A DIFFERENT LIFE
1725 Words
Birds chirping. Insects buzzing. Leaves dancing with the wind.
What a calm and peaceful day. Yet again.
Reina stretches her legs before standing up, walking to the gardens. She is already tired of doing nothing all day.
She's spent the last two weeks doing nothing except loitering around the home, reading books in the library, and feeding the koi fish in the pond a few times. Her daily life has rather been boring and pre-determined.
Anyone would grab a chance to live such a carefree life like this. But not her. This situation only made her feel terrible.
Reina is used to waking up early and preparing for work. But now she has the house all to herself with nothing to do. This setup only makes her weak.
Mitsuei demanded that she stop her teaching duties since she would be living in Hanneau. He didn’t want her going somewhere far by herself, especially when it involved trekking on the mountainous terrain.
The journey to Haran from Hanneau is not that far. There is a road with a shorter route from here. The only problem is that bringing a horse there would be impossible as the road is too narrow. Walking is also out of the question for her since it can be tricky if done alone. The sharp edges of the rocks scattered on the ground are extremely dangerous.
Taking the longer route is also prohibited to her. Unlike the shortcut, the road there is clean and free from boulders and rocks. However, it will take her more than an hour to get to Haran, even with a horse. And Mitsuei is strongly against the idea.
Reina didn’t argue with him. She can’t even negotiate with him thinking that insisting will only trouble him further. He can’t have someone escort her every day. Neither can he come with her since he also has his business to attend to.
She didn't want to be imposing and ungrateful.
Reina walks to the pond and slowly crouches down, following the movements of fishes swimming freely.
“What should I do, little ones?”
Reina feels silly talking to the koi fishes. The house is completely quiet ever since she started living here. She is even forbidden to do chores.
"What am I here, anyway?" Reina whisper to herself.
It is frustrating. Kayomi leaves for school every day. Kiyoko comes from time to time but leaves shortly.
Mitsuei also seems to be overloaded with work. He is currently helping Yuuma with settling in and in the construction of his clinic in Moulen. He spends most of his time there if he isn't at the inn.
Reina is somehow thankful for that because if they were left in the house alone together, it would be awfully awkward.
“Oh my goodness! I did not think all of this through.”
Reina cringes, covering her face to hide her embarrassment. Although she is currently alone, the thought of their wedding night is enough to bother her peaceful morning.
Reina woke up and found herself lying on a different bed and room. It was the same tatami room, yet with entirely new surroundings.
Did she forget about moving to a different room? Or did she perhaps sleepwalk? Absurd! She has never done that.
But as it turns out, Mitsuei carried her to her new home. She had slept comfortably in his room for who knows how long.
“I brought you to my room since your family has been following us around. They would get suspicious if I were to bring you on the guestroom myself.”
Mitsuei starts to explain after noticing that Reina finally woke up. He was reading a book on a couch nearby when he heard her stir in her sleep, eventually opening her eyes.
Reina blushes upon realizing her current situation.
Mitsuei seems to have freshly bathed, judging from the few drops of water falling from his short hair. He puts down the book that he was reading and stares at Reina intently.
Reina clutches on the sheets. She begins to feel conscious as Mitsuei bears his eyes on her. Her heart, thumping loudly from nervousness. She can't even decipher his expression, let alone meet his gaze.
What will she do if Mitsuei intends to consummate the marriage?
The thought of it makes Reina even more anxious. She can almost feel her heart jumping out of her chest. She forgot to consider such a thing. After all, he is still a man.
However, soon after, she hears Mitsuei sigh. He grabs the book again and returns to the page he was reading.
“I have the extra room prepared for you. Your things are also there. I trust you already know your way around the house, correct?”
Reina stills for a moment after hearing Mitsuei. She finally gets the courage to look at his face. But when she does, she meets with the most apathetic expression she has ever seen. Suddenly, she felt pathetic of herself, shamed by her trail of thoughts.
“Of course, thank you so much for today. I will take my leave then. Have a good night.”
