Chapter 517:
Shift
Yumi quietly stared currently having trouble processing everything that was happening and doing everything that she could to not show it. The only thing that saved her was the fact that no one was looking at her in the moment. All eyes were focused on a surprising scene. It was something that should have never happened. It broke with all manner of tradition and process.
Nothing like this should have been happening in her mind. A gathering of most of the court had collected on the rumors that spread like a plague through the estate. They had to see it just like Yumi did to even believe it. As a rumor, they dismissed it quickly as impossible and too farfetched. It felt like a lie that someone wanted to stir up just to make some excitement.
However, it turned out to be truthful and the gathering only grew upon those revelations.
‘Who is this woman?!’ asked a troubled Yumi, seeing Yuki and Saki standing next to Lord Kumasaka. It wasn’t a question of her identity that Yumi asked, as she already knew all of that. Rather, she tried to understand how she managed to achieve such a move.
“This is Aya,” introduced the middle aged lord, “She’s been granted permission as my personal assistant during meetings.”
Chapter 517 – Flipping the Board
Yumi’s immediate reaction was to run over to Yuki and Saki to get some answers from them, they said nothing about this sudden change. That was what she wanted to do; however, she knew that she couldn’t. Keeping their relationship a secret was too important for them. She was going to have to wait until later.
Dressed in a striking red and white kimono, the woman clearly aimed for attention. For someone assigned as an assistant, she effortlessly made the man she served disappear. Part of that naturally came to the surprising announcement and that she was a woman in the court of Lord Matsushina. Yumi’s presence in the court already marked her by the others and challenged her.
Having another woman sharing the stage in some capacity gave her a little bit of comfort, though a little bit of jealousy peaked up as well with her already made dramatic waves. If the woman was anything like what the two had talked her up to be, this was intentional and only the first step in a much longer plan that none of them had yet to see.
‘So this is Aya…now that I see her in person. I understand why they felt that way.’ Moriko had something special about her that made her an oddity within the world. That was something she latched onto quickly. It made for a best guess. However, there had been nothing else remarkable about her or the way she acted. Even being married to her, she left everything up to Yumi.
Unlike Moriko’s passivity, Aya was active, bold and dramatic. She wanted attention from everyone and demanded it with a presence that Yumi had never seen from anyone in her life. Yumi read stories and heard people be described in such a way as one could just see that they would become something that would change history. It always felt like a hyperbole. Such a thing couldn’t be seen and it was just as likely you could be wrong about their fate as you could be right. Hindsight made it so much easier to sound like you knew because it proved itself out.
Yet that was exactly what she felt that she was witnessing before her seeing Aya. This woman had the same driving passion that she had seen from Masa and Sumiko before. Even against those two, there was something different about Aya that Yumi couldn’t place. It made about as much sense as making the claims to someone’s future, but she felt certain that this woman exceeded the presence of the other two.
Yumi looked around the courtyard to see a read of where things were going. ‘Everyone’s at Lord Kumasaka’s every word. Things are already changing… Yuki and Saki are going to be very busy…’ Everyone in Matsushina’s court had been selected by the Lord, so Kumasaka earned his right to be present. However, he had a smaller presence than the other Lords at Matsushina’s side. Little would have happened with him as things were.
She looked over at Yuki and Saki once more to see what they were doing with the sudden change. A bit of worry for them entered her mind, not certain what impact this would have on them. ‘The man’s smart making this move, if he’s trying to get closer to Lord Matsushina, but that’s going to put them at more risk now. This world is just as deadly as any of the others and without any powers to defend themselves, they’re going to have to survive as normal humans. I wonder if I should do something to try to secure their safety.’ Yumi’s mind spun plans and possibilities.
There were many other Lords within the court that could use their services no doubt. The increased visibility now might even be in favor for them to change the master that they served. ‘They may need to demonstrate their value.’ Yumi tried to think of an out for them, but Aya’s introduction was a boulder dropped into a tranquil lake. There were too many ripples to sort through at the moment. ‘I’m going to need to see how things play out a little. The game’s gotten far bigger than I can predict.’
The first day went by faster than Yumi expected with no sight of her friends. The second and third day followed with a similar pattern. Even seeing them passing in the hallway was missing. She had no clue how they were doing and could only assume nothing terrible had happened. In fact it was more than a week before she saw even a glimpse of them and more than a month until they actually had the time to spare them.
Keeping her composure the best that she could, she ran her finger over the leaf of a vining plant to manage her emotions as well as cover. Behind her the two played their fake game of shogi. “What the hell is going on? The entire court is in a massive shake up.”
“We can hardly keep pace ourselves,” Saki bemoaned while playing a piece.
Yuki clicked another on the board keeping their game moving. “None of us predicted this sort of thing. The rate things are going, we’re going to be lucky if we can see what’s coming around the corner.”
“This woman is scary. I can’t tell what she’s really thinking and I don’t think anyone else knows either. All I can say right now is that we need to be ready for a shift. It’s coming soon.”
“That’s not surprising, but we can’t exactly make plans. We don’t know what her motives are.”
“You’re closer to her. I think you’re going to need to make a move.”
“She’s not an idiot. I don’t think she’s going to reveal anything to us.”
