𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘 || douma

Chapter 2

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𝑀𝐴𝑅𝐼𝑂𝑁𝐸𝑇𝑇𝐸
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"Have you heard? That young woman – Hana was it? She had gone missing days before her wedding."

You didn't mean to hear people talking about it, but you realized there are things that are intended to happen and that all things occurred for a reason. And perhaps, hearing them talk about a familiar name also had its reason.

It hasn't been a week since you received the hairpin from Douma and he allowed you to go out for the first time in a while. You were walking down the night market until you heard people talking about the name of a familiar person.

"Hana?" you muttered, recalling the name of the woman you had previously talked to and remembering that Douma said that she had gotten married and moved to her husband's hometown.

So you wonder what they were talking about.

"Excuse me," you said, walking to the group of women talking about her. "But I unintentionally heard your conversation. You said Hana had gone missing days before her wedding?"

"Yes, the poor lass was nowhere to be seen. She left no notes as to her whereabouts. And the man she was about to marry is a kind young man who came from a good family."

"Do you think she found a wealthier man and eloped?" another woman asked before she was nudged by the woman beside her as if to reprimand her.

"What are you saying? Hana wouldn't do such thing. Besides, they really love each other, the lad even gifted her a hairpin that looks exactly like the one this beautiful young lady is wearing."

Suddenly, you touched the hairpin as the women looked at you before they saw the ornament and a look of recognition passed by.

"Ah! Isn't that Hana's hairpin?" one of them asked.

"No," you said, a little surprise all of a sudden. "This was given to me."

"I heard from her mother that the young man paid quite a lot to have that hairpin specifically made. He was the one who designed it so she said it's the only one in all of Edo."

"I knew that woman was boasting about it! It wasn't true that it's the one in all of Edo, see this young lady has the same hairpin."

They left after that and you headed back with thoughts racing in your mind. What if Douma took it from that woman? No, there's no way Douma would do something like that. But then again, there were instances when you received the exact same thing of the item you said was pretty on other women.

How many times had it been? Why have you not thought about it until now?

Maybe because Douma had always been so kind and genuine to you that your mind instinctively erased all doubts on him.

Even now you didn't want to think of anything anymore. You don't want to think of anything but your mind continued to form thoughts and suppositions until you got back to the room and you shut yourself in there.