My Happy Marriage (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter Ep

  EPILOGUE  

Fragile white flower petals floated down from the clouded sky.

The ground was covered in a layer of cold, immaculate white, and the people found it almost impossible to walk through the snow, which was clinging heavily to their feet with each step.

The season Takaihito had forewarned as dangerous, with snow stretching pure white in all directions, had arrived.

Miyo breathed into her numb hands to warm them.

She wore a finely patterned pale orange kimono with red and white Japanese plums scattered across it plus hakama pants, so she could move around more easily. Similarly, she had swapped out her sandals for dark brown laced leather shoes for increased mobility and protection from the cold.

Once she had wrapped her hair up in the white lace ribbon that her future mother-in-law, Fuyu Kudou, had previously entrusted her with and finished applying light makeup to her face, nothing but face powder and lipstick, she was finished getting dressed.

It was still dark in the early winter morning. Miyo turned around as she stood in the front entryway and found that a light layer of snow had blown inside the Kudou family’s main estate.

I left a note behind in my room, so…it should be all right.

It had been four days since Kiyoka was arrested.

From there, practically everything changed.

First, Miyo, Hazuki, and Yurie left Takaihito’s residence and started staying in the Kudou main estate instead.

Takaihito had tried to stop them, insisting that it was still dangerous. However, since Usui’s target had been Kiyoka, and he successfully captured him, it was unlikely he’d go after Miyo directly anymore.

In addition, there was the experience she had right before the secretary’s attack on her, where no one within Takaihito’s residence had provided her with protection.

It was revealed to be an act of rebellion from the Minister of the Imperial Household, who harbored ill will toward Takaihito’s hardheaded attitude, and she had received an unofficial apology from the minister.

However, that was more than enough reason to be distrustful of the residence’s guards.

Kiyoka was hauled away, and the danger to Takaihito’s own life was drawing near. Entry in and out of the Imperial Palace became even more regulated than it had been before, and as a rule, outsiders were forbidden from entering entirely.

At this point, Takaihito and the Minister of the Imperial Household couldn’t spare any consideration for Miyo and her two attendants.

That was why she thought it was the correct call to leave the Imperial Palace.

And then…

The peacekeeping squads and artificial Gift-users that the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit had been diligently capturing since the end of the previous year were all freed at the hands of Usui.

The allies of the Gifted Communion were acquitted of any crimes, and conversely, those that defied them were being restrained one after another.

Justice in the Empire had completely turned on its head.

The city and scenery haven’t changed in the slightest, and yet…

After she looked out over the imperial capital, blanketed white, from behind the fence encircling the Kudou estate, she returned her gaze back in front of her.

It was the fourth day since Kiyoka had been taken into custody.

The first day, she’d been unable to get a handle on anything, spending the entire day in a stupor. The second day, she left Takaihito’s residence and imposed on the Kudou main estate. Then on the third day, she’d made up her mind while holing up inside her room.

I’m going to go get Kiyoka.

Kiyoka said he wanted her to wait for him in the home they shared. That it was the only selfish request he had for her.

But Miyo was going against his instructions.

The Gifted Communion is probably waiting for me. Why else would they have captured Kiyoka? That’s why I’m going to go along with their invitation on purpose and reunite with him.

Kiyoka was captured, and Arata had betrayed them. Since there was a chance they had assisted Kiyoka in his crimes, the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit and Kazushi were under strict observation by Usui’s men, a mix of peacekeeping squads and soldiers, and none of them were able to move about freely.

Miyo still couldn’t get in touch with Ookaito either, who was looking into the Usui collaborators inside the government.

Every last person was busy doing everything they could for themselves. Miyo couldn’t be the only one to keep relying on others.

She knew the dangers very well.

Nevertheless, this was the one time where she couldn’t wait around aimlessly.

Miyo was the one Usui was waiting for, and everything happened according to his motives.

What had happened up until now was a mistake. Miyo needed to settle things herself, so she couldn’t continue leaving it all up to others.

If she didn’t act, she’d regret it. A lesson she had learned all too well.

The protective charms Kiyoka had given her were carefully tucked away inside her kimono. For Miyo, they were a means of self-defense.

“…Forgive me, Sis.”

She left without saying anything to Hazuki because she knew that Hazuki would want to come with her.

But Miyo couldn’t get her involved any further. She needed someone to wait for her in the Kudou estate. Plus, Hazuki had Asahi to look after.

When she considered the truly worse-case scenario, and the possibility that Asahi might lose his mother, she really couldn’t ask her for help.

Going up against the Gifted Communion, there were no guarantees of survival.

With that level of resolve, Miyo set out.

I’m sure I’ll be coming back with Kiyoka, safe and sound. When that happens, it’ll be such a relief to see Sis’s smiling face. For Kiyoka, too.

When she returned, she hoped that Hazuki or Yurie would be there to greet them… Though she might get reprimanded for acting so selfishly. But she didn’t mind if she had to sit through an earful first.

“I will come back. No matter what,” she declared to the empty entryway with the best smile she could muster.

Miyo wouldn’t back down on her vow. She would return, bringing Kiyoka with her.

“I’m off.”

Miyo turned around and walked on alone.

That moment, when she had watched from behind as Kiyoka was hauled away, she had felt more remorse than at any other point in her life.

Somewhere in her heart, she had held such naïve thoughts, that if they had managed to safely withstand things for the time being, then it would all work out at some point, and they could return to their peaceful daily lives.

I was truly such a fool.

What had she been thinking—that as long as she could return to her warm daily life, it would be enough?

Despite knowing full well, if she didn’t make her feelings known, she would probably regret it for the rest of her life.

“I’m not going to waver anymore.”

The crunching of the snow grounded Miyo as she walked ahead, steeling her heart against hesitation and carelessness.

She chided herself not to grow timid.

Miyo had realized it for a while—she needed to return these feelings she held for Kiyoka to him.

She hadn’t understood the importance of expressing herself to others while she had been able to. The realization came far too late.

But she could still make it in time.

She stared straight ahead down the wintry city street, packed with houses on either side.

Miyo devotedly continued forward, without ever looking back.