“We can’t remain in this position. With the way things are changing, we need to secure a place for ourselves.” Yumi cast aside the leaf she rubbed into near-oblivion and stood up. “I’ll look into things on my end as well. But as a woman, I don’t have much authority, even if they think I’m unique.” She departed the two to return to the court.
A minute alone, the two fake siblings stared at each other making motions at a game that long ceased to have value to them. Deep troubling thoughts swirled about for them. They already found the woman uneasy and now that she was the mistress to their Master only made that awkwardness increase. Closeness did nothing to improve their imbalanced relationship.
Yuki gave the signaling move to end the game when a shadow stretched over their board. Immediately, feinting a defensive move he made sure his hand slid over the board to destroy the game for any eyes. In front of him, he found Aya, the last person that they wanted. ‘How long had she been standing near only to reveal herself now?’ He glanced over at Saki speaking between their eyes and they both stood up properly.
“Mistress Aya! I thought you were assisting the Lord still.”
She smiled back at them, her eyes piercing through them while blocking any attempt to gauge her intent. “You two are so frightening when you’re on duty.”
“I’m sorry, Mistress,” bowed Yuki to the distracting woman, “I should have heard you coming. I’m failing my duty.”
“Nonsense, you seemed to be enjoying a stirring game of Shogi.”
Returning to standing in a state of alertness, but stiff attention demanded for being in the presence of an important figure, Yuki thought back to the board and tried to process if he heard any sounds. Had it been a normal game, he wouldn’t be asking himself such questions, he probably would have noticed her coming. It was only because of the demands that Yumi made of them that his mind wasn’t focused. ‘How close did she get? She’s not an idiot. Was that comment her way of saying she knows? Damnit, I don’t know what to do about her…’
While Yuki panicked internally about the issue, Saki tried to deflect a little. “We’re on a break, Mistress because the estate guards are watching your office. As a member of the family, you can’t be walking around without our escort.”
“We’re in Lord Matsushina’s court. You and my Lord worry too much.”
“It’s our duty to worry about your safety. In our mind only in our presence are you safe, but we grant space amongst the guards.”
“Someone would say that is called worrying too much.”
“If you’re alive, there is no such thing.”
Yuki knelt down as they chatted to clean up the board that he ruined. ‘A rather meaningless conversation, Saki, but it’s keeping things away from us as Aya so often likes to probe.’ He hurriedly returned all of the pieces into the containers and collected everything up in his arms. Nodding with his eyes to Saki, he stood back up and looked back at Aya with some unease. “Mistress, if you do not wish to return to your office yet, we shall walk with you.”
Immediately, Saki glared at him that he would just put that out there. She was part of their protection duty, however he should have directed her back to the office. That was their responsibility and Aya knew that as well. ‘You’re playing a dangerous game now, Yuki.’
‘Yumi wants information, Saki…’
‘We can’t take this woman, Yuki…’
“My Lord probably wants me back, but I did come out for a break like yourselves.”
“Then perhaps a walk.”
Nerves ran high with the tense atmosphere. A look at Aya wouldn’t indicate as such and apart from a little sweat Yuki and Saki did their very best to keep it under control, even though it was a futile effort. They have had enough interactions with the woman that she already knew how nervous that made them. She seemed to take a certain amount of pleasure from knowing that. ‘I thought you didn’t have the guts for it.’
‘Let’s just get going.’
“A walk then. It is a lovely time of year.” Aya turned back to the wood porch as they followed behind her.
The first couple of minutes went in silence, considering that they were bodyguards and not equals anything more would have been inappropriate. They looked between each other, sort of guessing that Aya would make a move already. But it could have been another game on her part. Given her intellect, they couldn’t rule out anything with her.
It wasn’t until they made nearly half of the perimeter of the vast grounds of the Matsushina Estate that she spoke. With them already on edge for any threats as well as Aya, it risked them almost stumbling when she did. “You’re awfully quiet. If I had wanted silence on my walk, I wouldn’t have intruded on you.”
“It wouldn’t be our place to address our Mistress.”
“As strict to laws as always. I’m giving you permission to speak to me.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Given that didn’t change anything for them. While they had something that they wanted to talk with her about, they couldn’t ask it. It didn’t work that way. So the silence remained.
Saki braved the waters some after another few minutes of silence. “Why did our Mistress…intrude on us, as you say?”
“You’re a pair of clever bodyguards. What are you still doing with my Lord?”
“We’re loyal to Lord Kumasaka, Mistress. We would not consider leaving him.”
“Is that so? Even if a better offer came?”
“Yes, Mistress. We were poor war orphans. Without our Lord, we would be dead. We owe him everything.”
“What if that wasn’t the case?”
“Mistress?” Saki darted a look over to Yuki as they tried to figure out what her angle was. ‘Is she testing our loyalty to him? Is she trying to recruit us?’ The wall of the mask that Aya wore kept any sort of read off still. There was no chance she would be able to figure out anything from just looking.
“I’m saying if you removed those shackles that bind you to our Lord, would that loyalty remain?”
“Of course,” stepped in Yuki before she had a chance to add anything further to the question. “We may be joined because of the circumstances, but we would not betray our Lord even were the situation different!”
She smiled the same that she always did, remaining as unreadable as she ever did. “The future will see that tested then,” she spoke ominously.
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