My Happy Marriage (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 3.0

Proof of Love

Too bright.

The light, strong enough to pass through her eyelids, gradually roused Miyo.

Enveloped in the smell of silky, unfamiliar sheets, she slowly opened her still-heavy eyes and saw that the morning sun was peeking through a gap in the nearby curtain.

The light shining on the bed from the high window was very bright.

Wait…

Miyo usually woke from her sleep with the rising sun.

From the brightness of the light, she immediately gathered it was far past her normal wake-up time.

“Huh?!”

She rose in a panic, looking around her.

It was an unfamiliar room. Why had she been sleeping here? Unable to immediately remember, she felt a bit confused.

“Miyo.”

From nearby, she heard Kiyoka’s voice. She looked in that direction and saw he was in the middle of getting himself dressed.

A white shirt covering his muscular and lithe upper body, he was illuminated by the sunlight, and his long, dazzling unbound hair looked almost holy as it glistened.

Even as he was getting dressed, his beauty was unmatched. No matter how many times she laid eyes on him, she couldn’t help but stare.

Once he finished buttoning his shirt up to the top, Kiyoka drew closer to Miyo.

“You awake? Good morning.”

“G-good morning, Kiyoka…”

As they greeted each other, Miyo’s sleep-addled brain finally cleared, and she recalled the events of the night prior.

Oh, that’s right.

After completing their wedding ceremony several days ago and wrapping up most of their courtesy calls yesterday, they had decided to stay at the Kudou main estate to decompress from all the stress.

Hazuki had been the one to propose they get some rest there.

She must have been unable to sit by while Miyo and Kiyoka were mentally and physically exhausted from all the unfamiliar events they had been put through. Though Tadakiyo and Fuyu would both be at the estate as well, Hazuki had said staying there would be a perfect way to relax, and as there were servants on hand, they wouldn’t have to do any housework.

Kiyoka did have a servant—Yurie—who came to his house to help out. But Miyo felt bad about leaving everything up to the old woman, so she would often find herself helping out.

That explained why they had been practically forced into a three-day break at the Kudou estate.

They were staying in Kiyoka’s childhood bedroom, which still had some of its original furnishings.

To be perfectly honest, I’m very grateful for all of this…

Hazuki, now Miyo’s true older sister-in-law, was showing more concern over Miyo than ever before.

This applied to their stay, as no matter how industrious and hard-working Miyo may have been, she had wanted some time to be at peace, and she was truly grateful for Hazuki’s consideration for her in proposing it.

She really was her mentor in life.

All of that aside, however…

“I-I’m sorry, I’ve slept in so late.”

Returning to her senses, Miyo rushed to get out of bed before Kiyoka stopped her with a gentle smile.

“No need to rush. You’re tired, aren’t you? You get to relax as much as you want these next three days; no one will fault you for sleeping in a little late.”

With a touch of embarrassment, Kiyoka added that he’d woken later that morning himself. Miyo felt a tickling in her breast that was hard to describe.

Suddenly, Kiyoka brought his fingertips to Miyo’s chest. He gently adjusted the somewhat disheveled collar of Miyo’s nightgown.

I—I, I didn’t—

Miyo hadn’t noticed the precarious position of her collar whatsoever, a careless movement away from exposing her breasts. If she had been in this state from the moment she’d woken up then—

Eeeep!

She inwardly screamed. Immediately looking down, she hid her burning face, steam threatening to rise out of her ears. She was so unbearably, excruciatingly ashamed that she wanted to hide under a rock.

“M-m-my, my apologies…”

When Miyo gave a stammering apology, barely above the volume of a whisper, Kiyoka burst into laughter.

“Don’t let it bother you.”

“I-it does.”

“It’s a bit late for that.”

“Wh—?! Wh-wha, h-how can, why would you say that…?”

Miyo could feel her face getting redder and redder. Her emotions were in such disarray that she couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or embarrassed at Kiyoka’s completely insensitive remark.

They had become husband and wife, so naturally, they shared a bed or floor mattress every night, which led to various areas being exposed. Of course, this also made her so embarrassed she thought her heart would stop.

However, that wasn’t the issue here.

Kiyoka chortled quietly. Then he made a remark to tease Miyo even further.

“We were told we could relax as much as we want, after all. Why don’t we relax in our room a bit longer?”

“Huh?”

“After everything, I made sure to get the day off today, too, so we could relax to our hearts’ content.”

“What…? U-um…”

Kiyoka was putting a tremendous amount of emphasis on the word “relax.”

However, the sun was already high in the sky. What did he expect them to do in here to relax?

Kiyoka’s handsome face slowly inched closer to Miyo as she sat on the bed, confused. She leaned back in surprise, and the momentum sent her falling backward.

“K-Kiyoka…?”

“Miyo…”

He put away his smile and hovered over Miyo, staring hard at her with a look of pure seriousness in his eyes.

Slowly but surely, Miyo began to grasp what Kiyoka meant by “relax.”

Her heart beat fiercely, painfully so. Her entire body—not just her cheeks—flushed, and she began to sweat.