Reina speed walks to her room. Once in her room, she noticed her hands trembling. She is not sure if it was because she was nervous or because she felt like crying? She clenches her chest in pain. It was a good thing she didn’t react excessively. Else, she would have humiliated herself.
The purpose of Mitsuei marrying her is because of Tomohisa’s child. They were barely even friends before this all happened. No prior worth-remembering interactions. They hardly even met each other.
Reina wants to bury herself on the ground. It might have happened over a month, yet she feels like biting her tongue whenever she recalls what happened. Shameless of her to even think about it. Mitsuei must have been disgusted with her.
Who would want someone else’s woman? More so, his brother’s woman. She will only sully his reputation if he is to touch her. His intentions are purely for the baby. No more, no less. He may be a man, but it doesn’t mean anyone will just do.
On the brighter side, it gave her reasons to respect him more. Aside from being a kind man, he is a gentleman that will never force a woman on something. Unlike Tomohisa.
Reina grunts upon remembering her former fiances face. She hates him so much. Too much that she can’t even feel anything for him now. She feels like she wasted the feelings and time that she was together with him.
Tomohisa is not even worth remembering. Her first love ended in a tragedy. She trusted his words, yet he failed her terribly.
They first met when they were kids when she was around five years old then. She could never forget that day.
Apparently, her parents brought her along with Haru to attend the funeral of Mitsuei and Tomohisa’s mother. She had died of an illness while her husband was still active on the battlefield. The elder Sou argued with Ryouta for bringing along his wife and half-baked children.
The elder Sou was especially against the idea of his soldier marrying a foreigner. The war negotiations were concluding at that time, and he hates people who have something to do with the westerners.
It was huge chaos. He screamed at Ryouta, unreasonably blaming him for whatever was happening to the country. Helen told Reina and Haru to run and hide somewhere while they dealt with the predicament.
Reina was crying then, scared of all the noise. Haru tried his best to console her to no avail. He was also confused and afraid. Then, out of nowhere, came a shrill voice.
Tomohisa saw them by the walkway near the garden. Following behind him was Mitsuei, who was already fourteen years old. Old enough to understand the situation. Haru went into a defensive stance as he covered her away from their sight.
They initially thought that those kids were also similar to the adults. They had expected them to bad mouth them like what others did to their parents. But it never happened. Tomohisa was smiling at them cheerfully, asking if they wanted to play.
It was the first time for her that they were well-received. Haru was skeptical at first, looking back at Mitsuei standing casually on the corner. He wasn’t speaking, nor was his expression changing.
Eventually, Tomohisa dragged Haru to play with him further in the garden. She suddenly felt alone as she tried to keep up with their pace whilst crying. She wanted to call out to Haru, but she was afraid that those bad people would know where they were.
Unfortunately, while she was trying to catch up with them, she stumbled on her feet. She stifled a cry as she tried her best to get back on her feet. Her knees weren’t bleeding, but the searing pain was unable her to do so.
Just as when she was about to give up, she felt hands reaching her on both sides. She turned to her back, and she saw Mitsuei helping her to stand up. He called Tomohisa and Haru back, telling them to let Reina join in the game.
That day ended with Helen frantically looking for them. They had left abruptly after, not even giving them a chance to say goodbye to the brothers.
They haven't met for years after that. The next time they met was when they were already teenagers. Despite what happened with their father, Ryouta never failed to check on them after their father died. Mitsuie was already serving in the military by then, and Tomohisa still attending school.
For a few years, Reina and Tomohisa attended the same school. And that was when she developed feelings for him. Perhaps it was because he was the only person who treated her normally. He looked at her without discrimination.
‘I didn’t even notice him changing.’
Tomohisa used to be a good man.
And now that she remembers him, she didn’t see him during the wedding ceremony, nor at the reception. She never heard anything from him even after they sent out some invitations. News about their wedding should have reached him.
Did he get so mad that he refused to see them?
- Writer
