Each minute dragged by. It wasn’t hard to find out that Yukimura had a quick tongue.
After he had praised himself on his wonderful choice of words, he continued with a rant about all the talents he called his own.
For most of the time, it seemed he wasn’t speaking to anyone in specific, certainly not to her at least.
No-one acknowledged Misoka anymore as though she had turned invisible. Not that this bothered her.
Silently, she looked at the floor and let her mind wander. She wasn’t interested in Yukimura’s big ego or story after story about his plays.
Although Misoka knew she would never feel satisfied with a forced marriage, somewhere in the back of her mind she had hoped her husband would be at least fairly amiable.
So far, however, she couldn’t find any particular character trait she approved of.
Conceited. A big mouth. Violent. Sexist.
The words he spoke about Misoka circled solely around her appearance and she imagined he would always feel that way towards her. You could admire beauty, but you could only love someone for their personality.
I will remain a puppet in others’ hands then, she thought and was almost surprised about her own calmness at that realization.
Maybe romance was overrated anyway.
A loud clap interrupted her thoughts, just in time so that she could see Yukimura had been responsible for the sound. He nodded to the door and burst out proudly,”I know! Let me introduce you my wives. I hope you will not be swept away by envy.”
Wives? Confused, Misoka turned around.
The servants opened the door and led four women inside the room.
“Splendid!” Yukimura said, scurrying over to them and breaking into a light sweat despite the short distance he had walked. How pathetic.
Misoka snatched a sideways-glance at Arata who wasn’t taken aback in the slightest. He must have known about this.
But she hadn’t.
With a mixture of disbelief and pure disgust she watched Yukimura greet each of the women who were all looking downwards. She had been anything but impressed with the man her clan had chosen for her, but this was highly over the top now.
Four wives? So she would be the fifth? What kind of maniac was that guy?
It only got worse when Yukimura told the women to raise their heads and introduced them separately.
“First, ladies and gentlemen: Fire.” He pointed at the tall woman beside him whose expression remained empty.
Red hair cascaded over her bare black shoulders and the yellow eyes seemed to be looking into space. She didn’t smile nor showed any sign of acknowledging the new guests of her husband.
Misoka wondered whether the woman had just been forced to stay in this castle for so long that she simply didn’t care anymore.
“I bought her when she was fourteen. Her unusual appearance fascinated me and well, it reminded me of fire, thus the name,” Yukimura’s voice reverberated off the walls again.
The way he spoke about a human being made Misoka’s blood run cold.
“Lucky for my young self – yes, I had just turned 30 that day and finally wanted a wife – her parents were so poor that I could negotiate a very cheap price.”
He broke out into roaring laughter and every man in the room joined in without hesitation.
The urge to leave had never felt greater by then. Misoka pursed her lips in anger and desperation that she would soon suffer the same fate as those women.
Non-chalantly, Yukimura would go on and tell a short story about each of his wives.
“The second: Nature. Look at this tanned skin and the green hair of course. The amber eyes like... acorns. Definitely one of a kind, gentlemen.
I saw her at a circus and knew I wasn’t going to leave without having her in my possession.”
Misoka didn’t want to listen, but her sense of hearing couldn’t be fooled, much to her chagrin.
“Here: Water. I know, she is ... not as beautiful as the others. I mean, that hump on her nose, hmh.
However, I must admit, neither of their faces is completely flawless in that sense. Well, except for my new acquisition of course, but Porcelain costs me enough anyway.”
He lamented to himself for a while before continuing. “Water was a whore. With her pale skin and the blue hair and eyes, I thought she would be the perfect mermaid for one of my plays.
I have no idea why her price was so ridiculously high, but I didn’t have enough time to search for another girl. Still annoys me every now and then.”
The last woman in need of being introduced had long, black hair which almost fused with her black skin. Deep red eyes gave her a unique, almost frightening appearance.
“Charcoal,” Yukimura said tenderly and patted the woman’s head. “One of my favourites. She was a princess, and I wasn’t sure how I could make her mine.
Fortunately, her father’s kingdom fell apart last year and I offered an alluring price. That is actually the entire story.
Yes, you really need money in this world. Charcoal and Fire make a great combination. I can already imagine the two of them next to Porcelain; what a contrast that will be!”
At last, Yukimura fell silent and Arata was quick to compliment his choice of women. With a wave of his hand, the nobleman sent his wives away again.
A servant closed the door. Misoka wished she could have sneaked outside as well. The atmosphere in the room threatened to choke her.
“I do have something else to discuss with you, Karisuma.”
Arata tilted his head questioningly. “I am all ears, my lord.”
A frown creased upon Yukimura’s face as he suddenly began to pace back and forth for a few moments as if in thought.
“You see, there is something that has been bothering me about Porcelain.”
He stopped and turned to look straight at Arata. “Is it true that she is a kunoichi?”
Training 6277 w.