Ch 5: The Merchant's Mediator - Pt 3: His Daughter's Mother

When I caught up to Masato, he was standing outside a little store looking through the window at the featured items on display. It was a flower shop, and the selection on the other side of the pane resembled lilies, irises, and violets. The faint reflection in the window shadowed the flowers with sadness.

Masato swiftly sidestepped and entered the store. After briefly surveying the lineup from the entrance, he wandered straight to some flowers near the back on the left side. Giving him a little space, I followed. The particular vase that captured his attention had a bouquet of light blue flowers that bloomed in clusters.

A name quietly escaped from the merchant's mind. "Hanami..."

Without me having to ask, Masato voluntarily shared a story about his past. "A long time ago, I met a young woman at this flower shop. The smile she was wearing as she admired these blue hydrangeas was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. Ever brighter than Yuuna’s if you could imagine that." Masato grinned at the memory. "I knew I had to talk to her, so I approached her and asked if these flowers were special to her. She said they were always her favorite and that she often stopped on her way home to see them."

Masato chuckled. "I asked why she didn't just buy them. As an up-and-coming merchant, I thought it was silly to frequent a store and never buy anything. Frankly, if I was the owner, I probably would've given her a hard time if she kept it up for too long." The reminiscing man placed a hand on the back of his head and turned to me, squinting from a mix of happiness and embarrassment. "You know what her response was? She said her mother always told her a woman shouldn't buy herself flowers unless she truly deserved them."

His face relaxed again as he lowered his eyes to the bouquet. "I didn't pry as to why she felt she was undeserving. It wasn't my place to ask someone I had just met, especially when I didn't even know her name. Her radiant smile had dimmed even if just by a little bit, so I thought that perhaps she was relieved I didn't say anything more. Instead, I only watched her as she took one final mental image of the flowers before leaving me standing there.”

Masato gently touched the bottom of one of the petals. “I had forgotten why I had even entered the shop to begin with. I was never well-versed in flowers, but something steered me inside. When I turned back to the big, blue bouquet, an unfamiliar urge rose within me. Before I knew it, I was hurrying to the counter to buy them, and then I rushed out the door and chased after the beautiful woman shouting for her to wait."

A very sincere, nostalgic smirk spread on one side of Masato's face. "It would be an understatement to say the young woman was surprised to see me, but when she saw the flowers in my hand, she laughed like a child. That was far from the reaction I was expecting, and I was struck dumb. But when I presented the flowers to her, I realized they had become all disheveled from carelessly running with them." Masato let out another laugh.

"Hanami..." His eyes went somber. "That was her reply. It was simple, but it was the first day of many I spent saying her name." Masato's happy aura about vanished as though the memory pained him. "A few years later, I started my store in Erindring, and the two of us had our first child and named her Yuuna."

Yuuna's mother... Come to think of it, Masato and Yuuna didn't even hesitate to pack up and go, and I didn't see any signs at their home that her mother was around... Yuuna shared sayings her father has told her, but she never once mentioned anything about her mother. On the fence of whether or not I should press the issue, I decided to make the jump. "May I ask where she is now? Is she, um..."

"No, she's not dead." Masato raised his head slightly and stared at the wall above the flowers. "At least, I don't think she is."

I was still hesitant. "Then..."

"Only a couple years after she gave birth to Yuuna, my wife suddenly became very ill with a rare disease. There was no one in our quaint town who could treat her, so we traveled to the capital to seek help. Only the castle's apothecaries were skilled enough to heal her, but their aid often comes for a high price, especially for someone as insignificant as us."

Avoiding eye contact knowing the answer was bound to be unpleasant, I focused my vision on the blue petals before me. "What did it cost you?"

"In exchange for the assistance of the Royal Family, the Second Prince demanded that he take Hanami to be his own wife. Naturally, she was strongly opposed and tried to tell me that she would rather spend the rest of her life as Yuuna's mother and my wife. Even if it wasn't going to be much longer, Hanami was fully prepared to accept that fate."

Masato continued without any further prompting. "I, on the other hand, refused to sit around and watch the one I loved suffer and die, but no amount of pleading convinced her to accept this offer." He hid his face away from me. "And so, on our last night in the capital, I went behind her back and met with the Second Prince in secret. I agreed to his terms on her behalf." The troubled man clutched his chest. "As I exited his chamber, the Second Prince demanded I was never to see Hanami again, and if I defied him, he would force me to watch him as he ended her life himself."

The threat provoked a reaction from me. "That's terrible! How could he say something so heartless?"

Masato faced my way again. "All that time ago, I did make myself a promise in my heart to go back one day, but I have always felt too ashamed and afraid wondering if Hanami had come to hate me for what I had done." With his voice fading, he pulled down the brim of his cap. "Besides, it has been so long she very well may have forgotten all about me..."

My fists clenched from my unwillingness to accept that ending. "There is no way Hanami would forget her first true love or her own daughter because of some entitled prince."

A weak smile formed on his face. "I suppose you may be right..."

I grabbed Masato's shoulders and stood firm. "Then, once you have the courage to face her again, we'll go make a deal with the Prince and get your wife back! I'll do everything I can to help you!"

Masato's eyes widened, and his lips parted. "Ha! I might just have to take you up on that, Son!"

My eyes became as wide as his, and, losing their rigidity, my elbows dropped. "Son?" I released my grip and scratched the back of my head. "I guess I'm okay with you thinking of me as your son, but you better make sure Yuuna's mother doesn't get the wrong idea. You don't want her thinking you moved on and ditched some other poor damsel."

"Eh?!" Masato recoiled away.

Taking a step to the side, I thought about the hydrangeas some more. "Why don't you buy these ones for Yuuna? I'm sure she'd love them, even if she doesn't know the significance of the flower to you."

Masato glanced at the flowers and back to me with a cock of his head. "Why don't you buy them for her? I'm sure she'd love them that much more."

"Wha?!" It was my turn to flinch.

Masato waved his hand playfully. "I'm just kidding around. But I think I will buy them after all." He picked the bouquet out of the display vase. "As a proud merchant, it would be shameful to spend all this time talking about the merchandise and not show my gratitude to the owner with a purchase."