Kiyoka’s hair glistened in the sun as it flowed down over her, as if she was being enclosed in light. Even though she had seen all of it countless times before, she couldn’t take her eyes off his blue-tinged irises as they closed in, his sharply sculpted nose, or his shapely, thin lips.

The unequivocable heat of affection was radiating from him.

N-no, surely he’s not… But it’s already morning…

Nevertheless, as Kiyoka gazed at her with sincerity, Miyo found it impossible to resist him. The moments she felt his kind, profound love were so very sweet, so very comforting

They melted together, enough for her to wish they could stay that way forever.

Miyo listened to her heartbeat pounding in her ears as they gazed into each other’s eyes—she wondered how long they must have spent like that.

Miyo came back to her senses when there was a sudden, surprising knock at the door.

“Miyooo, Kiyokaaa? Are you awake?”

It was Hazuki’s voice. At that same moment, Kiyoka heaved a big sigh, abruptly got up, and separated himself from Miyo.

For just a brief second, this made her feel a touch sad, but she desperately shook her head side to side.

What in the world am I thinking?

Still, the urge to be with him always, the difficulty to part from Kiyoka for even a moment… Such feelings seemed to be growing stronger and stronger by the day since the wedding.

Their happy moments spent together, loving and being loved.

It was far too addictive for Miyo, and she threatened to grow dependent on it.

As she agonized over her own desire atop the bed, Kiyoka immediately headed to the door and opened it.

“What?”

His voice was almost terrifyingly firm. The temperature drop in his tone compared to moments before, when he had been speaking with Miyo, was tremendous.

“Oh, what’s that grouchy look first thing in the morning?”

Hazuki’s eyes happened to meet Miyo’s as she peered inside the room from the doorway.

The heat hadn’t abated yet, and Miyo was sure her cheeks were still red. Unable to bear it, she dropped her face and cowered slightly.

“Oh my, oh my, did I perhaps interrupt the newlyweds at a bad time?”

“Don’t get cute.”

“Sheesh, how rude. Do you really think it’s okay to talk to your sister like that?”

Miyo could only see Kiyoka’s backside from where she sat, and Hazuki’s expression was hidden behind the door, so she couldn’t confirm it for herself, but just from hearing their conversation, she could tell that they were staring each other down as though they were right in front of her.

“Well? What are you here for?”

“Oh, right, right. I wanted to ask you two. You said that you were going to go out boating today, didn’t you?”

“Oh!”

Miyo couldn’t stop herself from letting out a gasp.

She had completely forgotten. She had heard that they could boat around the pond in the nearby park, and they decided it would be the perfect change of pace for their stay.

With everything that had happened right after waking up, these plans had completely vanished into the far reaches of her memory.

“Well, it’s closer to noon than morning at this point, but are you still going? Or not?”

Hazuki’s question prompted Kiyoka to turn back to Miyo.

“What do you want to do? Think we can make it? If you’re not in the mood, you don’t have to push yourself…”

“I’ll go. I want to go.”

Miyo didn’t hesitate to reply.

No matter how much freedom she may have had to rest, she couldn’t let herself spend the whole day laying around inside the manor. That had been made painfully clear to her moments ago. She was running headlong into becoming a hopeless layabout.

With her mind made up, she immediately got off the bed and stood up.

“I-I’ll get changed!”

She hurried with quick footsteps to exit the room, but Kiyoka stopped her. He gently pulled back one of her hands, and Miyo looked up at him.

“Kiyoka?”

“That’s not it.”

“…Darling. Um, er…?”

There was still some heat left in Kiyoka’s hand gripping hers, and in Miyo’s own hand, too. The lingering afterglow of the few minutes prior began to drift about them.

“I don’t have any problem at all with spending the rest of the day here.”

“What?”

“We can go to the park whenever we want. I can manage that, even without taking time off.”

“B-but…”

“You don’t like that idea? Spending the whole day together with me in this room, restoring our spirits…”

She felt herself being sucked into Kiyoka’s clear eyes. The resolve she had found to go outside began to shake at the foundation.

She could never dislike such an idea—he was right.

Miyo had always considered the time they spent alone, affirming their love for one another, more precious than anything else. Kiyoka’s words tempted her far more than he could have imagined.

But even so.

Pull yourself together, Miyo. You’re going to get swallowed up at this rate.

She scolded herself.

Kiyoka truly was a sinful husband. It was clear just how much he had corrupted Miyo’s thoughts like this.

“I-I’m not against the idea… But I want to remain an upright and decent person!”

“Pfft!”

As soon as Miyo shouted this, she heard the sound of laughter from beside her.

It was then, all of a sudden, she realized she had forgotten something very important. The two of them weren’t the only ones in this room, were they?

She slowly glanced over in the direction of the stifled laughter that was still going. There she saw Hazuki clutching her stomach, straining as she shook from her hearty laugh.

Appearing to notice Miyo’s eyes on her, Hazuki still continued to laugh, her breathing ragged, as she managed to speak.

“O-oh, don’t mind me, hee-hee. Go ahead, keep going. A-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, that was hilarious. ‘An upright person,’ was it? Th-that’s too adorable, hee-hee. Kiyoka, I guess that means you aren’t upright or decent, are you?”

