmare.
“Oof,” she grunted as she bumped into someone. She rubbed her nose, which felt most of the impact, and glanced up.
“I’m sorry, are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, too,” Ciara said as she finished rubbing her nose. It still tingled a little. Taiki nodded then sidestepped her to go on his way. “Be careful.”
“Wait!” Ciara called after him, and he stopped, turning back to her. “Can you please point me in the direction of the kitchens? I’m afraid I got lost… again.”
“It’s that way.”
“Straight?” Ciara asked, looking in the direction he indicated.
“Yes. Just follow this corridor until you see a purple dot,” Taiki pointed upward, referring to the symbols Ciara tried to decipher ever since Yuki had mentioned them. “From then on, it should be easy enough to find the kitchen.”
“Thanks,” Ciara said, gazing in that direction. “Say—” She turned back to ask something else, but he was already gone. She hadn’t even heard his footsteps. Ciara shrugged before turning to the direction of the kitchen.
This time, she didn’t get lost.
Katsuo let his family know that he wouldn’t be eating dinner with them today. Takeru had a secretive smile on his face, as if he knew something his brother didn’t, and it quickly got on Katsuo’s nerves.
Telling Yuki was a more difficult situation. She listened to him then started asking questions after questions.
“Why?”
“I’ve just told you, because I will eat with someone else.”
