Unmei || 運命

IV - 𝚁𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚣𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜

"Why, I do not know either." Kaia bobbed her head to one side with disinterest. One after another, blueberries started disappearing from the plate. "Won't you tell me about your marriage instead? Convince me not to get married after setting me up with my fated one."

So she knew.

"It has only been a day." I popped a dried berry into my mouth and soon marveled at the sweetness that spread across my tongue. Unlike the delicacy that instantly brought me to my sleep last night, this one was pleasing to the taste.

"But you seemed to have no problem warming the bed for a night, too." It was not said in a teasing tone, but rather a distant one. "What are you aiming for, Sena?"

I could only hung my head, unhappiness morphing my lips into a slight pout. "A child."

She began to nod. "An heir?"

"No," I immediately corrected. "Not an investment for the future of the clan, but an actual human child."

"You are quite naive, saying that out loud as the wife of a lord," Kaia sighed, massaging her temples with her fingers. She fished her sleeves and pulled out a stringed pouch. She handed it to me. "You might need this more than me."

I gazed at the pouch, then back at her. Inside must be a small ceramic container around the height of my thumb. "What is this?"

"A special type of liquor," the woman nonchalantly replied. "One drop and you'll be down the whole night. Doesn't suppress any other bodily function, so I doubt Ryomen Sukuna would mind."

"Kaia-sama sounds knowledgeable with liquors," joined a masculine voice from behind me, causing Kaia to chuckle slightly and bob her head to the owner of the voice in acknowledgement. "How strange."

I blinked. Questioningly.

The voice sounded oddly familiar. I would bet my cards it was from someone I had conversed with before, but the deeper my mind wandered for answers, the more distant those answers seemed.

The stranger's voice was well-modulated. It was not as crisp as Ryomen Sukuna's, but it was softer, honeyed, and more pleasant to the ear.

When I turned to its owner, what first stole my attention was his grey robes and the silvers that lined its hem. His irises were derived from the same palette, clear and glinting under the slight ray of sunlight that passed through a creak on the window. His soft, lenient stare was framed by sharp, monolids which rested in perfect proportion with his tall nose.

Despite being a man, he could bring about the doom of a nation.

But I would rather not allow his docile appearance and dulcet tone fool me. The man had the smile of an all-knowing master, taunting and calculative.

He tipped his head, enough to signal a greeting, and gave me his name. "I am Miura Hazuki, the heir and firstborn of the Miura clan. I am pleased to have seen you so early in the morning, Sena-sama."

There was something uncanny about this man.

Men's ranks were usually reflected by the color of their robes with the darker shades reserved for higher-ranking men. The same for women and the number of layers they wore and their colors.

But this man was wearing light grey, a color of dust fading in the air.

"I am Ichihara Sena," I replied, suppressing with great effort the cautiousness within my voice. My hand extended towards the available space. "Please sit."

Hosting was something that my parents never allowed me to handle. While they gave me the privilege of joining annual banquets, I would always be seated beside the minor families- something Sakuya would always complain about.