“Sis…”

“D-don’t get mad at me, please, a-ha-ha-ha-ha! Just forget I’m here. Pfft, hee-hee-hee. Go right ahead and flirt to your hearts’ content.”

Ignoring Kiyoka, who was looking at her with cold disgust, Hazuki continued to belly laugh.

When she had first come to her senses, Miyo had felt incredibly shameful and wanted to crawl under a rock, but now she, too, had regained her composure.

“Kiyoka, my hand.”

“You sure you want me to let go?”

“I-I’m going to go get changed!” she firmly asserted before smoothly removing her hand from Kiyoka’s grip. The faint reluctance she saw in his eyes surely had to be a trick of Miyo’s imagination.

Kiyoka would never sincerely want for the two of them to spend a slovenly day together. Certainly not.

“That’s too bad. Here I thought I’d get to see more of your innocent tête-à-tête, too.”

“Enough already.”

Pretending she didn’t hear Hazuki and Kiyoka’s conversation from behind, Miyo hurried to another room to get herself ready.

In the end, Miyo and Kiyoka left the manor shortly before noon.

The beginning of summer was approaching, bringing truly agreeable weather: a pleasant warm sunlight, and a refreshing soft breeze.

Miyo today was wearing Western clothes, a change from her usual preference.

After trying to wear them for the first time last year, she now had purchased, with the advice of Hazuki, several dresses, blouses, and skirts.

Her current outfit was from this collection of hers.

It was a dress with a white lace collar. It was slim and followed the curves of her body a bit, but it looked quite cute with its large brown, wooden buttons on bright green fabric.

Kiyoka was also dressed in Western clothes—a very simple outfit of a white shirt and dark brown pants. If anything, this served to show off his tall, well-built body, and it looked attractive on him.

Though, of course, Kiyoka usually looked charming no matter what he wore.

Kiyoka is always so stunning.

She still couldn’t believe that such a handsome, kind, and capable man loved her and had married her.

Miyo felt this deeply as she walked behind him, holding a white lace parasol.

The city had a different atmosphere at midday compared to the time when Miyo would usually go visit it. Noon was close at hand, and large crowds of the capital’s workers were coming and going, traversing the streets to find their lunch spots.

Men in suits were prominent among them, but included in the crowds were a fair number of men and women in kimonos, and other women dressed in Western garb like Miyo.

That said…

She had gotten used to it at this point, but even now, Kiyoka would get stares from all the people he passed. Not only from the women, but occasionally the men, too.

Without fail, every one of them would widen their eyes and stare hard at Kiyoka as they came across him.

Whenever this happened, no one would pay any attention to her. Kiyoka alone was special.

The pure, valiant, striking…not atmosphere, but energy, that he gave off. This power, or presence of his, fascinated people.

“Miyo, what’s wrong? You’ve gone quiet.”

Walking in silence, Kiyoka, glanced sideways to check on Miyo while showing concern for her.

“No… It’s nothing.”

“Really?” Kiyoka asked, tilting his head in confusion before extending his hand.

“Don’t get separated.”

“Okay.”

Miyo grabbed Kiyoka’s outstretched hand.

She definitely couldn’t bring herself to confess that she’d been struck by how oh-so-wonderful he was.

After all, she was sure it would make him terribly exasperated with her. He would find out that she loved everything about him so much that she could say with full certainty that she would never grow tired of him for the rest of her life.

Slowly, the two walked through the noontime city clamor and reached the park before long.

The area was colored with vibrant, well-trimmed plants, and roses beginning to bloom. It had not only a large pond, but also a brand-new Western-style gazebo. It was an interesting sight to behold, while still being a space where one could relax.

It seemed less like a park and more like a vast garden.

“It’s so pretty…”

Miyo liked places that were lush with greenery. She especially enjoyed them if they were near water, like lakes or fountains, and she had dropped by parks with these features several times while she was out and about.

However, there weren’t many places that had a pond large enough to accommodate a rowboat.

“This must be the boat.”

A lone wooden boat, looking a bit antiquated with its somewhat faded color, was moored with rope at the pond’s edge.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone else using it.

Kiyoka jumped into the boat first. Thanks to his unsurprising keen sense of balance, he was able to stand in the rocking boat without the slightest twitch of a brow. He held out a hand to Miyo.

“Watch your step.”

“I will.”

Miyo gently took Kiyoka’s hand and timidly moved into the boat. Though the boat did rock, Kiyoka carefully supported her, and they avoided the disaster of the boat capsizing.

“Thank you.”

“Be careful when you sit, too.”

Miyo cautiously sat down, and once he had undone the rope, Kiyoka sat opposite her and took the oars in his hands.

Kiyoka began to row, and the boat left the pondside in the blink of an eye.

“Wow…”

The clamor of the city instantly faded into the distance. Even the sounds of children playing in the park barely reached them. The middle of the pond, removed from all other people, was very quiet, with only the sound of water around them.

As there was nothing to impede it, the gentle breeze caressed the surface of the water and tousled Miyo’s hair.

“How is it? This is your first time in a boat, right?”

“It is. I don’t know why, but it’s very calming.”

Perhaps this was what others meant when they talked about feeling healed.

