Winter Flower

🌸| Chapter 8

Whenever Shoto comes out to take a stroll outside the estate of Todoroki, he was always greeted by females and they annoyed him. They always cling to him as if he was a log in a middle of a flood that will save them whenever they need him. Most of those women liked him, not just because of his beautiful face, but also because of his rich and his name. He is the son of the famous Daimyo Enji Todoroki after all, and he was chosen as a candidate for the next heir of the estate.

But that being said, riches and handsomeness meant little to him. What he needed was his plan to come true. And for that, he needed the yuujo.

He will do everything just to get her to his side. He did not know why, but he needed her. It was very unlikely of him to be like that, and he did not have a single reason to choose her. It was just...her and it had to be her.

The yuujo was that important to him.

Now, knowing that she have connections with the young lord of Toshinori and the bakushin of the bakufu, it might be risky but it made the yuujo more valuable than she ever was. These connections she have is very useful, but the dark fog of mystery that lingers around her identity was still there, and those connections she had might possibly be a threat...

...this is one of the reasons why Shoto had to know, now or never.

"How about we take a seat on the bench there? Do you want to?" Shoto gestured to the bench under the maple tree.

The yuujo nodded and so the two walked to the bench and sat there.

"Why are you here? The conference is starting am I right? If you are the representative of the Todoroki, your presence is very much required."

Shoto hummed in thought. "The conference is a fraud. They are just calling the lords because to have a drink with them...especially the representatives that were sent. Young lords like us are not that exposed to alcohol..." Shoto blinked and turned to the yuujo. "They wanted to make us drunk."

The yuujo, every so slightly, furrowed her eyebrow in worry. "Midoriya is in danger." She whispered under her breath before sighing, while Shoto just looked at her, clueless of what she just mumbled.

They continued to watch the snowfall and sat in short silence before Shoto had the courage to speak about what might be a sensitive topic.

"I heard that you are acquainted with the famous young lord of Toshinori. He is here, am I right?"

She fell silent for a brief moment.

"Do you need anything from me?" She asked. Even though that sentence seemed monotoned, it expressed a little bit of anger. Shoto could read it, he could sense it.

Perhaps it was really a mistake to bring that up.

Shoto exhaled. "It is not my intention to anger you nor to be suspicious of you."

"Why? Because you want to use me as a tool for your games?"

He paused. A tool... That might be the most accurate representation yet worse of how he sees her now. A tool, a pawn...nothing should exceed that...

...nothing.

"Might be." Then he chuckled, not in humor but in slight amusement as he continued to speak. "...you really are an amusing girl. You are different from the others."

The yuujo hummed before she placed her hands on her lap. "I might be a yuujo, a tool for satisfaction and pleasure...worse, I might be a doll meant to be played with. I do not know what will happen to me - I might end up with a cruel lord as my husband or I might rot in the middle of the streets...who knows, future can be cruel."