lily | muzan kibutsuji

03| fragile

"Are you an idiot?!"

Your father yelled at you upon seeing the letter you presented to him.

His face filled with anger as he looked at you with fire-filled eyes, "He's a dying man!" he exclaimed, "Of all the noblemen you could have picked you picked him!"

His hand came hurling down upon your cheek in a swift quick moment and you stumbled a bit at the impact, as your skin reddened in color.

You held your cheek, holding back subtle tears that threatened to stream down your face.

"You can't control my life," you whimpered, "I'm going to pursue who I want to pursue."

He immediately yanked the letter you had received from Kibutsuji out of your hand.

You watched as the beautiful paper lined with golden accents was ripped apart into pieces right in front of your very eyes.

You gasped, "Father—"

"Shut up!"

You were silent.

"I don't want to see this nonsense! You better call it off right now! Send him a letter back and tell him you've changed your mind!"

"I will do no such thing."

There was absolutely no way you were going to tell him to call it off.

It had taken everything in you just to write the letter in the first place. To you, calling it off would be simply embarrassing and you saw no need to embarrass yourself.

You promptly turned around and walked out of his room as fast as you could. You stormed out quickly as you pushed against the door watching it swing open.

"Are you stupid?! Didn't you hear what I just said—"

The door closed saving you from hearing your father's devilish voice.

You walked silently along the hallway at a fast pace, and at first, you were fine, yoy were just filled with anger, but soon enough, you felt sorrow. Your eyes stared down at the floor beneath you as your heavy breath caused your chest to rise and fall like crashing waves.

It was always the same thing with your father.

He was always selecting men for you to marry but you didn't want to marry any of them.

They were all like him. You didn't want to marry a man like your father.

He was so rough. He didn't know how to be gentle. His words hurt, and even if they were half-hearted you found they could always find a way to penetrate themselves deep into your heart.

You desired someone more calm and thoughtful, someone who's temper wouldn't explode so easily.

You wanted Kibutsuji.

You could still remember the first time you saw Kibutsuji like the back of your hand.

You had run away from home after having a rough argument with your father. You had walked all the way to a pond to calm down when you saw a boy there.

His long black hair fell down his back as he walked silently along the water. His eyes were focused at looking at the shimmering shine of the pond below.

His aura in itself was calm and sublime.

At first, he seemed just a regular boy, other than his elegant aura, he appeared average. He didn't interest you at all.

But when you saw a cat struggling to stay afloat in the water you saw Kibutsuji react immediately. He calmly rescued the cat as he brought it out of the water, his fine noble clothes ruined in the process.

From that day on, you knew you had spotted someone unique. You knew you had spotted someone with at least a spark of good in him, no matter how little.

You didn't know if it was still there though.

You hoped it was.

This was your last chance of being able to marry a suitable man.

You looked around all the time, you seldom saw happy faces. You saw faces of people in marriages who seemed miserable as if being with the one they "loved" was a task so devious they couldn't stand to be in their presence.

You didn't want such a thing for yourself.

If you were to get married, which you knew you had to, you would want a sweet romance. You'd want to be enamored by attention and trust. You'd want warm fuzzy butterflies to erupt in your stomach when you looked at your lover, your heart to skyrocket at his touch.

You'd want him to be for you, and you to be for him.

You rushed to your room to write a letter to Kibutsuji. It was the complete opposite of what your father had wanted.

—-

My father has accepted your request.

I'll come visit you on Monday.

——

You passed the letter to your lady-in-waiting, Nao, and she looked at you skeptically, hey eyes showing clear distaste.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing my lady?" she asked as she read the letter, "This could get you in big trouble with the master."

You blinked, "I'm fully aware. I don't care what he thinks anymore. I'm going to decide my future by myself."

Nao looked down at the letter carefully.

"You want me to send this to Lord Kibutsuji?"

You nodded.

She gave a heavy sigh—one she only gave when she knew a situation would end up to no good— before heading outside of the room to follow your order.