Atop the boat, swaying in the ripples, nothing but the quiet sounds of nature reached her ears. It was like her heart, exhausted and agitated from her restless days, was starting to unwind.

Miyo never imagined a boat ride would feel this good.

“But I feel bad leaving all the rowing to you…”

“It doesn’t take that much strength, so I’m fine.”

But Kiyoka couldn’t enjoy this wonderful stillness if he couldn’t do anything else but row. Miyo closed her parasol.

“I’d like to try rowing.”

Kiyoka looked surprised by Miyo’s enthusiastic proposal and furrowed his brow, unsure.

“I don’t think you should. It will probably be hard for you.”

“Just once is enough.”

“I guess it’s okay if it’s just for a little bit.”

Kiyoka nodded with what seemed like reluctance, before they immediately changed their positions in the boat.

Miyo grabbed the oars, still warm from Kiyoka’s grip, and mimicked how he had rowed. Or more precisely, she tried to mimic it.

Th-they’re so heavy!

Just now, Kiyoka had told her it didn’t require much strength. In truth, Miyo had no strength to speak of compared to Kiyoka, who had looked so nonchalant as he rowed. However, she had still thought that she should’ve been able to row on her own for a little while.

Although she somehow managed to move the oars, her maneuvering of them was lackluster even when she desperately put all her strength into the act, so the boat barely moved forward at all.

“Hng… Ngh, haaah.”

Her arms grew sluggish, and Miyo exhaled all the air she had built up in her lungs. She had only rowed for a few seconds, but her fingertips had already started trembling.

“I told you it would be hard for you.” Kiyoka sighed with exasperation. “Our arm strengths are totally different.”

“I know… I’m sorry.”

Miyo had just wanted to give Kiyoka an easy time, but it looked like she had overestimated herself.

“I’m, so frustrated…”

“Don’t get so down. Miyo.”

Hearing her name, Miyo timidly cast her eyes back.

When she did, Kiyoka took something from his pants pocket and presented it to her. When Miyo put out both her hands, he dropped it lightly in her palms.

It was very light. Light, and soft. It was…

“Wow, it’s so cute. Is it a doll…?”

An animal doll, made out of organza silk crepe that featured a small flower pattern.

It was a strange animal with triangular ears, a bit like a dog, a bit like a cat, and a bit fox-like as well, but the black embroidered eyes were round and cute. It was quite adorable overall.

The doll was small enough to fit in the palms of Miyo’s hands. Its round, puffy body appeared to be stuffed with cotton, and a red ribbon tied in a bow adorned its neck.

“Not a doll, really. It’s a protective charm.”

“A charm? But you’ve already given me so many…”

Kiyoka shook his head as Miyo cocked her own.

“While testing a variety of different charms, I got interested in this new variety. This is a test run.”

Miyo looked hard at the doll in her hands.

The threading was clean and uniform, and the quality was on par with something you could find at a general store. He said it was a test run, but that couldn’t possibly mean…

“Are you saying that you made this yourself?”

“No, no, the doll was something I bought… Um, I just thought you’d be happier to receive that sort of thing.”

Miyo felt like she had been shot through the heart as she watched Kiyoka turn aside and answer awkwardly in embarrassment.

Unlike accessories or other ornaments, it would take a lot of courage for a man to buy a doll like this, even as a present for a woman.

Yet despite that, Kiyoka had bought this with only her in mind.

“I am. It’s cute, and it makes me so…so very happy.”

In her childhood, Miyo had always yearned for dolls and stuffed animals. She would get jealous hearing elementary school friends talk about carrying their beloved toys around the house, reading and sleeping with them.

While she was no longer at an age to be playing with dolls, she loved cute things.

“It’s a protective charm, you said? I’ll be sure to take good care of it.”

“Right. Given its size, you don’t need to carry it around with you… I just tried to make something that could serve both as protection and as a furnishing for your room; don’t overthink it too much. Displaying it in your room somewhere is enough. The house has the barrier around it, so I doubt it’ll serve much use anyway.”

“It’s cute, so that’s fine with me. I’ll find somewhere in my room to display it as soon as we get home.”

When she looked at the adorable object, a wide smile came to her face.

She couldn’t help it; she was so happy.

“It’s getting windy. Let’s head back.”

“Okay.”

Smiling, Kiyoka took the oars again and began rowing the boat.

The two of them moved to the garden gazebo and ate the homemade lunches they’d brought.

These lunch boxes had been prepared by the Kudou family chef, and Hazuki had thoughtfully insisted Miyo and Kiyoka take them.

The beautifully stacked lunch boxes, gold lacquered with a floral pattern, included one tier of all Japanese-style dishes, one tier of all Western-style dishes, and another tier full of rice balls. Each level offered a diverse and colorful array of foods, including everything from tiny bits of simmered dishes and vegetables and fish in a miso dressing to fried foods and other impressive items.

Even the rice balls were varied in flavor—from salmon to kelp and katsuobushi—and arguing over who would eat what was enjoyable in and of itself.

“That was very tasty. I’ll have to thank Sis when we get back.”

