My Little Bride

Chapter 20 (End)

Her hair is arranged in two buns decorated with red camellias and Dororo observes how her face transforms. Her lips are painted red and a very light pink powder on her cheeks. Dororo blinks and obliged as Lady Nui asks her to raise her chin a bit.

"You will become the lady of this land and it is of great importance to maintain a good posture." the Lady advises.

The day of their wedding has come.

She sits patiently in front of a round mirror inside her room. Around her are maidservants busying themselves on the shiromuku she's about to wear for the event.

"It's ready, my lady." a maidservant informs them and Dororo raises from her seat. She smiles caressing the elegant pink shiromuku by her fingertips. The complexity of her emotions came as she remembers her mother.

The young lady looks outside the window and clearly they have been blessed by Kami to have nice weather for this day. Everything is prepared beforehand yet she cannot help but miss her mother.

"I wish my mother would see me walk the aisle," she whispers somberly, Lady Nui comforts her by putting her hands on her shoulders.

"She is watching you from heavens." the woman says in a comforting voice. Dororo looks at her. "It is a parent's wish for their children to be happy, I am sure she wishes you the best."

Dororo smiles, reminiscing the times with her mother. She was a beautiful woman, kind and brave, just like her. "I want to make her proud of me. I'll do my best to take care of this land like on how she took care of me." she expresses.

"I believe in you just as much as I believe in Hyakkimaru." Lady Nui says and Dororo feels joy in her statement, convinced that if her mother is still alive, she would also trust in her.

Her wedding kimono is not the traditional white one. Instead, it is of pink color adorned by flowery print made of silk. She only wears the red kanzashi necklace that Hyakkimaru gifted as a piece of additional jewelry. Dororo faces the mirror once she wore the shiromuku.

Her eyes grow, she cannot believe that she would one day wear something elegant as this. It is no doubt the loveliest dress she has ever worn.

A knock is heard and Mutsu pokes her head in. "Young lady, are you ready?" her expression changed after seeing Dororo.

"Oh my, Young master Hyakkimaru would not be able to take his eyes off you later!" she teases, stepping inside the room and joining the rest of the women. Lady Nui nods in approval and Dororo boasts that it was all thanks to Lady Nui's help that she now looks like a proper lady. Everyone in the room laughs.

As far as Dororo is concern, Hyakkimaru would probably mistake her for another woman.

-xxx-

Despite that it is his wedding day, the bridegroom spends time with his horse, away from the presence of people. Hyakkimaru is on the stables, wearing a black kimono, carrying their family's crest on the back, paired with hakama.

"Aniue," Tahomaru calls as he comes.

Hyakkimaru looks at him plainly.

"I know I would find you here." the younger of the two folds his arms over his chest.

"Feeling nervous, are we?"

He knows his brother too well for him to correctly conclude that the reason he's avoiding everyone is that he wants to clear his anxiousness. Hyakkimaru smirks but did not deny the fact.

"It just feels...surreal." he answers and pets Midoro.

Tahomaru hums teasingly. "Soon, father will give his position to you. He's getting old, it can't be avoided."