“Right… The weather’s nice today, so I was thinking we’d take a bit of stroll before we head back. How’s that sound?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

The two walked side by side along the garden promenade, without any real destination in mind.

The sunlight filtering through the trees would sparkle every now and then, and the leaves glowed green with the sun shining through them. Walking along the wooded promenade, they eventually spotted a small building up ahead.

“What’s that?”

“Looks like a tiny shrine.”

The somber brown, wooden shrine was so small that even a child wouldn’t be able to fit inside. Despite its age and size, however, it appeared to be kept up, with sake and flower offerings before it.

“I don’t sense anything to worry about. The god enshrined here probably protects the land and people of this area.”

“Does that mean you sometimes sense…bad things at shrines, too?” Miyo asked, curious, and Kiyoka nodded.

“Regular shrines, roadside shrines, and statues aren’t all inherently good. There’s no telling who could be worshipping at ruined shrines, so they’re particularly dangerous, along with abandoned roadside shrines and idols. You should keep your distance from them.”

“Um, what about the jizo statue we prayed to when we visited the villa…?”

“That one is harmless. It’s doing a good job protecting the area, so if anything, it’d be best not to show it any discourtesy.”

“I see.”

Miyo didn’t have Spirit-Sight, so even if there was some inhuman malevolent presence around, she wouldn’t have noticed. She needed to take care not to pray at any old shrine she came across.

“Of course, there’s no guarantee that ordinary evildoers aren’t hiding in such places, either… These places are usually in out-of-the-way areas that are seldom frequented, so they occasionally turn into hideouts for outlaws. I’ve seen it plenty of times in my line of work.”

“That makes sense…”

Miyo hadn’t considered the possibility. However, Kiyoka was right that shrines weren’t only inhabited by gods or Grotesqueries. After all, shrines were originally meant to accommodate a large number of people at once.

When she turned to Kiyoka and looked up at him, there was an ineffable, pained look on his face.

“Kiyoka?”

“Ah, sorry. I was just remembering something a bit unpleasant. You can’t always judge whether a person has evil intentions or not from how they look, nor is the person themself always self-aware of their own evil deeds or intentions… I just thought that, was all.”

Where exactly had that come from all of a sudden?

Miyo hadn’t the slightest idea, but since Kiyoka had worded his statement so ponderously, she had reservations about probing further, and they continued forward past the shrine. Whatever Kiyoka was talking about, she was sure that it wasn’t something of any importance to her, as he hadn’t brought it up to her before. That was what Miyo had decided to silently convince herself.

After walking once around the whole park, Miyo and Kiyoka headed home.

She had used up her physical stamina walking around, but she now felt like all the thorniness that had long settled in her chest—the intractable tension, the exhaustion—had been wiped clean.

A bit of an incident happened right as Miyo and Kiyoka arrived back at the main estate.

“Kiyoka?”

He abruptly stopped right after they had stepped inside the entryway.

“They’re being awfully noisy.”

Miyo didn’t immediately understand what he was saying, but perking her ears up, she could hear people bickering about something, just as Kiyoka had said.

Kiyoka frowned with utter contempt.

“It must be her again.”

“Do you mean Mother?”

Though Kiyoka did not respond to Miyo’s question, his expression was answer enough.

He pondered something for a few moments before heaving a sigh.

“Sorry. I’m going to go see what’s going on. In the meantime…you must be tired. Go on ahead and wait in our room or the parlor.”

While Miyo was tired, it wasn’t too much for her to endure, and she was curious what was going on herself. She shook her head at Kiyoka’s proposal.

“No, I’ll go, too.”

“…All right. Let’s go, then.”

The voices seemed to be coming from the second floor. Miyo and Kiyoka exchanged glances and climbed the stairs.

It was then, right as they had climbed the last step—

“Ugh, enough!”

—they ran into Hazuki just as she tore out of a room, a scowl on her face.

“Sis.”

Hearing Kiyoka’s voice, Hazuki softened her expression.

“Oh, hello you two. You were home?”

“We just got back in. We heard voices from the entryway and came to see what was going on.”

Hazuki headed over to Kiyoka and Miyo wearing an apologetic frown.

“Oh, sorry about that… Mother’s in a bit of a mood.”

According to Hazuki, someone had broken a ceramic doll in Fuyu’s room without her knowledge. It was a beautiful, foreign-made, pure white doll of a woman resembling the Holy Mother, standing on a small music box.

The doll had fallen to the ground and had broken while Fuyu was away from her room.

It was one of the many gifts she had received from Tadakiyo; her distress had already gotten out of hand, as no one could get through to her.

“Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say she’s not mourning but upset and taking it out on others.”

Hazuki slumped.

“See, the doll itself? It’s not that expensive or even that rare. Father told her that to try soothing her, but…no luck.”

It was a tragic twist of fate. Miyo hugged close the doll that Kiyoka had given her.

Gifts from one’s beloved, no matter how cheap or common they may have been, or how many of them one may have received…still contained precious memories and emotions. By gazing at the many, many presents one received, one could recall the moment they had been gifted, and indulge in the happy emotions around it.

It was only natural Fuyu wouldn’t be able to keep a level head over such an item breaking.

Hmm…?

Thinking that Kiyoka must have felt a bit of pity for his mother, Miyo looked at him to find, contrary to her expectations, a rather strange look on his face.

If she had to compare it to something, it was a bit like how he would look when she would tell him she was going alone to visit her grandfather or cousin Arata at the Usuba estate. A mix of wanting to pleasantly see her off, while also wishing she would stay by his side… It resembled his face in those moments.

“What did the former family head say, then?”

“Is that how you refer to your own father…? Anyway, Father isn’t particularly mad or saddened by it from what I can tell. I haven’t heard yet if he’s going to look into the reason why it broke or anything.”

“He’s probably not going to dig too deeply into it.”

“I bet not. So, for now, just leave in her peace. It’ll be dinner soon, so if you wanted to get changed beforehand, you should go do so,” Hazuki said as she descended the stairs to the first floor.

Even now, they could faintly hear Fuyu’s angry, woeful cries. Hazuki was right that nothing good would come from Miyo or Kiyoka getting involved.

However, there was one thing that stood out to Miyo from listening to her conversation with her husband.

“Kiyoka.”

“What?”

“Why is it that Father isn’t going to follow up on how the doll was broken?”

“Ah, well…”

“With how deeply Father cares for Mother, I figured he would try to pin down who broke the doll if she’s that upset over it…”

Kiyoka furrowed his brows at Miyo’s question, looking a bit conflicted.

“…That’s fair. It could be he’s not following up about the doll because he cares for her so much.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since he cares for her so much, he might find it more important to attend to Fuyu instead of expending his energy on finding out what happened to the gift.”

Miyo wasn’t sure if she fully understood what he meant. Slowly processing what Kiyoka had told her, she questioned him further.

“So, in other words, soothing Mother’s emotions is the higher priority, so the gift itself doesn’t matter at all?”

“To sum it up, yes.”

There were parts of the explanation that Miyo wasn’t fully convinced by, but Tadakiyo and Fuyu’s relationship was, in some respects, a departure from the norm, and she was hearing this from their own son. Perhaps this was how it was.

Convincing herself with these thoughts, Miyo parted from Kiyoka to get changed in their room.

Later on, Fuyu failed to show up to dinner.

Tadakiyo arrived and said they didn’t need to wait for her, so Miyo, Kiyoka, Hazuki, and Tadakiyo all sat down to eat.

Tonight’s meal was another multifarious offering of first-rate Western cuisine.

Beginning with an appetizer that used a colorful variety of seasonal vegetables, there was a thick, rich soup with a name Miyo had never heard before, along with fish-based and meat-based dishes. All of it was soft enough to melt in her mouth, with a complex seasoning of several flavors mingling together, and as such, despite the fairly large amount of food, Miyo ended up licking her plate clean.

While the quality of the dishes was to be expected, what really impressed Miyo were the flavors; she couldn’t imagine how the chef had arrived at them.

Kiyoka and Hazuki both happened to drink wine with dinner, while Miyo and Tadakiyo had water.

Hazuki enlivened the dinner as she grew tipsy, and Tadakiyo joined in with her. Kiyoka contributed no more than perfunctory acknowledgements to the conversation when they tried to draw him in, while Miyo only answered when something was asked of her.

The usual dinner scene continued on.

Finally, once they had finished dessert, they left the dinner table behind.

Miyo drummed up her resolve and called out to Tadakiyo as he went to leave the dining room.

“Um, Father.”

“What is it, Miyo?”

Miyo was met with Tadakiyo’s gentle smile, his outward appearance quite at odds with his actual age. He was a good father-in-law to her, always showing her the utmost kindness.

“Um, well… What about Mother’s dinner?”

“Oh, you’re worried about her? Thank you. I was planning on bringing it to her now.”

“You’re going to do that yourself?”

Miyo’s eyes widened in shock.

While he had passed on the mantle, he was still the previous patriarch of the Kudou family. It was unbelievable to think such a person would bring a meal to his wife himself.

That would have been unthinkable in a regular household. No matter how devoted a husband may have been, it had to be relatively rare for them to go that far.

I guess Father does truly and deeply love Mother after all.

Though it may have been rude, she couldn’t help being impressed. She also grew a bit envious of Fuyu, having someone care for her so deeply, and it warmed her heart.

However, it appeared that Miyo was the only one comforted by this, as a blank, disagreeable look came over Kiyoka as he listened beside her.

“Hee-hee, I didn’t disgust you, did I? Fuyu and I are always like this, really.”

“No, no, I’m certainly not disgusted. I…admire you two.”

To stop herself from grinning, Miyo covered both her cheeks with her hands as she talked.

At this, Kiyoka broke his silence for the first time.

“Admire them…? You admire this?”

“I do. I think it’s wonderful how they always show such love for each other.”

Miyo wasn’t sure what the issue was. She cocked her head slightly in confusion, but Kiyoka maintained his scowl and didn’t reply.

“Miyo, would you like to go to Fuyu’s room with me? Having you along might help her get back to her usual self. You too, Kiyoka, of course.”

“Yes, I absolute—”

“That’s not a good idea.”

Kiyoka had interrupted Miyo as she replied. However, Tadakiyo casually waved off his son with a smile.

“What’s the problem? Kiyoka, you’re our son, so you could at least try to cheer your mother up a little. Now that we’re on the same page, let’s get going, shall we?”

Miyo dwelled on Kiyoka’s reaction as she followed after Tadakiyo, quickly speeding off. Ultimately, Kiyoka appeared to have resigned himself, and he followed behind them after heaving an enormous sigh.

The group carried the meal, going up the stairs and arriving at Fuyu’s room on the second floor. Tadakiyo, going ahead of Miyo and Kiyoka, knocked twice on the door.

“Fuyu, I’m coming in.”

He seemed accustomed to this, opening the door before Fuyu could answer and entering without hesitation. This took Miyo slightly aback. She announced her presence and hesitantly followed after him.

Miyo had seen Fuyu’s room at the villa, and her room in the estate was similar, as everything—from the ceiling to the wallpaper, the rugs laid out on the floor, to the curtains and all the other furnishings—conformed to her tastes, straddling the line between flamboyant and refined.

Fuyu herself wasn’t doing anything, simply sitting in a chair and staring out into the pitch-black night.

“Fuyu, honey. I brought you dinner. Won’t you at least have a little to eat?”

“Thank you… However, I don’t think I could stomach a bite right now. Especially in front of a stranger.”

The “stranger” she had spoken of was clearly Miyo. Still, Miyo was used to Fuyu’s nastiness at this point, so she didn’t get bent out of shape over every little comment.

Mother’s voice lacks its usual spirit… She must be very depressed.

Miyo grew concerned upon hearing Fuyu’s tone, which lacked its usual vigor and pride.

From there, Tadakiyo said everything he could to appease Fuyu, until she finally decided to eat.

Although Miyo and Kiyoka watched on as it happened, they couldn’t help being bored without anything to do.

Miyo had wanted to help cheer Fuyu up, but once she was actually in front of the woman, she keenly understood that there wasn’t anything she could do.

“Kiyoka?”

She happened to look at Kiyoka, who was staring hard at something on top of a chest of drawers.

A collection of white ceramic fragments atop a white handkerchief.

This must have been the remains of the doll in question. The base and larger fragments were still vaguely doll-shaped.

“It must have been quite beautiful before it was broken…”

Kiyoka picked up the base with a pull-out drawer that functioned as a music box, which was relatively intact, and flipped it over to look at the bottom, then put it back where it had been.

Peering over at his hands, Miyo had a brief glimpse of a mysterious symbol on the bottom of the base.

What was that just now?

Initially, Miyo had thought it was the signature of the doll maker, but the design seemed too unusual for that. More than a signature or insignia of some kind…it resembled the drawings used for arts.

Was Miyo overthinking this?

But the Kudous are a Gift-user family, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for them to utilize arts… If it were something harmful, Father or Kiyoka would have removed it.

At the very least, it wasn’t anything Miyo needed to be concerned about.

Fuyu’s room was luxurious, but many of the furnishings—flower vases, clocks, animal figurines, framed landscape paintings, incense burners— prevented it from feeling distasteful.

Miyo couldn’t tell which among them were gifts from Tadakiyo or things she had picked out herself. However, they all complimented Fuyu very well, and either way, she had a superb eye for quality goods. Miyo definitely wanted to follow her example.

“Okay, Fuyu dear. We’ll leave, so go ahead and enjoy a relaxing dinner… Kiyoka, Miyo, let’s go for now.”

Fuyu’s mood finally appeared to have settled, and Tadakiyo spoke gently to her before addressing the young couple as well.

Miyo nodded slightly, and Kiyoka huffed out his nose, as if to say it was about time.

“You really never change, do you.”

When they stepped out into corridor, Kiyoka finally hurled a comment at Tadakiyo, having held back his displeasure the entire time.

“What does that mean, hmm?”

Tadakiyo turned around, revealing that his full-faced smile was still on his face. Even though he’d asked Kiyoka for clarification, it appeared he didn’t actually have any questions.

“I’m talking about your poor tastes… No matter how much you both may love each other, I don’t see what’s so wonderful maintaining control over Fuyu like that.”

“Huh?”

Unable to understand what Kiyoka meant, Miyo couldn’t help but stare blankly at him.

“Control? Now that’s not a very nice way of putting it. We’re both on the same page, you know. Besides, I’m not controlling her at all.”

“I think it’s safe to say that your morally questionable actions—such as giving Fuyu art-enchanted ‘presents’ that allow you to peek into her private space and listen in on her—are the same thing as controlling her.”

“What?!”

It took Miyo a moment to comprehend what they were talking about; she put her hands over her mouth in complete shock.

That meant she’d been correct to think that the pattern on the doll had been from arts.

Peeking in on Fuyu’s private space and listening in on her conversations? Miyo was somewhat doubtful there were arts or instruments capable of such things, but more importantly…

“Does that apply to all your gifts…?”

“That’s right.” Tadakiyo affirmed Miyo’s dumbfounded murmur without dropping his smile at all. “Actually, most of the items in Fuyu’s room are things I’ve given to her. I carefully applied arts on each and every one of them to make sure I can always keep an eye on her.”

Miyo stared on speechlessly as Tadakiyo—looking not just unashamed but pleased—explained himself.

She found it almost impossible to believe. However, since Kiyoka had brought this up in the first place and Tadakiyo had admitted to it so readily, there was no doubt as to its veracity.

Miyo’s mental image of Tadakiyo and Fuyu’s pure love crumbled away completely.

Now that she knew the truth, Tadakiyo’s unchanging expression, which she had always felt was kind and gentle, suddenly seemed incredibly unsettling.

Someone peeking in on her private moments day in and day out—the thought alone was so terrifying it made her mind go blank.

A dreadful chill ran down her spine.

“Still, it’s a shame about that doll breaking. It was a precious memento from our early days together, you know.”

“That’s rich. You were probably the one who broke it, weren’t you?”

Shocking revelations were coming out one after the other. The stimulation was so overwhelming, Miyo no longer had the energy left to react to each new fact.

“Oh, and what would make you think that?”

“None of the servants are clumsy enough to accidently break one of their mistress’s possessions. And on the off chance they did mess up and break it, they wouldn’t keep quiet about it, either. Besides…”

“Besides what?”

“You can peek into that room twenty-four seven to begin with. If a servant had broken the doll, they would have been dismissed immediately, regardless of whether you really cared about it or not. It’d be an issue of the Kudou family’s reputation. Despite that, none of the servants were fired today.”

“I see.”

“In other words, the doll could only have been broken by a family member on purpose or by accident. The possibility of the latter seems low, given what I saw of the situation. As for the former, Fuyu would never destroy her own gifts, Miyo and I couldn’t have done it while we were out, and Hazuki has always avoided Fuyu’s room. That narrows it down to you.”

Kiyoka looked dignified and quite reassuring as he smoothly laid out his reasoning. Meanwhile, Tadakiyo smiled, nodding as if impressed.

“There’s just one thing, Kiyoka. If that’s the case, did I break the doll accidentally? Or deliberately?”

Miyo wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, Tadakiyo had suddenly presented Kiyoka with a question of his own. It was as if he was playing some sort of game.

“Hell if I care.”

Fed up, Kiyoka quietly cursed as he gave up on the question.

“Well then, assuming it was deliberate, what do you think my motive was?”

Tadakiyo’s eyes glittered like a child’s, indicating he was thoroughly amused with the situation. Since Kiyoka showed no signs of answering, Miyo timidly spoke up in his stead.

“Um…was it because…the doll wasn’t necessary anymore…?”

“Really now? And why wouldn’t I need it anymore?”

“Oh, um… I—I don’t know…”

Miyo hadn’t thought this through much. To make matters worse, her head was now a jumbled mess.

Giving arts-enchanted items to his wife Fuyu, calling them presents, and placing them in her room to constantly spy and listen in on her, only to then break them himself.

When Miyo put everything together like this, it was pure madness.

In truth, Tadakiyo had behaved so aberrantly from start to finish that arriving at the motivations behind it seemed totally impossible for Miyo.

As she stood there baffled, Kiyoka lightly placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t toy with my wife, you perverse old man.”

“She was just trying to come up with the answer for you since you weren’t answering yourself. Also, ‘perverse old man’? That stings a little, you know.”

A throbbing vein popped up on Kiyoka’s temple.

“It looks like you’re asking for an objective perspective on your perversion, so I’ll give you one. I’m sure you’ll claim that breaking the doll was some way of affirming Fuyu’s love for you or something. That way, you could watch her get sad that the doll was broken, reaffirm that her feelings haven’t faded at all, and gloat to yourself. Utterly childish.”

“See, you do understand.”

“I wish I didn’t.”

Tadakiyo clapped his hands several times, looking satisfied. Then he turned around.

“What’s the problem? Fuyu and I have always had this sort of relationship. This is just the shape our love takes, and all my gifts are proof of it.”

Letting out a bashful, deeply pleased giggle, Tadakiyo departed.

Miyo couldn’t move from where she stood, shocked by the chaotic series of developments. These revelations had entirely destroyed her image of Tadakiyo and Fuyu’s pure romance, leaving only a horrid, unpleasant aftertaste behind.

Of course, it wasn’t the relationship her mother-in-law and father-in-law shared she found unpleasant—it was because she couldn’t fully process it all.

There was a weight in her chest, as if she had forced herself to swallow a big, fatty piece of meat.

It felt like she had ingested something that would put a great amount of stress on her stomach to fully digest.

Even after listening to everything, there was still one thing that bothered her. It was Tadakiyo’s comment about him and Fuyu “being on the same page.”

If she took this at face value, that meant they had both agreed to this arrangement of Tadakiyo giving Fuyu arts-enchanted presents to spy on her…

Then Mother also knows the truth of those gifts…

Miyo trembled.

The feeling that she had observed something terrible came over her, something she never should have seen.

“Miyo. You don’t have to remember anything about our conversation just now. Actually, just forget it entirely.”

Kiyoka said this out of consideration for Miyo, who was trembling all over. But he didn’t need to have said it; Miyo had already driven everything from the past several minutes deep into the recesses of her mind.